Here Is Zaun

Piltover's move came faster than expected.

Li Ke had more or less guessed where Silco had gotten his information. After all, Silco had a pile of dirt on Enforcer Sheriff Marcus, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he had Marcus under his thumb.

But Silco probably wasn't withholding the exact time of the operation from him. Silco was the last person who wanted anything to happen to Jinx. So the only explanation was that Silco himself didn't know exactly when the Enforcers would move.

But that wasn't surprising. Marcus was only a sheriff. The people issuing orders and launching operations were the councilors sitting in their high-rise towers.

Silco acted swiftly. The Shimmer business seemed to vanish from Black Alley overnight, and the factories in the outlying areas stopped operating. The Alchemical Barons also left Black Alley in droves, heading to the Mid-level Plaza or the Dance Hall to wait for the whole affair to blow over.

Once the Enforcers entered Black Alley, all it would take was a few questions for them to turn their attention to Hope Community and Hotarubi Community.

After all, most of Zaun's gangs despised the Lian Hua Gang. The Sump wasn't especially big or small, but the Lian Hua Gang had risen to prominence by stepping on their heads. Besides, the Alchemical Barons would surely make a point of directing the blame toward the Lian Hua Gang.

A prominent target was bound to attract attention.

So that afternoon, two squads—twenty-four Enforcers in all—appeared in Hope Community. Wearing respirator masks and steel helmets, they were fully armed, rifles in hand, as they marched in a group onto Lian Hua Gang territory.

"Stop!" As they entered Hope Community and took in this place, so out of place in Zaun, they couldn't help frowning.

Xis was the squad leader for this operation. His brow furrowed beneath his helmet as he spotted a Zaunite who turned and ran the moment he saw him. Xis hurriedly raised his rifle and called out to him.

Hearing the shout, Marna stubbornly turned around.

She had recently set up a little stall. Instead of hawking pastries off a tray, she now displayed them on a counter and also sold a little homemade liquor.

Her husband had joined a factory run by the Lian Hua Gang, where he had a nine-to-five job. He left at nine in the morning and came home at five in the evening. His wages hadn't increased much, but the work wasn't as grueling, and the working conditions were much better than before.

The new boss provided them with respirator masks and protective suits. That was treatment their old factory would never have offered. The old factory hadn't handed out respirators, let alone a single piece of clothing.

Life was getting a little better, day by day. As one of the people benefiting from it, Marna naturally supported the Lian Hua Gang.

And the reason she had turned to run the moment she saw the Enforcers was that she wanted to go warn the Lian Hua Gang.

"Get over here!" Xis shouted at Marna.

"Why're you yelling at a woman? You bastard badge, if you've got a problem, take it up with me!" Kel, who sold fish nearby, stepped forward. He had a thick beard and a broad, stocky build. He wasn't tall, but he bravely came out from behind his stall.

The residents of Hope Community watched the Enforcers coldly. They stopped their work, came out from behind their stalls, and surrounded the officers.

Hope Community had around six hundred residents. It wasn't particularly large, and it had fewer people than Hotarubi Community. But when it came to unity, its people were undoubtedly the most united in Zaun.

They had been bullied by gangs, and now the Lian Hua Gang had helped them. As their lives gradually improved, they had learned to support one another and stand together.

"What are you trying to do? Start a rebellion?" Seeing the people of the Bottom City gather around them, Xis anxiously raised his rifle, aimed it at them, and shouted.

Facing the dark rifle barrel, Kel's courage faded. He swallowed and instinctively took a step back. But when he saw the Enforcers moving toward Marna, he plucked up his courage and stepped forward again.

That small, unintentional gesture put Xis at ease.

Why hadn't the Enforcers dared to come to Black Alley before?

Because Black Alley was dangerous. But now, this place didn't seem as dangerous as they'd imagined.

At least these people were afraid of guns!

And they weren't armed, either. They looked like a bunch of ordinary Zaunites.

