CHAPTER 46 - Do You Really Think You Can Escape?

The night had grown deep, and the dense buildings crafted from yellow-green bronze and steel completely blocked the silvery moonlight from the outside.

In this city shrouded in thick gray haze, the dim alchemical street lamps barely dispersed the tiny specks of darkness. Most of the light emanated from shops and residences along narrow alleys.

The farther one ventured from the central plaza of the city, the more neglected the roads became, eventually turning into dilapidated paths overrun by weeds, scattered stones, and garbage.

Eventually, even the light from the alchemical street lamps ceased to extend into the distance, leaving everything beyond the mid-tier boundary engulfed in darkness, almost invisible to the naked eye.

Within an abandoned factory, rusted steel and bronze grids lay in disarray. The outer walls, mostly constructed from cheap stones, had collapsed, and any facilities worth a few coins had long been scavenged, leaving behind empty metal cans.

The evening wind, at times howling through the canyon, swept through the metallic gaps, making the long-neglected structures creak eerily. The sounds resembled the mournful cries of a sorrowful woman or a grieving baby, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a horror movie.

This was the Wells Distillery.

Due to exploitation by Piltover, the distillery's performance had plummeted. Several years ago, during a protest, Wells, the owner of the distillery, answered the call to resist the upper city alongside the undercity residents.

However, he was an unlucky man.

In the intense conflict, Wells was shot in the head by an enforcer, and since then, he departed to the realm of the deceased. The Wells Distillery, following his demise, rapidly declined further and was eventually abandoned, becoming a relatively comfortable refuge for scavengers and the homeless.

However, tonight, the distillery seemed unusually quiet.

In a corner of the distillery, a slender figure merged with the shadows. A faint green glow dispersed the darkness, revealing a portion of the figure's body.

The mysterious person wore a metal breathing mask engraved with floral patterns, completely enveloping their head. They donned a set of dark green metal upper garments and pants, seemingly more like armor used by enforcers equipped with hextech-enhanced devices rather than conventional attire.

In addition, the left half of the mysterious person's arm featured a silver-white limb enhancement with five razor-sharp claws, seemingly capable of easily piercing an adult's skull.

In contrast to the undercity surroundings, this enhancement appeared more like hextech technology than alchemical. Overall, it seemed like a product of the combination of the upper and under cities.

The mysterious person silently waited in a dead angle of the view, easily observing the surroundings while remaining unseen from the outside.

The metal claws of the mysterious person's left hand toyed with a vividly colored stem of a hypnotic flower. The other hand retrieved a pocket watch, bringing it close to the glowing tubes around their body to check the time.

"10:23; it's almost time to retreat..."

Swiftly adjusting the pocket watch, the mysterious person put it away and casually crushed the stem of the purple hypnotic flower in their hand before tossing it on the ground.

"The pollen should make the Kiramman couple sleep for a few hours. Given Kiramman's daughter's intelligence, it won't take long for her to find them..."

While the mysterious person contemplated, a faintly discordant sound emanated from a distance within the distillery, fleeting but perceptible.

However, it couldn't escape the sharp hearing of the mysterious person, honed through professional training.

"What's that sound?"

The mysterious person became instantly alert, quickly hiding their body completely behind the nearby wall. They cautiously peeked their half-head out towards the source of the sound.

Simultaneously, the mysterious person perked their ears, listening attentively for any potential noise.

Ding...

Another subtle sound, as if some sharp metal had scraped against stone.

A familiar sound...

The mysterious person's thoughts raced, and deep within their consciousness, they had already identified the owner of the sound. A profound and genuine fear surged through their entire being.

"Damn, how did she find me?" The mysterious person cursed inwardly, feeling a sudden panic.

Before three seconds had passed, a clearer sound of jet propulsion and metal friction reverberated within the spacious interior.

Immediately after, the same sound again, the noise produced by the hextech hookshot.

"..."

The mysterious person gently placed their right hand over their heart, then expelled a deep breath and stepped out slowly.

Continuing to hide behind cover had no meaning anymore.

Encountering her, no matter where you hid or attempted to flee, would be futile.

"I really don't want to see her..." The mysterious person muttered.

As the last hookshot sound dissipated, a sharp metallic scraping against the floor echoed, gradually approaching.

The room was illuminated by a blue light.

Not long after, a mature feminine voice with a mechanical texture reached the mysterious person's ears, "Corina."

Corina raised her face, pressing a button on her chin.

A mechanical device released a slight white steam, with numerous tightly connected gears swiftly turning.

After two or three seconds, the face mask slowly opened, revealing a young and attractive face with brown skin. A metal augmentation device was embedded on her left jaw, and her long hair fell rapidly in cascades.

She was a young woman from Piltover.

Corina looked at the woman before her, a figure adorned with blue light, her chest and legs composed of sharp blades, entirely modified by hextech technology. The young lady's throat moved slightly.

"I've done as you requested..."

"Did you really follow my instructions?" Camille interrupted her, then sneered, "Do you think that after living for so long, my mind has gone dull, and I've become forgetful?"

"I-I wouldn't dare..."

Corina's heart sank, recalling the scene from four years ago in her mind.

Back then, she was underage, accompanying her merchant parents departing from the port of Bel'zhun in Shurima, heading towards Piltover on a trading ship.

Unexpectedly, war erupted suddenly.

A group of ruthless Noxian soldiers seized her parents' ship, brutally murdering them when they resisted.

Taking advantage of her petite stature, Corina hid in the cargo hold, fortunately escaping the massacre.

