Chapter 501: Grand Event (Part 1)
Zaun and Piltover.
Today's sky looks exceptionally blue.
The winds summoned by the Wind Leaders with their divine power dispersed the alchemical waste and industrial smog above the city.
The number of visitors to and from Bluebird Square, the landmark of New Zuan, was several times greater than usual. They included fashionable people from the Twin Cities, as well as foreign brothers of different skin colors and clothing, who were obviously from all over the world.
The scene was a bit crowded, but it couldn't stop the smiles on people's faces.
There were many of them but they were not chaotic. Everyone followed the guidance of the Blue Bird incarnation and stood in the right position in an orderly manner, waiting for the curtain to be raised for a grand event.
Surrounded by the crowd, in the open Blue Bird Square, stands a group of pure white statues created by Demacia's sculptors. The protagonists of the statues are the heroic people from all over the world who risked their lives to fight against the invasion of the undead.
Fresh flowers carefully cultivated by Ionian carpenters are blooming colorfully in every corner and flower bed of the square.
Brand new bluebird flags are fluttering freely in the wind amidst the prosperous atmosphere of bustling crowds of people and blooming flowers.
All of this indicates that today is extraordinary.
“Warmly celebrate the establishment of the Runeterra Janna Alliance, and warmly welcome comrades from all over the world!”
The slogans hanging in the square say it all.
The grand events held today in Zaun and Piltover are the birthday parties of this great alliance.
Although the Janna Alliance has been officially established for some time, it is a bit late to celebrate its birthday now.
However, due to the fact that both Demacia and Noxus suddenly changed their flags and transformed from kingdoms/empires with a strong atmosphere of nationalism to Janna-dominated countries, many people in the country could not accept the drastic change of "national destruction", and some turmoil was inevitable.
Therefore, the leader decided to let the comrades from each member country focus on handling their own affairs first.
Let's wait until the situation stabilizes and the world is peaceful before holding this grand party.
On this day, representatives of leaders from all over the world will gather in Zaun and Piltover to witness this unprecedented event that unites all of humanity.
The ceremony has not officially started yet.
But Levi, Victor, Mel Midalda and other members of the Central Council, as the protagonists of today, have arrived at the scene in advance.
"Isn't this a bit too extravagant?" Levi couldn't help but mutter as he looked at the grand scene in front of him.
In order to welcome today's grand event, the leader even repainted the Sun Gate Sea Gate not far away which served as the background of the ceremony.
It looks so magnificent at first glance, as if silk is just hung on the trees.
Not only that, this time the Leader also invited the Noxian Mages to create a dazzling and colorful illusion of a huge blue bird above the venue to add momentum to the opening of this grand event.
The on-site etiquette, reception, and security are all beautiful women who are selected from thousands of people and have graceful figures...
Oh, they were all played by LeBlanc alone.
That's okay.
But overall, the Twin Cities have never been presented to the world in such a gorgeous manner before.
"This seems... a bit like formalism." Not only Levi, but Victor also muttered to himself.
One of them is the president and the other is the vice president. Of course, they will not be personally responsible for the specific arrangements of this ceremony.
These specific planning and preparation tasks are all undertaken by the celebration preparation committee temporarily established by the General Assembly, as well as the municipal departments of the capitals of Zaun and Piltover.
They just signed and agreed to make a big one.
I didn't expect that the implementation would turn out to be such a big deal.
"What do you think, Mel?" Levi did not make further comments based on his personal likes and dislikes, but habitually asked for the opinions of Mel and other members of the board of directors first.
"You want me to see..." Mel looked at Levi and Victor with a smile.
True leaders disdain to hide their opinions.
With the true unity brought by the thread of faith, leaders do not need to consider personal relationships or face when speaking, and do not need to be cautious and tread on thin ice to maintain the appearance of harmony.
So, she bluntly suggested: "President, Vice President, you should put aside your petty-bourgeois attitude."
"We have already discussed the significance of this celebration during the meeting—"
“Think about it, what kind of situation are we facing?”
"It is said that with the establishment of the Janna Alliance in Runeterra, mankind has ushered in true unity, but what is the reality? Has the great unity of all mankind really arrived?"
Of course not.
"We have Demacians, Noxians, and Ionians in our alliance."
"They all developed a strong sense of national identity during the years of war. They are proud of their own cultural traditions and national spirit, but they hate each other and have accumulated a blood debt that is difficult to resolve."
"We also have the Baru, Shurima, and Freljord in our alliance."
