Black Lane Boundary Wharf, in the middle of the old cannery.
The scorching flames and the sound of hammers hitting metal objects echoed in the factory. Several gangsters were forging some combat weapons such as saw teeth, long swords, and scimitars in front of a furnace.
Not far from the forging furnace, a roaring instrument was continuously pouring purple glowing liquid into small glass test tubes, which were then carefully packed into wooden boxes by several other people.
Hilko, who was passing by, took a bottle of potion from the box and called on his men, who were dragging Vandel behind him, to follow him to the iron bridge on the second floor.
Although Vander had woken up from his coma at this time, his left eye had suffered a heavy blow from the monster, and his consciousness was still a little confused.
"Do you know what this is?" Hilco waved the purple potion in front of the only eye that Fandel could open. "Power."
He uttered a word slowly.
"The power of us Lower City people... With it, we will be able to compete with the Upper City people."
"Just this?" Fandel's tone was very weak. "A bottle of broken alchemical potion?"
"I named it Glimmer. Even a faint ray of light is our hope for survival... and you've just witnessed its power."
Hilko had his men leave Fandel beside him, then he placed his hands on the handrail and looked down at the people busy producing the low-light machine.
Fandel spat out a mouthful of blood foam. "Haha, even if you raise a group of monsters, you can't defeat Piltover... It was like that a few years ago, and it's even more so now."
"I don't need to fight, I just need to scare them."
Hilt's expression was indifferent. He glanced at Deka who was spitting out purple blood on the second floor and his bald, tattooed subordinate who was laughing at him.
"You'll kill a lot of people... What's the point? Just to save face?"
"What I want is respect!" Xierko emphasized, "and opportunity, everything that Shangcheng refuses to give us!"
"You've earned my respect, and the respect of the entire Black Alley... but you're just not satisfied." Vandel retorted, suppressing the dizziness in his head.
Upon hearing this, Hilko became furious and pointed angrily at Vander who was lying on the ground.
"We once shared a common vision, Vandel. We all dreamed of freedom! This wasn't just for the Alley, but to unite the people of the entire Undercity!"
He slowly squatted down, becoming more and more excited as he spoke:
"Why are we inherently inferior to the people of Upper City, subject to their exploitation? Why must Upper City's garbage be dumped into Lower City? Why must industrial facilities that produce smog and toxic gases be built in our homes, poisoning and eroding our people?!"
A complex array of emotions flashed across Hilko's face. "Have you forgotten the ideal we once pledged to make Zaun rise?"
Fandel remained silent, as if recalling the oath he and a group of brothers had made together.
All for Zaun...
but……
Is that really the right path?
After so many people died without any impact on the upper city, he was always confused.
"I trusted you so much..." Hilko's eyes showed a trace of pain, "And you? You betrayed me."
In Zaun's toxic river, polluted by alchemical waste, a burly man grabbed the neck of a smaller man and pushed him into the water.
If the thin man hadn't found the dagger in the holster of the strong man's belt before he died and hadn't slashed him severely...
At this moment, there would be no such person as Hilko.
Vandel recalled this unforgettable scene, and a strong sense of guilt arose. "I have never been able to forgive myself for what I did to you. You were my brother..."
Hilko's breathing hitched, and then he sighed: "No, I guess you still don't understand."
He pointed at his scarlet left eye. "Can you imagine what that feels like? Can you imagine your body being contaminated by the dirty water, even your nerves being corroded by the river's poison...?"
"I just hated you for what you did to me, but as time went by, that hatred faded, and I realized something in my heart.
"There is only one way to defeat a powerful enemy: to do whatever it takes and become the embodiment of their fear."
Hillco paused, then gritted his teeth and continued, "I did hate you, but I also respected you from beginning to end, until you became one with the Piltover people, willing to be their lackey, and completely forgot the suffering we once endured!"
"I had no choice at the time..." Fandel responded weakly.
"Maybe, but now you have it." Hilco raised the glimmer in his hand, his expression gradually returning to calm. "You and I can finally realize our original dream, brother."
He emphasized the word "brother" once.
"You don't understand at all... Hextech is not something we can contend with!"
Vandel still had a glimmer of hope and wanted to awaken his brother's conscience.
"Those brothers who once joined us in the rebellion against the Upper City, when they fell one by one before you and were mercilessly slaughtered by the law enforcement officers, didn't you have even a trace of regret in your heart? Regret for leading them to rebellion and letting them die in vain..."
"For the sake of resistance and our future, this sacrifice is inevitable, Vandel!"
Hilco snorted coldly, stood up, and waved to one of his men on the side of the iron bridge.
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