With each step forward of Camille's blade legs, Stevan would take a step back. Li Lin could see the faint glint of fear in Stevan's eyes, but he hid it well.
Or perhaps...
He had prepared himself in advance, believing he no longer needed to fear his own sister.
"Change the head of the family?" Stevan sneered, "That's impossible unless I'm dead!"
"I have that intention," Camille replied.
"Do you need my help?" Li Lin asked Camille as she passed by.
"This is our family matter," she replied without looking back, "Protect Abil for me."
"You actually want to kill me? Sister, I didn't expect..."
"Discard your pity, isn't that what you want?"
Camille walked to the door, her Hextech electronic eye changing from crystal blue to orange-yellow, entering scan and analysis mode.
"Hextech enhanced people? Interesting," she smiled faintly, "As I said just now, my pity is only for those who truly need it. I hope you have some self-awareness."
Two Hextech-enhanced strongmen locked eyes, pulling out folding high-frequency vibrational knives from their waists.
Pressing the buttons with their fingers, the blades flickered into existence, emitting extremely hot high-energy particles capable of cutting through iron like mud.
"You've chosen the wrong side," Camille shook her head.
At that moment, there were several "bangs" like grenade launches.
The corner of her eye caught sight of the ambushers on both sides of the corridor, already armed with cylindrical mechanical devices, firing several glass bottles in an arc straight towards her.
Inside were blue powders made from special magical materials, toxins that even her internal filtration system couldn't completely remove.
Camille had already heard the movements outside long ago, knowing that Stevan's arranged men were ambushed in the corridor, so she was prepared in advance.
Before the glass bottles could land and release their toxins, Camille's legs slightly bent, sinking her weight into the ground as her blade legs pierced through the carpet, taking large strides forward.
Stevan was too arrogant.
If she hadn't known his plan, perhaps she would have been frightened back into the room by these seemingly "grenade-like" objects, surrounded by magical toxins, becoming a lamb to be slaughtered.
The two strongmen's bodies emitted a metallic friction sound of gears turning, moving at speeds far beyond ordinary people, aiming their high-frequency vibrational knives at Camille who was rapidly approaching.
But they were facing a spy who had been on missions for decades, dealing with various dangerous situations, the Steel Shadow.
With just their twenty or thirty years of combat experience, they were no match for Camille.
Not to mention their level of self-modification was far inferior to hers, with a Hextech core.
Camille lifted her right leg in a powerful motion, her left leg frictioned against the ground, Hextech core energy infused, a fan-shaped blue-white energy shot from her blade leg, instantly shattering the high-frequency vibrational knives of the two strongmen, along with their mechanical arms.
Although with Piltover's Hextech technology, these specially made enhanced prosthetics could be connected to their nervous system, causing them pain when damaged.
But for the sake of battle, ordinary mercenaries would not choose this function, only technicians or craftsmen who needed precise operations would do so.
The two men lost their Hextech prosthetics, but it was only a brief moment of confusion. Their combat experience prompted them to instinctively react.
Immediately after, Camille adjusted her posture, her blade leg thrusting forward at extreme speed, easily piercing through the chest of the first strongman, despite the additional defensive iron plates, piercing his heart.
The next moment, the blue light from her Hextech core on her chest surged, charging her blade legs. Without slowing down, Camille elegantly finished with a backward somersault, the blue-lighted blade at her toe splitting the second strongman's head in half.
Splashes of red and white blood mixed, filling the air with an uncomfortable rusting smell, even though the window in the corridor was open.
Seeing this scene, Abil inside the room paled, letting out a sharp scream, and leapt into Li Lin's arms.
Li Lin felt somewhat helpless about this, but he couldn't just push her away.
But then the glass bottles filled with magical toxins fell to the ground with a crackling sound, and he immediately sensed that something was wrong, paying no attention to anything else, activating the armor on his body.
With his armor mask's filtration system, he didn't need to worry about anything, but Abil didn't have a breathing filter and couldn't survive in such an environment.
The blue toxic liquid had quickly evaporated, the white "mist" instantly enveloping Camille and Stevan's figures.
In just two or three seconds, the mist had almost filled half of the room, quickly approaching Li Lin and Abil.
Li Lin didn't have time to use his "Data Mind" to check if this magical poison would cause permanent damage to the human body. He immediately lifted Abil onto his shoulders.
There was another hidden door in this room, leading to other parts of the house, it was just locked.
But for Li Lin, who had already put on his armor, even opening a reinforced blast door was not a problem, let alone an ordinary iron door?
He activated the armor's "overload charge", the energy from the special Hextech core almost instantly spread throughout his body, greatly enhancing the speed of the armor.
