Li Wei temporarily accepted Seraphine and allowed her to stay by his side.
He planned to take Seraphine to Piltover University to find his sister first, chatting more along the way to better understand the young lady's state of mind.
But before they had even started talking, and before they had gone very far,
Li Wei had just taken the lead downstairs from the apartment building while Seraphine lagged a few steps behind when he ran into someone familiar at the stairwell—
The fat landlord, Mr. Bill.
"Hey!" Mr. Bill jingled the keys filling his pocket and shouted when he saw Li Wei, "Stop right there! Where do you think you're running off to?"
"A whole night has passed. Have you scraped together the rent you owe me for those past few months or not? I'm not joking with you. If you still can't pay today, get ready to pack up and crawl back to Zaun! Hmph, you Zaunites..."
Li Wei stopped at once and looked up at his landlord.
For some reason, after only one night, Mr. Bill felt that this kid's presence had somehow changed.
When Li Wei suddenly glared at him like that, he inexplicably felt a little afraid.
"Y-you, what are you trying to do?" Seeing Li Wei slowly approach, Mr. Bill no longer dared to keep cursing.
He instinctively took two steps back.
But Li Wei merely handed him a money pouch. "This is the rent I owed you. Please take it."
"This..." Mr. Bill's face was full of surprise.
He apparently had not expected Li Wei to be so straightforward this time.
"Wait." Mr. Bill suddenly remembered something. "Earlier, I ran into a young lady from a wealthy family. She had come specifically to find you and even asked me where you lived."
"I'm saying, Li Wei, don't tell me you..."
"Found yourself a rich sugar mommy?"
"You're overthinking it." Li Wei rolled his eyes.
"Really?" Mr. Bill was still suspicious. "Other than that, what job could earn you several months' rent in a single night?"
Li Wei was speechless. But there was nothing he could do; he looked like he had what it took to make a living that way.
"I didn't do anything. This is just an advance on next month's salary." Li Wei casually explained, then solemnly placed the money pouch in his landlord's hands.
Mr. Bill was grumpily opening the pouch to count the money when he unexpectedly heard Li Wei say, "Thank you, Mr. Bill."
"Huh?"
"When my sister and I were at our most difficult, you helped us." Li Wei was genuinely thanking him, not merely being polite.
He said it on behalf of the original owner of this body.
Although Mr. Bill cursed horribly and spoke harshly, the original Li Wei did not actually hate him at all.
After all, among Piltover landlords, one who could tolerate a Zaunite Apprentice falling behind on rent—and only threaten eviction after several consecutive months of missed payments—was an exceptionally good person, impossible to find even with a lantern.
If Mr. Bill had been any more ruthless, Li Wei's sister would likely have died of illness on the streets long ago.
A debt owed had to be repaid.
And a word of thanks was only proper.
"Li Wei." Mr. Bill's expression became complicated as well.
He silently accepted the rent, then looked at Li Wei with emotion.
"It's still short."
"Huh?"
"The money is still short. It's not enough."
"..." Li Wei knew it was not enough either. One month's salary plus the few Silver Wheels he had taken from Aubrey still left him a little short.
So, as always, he spread his hands. "This is all I have right now. I'll pay the rest later."
"You brat, you!" Mr. Bill's fat face darkened, and he habitually wanted to curse. But this time, he could not bring himself to do it. "Forget it. I'll let you stay here for another couple of days."
"But don't forget to pay back the rest!"
Mr. Bill grumbled while wearing a sour expression.
Then, in the next second, he saw—
The beautiful, elegant young lady who had asked him for directions earlier came panting down the stairs.
"Mr. Li Wei, slow down."
"I'm a little out of strength."
Seraphine had always been delicate and frail. She had run all the way here in a burst of excitement earlier, so she really was tired now.
Instinctively, she wanted to find something to lean against.
But this rundown apartment building was filthy everywhere. The walls and railings were too dirty for Seraphine to bring herself to touch.
So she subconsciously reached out to place a hand on Li Wei's shoulder.
But Li Wei reacted as if he had been electrocuted and shoved the refined young lady away.
"Let go! Didn't I tell you not to touch me unless there's a reason?"
"S-sorry." Seraphine hurriedly retreated two steps, looking shy and obedient.
"Damn..." Even the landlord was dumbfounded.
"Li Wei." After recovering from his shock, Mr. Bill could not help asking, "You've already made it this far, yet you're still short on rent and won't pay me. Isn't that a bit much?"
"No, you misunderstood..." Li Wei's face darkened. "She's actually my factory owner's daughter. She came here to find me..."
"The boss's daughter?!" Mr. Bill's expression became even more animated.
Then, who knew what he imagined. "Forget it. Li Wei, you've got potential. You don't need to repay that little bit of money."
As he spoke, the landlord encouragingly patted Li Wei on the shoulder.
"Work hard, kid."
"When you get rich someday, don't forget me."
Li Wei: "..."
Not long afterward, at a private clinic.
The leader of the Iron Fist Gang, Iron Fist Avery, sat beside his younger brother Aubrey's hospital bed, quietly listening to the report from his subordinate.
"Boss, we went to that kid's home immediately. But he slipped away fast and had already packed up and run."
"Where did he go?" Avery asked coldly.
