Chapter 146: Zaun Independence Strategy
After a long time, Levi met Hilco who came to visit him in his office again.
It seemed that Hilco had finished his personal dispute with Jinx and Vandal, and he was here to discuss business.
"How is it?" Looking at Silko's slightly relaxed expression, Levi couldn't help but ask him curiously: "Your relationship with Vander...is repaired?"
"Repair?" Hilco raised his eyes: "No, he and I have no relationship at all. How can we repair it?"
Van der Leyen had long since become a lifelong wimp without any ambition, while Hilco was a political animal with ideals.
He and Vander had parted ways completely many years ago, and there was no possibility of them getting back together.
"Vander will never forgive me for what I did to him. Of course, I never care what he thinks of me." Silko said lightly.
"So, the talks broke down?" Levi asked.
“Not really,” Silk replied. “I’ve made an agreement with Fandel that Jinx will stay with him and her sister. But Jinx has to go back to her home in Zaun on weekends, or I can come here to visit her.”
"If Jinx wants to come after me, they can't stop him."
Levi: “…”
This agreement sounds strange, like a divorce judgment.
Ahem... Levi tried hard to dispel this strange thought and commented teasingly: "In other words, Jinx chose to stay with Fandel? It seems that you still lose."
"No." Hilco said confidently: "Her name now is 'Jinx', not 'Boom'."
"Jinx is Jinx, and she's not going to change back."
"That's more important than who she chooses to live with."
As he spoke, a hint of tenderness appeared on Hilco's stern face.
But he is different from Vander after all. He is not only a father, but also a man with ideals.
So Hilco quickly skipped over his family affairs and talked about business with Levi.
He got straight to the point and asked, "President Levi, before we officially start the cooperation, I have some questions I would like to ask you."
"As far as I know, the Wind Leader Association has cooperative relations with the four major families of Midalda, Jiraman, Golask, and Philos. I want to find out what the relationship between the Wind Leader and them is?"
This has always been a concern in Hilco's mind.
Although he was sure that the Guild of Leaders was not a lackey of the Piltover people, he still cared about the true relationship between the Guild and these big tycoons.
"In fact, the truth is not that complicated." Levi answered frankly: "Midalda and Jiraman invested in us because the head of the Midalda family, Councillor Mel, and the daughter of the Jiraman family, Miss Caitlin, are both official leaders."
"What?" Hilco was slightly stunned.
He didn't know Caitlin, but... Councillor Meier?
Isn't that the man behind the scenes of the Piltover Council, his expected number one enemy?
Even she voted for Janna? How is this possible?
"How is that impossible?" Levi smiled.
At the beginning, Mel just had a beautiful ideal and a venture capital mentality, and tried to invest some start-up capital in Leader.
At that time, she was not yet a leader, but just a sympathizer.
Because she still had some doubts at that time, doubting whether Goddess Janna was really on the side of the leader, and doubting whether the big pie that the leader had painted for her could really be realized.
But later, when Mel discovered that as long as she sang a song with faith, she could gain divine power as a mortal - the existence of the goddess Janna was no longer in doubt.
So Mel had no worries at all.
"Now Councillor Meier has officially joined the council and is a true leader."
This news seemed a bit magical to Hilco.
The daughter of the Noxian warlord and the most powerful councilor in Piltover is actually an underground member of the Leader.
"Haha, you, the leader of Zaun and the most powerful alchemist baron, are now our companions, aren't you?"
After Levi's explanation, Silko felt relieved.
He is the best example of how people can betray their social class .
So he continued to ask: "What about the Ferros family and Golask Industries?"
He had had many dealings with Stevan, the head of the Philos family, and Renata of Golask Industries, both overtly and covertly.
He didn't believe that selfish and greedy people like Stevan and Renata could be idealists like him and Mel.
"Of course they are not."
"The Philos family and the Leaders Association are simply cooperating on interests."
Levi briefly explained why Stevan needed Janna's magic to prolong his life, and continued:
"As for Renata Golask..."
As he spoke, he introduced Renata's current situation.
This guy is now locked up in the Leader's factory, working with the workers every day and learning Jana's thoughts.
It is said that every time Renata was forced to attend a class, her face looked as ugly as if she had drunk two kilograms of alchemical waste water.
In severe cases, the patient may even feel nauseous and have to lean against the wall to vomit.
Seraphine said that Renata had a serious mental illness. She couldn't stand selfless people and things, and felt sick when she saw them.
Just like a frog that has stayed in the alchemical sewer for too long, it will feel uncomfortable when it comes to clean water.
Perhaps through her soul healing, Renata's illness could be cured.
Of course, Levi did not agree with Seraphine's proposal.
Not only did he not agree, he also installed a radio speaker in Renata's cell that could not be turned off, and played the audio version of the "Leader Daily" on a loop during break time, so that she could be surrounded by positive energy every day.
"This..." After hearing about Renata's situation, Hilco was shocked.
So Renata and her entire Golask Industry have long been controlled by the Leader? Then...
"Then we can overthrow Piltover's rule now and make Zaun independent!"
