"As a traveler, I've been in Piltover for ten days, and now I'm visiting Zaun. Is there anything surprising about that?" Noticing Marcus's surprise, Lux casually picked up a cup from the bar and handed it to Ino. "I heard Piltover recently blockaded some goods from Zaun… but they haven't blockaded tourists yet, have they?"
"Of course not." Watching as a large amount of ice formed inside the cup in Ino's hand, then quickly melted into clear water and returned to Lux's hand, Marcus swallowed his questioning words, reverting to his slightly dull demeanor from before. "Well then, I wish you a pleasant journey?"
"Thank you." Lux raised the cup, then grimaced in distaste. "Vander, your cups need a good cleaning!"
"Oh, Miss Lux," Marcus said, narrowing his eyes slightly as he watched Lux joke with Vander as if no one else was there. "I have a wanted poster here—I hope that as a kindhearted citizen of Piltover, you'll keep an eye out during your travels in Zaun."
Saying this, he took a scroll from his waist, placed it on the bar, and then pulled down the brim of his hat.
Having done all this, Marcus finally turned around, gathered his Enforcers, and left The Last Drop.
Lux, meanwhile, unrolled the scroll, examined the four portraits on it, and then pouted.
"They're drawn so ugly," Lux said, flipping the wanted poster to the back. "Vander, do you have a pen here?"
"What for?" Vander asked, looking at Lux with some surprise. "What do you need a pen for?"
"To draw, of course!" Lux stood up and, with a flick of her hand, pulled a pen from Vander's ledger book behind the bar. "You're welcome!"
As she spoke, Lux, with astonishing speed, began to quickly sketch on the paper the four figures she had seen that day—though they were only backs, Vander recognized their identities at a glance.
Vi, Powder, Mylo, Claggor.
They were the four mischievous kids who had blown up Jayce's house that day.
"Now, this is more like it!" Lux nodded cheerfully, then handed the paper to Vander. "Give this to them as a gift—you're welcome."
…
Lux's almost disruptive attitude made the Enforcers somewhat wary.
They couldn't quite grasp Lux's intentions.
Well, not only did they not know, but even Lux herself didn't know why Klein wanted her to put on such a performance.
"What exactly is going on, Klein?" Back in her room, Lux finally couldn't hold back anymore. "Why did you want me to directly provoke Marcus? This clearly doesn't solve the problem!"
"This isn't provocation; it's a show of strength. It's not for Marcus to see, but for Vander to see," Klein explained. "In your opinion, what should we do next?"
"Increase workers' income, prohibit highly polluting waste from entering residential areas, and clarify Zaun's laws—in short, ensure that the gold hex flowing into Piltover through the Sun Gates can also flow smoothly into Zaun." Lux had clearly thought about this issue. "It has been proven that Zaunites contributed their sweat to Piltover's prosperity; they have the right and the qualification to enjoy the glory of evolution."
"Well said." Klein was very satisfied with Lux's response. "But do you think the people of Piltover will honestly allow all this to happen?"
"They won't." Lux shook her head. "So, we need to unite the Zaunites, which is why I can understand your rejection of Marcus, but I don't understand why you used this method; it won't make him let go."
"That's why I said it's for Vander to see; this is the method he's most likely to accept," Klein snorted. "He clearly has many things he can't figure out himself, yet he's terribly stubborn and unwilling to humbly accept others' opinions—such a person is difficult to persuade with words. Don't let his rough exterior fool you; he's more squeamish than anyone on the inside."
"…So you mean?"
"Cooperation needs to be built on trust, but it's difficult for us to establish initial trust with him," Klein explained. "Threatening Marcus is both an expression of goodwill and a way to make him a little wary."
"Wary?"
"Exactly, it's that wariness that forces cooperation," Klein affirmed. "And there's nothing wrong with that—whether it's coercion or persuasion, as long as true cooperation begins, trust can be established."
At this moment, Lux suddenly thought of herself.
It seemed Klein had also used threats at the very beginning to make her accept him…
"Moreover, this also ensures that we maintain a dominant position in the cooperation." Klein clearly didn't know what Lux was thinking. He paused, then added, "We're not the only ones watching Zaun."
"Someone else is watching Zaun?" Lux shook her head, disbelievingly. "Wait, when did you know? How do you know something I don't?"
"It's Noxus." Klein had no intention of keeping her in suspense. "Remember what Janna mentioned? Someone once tried to find Kallikan's laboratory."
"To my knowledge, Piltover's exploration ventures have always been thriving, so it's not unusual for someone to set their sights on the ancient ruins beneath this land," Lux said, very puzzled. "Besides, Janna said they were from Piltover—what does that have to do with Noxus?"
"It is indeed very possible for Piltover's antique dealers to target those ruins that can unearth treasures," Klein said with a gritted-teeth tone. "Those scoundrels dig up graves and do everything imaginable, but the one thing that's certain is they won't do a losing business."
"Uh, can you be more direct?"
"Normal explorers would search for treasures according to legends, but Kallikan's laboratory is a secret, known to very few people, and absolutely would not be leaked to Piltover's grave robbers," Klein explained. "The passage to the laboratory is already broken, so Piltover's explorers couldn't possibly get any information about the laboratory—yet they are consciously searching for it."
"…"
"The only possibility for this situation is that someone detected the energy leaking from the laboratory, or perhaps they simply had some knowledge of the Northern Series experiments at the time," Klein continued. "Besides those Noxus, who else would spend a fortune exploring and even hiring explorers for something like this?"
"If that's the case, if we're going to excavate Kallikan's laboratory, won't we also have to face competition from Noxus?" Lux's eyes widened in surprise. "And Piltover's explorers?"
"Pretty much, which is why I called you back immediately; we must seize the initiative," Klein sighed. "Alright, I admit I made a small mistake; I underestimated the keen sense of smell of the Noxus. Fortunately, it's not too late to discover it now, after all, they have to explore slowly, but we know the destination."
"…"
Lux was quite surprised; she had never seen Klein admit her own problems before, even in such an understated way.
"So, the original plan needs to be slightly changed," Klein continued in her calm tone. "I need to expand the plan a little more…"