Li Lin raced against the screaming Abil and the magical poison fog, kicking open the door on one side of the room, and rushing into the distant dark corridor.
This corridor, like a secret passage, was interconnected, with several forks, so crowded that even walking side by side with two others would feel cramped, let alone the narrower, darker side paths.
He went straight ahead, kicking open the door at the end, finally emerging from another corridor on the top floor of the main house.
This was the place they had passed through before arriving.
Li Lin felt no surprise; after all, Kiramman's mansion was known for such "escape routes," though not as extravagant.
He quickly scanned the area. There were no Hextech-enhanced mercenaries lurking, hired by Kiramman, which eased his tension slightly.
Seeing Abel still trembling, as if those people weren't targeting Camille and himself but rather Abel, Li Lin couldn't help but admire the girl's powerful voice and lungs.
Her high-pitched screams continued for about twenty seconds, her voice still crisp and loud, unaffected.
Despite his armored protection, Li Lin felt his eardrums ache from the volume.
"What a waste of vocal talent," Li Lin couldn't help but remark inwardly.
He placed his hands on Abel's shoulders and shook her gently. "Alright, we're safe now. Stop screaming."
Upon hearing Li Lin's reminder, Abel glanced around tearfully, realizing they were no longer in the original room, and the corridor was empty.
She wiped the tears from her eyes, smudging her makeup and leaving deep imprints on her cheeks. "Where... where are we?" she asked, her voice choked.
"This is your home. You're asking me where..." Li Lin couldn't help but comment.
Thankfully, children's emotions come and go quickly.
Upon hearing his words, Abel quickly realized, playfully sticking out her tongue. "Oh right~~ This is the corridor of my house."
Just as her emotions settled, she suddenly remembered something, her face once again filled with panic and anxiety.
"Yes, yes! Grandmother and grandfather..."
"Don't worry about that. Your grandmother will handle it properly."
As he spoke, he looked towards the dark passage he had just come from.
The distant sounds of battle seemed to have ceased.
If all went as expected, Camille had probably dealt with Stevan and the dozen or so Hextech-enhanced mercenaries he had hired.
As expected, the faint sound of metal touching the marble floor, followed by the muffled sound of footsteps on the carpet, signaled Camille's appearance in the room at the other end.
"Grandmother!"
Abel's face lit up, wanting to run back to greet her, but Li Lin grabbed her.
"That room is filled with poison gas. Didn't you see your grandmother covering her nose and mouth? Do you still want to go back?"
Being reprimanded by Li Lin like this, Abigail smiled sheepishly. When Camille came through the passage to them,
"Grandmother, are you okay?" she asked with sincere concern. "Grandfather... "
"He's dead," Camille said flatly, completely unlike someone who had just killed her own brother.
Abel opened her mouth but found herself unable to say anything. Eventually, she just pursed her lips and stood there, looking melancholy, lost in thought.
"With the influence of your Ferros family, Stevan's death will surely shock all of Piltover," Li Lin said.
"I merely stopped his heart with an electric shock, preserving the integrity of his body," Camille said calmly, sounding much different from when Li Lin had first met her tonight, when she was still hesitant and unsure.
"At that time, just claim that he died of a sudden heart attack. As for the new family head... as I said tonight, it will be you, Abel."
Abel panicked, "But, I'm afraid I..."
"You don't need to worry too much; I'll help you."
After Camille finished speaking, she turned her gaze to Li Lin. "You came to the Ferros family tonight, and such an incident occurred. It's a problem for our Ferros family. I apologize to you."
"Well, I accept."
Li Lin wasn't polite, nor did he need to be.
He was already involved in this because of Stevan. Camille's apology was only natural.
Li Lin paused for two seconds, then asked, "What are you going to do next?"
If he guessed correctly, once Stevan died, Camille would support a puppet family head, and her gaze would be set on all of Piltover.
But now that I'm here, do you still want to be the clandestine ruler of Piltover as in the original timeline? Have you asked me about it?
"Ferros has been too corrupted by Stevan; I need to reorganize the family," Camille said, her cybernetic eye rotating slightly. "Then it's Piltover..."
"Hold on a moment."
Li Lin interrupted Camille directly, raising her eyebrows.
"Hmm?"
"Piltover is thriving now; I don't think you need to reorganize it."
Li Lin's blunt words made Camille's heart sink. "Don't forget, those councillors are ours..."
"The councillors are not important, and neither is your opinion. What's important is that I only need a stable Twin Cities, one that strides into a new era, a truly progressive city-state, not one intoxicated by the past, where everything is dominated by the major families."
Facing Camille's icy gaze, Li Lin just smiled calmly. "I think you understand what I mean."
(End of Chapter)
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