The Black Path's Method of Retaliation (Seeking Monthly Votes, Recommendation Votes~)

Li Wei tentatively accepted Seraphine and allowed her to stay by his side.

He planned to head to Piltover University with Seraphine first to find his sister, and along the way, chat more to get a thorough understanding of this young lady's state of mind.

But before they could start talking much or go far, Li Wei had just taken the lead down to the apartment building's entrance, with Seraphine lagging a few steps behind, when he ran into a familiar face at the stairwell—

That fat landlord, Mr. Bill.

"Hey!" Mr. Bill jangled the keys in his pocket and called out as soon as he saw Li Wei: "Stop right there! Where do you think you're going?"

"A whole night's gone by—have you scraped together the months of rent you owe me? I'm not joking around here. If you can't pay up today, you can pack your bags and crawl back to Zaun! Ugh, you Zaunites..."

Li Wei immediately halted and looked up at the landlord.

Somehow, after just one night, Mr. Bill inexplicably felt that this kid's demeanor had changed.

Caught off guard by Li Wei's sharp glare, he even felt a flicker of fear.

"Wh-what do you want?" Seeing Li Wei slowly approach, Mr. Bill stopped his cursing.

He instinctively stepped back two paces.

But Li Wei simply handed him a money pouch: "This is the rent I owe you. Please take it."

"This..." Mr. Bill's face was full of surprise.

He hadn't expected Li Wei to be so straightforward this time.

"Wait." Mr. Bill suddenly thought of something: "I ran into a rich young lady earlier. She was specifically looking for you and asked me where you lived."

"Tell me, Li Wei. You're not..."

"You didn't latch onto a sugar mommy, did you?"

"You're overthinking it." Li Wei rolled his eyes.

"Really?" Mr. Bill was still skeptical: "Other than that, what kind of job could earn you months of rent in one night?"

Li Wei was speechless. But he couldn't help it—he had the kind of face that looked like he could make a living that way.

"I didn't do anything. This is just my advance on next month's salary." Li Wei casually explained, then solemnly placed the money pouch into the landlord's hands.

Mr. Bill was grumpily opening the pouch to count the coins when he unexpectedly heard Li Wei say to him: "Thank you, Mr. Bill."

"Huh?"

"You helped us when my sister and I were at our most desperate." Li Wei was genuinely thanking him, not just being polite.

He was saying this on behalf of the original owner.

Even though Mr. Bill's insults were harsh and his words were sharp, the original owner never really hated him.

Because a landlord who could tolerate a Zaunite apprentice skipping rent for months on end before finally threatening to kick them out—among Piltover's landlords, that was a good person you couldn't find even with a lantern.

If Mr. Bill had been crueler, his sister might have died on the streets long ago.

Debts owed had to be repaid.

And a thank-you was only right.

"Li Wei." Mr. Bill's gaze turned complicated.

He silently accepted the rent money, then looked at Li Wei with emotion:

"It's still a bit short."

"Huh?"

"The money's still short. Not enough."

"..." Li Wei knew that too. One month's salary plus the few silver wheels he'd taken from Aubrey still fell a little short.

So, as usual, he spread his hands: "This is all I've got. I'll pay back the rest later."

"You little brat!" Mr. Bill's fat face darkened, and he instinctively wanted to curse. But this time, he held back: "Fine, I'll let you stay here a couple more days."

"Don't forget to pay back the rest!"

Mr. Bill huffed, his face sour.

Then, the next second, he saw—

The beautiful, refined young lady who had asked him for directions earlier came panting down the stairs.

"Mr. Li Wei, please slow down."

"I'm a bit out of strength."

Seraphine was naturally delicate, and having run all the way here in excitement, she was indeed tired now.

She instinctively wanted to find something to lean on.

But this rundown apartment building was shabby everywhere—the walls and railings were all dirtier than the next, leaving Seraphine with no place she could bear to touch.

So she subconsciously reached out to put her hand on Li Wei's shoulder.

But Li Wei, as if shocked by electricity, pushed the noble young lady away:

"Let go! Didn't I tell you? Don't touch me anymore unless it's necessary!"

"S-sorry." Seraphine hastily stepped back two paces, looking shy and obedient.

"Tsk." The landlord was dumbfounded.

"Li Wei." After his shock, Mr. Bill couldn't help asking, "You're, you're in this kind of shape, and you still owe me rent. Isn't that a bit much?"

"No, you've got it wrong." Li Wei's face darkened. "She's actually my factory boss's daughter, here to see me."

"The boss's daughter?!" Mr. Bill's expression grew even more colorful.

Then, who knows what he imagined. "Forget it, Li Wei. You've got promise. Forget that little bit of money."

With that, the landlord patted his shoulder encouragingly:

"Kid, work hard."

"Don't forget me when you're rich and famous."

Li Wei: "..."

Some time later, at a private clinic.

Iron Fist Avery, the boss of the Iron Fist Gang, sat before his younger brother Aubrey's hospital bed, quietly listening to a subordinate's report.

