Chapter 219 Jace and Mel
The next day, Piltover, Tomorrow's Forge.
This is the place in all of Piltover, and even in all of Runeterra , that is closest to the "future world".
Even the well-informed Levi would be amazed by the factory's advanced automated production lines and the ubiquitous Hextech handling robots when he comes here.
Because this is the brainchild of the great scientist Jace Tallis, from the past, present to the foreseeable future, it always represents the most cutting-edge industrial technology level in Runeterra.
It was here that Jayce created the Hexgate, and this factory unknowingly became Piltover's second "infinite money printing machine" after the Sungate Canal.
But now, Jace took the initiative to stop this "money printing machine".
Because there are only two days left before the deadline given by the Leaders Association.
The dramatic changes that took place in Zaun yesterday, the collective demise of the Alchemy Baron Group that had been entrenched in Zaun for more than 200 years in one day, sent a very clear signal to Piltover -
The leader is not kidding.
Things are really going to change in the Twin Cities.
"The war is about to start. For safety reasons, I decided to give the entire factory a seven-day holiday."
With the war imminent, Jace gave the workers seven days off and generously told them:
"During the holidays, salaries will be paid as usual, and each person will also receive a travel subsidy."
"In the coming week, no matter what the outcome of the war is, I'm afraid the Twin Cities will not be at peace."
"You can take this money and take your family on a short trip to a nearby city-state, and then come back to work when the situation stabilizes."
Having said that, Jace did not waste any time and told his men to distribute the money to the workers on the spot.
The workers at the forge took the money bags and after weighing them they knew how generous their boss was this time.
"Long live Mr. Jace!" Everyone cheered and was as happy as if it was Evolution Day.
Jess wasn't happy.
He did not like war.
Looking at these workers who looked relaxed and natural, and seemed not to be nervous about the war, Jace couldn't help but confirm with some worry:
"Have any of you decided to travel to evacuate? If everyone is sure that you want to go, I can contact the shipping company and arrange a cruise ship specifically for everyone."
He really wanted to ensure the safety of these workers and temporarily send them out of this dangerous place.
But the workers didn't care much: "No thanks, Mr. Jess. You've done enough for us."
"We just stay in Piltover. Those Zaun guys won't be able to defeat us anyway."
Jace was speechless.
He usually focuses more on science and career and rarely cares about current political affairs, so he doesn't know much about the specific strength of the leader.
But just the Hextech weapons recently invented by his old colleague Victor were enough to make him nervous.
He was concerned that his beloved Piltover, a city of civilization and progress, would be reduced to ruins in this unprecedented war.
However, these workers seemed to have foreseen a future in which victory was inevitable and were not afraid of the coming war at all.
"Aren't you scared?" Jace couldn't help but ask.
"What are you afraid of?" A worker answered with a smile: "The Piltover Daily News said that Zaun's technology is at least fifty years behind ours. How could those barbaric and backward Zaun people possibly defeat us in Piltover?"
"Yes." Someone soon echoed: "Zaan can't defeat us. What's more, our ally is the powerful Noxus!"
"This..." Jace was speechless again.
That's right. Apart from these Piltover newspapers secretly controlled by the Ferros family, most ordinary people in Piltover have no other channels to obtain information.
And in the "Pilto Daily Plane", the only reason why the Wind Leader is still alive now is...
It's just that Piltover did it out of humanitarian considerations. They felt sorry for the people of Zaun and couldn't bear to kill too many of them.
As for why such a powerful city like Piltover still needs the Noxian Empire to station troops... that is of course because Piltover's civilization is advanced and it attracts people from near and far, so even the Noxian Empire took the initiative to come to it to seek cooperation.
The garrison does not mean that Piltover is serving as a younger brother of Noxus, but that Noxus is serving as a bodyguard for Piltover.
As a result, most of the citizens of Piltover, including the workers under Jayce, were blindly optimistic about the impending war.
Not only optimistic, but even a little fanatical:
"We were too nice to the people of Zaun before."
"They have been living off our orders from Piltover for over 200 years. It would be fine if they were ungrateful, but now that they have grown a little, they are turning against us under the leadership of the 'Wind Bandits'."
