Just like that... he left quietly?
Looking at the empty spot beside her where Faen should have been sitting cross-legged in meditation, Zeri felt a wave of loss in her heart for some reason.
But soon, a look of seriousness appeared in Zeri's eyes—born in Zaun, although appearing carefree, Zeri told herself to be calm in private.
Now that Faen finally showed his true colors, she immediately decided to tail him quietly to see what Faen exactly wanted to do.
If he was also working for the Chem-Barons and approached her for that...
Pursing her lips, Zeri felt her mind was in chaos, but she didn't know how to precisely express this complex emotion. Taking a deep breath, Zeri forced herself to calm down, then picked up the spark gun just in case and quietly followed.
In any case, that guy Faen saved her... if he really had ulterior motives... then she would completely cut ties with him!
She wanted to be a bit cooler, but recalling Faen's care during this time, and his recognition and praise of her actions, Zeri couldn't help but soften her heart in the end. With some indescribable grievance, she quietly tailed Faen all the way.
A moment later, Zeri finally knew what Faen came out in the middle of the night for...
Vigilantism!
Watching Faen easily crush the factory thugs beating the labor representatives, Zeri looked bewildered.
Immediately after, Faen fought more and more bravely, running to the neighboring district. With a left punch, he knocked out a gangster who lost his mind on Shimmer and fired wildly, and with a right kick, he killed an evil alchemist trying to harvest organs from sump orphans...
After enjoying helping others for a while, feeling the emptiness brought by the Curse of Joy gradually dissolving, Faen finally had enough energy to notice the figure sneaking around in the distance.
"Uh... Zeri?" Faen was puzzled. "Didn't you go to sleep?"
"Didn't you go to sleep too?" Zeri hummed and hawed, standing on tiptoes to look at the gang thugs beaten all over the ground behind Faen, then said somewhat speechlessly, "I thought you were going to do something... turns out you came to do good deeds? Why did you hide this kind of thing from me?"
"Aren't you being chased by Chem-Barons? And this is my own problem after all; you know about Ashlesh's matter." Faen shrugged helplessly.
"Isn't that a Curse of Joy? Does being a vigilante count as joy?" Zeri asked, puzzled.
"Why wouldn't helping others count?" Faen moved his muscular arms and said, "It can't be that only hurting innocent people counts as joy, right?"
"Mmm..." Hearing this, Zeri scratched her head, then hummed, "You don't look like a Zaunite at first glance... Of course, I don't hate it!"
Saying this, Zeri jumped up and patted Faen's shoulder. "My gear upgrade is just finished. Starting tomorrow, let's act together!"
Discovering that Faen sneaked out to help people in need, and didn't call her only because she was wanted by Chem-Barons during this time...
Meeting the right person, and this person cared about her very much and encouraged her...
On the way back, looking at the extra smile on the corner of Zeri's mouth, Faen could feel that the joy provided by Zeri could cover his curse consumption for tomorrow.
Resting well for the night, the next day, Faen discussed the first target with Zeri—this sounded a bit evil, but it was absolutely righteous.
"Chem-Baron, Wincher Spindlaw." Pointing at the guy on the front page of the Sump Daily, Zeri said with hatred:
"It's this guy who insisted on developing the so-called underground resources, talking big, but not mentioning a word about the risks during the development process! Now because of the excavation work, roughly one-tenth of the Zaun Sump area has collapsed, yet he says the workers didn't listen to him! Damn it! This bastard!"
Zeri grew up in the district. Because of her mother, Zeri had a good relationship with the workers and knew very well that it wasn't that these workers didn't want to produce in a safe environment, but that the Chem-Barons who controlled the chemical factories simply didn't want to pay an extra fee for the workers.
"What do you plan to do?" Faen cast a curious gaze at Zeri.
"Attack his factory! Teach them a good lesson!" Zeri said angrily.
Hearing Zeri's answer, Faen touched his chin, looking meaningful.
