In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
Jan'ahrem's first performance in Zaun was held at the Promenade, and admission was free.
The Promenade was enormous. As the highest level of Zaun, it could hold a sizable crowd.
And this performance carried major significance. Not only were people from Zaun invited, but people from Piltover as well.
As the concert was about to begin, people from the twin cities gathered in the Promenade in numbers never seen before.
The fall of the underground ruler of the Undercity had not affected the city's operation. To most people, matters like that were too far removed from their lives.
The atmosphere in the Promenade was surprisingly harmonious. People from the twin cities who usually glared at each other on sight did not break into conflict.
For the sake of a better concert experience, both sides showed restraint.
And for them, this was also an entirely new attempt.
Most people from Topside had never been to the Undercity before. To them, everything they saw now felt new.
The two cities were clearly connected, yet there were many differences between them, and the Undercity did not seem as bad as they had imagined.
And to avoid losing face in front of these Topsiders, the people of Zaun also did their best to show the city's better side.
Local snacks could be seen everywhere. Goods in the shops were all discounted by ten percent, and many things filled with Zaunite character were on display.
For the first time, the two cities had a positive exchange.
Once they came into contact, they realized that perhaps the other side was not as terrible as they had heard.
All this time, their understanding of each other had come from public opinion and rumors, so naturally, what they received were mostly the bad parts.
Gossip spread from person to person. One person could influence a group, and a group could influence even more people. It was contagious, like a plague of confidence.
But there were many things whose other side you would never see unless you came into contact with them yourself and tried to understand them.
Everyone was human, and they had always lived on the same stretch of land. Their cultures and development had both been influenced by each other.
So how could the gap between people truly be that vast?
As the time gradually drew closer, the performance was about to begin.
Lights gathered one by one on the stage. The stage was surrounded by people, and amid their cheers, the five members of the band appeared.
In an instant, the cheers surged even louder, and the fiery atmosphere swept across the entire venue.
Influenced by the many passionate Topsiders, most of the people from the Undercity, who had never heard the band perform before, also began to look forward to it with great anticipation.
Onstage, all five girls were ready.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
As Jinx took the lead and struck the drums, after a few beats, all the instruments came together in harmony.
Once the intro passed, Seraphine's melodious voice rang out.
Her eyes looked out over the audience below the stage as she sang the song of the twin cities she had prepared for so long.
She hoped the twin cities could truly reconcile, that everyone could live together in harmony. And she could clearly feel that the songs in the hearts of every person from both cities at the scene could join together flawlessly.
The people of Zaun, seeing the band perform for the first time, felt a shock that reached straight into their hearts. As the performance went on, they also fully merged into the atmosphere.
Cheers and applause rang out endlessly. In that moment, all differences seemed to vanish, and everyone was sincerely immersed in the joy of the present.
Time slowly passed. Gradually, the concert was nearing its end.
Jinx poured out her sweat onstage to her heart's content. She conveyed all her feelings through the drums, and with each strike, a doll hanging on one side of the drum kit occasionally swayed.
That doll was hung in a place where her eyes could see it at any time.
Until the final beat fell, and the music onstage stopped. But the audience's enthusiasm below the stage continued without fading for a long, long time.
Jinx raised her head and looked toward the audience. In that moment, she only felt that some part of her heart seemed to be missing something.
It was empty.
She had finally returned to Zaun to perform, but the person she wanted to surprise was no longer there.
If only Silco could be here.
She could not help thinking that.
Ever since that day, she had never received any news of Silco again. It was as though he had vanished from the world.
Occasionally, Jinx would still think of him, think of all the little moments from those years.
She could not forget him that cleanly.
For a certain period of time, Silco had indeed been her emotional support, someone like a father in her heart.
During that time, she had felt as though she had been abandoned by the world, standing in endless darkness.
And the person who reached out to her from the light had been Silco.
But she also remembered that it was Silco who had let the darkness surround her.
So it was complicated. Jinx felt that before that night, it was as though two souls had lived inside her body.
One was called Powder, and the other was called Jinx. Many times, she could not tell who she was.
And from the moment she chose Vi, Jinx's soul had dispersed, leaving only scattered fragments hidden deep in her heart, in a place she was unwilling to touch.
The cheers below the stage continued, but Jinx was a little dazed.
She felt she had been affected by those fragments.
An inexplicable sense of loss swept through her like a tide, and the gap in her heart expanded further.
Maybe this would become a lifelong regret. Silco had come to her performances many times before, but she had never noticed.
