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Chen knew that surrender was a slow death in Stillwater, and a Huaxia soul would sooner burn than be caged. As the Enforcers closed in, he offered himself as the ultimate target.
The Super Mega Death Rocket didn't just hit; it erased. The explosion was a blinding supernova that turned the bridge entrance into a crater of slag and pulverized stone. Jikegar and his columns were vaporized in an instant, but the cost was absolute. Zaun's gate collapsed, sealing the fate of those caught in the blast.
Among the smoking ruins, a jagged slab of stone shifted. Jikegar crawled out, his face a mask of soot and blood. He looked at a glowing rune-stone in his palm that was now cracked and dull.
"I survived a dozen Noxian border wars without a scratch," Jikegar rasped, his eyes burning with a new, personal hatred. "And I'm nearly ended by a few gutter rats. Just wait. I'm coming back with the rest of the army."
Inside The Last Drop, the atmosphere was funereal. Jinx had returned alone, her eyes red-rimmed but dry. She didn't cry; she loaded.
"Where is Chen?" Janna asked, her avian form trembling.
"He's dead," Jinx replied, her voice flat. She began duct-taping grenades to her chest, her movements mechanical.
Janna looked at the girl, feeling the weight of the loss. "I can use the wind to carry you away, Jinx. Chen wanted you to live."
"No. We stay," Jinx said, her grip tightening on Fishbones. "Chen said as long as we buy Ekko time, we win. I am the last line of defense."
The battle for the Sanctuary was a long, agonizing crawl toward the inevitable. Jikegar returned with hundreds of fresh troops, and one by one, the entrances to the cave were breached. The Wildfire Squad fought with a desperation that bordered on the divine. When their bullets ran out, they drank the last of the Shimmer vials, turning into howling monsters just to hold a hallway for five more minutes.
"FOR ZAUN!" was the last thing many of them screamed before the blue light of Hextech Rifles silenced them.
As the sun began to rise over a city of corpses, only Jinx remained standing. She stood before the laboratory door, her weapons empty, clutching a single grenade pin.
Then, the sky over the great tree darkened. Janna manifested in her human form, her robes billowing in a sudden, violent gale.
"Did you think it was just a harmless breeze?" the Goddess whispered.
She unleashed her final breath. A massive hurricane-force wind erupted from the tree, physically blasting the entire Piltover army out of the cavern. But as the wind died down, Janna fell. Her form became translucent, crumbling into blue dust.
"Let my ashes drift," she whispered to Jinx. "I hope... Chen was right."
As Jikegar's men began to regroup at the entrance, Jinx didn't wait. She pulled the pins and leaped from the branches toward the Warden's head.
BOOM.
Inside the laboratory, the sounds of the final explosion were muffled. Ekko and Heimerdinger were working with a frantic, tear-stained intensity.
"G3 solder joint! Solder it tight!" Heimerdinger barked.
"Done!" Ekko grabbed the device—the first stable Z-Drive prototype. He sprinted out of the room, shouting for his friends. "Jinx! Chen! I've built it! We can—"
He stopped. The Sanctuary was a graveyard. He saw the broken remains of Fishbones and a single blue braid lying in the dirt. Ekko fell to his knees, his world shattering.
Jikegar, missing a leg but still alive, crawled toward him. "Kill the boy!"
The Enforcers aimed their rifles. But Ekko didn't look at them. He looked at the device. "I will save you all," he whispered.
He pressed the button.
The world turned into a blurred, blue-white vortex. Reality tore.
Ekko opened his eyes. He was back in the lab. Heimerdinger was speaking—the exact same words he had said hours ago.
"My goodness, my mechanical ancestor! This might actually be possible!"
Ekko didn't wait for the Professor to finish. He sprinted out of the room, clutching the Z-Drive to his chest. He reached the conference room where Chen had just finished talking to Camille.
"Chen!" Ekko screamed, slamming into him with a hug. "Brother! You won't believe it... I'm from the future! Everything was destroyed! You all died!"
Chen looked at the frantic boy, then at the device in his hand. He didn't look shocked. He looked... calculating. He put his hand behind his back and held up two fingers.
"This isn't the final Z-Drive yet, Ekko," Chen said calmly. "Tell me: how many fingers am I holding up behind my back?"
"What? How should I know? Chen, they're going to attack in seven hours! We have to move!"
Chen showed him the two fingers. "Remember: this is two. And remember that you succeeded. But you haven't mastered it yet."
Ekko was desperate. "Research what? I've seen the end, Chen! We have to stop them!"
Chen patted his shoulder, his eyes reflecting a plan that spanned across timelines. "We will meet them in battle, Ekko. But this time, we have the one thing Piltover can't build: a second chance."
Chen looked at the horizon, where the first light of the new day was breaking.
"This is just the beginning."
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