SEC Chapter 3: All Zaun really needs is one voice.
Chapter 3: All Zaun really needs is one voice.
The balloon was eventually returned.
Aaron, dragging the reluctant Jinx, weaved through the Piltover people who had begun celebrating ahead of time, until he found the girl with obvious Vastaya features on her face.
The other person thought they had lost the balloon and was walking home dejectedly.
After Aaron forced Jinx to return the balloon with his eyes, the girl was happy and grateful, saying thank you many times, which made Jinx feel extremely guilty.
"Hilcone doesn't care about me anymore, and you're still forcing me to return the balloons, how annoying..."
Jinx grumbled under her breath, but her feet betrayed her, following closely behind Aaron.
For nine years, whenever Aaron tried to correct some of Jinx's minor flaws, the girl would use her overly indulgent Hilco as a shield.
Aaron was too lazy to argue with her anymore.
In Aaron's words, it was because Hilco spoiled Jinx that he had to seriously discipline her.
This is also the biggest point of contention between Aaron and their adoptive father:
He felt that Hilko wasn't "ruthless" enough!
A person who is not ruthless enough to themselves, no matter how tough they pretend to be, is ultimately just all bark and no bite.
Since we've already decided to consider Piltover an enemy, why wait for the Piltover people to make a move?
Why not upgrade and replace the low-light technology?
Why wait for Jinx to realize and change on her own?
Aaron is a scientific researcher, and scientific research emphasizes efficiency.
He has been staying home for the past few years because he is disappointed with Hilko's inefficiency.
Why aren't the alchemist barons in the ditch trying to subdue them completely? Why aren't the councilors in the upper city trying to buy them off? Why aren't the talents in the twin cities trying to win them over? Does revitalizing Zaun mean simply being a peaceful underworld gang?
If it weren't for Jinx, Aaron would have already repaid Hilk's adoption debt long ago... Well, he was just lying to himself.
Once Hilko adopted Aaron out of genuine affection, not because of the mech, he could no longer abandon Hilko.
That's why he had so much resentment towards his adoptive father.
Thinking of this, Aaron couldn't help but rub Jinx's head, which made the girl jump up and down.
"What? I just washed my hair this morning."
"It's nothing."
"So mysterious... Oh, right!"
Jinx suddenly thought of something and held up a finger.
"Didn't you say you wanted to find inspiration for the 200th anniversary of Progress Day? I just overheard those Piltover folks chatting, and I heard some bombshell news that could definitely give you some inspiration!"
"What news? If it's about Hextech Gems, then you don't need to say anything; that's what I came for."
No, no.
Jinx immediately shook her head, then leaned even closer to Aaron's ear with an even more smug look on her face: "You know what? Hextech Gate is open to visitors now!"
"We can go take a closer look at that thing later; maybe you'll discover something..."
"Great! We've finally found you!"
Jinx was interrupted by another voice that suddenly burst in before she could finish speaking.
Gustav, with his wide, square jaw, struggled to push through the celebrating crowd and squeezed in front of the two men.
He was visibly anxious, and two beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
Jinx was quite unhappy and frowned as she questioned Gustav.
She finally managed to get out and have fun with Aaron, finally found some news that would make Aaron happy, finally... In short, the person who bothered her was extremely rude!
"Jinx, Hilko needs you now."
Gustav seemed to sense that something was wrong and quickly explained his purpose.
He took a deep breath and lowered his voice to explain in detail:
"The boss has reached an agreement with Marcos. This shipment is the first time it's been transported using Piltover's Hextech portal, so someone needs to be there to oversee it. The boss doesn't trust anyone else, so he sent me to handle it..."
"Time and place."
"Knowing you're going... Aaron?! You're willing to go too?!"
Gustav was speaking when he suddenly heard Aaron's crisp and direct question, and his eyes widened in surprise!
He was so pleasantly surprised!
