"Who was that person?"
Looking at Xerath behind them, staring at the two of them with venomous resentment, Renata could not help getting goosebumps. That man's gaze was far too deep, as though it was about to dig someone open. The thought made Renata even more uncomfortable, and she quickly moved away from the old man. He clearly looked so thin and frail, yet those eyes were frighteningly sharp and alive. It made the back of Renata's neck feel as though a cold blade had been pressed against it, sending a deep chill through her.
"Nothing much. Just an old man who's about to die."
Caleb shrugged, sounding completely indifferent.
If Azir had handled it, Caleb could still be at ease. After all, that was the lord of the desert. If, even with the anti-magic sarcophagus and the Sun Disc's support, Azir still could not strip Xerath of his magic and allowed him to keep running around as a threat, then Caleb would have to say the line, "I could take his place."
In that case, Azir's Ascension would have been due only to his kind heart, and all those years he spent seizing power before would have been wasted. Caleb would have to start thinking of ideas and see whether he could move the Sun Disc above the Twin Cities instead.
"You'll have to work hard for Zaun from now on."
Caleb walked ahead of Renata. The two of them were not taking the same route. Renata was wearing a uniform that was inconvenient to move in, so she had to take the Hex lift nicknamed the Rising Howl down to the Undercity.
Caleb had already reached the edge between the two cities, and with one step, he walked off.
The fierce wind brought by free fall blew through Caleb's hair. At a height that would have terrified him before, Caleb instead revealed a smile. He kicked off the wall with one foot and stomped a heavy crater into the roof of an abandoned factory.
As a cloud of dust splashed up around him, Caleb patted off his clothes.
"This method is still the most direct and the fastest."
Looking at the Rising Howl still slowly descending, Caleb could not help sighing with emotion.
Zaun's living environment was truly terrible. After all, the terrain was far too low. Caleb planned to use Mecha Malphite's drilling function later to fill part of Zaun in. At the very least, the Promenade could not be the only terrain level with Piltover.
No matter how equal they were supposed to be, facing Piltover far above them would inevitably leave Zaun feeling less confident. And height determined that Piltover could establish a great many ports. Although Zaun occupied almost the same geographical position, it could not enjoy the same benefits of being the "World's Throat."
With Mecha Malphite's excavation work, these things would slowly be made up for.
The prerequisite was that the Twin Cities had to produce a geologist and engineer willing to do that kind of work. They would also have to spend money on fuel and labor, making it an enormous project.
Though it also depended on the situation.
If Zaun had already become a rich city not inferior to Piltover by then, Caleb would have Mecha Malphite obediently dig mines around here instead.
Before long, a group of people riding hoverboards trailing green flames arrived in front of Caleb. They were the Firelights. Seeing that the figure in the dust looked very familiar, they waved, then turned their hoverboards around and returned to their respective posts.
The Firelights truly were the number one gang in the Twin Cities now, in name and in fact. After all sorts of gangs had fallen apart, people now had a third option besides becoming homeless or selling their labor, and that was joining the Firelights.
Not only was the work relatively free and easy, they could also enjoy the respect of Zaun's people. After the Enforcers stopped entering the Undercity, more often than not, the Firelights were the ones responsible for maintaining order.
Caleb did not really want things to be this informal. Establishing a true, effective government would be far more efficient than the current situation. But Zaun itself was still in the middle of rebuilding everything from scratch, and almost all important affairs were monopolized by the Firelights.
That also left Caleb faintly worried.
Good people were easy to deceive, even if they stayed cautious. After all, those with schemes were calculating against those who had none. If the Firelights really did something out of line, Caleb naturally would not go easy on them.
"Setting up a government needs to be put on the agenda as soon as possible..."
It was not that Caleb did not want to form one. It was just that the Undercity's gang culture was far too strong. Forming factions and sticking together had been the Undercity's confidence and trump card against Piltover in recent years. Getting them to trust a temporarily assembled government within a short period of time, not to mention one that was basically held together with duct tape, was better left alone for now.
Caleb walked from the abandoned factory all the way back to his office.
It was called an abandoned factory, but in truth, because it had been illegally producing goods and releasing poisonous gas, Blitzcrank had smashed it apart with a real pair of iron fists.
For a place as extremely violent as Zaun, its governing methods naturally could not be the same as Piltover's, relying on a council made up of financial oligarchs and city founders, then layering management through the government and Enforcers.
As for Zaun's method of management, Caleb had not thought it through especially clearly yet. Perhaps after returning from the Freljord, he would understand.
Caleb sat beside his desk and took a short nap.
When the sky had only just begun to brighten, Caleb had already recovered his abundant energy, as though Yuumi had healed him once.
There was not much time. He had to leave behind a set of strategies.
Although Caleb felt that under Renata's management, things would surely improve day by day, even Mel would have to step aside in front of Renata's business mind, with the Undercity's atmosphere of needing factions to get anything done, Caleb naturally had to correct it.
But that would have to wait until Caleb returned, which would probably be several months later. At that point, whether he, as Governor, would still hold both the name and the substance of his position would have to be questioned.
After all, once people grew used to good days, would they still look at Caleb, a man who had not helped much during Zaun's rise and carried killing intent around him, with the same love and respect the people of Zaun showed him now?
Ekko, who loved tinkering with machinery, was without question the Boy Savior.
In terms of the power fantasy novels Caleb had read before, he was the chosen one of this place, carrying its luck and destiny. Being able to create the Z-Drive, which allowed time travel, proved he was undeniably a genius.
Then Renata probably represented the other side of Zaun, its long-standing business sense.
After all, Zaun's resources were so scarce that it had relied on trade for merchants to make huge returns from small investments and exchange for more resources.
Unlike Caleb, these two had been born and raised in Zaun through and through.
And Caleb? He had come out of Stillwater Hold, a mysterious man of unknown nationality. He had taken Zaun from the infamous Silco through methods that were half threat and half transaction.
People would not believe in someone whose name sounded Ionian anyway.
Mm. That was the most pessimistic ending Caleb could currently imagine for himself.
"Well, it doesn't really matter. I crossed over here alone anyway."
Caleb lit that expensive cigar and slowly took a drag. Smoke rolled in Caleb's mouth, then rose in wisps like waste gas discharged from a factory.
"Are you getting ready to leave?"
A dark purple figure quietly appeared beside Caleb, followed by a cat and an old book.
"Do you want to take my portal there? I can get there in an instant!"
Yuumi looked extremely excited, already eager to try opening the Book of Thresholds.
"No. This time, we're taking the Hexgates."
Caleb smiled at the person and the cat, then said, "While there's still time, hurry up and pack the things you want to bring."
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