Zeri, who had been quietly watching Faen's reaction, noticed the change in Faen's expression and asked hesitantly, "Did I... say something wrong?"
"I can't answer you right now if it's right or wrong." Meeting Zeri's gaze, Faen said frankly, "Some past events and experiences tell me this won't solve the real problem. But similarly, I don't understand what the real Zaun looks like. So I want to try first, and then let's discuss together whether this is right or wrong."
As he spoke, Faen put his hand on Zeri's shoulder and smiled, "Although I personally hate bullshit politics, one thing is undoubted: truth becomes clearer the more it is debated! Without hurting people, things that make people feel happy must be the right things!"
"Haha! That's good!" Hearing Faen's concern, Zeri laughed and said, "Anyway, we must make the Chem-Barons pay! People will feel happy!"
Reaching a consensus, the two began preparations.
At midnight, Faen and Zeri set off under the cover of night, heading all the way toward Spindlaw's chemical factory, soon infiltrating it through abandoned pipes.
Faen and Zeri's goal was to destroy the energy equipment of Spindlaw's chemical factory. That was the most valuable thing in the entire factory and its heart.
Once the energy equipment was destroyed, the entire chemical factory would stop production. For those Chem-Barons, it was undoubtedly slicing open their wallets—
"Just thinking about it will make their hearts ache to the point of suffocation!"
Zeri spoke excitedly as the two crawled through the dirty ventilation ducts.
Because it had been in disrepair for too long, various dust and grease accumulated inside.
Faen considered himself free of mysophobia, but crawling through such a dirty passage, he couldn't help but control the water flow to sweep the filth behind him as he crawled forward.
Through the gaps in the pipes, Faen understood why Zeri hated the Chem-Barons so much.
Located in an environment filled with chemical exhaust, alchemical chem-slaves wore crude work clothes and used crude tools to engage in dangerous engineering operations.
Aside from some necessary items, the Chem-Barons obviously wouldn't provide any valuable tools to make their work safer.
Even the most basic respirators on these workers varied in style; although not uniform, they were equally crude. Every breath required full effort to filter out a tiny bit of clean air, and the noise like broken bellows made one doubt whether the filtered air was qualified.
But this was already considered good, at least much safer than those covering their mouths and noses with wet towels.
"I told you, with your small frame, you definitely can't come in to work."
A voice came from not far away; the impatience in the words attracted the attention of Faen and Zeri.
It was a guy far stronger than ordinary chemical workers, his face full of transverse flesh, one arm modified into a thick reinforced augment.
With a cigarette in his mouth, his face was full of arrogance and disdain as he looked at the people in front of him:
"I recruited you back then out of pity, who knew you would be cowering after coming in. Look at your skinny arms and legs, hurry up and sign this contract! Then cut off these two arms and replace them with a set of engineering augments!"
"I... I have no money."
The man, who looked to be about thirty years old, said timidly, "I can't scrape together the money for these augments either..."
"Then borrow money, you idiot!" The foreman spat viciously on the man, then took out a contract and slapped it in front of him.
"Baron Spindlaw knew long ago you poor ghosts have no money! I can't be bothered to talk nonsense with you, just sign this loan contract directly, and pay back the debt by working after changing into new augments!"
Relying on his powerful eyesight, Faen could clearly see how atrocious the terms on the contract were.
Working desperately, at least seventy percent of the meager wages would be handed over to the Chem-Baron each month to repay the loan for the chem-tech augments. As for other aspects like working hours and wear and tear of factory equipment caused by production, those were calculated separately.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing the disgust in Faen's eyes, Zeri looked back and asked softly.
Without concealing it, Faen whispered some of the terms on it.
Although she knew before this that Chem-Barons weren't human, Zeri had never truly experienced the feeling of being a factory girl in Zaun.
