"You know news about Vi Olay?"
Linsey walked on her long, black-stockinged legs to the Alchemy refrigerator, opened it, and took out a glass bottle of black drink. With a gentle pry against the corner of the table, the cap popped off the narrow bottle neck, and carbonated drink with bubbles gushed out.
Her face was full of confusion as she handed the glass bottle to Durin, explaining, "But... a few days ago, the person who posted the missing person notice told me that she was already dead. There was definite confirmation, and they revoked the notice."
"Dead?" Durin was stunned. He took the carbonated drink from the blue-haired girl, took a sip, and couldn't help but find a vacant spot to sit down.
"Yes, she told me herself. At the time, her expression looked very..." Linsey paused, seemingly searching for a suitable word to phrase her answer, "...indifferent."
Durin fell into deep thought; he had been in Piltover for a month now.
When he left Zaun, Vander had already been dead for a few days, so Powder must have been by Silco's side by then. Therefore, for over a month, Silco had been repeatedly confirming the whereabouts of Vi Olay—or more accurately, confirming whether she was dead or in hiding.
In his view, Silco must have turned Zaun upside down first, and after failing to find Vi Olay under such circumstances, he sought out the bribed Piltover Enforcer, Marcus, demanding that he find Vi Olay.
Adhering to one principle: bring back the person alive or their corpse if dead. But since Marcus had secretly sent Vi to Stillwater Prison and managed to keep it undiscovered for years, Durin deduced that there was only one possibility: the warden and Marcus were acquaintances, and they had a good friendship.
Perhaps Marcus even used a portion of the money Silco used to bribe him to donate to Stillwater Prison. With this dual relationship, the warden was willing to conceal Vi's situation from the public for Marcus, then alter the prisoner files to minimize her presence as much as possible.
Afterward, just like in the animated plot, Marcus deceived Silco with lies, telling him that Vi had been secretly dealt with and her body dumped in the deep sea.
And Silco must have also sent people to search through Piltover; he likely inquired about Vi's whereabouts when he was looking for Durin, and only after confirming that she still didn't exist in records...
Under such screening conditions, Silco had no choice but to choose to believe that what Marcus said was true, and that the other party had not deceived him.
—Vi Olay was truly dead.
Then, because Silco needed a mad genius with a head full of brilliant ideas for manufacturing weapons and explosives to help him equip a powerful army to fight against Piltover.
As for the personnel of the army, they were naturally those from the lower classes who worshipped Vander. When Durin returned to the Entresol Level of Zaun, while accidentally passing through the Black Alley, he had caught a glimpse of a bronze statue of Vander at the intersection.
It was euphemistically called: In memory of the Black Alley hero who sacrificed himself for Zaun.
The genius's target was naturally Powder, to keep her in Zaun and have her research and develop weapons that could surpass Piltover's Hextech.
Thinking of this, Durin felt everything click into place. He realized that Silco probably deliberately allowed Powder to post the missing person notice, waiting until she was heartbroken before telling her the cruel truth.
That truth being—Vi Olay had abandoned Powder, left Zaun alone, and when she was found, she had died tragically on the street or in the wilderness.
In short, it was to make Powder believe that Vi had abandoned her and met a violent end.
Durin then put himself in Silco's shoes. If he were the enemy and knew someone had information about Vi Olay's whereabouts, he would send people to find them immediately.
Because he would be more concerned about Vi's life or death than anyone else. If she were still alive, she would reveal the explosion that happened that night at the Old Wharf Cannery Plaza.
Then Silco's good image of adopting Vander's adopted daughter would be ruined, and the public, including Powder, would know that Vander was killed by him.
So, he would definitely send people to watch Powder, even from a distance, to know who she met and where.
This meant that once Powder disappeared, Silco would receive news shortly after.
Thinking of this, Durin felt he couldn't meet Powder here. Firstly, she would be very wary and might even tell Silco directly. Secondly, if Silco's people were following Powder, he wouldn't be able to escape easily if they found him here.
He didn't want to fight his way out of Silco's territory. This was not only foolish and reckless but would only lead to him being unable to return to Piltover.
He needed to find a suitable place, one that was convenient for his escape and familiar to Powder.
Soon, Durin thought of it. In the animated series, there was a small base where Vi, Powder, and two other companions usually hung out. It had a robot for punching to earn points and a small toy gun range.
In short, from the visuals, it looked like an abandoned arcade.
Its approximate location should be in Black Alley, or not far from Benso's General Store. He still needed to find the exact spot.
Thinking of this, Durin took the initiative to speak, "Actually, I got definite news about Vi Olay in Piltover. She's not dead. Please tell the person who posted the missing person notice that Vi is still alive. I want to meet the poster alone. Let's meet at the abandoned arcade where they usually play. She'll be very interested, and you'll get a considerable reward."
Seeing this, Linsey casually placed the glass bottle on the coffee table, then sat down on the sofa, placing her two round and straight black long legs on the coffee table. She nonchalantly took a lollipop from her hooded jacket pocket.
Every move she made exuded carelessness. Under the bright light, Linsey's fair fingers, with her pinky raised, sparkled with brilliant light.
She tore off the wrapper, revealing an orange-yellow candy inside.
After she put it in her mouth, from Durin's perspective, her tender upper and lower lips held the lollipop, and a sucking sound filled the room.
"I'm very curious, what makes you so eager to meet the poster? Hmm... let me think, have you provoked Silco recently?"
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