Levi temporarily accepted Seraphine, allowing her to tag along by his side.
He planned to go to the University of Piltover with Seraphine first to find his sister, taking the opportunity to chat more along the way and carefully understand this young lady's mindset.
However, the two hadn't started talking about anything yet, nor had they walked very far.
Just as Levi took the lead and reached the bottom of the apartment building, with Seraphine lagging a few steps behind, he ran head-on into an acquaintance at the stairwell—
The fat landlord, Mr. Bill.
"Hey!" Mr. Bill jingled the pocketful of keys in his trousers and shouted the moment he saw Levi. "Halt! Where do you think you're running off to?"
"A whole night has passed. Have you scraped together the few months of rent you owe me yet? I'm not joking around with you. If you can't pay up today, then pack your bags and get the hell back to Zaun! Ugh, you Zaunites..."
Levi immediately stopped in his tracks and looked up at the landlord.
For some reason, after just one night, Mr. Bill inexplicably felt that this kid's aura seemed different.
Being suddenly glared at by Levi, he actually felt a strange sense of fear.
"Wh-what do you want?" Seeing Levi slowly approaching, Mr. Bill didn't dare to continue cursing.
He instinctively took two steps back.
But Levi simply handed him a coin pouch. "This is the rent I owe you. Please take it."
"This..." Mr. Bill's face was written all over with surprise.
He seemingly hadn't expected Levi to be so straightforward this time.
"Wait," Mr. Bill suddenly thought of something. "I ran into a young lady from a wealthy family earlier. She actually came specifically looking for you and even asked me where you lived."
"Say, Levi, you couldn't have..."
"...hooked up with a sugar mommy, right?"
"You're overthinking it," Levi rolled his eyes.
"Really?" Mr. Bill was still quite suspicious. "Other than doing *that* kind of work, how else could you earn several months' rent in a single night?"
Levi was speechless. But it couldn't be helped; he did look like he had the capital to make a living that way.
"I didn't do anything. This is just an advance on my salary for next month," Levi casually explained, then solemnly placed the coin pouch into the landlord's hands.
Mr. Bill was grumpily opening the pouch to count the money when he unexpectedly heard Levi say to him, "Thank you, Mr. Bill."
"Eh?"
"During the most difficult time for my sister and me, you were the one who helped us." Levi was genuinely thanking him, not just being polite.
He was saying this on behalf of the original owner of his body.
Although Mr. Bill's insults were harsh and his words were mean, the original owner actually didn't hate him at all.
Because a landlord who could tolerate a Zaunite apprentice defaulting on rent, and only threatened to kick them out after several consecutive months of arrears... among the landlords in Piltover, he was already a rare saint.
If Mr. Bill had been a bit more cruel, his sister would have probably died of illness on the streets long ago.
Money owed to others must be repaid.
A word of thanks was also well-deserved.
"Levi..." Mr. Bill's gaze grew complicated.
He silently accepted the rent money, then looked at Levi with a touched expression.
"It's still a bit short."
"Eh?"
"The money is still a bit short. It's not enough."
"..." Levi also knew it wasn't enough. One month's salary plus the few Silver Wheels he had robbed from Aubrey still fell slightly short.
So, as always, he threw his hands up. "This is all I have on hand. I'll pay the rest later."
"You brat!" Mr. Bill's fat face sank, habitually wanting to curse. But this time, the words didn't come out. "Forget it, I'll let you stay here for a couple more days..."
"Don't forget to pay the rest of the money!"
Mr. Bill put on a grumpy, foul face.
Then, in the next second, he saw...
The beautiful lady who had asked him for directions earlier was actually walking down the stairs, panting heavily.
"Mr. Levi, walk a little slower..."
"I don't have much energy left."
Seraphine was already delicate and frail, and having run all the way here in a state of excitement earlier, she was indeed a bit tired now.
She instinctively wanted to find a place to lean on.
But this rundown apartment building was dilapidated everywhere. The walls and handrails were each filthier than the last, making Seraphine truly unable to bring herself to touch them.
So she subconsciously tried to rest her hand on Levi's shoulder.
But Levi reacted as if he had been electrocuted, shoving the elegant and noble young lady away.
"Let go! Didn't I tell you not to touch me unless it's necessary!"
"S-sorry..." Seraphine hurriedly took two steps back, looking very timid and obedient.
Mr. Bill inhaled sharply, completely dumbfounded.
"Levi..." After his shock subsided, Mr. Bill managed to ask, "You've... you've already got it made, yet you're still holding out on my rent... Isn't that a bit much?"
"No, you misunderstand," Levi's face darkened. "She's actually just my factory boss's daughter. She came here to find me..."
"The boss's daughter?!" Mr. Bill's expression became even more colorful.
Then, heaven knows what he imagined in his head. "Forget it, Levi, you're a promising lad. You don't need to pay back that little bit of change."
Saying that, the landlord patted his shoulder encouragingly.
"Young man, keep up the good work."
"When you strike it rich in the future, don't forget about me."
Levi rubbed his face and said nothing.
Not long after, in a certain private clinic.
The boss of the Iron Fist Gang, Iron Fist Avery, was sitting in front of his younger brother Aubrey's hospital bed, quietly listening to the report from a subordinate beside him.
"Boss, we went to that kid's house to look for him right away. But he slipped away fast; he packed his things and ran off a long time ago."
"Where did he run off to?" Avery asked coldly.