Of course that was not enough.
She wanted Silco to be there when she brought "Jinx Shock" to Zaun. Only then would it have meaning.
But he would never see it now.
"Let's go, Jinx."
Seraphine and the others were preparing to leave the stage. Seeing that Jinx was still sitting there, they could not help calling out to her.
Jinx came back to herself, nodded, and stood up. Just as she was about to turn around, a figure suddenly flashed through the corner of her eye.
Her gaze froze. It was a back she knew all too well, wearing a long coat, with a woman taller than him standing beside him.
The two walked side by side, leaving through another exit before turning into an alley.
"What are you looking at?" Lux glanced at her strangely.
"Nothing." Jinx came back to herself and followed them off the stage.
But soon after, she found an excuse and left first.
She came to that alley, and her appearance immediately caused a commotion among the people there. Naturally, they were no strangers to the blue-haired girl who had shone so brightly onstage just now.
"Jinx!"
"You're the pride of the Undercity!"
"You were so cool on those drums!"
"I'll support you forever!"
The people of Zaun spoke with enthusiasm.
Jinx's gaze was fixed on the wall at that moment. Written there was a message without a signature.
"Keep going. That was the best performance. May your future be bright, and may you always be happy."
"Who wrote this?" she could not help asking.
"I think some strange older guy wrote it just now."
"I remember there were scars on his face. Like he'd been burned by fire."
"I felt like he looked familiar, but I couldn't remember."
"Who cares who he is? He's definitely your biggest fan. There isn't a Zaunite alive who isn't your biggest fan now."
The people around her pieced things together bit by bit. Many Zaunites were not familiar with the Undercity's former ruler.
Looking at those words, Jinx suddenly smiled. She turned and walked out.
Life was not a carefully arranged performance. There would always be farewells you were not prepared for.
Then let it be this way.
"Goodbye."
As the words fell softly, the last obsession in the girl's heart faded away.
She was no longer trapped in place. She was about to stride forward.
At the docks.
With a humming sound, the ship bound for Shurima slowly started moving.
The passengers walked around onboard. Some sat down somewhere to rest and chat.
At the stern, Sevika stood behind the railing, watching the twin cities grow smaller and smaller in her eyes, watching Zaun gradually fade into the distance.
She said to the man beside her, "So you're just leaving like this? You're not going to say a proper goodbye to that girl?"
Hearing this, Silco turned his head and also looked in Zaun's direction. He smiled faintly. "No. This is fine."
Sevika looked at Silco and sighed softly. "Sometimes I really don't understand you. You clearly care so much, but you still refuse to see her one last time."
"Because once we meet, I'll be reluctant to leave." Silco smiled calmly, his eyes flickering slightly. "Sometimes I can't understand myself either. I always thought I was the kind of person who couldn't tolerate the slightest grain of sand in his eyes."
"But that day, for reasons even I can't explain, I took her in. Perhaps I saw my past self in her, someone abandoned all the same."
"She had many of the strengths of Zaunites. Smart, confident, but reckless too. I thought I could influence her. I would carefully nurture her and make her into someone like me. Yet before I knew it, I was the one influenced by her."
When he said this, Silco's eyes gained a bit more softness and release.
"We seemed like the same kind of people. This world is full of love, yet both of us were abandoned by love. Until that day, when I discovered that she was still loved by the world."
"Suddenly, I felt grateful. Grateful that she did not become someone like me. Grateful that we led her toward a fall, and grateful that she could become something so beautiful, blooming like a lovely flower."
"So I know I can't appear in her world again. I was born incompatible with beautiful things. If someone can continue loving her in my place, that is enough."
Silco finished speaking calmly.
Sevika smiled. "Since that's what you think, don't regret it later. This might be the last time we ever see her."
"Maybe I will regret it." Silco looked to the side and asked, "Do you regret following me back then?"
Sevika paused, then asked, "Do you want the truth?"
Silco nodded. "Yes."
"The truth is no, I don't regret it. Even now." Sevika wore a smile, her tone casual. "Though I'm a little pissed that we got driven out of Zaun in such a sorry state, I was the one who decided to follow you back then. Since I made that decision, what's there to regret?"
Silco said, "Do you know what I want to say right now?"
"Save the sappy stuff."
Sevika laughed.
Silco smiled and asked, "Do you have the confidence to accompany me while I make a comeback?"
"Of course," Sevika replied.
Silco turned around, his gaze looking ahead.
With this, there was no longer anything in Zaun worth lingering over.
