Inside the bathroom, Vi turned the lock, securing the door from the inside. Before long, the sound of rushing water could be heard.
Walking to the window, Lin Yan quietly parted the curtains to peek through a slit, looking toward the shield-like barricade set up on the Bridge of Progress.
The iron-gray barricade bore the unique sigil of Piltover.
Behind the waist-high barricade stood Enforcers armed with lever-action rifles, apparently afraid that the people of the Undercity would try to storm the bridge again.
On the bridge, figures bustled about, cleaning the scene. Soon, the corpses and debris on the bridge were cleared away. In stark contrast was the untouched scene on the Undercity's side.
"The conflict between the Topside and the Undercity has become even more pronounced after the Day of Ash."
"According to the normal plot development, Vander fails to reconcile with Silco after this incident, leading to the Undercity becoming a city split between two men. What follows is the opening plot of Arcane. However... since the system prompted that the world's timeline has already undergone a slight change, then even if Vander can't find Silco this time, there will still be subtle shifts in the plot."
"I just don't know if this altered path will be for the better or for the worse." Lin Yan's eyes narrowed slightly.
After seeing the vision of a "dumpling-making universe," Lin Yan had developed the idea of guiding everything toward a normal, happy ending. Facts had proven that Powder didn't have to become a walking disaster. She could become normal, a person who could shelter others from the wind and rain. The Topside and the Undercity didn't have to be at each other's throats; the Bridge of Progress could be lined with market stalls, allowing the two sides to trade and coexist. But all of these changes required a series of small opportunities. For instance, Vander and Silco reconciling, relations between the cities easing, Hextech not being popularized, Shimmer not running rampant...
... ...
The Undercity, the Fissures, an old mine shaft.
This was where Vander, Silco, and the couple Felicia and her husband had first met. One could say this place held the deepest memories for the three of them. It was a pity that after the mining disaster, this place was abandoned, leaving behind only traces of the lives the Undercity miners once lived.
Just as in the original plot, Vander still couldn't find Silco. He wandered in circles and returned to the place where the three of them had first begun.
Taking out the pen and paper he carried with him, Vander looked toward the pitch-black mine tunnel in the distance, lit an oil lamp, and wrote a letter to Silco.
About half an hour later, Vander finally stopped his pen. He bent down, picked up a loose stone from beside his foot, and used it to weigh down the letter to prevent the wind from blowing it away. Only then did he walk out.
It wasn't until he reached the entrance of the mine that Vander turned and shouted into the darkness, "Silco! I know you're in there! The only reason I can't find you is because you don't want to see me, afraid that I'll hurt you again!"
"I can understand that! After all... trying to kill my own brother after failing to take the bridge... that's not what a proper leader does. For that... I apologize."
"You can hide from me, you can hate me, you can even kill me."
"But rest assured, I will bear the price of our failure. No matter how the Topsiders blame us, I will shoulder it all myself! My only request is that if something happens to me, please take care of Felicia's two little ones, as well as the children of the others who died storming the bridge."
"Also, Silco. I left a letter in the 'rest area.' If you can, please go take a look..."
With that said, Vander saw no reaction from the tunnel. His burly figure seemed to stoop a little as he let out a long sigh and turned to walk away.
An unknown amount of time passed before a gaunt figure walked into the mine shaft.
His eye, inflamed from the polluted river water, had been simply disinfected and was now covered by a layer of white gauze. The wound around his eye was shriveled and wrinkled from the chemical burns, and it was still oozing blood.
He glanced in the direction Vander had left, a flicker of conflict in his remaining eye.
Silco, who had been hiding in the shadows, had heard every word Vander said. Not only that, but he had also watched the entire process of Vander wandering the streets and alleys, searching for him.
At first, he had thought Vander was looking for him to finish the job—to eliminate him for good. But after hearing Vander's words, Silco realized that Vander's search was not for the reason he had imagined.
