The potential for "officials colluding with thieves" clearly stirred Lux's sense of justice; she gave up the rest of her half-day holiday and, pulling Ino along, plunged headfirst into Zaun.
Following the map purchased at the bookstore, they first headed south, passed through the Academy District, entered the border area between Piltover and Zaun, then took an elevator, descending over a hundred meters, before truly entering Zaun.
However, before Lux could properly take in Zaun, she scurried back to Piltover—and in the literal sense of scurried.
Zaun's chem-smog was simply too severe, causing Lux to cough incessantly and her nose to run the moment she entered it.
Under these circumstances, she had no choice but to temporarily leave and return to Piltover to buy two filters.
"It's truly unbelievable." Lux, arriving in Zaun again, breathed in air that still carried a burnt smell even after filtering. Lux shook her head helplessly, "Zaun's environment is actually this terrible. These Zaunites… don't they cough?"
"Perhaps they've grown accustomed to it," Klein said calmly. "For them, the price of filters is probably unbearable, and they've been born and raised here since childhood, so they might have already adapted to the air and the smog here."
"That's truly awful." Lux shook her head again, then looked at Ino beside her, "Are you alright?"
"I—I'm fine?" Ino blinked, "The smell here is indeed a bit bad, but… at least it's not as pungent as farm fertilizer."
"I'm not talking about the smell, but the smog." Lux wanted to rub her nose, but ultimately could only tap on her filter, "Before, I even felt like my throat was sealed—well, let's not talk about that. I want to look at this place… Hmm, what kind of mural is this? The lines are quite smooth, but the composition looks like a total mess."
"This must be Zaunite art, then?" Klein also spoke with some surprise, "It really does have a sense of being rough but effective. Although it's not that refined, it always has a peculiar impact."
Then, as Lux leaned on her sword, observing the graffiti on the wall and chatting with Klein, a group of children carrying boxes passed by her.
Although they seemed to be trying hard to step aside, a seemingly restless little fellow accidentally bumped into Lux.
Just as he was muttering something under his breath and trying to continue forward with his box, Lux, who had just been squatting by the wall, staring at the graffiti, suddenly stood up and grabbed him.
With one hand, Lux lifted the seemingly heavy box he had just been carrying, and with the other, she clamped onto his wrist—her fair and slender hand erupted with astonishing strength; even though the other party struggled fiercely, he couldn't break free.
"Petty theft is not a good habit."
Lux glanced at the contents of the box, placed it on the ground, and then pried open the hand she had seized.
In the palm of this little rascal, there was indeed a golden key—it was the key to the Locker where Lux had deposited all her belongings in the Ecliptic Vaults.
"Let me go, you Piltoverian!" Seeing that he couldn't break free, the other party angrily raised his fist, "This isn't theft, it's equivalent retaliation!"
As he spoke, the group of children also put down their boxes, which were performance props, and one by one, they pressed towards Lux.
It seemed they not only saw no problem with theft but also intended to strike Lux.
"Equivalent retaliation?" Lux shook her head, "I don't recall ever seeing you before."
At the same time, a crystal-clear ice blade appeared in Ino's hand—she revealed her identity as a mage.
Unfortunately, for the children of Zaun, magic… was something that only appeared in stories. Comparatively, they were more willing to believe that Ino was a trickster.
"Let him go!" These children all showed their fists, "Piltoverian, don't think you can scare people with such tricks!"
"That's right! Let him go!"
"Go call someone over!"
"You're finished!"
"…."
"…."
Although theoretically, Lux was also their peer, she clearly didn't care about the threats of these Zaunite children in the slightest.
Comparatively, Lux was more concerned with these people's attitude—they were clearly trying to steal her belongings, so why did they say it was retaliation? And why did they show no sign of being in the wrong?
Judging by their stance, were they going from theft to robbery?
Before Lux could clarify what was going on, these children had already resolutely raised their fists.
The next moment, as they charged towards Lux, the ground froze.
The Zaunite brats, who had never seen the ground freeze, quickly lost their balance. Their raised fists could only turn back into palms, supporting their bodies awkwardly—but even so, they still tumbled and scrambled towards Lux, seemingly still wanting to rescue the little fellow held by Lux.
"Quite loyal, huh?" Lux dragged the unlucky child with one hand and effortlessly dealt with the others who tried to cause her trouble with the other, making them fall, one by one, with bruised faces. "Too bad, you're still a bit too weak—how about this, you answer a few questions for me, and I'll let him go, how does that sound?"
At first, none of these Zaunite boys agreed. Even when Lux knocked them down again and again, they would only grit their teeth and charge back up.
But seeing that even all of them together couldn't do anything to Lux, they finally had no choice but to accept reality.
"You ask!" This group of Zaunite boys looked at each other and finally nominated a leader, "Ask whatever you want!"
"First question." Lux still held the captive with one hand, "Why are you stealing?"
"Ha, you idiotic Piltoverian!" Hearing this question, the leader snorted disdainfully, "What's there to ask 'why'? Piltover took everything from us, so isn't it only right for us to take from Piltoverians?"
(Meanwhile, the one caught by Lux was loudly shouting that it wasn't theft, but equivalent retaliation, and so on.)
This answer made Lux frown. She clearly couldn't quite understand what this guy was saying, so she simply asked her second question.
"…Second question, how do you know I'm from Piltover? Also, what did Piltoverians take from you?"
"Besides Piltoverians and consumptives, who else wears filters here?" The leader boy's mouth curved downwards as he pointed at Lux's filter. "As for what Piltoverians took from me—do my parents count?"
"???"
The sudden harsh words left Lux dumbfounded. She blinked, and after a moment of stunned silence, she realized that what this kid might be saying was… Piltoverians killed his parents?
Was it hatred driving them?
"Did Piltoverians kill them?" Lux sighed, "But that doesn't mean every Piltoverian has to pay the price for it—"
"Oh, then let's change it." The other party seemed completely unfazed by this. "Piltoverians' wastewater flows over my head every day with a gurgling sound, keeping me from sleeping. How's that for a reason? Or are you saying you never need to use the toilet?"
Even though Lux had traveled far and wide and was well-informed, she couldn't help but be dumbfounded when she heard such a raw, direct, and impactful answer.
Lux, who had thought she was quite good at communicating with people, suddenly found that she couldn't keep up with this Zaunite boy's line of thinking at all—or rather, the information revealed by this little fellow was simply too much for her to process in such a short time.
"Last question." Lux sighed, reaching up to press her temples, "Where's your person in charge?"
"In your hand." The other party pointed to the grimacing unlucky fellow held by Lux, "Ekko is our leader; we all listen to him."
"I mean, an adult who calls the shots." Lux emphasized the word "adult," "Not your child king!"
"…Fugen Tavern." The other party raised an eyebrow, "You can go find Vander, or Benso is fine too."
"Tavern owner?!" Lux was completely confused now. "Don't you have a leader—a mayor, governor, or council or something?"
"Zaun doesn't have that. If you really want to say, we only have Chem-Barons, but unfortunately, they can't control us."
"Alright, alright." Lux decided it was best not to argue with these Zaunite brats any longer. "Now, take me to Fugen Tavern, to meet your person in charge."
Klein's Small Class: Zaunite Graffiti:
Zaunite graffiti murals are known for their bold colors and avant-garde compositions, but according to some Piltoverian artists, these are "inferior products completed due to the Zaunites' impoverished artistic cultivation and limited paint choices, and have nothing to do with art."