"They had even been living in a primitive tribal society before. They only had tribes in their eyes, not countries, let alone a human alliance that transcends countries and nations."
"There are also people from Zaun and Piltover in our alliance."
"These first modernized and wealthy urbanites instinctively despise those latecomers, those 'ignorant and backward', 'rude and unruly' foreign peasants."
“…”
Mel said a lot.
Her meaning was clear. The Wind Leader had united Runeterra, but humanity was far from united.
If the Wind Leader's organization suddenly disappeared from this world, then the next day Demacia would become Demacia again, and Noxus would become Noxus again, and then they would pick up the past hatred, the contempt and estrangement between each other, and start fighting each other.
Meier concluded: "It is not that easy to build a common identity of the Janna Alliance among all mankind."
"So what should we do? How can we truly unite people of different races and civilizations who are so alienated from each other?"
“Where should I start?”
This is a grand topic. If we really discuss it, it would probably fill a room full of papers for scholars in the two cities.
But the simplest way is:
"Hold a grand celebration so that all mankind can celebrate the same festival."
"So we can't be stingy with the small amount of money. If we are going to hold a big event, we should make it a grand event for all mankind. We should broadcast this event to every corner of Runeterra through Hextech projectors and magicians, so that everyone can remember this day deeply and join in the carnival of this grand event."
Levi and Victor were silent for a while.
Then they all said frankly: "Comrade Meier, you are right. This time we were too narrow-minded in thinking."
"I'm glad you can figure it out." Seeing Levi and Victor admit their mistakes, Mel couldn't help but smile.
She really likes the discussion atmosphere of Leader.
This scene would never have happened in any kingdom or group in the past.
Even the most humble and receptive leaders will not like subordinates who sharply criticize their superiors or colleagues who insist on expressing their own opinions. Gradually, few people are willing to express dissenting opinions.
But leaders are different.
Leaders pursue the truth, and the truth becomes clearer the more it is debated.
Levi knew that he was just an ordinary citizen in the past, and Victor only knew that he was just a scientist who was oblivious to the world outside. They both had their own limitations in thinking about problems.
Correspondingly, Mel also knows that she was a successful farmer in the past, and her understanding of the world is also bound by her past experiences.
On many issues, she also has to humbly accept the opinions of Levi and others.
"Actually..." Mel followed Levi and the others to the podium opposite the Bluebird Square, and made a suggestion while the iron was hot: "I think that just holding this alliance celebration is not enough."
“It would be great if we could hold more of these man-made celebrations that all of humanity can celebrate together.”
"What a pity... Apart from the Alliance Birthday Celebration, Labor Day, and the Underworld War Memorial Day, I can't think of any other holidays that can be accepted by all mankind at the same time."
Mel looked at Levi half-jokingly while saying this:
"President Levi, if it really doesn't work, can you sacrifice yourself?"
"Aren't you going to get married to Miss Seraphine soon? How about we give you a grand wedding?"
"No, no, no." Levi quickly refused.
In the past, the various kingdoms of Runeterra had the tradition of celebrating the king's wedding to unite the people.
But he is not a king, and he does not have the status that the royal family has in the hearts of the people in traditional monarchies.
Because there really is a goddess among the leaders.
So even if the common people really want to thank the savior and really want to find a statue to worship, they will only worship Jana, not him.
In fact, apart from the people of Zaun, who would be more grateful and admire Levi who personally brought them out of the sea of suffering...
People from other regions only think of Levi as Janna's chosen one, the goddess' "summoned beast".
Levi was also happy to see this.
People always like to create gods. But people can only become great people at best, and cannot become perfect gods who never make mistakes.
If he is placed on a pedestal, he will fall down sooner or later.
Fortunately, Janna is here to support us.
Janna is a true God. She does not interfere in worldly affairs or participate in government, so she can never make mistakes and will always be a perfect God in people's minds.
"Okay, okay..." Levi also knew that Mel was probably joking.
So he changed the subject and said with a smile: "Seraphone and I have already discussed it. We will only invite a few familiar friends to the wedding and have a small wedding."
"As for you, Comrade Mel...do you want to make your wedding with Mr. Jess more lively?"
This handsome guy, Jace, had already been firmly under her control as a business investor long before the Leader arrived.
If it weren't for the sudden appearance of the Leader who interfered with the world line, the two of them would have probably fallen out with each other long ago.
Later, as the most important scientist, entrepreneur, and Hextech equipment supplier in the Twin Cities, Jace had to deal with Mel, who held an important position in the Wind Leader Association.
The two of them grew closer and closer, and ended up together naturally.
