Piltover, Zaun community.
This is where Levi was "born" and it is also the earliest base of the Leader Association.
It means a lot to Levi. But when the leader steps out of this small Zaun community and begins to move towards the wider world, as the helmsman of this giant ship, Levi has to turn his attention to more distant and grand places.
What he studies every day are rows of astronomical economic data, dazzling work reports from all over the country, and the social changes taking place around the world that affect the fate of hundreds of millions of people.
The Zaun community is too small and he hasn't been back to visit for a long time.
But at this moment, in order to commemorate that friend, Levi suddenly wanted to come back and take a look.
He flew away from the celebration square, leaving the bustling and joyous scene far behind.
He flew over the newly built wide roads and tall buildings in Zaun, over the canal bridge that no longer had checkpoints separating the two cities and had turned the "natural barrier" into a thoroughfare, and over the magnificent Sun Gate sea gate.
Finally, Levi arrived at the Zaun community.
The community streets here have become clean and bright after being cleaned and renovated by the leaders.
But the buildings in this community still look as dilapidated and shabby as they did back then.
This is not surprising.
Because these buildings, including the dilapidated apartment building that Levi once rented, were built spontaneously by the land owners during the rule of the Piltover tycoons.
The Zaun community was once the most despicable slum, and the apartment buildings built here, after so many years of use without maintenance, certainly wouldn't be very beautiful.
So at first glance, it still looks like a sore in the city, but it's not as chaotic, messy, or dirty.
"It's still pretty much the same here as before..." Levi muttered.
"Yeah, but it's going to be different soon," Janna warned.
The old apartment buildings in the Zaun community, which were built in the old times, have an average living area that is too small per household and are not suitable for human habitation in terms of comfort.
Therefore, the Leaders Association has long planned to demolish and renovate a series of substandard "pigeon cage" apartments, including those in the Zaun community.
It’s just that housing resources in Zaun were too tight before, and construction investment was mainly concentrated in Zaun, so the renovation of the old city in Piltover was never taken care of.
Now, those old apartment buildings have been painted with a big word in eye-catching white paint - "Demolition".
This indicates that the community will be completely reborn. It will be used to build more livable low-rent and low-sale houses to improve people's living environment.
"We have achieved some results." Thinking of this, Levi couldn't help but feel happy.
Although leaders still face many problems, they have at least made the world a better place.
"At least, nowadays, outsiders who come to Piltover to work hard don't have to be like Lina and I did back then, squeezing in a 5-square-meter hut that looks like a pigeon cage...haha." Levi laughed with deep feeling.
"Uh..." Janna didn't respond.
As a goddess who listens to the prayers of millions of people, she knows a thousand times more than Levi.
It was just that Levi couldn't handle so many things by himself, and the president couldn't take care of every corner of the grassroots personally, so she didn't tell him about the various problems she noticed. Otherwise, even if he listened for ten days and ten nights, he wouldn't be able to finish.
"What?" Levi was still puzzled.
All I heard was a burst of excited shouts: "President Levi! Hey! It's President Levi!"
It was found in the shabby apartment building where he lived back then, or even in the 5-square-meter rental house where Li Wei died suddenly.
A young boy was squeezing in front of the narrow window of the rental house, waving at him excitedly.
Levi: “…”
"President!" The boy waved to Levi with admiration in his eyes.
He tried hard to lean out of the window to get closer to the idol flying in the air.
But the window of the rental house was so narrow that he couldn't even squeeze his head out.
Helpless, the boy could only look through the small window like a bird trapped in a cage and excitedly said to Levi: "President! Why are you here?"
Levi: “…”
He looked the boy up and down.
He is very similar to Levi back then, with black hair and black eyes, a solid but thin body, and a look of constant fatigue on his face, but his eyes are more optimistic and sunny.
"Are you Ionian?" Levi recognized his accent .
"Yes." The boy nodded hurriedly: "I am from the province of Barou."
"Are your parents and family all right?"
"No, I was gone when the Noxians came." He answered naturally, "If it weren't for the Leader, I would have died a long time ago."
