"They're pretty capable. I underestimated them, we'll still need to give them a push."
At the workshop window, a drone disguised as a bird transmitted footage back, causing Powder to frown as she analyzed the situation.
The explosion from the bomb earlier hadn't thrown the guards into chaos as expected. They were maintaining order as they suppressed the indentured workers, and their leader personally stood guard at the door with two others.
"Of course. These guys are all doing dirty work for their lives. Guarding the workers and the factory well is the only way they stay alive. The contractor would skin them otherwise," Cipher remarked without surprise.
The thugs hired by this contractor were just like the ones who used to work for the Chem-Barons, bloody, ruthless, and definitely not low-grade street criminals. They were survivors who'd learned that competence was the only currency that mattered, if you didn't want to die.
"Good thing I planned for surprises."
Powder smiled and triggered another bomb.
An alchemical butterfly took off from one of the machines, fluttering quickly toward the door where the thug leader stood.
The workshop was in chaos, filled with smoke and shouting, and the leader, still busy directing the suppression of workers, didn't notice the butterfly among the industrial debris floating through the air.
Boom!
With a muffled explosion that echoed through the confined space, the butterfly detonated. The leader and the two thugs beside him were blown away before they could react, their bodies ragdolling through the air.
They hit the ground hard, mangled and bloody. Their eyes were wide open, but they couldn't even make a sound, shock and internal injuries stealing their voices. They were alive, but barely, and not for long.
Just then, Levi and his sister, who had just taken a shimmer serum vial, seized the opportunity and bolted from the factory.
They'd never felt so good, bodies full of strength, minds sharp and alert, as if what flowed through their veins wasn't blood, but liquid lightning.
With the leader dead, no one guarded the door anymore. A chain reaction broke out, many of the indentured workers took the chance to flee, streaming through exits like water through a broken dam.
The remaining thugs were left in disarray, glancing at each other helplessly as their command structure collapsed. One by one, they decided to run for it rather than face the consequences of failure.
The situation was too far gone, machines were damaged, their leader was dead, and too many workers had escaped. Staying behind meant certain death when their employers came looking for answers.
The contractor, now facing massive losses and needing compensation for the corporate owner, would definitely capture and dismantle them for parts.
In Piltover's industrial hierarchy, failure was met with creative punishment.
In just a few breaths, the vast workshop was completely empty, except for smokes that slowly dissipated into the ventilation systems.
"Oh? Looks like Jayce's speech is about to end. Let's wait until he finishes before cranking up the pressure. He's an old friend after all, we should show some consideration."
Cipher took a sip of tea, smiling as he looked toward the distant venue where Jayce was performing. The timing had to be perfect for maximum psychological impact.
So far, everything in the plan was going smoothly, and he was in a good mood. Casually, he poured a cup of tea for Powder and handed it to her.
"You're wicked," Powder said, accepting the tea. Of course she knew all about his twisted sense of humor, she'd inherited more than a little of it herself.
Letting Jayce think he was having a perfect ending to the night, then hitting him with a sudden blow, a massive explosion in Piltover's Industrial Zone. It would be like slapping him across the face during his victory speech, so hard his mouth would swell with the taste of irony.
---
Right then, the drone's footage showed that Jayce's speech was reaching its climax. He raised his right hand and pointed toward the towering Hexgate in the distance, his voice full of power.
"Years ago, the Hexgate connected us to the world. It ushered in an unprecedented era of prosperity for Piltover, beyond anyone's wildest dreams."
He waved his arm forcefully, his face glowing with conviction under the stage lights. He looked like the hope of Piltover's progress, instantly stirring everyone in the hall with his infectious enthusiasm.
"Ooooh!"
"Ohh, wooo!"
The audience stood up as one, applauding thunderously and cheering wildly, lost in their excitement for the future he was painting.
Some even whistled loudly to express their joy.
The sound reverberated through the grand hall.
"But our exploration is far from over."
Jayce smiled with satisfaction and swung his arm again, commanding the stage like a conductor before an orchestra. The backstage crew understood the cue and immediately activated a switch.
The floor of the auditorium opened, and two Hextech exhibits, covered in red cloth, were slowly raised up via a polished mechanical lift.
