"You want to bring down an Alchemical Baron? Wait, are you serious?"
Ekko stared at Li Ke in disbelief and said in shock, "You can go after them, but you want to bring them down and overthrow their rule completely?"
"Is that not allowed?" Li Ke replied.
Ekko shook his head and said solemnly, "Of course not!"
"The Alchemical Barons are all Silco's men. Silco can let the bunch of them fight and scheme among themselves, but he won't let anyone else touch this pie." Ekko held out a hand and made a motion in front of him, like he was toppling a pyramid. Looking at Li Ke, he said seriously, "You're shaking his whole foundation. You're striking at his roots, understand?"
"If an Alchemical Baron dies, you'll be at war with Silco, and Zaun will descend into chaos. This is a terrible idea!"
"In the end, everyone will suffer!"
Without waiting for Li Ke to reply, he continued, "Honestly, I don't know how you managed to make Jinx the way she is now, or how you got her to leave Silco and follow you. But if you ask me, Li Ke, picking a fight with Silco right now would be incredibly stupid!"
Hearing Ekko's words, Li Ke smiled.
Ekko had said "we."
That meant he was considering the matter from Li Ke's point of view.
But... who said Silco was an outsider?
He was the Lian Hua Gang's sponsor, a major shareholder in Hope Community, and a guiding light for Zaun's future. How could someone like that be an outsider?
Still, Ekko made a good point. If Li Ke didn't know what kind of man Silco was, or just how much Silco loved Jinx, he'd think the same way as Ekko.
Power was intoxicating. Silco was Zaun's emperor now. The Alchemical Barons all answered to him, making him Zaun's uncrowned king. If someone moved in on his turf and tried to take a piece of his pie, of course he'd strike back.
Going to war with Silco would throw all of Zaun into chaos. That wasn't an idle threat.
At the very least, Silco's death would send Zaun's economy into a nosedive. And with no one to keep them in line, the Alchemical Barons would fight one another over petty interests, plunging all of Zaun into conflict.
But... Silco wasn't a man obsessed with power.
Li Ke firmly believed that. As long as Silco was anything like the man in the War of Two Cities series, then he wouldn't lose himself to power and abandon his ideals.
He was the kind of man who would hand himself over to Piltover for Jinx and put an end to the conflict between the two cities.
How could a man like that ever want to make Jinx unhappy?
It was funny. Li Ke had just realized that everything he'd built his success on seemed to come from Jinx.
She'd given him most of his energy. She made the gang's weapons. The gang's funding came from her father. And the territory grab had gone smoothly thanks to her father, too.
Jinx... She really was his treasure.
Thinking of her, Li Ke couldn't help glancing over at Jinx.
She was lying on the floor, kicking her long legs in the air as she chatted with Isha about something. She looked like she was having a great time.
His adorable, carefree little Jinx.
Damn, why was this girl so captivating?
Who came up with the idea of having a little something on the side, anyway?
"Did you understand what I said?" Ekko noticed Li Ke's gaze, then looked at him and asked seriously.
"I understand, Ekko, but you don't need to worry about it."
Li Ke smiled. "You need to make a big splash, so I'll make one for you."
"I'll be waiting for the Wildfire Gang to join us, Ekko. I need your talent, and I need the Wildfire Gang's strength. We have to stand together, understand?"
"You still don't get it." Ekko shook his head, looking a little disappointed.
Seeing this, Li Ke smiled. "I'll be waiting for the day you bring the Wildfire Gang to join me."
Hah, I'm the one who doesn't get it?
No. You're the one who doesn't understand Silco, Ekko.
The next afternoon,
Fugen Tavern—
Inside, Silco took out a glass and poured himself a drink, then set it down on the table.
Li Ke sat across from Silco. He took the glass and said, "Silco, I came to talk to you about something."
"Tell me about Jinx first." Silco took a swig of his drink and spoke softly.
Li Ke paused, then said, "She's doing great. She's put on a little weight lately, and her dark circles have faded quite a bit. She's gotten even cuter, too. But I won't let her draw tattoos on herself anymore, so she drew this on me instead."
As he spoke, Li Ke raised his arm.
A blue cat was drawn on his right arm, standing out in plain sight.