"After the war, you should have also been allocated land in Barue, right?" Levi asked with concern.
"Yeah!" The boy nodded gratefully.
He said embarrassedly: "It's just that...farming in my hometown really doesn't make much money."
"So I rented the land to a fellow villager and followed him to Shuangcheng to work hard."
This is not surprising. The people of Barue were the first to come into contact with the leaders and were most eager for modern life. So after the war, many people of Barue left their homes and came to Shuangcheng to work.
Levi can understand this. But...
"Why do you live here?" He finally couldn't help asking, "Doesn't Shuangcheng have public low-rent and low-sale housing that you can apply for? Why are you still renting here?"
The rent for public housing is very low, and as long as you have a job in the Twin Cities, you can definitely afford it.
Low-sale houses are sold with 0 down payment, and the price is so cheap that it is equivalent to half selling and half giving away, so there is no possibility of not being able to repay the loan.
"This..." The boy hesitated.
Then he said frankly: "Public housing resources are too scarce."
"You have to draw lots for low-cost housing and queue up for low-cost rental housing. How can I wait?"
Leaders have indeed been vigorously building public housing in the Twin Cities, but plans cannot keep up with changes, and design capacity cannot keep up with the surging actual demand.
Thanks to the efforts of the Wind Leader Association, Runeterra has gradually become one.
Ionia opened its borders, Demacia reopened maritime trade, and the people of Shurima and Freljord finally turned their gaze away from the barren deserts and ice fields and began to open their eyes to the world.
As a result, Zaun and Piltover, the only modern metropolises in the world, have become truly the cities that the world desires.
Countless farmers who were liberated from the land, herdsmen who left their tribes, and slaves who regained their freedom, all with their yearning for a better life, spent all they had and bought tickets to the Twin Cities.
With so many immigrants pouring in, the public housing built by Leader in the Twin Cities suddenly seemed a little stretched.
"But..." Li Wei couldn't help asking again: "Even if the public low-rent housing is still not available, the price of private housing is not too expensive, right?"
Since the leaders have put so many low-rent and low-sale houses on the market, the residential property prices in the two cities will certainly not be too high.
Correspondingly, the rent for privately rented houses will not be very expensive.
Levi paid attention to this.
Theoretically, as long as a person can find a job in the Twin Cities and earn the legal minimum wage, he can definitely afford a small one-bedroom rental house.
"Why don't you rent a bigger house?" Levi asked.
Perhaps he had thought of something, and he added, "To save more money?"
"Yes, yes... I'm doing this to save money." The boy's eyes flickered, and his expression suddenly looked a little unnatural.
Levi noticed something. It seemed that the boy did not lower his living conditions on his own initiative in order to save more money.
He immediately asked: "How much do you earn a month?"
"1,000 yuan...President."
Because Goddess Janna has proved the "credit" of the Leader with her strength, the Leader directly led Runeterra from the era of precious metal currency to the era of credit currency.
The 1,000 yuan that the boy mentioned refers to the Blue Bird Coin, the latest currency issued by the alliance.
This figure is also the legal minimum wage standard in the Twin Cities. If converted back to the silver wheels and copper coins of the past, it would probably be equivalent to several times Levi's monthly salary back then.
Although this income is not very high, it is a figure that allows people to live a decent life in the Twin Cities.
But……
"Really?" Li Wei looked at the slightly panicked boy with suspicion: "Do you really earn 1,000 yuan a month?"
"I……"
"Tell me the truth." Levi soothed, "Tell me if you have any difficulties. I won't hurt you."
"No..." The boy finally said, "I can't make 1,000 a month. I only have..."
"500."
"500?" Levi's blood pressure soared when he heard that.
"Why are there so many missing?" He asked quickly, "Where do you work?"
All state-owned enterprises in Shuangcheng are headed by leaders, and medium and large private enterprises have also accepted joint ventures and established branches in the enterprises.
It is impossible for them to violate the standards set by the leaders and deduct employees' wages so blatantly.
"I, I don't work in a regular big factory..." As expected, the boy replied, "I work in the kitchen of a small restaurant."
