"Quick, quick! Protect me!"
Salo was in a complete panic, retreating again and again.
But his frantic scramble backward could not compare to the two simple steps Caleb took as he charged in.
"This is your final warning!"
Morey was somewhat calmer. Cannons emerged from his body and aimed at Caleb in an instant.
"No one acts recklessly in the council!"
Mel slammed a hand on the table, and her whole body lit up with a golden aura, incomparably holy.
"Haha… you've been making the rules for so long that you've started thinking you're gods?"
Sharp-eyed Cassandra saw the Caleb rushing toward her side. The blade at his waist slid a few inches from its sheath, flashing with a cold, chilling gleam.
At a glance, the Caleb rushing toward Morey did not have one.
As a marksman, Cassandra's dynamic vision was exceptionally good.
Caitlyn had inherited that very trait from her mother, which was how she had become the sheriff of all Piltover with such accurate marksmanship.
"Salo! He's coming for you!"
No matter how much Caleb looked down on these hired experts, they did have combat experience.
Added to the plan and training they had spent so much time preparing, the spear thrusting toward the Caleb on the left instantly became five spears.
"Unfortunately…"
The Caleb charging toward Salo on the left drew his blade, but this slash was not aimed at Salo.
The noble young lord's already pale face had now lost every trace of color. Fortunately, the nearby spears stabbed into Caleb in an instant.
According to the effect of petricite, the magic inside Caleb's body should have vanished.
"We won!"
Salo's face flushed red with excitement, and he could not help shouting.
This most troublesome man, under the combined force of Noxian mercenaries, Demacian petricite, and a plan rehearsed for a long time, had still been defeated.
But…
Salo frowned. He felt that something was wrong, but he could not say what.
"Morey! You're the target!"
Cassandra shouted from behind.
And the Caleb who had been stabbed turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished.
"What's going on?"
That long, beautiful blade flew out from the smoke, and the Caleb on the right gripped the hilt without hesitation.
"It's too late for regrets!"
The blink of Arcane Shift left the thrusting spears stabbing into empty air, while Caleb himself closed in beside Morey in an instant.
"Die!"
A violent gale swept through the entire room, making it almost impossible for anyone to open their eyes.
Within the gale, that extremely bright flash of blade light became even more eye-catching.
Even the radiance coming from Mel's body seemed much dimmer in that moment.
Meanwhile, Salo stared at the three strange boxes in front of him as several puppets popped out, spitting who-knew-what at him.
"What is this?"
He was shocked and furious. For a moment, he had already thought he had won.
But judging by the sound just now, he had probably already lost.
And lost completely.
Caleb silently stood up from the ruins and looked down at the remaining six mercenaries.
"I only hope they paid you before this."
Caleb's voice was cold. Beside him lay Morey's motionless wreckage.
The gale and scorching heat had nearly destroyed his entire body, leaving only an outer shell holding those scattered pieces together.
In the smoke, Caleb looked like a demon.
"The Ferros family never agreed to this action!"
Lucide had not tried to persuade Caleb from beginning to end. At this moment, she finally could not hold back and stood up to speak.
"Mr. Caleb…"
Mel's light dimmed. After saying that, she silently looked at Caleb.
"You, with how obedient you look, killing you would indeed be a pity."
Caleb turned his head and looked at Lucide.
"As for you, for the sheriff's sake, I'm not going to kill you either."
Caleb's blade pointed toward Cassandra. In truth, no matter what she had shouted just now, the result would not have changed.
Caleb's physical strengthening had already reached the limit of what a human body could achieve. From here on, what mattered was how he used the rune.
"I don't want to make Jayce sad yet, so it isn't you either."
Caleb looked straight at Mel after her light had gone out and spoke softly.
He and Jayce, at least for now, should still count as partners.
"As for you, there's no rush to kill you for the time being, so I won't count you among the options."
The one Caleb was talking about was the female councilor with gears turning around her neck.
At this moment, she did not know why Caleb had spared her.
But Caleb's final decision had only been made because he did not want to be splattered with blood.
"Morey's business belongs to Zaun now. Does anyone object?"
Caleb knew that this man kept talking about Piltover because he wanted to preserve tradition.
But Morey's business had never stopped turning for even a moment.
Perfect. Once he was dead, it all belonged to Zaun.
Caleb remembered a line from his previous life.
Peace through strength.
Piltover's people chased profit. Caleb was not surprised that they would forget what Zaun had contributed.
Silence.
Long silence.
"I agree."
It was still Lucide who was the first to state her position.
No one had seen the power of that blade during the Harrowing.
So the "surprise" Caleb gave them had instead landed squarely within Camille's prediction.
Camille had treated this as a test and handed full authority to Lucide.
On one side were business partners. On the other was someone she believed they could not afford to offend.
Lucide had given her answer in her own way.
Although she still seemed very inexperienced, Caleb knew that for a newcomer with little experience, being able to withstand pressure and refuse to sink into the mud with the others was already rare and commendable.
"Caleb! Caleb!"
Faintly, it seemed someone was calling his name.
Then came a sudden loud bang.
The entire council door trembled, followed by another loud bang.
"I'm coming, I'm coming… this door is expensive… if you break it, you'll have to pay for it…"
Caleb stepped over the council table and went to the door.
The door that had firmly kept outsiders out obediently opened at Caleb's command.
The ones who had come were Warwick and Zeri. At this moment, both were looking at him with worried faces.
"We heard someone wanted to hurt you. Be careful…"
Caleb could guess what had happened. Petricite spearheads were not easy to sell, so it was only natural that some news had leaked out.
"Don't worry. I've already handled it."
Caleb smiled, then slowly closed the door.
Zeri, whose dynamic vision was also excellent, caught a glimpse of the council table in the instant before the door closed.
There were only five people there…
"Five?"
But before she could ask clearly, Caleb had already closed the door.
"Is the Governor really okay?"
She was still worried about Caleb's safety.
Generally speaking, the Governor and Viktor had pointed out the problem with her coat from the start, and his strength was much greater than hers.
However, when she learned that topside, that wealthy topside, was planning to harm Caleb, she had still rushed here with Warwick in a hurry.
"Jayce and Heimerdinger have been busy lately?"
Caleb was clearly asking Mel.
She sighed, then said softly, "That's right."
"Later, I'll show you all something good."
A mere Morey, and his so-called "robot" identity, had already been reduced to nothing by Caleb's sword just now.
At his core, he was merely the same as the people of Zaun, only with a grander surface.
What Caleb was going to show them would eventually change the entire world.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810