Zaun, the Entresol—
Early in the morning, local residents saw the Spirit Blossom Gang show up here again. Watching them, curiosity was written all over their faces.
All day yesterday, the Spirit Blossom Gang had turned the Lanes upside down. The Entresol and the Promenade too. And today, they were here again.
Of course, "turned upside down" didn't mean they literally tore Zaun apart. Their search didn't really affect the locals or cause trouble. It was a bit loud, sure—but just loud. And for Zaunites, noise hardly counts as a problem.
Back when Chem-Barons' factories used to thunder day and night, and Shimmer junkies were roaming around, the chaos they made was far worse than the Spirit Blossom Gang's shouting while looking for someone.
So beyond being curious, quite a few residents even wanted to help the Spirit Blossom Gang.
Right now, Sevika stood in the street, directing the team's movements.
"You—go that way! Check along the drainage canal. Someone could be hiding over there!"
"Vi, take people over to Broken Gorge. There aren't many folks around there—search carefully."
"Scar, take people up high and check from above. Go over every place marked on this map."
Sevika really lived up to her reputation as Silco's right hand. The moment everyone assembled, she started issuing orders—quick, clean, and precise—assigning each person their task.
But this wasn't her first time doing this. Back when she worked under Silco, she was often the one coordinating manpower. Silco trusted her with real authority: he would give her the objective, and Sevika would decide how to act, how to complete it, how many people to use, how much money to spend.
That was probably why Finn had gone to Sevika before, trying to push her into betraying Silco. Under Silco, there really was a group of low-ranking members who only knew Sevika—barely even knew Silco.
Vi heard Sevika give her orders and nodded.
She lifted her hand and shouted, "Manzu, Zeri—bring people with me, this way!"
"Yes, boss!" Zeri answered immediately.
Manzu watched Vi's back as she walked ahead and almost laughed—barely holding it in.
Honestly, Sevika really was keeping Vi in check right now.
Manzu had grown up in the Lanes with Marsen, Logan, Willa—kids from the same streets. Their group never got along with Vi, always fighting. But they'd actually been close to Sevika. They'd always treated Sevika like family. So seeing Vi not snapping back and picking a fight with Sevika today made Manzu genuinely happy.
But the only reason Vi was swallowing it was obvious.
Vander.
"Today," Sevika snarled, "we're finding him."
———
The Sump, Spirit Blossom Gang outpost—Logan's home—
Logan wore a gray jacket over a black wool sweater that wrapped his neck. The look gave him a more youthful vibe—though he was already young. Before, Logan wore nothing but torn, ragged clothes, so "style" was never really part of the equation.
But now, standing behind Jinx and looking down at her in the mirror, Logan couldn't help thinking… the two of them actually looked pretty good together.
Jinx wore a blue half-denim jacket and tight black pants. Her small, round, perky butt rested on the stool as she sat properly with both hands placed obediently on her thighs, leaning forward while she waited for Logan to do her hair.
She was wearing the same kind of wool sweater as Logan too, except hers was a deep beige. Logan thought white would look amazing on her, but white clothes in Zaun got dirty way too easily.
She watched herself in the mirror, nervous and tense. Since yesterday, Jinx had been stiff and restless. At night she'd fallen back into old habits—curling up into a tight little ball like a cat. That was what she did when she didn't feel safe.
"What kind of hairstyle do you want?" Logan murmured near her ear, taking on the role of Jinxie's stylist for the day.
"My usual hairstyle was designed by Silco," Jinx said after thinking for a moment. "If we can see Vander today… Logan, I want to tie my hair up. Leave a bit of bangs in front, and tie two little buns on the sides? And don't make the side strands too long."
When she was little, Vander had said that when she grew up, he'd do her hair for her—exactly like the style she just described.
If she wore it like that, Vander would recognize her right away.
"Can't do it," Logan said.
"Why?"
Logan ran his fingers through her hair. Two months ago it had been frizzy and split. But after two months of being pampered—sleeping in his arms every night like some succubus draining his life force—Jinx's hair had turned soft and glossy.
And there was so much of it. So much that even if you cut half of it away, the rest would still look like a normal person's full head of hair.
"Because you've got a ton of hair," Logan said, "and it's really long."
"Then I can cut it." Jinx looked up at Logan. "Vander said that hairstyle would look really good on me."
Logan said Vander was alive. Logan said he would handle it.
So Jinx believed him.
She didn't doubt it the way Vi did. She'd already prepared herself to see Vander today.
"Cut it?" Logan shook his head, refusing. "No way. Your long hair looks great."
Joking aside—Logan used to be a short-hair addict, the kind who thought smart, composed women with short hair were the most attractive thing in the world. But now, he had to admit it: Jinx's long hair was its own kind of charm. It looked beautiful.
Hearing him say that, Jinx lifted her hands from her thighs and gathered her hair, lowering her head as she held a handful of blue strands and stared at it without speaking.
Behind her, Logan continued, "Let me see if I can come up with a new style for you."
"And Vander… he never had taste. Remember how Forgen Tavern used to be decorated? In my opinion, it was ugly as hell."
"So don't trust him. As for Silco—his taste is pretty bad too, but the good news is our Jinx is naturally gorgeous. You can pull off anything. Trust me—if I do your hair, it'll definitely look better than whatever Silco and Vander came up with."
Ten minutes later, Jinx's face scrunched into a knot as she stared at herself in the mirror. Pouting, she complained, "Logan, this is what you call pretty?"
"Look at it! Look!"
Jinx pointed at the mirror. Her blue hair had been kneaded into a lump, like she was wearing a mushroom on her head. It looked so weird it was almost impressive.
"Ahem—accident, accident," Logan said quickly, seeing how unhappy she was. "Your hair's just too thick. It's hard to tie up, and I don't want to pull too hard and hurt you. Give me a second—I'll switch it up."
Honestly, if it were him, he'd hate it too.
This skill level was absolute garbage.
Time passed. One hairstyle after another appeared on Jinx's head. Logan acted like he'd found a new hobby—excitedly designing hair after hair for her. No wonder Jinx loved playing house with Isha. He had to admit… this was kind of fun.
Star Guardian twin-tails Jinx. A cool, sharp high-ponytail Jinx. An edgy, non-mainstream Jinx with bangs long enough to cover half her face. A ridiculous one where he pulled all her hair forward to wrap around her chin like a scarf—
For a while, the room filled with Jinx's grumbling and her giggling laughter.
Logan watched her in the mirror—her tension easing, her nerves fading—and he couldn't help laughing too.
In the end, he still chose her most classic hairstyle.
Dropping to one knee, Logan gathered Jinx's hair and laid it across his leg. With his hands, he braided it—section by section—until it formed neat plaits.
Neither of them noticed Silco standing behind them, quietly watching the whole scene.
Silco had arrived back when Logan tried the high ponytail, but he hadn't interrupted.
Only when Logan finally stood up did Silco step forward.
Logan turned around and looked at him.
Silco said calmly, "We found Singed."
"Vi has him pinned down. Logan—let's go."
Logan nodded and patted Jinx's shoulder.
Jinx sprang up, leaned forward, and tilted her head to check herself in the mirror—then realized it looked… a little better than the way Silco used to do it.
"Let's go, Logan."
"Don't worry about me. I'm ready."
She turned, hugged Logan's arm, and said it softly but firmly.
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