"Small restaurants?" Of course, the leaders will not always send people to keep an eye on these small and micro enterprises.
"But your boss has deducted your salary so much, even only paying you half of the legal minimum wage, why don't you report it?"
The enforcers of the Windleader are not the enforcers of Piltover. They will not turn a blind eye just because they receive bribes from merchants.
As long as the employees are willing to expose the illegal boss, the illegal boss will be severely punished.
"Severe punishment?" The young man was shocked: "No, no, no... President, please don't make things difficult for my boss."
"It's not that I don't report it, it's that I don't want to expose it. My boss is willing to keep me, and I have to thank him..."
"This..." Levi looked at him thoughtfully.
All I could hear was the young man sighing helplessly: "Zaun and Piltover are good, but it's just too difficult to take root."
"It's not just the public housing that's in short supply here - it's also very difficult for outsiders to find a regular job here."
This was exactly what Levi had discussed with Mrs. Gillaman earlier.
The population of Runeterra is too large and the industrial production is too small. There are many people who want to work in factories, but there are only a few factories.
"I'm just a country bumpkin from Ionia, and I can't even speak Valoran fluently..." the boy said, "Those factories don't want me, so I can only work illegally in small restaurants."
That's why he won't report his boss.
If they report the boss, no one will dare to hire illegal workers anymore, and they will lose their jobs completely and have to go back to their hometown in Ionia .
"But..." Li Wei asked again: "Leaders have free vocational and technical training."
"Why don't you sign up?"
In order to accommodate the large number of people pouring into the twin cities in a short period of time and solve the resulting unemployment problem, Leaders has been working hard to provide free vocational and technical training.
Not only can you learn knowledge and skills for free, but you will also be assigned a job after graduation, which means you will have food to eat when you come and classes to attend when you leave.
"Well..." The boy scratched his head a little embarrassedly.
He said: "I heard that those who go to participate in the training have to sign a directed employment agreement."
"After graduation, they will participate in the 'Second Line Construction' program and work in overseas regions such as Ionia and Noxus."
Leaders can provide free training, but the two cities are so small, there are only so many companies, and many jobs can be created out of thin air.
Even if those new immigrants can become qualified workers through free training, it is still difficult for them to find jobs in the Twin Cities.
Regions such as Noxus and Demacia are vigorously developing industry and need a large number of skilled workers to support them.
Therefore, the leaders simply solved the immigration issue and the "second-line construction" together, and sent the unemployed people who received free training back to their hometowns overseas to work.
Many people are willing to accept it. After all, the salary and benefits of foreign aid workers are no worse than those of working in Shuangcheng.
But some people are still reluctant to go back, because once they sign a contract, they have to work overseas for many years, and they are likely to become inseparable.
"I finally got out of Ionia, how can I run back?" the boy said a little unwillingly.
"But like this..." Levi looked at the boy trapped in the pigeon cage in front of him; "Isn't it hard?"
"I am not afraid of hardship." The boy said, "My dream is to stay in Shuangcheng and own a house in Shuangcheng."
"I am now learning Valoran by myself and trying to find a better job - I believe I can take root here."
As he said this, he looked at Levi nervously: “President…I’m telling you this, can you not embarrass my boss?”
"Please, I really don't want to lose this job."
Levi: “…”
There was a helpless silence.
"Don't worry..." He sighed, "I won't."
…
After a long time, Levi said goodbye to the boy and slowly flew into the sky.
He had come back on a whim to pay tribute to the old Levi, but he didn't expect that he would meet a new era "Levi" here again.
The salutes of the grand celebration have already sounded over this bustling city.
Everyone was celebrating this great moment, but Levi seemed a little depressed.
"I was flying too high before..." He sighed as he looked down at the city.
"No, Levi." Cana's ethereal voice sounded gently in his mind: "You did well enough."
"That young man is different from Levi."
"What's the difference?" Li Wei shook his head self-deprecatingly: "They still live in pigeon coops and still work illegally."
Janna replied seriously, "It's different."
