"Spirit Blossom Gang, move out!"
Up on the tower, Scar dropped down from above. As he pulled his mask over his face, he shouted the order, his boots planted on a turbine-powered board built by Ekko.
Behind Scar was a group of fighters who used to belong to the Firelights—now members of the Spirit Blossom Gang stationed in Firefly Community.
Every one of them was battle-hardened. They'd fought Zaun's gangs more times than they could count, and in a situation like this, they all wore night-vision goggles made by Ekko. Riding their boards, they dove straight into the battlefield below.
The moment Scar entered the fight, his spear punched clean through an Enforcer's body. Using the board's speed, the momentum ripped the Enforcer off his feet and sent him flying.
Scar twisted his board, then surged into the thick haze again, his spear sweeping across the Enforcers' line.
Vi was at the very front of the resistance. Her fists were already slick with blood, and she'd even had the sense to rip an Enforcer's helmet off and put it on herself—boosting her combat power by a lot.
Because even if the helmet didn't have any night-vision or anti-fog feature…
It filtered air.
The smoke Jinx had made was highly irritating. Being able to endure it was one thing—but not having to endure it was obviously better, wasn't it?
Zaunites and Pilties slammed into each other under the blue haze, and the fight dragged old memories out of more than a few elders in Zaun.
But this time was different.
Last time, the bridge was Piltover's ground.
Today… this was Zaun's.
At the same time, Logan stood quietly off to the side, watching. Beside him, Isha held a monocular up to her eye, scanning here and there. Whenever she got too excited, she'd shove the monocular toward Logan—
Only for Logan to shake his head.
People were going to die.
Not just Enforcers. People from Hope Community were going to die too.
Logan watched the chaos below, a feeling twisting in his chest.
Unlike Jinx, Logan couldn't look at a scene like this without discomfort—because it wasn't only Enforcers dying. Zaunites would die as well.
With that thought, Logan reached out and patted Isha on the head, warning her not to run around up here.
Then Logan jumped down.
If he could save one person, that was one person saved.
Even if doing this meant the situation might drift away from the outcome Logan had predicted…
He still couldn't do it the way Silco did—treating deaths like acceptable sacrifices and calculated numbers.
They weren't units of Zaun.
They were living people.
——————
Night, the Forgen Tavern.
Downstairs, Silco's people were drinking and celebrating. The Enforcers moving into the Sump wasn't going to cause problems for Silco—because Marcus would handle those little headaches for him.
So not only had Silco's people not left the Sump…
They'd gathered together instead, hidden away.
When a black-haired young man walked into the bar wearing a strange hat, every one of them stood up at once.
Their eyes flashed with a kind of feverish excitement as they looked at him.
Sevika was there too, and nobody knew who started clapping first—but the scattered applause quickly became unified, until the entire tavern was ringing with it.
"What's this?" Logan asked, startled, looking at Sevika.
Sevika lifted her chin. A rare smile tugged at her usually grim face as she raised her glass.
"To Zaun," she said, "and to the great hero who won us a victory."
"To Zaun!"
"Well done, Logan!"
"You actually drove the Enforcers back—unbelievable!"
With Sevika leading, everyone in the tavern raised their drinks to Logan.
A tall, skinny man in a punk-style jacket poured a cup and walked right up to Logan.
"Here," he said, smiling as he offered it. "Today was one hell of a sight. Made us damn happy."
Logan took the drink, raised it to the room in acknowledgment, and downed it in one go.
Sevika waved a hand to quiet the noise, then looked at Logan. "Boss is waiting for you upstairs. Go on."
"Yeah." Logan nodded.
Logan climbed to the second floor and pushed the door open.
Soft music drifted through the room. Silco seemed to have changed into a fresh set of clothes, sitting straight-backed behind the table, looking up at Logan.
When he saw Logan, he showed a rare smile—normally he never had a pleasant expression around Logan. He extended a hand with practiced elegance and spoke softly.
"You're here. Sit."
Logan sat across from him.
"I knew you'd come," Silco said. "What is it—got a lot you want to say to me?"
"Yeah." Logan nodded, looking him in the eye.
Silco calmly picked up the bottle. "Not yet," he said, unhurried. Then he poured two empty glasses, slid the first one to Logan, and lifted the second toward him.
"This one," Silco said, "I drink to you."
Logan drank.
Silco poured again.
This wasn't weak stuff. It was hard liquor.
Silco drained the second glass in one swallow. "Second one," he said quietly. "To them."
Logan drank again.
Silco poured a third.
He downed it as well, and a look of satisfaction flickered in his eyes. "Logan," he said, "to Zaun."
After three cups, Silco tugged at his collar and leaned back slightly.
"I know what you're thinking," he said.
"How many died on your side?"
"Thirteen." Logan hesitated, then answered.
"Eight Spirit Blossom Gang members. Five residents from Hope Community. A lot more are injured and getting treated," Logan said.
"You're softer than I thought you'd be," Silco said with a smile. "But that's fine."
That made Logan's expression darken.
Did Silco think the number was too low?
"…" Logan didn't speak.
He stared at Silco and asked, "You knew from the start?"
"Yeah," Silco said. "From the moment I had Sevika warn you the Enforcers were coming down—and you didn't strike, you pulled your people in and hid your strength—I could already guess what you were trying to do."
Maybe he'd drunk too fast. There was a haze in Silco's face now.
He planted an elbow on the table, spread his fingers, and propped his face up as he continued, voice low:
"You succeeded, Logan. You did what neither Vander nor I could."
"Even Vander couldn't wake ordinary people up and make them resist Piltover. Back then, the ones who fought…" Silco said, voice drifting. "They were people with no way left out. People driven by hunger."
"But this time is different," Silco said. "They chose to resist. This is truly different."
"They didn't do it for food or money."
"They did it for Zaun."
Silco narrowed his eyes, as if genuinely thinking. "Now then… how should I praise you?"
Logan looked at him like he was done with this and said coldly, "I'm not Jinx. I don't need your encouragement, Silco. I'm here to give you the answer I didn't give you back then. To finish the deal I didn't complete."
"I understand," Silco said, nodding. "But those are two different things."
He poured himself another glass and spoke evenly.
"I'll slow Shimmer down. I don't need Shimmer to make money anymore—I already made what I needed. Not like Piltover's merchants, but enough."
"But Shimmer production can't stop completely. I think you understand that too."
"You lit the fire," Silco said. "Shimmer will add fuel to it."
Silco looked at Logan, pushed the glass toward him, and smiled.
"Logan."
"Next time… it's our turn to go over there."
He raised his glass.