-135- The Starry-Eyed Songstress—Seraphine became curious

In the Flower Street community of Zaun, in a tidy room, Seraphine is sitting in one corner, moved as she watches her father. 

At this moment, her father, Sain, is tearfully standing in front of an elderly man who has been modified by alchemical machinery.

He's a cool and handsome old man in Seraphine's eyes, shorter than the nearby Zeri by a good amount, appearing to be around 1.4 meters tall. He wears a handsome brown cowboy hat and a large cloak. Under the cloak, his hands are concealed, and Seraphine can see one of them is a beautiful silver mechanical arm.

The old man's abdomen has also been modified by Zaun's alchemical technology.

Sain has already touched it before, and now, on Kaya's belly, there is a hex-nutrientizer, a great invention combining alchemical and hextech technology.

Alchemical technology is magical but dangerous, often involving burning strange liquids. Now, with the addition of hextech magic energy, it has become a new and magical discipline.

Singed and his apprentice Viktor call it "Hextech Biochemistry"!

"Uncle, I want to bring Sera back to Zaun."

"This is really a good thing, Sain. The Zaun of today is not the Zaun you once knew." The old cowboy Kaya bites a big cigar, smiling triumphantly. "People in Zaun can live well now, like Zeri, Zaun's kids like her don't need to fight in the streets or rob people anymore."

Sain nods; he has seen the dedicated enforcers when he arrived. As Zaun's hometown enforcers, they are not as arrogant as the enforcers in Piltover. They always smile when facing Zaunites, but if you commit a crime, you'll be sorry.

In Zaun, rules are crucial.

Even though the high-ups in Zaun often say, "Rules are meant to be broken," they abhor actions that harm Zaunites' interests and strictly prohibit them.

Therefore, even at night, enforcers in Zaun patrol, and if a family has a hextech phone, they can report suspicious activities to Zaun's police station. Soon after, you'll see Zaun enforcers armed to the teeth riding hextech hoverboards.

In Kaya's tone, he doesn't need to tell Seraphine and Sain; Sain can hear the pride in Kaya's voice for Zaun.

This love for Zaun and the one who manages it, the convincing tone make Seraphine momentarily shocked.

The most heard voice in Piltover for Seraphine is the dissatisfaction of Piltover's people towards the nobles.

They complain about the unfair living environment, the lack of upward mobility for commoners, and the fact that the children of large families occupy all the good positions.

And often, the voice of complaint comes from elderly people like Kaya.

As for young people, in Seraphine's ears, they only lower their heads and rush forward, only stopping to talk about their pain when they hit their heads. 

Growing up near the docks, Seraphine is used to hearing this kind of voice.

It's not that Piltover doesn't have good voices; it's just that in recent years, all she has heard are negative ones.

"What do you mean by 'Kids like Zeri'? Grandpa Kaya, make it clear!" Beside Seraphine, Zeri has already tied up her previously loose hair. Her brilliant green hair is tied into two sharp green buns, making Zeri even cuter. 

At this moment, she is puffing up her cheeks, expressing her dissatisfaction, and continues, "I am not a kid. I am an inventor. Phinny, I didn't lie to you. Look, the clothes I'm wearing are made by myself."

Sain watches this scene with a smile.

Suddenly, he realizes that he quite likes this girl, Zeri.

Because of her liveliness, she has brought out the cheerfulness in Seraphine, making her face light up with a smile.

Sa'an knows that his daughter was never a sentimental person. When Seraphine was little, like Zeri, she was a very cheerful and lively girl.

"Zeri, I remember the last time you caused a short circuit and damaged a street lamp. Your aunt pinched your ears and forbade you from going out for three days. Now, it's only the second day, right?"

"Ugh!" Zeri immediately choked up, covering her mouth with both hands and widening her eyes.

"Oh no, when I met Phinny, I forgot about this!" Zeri's voice was buzzing as she spoke with her mouth covered.

But it made this quirky girl even more interesting.

