"All units, assemble!"
On the Dance Step Corridor, groups of Enforcers flooded into Zaun. At the front, Sheriff Marcus stood with his hands clasped behind his back, helmet on, shouting as he continued:
"After three days of searching, we've successfully captured seventy-three criminals. Twenty-one were sent to Piltover jail for holding. The remaining fifty-two were sent to Stillwater Hold. This is a major success! The Council has praised our operation, and they've sponsored new weapons!"
"Remember—everything you enjoy right now comes from the Council's sponsorship! Without them, you wouldn't have desks, you wouldn't have snacks, and you wouldn't have paychecks!"
"And this time, where we're going is the turf of Zaun's biggest gangs. Burn this into your heads: unless I give the order, nobody fires a shot!"
"Yes!" the Enforcers roared.
Marcus nodded and waved his hand. "Move out!"
They formed up quickly. Over a hundred Enforcers checked their gear, then marched in orderly lines toward the Sump.
Zaun's Sump, Hope Community—
The community that used to be wide open had been ringed with barbed iron spikes. Barricades were stacked at the gate, and temporary guard booths had been set up on either side, with Spirit Blossom Gang members standing watch inside.
Marna and her husband brought water and food, delivering lunch to the Spirit Blossom Gang members on patrol.
These past few days, Zaun had gotten more and more chaotic. You couldn't see many people in the streets anymore—everyone was hiding, or just leaving the Lanes altogether.
Marna had even heard that dozens of Zaunites had been taken from around Brass Alley and Blackwater Street.
Once they got sent to Stillwater Hold… if nothing unexpected happened, that meant at least five years before they'd see daylight again.
Enforcers searching Zaun was turning out exactly like Zaunites had feared—brutal "law enforcement" was happening everywhere, again and again.
Maybe, in the Enforcers' eyes, Zaunites weren't even people.
In the afternoon, a squad of Enforcers appeared at Hope Community's gate.
Sith Malfoy was among them. Wearing a respirator helmet and holding his rifle, Sith straightened his back as he looked at the place. (TN: Yup, Ik...)
Last time, he'd been one of the few whose search mission had failed.
But this time? There was no way they were failing.
Over a hundred Enforcers with rifles—this wasn't a force some Zaun gang could handle!
Against a real army, Zaun's thugs would crumble the moment they touched them.
"Zaunites! Open the gate!" Sith stepped forward and shouted at the guard booth.
Manzu frowned, staring at the black mass of Enforcers. Their blue uniforms stood out like a stain in Zaun's gray haze. A hundred people. One uniform. Weapons in hand.
That pressure… was no joke.
But open the gate?
What a damn joke.
Manzu slammed the alarm button. The speakers hanging from the streetlamps inside Hope Community blared an alarm, and in an instant, the Spirit Blossom Gang members defending the community grabbed their weapons and sprinted toward the gate.
At the same time, the residents of Hope Community heard it too.
"Are we… going over there?" a young man murmured at a doorway, watching the Spirit Blossom Gang members running in formation.
"It's too dangerous." A hand caught his arm—his father.
"Then what about them? You think they don't know it's dangerous?" the young man shot back. "Dad… there aren't better leaders than them."
"Fuck Piltover!" Kerr the fishmonger's eyes were bloodshot as he spat the words.
"We… we should go see."
At first, only a few Hope Community locals drifted toward the gate.
Then more.
Then more.
Hope Community's gate—
Sith spotted Marsen—the tall, skinny young man who'd made him eat dirt.
His eyes went red immediately. He strode to his captain and muttered something in his ear. The captain nodded and gave him the go-ahead.
With permission in hand, Sith marched straight toward Marsen, a wall of Enforcers behind him.
"Remember me?" Sith lifted his chin, staring up at Marsen, voice dark.
"You Enforcers all look the same—how the hell would I remember who you are?" Marsen sneered.
They only had around thirty people. No protective gear. No fancy weapons.
And still, they stood at the gate, squaring off against the Enforcers.
"Good. Very good." Sith smiled. Then he bared his teeth. "But I'll tell you right now—this isn't over. The sheriff gave the order. Today, no matter what, we're searching your community. We suspect this is where Shimmer is being produced. Move."
"Try it," Marsen said, refusing to yield.
Sith raised his hand and bellowed, "Enforcers!"
Click.
A line of rifles came up and aimed at the Spirit Blossom Gang.
One volley was all it would take. In an instant, bodies would drop in a row.
Sith reached out and grabbed Marsen.
Marsen's gut boiled with defiance—but with those rifles pointed this way, he couldn't even summon the impulse to resist.
Sith shoved him onto the barricade, pinning him down.
The residents watching went pale.
"Marsen!" Willa cried out.
"I'm fine!" Marsen turned his head toward her and shook it.
