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Chapter 45: A New Power Source
🕑 Added 2026-01-12 18:51:34 +0000 UTCAfter carrying Jinx back to the Spirit Blossom Gang, Logan handed the girl off to Isha. He played around with the two girls at home for a bit, then got up and left. Jinx didn’t say anything—once Logan was gone, she took Isha with her and started tinkering with the device she’d been working on lately.
“Go bring me that thing, Isha. I’m going to surprise Logan.”
Jinx put on a huge pair of windproof goggles that covered the top half of her face. Her exposed lips pressed together, and her blue eyes shone with a bright, eager light.
She’d even changed into a yellow jacket made for resisting oil and grime. Squatting in front of a precise, delicate machine, she worked a wrench in her hands, adjusting and tightening with focused intensity.
Isha listened to Jinx without question. She hopped up and pattered over to a table, yanked open a messy drawer, and dug around until she found what Jinx wanted.
A seed.
Just a seed you could find anywhere in Piltover.
But in Zaun, it was rare.
Not because it was expensive—go to Piltover, scoop a few handfuls of dirt, and you could probably find a couple.
It was rare because Zaun’s soil and environment simply didn’t allow plants to grow.
Isha brought the seed over. Jinx didn’t even turn her head—she reached back and took it, then used the wrench to open the top of the machine. Carefully, she placed the finger-sized brown seed inside.
She pressed a button.
Jinx and Isha leaned against the glass cover, eyes wide, watching a glow bloom within. Warm light spread through the chamber, bathing the machine in a gentle radiance.
With a magnifying glass in hand, the two of them hovered there shamelessly—hips up, posture messy, not a shred of “proper girl” behavior—guarding that tiny seed like it was treasure.
Because it wasn’t just a seed.
It was the beginning of changing Zaun.
Logan moved fast, sprinting across rooftops in the Sump, leaping between buildings and closing the distance at full speed as he headed for Finn’s former turf.
That land belonged to the Spirit Blossom Gang now. In Zaun, there was no government paperwork, no official seals—whoever had the bigger fist and deeper pockets owned the right to speak.
So even if the residents around the area felt bitter, they could only swallow it and accept that the land had a new master.
All they could do was hope this “Spirit Blossom Gang” would be kinder than Finn ever was.
When Logan arrived, Ekko and his people were already inside the casino. Finn’s casino had been torn apart so badly it was barely recognizable. Vi and Marsen hadn’t returned to the Spirit Blossom Gang at all last night—they stayed here, waiting for Ekko to bring his crew.
The moment Ekko saw Logan, he stood up. Behind him, a group wearing masks and carrying hoverboards rose as well.
“Kept you waiting?” Logan asked as he came up to Ekko.
“No. We only got here a little while ago.” Ekko shook his head.
He looked at Logan, his expression complicated. Ekko genuinely didn’t understand how Logan had done it—how he’d made a Chem-Baron disappear so quietly, so cleanly.
Something Logan did with ease made Ekko question everything he’d done for years.
His people believed he could be Zaun’s savior, the one who’d lead them to change the city. Under that trust, Ekko had started believing it too…
But now, looking at Logan, Ekko felt doubt creeping in.
Wait… the one who can change Zaun… is it really me?
The thought barely surfaced before Ekko crushed it.
That kind of thinking was pointless.
As long as Zaun became better, it didn’t matter who made it happen—who led it there.
“I’ll introduce you,” Ekko said, gesturing to the person beside him. “This is Scar—the Firelights’ second-in-command.”
Scar looked striking—he even had a pair of strange, animal-like ears.
When Ekko introduced him, Scar reached up and removed his mask, revealing a face that still looked mostly human.
“Vastaya?” Logan blurted, surprised.
Scar nodded once, then put the mask back on and stepped behind Ekko.
Ekko spoke quietly, “It’s not that strange, Logan. In Zaun, you see all kinds of people. Scar’s parents came to Zaun a long time ago. He’s Zaunite.”
Logan nodded—and then remembered who Scar was. He’d shown up in a few scenes back in Season 1. Whenever Ekko moved, Scar was usually there with him.
And from the look of it… he wasn’t weak, either.
Logan looked back at Ekko. “So? You decided?”
“Yeah.” Ekko took a deep breath. “We’re willing to merge into the Spirit Blossom Gang. I don’t care if the Firelights get broken up and reorganized—just… the conditions I gave you. I need you to keep your word, Logan.”
“The Firelights are willing to follow your lead,” Ekko continued. “All I want is for them to be able to live like the people in Hope Community.”
“That’s what I want too, Ekko.”
Logan held out his hand, voice low and steady. “Then welcome to the Spirit Blossom Gang.”
“Thanks.” Ekko shook Logan’s hand. He hesitated, then lifted his head and said cleanly, “Boss.”
Logan smiled. He patted Ekko’s shoulder. “Now that you’re in, you’re getting your first job.”
“Say it.”
“Research and invention,” Logan said. “Honestly, Ekko, I think you’re more suited to being a scientist than fighting and playing boss.”
Ekko was born for it. Growing up wild in Zaun didn’t make him any less brilliant than Viktor or Jayce.
A kid who could build the Z-Drive—something that could control time—was never going to be ordinary.
He and Jinx were both geniuses with machines, both good at making weapons… though when it came to weapons, Jinx was probably the better one.
“Research?” Ekko narrowed his eyes. “You want me to build weapons?”
Most of the Firelights’ gear—those hoverboards and their weapons—were things Ekko built himself out of junk from the Sump.
“We’ll need that too,” Logan said. “But not right now.”
“I want you to develop a new energy source. Something that can change Zaun’s situation. Because all this time, we’ve been trapped in the same mistake.”
“If Piltover still has a chokehold on us—if we still have to get everything from them—then Zaun will never truly stand up.”
“If we want to break free of Piltover’s control, the first thing we need is industry that belongs to us.”
“A new energy source isn’t something you just invent,” Ekko said, shaking his head, already looking like he had a headache. “And Piltover is way ahead of us there. Hextech widened the gap between the two cities.”
“My point is—even if I did manage to create new energy, we’d still have a difference we can’t close.”
“But at least we wouldn’t be controlled anymore,” Logan said with a small smile.
He thought for a moment, then said, “I think Shimmer is a good direction.”
“That poison?” Ekko frowned.
His feelings about Shimmer were awful. Even though he knew it had huge potential—Shimmer could alter the body’s biology and act as a bio-agent, and when burned, it released powerful energy.
In a way… Shimmer really was better than what Zaun used now.
Ekko had even tried mixing Shimmer into his board before. Burning it did increase speed—but it was unstable and chewed through the machine.
Shimmer was dangerous.
“Shimmer hurt Zaun because people used it the wrong way,” Logan said, shaking his head. “Technology itself isn’t guilty, Ekko. The user is.”
Ekko agreed with that much. “Fine. I can try. I’ve researched Shimmer before.”
“But what’s sold on the street… the purity is—well, you know.” Ekko’s mouth twisted. “That stuff is just addicts’ fuel. It doesn’t meet experiment standards.”
“I need Shimmer with much higher purity,” Ekko said, “and I need a lot of proper equipment.”
“Don’t worry,” Logan said. “I can get extremely high-purity Shimmer. And I’ll have people buy the equipment up in Piltover.”
Ekko’s eyes turned strange as he stared at Logan. “What exactly is your relationship with Silco?”
He couldn’t help asking, “Are we working for Silco now?”
“Of course not.”
Logan’s voice hardened slightly.
“We’re working for Zaun, Ekko.”
