Chapter 110 Should I take the shortcut?
Two minutes later.
Under the anxious and crazy gazes of the slaves, Renata was taken to the sky by Levi and disappeared from their sight.
Another minute passed, and I didn't know what happened in the meantime.
Renata followed Levi again, and a pink-haired girl flew back from the sky.
As soon as she landed on the ground, she said to the slaves who were excited and eager to protect their master: "Everyone put down your weapons."
"I have reached a cooperation with Mr. Levi and the Leaders Association."
"From now on, this Mr. Levi is my best friend and an important investor in our Golask Industries. Besides me, you must also obey his orders completely."
Levi was just a life-and-death enemy of Renata, but in the blink of an eye, he was promoted by Renata to become the second most important figure in the gang after her.
There is obviously something wrong with this.
If it was a normal Zaun gang or Piltover family, the leader would suddenly give such an order in front of his subordinates that seriously betrayed the interests of the group, which is incredible and perverse...
Even if gang cadres or family members did not "kill the thief Li and clear the court" on the spot, they would probably say "this is an order from the wrong people, we will not obey your summons."
At the very least, there will be people who will voice their doubts.
But Gorsk Industries is not a normal enterprise at all.
Renata used mind control potions to turn everyone into soulless chess pieces, absolutely loyal game manipulation units.
This means that when something goes wrong with her as a "player", no one in the group can question her decision.
The slave workers who had previously shouted for Levi to be killed, immediately regarded Levi as the boss of the group whose status was second only to Renata herself, without any sense of incongruity, after hearing what Renata said.
Renata quickly summoned the group's senior executives, gang cadres, and R&D managers, and used the same old trick to issue orders to the core figures of Gorsk Industries one by one...
It didn't even take much effort, and this giant mining, chemical and medical company with tens of thousands of loyal employees just changed its owner so easily.
However, Golask Industries is much more wealthy than the Iron Fist Gang, which looks glamorous and domineering on the surface but is actually just a worker for the chaebol.
Renata's business spans the two cities, and its business projects include mineral mining, ore refining, alchemy and pharmaceutical manufacturing, perfume and cosmetics, entertainment clubs, underground banks... The liquid capital and fixed assets it owns are a terrifying astronomical figure.
The leader has picked up a big gift package from the sky.
But Levi was too busy being happy about getting rich.
The issue that he is most concerned about now is:
"Can those brainwashed slave workers ever recover?"
Golask Industries has been secretly controlled by Levi, and he will soon be able to liberate these slave workers materially.
But their spirits are still not free.
Without free will, true faith cannot exist.
Levi could only gain more than 10,000 obedient robots instead of comrades who fought alongside him.
So he was very concerned: "Can we develop an antidote to restore these brainwashed people to normal?"
"There is hope, but it's not great." Renata answered honestly.
"Over the years, I have recruited alchemists, set up a research and development center, and continuously studied and improved the potion formula in order to improve its 'reliability'."
Renata originally planned to dominate the twin cities with this mind control potion.
To accomplish such a big task, the antidote certainly couldn't be developed by just any alchemist who came along and researched it for a few days.
If this potion is so easy to crack, then wouldn't her ambition be a joke?
"At least, with the alchemy scientists of our Golask Industries, it is definitely impossible to develop an antidote in a short period of time. And in the long run, there is no guarantee that the antidote can be successfully developed."
The team of scientists at Golask Industries is the top team of alchemists in the Twin Cities that Renata has collected from Zaun and Piltover over the years by all means.
If even they cannot guarantee to develop an antidote, then the day when the antidote comes out will be a long time coming.
"Seraphini, do you have any idea?"
Science is unreliable, so Levi can only think of magic.
Seraphine is already incredibly talented, and now she has a goddess as her teacher.
After more than a month of training and tempering, she has become an extraordinary spiritual mage.
But after trying to treat several brainwashed slaves, Seraphine shook her head helplessly:
"No, I can't do it either. These people's brains...seem to have been changed by drugs at a physiological level."
"I can temporarily awaken their souls, but I can't help them regain their free will permanently."
“Perhaps…” Seraphine added hesitantly, “When my magic becomes more powerful, there will be a way.”
"Okay." Levi sighed.
Is there really no way to save these people?
"Maybe there is..." Renata thought of something: "There is someone who may be able to develop an antidote."
"He is the most talented alchemist in the Twin Cities. His wisdom alone surpasses the talented R&D team under my command. I once wanted to 'invite' him to cooperate with me, but he refused."
The "invitation" that Renata mentioned was never a gentle invitation.
The alchemist was able to refuse her invitation and survive, so he was obviously quite capable.
"You're talking about..." Renata didn't need to give a name.
