Arcane: Winds of Change

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### Chapter 6: A Successful Experiment

The glow of the charcoal flickered on the balcony at night, even though Zuan couldn't see the sun. Phil was grilling barbecue, with chilled beer beside him. Footsteps approached from behind: "It seems I've come at the right time."

"This is prepared for you, Silco." Phil opened two cans of beer, a luxury from the upper city. 

Silco sat down next to Phil: "Zuan is about to rise. This is an opportunity we must seize." Phil clinked his glass with Silco's and took a big gulp, eager to hear Silco's plans.

"The Shimmer is about to succeed, just within the next couple of days. With it, Zuan can declare war on Piltover, provided Vander helps us."

"He provides the people, and we provide the Shimmer? He might not agree to that."

"No rush, he will compromise. I know his character; he won't hand over those kids."

"Let me talk to him first tomorrow. I want to see his attitude. Zuan won't fall without him, and the Lanes are the same."

"Avoid conflict, even if negotiations fail, don't be impulsive. I will make him cooperate," Silco reminded.

"Don't worry, I know," Phil replied, tearing off the meat skewered on the stick, unable to forget the wounds on Silco that afternoon. 

That night, Silco and Phil talked for a long time, from Zuan to Piltover to the continent of Valoran. They discussed their dreams, Silco's past experiences, and his history with Vander.

As the night deepened and the beers in the ice bucket dwindled, they eventually slept soundly on the balcony under the night sky.

The next day, with the sun high in the sky, Phil awoke, the sunlight shining into his eyes. He shook his heavy head, realizing Silco had vanished. After a simple wash and changing into a crisp suit, putting on the mask that signified him as a weapons merchant in the Lanes, he prepared to head to The Last Drop. Before leaving, Phil didn't forget to instruct the girl who had once saved him and now took care of his daily life: "Please clean up the balcony for me."

Phil took down his carefully maintained gun from the coat rack. He loved this gun, not just for its power, but for the sense of romance it gave him as a man. Strapping it on his back, he holstered a pistol at his waist. Without letting anyone follow, Phil headed to The Last Drop alone.

"Don't scare the people serving you drinks at the bar," Vander had once said. The infamous Hound of the Underground now hunkered down in his bar, licking the wounds from the last war between the two cities—or so Phil thought anyway.

He strode into the bar: "Give me a beer, Harrow," tossing him two copper coins. The tall, bespectacled man was surprised that the masked man knew his name; after all, he wasn't a server, but he handed Phil a beer anyway.

As Phil sipped his beer, he surveyed the lively and chaotic bar, which looked the same as it did over a year ago.

Phil downed his beer in one go and walked to the counter with his cup: "Vander!"

"What's up?" Vander asked, turning his head after hearing his name called from the bar where he was mixing drinks. 

Seeing Phil's mask, his expression changed as he moved in front of Phil: "What do you want to drink, mysterious weapons merchant?"

"I need to talk to you about some things. You're in trouble, aren't you?"

"I can handle it myself; I don't need your help," Vander replied warily.

"True, you don't need my help, but what about him?" Phil removed his mask and looked at Vander. Vander was taken aback. He remembered the kid who once followed in Silco's footsteps; his impression of Phil from the last time in the bar was still strong.

"Silco hopes to collaborate with you once again, even after you betrayed him. What is your stance? Will you fight for the people of the Lanes or continue to cling to a comfortable life? Oh, and by the way, you can no longer lie low in the bar; the enforcers have turned Zuan upside down."

Vander took a deep breath but maintained his firm tone: "I told you, I can handle everything." "Indeed, the leader of the Lanes, always so composed," Phil said, unloading the shotgun from his back. "Now, shouldn't we settle our previous scores?"

"Bang!" The gunshot rang out from Phil's hand, forcing him to step back from the recoil. Every gaze in the bar was captured, directed at both Phil and Vander. "Haha, just kidding. You're not angry, are you?" Phil hadn't hit Vander but instead shattered the chair beside him. The bullet whistled past Vander, leaving him with a cold sweat. It had been a long time since he last fought, and he never expected someone to make a move on him in The Last Drop.

But Vander was still Vander and quickly regained his composure. "I don't mind putting on the old gauntlets again, though the bloodstains are hard to remove," he threatened. "Sorry, sorry," Phil smiled, addressing Vander and those around him. "The gun misfired. Seems like it needs more work, hahaha."

Then he leaned into Vander's ear and whispered, "He will settle accounts with you too. We're even now, but you might want to give my proposal some thought. You're of some use to Zuan but definitely not indispensable." After some thought, he pulled out two gold coins from his pocket: "Apologies, everyone. Drinks are on me, but I must take my leave." With that, Phil headed toward the bar's exit. Despite the tense atmosphere, no one stepped forward, and no one dared make a move against him.

"We'll meet again. I hope you're as composed then as you are now," Phil said without turning back. The bar fell into silence as Phil walked further away outside, his laughter faintly echoing in the distance.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Silco's lab was underwater, and as an enormous mutated whale swam past the glass windows, he remarked to the nervous blond beside him. "But from the surface, no one knows they exist." "They're monsters," the blond, with wounds still on his face, hesitantly replied.

"Everyone has a monster within them. You crave power, don't you?" Silco said, holding the newly developed alchemical reagent, needing someone to test its power. "What? No, drinking it will lead to death," the blond resisted strongly.

"Let me teach you an important secret I realized at your age," Silco looked at the blond. "You see, strength—true strength—never belongs to those born exceptionally strong, agile, or clever. It belongs to those willing to do anything to achieve their goals. Now, let the monster inside you come out." Silco handed him the Shimmer. 

The blond hesitated but eventually took the reagent, gritted his teeth, and drank it in one gulp. "Ah!!" His painful screams echoed and only subsided after a while. "It seems the experiment was successful, Doctor."