Good.

People from the Bottom City like these were easy to handle!

Xis felt sure he could complete his mission perfectly.

"I'm Enforcer Xis, badge number 102. I'm from the Bottom City. I'm legally authorized to search you. I suspect you're connected to the thugs involved in an attack on the Upper City. You are obliged to submit to our search!"

Xis raised a hand. Four Enforcers surrounded Marna with their rifles, and as they closed in, they reached to restrain her.

They also overturned Marna's stall. Two Enforcers knocked over her pastries and liquor, then smashed them with their rifle stocks.

"Stop!"

A loud shout rang out. The Zaunites crowding around the Enforcers parted, and a group of strangely dressed Zaunites appeared in the gap. There were only eight of them. At their head was a tall, thin young man in a white jacket painted with blue and pink graffiti.

"Who are you?" Xis asked as the young man stepped forward.

The people of the Bottom City immediately relaxed when they saw the young men.

"Why should I tell you? Since when do Enforcers get to search Zaun without even showing a warrant?" Malson walked up to Xis and asked coldly.

"A warrant? My word is the warrant." Xis raised his rifle and pointed its muzzle at Malson's face. His eyes narrowed beneath his helmet.

Malson stared at the rifle. If—if this had been the old him, he probably would have dropped to his knees and begged Xis for mercy, crying, "Please spare me, Enforcer!"

But now, facing that cold, dark barrel, Malson had to admit that he was still afraid.

He was afraid the gun would flash, and that he would die right here.

That was only natural.

But he had just seen kindhearted Auntie Marna surrounded, and the other Zaunites ordered by the Enforcers not to move. And he had given so much to Hope Community during this time. Now, more than anything else, a flame of fury burned in his heart.

Why should Zaun have to submit to Piltover's investigation?

Why?

Malson was no longer a Zaunite thug. He was Malson, an Enforcer of Hope Community in the Sump. He faced Xis without fear, lifted his leg, and strode forward.

His anger overcame his fear. He stared Xis down.

"You—" Xis's finger hovered over the trigger.

Malson reached out, seized the rifle barrel, and shoved it upward, pointing the gun at his own face.

"Shoot!"

"What? Are you crazy?" Xis couldn't react for a moment.

Threatening someone was one thing. Actually firing and killing someone was another. The Enforcers still remembered the Zaunites' bridge charge, and Xis couldn't bear the responsibility for something like that.

"Fuck you, badge! Shoot! Kill me!" Malson suddenly roared.

Behind him, Weila and Manzu drew their weapons. They pulled out two rusty-looking pistols and aimed them at Xis. They didn't glance at Malson, who stood at the front; they fixed their eyes on Xis.

The madness in their eyes made the Enforcers there feel afraid.

The other Lian Hua Gang members also drew their weapons. There were only eight of them, but they didn't retreat. They stood their ground against the Enforcers.

"Come on, kill me! Kill me, and you'll die here too. This'll turn into a shootout. We're not afraid of you!" Malson stared at Xis through his helmet, gazing into his eyes. "This is Hope Community. This is our territory. You're on our turf, bullying the people we protect. What do you take us for?"

"Come on! Shoot!" Malson shouted.

Xis's teeth began to chatter. His hand hovered over the trigger, but he couldn't bring himself to pull it. He looked at Malson's frenzied expression and shivered.

Seeing Xis stammering and holding up his gun, too afraid to shoot or even say anything, Malson abruptly shoved the rifle barrel aside and glared at him.

"Get off our turf, badge."

"You—"

"You've got some nerve! You dare openly resist law enforcement? You're leading the charge in defying Piltover's laws. Do you think you can bear the consequences?" Xis invoked the Upper City, hoping to intimidate Malson.

Malson recalled what Li Ke had told him. Madness and composure mingled in his eyes, and he let both emotions show.

He looked at Xis and said, word by word:

"This... is—"

"ZAUN!"