"Boss, we went to that kid's place right away. But he slipped out fast—packed up and ran."

"Ran where?" Avery asked coldly.

Unlike his pudgy younger brother Aubrey, Iron Fist Avery was tall and burly, with overdeveloped muscles crammed into every spot on his body where muscle could grow, making him look like a terrifying mutated mountain of flesh.

Just sitting there, his presence alone could silence his underlings:

"D-don't know. No idea where he went. But that kid's sister studies at Piltover University, so he'll probably head there. But boss, you know Piltover University. We wouldn't dare start trouble there."

"Mm." Avery nodded noncommittally.

The subordinate couldn't read his mind, so he continued: "Boss, we also found something else:"

"Even though the kid ran, we ran into his landlord. According to the landlord, that Li Wei seems to—"

"Seems to what?"

"Seems to have latched onto a rich woman." The subordinate delivered this piece of intel like a movie script. "The landlord said Li Wei showed up with some pink-haired young lady. They looked really close."

"Huh?" On the hospital bed, Aubrey, already wrapped up in bandages like a dumpling, couldn't stay still.

He'd "kindly" offered to set Li Wei up with a rich woman, and Li Wei had beaten him to this state.

And now this punk had gone and latched onto a rich woman himself? Damn it!

"Wait. Really? Wasn't he broke and in debt just a few days ago? How'd he suddenly land a rich woman?"

"Should be true. The landlord told it with details—didn't sound made up."

"Then who did he latch onto?"

"Well, according to the landlord, the one Li Wei latched onto is his boss's daughter."

"Meaning that 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 out all the brothers to hunt that bastard down across the city?"

"Do it!" Aubrey gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement.

He'd been beaten up in public by Li Wei, his money stolen, his face lost.

If Li Wei didn't die, how could he ever show his face on the streets again?

"Send out all the brothers! Dig three feet deep if we have to, but find that little bastard!" Aubrey cursed viciously.

But his gang-leader brother only shot him a cold glare:

"Shut up! Haven't you embarrassed us enough?"

"Using Shimmer on the streets of Piltover, and still losing even after that. If we were still in Zaun, you fat pig would've been dead a hundred times over!"

"Bro—" The pudgy Aubrey shut his mouth in grievance.

Avery ignored him entirely, only instructing the subordinate:

"Keep looking, but don't act rashly when you find him. Especially that young lady with Li Wei—don't hurt her."

"Why not?" Aubrey protested. "Isn't she just that Mr. Ervin's daughter?"

"Ervin's just a small business owner, bro. It's not like we can't afford to offend him!"

"I got beaten up like this in broad daylight. If I don't get revenge, where's the Iron Fist Gang's face gonna go?"

"You don't know shit!" Avery snapped at his brother in pure Zaunite. "How many times do I have to tell you? This isn't Zaun—it's Piltover!"

"Aubrey, what do you think we are?"

"We're the gang bosses of Piltover. Just like the Chem-Barons of Zaun."

"Baron my ass!" Avery slapped his brother across the face. "Those Zaunite scumbags aren't fit to be called barons! Aside from Silco and Renata, the rest are all just dogs the Piltovans keep in Zaun!"

"Huh?" Aubrey was confused.

The Chem-Barons of Zaun are already the Piltovans' dogs. So what does that make them, the ones who have to read Piltovan expressions every single day?

"We're dogs too—house dogs kept on leashes at home, even lower than them."

"Get it? Dogs don't need face; they just need to please their master."

"No matter how small Erwin's influence is, he's still a Piltovan, a business owner from Piltover—when dealing with him, we absolutely can't go too far. That's the bottom line the Piltovans have drawn for us."

"Otherwise, if a house dog bites its master, it gets killed and eaten."

"Then what do we do?" Aubrey's eyes went wide.

Just because Li Wei had somehow gotten tangled up with some small-time business owner, was he supposed to tuck his tail and play the fool?

Fuck that. This was way too suffocating!

"Bro, are you really not going to stand up for me?"

"Of course I will, just in a different way."

"What way?" Aubrey was dumbfounded.

They were a gang, after all. If they weren't going to retaliate physically, what else could they use?

"You idiot." Avery shot his brother an exasperated glare. "Let me ask you—did Li Wei hit you?"

"Of course."

"Who threw the first punch?"

"He did."

"Did he also steal your money?"

"Yeah."

"Is he still in possession of illegal Shimmer?"

"Yeah."

"Are you a Piltovan citizen, and is he a Zaunite apprentice?"

"Yeah."

"By law, shouldn't this kid be going to jail?"

Aubrey: "..."

Holy shit, that was true.

A lowly Zaunite assaults a Piltovan citizen in public, causing serious injury, openly robs property, and possesses illegal drugs—that was enough to get him executed by firing squad.

They had the law on their side and solid connections with the Enforcers. Even if Erwin wanted to protect that kid, he probably couldn't.

"There you go." Avery turned to his underling. "Go file a report."

"Those Enforcers have taken plenty of tribute from us—it's time they earned it."