Silco knew this former brother of his extremely well. He was a tough guy, through and through. Back in the mines, Vander had already made a name for himself as the 'Black Wolf.' When it came to solving problems, he would always use his fists if he could avoid using his words. But now...
Recalling the sight of Vander leaving, looking as if all the strength had been drained from his body, he felt a flicker of hesitation amid his anger...
Why?! It was all for the Undercity! So why did Vander try to kill him?!
Lifting his head to look at the deep mine tunnel, Silco walked in with a conflicted heart, wanting to see what was in the letter Vander mentioned.
Clack, clack...
He lit an oil lamp. Silco picked up the letter from the table. His gaze fell upon the letter, sweeping across the lines of text.
[Silco, I've been looking for you everywhere, but it seems you're dead set on avoiding me... Sigh... how should I say this... I'm sorry. The moment she died, I lost my mind. I told myself that everything I did to you was for the greater good, that you deserved it. But in the end, I am not innocent either...]
[...You know, after our conflict, I met an Arcanist who claimed he could foresee the future. He told me the future of the Undercity, and the fates of me, Benzo, Vi, and Powder. To be honest, I didn't believe him at first. But as you know, after 'that incident,' I started to hold a sliver of faith in the divine, since she saved both our lives in the mining accident. So, I think I can trust him this one time, to change a future that has not yet happened. If you want to meet him, go to number 32, Boundary Street. If you want to meet me... heh... you should know where to find me. ...The Last Drop. —Vander]
The rough letter rustled between Silco's fingers as the echo of a falling water droplet sounded from deep within the mine.
In a daze, he felt as if he had returned to that sweltering afternoon twenty years ago— In the collapsing mine...
"Grab my hand!" A young Vander, half his body leaning out of a fissure in the rockfall, had blood mixed with mud and sweat seeping from his knuckles, dripping onto Silco's face.
Cold, yet warm. The memory was still fresh.
At that time, Silco had been buried deep in the mine, his right leg crushed numb by a steel beam, his entire body about to be swallowed by dirt and rubble. It was Vander who had clawed through the debris with his bare hands and carried him on his back through three hundred meters of sloping tunnels. When their wounds got infected and they were burning with fever, it was Felicia who found antibiotics, humming a Zaunite tune as she changed their bandages. It was she who made the wish, "The three of us will change the Undercity together, forever." He still remembered how the young girl's eyes had sparkled under the chem-lamp. He could also recall the hurricane that had burst forth from the depths of the mine, the shocking sight of it blowing the collapsed tunnel wide open. Remembering all of that, a slight curve appeared on Silco's tightly-set lips. Beautiful... so beautiful... Everything back then was beautiful. Vander, Felicia, and himself, fantasizing about changing the Undercity. Back then, he didn't know the limits of the world; he just wanted to change it with all his might. Until today... reality had dealt him a heavy blow! He had personally watched Felicia die horribly before his eyes, felt Vander push him into the river, and finally, the two of them broke apart... Was this the price that had to be paid for change?
"Perhaps, it's time to try a different way..." After reading the letter, Silco folded it and put it in his pocket. His eyes narrowed, and an inexplicable aura emanated from his thin frame. "An Arcanist... the future... is it?"
... ...
Creak—
The door to the room was pushed open. Vander sat dejectedly on a chair. Lin Yan walked out from the inner room, holding a bag of cucumber-flavored potato chips.
Seeing Vander's crestfallen appearance, it was obvious without asking that he hadn't found him.
"Didn't find him?"
"No..." Vander let out a long sigh. "I left a letter with your address on it. Knowing his personality, if he sees it, he will definitely come find you."
"Oh... Want some?"
"No, thanks..."
"Tsk. Your loss."
Putting down the chips, Lin Yan sat down next to Vander and pointed to the inner room. "Those two little ones are playing in there. If you want to take them back, go ahead."
"Take them back? No... we failed to take the bridge. Someone has to step up and take responsibility." Vander looked through the window at the heavily guarded Bridge of Progress, his fingers rubbing the gold-leaf emblem on the Council's wanted poster in his pocket.