"But, Uncle Kaya, if we want to come back, do I need to do some procedures?" Sain no longer paid attention to his daughter but looked at Kaya, asking seriously, "For those of us who once abandoned Zaun, Uncle Kaya, do we really have the right to return to Zaun?"

"We left Zaun when it needed us the most, and now, wanting to come back when Piltover is in crisis seems shameless. You taught me the meaning of betrayal and abandonment, but I've become that kind of person."

"No, Sain, you did it for Seraphine." Koya shook his head, extended his hand, which turned out to be his mechanical arm, quickly switched to his other hand, and patted Sain's shoulder, saying seriously, "Six years ago, Zaun was still chaotic. If you continue to live in Zaun with Seraphine, I know what kind of life you'll face."

"Your decision was not wrong, Sain. Zaun is important, but family is the most important."

"Yes, family is the most important!" Zeri immediately shouted beside them, "When I was little, I thought I was going to be a hero. I wanted to contribute to my homeland, but the result..."

Kaya glared at Zeri, "Zeri, don't say everything out loud. Do you want to be taken away for research?"

"Ah, right, my bad." Zeri immediately covered her mouth again.

Sain listened somewhat confused, but Seraphine had already understood.

She was quietly laughing while covering her mouth.

Seraphine could hear what's in people's hearts, and just now, she heard Grandpa Kaya's inner thoughts.

She also understood why she heard crackling sounds on Zeri just like on herself.

Are both of them magic users?

Seraphine suddenly liked Zeri more.

"As for whether you can come back, it's indeed a bit tricky." Kaya continued, "Now Zaun, like Piltover, requires residents to have a residency permit. Sain, you must have received a pass on the Sun Gates, right?"

"Yes, the enforcers gave it to me before I came down. They said I could stay in Zaun for two days, but after two days, I must return to the Sun Gates to reapply. Otherwise, if they find out, I'll be arrested and questioned." Sain nodded.

"That's the pass. If you want to live in Zaun permanently, you need a residency permit. But Sain, your residency permit should be in Piltover now?"

Sain nodded.

"Do you want to have two residency permits?" Kaya, being shrewd, sighed and shook his head, saying, "It's easy to see now that the big shots in Zaun have made deals with the elites in Piltover. The two cities are merging under their arrangement. Perhaps in the future, one residency permit will allow you to travel between the two cities. But wanting to have two residency permits now? Sain, that's an impossible thing."

"Uncle Kaya, I've already submitted a letter to the Council, expressing my desire to return to Zaun. I hope they can change my residency permit and let me go back to Zaun. But I don't know if the letter has reached the hands of the councilors."

"Who did you send the letter to?"

"The Ninth Councilor, sir."

"Ah, he's the hero of Zaun." Koya brightened up when he heard the Ninth Councilor, immediately smiling.

Sain, on the other hand, felt a bit of a headache.

"We can try to pull some strings. Zeri's mother still has a lot of influence."

Kaya saw Sain's mood and patted him to reassure him.

"My mom?"

"That would not be necessary."

At this moment, outside the room, a voice synchronized with Zeri's sounded, but it was clearer to everyone's ears.

Then, a young man and a woman with purple skin draped in entered.

What was strange was that on top of this young man's head, there was a remarkably fat bird with blue feathers.

Huddled together, nestled on the man's head.

"I can help you solve this problem."

Linwin immediately saw Seraphine, a girl with such beautiful hair, sweet and cute, is easy to recognize.

The charisma of a popstar!

But then, Linwin raised an eyebrow.

The girl next to Seraphine, the girl Linwin completely didn't recognize.

Her hair seemed to be no less impressive than Seraphine's?

Seraphine looked at the man who suddenly appeared, then...

"Ding: The Starry-Eyed Songstress—Seraphine" became curious about you!

Ding: The Starry-Eyed Songstress is peeking at you!

Ding: The Starry-Eyed Songstress is surprised!

Linwin: "."