Hearing the requirements on the contract, a look of disbelief immediately rose on her small face, followed by gnashing her teeth in anger: "These damn guys... clearly they were also Zaun workers, why do they help the Chem-Barons now... Eek!"
Zeri's magical talent was strong, but she hadn't undergone systematic learning.
Accompanying her emotional agitation, the tips of her hair lit up with emotional electric sparks. The already dilapidated ventilation duct gave a creak, the rusted cast iron edge cracked, and the ear-piercing sound quickly attracted the attention of the foreman below.
Seeing Zeri's conspicuous neon-green pigtails, a look of excitement and killing intent immediately appeared on the foreman's face.
"Haha! It's the Spark of Zaun! Catch him for me! The Baron will definitely reward us well!!"
Seeing Zeri fall, Faen dropped to the ground and caught the weightless girl.
The warmth of the embrace quickly calmed the panicked Zeri. Regaining her spirit and looking around at the thugs rushing over upon hearing the noise and orders, Zeri's face turned pale, then she said somewhat self-reproachfully, "Sorry... it's all my fault for not controlling it well..."
"It's okay."
Hearing Zeri's words, Faen shook his head. There was not much blame in his eyes; instead, when looking at the surrounding thugs, his gaze was full of indifference and disgust.
"This isn't your fault, and even without this happening now, I was about to lose my patience."
As he spoke, in Zeri's vision, Faen spread his legs and lowered his center of gravity. His muscular arms left two white trails in the sultry air of the factory workshop as they swung.
Invisibly, strength erupted; Faen's entire body swelled instantly, muscles bulging on his tall frame, the hard muscle lines filled with smooth explosive power.
Water from the chemical waste was forcibly extracted, circling around Faen like ribbons, or like a flowing water python.
"Since it's all destruction, let them know how they are destroyed!"
Hearing Faen's words, and looking at the gathered factory thugs, Zeri found that she didn't have much fear in her heart. Instead, she was full of fighting spirit because it was the first time someone fought side by side with her.
Even without actively stimulating the magic in her body, accompanying her high spirits, neon-green electric light burst from her hair tips and the corners of her eyes.
"Okay!" Gripping the spark gun in her hand somewhat nervously, Zeri still said with high morale, "Your water flow paired with my electric light, the sparks coming next are going to blow up the whole venue!"
"Of course." Hearing this, feeling the trust in Zeri's words, Faen grinned. But recalling Nilah's fighting style recorded in the Curse of Joy...
In the silence, Faen sent a ball of plasma to the girl's lips.
"This is?" Zeri looked at Faen curiously.
"To improve combat state," Faen answered, but then added, "And to better adapt to my fighting style."
Hearing this, Zeri nodded, then swallowed it in one gulp.
Seeing this, Faen breathed a sigh of relief, turning his gaze back to the crowd, his eyes flashing with coldness—"Azure Demon, Flowing Water Throat Cut!"
As he spoke, the seven-handed sigil on Faen's right arm emitted a dull arc of light, and his pitch-black eyes turned azure blue.
Accompanied by rolling water, before the factory thugs could react, Faen took a step forward—
The flowing water circling Faen's feet greatly increased his speed. In everyone's vision, in less than a breath, they only saw azure light flashing two water arcs, and then the muscular figure appeared in front of them.
A punch was thrown, the explosive power hitting directly on the skull.
The factory thug with a metal chin didn't even have time to react before his head was directly blasted open with a dull sound.
Blood splattered, mixed with turbid white brain matter and broken bone shards.
Before they hit the ground, around Faen, the flowing clean water turned into dozens of sharp high-pressure water blades breaking through the air.
Only screams were heard; the seemingly light water blades cut through several people in an instant. Standing in front of Faen, the factory thugs who had undergone many modifications were turned into scattered pieces almost without any power to resist.
To the side, watching Faen's ferocious posture, Zeri actually felt intense joy and burst out with even more intense electric light.
"I'm coming too!"