Later, the Noxian soldiers loaded the plundered goods onto the ship, planning to transport everything through the Piltover canal to the frontlines in Ionia.

When the ship temporarily docked at the Sun Gates port, Corina seized the opportunity during the night and escaped from the ship.

On a certain night when Corina was hungry and wandering the streets, she witnessed the Grey Lady hunting down several individuals.

Since then, there was one less wandering child on the streets of Piltover.

Corina pursed her lips, regaining her composure.

As a carefully cultivated spy of the Ferros family, her current mission was personally assigned by Camille.

In recent years, the Kiramman family had risen rapidly, growing excessively powerful.

The head of the Kiramman family, Councilor Cassandra, was particularly ambitious, always attempting to overstep boundaries and encroach on areas she shouldn't be involved in.

Both the Ferros family head, Stevan, and Camille agreed that the Kiramman family needed a warning to recognize who truly controlled Piltover.

However, given that the Kiramman family was one of Piltover's top aristocratic families, although their foundation couldn't match that of the Ferros family, openly confronting them wouldn't be beneficial.

Therefore, this matter couldn't be handled by the Grey Lady herself.

The discreet Corina Veraza, known by many as "C," was pushed into the spotlight by the Ferros family for this task.

To fulfill Camille's mission, Corina Veraza spent a full two years preparing.

For this mission, she even enrolled in Piltover's Sheriff Academy, furthering her studies in "Surveillance and Counter-Surveillance," making it impossible for others to discern her true identity.

Not only that, she delved deeply into the study of a magical flower originating from Ionia—the Dream Blossom—and mastered the precise pollen quantities suitable for various situations.

Simultaneously, she secretly established connections with the Odelenke family, a family slightly less powerful than the Kiramman family but aspiring to replace them. They became her allies.

According to Corina Veraza's plan, the Odelenc family only needed to storm the Kiramman estate after this year's Progress Day banquet, capturing Mr. and Mrs. Kiramman.

However, contrary to her expectations, the head of the Odelenc family, that fool, unexpectedly acted prematurely, attempting to kidnap the Kiramman family's daughter first.

In the end, not only did they fail, but they also completely disrupted all of Corina's plans, forcing her to seek different allies.

Knowing the Ferros family would not allow a "failure" like her to live, she devised a daring scheme.

Since no one from the Upper City was willing to help, the Zaunites who opposed Piltover would naturally not miss this opportunity.

After investigation, Corina quickly identified the most suitable candidate: Silco, one of the leaders who survived the "Day of Ashes" a few years ago.

They quickly reached an agreement.

Corina offered Silco the opportunity to unify the lanes, and in return, Silco provided Corina with manpower to create chaos in the Upper City and a refuge afterward.

However, Corina did not disclose her true goal to Silco, and he was well aware of it.

It's just that he didn't expect Corina's target to be Councilor Cassandra Kiramman.

"I am disappointed in you, Corina."

Camille raised her chin slightly, her crystalline Hextech eye devoid of any emotion.

"I only told you to focus on the Kiramman family, but you offended all the aristocratic families, including my brother who was present and got poisoned by your toxic flowers," her voice gradually turned cold, "He knows it was you."

Hearing this, Corina was suddenly gripped by fear, nervous to the point that her teeth went soft.

"So... you're here to eliminate me..."

"I can see your ambitions, Corina," Camille remarked. Camille did not directly respond to her query, "But ambition needs the constraints of reality... Your connection with the Ferros family must not be discovered by others."

"But, but I am loyal to the Ferros family, I won't reveal anything..." Camille raised her head, wanting to argue, but her words seemed feeble and pale.

After a moment of silence, she quickly added, "I can leave Piltover immediately, go wherever you want me to! As for the puppet master behind the scenes, that Silco is quite suitable!"

"Hehe..." Camille seemed to hear a humorous joke and chuckled lightly.

Then, her tone changed, "Only dead people can keep secrets. Haven't I taught you that saying?"

Corina's face became even paler.

"Unfortunately, there are no conditions for making tea here. Otherwise, before the Miss from Kiramman arrives, we still have time for a cup of tea..."

Listening to Camille's confident and indifferent words, Camille lowered her helpless face. The last hope in her heart was completely shattered.

Dead...

She's going to be killed...

I barely survived in the hands of Noxus, and after so many years of hardships, what was it for?

Survival.

For survival, she could pay any price.

Corina gritted her teeth, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in the depths of her eyes.

Although she couldn't defeat Camille, she would definitely not sit idly by!

Sensing that Corina's aura seemed to have changed, Camille squinted her eyes slightly, not intending to waste more words with her.

However, just as Camille was about to lift her leg to decapitate Corina, she saw Corina, faster than her, taking out a homemade electromagnetic shock bomb and a smoke bomb from her waist, then threw them on the ground and quickly rolled backward.

Camille's heart trembled, and the Hextech core energy in her chest leaked out, creating an adaptive shield with a 360-degree coverage, leaving no dead angles.

With a "boom," the Hex crystal inside the electromagnetic shock bomb shattered, generating a tremendous noise while shooting an electromagnetic energy pulse around.

At the same time, the white smoke from the smoke bomb covered the space, engulfing the figures of the two of them.

Camille was pushed back a few steps by the electromagnetic shockwave, but all the energy waves were blocked by her adaptive shield, and she herself suffered no harm.

When she quickly adjusted her state and returned to the previous position, Camille was nowhere to be seen.

Camille's face instantly darkened, and her eyes, shimmering with blue light, quickly locked onto a direction.

"Corina... Do you really think you can escape?"

(End of this chapter)