The next morning.
Caitlyn arrived on time outside the venue for the Windguides' general assembly, the Ivern Hextech Audio Workshop.
A week ago, Caitlyn could never have imagined that she, a wealthy heiress and Piltover Enforcer, would attend a gathering composed almost entirely of Zaunites and Zaunite immigrants.
But after experiencing all that utter nonsense, *A Brief Introduction to Janna Thought*—a book that clearly held a hostile attitude toward her family and class—somehow suited her tastes perfectly.
Therefore, Caitlyn was very much looking forward to this assembly.
She had been a member of the Windguides for a few days now, but she had been busy running around mediating between her family and the Piltover Council. She hadn't deeply engaged with the Windguides' daily work, nor did she know many comrades within the organization.
Today's general assembly was the perfect opportunity for her to deepen her understanding and knowledge of the Windguides.
This was also the first time the Windguides had hosted a general meeting of this scale, with five hundred people in attendance.
Formal members of the Windguides from various working groups across communities, schools, and factories—many of whom had likely never met before—finally had the chance to gather together and interact.
The vast majority of the people inside did not know Caitlyn yet. Naturally, Caitlyn did not know them either.
Caitlyn knew her status was unique.
So before coming, she deliberately changed out of her Enforcer uniform, an outfit that held complicated meaning for her.
She simply picked out an everyday woolen trench coat from her wardrobe, paired it with a simple shirt, trousers, and leather boots, dressing like an ordinary person as she arrived at the venue keeping a low profile.
However, upon arriving at the venue, Caitlyn realized something:
Her definitions of "everyday," "ordinary," and "low profile" seemed to be quite different from everyone else's.
The members of the Windguides were primarily Zaunite apprentices and Zaunite international students.
It went without saying what Zaunite apprentices wore on a daily basis. As for the Zaunite students, aside from the free uniforms provided by the university, they couldn't afford any decent clothes either.
Those not wearing uniforms looked just as shabby as the apprentices; those who did wear uniforms—despite their careful maintenance, the old clothes were inevitably washed out and faded—paled in comparison to Caitlyn.
Any casual "everyday outfit" this wealthy heiress threw on was a luxurious garment that a Zaunite couldn't afford even if they starved themselves for years.
And the Hextech Precision Rifle strapped to her back, which never left her side, was so exquisitely crafted that one glance was enough to tell it was a toy for the nobility.
"Who's that pretty chick?"
"Did she come to the wrong place?"
As soon as Caitlyn entered the venue's main doors, many students and workers who didn't recognize her began pointing and whispering.
"Hey!" A meddlesome figure approached her with a vigilant expression.
It was a heroic-looking Zaunite girl with short, choppy rose-red hair.
"Who are you?" Caitlyn frowned. She could sense the hostility in the other party's attitude.
"I'm Vi," Vi said, looking Caitlyn up and down before asking, "Girly, your getup isn't exactly a good fit for us. You look more like a lady from the Capitalist Class."
"Tell me, are you even one of us? Who let you in?"
"..." Caitlyn was left speechless.
Over the past few days, she had primarily been dealing with Viktor, and any work she had was coordinated directly with Levi through Janna's avatar. This was her first time coming into direct contact with the most ordinary grassroots members of the Windguides.
Only then did Caitlyn realize that she didn't seem to be welcome here.
"Miss Vi, I am a formal member of the Windguides," Caitlyn emphasized patiently.
"Miss Vi? Haha, I knew it, you're a Piltie. Zaunites don't go around calling people 'Miss' this and 'Miss' that."
"I am indeed a native Piltovan." Caitlyn's brow furrowed. "Why, is there a problem with that?"
"Of course there's a problem," Vi curled her lip. "Piltovans can't be trusted."
"Who knows if you're a spy sent by the Piltover Council?"
"But Miss Seraphine is also Piltovan," Caitlyn pointed speechlessly toward the front of the venue, where Seraphine sat among everyone, surrounded like a star.