Li Ke smiled at Silco.
"..."
Silco nodded. When he saw Li Ke looking at him, he tapped the table with a finger. Sevika stood behind him, silent.
He said in a low voice, "Go on."
"Why does it feel like you're ordering me around?" Li Ke grumbled.
Silco smiled faintly as he looked at Li Ke. "You're with Jinx. Is it really so unreasonable for me to ask you to do a few things? Besides, the money you're using to grow your operation is mine. Your future father-in-law is asking you to do something, and it's just a small favor. You're going to complain?"
"...Fine, you win." Li Ke was speechless.
But Silco wasn't wrong.
Forget the relationship between Silco, Jinx, and Li Ke. Just the fact that Silco had given him money was enough to make Li Ke grateful.
Money was exactly what Li Ke needed most, and what he had the hardest time getting.
Fortunately, Silco had plenty.
Li Ke said, "She's been working on the Air Filtration Device lately. She's already spent a lot of money. Did you hear me, Silco? I said she's spent a lot of money."
"Can that thing really work?" Silco ignored Li Ke's insistence about the money and asked about the Air Filtration Device instead.
People in the Black Alley had tried experiments like this before, but they'd all failed.
There was no other reason: filtration devices could only deal with the Ash Barrier over a small area, while Poison Gas Pollution was everywhere in Zaun.
Li Ke smiled and nodded. "It can. The preliminary tests have already managed to completely clean the air in an area of dozens of square meters, but the Filter Core wears out too quickly. Jinx thinks that if she wants to change the air in all of Zaun, she'll have to start at the roots. She has a pretty bold idea: first, she wants to change the Sump. She wants to tear out all the wastewater pipes connecting Zaun and Piltover and replace them with metal pipes she's made that can filter and purify the water."
"Then there's greenery. Plants can solve a lot of problems."
"And the air, and transforming the soil across larger areas... Anyway, she's been researching all this lately."
Silco's expression turned a little strange as he listened.
Li Ke had no idea what he was thinking.
But Silco's complicated expression held a hint of guilt.
Silco nodded. He looked at Li Ke, holding his glass and swirling it as he spoke softly. "She seems pretty happy with you."
"Of course. She sleeps well, eats well, and has an older sister, a younger sister, and me. But Silco, she does talk about you sometimes. At night, she calls your name in her sleep." Li Ke thought for a moment before answering.
It was true. Li Ke wasn't lying to Silco.
The last time Jinx had fallen asleep with her little face against his chest, she'd been sucking her thumb and murmuring Silco's name.
As soon as Li Ke said this, Silco's hand tightened around his glass. He set it down and began swiveling his chair, moving a little like Jinx did when she spun around in hers.
He seemed not to want Li Ke to see his expression, but once he'd turned around, he found Sevika there. Big Sister Sevika looked down at Silco. Seeing her, Silco had no choice but to turn his chair back toward Li Ke.
Then Li Ke saw the smile Silco could barely hide. He was trying his best to hold it back, but the corners of his mouth gave him away.
"All right, we're done with family talk. Let's discuss why you came here, Li Ke," Silco said.
Li Ke immediately said, "I want to bring down an Alchemical Baron. The Lian Hua Gang doesn't have enough territory anymore."
Silco looked up at Li Ke. "You're telling me to my face that you want to bring down one of my men?"
"Is that not allowed?"
"Are we really that close?" Silco's smile disappeared, and his voice turned cold.
"Of course. You're Jinx's father, and I'm Jinx's partner. We—"
"You two are actually together?" Silco frowned.
Li Ke sighed. "What do you think? Given Jinx's personality..." He pointed to his head and spoke softly. "And the little problem she has up here, what would she do if I said no?"
Silco smiled. "She'd probably tie you up while you were asleep, rig the whole place with bombs, and threaten to die with you if you wouldn't be with her."
"Exactly. So from the night I slept in the same bed as her, there was no getting away from her. Of course, I like her a lot, too. She's charming and beautiful, and I like her very much."
"Wait, you said you slept in the same bed?" Silco's hand moved toward the underside of the table, and the smile vanished from his face again.
What the hell!
Damn it!
What was he planning to do?