“There was hope in his eyes.”
"This..." Levi was speechless.
If he didn't know Janna well, he would have suspected that the goddess was being sarcastic.
“I’m serious,” Janna said. “Compared to the apprentice Levi, their future is promising.”
Levi's only hope back then was his genius sister who was admitted to Piltover University. But a minor illness left him strapped for cash and he was faced with the desperate situation of being driven back to Zaun, completely shattering his hopes.
And 99% of the people in Zaan don’t have such a talented sister, so they don’t even have the chance to dream.
But that boy was different.
He has many paths to take.
He can sign up for free vocational training and accept the assigned job at any time;
He can slowly learn the language and knowledge by himself and try to find a job, instead of being immediately driven away by the Piltover law enforcement officer because he cannot pay the rent;
He is also eligible to participate in the lottery for low-cost housing, and has the hope of owning his own place in the Twin Cities;
Even if we take a step back and say that he cannot take root in the Twin Cities and has to return to Ionia, he still has land in his hometown that is shared by the leaders, so he will not starve or freeze.
Unlike the Zaun apprentices at the beginning, after returning to Zaun, they can only work like slaves for the Alchemy Baron and waste their lives in the flesh factory.
From an optimistic point of view:
As long as this young man can successfully stay in Shuangcheng, find a regular job, and buy a public low-cost housing through lottery, he will be a decent resident of the capital in the future and an envied "new Shuangcheng person"!
Where else could such an easy opportunity for advancement have been available before?
"But..." Levi sighed helplessly: "Is this enough?"
"How big is this tree in Shuangcheng? How many sparrows-turned-phoenixes can live there?"
"Yes, Demacia, Noxus, Ionia... other places are also developing. Prosperous cities are rising from the ground. Everyone in this era can see hope."
"But what about the future? What about the next era?"
The boy's story touched him.
The problem is already showing signs of happening and will only get worse in the future.
“I know what we are doing and what we can accomplish.”
"We can help hundreds of millions of poor people get rid of extreme poverty, enable tens of millions of people to live a modern life, enable everyone to afford to read books, and enable everyone to afford to eat meat..."
This is a feat that no one in our past could achieve in 10,000 years. It is great.
"But this is not enough." Levi sighed.
One day, the teenagers living in rental houses will find that there is no hope before them, only an insurmountable class gap.
The beautiful modern life has liberated their minds, broadened their horizons, and allowed them to see the appearance of the sky, but it cannot give them the wings to fly into the sky.
They will eventually find themselves still trapped in chains.
When Mrs. Gillaman asked him "what to do in the future", he just said vaguely: "Future matters will be dealt with in the future."
Because Levi himself didn't know how to solve it.
He had been learning from the experience of his predecessors and imitating the path of his predecessors.
But now, he no longer has any stone to touch, and the leaders have to walk the road ahead by themselves.
The future decisions of the leaders will determine the fate of hundreds of millions of people. Faced with such an important change, Levi dare not say that he is right, and no one dares to say that they are definitely right.
What Levi is envisioning now is that with leaders in power and intelligent machines, we can achieve universal peace.
But our ancestors also imagined that a leader in power and full electrification would be the rule of Ghana.
Previous generations did not succeed, and no one can guarantee that what Levi is thinking now is right.
He couldn't see clearly what the future held.
"Levi, you don't have to belittle yourself." Janna comforted her, "I think what you said to Lady Jiraman before is the correct answer—"
"The future level of social development and productivity is still unknown. Anything we say now is just empty talk."
"Let's deal with future issues in the future."
"So..." Li Wei sighed helplessly: "We can only trust the wisdom of future generations?"
"Why not?" Janna tilted her head in confusion: "We are the leaders. Aren't our descendants also leaders?"
"Contradictions are always in motion and change. When one problem is solved, a new one will arise. This is a law."
"As long as we and our descendants keep working hard to solve problems, we will not be afraid of not being able to move forward."
Levi was silent for a while.
"Yes." He also became optimistic: "You are right, Janna."
"With you here, with your thread of faith guaranteeing everyone's faith, we can move forward forever."