He understood that this matter was not over. The Topsiders needed an accounting for this incident.
"If something happens to me... I'll have to ask you to help me take care of these two kids for a while..."
Before he could finish, Lin Yan immediately waved his hands. "No! Don't you dare!"
"I told you, I'm an Arcanist who travels the world. I won't stay in one place for too long." As Lin Yan spoke, he noticed Vander's disheartened expression, paused for a moment, and then continued.
"...Fine, fine. It's only because you, Vander, have some credibility. As soon as things are settled on your end, you hurry up and take these kids back!"
"Besides, I'm no good at taking care of children." Lin Yan pulled a chip from the bag, popped it in his mouth, and continued, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. After something like this, the Topside Council does need to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys and appease the public."
"But they aren't like you, making major decisions on a hot-headed impulse."
"The Council wants to arrest someone, but they won't arrest you." Lin Yan, sitting in his chair, turned to Vander. "Think about it. After you failed to take the bridge, what substantial impact did you have on the Topside?"
"To put it bluntly, the only impact of the failed charge was escalating the Topside's fear of the Undercity. It didn't touch the interests of the Topside's 'powerful oligarchs.' Don't be fooled by the tense relations; business between the two cities still continues. If they were to truly sever ties, the losses would outweigh the gains for them."
"They need bodies to quell the anger, but not the body of a lion." As he said this, Lin Yan felt his mouth was a bit dry. He clapped his hands to dust off the chip powder from his fingertips, got up to make three cups of hot cocoa, then opened the door and handed two of them to Powder, who was peeking from behind the doorframe.
Vander narrowed his eyes. "You're saying..."
"Remember the dock riots last week? Six scapegoats were hanged at the Sun Gates, but the smuggling ships on Gear Street entered the harbor that very night." Lin Yan said with a slight chuckle. "Some bodies have to be sufficiently humble to allow the lords of the Topside to feel at ease when displaying their mercy."
"You have a high reputation in the Undercity. Arresting you could appease the Topsiders, but it would cause massive turmoil in the Undercity and might even intensify the conflict. Until a second 'Vander' appears in the Undercity, they won't do anything to you, because they still need to use your reputation to pacify the restless, vengeful hearts in the Undercity."
"Do you understand now?" As Lin Yan finished, Vander fell silent and nodded.
As a rough-and-tumble man, this was the first time Vander had ever heard such theories. It couldn't help but make him a bit curious about the person before him.
"Where did you learn all this?" Vander looked at Lin Yan.
"From books." Lin Yan casually pulled two books from the shelf meant for showing off and tossed them in front of Vander.
Had he ever read the books on his shelf? He could only say that he had 'dabbled' in The Complete Collection of Ah Shuai and various other comics and light novels. As for the others? They were just for appearances. In his own words: The books on the shelf are for being looked at, not for being read.
Even so, Lin Yan put on the facade of a master strategist and said to Vander, "These two books are for you. Read them when you have time."
"Don't always be thinking about conquering the world with those fists of yours."
"That method of yours only works in the Undercity."
"Are you saying it won't work outside the Undercity?"
"No. Outside the Undercity... you'll find that the fists you take so much pride in are pathetically weak in the eyes of the outside world!" Lin Yan said without a shred of mercy.
What kind of weird and bizarre things didn't exist in the universe of League of Legends? Up high, you had the Void, Dragon Kings, Gods, and Ascended beings. Down below, you had the chain-wielding guy who dashes back and forth. What Vander had to offer was really not enough to even be a spectacle. Unless he turned into a werewolf.
Putting away The Art of War and Game Theory from the table, Vander didn't argue much with Lin Yan's words.
After resting for a moment, Vander stood up to bid Lin Yan farewell. Vi and Powder were once again left there by Vander under the excuse that 'the Undercity is too chaotic right now.' In his words, he needed to personally pacify the restless Undercity, and that would be too dangerous for Vi and Powder.