"I think this battle comes at the perfect time. Just like what happened to the Sun Gate ten years ago, the law enforcers can teach them a lesson!"
Amid the chattering, there were also workers sighing like this.
Jace was surprised by everyone's reaction.
Wind Bandit... This is a derogatory term for Janna's followers and the Wind Leader Association that came from the mouths of the Ziben family in Piltover.
And because of the relationship between Victor and Mel, Jace also learned about the theory of the Leader.
He knew that leaders naturally sided with the workers.
But the Piltover workers under his command, on the contrary, stood on the side of the Piltover Seedlings and regarded the Wind Leaders Association as their enemy.
"Why?" Jace didn't quite understand.
Many of his friends are against the leader because they are all from the seed ben family and are naturally the ones who stand on the opposite side of the leader.
But why do these Piltover workers hate the Leader so much?
It’s obvious that they have never come into contact with the leader.
"Mr. Jess, that's of course because..." The workers answered in unison:
"The Leaders are stealing our technology! I heard they are also researching Hextech - it's clear they want to steal our orders and ruin everyone's jobs!"
"Also, prices have been rising recently. No matter what you buy, it's much more expensive than before."
"Isn't it because the Leader maliciously raised the prices of export goods in Zaun under the pretext of raising workers' wages..."
“…”
The Piltover workers gave many reasons in one breath .
And these reasons all sound reasonable.
As long as the Windleader's business grows bigger and the people of Zaun live better, the lives of the people of Piltover will become worse.
Everyone thinks so.
As for the slogans shouted by the Leaders to seek welfare for the workers, they were of no appeal to the workers in Piltover.
Due to objective conditions, the salaries of Zaun workers, even those in the Windwarker base, are much lower than those of local workers in Piltover.
What's more, these workers working under Jayce are among the best treated among the locals of Piltover.
They could only read about the chaos and terror of Zaun, and the poverty and backwardness under the rule of the Leader in the newspapers, but they could not see any advanced aspects of the Leader.
Therefore, the workers in Piltover not only do not support the Leader, but they also firmly believe that:
"The Wind Leader is a terrorist organization. The goal of these Zaun people is to overthrow this city of civilization and progress and take away everything we have now!"
"This..." Jace was speechless.
He didn't expect that his Piltover workers would hate the Leader even more than he, a member of the Ziben family.
Not only hatred, but also strong prejudice.
Because of this hatred and prejudice, they even fanatically desired war.
Suddenly, it seemed that this place was not Piltover, but Noxus.
"Okay, everyone can go back." With mixed feelings, Jace dismissed the workers and let them go home to take vacation and seek refuge.
"Ah..." After everyone left, Jace couldn't help but sigh quietly:
"Why has Piltover become like this?"
"Piltover has always been like this. Our methods of maintaining stability and diverting conflicts have never been different from Noxus."
"It's just that this point has only now been revealed."
Suddenly, a voice appeared in the empty factory.
Jace looked in the direction of the voice and was surprised to see a familiar face he hadn't seen for a long time:
"Miss Mel?" Mel Midalda, that was an old acquaintance of Jace.
If she hadn't been so keen on recognizing talent and providing strong support, he wouldn't have been able to achieve such success in the research of Hextech technology.
The fact that Jayce has been able to make a name for himself in Piltover's upper circles in recent years and that the Talis family has been able to become a first-class family in Piltover is not only due to their own rare talents, but also due to the support and help of Miss Mel, the "old senior".
Jace originally thought that his friendship with Miss Mel could continue to develop and sublimate.
But I didn’t expect…
Mel unexpectedly transformed himself from a Piltover council member to a director of the Leaders Association.
She suddenly became the enemy of all the genocide families in Piltover, and Jayce was one of them.
They hadn't seen each other for a long time, ever since the Wind Leader moved to Zaun.
"Ms. Mel? Why are you here..."
Jace was stunned for a moment, then looked around nervously.
Given the current tense situation in the Twin Cities, Mel might be in danger in Piltover.
"Don't worry." Mel walked over slowly with her calm and graceful steps.