As a veteran who had followed Hilko for a long time, he had personally witnessed Aaron piloting a mech when he was a child, wreaking havoc in Zaun and wiping out those forces that did not obey Hilko's orders.
Occasionally, they also heard about Aaron's forward-looking ideas for the development of Zaun.
It sounds incredibly impressive.
Even though Aaron kept emphasizing that he was collecting combat data on the mechs and that the mechs would soon be unable to move,
However, these people had long regarded the ever-calm and rational Aaron as the most qualified successor to Hillco.
In recent years, seeing Aaron spending more and more time in the laboratory, and hearing that Aaron had repeated conflicts with Hilko because of the luminous potion, Gustav and the others were actually very worried.
They even suspected that it was because Aaron's ideas were gradually deviating from those of Hilco that their leader had recently begun to intentionally groom Jinx.
To everyone's surprise, Aaron actually took the initiative to get involved this time. How could we not be overjoyed!
Could it be that young master Aaron has come to his senses and will no longer quarrel with the eldest brother?
"The time is one hour from now, at SkyPier 14 in East Bay. Sevika is already there to meet you!"
Have a safe journey!
Gustav beamed and succinctly conveyed all the information to Aaron.
After he finished speaking, without even urging anyone to hurry up, he bowed, smiled, and disappeared into the crowd.
Under Hilko, everyone knew that "Aaron is the most reliable."
Gustav felt more confident handing the task over to Aaron than if he had done it himself.
"Why did you suddenly..."
After Gustav walked away, Jinx looked at Aaron with a puzzled expression.
She didn't understand why Aaron would suddenly get involved in today's events.
Aren't you looking for inspiration anymore?
"Didn't you say that Hextech flying doors are open to visitors? We're delivering goods for Hillco, so we can take a look around."
Aaron's eyes flickered, and he did not give a direct answer.
……
East Bay Pier 14 is an inconspicuous port in the Hextech Flygate cargo system.
Because it is inconspicuous, some shady transactions can proceed smoothly without hindrance.
For example... smuggling glimmers of light.
Even with Aaron's insightful advice, the Hillco Group has undergone multiple reforms and restructurings and is moving towards becoming a qualified governing body.
However, at present, gray income is still the main source of income to maintain the team's operation.
"Check it again!"
"Any bastard who dares to let the cargo box leak halfway through will be in for a world of trouble... Oh? A rare guest indeed!"
Sevika, who was standing with her hands on her hips and ordering her subordinates around, suddenly caught sight of Aaron and Jinx approaching, and her eyes lit up.
She and Jinx didn't get along at all, but she had great respect for Aaron.
So that sentence wasn't actually said to Jinx at all.
"Thank you for your hard work, Sevika. Go back and tell Hilko that I'll take charge of today's shipment."
Aaron smiled, preventing the conflict from escalating.
His sudden involvement in smuggling, which he usually disdained, was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, so he needed to get Sevika away as soon as possible.
Only after Sevika had walked further and further away did Aaron sit on the cargo box and begin to wait in silence.
He did not rush to send the cargo ship off, nor did he ask his men to repeatedly inspect the cargo.
Just wait.
He was waiting for a group of masked men on motorbikes to disrupt today's smuggling operation.
Among those people, there's one with short pink hair who looks remarkably like someone's older sister...
"Jinx, I have a question for you."
Aaron suddenly spoke, but his eyes did not look at Jinx, as if he were answering his own question.
"you say."
"Do you think Zaun needs any other voices besides Hilk's?"
"Uh, what do you mean?"
Jinx didn't understand and stared blankly with wide eyes.
Aaron didn't really expect her to understand.
Because in Aaron's heart, the answer to this question had already been found—
"unnecessary."
He shook his head.
"If we don't want the Piltover people to tell us what to do, then we don't need the Gold Baron, and we certainly don't need the Wildfire Gang."
"Hilko doesn't understand this, which is why I can't focus on my research!"
Aaron reached out and pointed to several black dots rapidly approaching in the sky not far away:
"Prepare to meet the enemy."