“No—” Janna corrected him sternly, “Comrade Levi.”
"Even if there is no Janna in this world, and no thread of faith, humans will definitely move towards Janna's rule."
Because the main problem cannot be solved by the seed benzene.
If a person is living a peaceful life, there must be ten people carrying heavy burdens somewhere he can't see.
If one country is rich and developed, there must be ten other countries that are suffering and under pressure in places they cannot see.
The people of Piltover can find ten thousand reasons to say that their theory is correct and that Janna's rule is just the foolish wishful thinking of those who hate the rich.
But the Zaun people, who make up the majority of the population, will sooner or later see through their hypocrisy and find the right direction.
Because no matter how good the theories of the people of Piltover seem, it is impossible to turn the entire world into Piltover.
People may go through untold hardships to build their hometown into "Piltover" and live a good life like the people of Piltover.
But in the vast world outside of "Piltover", there will always be many Zauns. You are a Piltover person, what about us?
“One day, people will realize:”
"They must move forward and change, otherwise they will be forever trapped in this historical cycle, repeating the tragic cycle of 'class solidification - contradictions erupt - reshuffle - class solidification' over and over again."
“Predecessors may fail, make mistakes, and encounter numerous setbacks.”
"But the ideals of the Wind Leaders will never fade, and people will never stop exploring. Lord Janna will surely be able to achieve it, even if it takes a thousand years!"
Janna's voice was firm and powerful.
She flew in front of Levi like a bluebird, like a lighthouse guiding the direction.
"Jana..." Levi was deeply moved.
He was silent for a long time before he said, "You are already the true goddess of Janna and my guide."
“No.” Janna quietly transformed into a human form and flew side by side with him: “I am not your god, I am your comrade.”
"Well, comrade." Levi chewed on the word.
Then he solemnly said, "Cancel the Summoner's Contract."
"What?" Goddess Janna paused.
She felt that the unbreakable spiritual connection between herself and Levi disappeared in an instant.
Summoner's contract was terminated?
"Hmm..." Levi nodded: "Although I don't understand the principle, it can be removed by me."
"From today on, I am no longer your summoner, and I can no longer command you—"
"Janna, you are free."
Cana wasn't happy about this, she just looked over in confusion: "Why?"
"I trust you. This isn't necessary."
"No, it is necessary." Levi said seriously: "Janna, you should be the faith of all mankind, a fair and selfless god, not a slave of someone."
Before this, Levi was still reluctant to let go.
He wanted to preserve his connection to Janna, to retain this vast divine power.
The divine power was baptizing his body every moment, allowing him to be reborn, to have a body that could rival that of a god, and to fight for the leader's cause.
But now…
"Mr. Yu, the Leader no longer needs my fighting power."
"Personally... I am the leader, I shouldn't have such selfish thoughts."
Levi looked at his goddess with relief: "Jana, from today on, we are real comrades."
Janna's eyes rippled and she remained silent for a long time.
Finally, she nodded solemnly: "Yes."
Then, she held Levi's hand. The familiar and vast divine power returned to his body again.
“You…” Levi was slightly stunned: “What did you do?”
“I have chosen you to be my chosen one,” Janna said.
God's chosen ones are not ordinary believers, but more like a part of God, an extension of God's will on earth.
The star spirits use a similar method to take over the bodies of mortals and walk on earth.
But Janna did not take over Levi's body, nor did she turn him into her puppet.
She just shared a little bit of power with Levi, just like before.
"Why?" Levi had a complicated expression: "You don't need me anymore, Janna."
"No." Cana said seriously: "I still need you as a summoned beast."
"Next time we fight, you should take my place."
Levi: “…”
During the conversation, the salute of the celebration had already finished. The huge blue bird illusion above the city also burst into brilliant colorful magic light.
"The ceremony is about to begin." Janna extended her hand to Levi: "Let us move forward together, Comrade Levi."
"Yeah." Levi also held Janna's hand.
In the howling wind of change, they flew forward together:
“Let’s move forward together!”
(End of the book)