He didn't know what the boss wanted them to do. What Logan had told him was simple: no matter what, don't show fear in front of the Enforcers.
That was why Marsen had been so hard-headed these past few days. Not only because that was what he wanted to do—but because Logan had meant it.
But… now?
What does the boss want me to do now?
Marsen's thoughts went hazy as his cheek pressed against a mildewed sandbag, teeth clenched tight.
"Fuck!" Vi's voice snapped as she arrived, vaulting the iron fence in a few quick, agile moves and landing outside.
Sith looked at the Zaunite woman stepping forward, still holding Marsen down as he stared at her.
"You with him?" Sith said.
"That's enough. Let him go," Vi growled through her teeth.
"Let him go? Because you said so?" Sith scoffed. "I suspect you're one of the people behind the Shimmer factory. Enforcers—arrest her!"
Three Enforcers rushed up to Vi, hands reaching to restrain her.
Vi's muscles tightened. Instinct screamed at her to fight—
But she remembered Logan's words. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to take it.
Logan, you better be right.
Because this feels like we're just letting them slaughter us.
But right as the Enforcers were about to pin Vi down, a stone flew out from behind the iron fence.
Tap—
A light sound: stone striking the lead Enforcer's uniform.
Everyone's eyes snapped toward the thrower.
It was a little girl inside Hope Community—barely half a meter tall, wearing linen, two braided pigtails hanging down.
"N-No… don't bully the big sister!"
All eyes on her, the little girl trembled—yet still shouted, scared but brave.
Vi stared at her, her gaze drifting.
Because those braids…
In that little girl, Vi saw a shadow of the Powder she used to know.
The same way she'd been good to Zeri, Vi had been good to this kid too.
She… stepped out to help me?
That tiny voice was like a pebble dropped into a lake—small, but the ripples spread.
And inside Hope Community, that pebble woke something up.
Voices began to rise.
"Shit, I can't take this anymore!"
"What are we even doing? A seven-year-old understands what we don't!"
"Getting protected by a bunch of kids… I'm really getting more useless the longer I live!"
"Let's go! Let's fight!"
One. Two. Then more—more and more—
Zaunites were clumsy, quick on their feet, and they helped each other. One after another, they climbed over the iron fences and walls the Spirit Blossom Gang had built to protect them.
Vi stood there, stunned, watching it happen—when Logan's words suddenly echoed in her mind.
"I'm waiting—"
"Vi, I'm waiting for a chance. A chance that wakes Zaun up. A chance that makes us fight back."
"We can protect them. We can drive the Pilties out. But if we chase them off this time, they'll just come back next time."
"We have to make Piltover afraid of us. We have to make them not dare to come back."
"And for that, we need more than strength."
"We need… a spirit."
BZZZT—BZZZT—BZZZT—
Suddenly, the speakers inside Hope Community—and the ones mounted on the guard booths—crackled to life.
A sharp voice. Playful. Laughing through every word.
"Hello, hello, hello~ Can you hear me? Can you hear me?!"
"Ooh, judging by your faces… you can!"
"Good afternoon, Piltover cops~ My name is Jinx, and I've got a present for you. You're gonna love it, right? You're definitely gonna love it, right?"
"And if you don't love it…"
"Then die~"
"Woohoo~ Happy Progress Day!"
"Here comes the bomb!"
BOOM!
The sharp voice cut out, and a thunderous blast answered.
Blue smoke surged up from the street and from cracks in the ground, swallowing everything in a heartbeat.
A huge smiley face bloomed in the sky over Hope Community.
The whole area vanished into that blue haze.
Everyone's vision was smothered.
"Nobody fire!" an Enforcer screamed.
Not firing wasn't just because of the sheriff's order. With visibility gone, shooting now would hit their own people. The smoke was too thick—visibility wasn't even half a meter.
Vi reacted instantly.
She narrowed her eyes. No filter helmet, no respirator—but she could endure it.
Not just Vi.
Every Zaunite could.
The smoke didn't make them cough or tear up, because Zaun's air had always been garbage. Zaunites were born into this. They'd lived in it their whole lives.
The speakers crackled again.
"Time to hit back~ So now, Piltover cops—"
"Welcome… to Zaun!!!"
Under the girl's piercing scream, every Zaunite moved like they'd been given the order.
They charged.
Kerr raised a whole fish and smashed it into the Enforcer in front of him.
Marna grabbed a mug and hurled it forward.
And at the very front was Vi—cheeks puffed, jaw clenched, eyes burning red, muscles swelling with force, her arms' definition stark as she moved.
Seeing the Enforcers panicking—rifles up, control slipping—Vi twisted her torso, held her breath, and snapped her right fist forward like a bullet.
It slammed into an Enforcer's face.
Her knuckles punched through the helmet, straight into nose and mouth, and a sharp crack rang out.
Bang.
A gun went off.