After hearing the words "the most talented alchemist", a voice immediately popped up in Levi's mind:
Shake, shake, shake...cough cough...
In short, Levi might know that person, but Vice President Victor is more familiar with him.
Because he was Victor's former teacher:
"Alchemist, Singed?"
…
Levi was not in a hurry to find Singed, nor did he stay in Golask Industries for long.
After he and Seraphine took over control of Golask Industries, they flew back to Piltover with Renata, Zelie, Chak, and dozens of slave workers who had not yet been brainwashed.
because……
"Li! Wei!" When they were halfway through the flight and still in the sky, Renata had already woken up.
Although Seraphine is a spiritual mage, she does not specialize in mind control spells.
Her mind control ability is temporary, and the control time will fluctuate to varying degrees depending on the strength of her own magic and the target's mental strength.
In short, with Seraphine's current strength, she can control Renata for 2 or 3 hours at most.
But within just a few short hours, the huge foundation that Renata had accumulated over decades of hard work fell into Levi's hands so easily.
"Levi!" As soon as Renata woke up, she stared at Levi with bloodshot eyes.
"Are you awake?" Li Wei gave her a mocking smile: "How is it, does it feel good to be brainwashed?"
Renata's face looked extremely ugly.
Of course, it doesn’t feel good to be brainwashed, but...
"She doesn't feel guilty at all." Seraphine told Levi helplessly: "I 'heard' her... She regrets, but she doesn't blame herself or reflect on her actions. Instead, she is upset and angry about her failure."
Renata's inner thoughts were ruthlessly exposed by her.
But Renata didn't feel embarrassed. Instead, she admitted frankly: "The survival of the fittest is the natural law of Zaun. I lost only because I was weak, not because I did something wrong."
"Heh, Levi... didn't you also use brainwashing to finally defeat me?"
"That's different." Levi said with a clear conscience: "We are here to save people."
"If you hadn't threatened me with those 10,000+ lives, I would never, ever let Seraphine use her abilities to control others."
"because……"
"Because you're stupid!" Renata sneered: "With such a convenient ability, why not use it?"
As she spoke, she tempted Levi like the demon river king who feeds on human greed:
"Levi, now you not only have this singing chick, but also my mind control potion."
"Think about it—"
"Her abilities combined with my potion will allow us to capture everyone in the Twin Cities unhindered!"
"There is no need for any hard struggle. As long as you use my potion, no matter if they are the tycoon merchants in Piltover or the alchemist barons in Zaun... they will all crawl at your feet and bow down to you!"
Renata knew that it was impossible for her to break free from control.
She didn't say these words expecting Levi to let her go.
She just didn't know why, but she wanted to see Levi, this idealist who was full of morality, this great saint who was as naive and foolish as her parents...
Seeing him succumb to temptation, take up her weapon, inherit her career, and become the second Renata Golask.
Although this does not do Renata any good now.
But she just wanted to see how Levi would struggle with his choices when faced with interests.
Unfortunately, Levi didn't bother at all.
He simply responded, “No, I refuse!”
Does the brainwashing drug work? Of course it works.
At least those mortal Piltover merchants and alchemist barons with limited mental power will not have any resistance in front of it.
If, as Renata said, the mind control potion and Seraphine's abilities were used in combination, the Leader's career could indeed develop by leaps and bounds in the short term.
"But that would destroy our foundation - our faith!"
The greatest weapon of a leader is always thought.
If we take shortcuts for short-term gain and allow our pure faith to be tarnished, we will be destroying ourselves in the long run.
"Do you know?"
"There are merchants in Piltover who are unhappy with the Leaders and are secretly spreading rumors that we are lunatics who have been brainwashed by magic."
"Even many citizens have begun to believe this - otherwise how could people be so selfless and do good things without asking for anything in return?"
Levi tells a fact that Renata doesn't know yet:
"The enemy is trying desperately to discredit the Leaders, to stigmatize our beliefs as brainwashing control, and to stigmatize the Leaders as brainwashed humanoid machines."
“Because they’re scared.”
"What they fear is our thoughts, our beliefs, our noble and pure spirit."
"If that's the case, then why would I follow the enemy's wishes and use brainwashing to control others for a little profit and achieve this dishonorable victory?"
Although brainwashing is effective, it is definitely an evil technique.
If a leader uses this kind of method to deal with others, his own beliefs may collapse first.
What’s worse is that this will leave everyone with a habit of thinking that they can take shortcuts.
Since they can even brainwash for the sake of profit, can they also engage in economic colonization, plunder resources, interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, and invade other countries’ territories for the sake of profit?
If even these can be done, then what is the difference between the Leader and Noxus?
If faith is gone and the business is too big, it will collapse.
"If we did that—"
“That’s the real loss.”