People should all look forward. He had people he absolutely could not let down. It seemed he had to think about how they would manage to make their way in Shurima.
In an unknown cave somewhere in Zaun.
Viktor walked over slowly. He had not come here in some time, but recently, for some reason, he had wanted to take another look.
Perhaps that person was still here.
A person who had once pointed the way for Viktor when he felt lost about the future.
He remembered that this man was called Singed.
In the past, he would occasionally come here, and he would always be inspired through his conversations with him. Then Viktor remembered the reason he had not come in so long.
Because through their constant conversations, he discovered that he and this senior had many similarities, but they held different views on certain key points.
That senior believed that when leading to the same goal and result, the process often did not matter. As long as the result was the same, that was enough.
But Viktor held the opposite view. He believed the process was just as important, and one could not ignore the process simply because of the result.
He had seen with his own eyes that this senior, who upheld that kind of idea, could raise a knife without the slightest pity toward an innocent animal.
He had seen that this man possessed many extraordinary ideas, but those ideas were both dangerous and bold.
He greatly respected this senior, but he rarely came here anymore.
The sound of flowing water outside rang constantly. This place was especially remote, and especially quiet.
Walking into the cave, he saw light inside. He saw that senior.
His figure was withered and thin. His face seemed to have been wrapped in bandages because of some accident, and all his hair had been shaved off.
But his gait and back gave people a steady impression.
This was the senior's laboratory. Usually, many experimental instruments could be seen here, as well as alchemy tanks containing some kind of strange creatures.
Only now, the place was a complete mess. Experimental drawings were scattered across the floor, the equipment on the tables and cabinets had toppled this way and that, and those alchemy tanks had been opened. The things inside had vanished.
And he was standing among it all, calmly cleaning up the mess.
"What happened here?"
Seeing this, Viktor could not help asking.
Hearing him, Singed turned his head and saw Viktor. He was not surprised by his arrival. He merely gave an "oh" and replied, "Nothing much. I'm leaving this place, so it looks a bit messy."
Viktor froze for a moment, then said in surprise, "You're leaving?"
"That's right." Singed nodded slightly. "I thought we wouldn't have the chance to meet again. I'm surprised you came. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to talk with you."
"That's all right," Viktor said. "Do you need my help?"
"Your complexion looks much better. Have you been receiving some treatment?" Singed noticed that Viktor was in very good condition and asked curiously.
"Yes. Someone very skilled prescribed me some medicine," Viktor answered honestly.
"Then that is indeed a good thing." Singed smiled. "Every time I saw you before, your face was always pale. You haven't come by in some time, so I thought you…"
Viktor felt a little awkward and did not know how to explain. "I've been… I haven't had much time…"
"I understand." Singed actually knew the reason. He continued with a smile, "In any case, I'm very glad I could see you again."
"I feel the same," Viktor said. Then he could not help asking further, "Where are you preparing to go? Why leave?"
"Because some… changes have occurred."
Singed thought for a moment, then gave a vague answer. "You know, experiments require financial support. And the person who provided me with financial support had an accident some time ago. I imagine that for the next while, I'll have to rely on myself. As for where I plan to go, the world is so vast. There will always be somewhere that can shelter me."
"I see. That really is a pity."
Viktor felt regret over this and continued, "I hope we can meet again in the future."
"Of course we can," Singed said calmly.
"I hope so," Viktor said.
Carrying only a small amount of luggage, Singed prepared to leave. Before departing, he looked at Viktor as though saying goodbye. "You are an exceptionally talented inventor. I hope you cherish your gift. Perhaps we will meet again soon."
Viktor nodded. "I will. During this time, you've helped me a great deal and resolved many of my doubts. Thank you."
"In truth, you've also resolved many of my doubts."
Singed said, "Many of the people we encounter in life may become our teachers. Our connection will not end here. Until fate brings us together again."
"Goodbye."
Viktor nodded.
He watched Singed leave. This senior had once worried about his body, which was why, after his body gradually recovered, Viktor had wanted to come and tell him the good news.
But he had not expected that their next meeting would be such a farewell.
Still, just as Singed had said, perhaps they would meet again one day.
At that moment, Singed had already left the cave. He set off in a specific direction with a clear purpose.
In truth, he had more than one laboratory.
However, Silco's downfall had indeed affected him to a certain extent.
Because of that, he had to abandon some laboratories.
At the same time, there was also a mysterious person called "C" who wanted to meet him. He thought there was no reason not to go.
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