"I didn't do anything." Li Ke helplessly held up both hands. He didn't think he was afraid of guns anymore, but this clearly wasn't the time to pick a fight with Silco. He still had to give the man some face.
Never hurt a daughter in front of a father who loved her.
"Hmph."
Silco gave a cold laugh.
Li Ke looked at Silco with a cheeky grin. "You didn't lose anything, anyway, did you?"
"You don't care about those Alchemical Barons at all. You organized them only to bring Zaun's existing forces together and negotiate with Piltover, so Zaun could become independent."
"But Silco, don't you think what I'm doing now is the right thing?"
Silco said nothing. He stared at Li Ke in silence.
"Besides, you must be fed up with those Alchemical Barons by now, too, right? Think about the kind of people you used to work with: Daddy Vander, Uncle Benso, and Big Sister Sevika. And now? You're stuck with that bunch."
When Sevika heard Li Ke mention her, she narrowed her eyes at him.
She had to admit, that did make her feel pretty good.
What was strange was that, although Sevika didn't dislike Li Ke, she couldn't say she was especially fond of him, either. She'd looked after him before only because Zaun's future belonged to those kids. But today was really strange.
From the moment Li Ke showed up, Sevika had found him rather easy to like.
"Who do you want to deal with?" Silco asked Li Ke.
"I haven't decided yet. That's why I came to ask you." Li Ke continued, "I figured I should let you know. I think Vi, Jinx, and I could bring down an Alchemical Baron on our own, but I want to use this to train the troops."
"..." The corner of Silco's mouth twitched. "So can I take that to mean you're telling me you're going after my people, and then asking me to help protect your people from getting hurt?"
The word "train" was interesting.
Training meant practice, and practice meant no casualties.
Li Ke smiled and nodded.
Right now, Li Ke just felt great. Seriously, great.
Alchemical Baron Ekko and Zeri had been afraid of this guy, carefully taking him on, but in front of Li Ke... he really did seem like a pile of shit.
Thinking about how Silco attended the Alchemical Baron meetings and easily controlled the barons' lifelines—and could kill them whenever he wanted—made it even clearer. Once Silco was on Li Ke's side, the Alchemical Barons really were nothing but a pile of shit.
After all, your boss is on my side!
It was like fighting in a boxing ring. Damn, the referee was on my side. If I pushed him far enough, the referee would help beat you up. So how could you possibly win against me?
"I never realized you were so shameless," Silco said.
Li Ke shrugged. "This is a good thing for you, too. They've gotten too powerful to control. You want to deal with them as well, don't you?"
"After all, they've been going too far in what they do behind your back," Li Ke said.
Silco rested his hand on the table and pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose. After lowering his head and thinking for a moment, he said:
"Finn. Do you know that name?"
Li Ke paused, thought it over, then nodded.
Ironclad Firelighter, right?
He'd shown up looking like a minor boss, and even "turned" Sevika against Silco. And what happened? He was gone by the end of the season, after giving Silco an iconic scene and boosting his charisma.
"Take him. You can go after him in three days."
"I'll call a meeting with the other barons and keep him by himself. I'll also have people watch his turf and make sure his men stay there, but I won't send anyone to help you." Silco said to Li Ke.
Just as Li Ke had said, even before Li Ke showed up, Silco had been thinking about putting the barons in their place.
And helping Li Ke wasn't only for Jinx's sake.
Silco also wanted to see whether he or Vander had been right.
In the past, he'd never had the chance to compete with Vander on equal terms. When Vander rose to power, his policies weren't much different from Li Ke's current ones. Then Silco rose to power and Vander died. But now, Li Ke had inherited Vander's ideals. Maybe... he could help Silco find the answer.
Li Ke smiled.
After chatting with Silco for a while longer, Li Ke left, satisfied.
Standing behind Silco, Sevika couldn't help asking, "Why are you helping him?"
"Helping him?"
"Why would you think that?" Silco turned around.
"Sevika, the only one I'm helping is—"
"Zaun." Silco's eyes were unwavering as he spoke.
Whether it was him or Li Ke, they held different beliefs. If either one succeeded, Zaun would benefit.
That was what he would always care about.
And, of course, Jinx.
Before you continue