-133- Seraphine's journey in Zaun

"This place is actually very clean, Dad."

"You used to say that Zaun's streets were filled with gangsters and thugs, right, Dad? Zaun doesn't seem to be as bad as you said."

Taking the lift, Seraphine and her father arrived at the Undercity of Zaun.

Looking at the somewhat dark and oppressive Zaun due to the architecture and lighting, Seraphine did not feel repelled by it. 

On the contrary, although Zaunites lived in the underground, in an environment with adverse conditions and scarce resources, it was vibrant here!

Seraphine could hear, and even see, clusters of vibrant green light.

These harsh survival factors didn't make the Zaunites bow their heads and succumb but, just like their voices, the Zaunites resiliently resisted the adverse conditions brought by the environment.

"Sera, I wasn't lying; the Zaun from before isn't what you see now."

Even in Sain's eyes, there was a trace of disbelief. 

It had been more than twenty years since he last visited Zaun, and indeed, Zaun wasn't the same as he remembered.

Accompanied by Seraphine, the two planned to stroll around this lively Undercity.

"Dad, I want to see the place where you used to live."

After walking through many places in the Undercity, including some areas Sain once considered dangerous, he became convinced.

Zaun had truly changed.

The once-dangerous restricted areas were now extremely safe.

The chem barons were gone, and the designated restricted areas were open. There were no longer small chaotic communities but large communities where hundreds of people lived together.

Now, Zaun was no longer fragmented but had become a unified family.

The streets were also clean, and there were no more mischievous kids rummaging through trash cans and running around the streets. 

Moreover, in the Undercity, every kilometer or so, you could see enforcers in white uniforms patrolling.

"Go to where I used to live?"

"Yes, you always tell me how dangerous Zaun is and how chaotic the place you used to live was. But, Dad, maybe you don't even know it yourself."

Seraphine raised her head, her pink hair slightly curled, covering half of her face. Her big eyes were full of excitement as she spoke, "Every time you talk about Zaun, you make a sound. It's the sound of reminiscing and cherishing the past. Dad, you don't actually resist Zaun; you've always remembered Zaun."

"I like Zaun?" Hearing his daughter's words, Sain paused.

"No way, impossible, Sera, your dad doesn't have any good memories of the old Zaun. You must have heard it wrong," Sain shook his head, denying Seraphine's words.

The old Zaun was truly chaotic.

After all, Sain grew up in an orphanage from a very young age. He had been exposed to the street rules of Zaun at a young age. The children in Zaun's Undercity had to deal with criminal activities if they wanted to survive. Sain had assisted local gangs in things like keeping watch, collecting rent, and passing on small messages.

Not to mention that people in the community were constantly exploited by the chem barons.

So, Sain's childhood was full of darkness. Either he was getting beaten, or he was beating others. Either stealing things or robbing.

The only joy was probably the days of singing and dancing with the people in the community, listening to a granny hitting a rubber bucket with a stick, and listening to an uncle playing beautiful music with two pieces of iron.

It was because of this that, after having a wife, Sain decided to go to Piltover, using the music he learned in the community as a stepping stone to knock on Piltover's door.

He didn't want his children to live in Zaun.

He wanted to give Seraphine a beautiful childhood, let her live in a safe and peaceful place.

But Sain never expected that Seraphine, from the moment of her birth, had the ability to hear the thoughts and feelings of others, and as she grew older, this ability became stronger.

Just like now, even though she was wearing a special device made by Sain, Seraphine still heard various voices.

This meant that Seraphine's ability was getting stronger.

She looked at her father and shook her head, "Dad, the soul deep inside cannot lie. You do like this place; your heart is communicating with me, Dad. It keeps telling me that you want to go back."

"Let's go, Dad."

Seraphine flicked a strand of hair behind her ear with her finger, smiling like a flower, "Let's go see your old home."

"..."

"Sure."

Sain didn't refuse.

---

More than thirty minutes later, riding Zaun's transportation, the Hextech Railcar, Sain and Seraphine arrived at a place.

As for what a Hextech Railcar is, Sain couldn't explain. He could only say it was a magical and useful invention.

A Hextech Railcar could accommodate twenty passengers, and there would be fixed exit points on this car. This space-saving and not overly complicated railcar brought Zaunites a bit closer.

After all, not every Zaunite could ride a personal vehicle, and the hextech hoverboard was not for sale yet. Only Zaun's enforcers had one each.

"It has changed a lot here."

Sain looked ahead and sighed.

Seraphine, beside him, hugged Sain's arm and blinked.

"Are you feeling sentimental now?"

Seraphine asked her father.

"A bit, Sera. This place is different from what I remember." Sain led Seraphine to the entrance of the community.

It was an enclosed area with the name of the community written on the side.

The name was the same as Sain remembered—32nd Flower Street Community.

It just seemed to have gotten bigger.

And warmer.

Sain looked at the tall buildings, the large houses made of gray-white bricks. Although they couldn't compare to Piltover's skyscrapers, they were much better than the tin houses in his memory.

"Stop right there!"

Just as Sain was about to take Seraphine inside, a voice rang out.

On the balcony of the building closest to Flower Street Community, on the second floor, the owner of the voice stood there.

She looked Sain and Seraphine up and down, then touched her chin and said, "You two look very unfamiliar, and your attire... hmph, are you Piltover people?"

Seraphine raised her head, and in the next moment, she was very surprised.

Seraphine had beautiful pink and purple curly hair with gradient colors, like dimmed starlight.

But looking at the person in front of her who was watching herself and Sain from the second floor, Seraphine found that if her hair color was the dimmed starlight, then the hair of this person in front of her was a dazzling fireworks display.

"Speak up, are you peoples from Piltover?"

"We came down from Piltover, but we are Zaunites. I'm Sain, once a resident here."

"Uh...really?" The person used both hands to pull the railing, supporting her body to look down, with a skeptical look on her face. "I don't believe it. I grew up here since I was a child, but I have never seen you."

"That was more than twenty years ago."

"Ugh...I'm only sixteen..."

Saan continued gently, "I know someone named Kaya; he can play beautiful music with iron pieces. Does he still live here?"

"Kaya?"

The girl with hair like fireworks clapped her hands, "You know Grandpa Kaya? Oh, then I believe you."

"Wait a moment, I'll take you in!"

Sain looked at Seraphine, and he saw his daughter blinking at him.

"What's wrong, Sera?"

Seraphine pursed her lips and shook her head.

Is she going to tell her father that she lost to someone..? 

After all, Seraphine has always been proud of her pink curled hair.

The pink-purple curled hair, with colors gradually descending, resembles falling starlight. This is something Seraphine has always been proud of.

But facing the bright, firework-like hair of the other person.

Seraphine,

She felt a sense of defeat!!!