As the wind chimes at the door rang crisply, Li Lin and Jayce stepped into The Last Drop.
The Last Drop was a modest bar, quite out of place compared to the grandeur of Zaun.
There were no heavy metal rock tunes, no dance floors for disco, and the entertainment area had only a few old arcade machines and two billiard tables.
Upon seeing Li Lin and Jayce, dressed distinctly from the denizens of the Undercity, almost everyone in the bar paused what they were doing, casting various emotions through their glances.
Facing these sometimes hostile looks, Jayce felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, uncertain if their decision was right or wrong.
The momentary silence lasted less than two seconds until the voice of a familiar mature man broke the quietude.
"May the haze stay away from your home. Welcome to The Last Drop. What can I get for you two?"
Li Lin and Jayce walked straight to the counter at the back of the room, removing their respiratory filters.
"May the haze stay away from your home. Two beers, please."
Li Lin pushed ten copper rings onto the table towards the man who was busy wiping glasses—Vander.
"Hey, it's you."
Vander took out two wooden beer mugs from the counter drawer, then filled them with beer from a large wooden barrel behind him, placing them in front of Li Lin and Jayce.
"I see your injuries are almost healed, young man. You're in good shape."
"Thanks to your help."
Vander glanced at Li Lin's left shoulder and then turned to the side, looking at Jayce, who was silently drinking with a somewhat melancholic expression. "Is this... your friend?"
"Yes, he's currently dealing with some personal emotional issues. We don't need to bother about him."
"Oh... I see. Understandable." Vander seemed to have misunderstood something, nodding gently.
Afterward, Li Lin took out a standard-sized money pouch from his bag and pushed it towards Vander.
He looked at the money pouch in confusion, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What's this?"
"Thanks to your help last time, this is a small token of my gratitude."
Vander took the money pouch, opened it, and saw it filled with round coins without any holes in the middle.
Under the dim alchemical lighting of the bar, these coins sparkled with dazzling golden light.
About twenty gold coins—quite a sum.
"This is too valuable; I can't accept it."
Vander's expression changed slightly, and he calmly tied the string of the money pouch back, returning it to Li Lin. In a low voice, he said, "Moreover, this is the Lanes. I can't allow outsiders to cause trouble here... I did what I could with just a wave of my hand."
"You should know, these coins mean little to the Kiramman family." Li Lin shook his head, reiterating Jayce's earlier words. "Take it as a gift between friends."
Vander exhaled heavily, hesitated for a while, and then took back the money pouch, casually placing it into a drawer under the counter.
"If only my friends around me were as generous as you," he joked lightly.
After a brief pause, Vander looked around and lowered his voice. "You must be here in the Undercity for the 'crystal', right?"
"Exactly, any news?" Li Lin nodded.
Listening to their conversation, Jayce, who had lost some interest, also straightened up, attentively eavesdropping.
"Benso has already obtained it. For the details, you can ask him... Oh, by the way!"
As if suddenly remembering something, Vander lowered his head, rummaging through the drawer for a while, pulling out a small notebook and a pen.
He tore off a piece of paper, quickly wrote something on it, signed his name at the bottom, and neatly folded it, handing it to Li Lin.
Li Lin felt a hint of confusion, "What's this?"
"When you go to Benso's store later, hand him this note. He'll know what to do."
...
...
A few minutes ago, in the underground room of The Last Drop, a boy with a slim figure lay sprawled on a stiff, worn-out sofa, occasionally tossing a bouncing ball against the metal wall.
Beside him were a chubby boy wearing windproof goggles on his forehead and a girl with pink and blue hair. The three of them sat cross-legged on the floor, engrossed in a unique Piltover card game.
Hearing the muffled sounds of bouncing balls in the room, the blue-haired girl gritted her teeth and couldn't bear it any longer. She jumped up from the floor and exclaimed, "Can you stop throwing your bouncing ball, Milo? I can't concentrate!"
"Huh? Does my ball-playing really affect you?" Milo glanced at the girl whose expression had twisted into a knot but continued to toss the bouncing ball against the wall.
"Are you sure it's not because your card skills are just terrible, Powder?" he added.
"You..." Powder looked at the pink-haired girl with a helpless expression. "Vi, look at him!"
"Alright, Powder, let's just ignore him." Vi walked over to Powder, grabbed the bouncing ball still in the air, and then gave Milo a stern look. "And you, Milo, stop blaming everything on Powder."
"But this has nothing to do with me..." Milo sat up, ready to argue, "Can't you say something, Claggor?"
He looked at the chubby boy still sitting on the floor, but Claggor just shrugged, remaining silent.
"Ah, forget it... Everything seems to be my problem these days." Milo sighed, placed one hand on his forehead, and lay back down. "This life is so boring!"
Powder and Vi returned to their original positions to continue their card game, but Powder's mood had already been disrupted by Milo's words.
Before long, she lost all the cards in her hand. "Uh... I lost again!"
"It's okay, Powder. You did well this time. You'll win next time for sure!" Vi reassured her with a gentle expression.
"I'm afraid I'll keep making mistakes next time and play the wrong cards..." Powder kicked the sofa where Milo was lying, her mood somewhat down.
"Shush, Powder, will you shut up, Milo!" Vi angrily kicked the sofa where Milo lay.
Putting down her cards, Powder's emotions were a bit low. "Vi, why do you think Vander hasn't let us go out lately? Did we do something wrong?"
"Well..." Vi scratched her messy hair, sounding unsure. "It seems that someone caused trouble in the Upper City recently, attracting enforcers to the Undercity."
She had heard it from Ekko, the little guy, because Vander usually didn't share street information with them.
"I heard that some people from the upper city were attacked in the lanes, and enforcers are everywhere in the Undercity these days, searching for those responsible," Claggor added.
"Ugh, these upper city people are really troublesome! What are they doing in the lanes? Now we can't even go out." Milo couldn't help complaining.
"Vander doesn't want trouble," Claggor said to Milo. "Maybe things will settle down after a few days."
"Wait a minute, Claggor, what did you just say?" Listening to their conversation, Vi suddenly had a thought.
"Uh, Vander doesn't want trouble?"
"No, the sentence before that."
"The lanes are full of enforcers?"
"That's right!" Vi's eyes lit up. "Do you guys want to pull off something big?"
"Big?" Milo suddenly became spirited.
Confused, Claggor scratched his head, unable to understand why Vi suddenly had such an idea.
"What do you mean?" Powder's little face was full of doubt.
"Think about it. The upper city is currently preparing for Progress Day, and enforcers have to maintain order in the city. With this incident in the lanes, enforcers will be further drawn to the Undercity."
Vi paused for a moment, giving the three some time to think. "Since that's the case, their security forces in the upper city must be stretched thin. This is our chance!"
"You want to go to the upper city?" Claggor looked slightly shocked. "Are you crazy? Vander will kill us if he finds out!"
"Only if we mess it up," Vi said nonchalantly. "And besides, we won't let him find out, right?"
"Do you have a specific target?" Milo rubbed his palms together, looking eager.
"Not yet, but we can get prepared." Vi casually took out a satchel from the nearby cabinet, then waved to signal the others to follow her.
The four of them quietly, like thieves, climbed up the wooden stairs to the ground floor, hiding in the dark corner of the wall and peering towards the bar counter.
Vander was entertaining two well-dressed individuals, undoubtedly not from the Undercity.
Observing them for a while, Vi turned back to Powder, Claggor, and Milo. "Hey, guys, I think I've found a target."