Seraphine was also a wealthy young lady, and she dressed even more flashily than Caitlyn did. Why was she so popular?
"That's different. That girl's old man is from Zaun. She's at least half Zaunite, which makes her one of us." Vi seemed incredibly fixated on the status of a Zaunite background.
"You?!" Caitlyn was a bit angry, but she barely managed to hold it in.
Because she noticed from the expressions and gazes of the people around her that Vi's seemingly unreasonable questioning actually represented the opinions of the majority present.
"Hey, Piltie, what's your name?" Vi asked again. "I need to go check the roster."
Caitlyn didn't want to answer.
She had genuinely joined the Windguides and made massive contributions to their cause. What right did they have to be so hostile toward her?
Just because she wore nice clothes? Because she was a native Piltovan lady?
Unreasonable and judging a book by its cover—Caitlyn refused to accept this.
"What exactly is your name?" Seeing that she didn't answer, Vi's tone grew heavier.
Caitlyn grew even angrier. "You can go ask President Levi about that!"
Saying that, she ignored Vi and tried to walk inside.
"Halt! I have to check the roster before you can go in!"
Caitlyn didn't listen at all.
She hurriedly took a few steps forward, leaving only her back to Vi.
"I said halt!" Vi subconsciously reached out to grab her arm.
Knowing that she had great strength and could easily hurt others, Vi deliberately held back, not using her full power.
In her eyes, she didn't need to use much force to pull back this slender, frail-looking Piltie.
But what Vi didn't expect was...
The moment her hand rudely grabbed Caitlyn's arm...
Caitlyn reacted as if by reflex. With an incredibly fierce and standard counter-grappling move, backed by a powerful strength completely inconsistent with her girlish image, she backhanded and seized Vi's arm—
Then, using the momentum to pull her forward, Caitlyn leaned down to deliver a massive shoulder throw.
"You?!" Before Vi could even react, her body was already hoisted off the ground by Caitlyn.
But she was highly skilled after all.
Seeing that she was about to be slammed into the ground by this Piltie's shoulder throw, she suddenly erupted with immense strength, twisting her body nimbly in mid-air like a python...
Ultimately, right before she was smashed into the ground, she firmly entangled Caitlyn's body with her arms and legs.
"What?" Caitlyn clearly hadn't realized that this Zaunite punk girl would possess such great strength.
Caught off guard, her body was tightly locked together with Vi's.
Then her foot slipped, and she tumbled down with the momentum. With a thud, the two of them crashed to the ground together like two pieces of stuck-together modeling clay, rolling into a tangled mess.
Only then did Vi suddenly realize what had happened. "Is this the police grappling technique of the Piltover cops?"
"Bastard, you're a fucking cop!"
Vi's parents had died at the hands of Piltover Enforcers, so naturally, she didn't have the slightest bit of goodwill toward them.
Thus, without waiting for Caitlyn to explain, she unleashed all the dirty underground boxing ground techniques she had learned from Vander, madly wrestling with the despicable "Piltover cop" in her eyes.
Caitlyn's temper flared, and she fought back with everything she had.
Just like that, the two girls were deadlocked on the ground, face to face, shoulder against shoulder, arms locked with arms, and legs tangled with legs...
Rolling here one moment, rolling there the next.
They simply couldn't stop.
Finally, evenly matched, the two of them exhausted all their strength.
But they would rather lay there panting, drenched in sweat and tangled around each other, than let go and call a truce.
"What happened here?"
Levi had just arrived at the venue when he witnessed this shocking scene:
Two pretty girls were panting and tangled together on the ground, while hundreds of people watched from the sidelines with astonished expressions.
Because there were so many spectators, the people in the back rows had even curiously stood on their chairs.
The Windguide assembly seemed to have turned into some sort of women's fighting tournament.
"Vi, Caitlyn, you two..."
"Mind your image."