When talking about these private matters, Mel, who has always been a strong woman, is not at all shy like those young girls.
She answered , "Jace and I are still in the adjustment stage. Marriage? That depends on my further assessment and observation of him."
"Don't talk about me either..." Mel looked at Victor again: "Comrade Victor, where are you and Miss Skye?"
"Huh?" Victor was slightly stunned.
As a technical geek, he is obviously not as open as Mel in this regard.
Miss Skye was his former colleague at Piltover University and had worked with him for many years.
She was also the only person in the lab, besides Heimerdinger and Jayce, who did not secretly look at him with suspicion because of his Zaun origin.
"I just had sex with Miss Skye two days ago..." Victor said a little embarrassedly: "How did you know?"
"Uh..." Everyone present was speechless.
Except for Victor, there is probably no one else in the association who doesn't know that Researcher Sky likes him.
"You two have finally achieved your goal." Levi sighed.
As he said this, he couldn't help but joked, "Victor, now you should give up the idea of 'mechanical ascension', right?"
Victor once suddenly fainted while working, and then he discovered that he was born with a terminal illness.
But the leader had not yet emerged, and he still had a lot of work to do.
Seeing that his sickly body once again constrained his pursuit of his ideals, Victor actually came up with a crazy idea -
He hopes to use the Hexcore to transform himself into an immortal robot and continue his unfinished business.
Later, perhaps it was because of the stimulation of this terminal illness, or perhaps it was because he was still trapped in this naturally weak body...
Even though Janna had used the Resurrection Monsoon to heal his sick body, making it impossible for his terminal illness to worsen, Victor was still obsessed with the idea of "mechanical ascension".
Everyone thought his idea was too extreme, but he was still secretly studying it.
There are even many "mechanical parties" among the people who were inspired by him and regarded "mechanical ascension" as a shortcut to the Lord of Janna.
"What about now?" Levi asked him jokingly: "Victor, do you still want to be a robot?"
Miss Mel's lips curled up slightly, and she smiled meaningfully, "If people become machines, they will lose a lot of the fun of being human."
“Ahem.” Victor waved his hands repeatedly: “I don’t want to think about it anymore. I don’t want to think about it anymore.”
"You're right..." Unconsciously, a happy smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "It's better to be a human being."
"Hahahaha." Everyone couldn't help laughing.
While chatting and laughing, Levi and his group gradually walked towards the observation deck opposite the Blue Bird Square, which was also the rostrum for this celebration.
Although the celebration had yet to begin, there were already many people under the observation deck.
They were all invited war heroes, model workers, representatives from all walks of life, and outstanding individuals, just waiting for the celebration to begin so that they could go on stage with Li Wei and others.
For example...
"President! Hey, President!" A middle-aged man rushed over excitedly when he saw Levi appear.
"Uh... is it you?" Levi's face darkened when he saw the identity of the person who came.
Isn’t this the uncle who works at the snack bar?
It was because when Levi was doing research in Zaun, he once had a meal of magic frog at this uncle's snack stand. Later, he thought his magic frog was delicious and ate it twice more when he passed by.
This guy took the opportunity to take a group photo with him. Later, after Zaun became independent, he printed out the photo and hung it on the wall of his own snack bar.
Even the signature dish of his snack bar is called "President's Magic Frog".
Later, his business grew bigger and bigger, and more and more stores followed his example and put up the "President's" sign, until there were so many that a "President's cuisine" was formed...
It was too late for Li Wei to regret.
"Why are you here too?" Levi looked at the shrewd businessman in surprise.
The snack bar owner puffed out his chest proudly: "Because I am a combat hero who served in the battle of Mordekaiser and a model representative of the Zaun militia!"
"Huh?" Levi was even more shocked.
"It's true, President..." Zeli and Chuck appeared quietly next to the snack bar uncle.
The three of them are now not only friends, but also comrades and brothers-in-arms.
This time, Zeli was invited as a war hero, while Chuck was a model worker, and they were invited to attend together with the snack bar owner.
"Hmm..." Now Li Wei believed it.
I never expected that this shrewd small businessman would one day become a representative of heroes and models invited to attend the ceremony.
"I'm sorry." He apologized sincerely, "Comrade, I failed to look at the problem from a developmental perspective and underestimated you."
"W-What kind of words are these..." The snack bar owner was very excited.
He grasped the hand that Levi extended to him, and looked around impatiently for the camera: "President Levi, can I take another photo with you?"
Levi: “…”
He flashed away from the snack bar owner.
"cannot."