She pointed to the blue bird avatar on her shoulder and said, "I can fly back to Zaun at any time. There will be no danger."
"That's good..." Jace breathed a sigh of relief.
Then the air became awkward.
He didn't know what to say when he saw Mel again given his situation.
He still has some resentment...
It was Mel who personally brought him into the art of seed farming, but now he has become a "reactionary" in front of Mel.
"Jace." Mel remained calm and composed.
Just like when she was a councillor of Piltover, she smiled and walked towards the young boy who was struggling at the social dance: "Don't worry, I'm here to show you the way."
"Point the way?" Jace was slightly stunned.
He quickly realized that he had heard this before.
At that time, it was Mel who brought him into high society.
And now...
"Miss Mel, do you want me to join the Leader?" Jace asked.
"You could say that." Mel nodded slightly.
Jace was indeed confused.
If he wanted to join the Leader, he would have joined long ago. After all, his two good friends were both high-ranking members of the Leader, and he himself had learned about the Leader's theories.
But he...
"Sorry, we're not on the same page," said Jace.
"Why?" Meier asked calmly, "Are you like the other Piltover scions, so greedy that you would rather die than give up your family's wealth and privileges?"
"I know you're not that kind of person."
"Money and power are not important to you at all, are they?"
Mel knew Jace well.
Rather than being a zebenologist, it would be better to say that he is a scientist with zebens.
Just like Professor Heimerdinger, science is Jayce's greatest pursuit in life.
So Mel asked, "Why have you been reluctant to join us?"
Both Victor and Mel had invited Jace before, but he was still hesitant.
"Because..." Jace hesitated for a long time, and finally said the truth: "I still can't accept the leader's theory."
“I think you are too extreme.”
It’s still the same reason as before.
Jess believes that there are many good people among entrepreneurs, and many of them have become rich through hard work and wisdom, such as himself.
They shouldn't be lumped together.
"The quality of an individual has nothing to do with whether the class he or she belongs to meets the needs of productivity development and social progress. I have explained this in my previous letter," Mel said.
"..."Jace was still confused.
Mel seemed to have expected this. She added:
"Moreover, our policy of expropriating the bourgeoisie is only implemented against reactionary seed families such as the Firoz family and the Takeda Saito group, who have committed many evil deeds and have proven their crimes."
"Jace, entrepreneurs like you who have made their fortunes through personal wisdom will not be liquidated. As long as you are willing to accept the entry and supervision of the leaders, and accept equity redemption and public-private partnership, we can allow your existence."
"..." Jace was silent in thought.
He knew that this was Mel showing kindness to him.
He didn't care much about the company's operations and economic interests, so he had no objection to the conditions of equity redemption and public-private partnership.
But……
"You're from Piltover." Meier blinked.
She seemed to see through Jayce's mind: "You instinctively want to stand on Piltover's side, don't you?"
"I..." Jace was stunned.
He had never thought about it this way, but after hearing what Mel said, he thought about it carefully...
Jace sighed, "Yes."
"Then you should understand," Meier said. "This is not a war between Zaun and Piltover. This is a war between us, the poorest, and the wealthy."
"We never intended to hurt Piltover or the people of Piltover."
"On the contrary... it was the Piltover zealots who made Piltover and Zaun hate each other and incited the Piltover people to become fanatical followers of war, wasn't it?"
"It was the Piltover Seed Family who bribed the Piltover people with their excess profits and tied them to their chariot of exploiting the whole world!"
"..."Jace was speechless again.
In fact, he also understands these principles.
He has read the theory of the leader.
The almost irrational hatred and fanaticism shown by the workers before made him subtly agree with the leader's theory.
"Then what are you still struggling with?" Mel raised his eyebrows.
"I..." Jace couldn't explain himself.
He loves neither money nor privileges. He has also understood the theory and the hypocrisy of the Piltover seed ben family.
Now that Mel came to invite him to join the Leader, he seemed to have no reason to refuse...
Finally he said: "I don't want to care about politics, I just want to study science."
"Professor Heimerdinger is still in Piltover..."
"Oh." Meier suddenly interrupted him: "I forgot to tell you - Professor Heimerdinger is no longer in Piltover."
