A conspiracy against Lux's mining team was brewing.
However, Lux, who was working alongside the miners, was almost completely unaware of it.
Although Lux now had Janna as her "eyes and ears," unfortunately, due to Janna's severely diminished faith, her divine power had almost completely vanished.
Janna was once the Storm Goddess who could summon storms over the endless ocean; Noxhi and Shuriman people traveling the seas would always prepare birdseed on their ships to welcome the possible arrival of the azure bird.
But as the Shurima Empire, at the Twilight God's behest, "cleansed false idols," Janna lost her authority; even though Klein helped her retain the most crucial part of her divine office, and even though she was still the rightful "Storm God" of Runeterra, all Janna could do now in Zaun was listen to the wind's sounds and stir up a refreshing breeze to dispel the smog.
Legend has it that when Janna was at her most powerful, she could hear every sailor's call, an existence that could "see the whole map" at sea.
But now, even in just a corner of Zaun, she could only focus on a fraction of the messages in the wind.
In this situation, the information she could provide was truly limited.
Lux only knew that the Noxians were watching her, but that was all.
While Piltover's explorers were rubbing their hands together, eager to rush into Zaun, Lux was still competing with Vi.
Powder had prepared a simple "exoskeleton frame" for Vi, but unfortunately, it was unreliable; not only did it fail to help Vi surpass her in one go, but it also delayed her even more on the way.
Moreover, because this "exoskeleton" was attached to parts of Vi's clothes, when it malfunctioned, a large piece of Vi's jacket back was torn off.
Seeing this, even the usually composed Lux couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably, while Mylo and Claggor immediately ran away, fearing they might see something unpleasant.
"Wear this," Lux said, after she had laughed enough, finally taking off her jacket and handing it to Vi, "Powder didn't mean it... Hahahaha, it's still so funny!"
Facing the jacket Lux offered, Vi instinctively wanted to refuse, but just then, a gust of wind blew, entering the torn part of Vi's clothes behind her back; the cool wind made her shiver violently, forcing her to swallow the latter half of her refusal.
"I won't—thanks."
"Haha, you're welcome, you're welcome." Lux waved her hand, "Looks like my clothes are a bit small for you... What do you usually eat to grow so strong?"
"I remember you asked that question," Vi said, barely managing to use Lux's jacket as a shawl to cover her back, "I like to eat Gromp."
"Can that thing really be eaten?" Lux couldn't help but grimace, "I specifically went to the black market last night to take a look, and with all due respect, it looks quite scary."
"Ha, I think being hungry is scarier." Vi stretched her body, and feeling that it was fine, she reached out and ruffled Powder's head, turning her blue short hair into a bird's nest, then picked up her water bucket, and also propped the broken exoskeleton under her arm, "Having something to eat is always better than having nothing—and, Gromp really tastes good."
"Vander would still let you starve?" Lux asked incredulously, "Surely not..."
"That was before that," Vi shook her head, "I moved into The Last Drop when I was ten."
"Vander isn't your father?" Lux's eyes widened, "I thought—"
"No, but close enough," Vi pouted, speaking in a tone as if it were not worth mentioning, "My old man and he charged up the Sun Gates together. Vander came back, he didn't. After that, I followed Vander."
"I've heard of that conflict," Lux nodded, "The Last Drop opened after that?"
"The Last Drop had been there for a long time," Vi swayed, carrying the bucket, "But back then, Vander wasn't the boss; my old man and his friends took turns watching the shop... That was a long, long time ago."
"I didn't know any of this!" Powder, who had re-arranged her hair and put on her hair clip, finally caught up, carrying her small bucket, "Vander never tells me these things."
"If it weren't for Lux, who would talk about these things?" Vi tilted her head, glancing at Powder who was walking beside her, "Only a young lady like her would be interested in the past—"
"Because the past is like footprints; it marks where we came from and reminds us that there's still a long way ahead," Lux said, using a phrase Klein had told her, "And besides, it's quite good just to listen to as a story."
"A story?" Powder looked interested, "Like the venom-secreting slug monsters and spiky crab monsters?"
"No, it's a historical story," Lux said, smiling and raising an eyebrow at Powder, "About the gods and the origin of Zaun."
"Gods? You still believe in that stuff?" Hearing Lux say that, Vi curled her lips in disdain, "Or is it that you mages all like these... mysterious things?"
"Gods truly exist," Lux, now accustomed to Vi's way of speaking, said, "She has always been here and has always watched over Zaun."
"Watched this place be eroded by toxic gas, watched the people here not even be able to fill their bellies, watched Piltoverians come here to show off, or watched one unlucky soul after another die on the Sun Gates dam?" Vi snorted, "Zaun doesn't have any gods; that stuff can't even fool Powder."
"No, Zaun does," Lux shook her head, "The Wind of Change has always favored this city, and even though she has become part of folklore, she continues to protect the future of this city in her own way."
"That's great, but unfortunately, I don't see any future," Vi still shook her head, "Wind of Change... sounds like something a Piltoverian would say."
"You see, no one pays attention to history, so no one remembers the Wind of Change's choice," Lux recalled a story Janna had told her, "No one even remembers that when the Piltover Grand Canal was first dug, it was the Wind of Change that prevented the most terrible subsidence and suppressed the underground toxic gas to a corner of Lower Zaun."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Vi blinked, looking at Lux strangely, "Didn't you say the Wind of Change was protecting Zaun? Then how could she be involved with the Piltover Canal?"
"Because Piltover was originally part of Zaun," Lux put down her bucket, "Zaun and Piltover were originally one."
Klein's Small Class: The Separation of Piltover:
Although Piltover's name is now more prominent than Zaun's, Piltover was actually originally a part of Zaun—so from this perspective, Piltover and Zaun are not so much Twin Cities as two districts of one city.