Even though Hilco was a calm person, he couldn't help but speak out excitedly at this moment.
The strongest forces in Zaun are him first, Renata's Golask Industries second, Takeda Saito third, and then there are some medium and small gangs whose strength is not on the same level as theirs.
In the past, the alchemy barons ostensibly regarded Hilco as their big brother, but in reality they each acted independently and checked and balanced each other.
This has prevented Zaun's power from being truly integrated.
But now, Hilco has joined Janna, and Renata is controlled by Levi, and the balance of power within Zaun has been completely broken.
Coupled with the leader's own strength... Zaun's independence is within reach!
"As long as we work together, we can control all of Zaun in a short time!"
"With the support of Zaun's entire human and material resources, we are qualified to compete with Piltover!"
It seemed that Hilco's dream would soon come true.
But Levi shook his head: "No, Hilco, we still need time."
"If our goal is only Zaun's independence, then we can indeed start an uprising now."
Because the people of Piltover are never afraid of an independent Zaun.
"The Piltover people are not afraid of Zaun's independence, but they are afraid of an independent Zaun that follows the goddess Janna."
"Once we achieve independence in Zaun and raise the banner of the goddess Janna - we will become the enemy of the vested interests in Piltover, Noxus, and even the entire Runeterra."
"They can recognize an independent Zaun, but they will never easily compromise with a Zaun that believes in the goddess Janna!"
In Hilco's eyes, the only enemy has always been Piltover.
But Levi knew that his enemies might be the vested beneficiaries of the whole world.
At the very least, the Noxian beneficiaries will definitely be the enemies of the Leaders.
The cross-sea canal between Zaun and Piltover is an important transportation route connecting the east and west coast territories of the Noxian Empire, as well as the mainland and southern colonies.
Just as America will not sit idly by and watch problems arise in Panama, Noxus will certainly not sit idly by and watch Zaun change color and become an independent city-state following the goddess Janna that opposes the hegemony of the Noxian Empire.
"Piltover is actually a vassal of the Noxian Empire. There have been huge exchanges of interests between the big families of Piltover and the military nobles of Noxus for many years."
"What if we become independent in Zaun, and Piltover joins forces with Noxus to impose a blockade and embargo on us?"
Levi did not elaborate on the contents of the "Zuan Investigation", but only said one thing:
"Zuan doesn't produce food."
There was a moment of silence after hearing this from Hilco.
Indeed, if we can’t even be self-sufficient in food, how can we talk about independence?
Once the Piltover people close the port and block the waterway, the people of Zaun will start starving within a week.
"So we still need to wait patiently and develop in a low-key manner." Levi said: "After all, with our current strength, we are not enough to break the blockade that Noxus may launch in the future."
Just asking for patience would not be enough to make Hilco feel at ease.
So Levi gave a little glimpse of his future strategic direction:
"On the one hand, we will begin to establish a base in Zaun and gradually spread the faith of the Wind Leader to the entire Zaun."
This is to increase Janna's strength.
"We, on the other hand, will seek to build our own navy."
"Navy?" Hilco was slightly stunned.
He didn't expect that Levi didn't even have a base, but he started thinking about building a navy.
"Because we do need a navy!"
"If we want to achieve Zaun's independence , we must first ensure Zaun's material supply."
"To ensure the supply of materials to Zaun, we must first ensure the safety of the sea routes."
There are mountains to the north and south of Shuangcheng. The freight cost of Hexgate is extremely expensive. If you want to transport large quantities of materials from other countries, you can only do it by sea.
But Zaan doesn’t even have a warship now, how can it ensure the safety of the waterway?
We can't let Goddess Gana patrol the sea every day and escort the ships after independence, right?
Unless Janna has the power to crush the Noxian Empire head-on, Noxus will not dare to offend Zaun.
Otherwise, even if Noxus does not dare to attack Zaun head-on due to the threat of the goddess, they can completely use the means of harassing the waterways to blockade Zaun in disguise.
But it is foreseeable that Janna will not have such powerful strength for a long time in the future.
"During this period of time, a delicate strategic deterrence balance will be formed between Goddess Janna and the Noxian Empire."
It’s like everyone has nuclear warheads, you don’t dare to hit me, and I don’t dare to hit you.
Once a full-scale war breaks out, both sides will suffer serious damage.
Under such circumstances, Noxus would certainly not attack Zaun head-on.
But if they did not launch a full-scale attack, but simply used the navy to harass ships and block waterways, what would Zaun do?
If a full-scale war breaks out, there will be heavy casualties; if a full-scale war is not launched, we will be completely restricted by the enemy in terms of material supplies .
The best way is certainly not to use Janna as a "nuclear weapon" and overturn the table to start an all-out war.
Instead, they used conventional weapons to repel Noxus in a limited local war at sea.
Having a "nuclear warhead" can ensure safety.
But only with a navy can development be guaranteed.
"So, we don't just need Goddess Janna—we also need the Navy!"
"A powerful navy with area denial capabilities that can ensure the safety of Zaun's import and export routes!"