Unlike his bloated younger brother Aubrey, Iron Fist Avery was tall and powerfully built. Excessively developed muscles crowded every part of his body capable of growing muscle like tumors, making him look as terrifying as a mutated mountain of flesh.
Simply sitting there, he exuded enough pressure to leave his subordinate unable to speak.
"I-I don't know... I don't know where he ran to. But that kid's sister studies at Piltover University. He should probably go there. But, Boss, you know Piltover University. We don't dare cause trouble there..."
"Mm." Avery nodded noncommittally.
Unable to gauge his thoughts, the subordinate could only continue reporting. "Boss, we made another discovery."
"That kid may have run, but we ran into his landlord. According to the landlord, that Li Wei seemed to..."
"Seemed to what?"
"Seemed to have found himself a rich sugar mommy." The subordinate delivered intelligence that sounded like it came straight out of a movie script. "The landlord said Li Wei appeared with a pink-haired young lady from a wealthy family. Their relationship looked extremely intimate."
"Huh?" Aubrey, who was lying on the hospital bed wrapped up like a dumpling in bandages, could not stay still.
He had kindly offered to introduce Li Wei to a rich woman, only to be beaten into this state by Li Wei.
And now that brat had found himself a rich woman on his own? Fuck!
"Wait. Is that real? Wasn't he so broke a few days ago that he couldn't repay his debts? How did he suddenly latch onto a rich person?"
"It should be real. That landlord gave a detailed account. It didn't sound made up."
"Then who exactly did he latch onto?"
"Well, according to the landlord, the rich woman Li Wei latched onto was his boss's daughter."
"That would be the Hextech Sound Factory." Boss Avery frowned slightly. "Mr. Ervin's daughter?"
"Yes." The subordinate nodded, then asked, "Boss, what do we do next? Should we send all our brothers out to search the whole city for that brat?"
"Do it!" Aubrey nodded through gritted teeth.
Li Wei had beaten him like this in public, robbed him of all his money, and utterly humiliated him.
If Li Wei did not die, how could he show his face in the underworld again?
"Send all our brothers out! Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we have to find that little bastard!" Aubrey snarled.
But his gang leader brother merely shot him a cold glare.
"Shut up! Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough already?"
"You used Shimmer on Piltover's streets, and even after using it, you still couldn't beat him. If we were still in Zaun, you pig would have died a hundred fucking times already!"
"Brother..." Fat Aubrey shut his mouth aggrievedly.
Avery ignored him completely and merely instructed his subordinate.
"We still need to find him, but don't rush to make a move once you do. Especially the young lady beside Li Wei. Do not hurt her under any circumstances."
"Why?" Aubrey protested. "Isn't she just that boss Ervin's daughter?"
"Ervin is only a small business owner, Brother. It's not like we can't afford to offend him!"
"I was beaten into this state in the street. If we don't get revenge, where will the Iron Fist Gang's pride go?"
"What the fuck do you know?" Avery immediately switched to Zaunite profanity whenever he saw his brother. "How many fucking times have I told you? This isn't Zaun. This is Piltover!"
"Aubrey, what do you think we are?"
"The gang bosses of Piltover. Just like Zaun's Chem-Barons."
"Barons my fucking ass!" Avery slapped his brother across the face. "Those Zaunite pieces of trash are fucking barons? Other than Silco and Renata, who are somewhat worth looking at, the rest are all fucking dogs Piltovans let loose in Zaun!"
"Huh?" Aubrey did not understand.
Zaun's Chem-Barons were all Piltovans' dogs. Then what did that make them, who spent every day in Piltover watching people's expressions?
"We're dogs too. House dogs kept indoors on leashes, even more lowly than them."
"Understand? Dogs don't need pride. They only need to please their masters."
"No matter how little influence Ervin has, he's still a Piltovan, a Piltover business owner. We absolutely cannot go too far in dealing with him. That is the bottom line Piltovans have drawn for us."
"Otherwise, if house dogs bite their masters, they'll be slaughtered for meat."
"Then what do we do?" Aubrey's eyes widened.
Could it be that just because Li Wei had somehow gotten involved with a small business owner, he had to admit defeat and remain a swollen-faced pig?
Fuck. That was far too humiliating!
"Brother, are you really not going to stand up for me?"
"Of course I will. We'll just use a different method."
"What method?" Aubrey was stunned.
They were gangsters. If they were not taking physical revenge, what other method could they use?
"You pig." Avery glared at his brother irritably. "Let me ask you: did Li Wei beat you?"
"Of course."
"Who struck first?"
"He did."
"Did he also rob you of your money?"
"Yes."
"Does he still possess illegal Shimmer?"
"Yes."
"Are you a Piltover citizen, and is he a Zaunite Apprentice?"
"Yes..."
"Legally speaking, shouldn't that kid go to prison?"
Aubrey: "."
Holy shit, that was true.
A lowly Zaunite had beaten a Piltover citizen in the street and caused serious injuries, openly robbed him of property, and possessed illegal drugs. That was enough to have him dragged out and shot.
They had the law on their side, and they had strong ties with the Enforcers. Even if Ervin was willing to protect that kid, he probably would not be able to.
"Exactly." Avery turned to his subordinate. "Go report it to the authorities."
"Those Enforcers have accepted so many of our tributes. It's time they did some work."
Before you continue