Since his parting with Mel earlier, he had realized, he still needed to showcase something grand to maintain the momentum of the evening.
After some thought, he decided to showcase the designs he and Viktor had worked on in the past.
The Atlas Gauntlet and the Hextech Claw.
These two pieces of civilian equipment had long been completed but never unveiled. He had originally planned to wait for Viktor's return before revealing them, but years had passed, and Viktor still hadn't come back from wherever Cipher had taken him.
Since he was the one giving the keynote tonight, he figured he might as well use the opportunity to present their joint creations, at least it would serve as a kind of tribute to Viktor's genius.
A few staff members rolled in a massive chunk of iron ore and a thick alloy steel plate on wheeled carts, bringing them up to the stage.
"Allow me to introduce a new chapter in Hextech technology," Jayce announced.
"We can now design portable civilian equipment that will revolutionize industry."
He yanked off the red cloth, revealing the Atlas Gauntlet, a massive mechanical arm.
He inserted his arm into the device, activating it. The gauntlet whirred to life, glowing with blue energy lines along its surface.
Jyace stepped up to the chunk of iron ore. With just one arm, powered by the gauntlet, he effortlessly lifted the several-hundred-pound block as if it weighed nothing.
He increased the energy output, and with a slight squeeze, crushed the ore to pieces.
Fragments were scattering across the stage.
"This is the Atlas Gauntlet, it allows miners to work more efficiently, and tirelessly."
The audience below was stunned before erupting in murmurs of amazement and concern.
Was this thing really designed for mining?
It looked more like a weapon designed to crack skulls, the kind of device that belonged on a battlefield, not in a civilian workplace.
Grab someone's head and give it a gentle squeeze, they'd explode like a melon.
A clean, painless death, really.
---
"Powder, that gauntlet's awesome. Make one for me too."
Vi, who had been lazily drinking in the corner, instantly perked up after seeing the gauntlet in action. Grinning, she swaggered over to Powder, bottle in hand.
"Vi, you reek of booze. Get away from me."
Powder pushed her away with a look of disgust, wrinkling her nose. She didn't want to smell like alcohol, it was gross and ruined her image.
"Then you have to promise to make me one."
Vi clung to her, using her larger frame to her advantage.
She was an adult now, and as long as she didn't overdrink enough to pass out, no one cared about her habits. So she made up for all the drinks she wasn't allowed as a kid, now constantly smelling like alcohol and regularly earning Powder's scorn.
"Fine, I'll make you one. But if you come near me again reeking like a distillery, you're not getting anything. You stink, you slob!"
Powder pinched her nose. She was all about cleanliness and precision now, and couldn't stand Vi's increasingly slovenly habits.
"Deal! I'll be waiting, hurry up and don't forget."
Vi took a big swig of her drink and backed away, still grinning like an idiot, completely unfazed by her Powder's disgust.
All you could say was, she had a big heart and an even thicker skull.
---
Meanwhile, onstage, Jayce removed the gauntlet and pulled the red cloth off the second Hextech device.
"This is the Hextech Claw, a mechanical arm capable of emitting high-energy beams for precision work."
He demonstrated the arm's function by carving into the tough alloy steel plate. He effortlessly engraved a likeness of Heimerdinger on the surface.
But as he neared the end of the carving, he got a little careless. The output power spiked beyond safe parameters, and the beam cleanly sliced through the ten-centimeter-thick steel plate with a sound like tearing silk.
"Just imagine what craftsmen could do with equipment like this."
Jayce was visibly excited, completely unaware of the increasingly odd looks he was getting from the audience.
For craftsmen? This thing, running at full power, could fire a beam that slices clean through steel. And you're calling this a piece of civilian equipment?
Some people in the crowd were already thinking: Maybe Jayce wasn't trying to break his peace-loving image, he was just rebranding new-generation Hextech weapons as tools for the public.
It was like he was saying, "I'm selling it as a civilian tool. If you turn it into a weapon, that's your business. What does that have to do with me?"
He still looked every bit the peace-loving public figure.
Some sharp-minded individuals in the audience even silently gave him mental thumbs-ups. This way, he could sidestep countless trade restrictions and international treaties governing weapons development.
No wonder he used to be a scientist, he sure thinks outside the box when it comes to legal loopholes.