Caitlyn's Resolve

Chief Marcos, the top commander of Piltover's Enforcers and Caitlyn's highly respected superior.

"Y-you said what? Chief Marcos?" She could not believe it.

A young Enforcer going astray was one thing. The chief of Piltover's Enforcers being involved in crime and violence was something else entirely.

Inexperienced as she was, Caitlyn had been mentally prepared for the former. But she could not accept the latter no matter what.

Not just her. Even the Zaun students, who had always assumed the worst of Piltover Enforcers, stared in disbelief, their eyes widened to the limit.

"It-it's true!" Facing the terrifying pressure bearing down on him, the young Enforcer simply gave up and gritted his teeth. "Chief Marcos told me to do it."

"Did he say why?" Li Wei asked.

"No."

"Do you know me?"

"No."

"You didn't know why I deserved to die, and you had no grudge against me. Yet just because the chief gave you an order, you could kill me without the slightest hesitation."

"Tell me." The air current quietly accelerated, cold as a killing autumn wind. "This wasn't your first time, was it?"

"W-what?" Cold sweat streamed down the young Enforcer's face.

"Why are you so practiced at this?"

"How many people have you killed for the chief to be able to kill someone like this, without your heartbeat quickening or your breathing growing heavier?"

"How many times had things like this happened before? How many Enforcers were there like you? Over the years, how many innocent people had died beneath your guns?"

Li Wei's rapid-fire questions planted a terrifying thought in everyone's mind:

Yes. According to the "one cockroach means a thousand" theory, when you found one cockroach in your house, there had to be far more than one nest of them already lurking inside.

This Enforcer was merely a newcomer who had joined not long ago, yet he could carry out the chief's extrajudicial execution orders with such practiced ease.

What about the other Enforcers, then? They stood on the dry shore one after another, looking so righteous. Were they really that clean?

The expressions on the Enforcers present were a sight to behold. Some were shocked, some guilty, and some utterly expressionless.

The stubborn fire in Caitlyn's eyes quietly dissipated as well.

Even after Li Wei loosened his restraints at the right moment, she remained sprawled on the ground in a daze, lost in thought.

"Miss Caitlyn." Li Wei waved away the roaring air current. "Do you still believe Piltover's laws can bring me justice?"

Caitlyn had no answer.

"Think it over carefully. All of you, think it over carefully." Li Wei let out a deep sigh toward Caitlyn and the students, then prepared to leave again.

But just as he reached the doorway, Caitlyn staggered to her feet. "Wait."

"Is there something else?"

Caitlyn took a deep breath and said sincerely, "Mr. Li Wei, please stay."

"I believe Piltover's laws are not wrong, and the fairness and justice I pursue are not wrong. The only ones at fault are the parasites who have betrayed the word justice! So please stay and cooperate with my investigation—no matter who is behind this, I will bring him to justice!"

"Even if you have to face your colleagues?" Li Wei asked.

"Yes!" She nodded firmly.

"Even Chief Marcos?"

"...Yes!" Her gaze became even more resolute.

As she spoke, Caitlyn actually drew a pair of handcuffs from her waist. With a click, she snapped them onto the young Enforcer's wrists.

"You are under arrest." She showed no mercy toward her colleague. "The people behind you won't get away either."

"Miss Caitlyn!" The older officer leading the group looked helpless. "Please, don't—don't make trouble! That's Chief Marcos! If that man wants to leave, just let him leave! All you're doing is throwing all of Piltover into chaos and causing trouble for everyone!"

Caitlyn remained completely unmoved by her superior's earnest persuasion.

She merely looked at Li Wei with utter sincerity. "Mr. Li Wei, can you trust me once more? Can you trust Piltover's law and justice once more?"

If it had been before, Li Wei would only have laughed silently at such a naive question.

But the same words carried entirely different weight when spoken by different people.

"Miss Caitlyn." Li Wei did not answer, instead asking, "Are you speaking to me as Enforcer Caitlyn—"

"Or are you making me a promise as Caitlyn Kiramman, the daughter of the Kiramman family?"

"Huh? How did you know I was—"

"That isn't important. I only want to confirm which identity you're speaking under. If it's the former, there is no need for us to talk."

"..." Caitlyn's face flushed red.

What she hated most was having people label her as a councilor's daughter while ignoring her own aspirations and efforts. She only wanted to be an ordinary Enforcer, one who did not rely on her family's influence.

But Li Wei told her bluntly, "Be honest, Miss Kiramman."

"If you didn't have a good mother and a good background, the things you just said would have been enough to get you killed alongside me."

"You enjoy the privileges your family background gives you while desperately rejecting its existence. Don't you think that's deceiving yourself?"

Caitlyn's face burned as if she had a fever.

Before this, no one had ever dared to speak to her that way, even if they might have all thought the same thing.

"I-I understand." She bit her lip tightly and made her promise unwillingly. "I swear on the honor of the Kiramman family that I will ensure your safety, Mr. Li Wei, and uncover the full truth behind this matter!"

"No matter who has committed crimes and broken the law, I will not let him escape punishment!"

"Miss Caitlyn!" The older officer was still pleading softly. "Please calm down first—ah!"

Even Li Wei asked her in an amused tone, "'The full truth,' 'no matter who.' Miss Kiramman, are you sure you want to do this?"

"I am!" Caitlyn stressed. "Even if Chief Marcos is the criminal, I will not back down!"

"What if it isn't just Chief Marcos? What if someone even more important is involved?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. I was just asking." Li Wei had indeed only asked casually.

He did not know about the tangled interests between Marcos and the Iron Fist Gang.

But based on the history he had studied, whether it was Earth's history or Runeterra's history—

In an "ancient dynasty" like Piltover, which had remained unchanged for three hundred years, once certain matters were investigated, what emerged was often not one person, but an entire web.

People connected to people, webs connected to webs. Their forces were deeply intertwined, their tentacles stretching in every direction.

They were not merely rotten, corrupt flesh.

They might very well be the veins and meridians of this ancient city itself, brimming with life and inexhaustible vitality.

Uncovering the full truth sounded easy, but doing it was difficult.

A hotheaded idealist like Caitlyn was worthy of admiration, but—

"You probably can't change anything." Li Wei murmured with a sigh.

"What did you say?" Caitlyn had not heard him clearly.

"Nothing." People who had the ability to do good and were willing to do it were always good people.

Every cockroach killed meant one less cockroach. Every piece of rotten flesh cut away meant less rot. There was certainly positive meaning in it. It was better than doing nothing at all.

There was no need for him to put on a world-weary, cynical air and make snide remarks to a passionate young person like Caitlyn.

And beyond snide remarks, Li Wei did have some grand principles he could explain.

But given Caitlyn's class background, he truly did not dare casually explain those principles to her and let her know what exactly he wanted to do.

Besides, some truths were useless when spoken aloud.

She had to experience them herself.

"Then, Miss Caitlyn." Li Wei firmly took the hand Caitlyn had offered him. "Since you want to clean up this city, I will accompany you and see—"

"Where this city's filth truly comes from!"