Unlike his bloated younger brother Aubrey, Iron Fist Avery was tall, broad, and heavily built. His overdeveloped muscles crowded together like tumors on every part of his body where muscle could grow, making him look as terrifying as a mutated mountain of meat.
Just by sitting there, his imposing presence was enough to suppress his underling into speechlessness.
"I-I don't know... I don't know where he ran off to... But that kid's sister studies at the University of Piltover... He'll probably go there... But Boss, you know as well as I do... the University of Piltover... we don't dare cause trouble there."
"Hmm." Avery nodded noncommittally.
Unsure of what he was thinking, the subordinate had no choice but to continue reporting. "Boss, we also discovered something else."
"Even though that kid ran away, we ran into his landlord. According to the landlord, that Levi seems to have..."
"Seems to have what?"
"...seems to have hooked up with a sugar mommy." The subordinate revealed this movie-script-like piece of intelligence. "The landlord said Levi showed up with a pink-haired young lady. The relationship between the two looked very intimate."
"Huh?" On the hospital bed, Aubrey, who had already been wrapped up in bandages like a mummy, could no longer lie still.
He had "kindly" offered to introduce Levi to a sugar mommy, only to be beaten into this state by him.
And in the end, this kid went and hooked up with a sugar mommy himself? Fuck!
"Wait... is that true? Wasn't he so poor he couldn't even pay his debts a few days ago? How did he suddenly hook up with a rich person?"
"It should be true... The landlord told the whole story from beginning to end; it didn't seem made up."
"Then who exactly did he hook up with?"
"Well, according to the landlord... the person Levi hooked up with is his boss's daughter."
"You mean that Hextech audio factory..." Boss Avery frowned slightly. "Mr. Ivern's daughter?"
"Yes." The subordinate nodded, then asked, "Boss, what do we do next? Should we send all the brothers out to search the whole city for that little brat?"
"Let's do exactly that!" Aubrey nodded in agreement, gnashing his teeth.
He had been beaten like this by Levi in public, his money robbed clean, and his face completely lost.
If Levi didn't die, how could he ever have the face to show himself in the underworld again?
"Send all the brothers out! Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we must find that little bastard!" Aubrey cursed viciously.
But his gang boss brother merely glared at him coldly.
"Shut up! Haven't you embarrassed us enough already?"
"To actually use Shimmer on the streets of Piltover, and even after using it, you still couldn't beat him... If we were still in Zaun, you pig would have fucking died a hundred times over by now!"
"Brother..." The fat Aubrey closed his mouth in grievance.
Avery ignored him completely, simply instructing his subordinate:
"We still need to find him, but once you do, don't rush to make a move. Especially the young lady beside Levi—absolutely do not hurt her."
"Why?" Aubrey was unconvinced. "Isn't she just the daughter of that boss, Ivern?"
"Ivern is nothing but a small business owner, brother. It's not like we can't afford to offend him!"
"I was beaten like this in the middle of the street! If we don't get revenge, where will the Iron Fist Gang put its pride?"
"You don't know shit!" Avery immediately spewed Zaunite profanity at the sight of his brother. "How many fucking times have I told you... this isn't Zaun, it's Piltover!"
"Aubrey, what do you think we are?"
"We're Piltover gang bosses... just like the Chem-Barons of Zaun."
"Barons my ass!" Avery slapped his brother across the face. "Those pieces of trash in Zaun aren't worth shit as Barons! Aside from Silco and Renata, who are somewhat respectable, the rest are all fucking dogs kept free-range in Zaun by the Piltovans!"
"Huh?" Aubrey was confused.
'If the Chem-Barons of Zaun were all dogs to the Piltovans, then what were they, who had to walk on eggshells around Piltovans every day in Piltover?'
"We are also dogs. We're house dogs kept indoors and tied to leashes. We're even lower than them."
"Understand? Dogs don't need pride; they only need to please their masters."
"No matter how small Ivern's influence is, he is still a Piltovan, a business owner in Piltover. When dealing with him, our methods absolutely cannot cross the line. That is the bottom line the Piltovans have drawn for us."
"Otherwise, if a house dog bites its master, it will be killed and eaten."
"Then what do we do?" Aubrey's eyes widened.
'Just because Levi inexplicably got slightly involved with a small business owner, was he supposed to just swallow his pride and accept being beaten into a pig's head? This was too fucking frustrating!'
"Brother, are you really not going to stand up for me?"
"Of course I am, just using a different method."
"What method?" Aubrey was dumbfounded.
They were a gang. If not physical revenge, what other method could they use?
"You pig," Avery glared at his brother in exasperation. "Let me ask you, did Levi hit you?"
"Of course."
"Who struck first?"
"He did."
"Did he also rob your money?"
"Yes."
"Is he currently in possession of illegal Shimmer potions?"
"Yes."
"Are you a Piltovan citizen, and is he a Zaunite apprentice?"
"Yes..."
"Legally speaking, shouldn't this kid go to jail?"
Aubrey: "..."
'Holy shit, that was actually true.'
A lowly Zaunite beating a Piltovan citizen in the street, causing severe injuries, openly robbing their property, and possessing illegal drugs... that was fucking enough to drag him out and shoot him.
They had the law on their side, and their relationship with the Enforcers was solid. Even if Ivern was willing to protect that kid, he probably wouldn't be able to.
"There you have it." Avery turned his head to look at his subordinate. "Go call the police."
"Those Enforcers have eaten so much of our tribute; it's about time they did something."
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