"Still not getting up? Honestly, how long are you going to lean on me?"
"The people who were after you... wait, were they after you or me? Never mind, they've already run off anyway, haha! Don't let their size fool you. Kill one, and the rest will scatter in fear. Leo was right, they're just a disorganized mob."
Jinx looked at the timid child cowering on her, shaking the gun in her hand.
Hearing Jinx speak, the little girl immediately backed away, then stood up.
Her hands clasped together in front of her, she bowed her head but then secretly stole a glance at Jinx. When she saw Jinx looking back at her, their eyes met, and her amber pupils constricted. Her body trembled, and she quickly averted her gaze, lowering her head again.
Seeing her reaction, Jinx let out an exasperated "Ha."
"Consider yourself lucky you ran into me. If it had been someone else... well, never mind, I don't even know how to finish that thought. Why don't you play along? When someone talks, you should respond, shouldn't you? You're so rude."
Standing up, Jinx tapped her head twice with the gun, then turned and waved her hand at the little kid behind her: "Anyway, I wish you good luck, kiddo!"
The little girl watched Jinx's bouncy figure walk away, hesitated for a moment, then pulled her hat lower.
Then, a voice echoed from the alley ahead.
"Huh? Why are you following me?"
"Why are you still not talking?"
"Kid, don't you have your own home?"
...
In the mid-level plaza, Leo, who was gathering information and pondering how to make money, looked at the bustling service points. Then, he spotted a familiar, stumbling figure in the distance. Leo was very familiar with that figure.
Seeing this, Leo was first stunned, then immediately followed.
Pushing through the crowd, Leo headed towards the person, walking deeper and deeper until he deviated from the flow of people, leaving the central area of the mid-level plaza.
A moment later, Leo followed the person to a place that looked like an abandoned junkyard. Many small children were rummaging through piles of trash, their figures small and frail, which made Leo frown deeply.
Entering the deeper part of the junkyard, and turning a corner, Leo saw a few figures at the end.
A man with a metal jaw and hair spiked up like a hedgehog was choking another man.
"Cough, Boss Mark, I... I really didn't steal your money." The choked man struggled vigorously, his arm showing clearly visible wounds.
"Bullshit, Marsen! I only took you in because you seemed smart, and this is how you repay me for entrusting you with my money?" The hedgehog-haired man raised his hand. His right wrist to forearm was severed, connected to a rusty steel blade. He pointed the steel blade at the man's neck.
"It... it's not my fault. The gutters were in chaos; I really did my best."
"If you truly did your best, you wouldn't be here!"
"That's my damn money, my money, understand? Who the hell knows if you used my money to buy your rotten life!"
Mark spat, landing on Marsen's face.
Marsen's eyes rolled upward, breathing with difficulty.
But the next moment, Marsen coughed violently, his body slumping against the wall, clutching his throat and coughing. He thought Mark had let him go, and he struggled to look up, about to thank Mark, only to see a scene that made one eye wide and the other narrow.
"Damn it! Open fire!"
"Who are you, daring to provoke our Stab-Eye Gang!"
A huge commotion erupted. Half of Mark's upper face was gone, blown away, and he landed heavily in the trash heap, lifeless. Of the other three henchmen, one cried out in pain, clutching his leg, while the other two frantically opened fire.
Gunshots rang out, spitting flames, but the next moment, the head of a Stab-Eye Gang member holding a short gun seemed to be shoved by something, slamming violently into the wall. Half his face was embedded in the wall, blood mixed with explosive white matter splattering it.
A miserable cry echoed, and soon, the gunshots ceased. Everything returned to quiet.
Marsen's body trembled, his head bowed as he coughed. Then he heard steady footsteps approach him.
Damn it, were the Alchemy Barons' people after him again?
But hadn't they already taken all of the Stab-Eye Gang's money?
Why were they still doing this?
Marsen felt despair.
The Stab-Eye Gang, as a small gang in the Black Alley, usually seemed arrogant and imposing, but in reality, compared to the true gangs and "entrepreneurs," the Stab-Eye Gang was merely a slightly larger ant among a swarm of them.
This time, when the gutters fell into chaos, the gangs and the Alchemy Barons' forces were everywhere in the gutters. Even the Black Alley became a wasteland. They said they were looking for someone, but when these guys invaded their territory, how could anything good come of it?
This is truly messed up.
Perhaps Leo, that bastard, was right. Zaun had changed, becoming even more abnormal.
But then again, weren't we all already abnormal to begin with?
Marsen thought this, feeling his life was about to end. But then he felt his arm being lifted, and he leaned against a slender body.
"What are you thinking so hard about?"
A somewhat familiar voice sounded. Marsen turned his head, then saw a familiar face.
"You, Leo? Oh my God, how could it be you?"
"Marsen, you don't look like you're doing too well."
Leo looked at Marsen and smiled.
...
On the first floor of the house, on a sofa with a hole in it, Marsen's arm was already bandaged. He sat on the sofa, head bowed, and beside him sat a child wearing a hat.
She was like him, afraid to speak, sitting obediently on the sofa with her hands on her knees.
Leo looked at the little girl; her hat, which resembled Teemo's, was very distinctive. Then, Leo looked at Jinx:
"It's one thing for you to go out and play, but why did you bring someone back?"
"I wanted to ask you the same thing! Why did you bring someone back?"
"That's Marsen, did you forget him?"
"Marsen? I vaguely remember him." Jinx shrugged. "As for her, she insisted on following me, okay?"
"..."
Sitting next to Jinx, Leo was speechless.
"Fine, let's just leave it at that for now. Anyway, we still have a good amount of money. Two adults and one child, they won't eat much." Leo thought for a moment and said.
Marsen would stay for two days at most; Leo didn't plan to keep him.
As for the little girl, since Jinx had already brought her back, would Leo really kick her out?
Kick out a child who looked at most eight years old?
Leo felt he couldn't do it.
He had previously wanted to help those children in the junkyard, but Leo had held himself back.
But even so, Leo still had some dissatisfaction with Jinx's behavior, bringing someone back as if they were a small animal.
People are not animals, and certainly not pets. Since Jinx brought her back, she had to take good care of her.
"You brought her back, so you're responsible. Jinx, you need to take good care of her."
"Take care of her? Are you kidding me?! No way, it's too much trouble. I don't want to take care of kids." Jinx retorted, sitting there, crossing her legs, and swinging her braids.
Meanwhile, Marsen, watching Leo joking with Jinx, finally couldn't hold back.
"More importantly, Leo, her." Marsen glanced at Jinx, then continued, "Why is she here with you?"
"Hmm?" The previously sluggish Jinx immediately stood up, her gaze towards Marsen turning unfriendly.
What did he mean? Was she not allowed to be here?
"That's a long story," Leo said with a smile.