Chapter 60 On Hilco
"What did you say?!" Wei couldn't help but talk.
"I say, I admire Hilco very much. The people of Zaun are lucky to have such a leader who has brains, an iron fist and persistence in his beliefs among those short-sighted and greedy chem-barons like insects."
Levi repeated it with emphasis, then covered his ears.
Sure enough, the next second, the familiar Zuan words came through the walls and rushed over fiercely:
"Fuck you! Lucky, you say this is the luck of the people of Zaun? That despicable, shameless, and ruthless villain?"
If Hilco's appearance is lucky for the people of Zaun.
What about her adoptive father, the former leader Fandel who was overthrown and killed by Silko? Is it the misfortune of the people of Zaun?
"I think you're just a piece of toilet paper without eyes or brains. You can't do anything except licking that dog's ass!" Wei cursed angrily.
"Don't get excited." Levi replied in a low voice: "What I mean is that compared with other alchemy barons, Xierko is already very good."
"Since you are also from Zaun, you should know what kind of people those alchemy barons are, right?"
Levi had analyzed this before.
These alchemy barons represent the most backward production relations in Zaun. They only want to rely on Zaun's cheap labor forever, supplying Piltover with low-value-added minerals, chemical raw materials, and mechanical parts to earn a little bit of leftovers.
In fact, they are the economic vassals of Zaun who are managed on behalf of Piltover Capital. They are Piltover hounds in Zaun's skin.
So the business owners of Piltover ate the meat, the alchemist barons of Zaun drank the soup, the people of Piltover got the leftovers, and the people of Zaun were responsible for serving as ingredients.
Therefore, although most of the Alchemy Barons verbally claim that they are from Zaun and curse the people of Piltover, they actually don't want to fall out with the masters of Piltover at all.
"Don't think that just because the chem-barons are from Zaun and because a few chem-barons occasionally lead the rebellion against Piltover, they are enemies of the Piltover business owners. On the contrary, in terms of class, they are true friends."
"So you should understand how special Hilco is, right?"
"He could have compromised and cooperated with Piltover, then safely occupied the sway over the Zaun people, sucked the blood of the Zaun people together with the masters of Piltover, and lived a life like a local tyrant."
"But Hilco is not interested in that."
He has always had only one goal, which is to achieve Zaun's independence and freedom.
With this belief alone, he is already several dimensions higher than those parasitic alchemy barons.
"You...what nonsense are you talking about!" Wei gritted her teeth and retorted: "I know Xierko, he is a villain who will do anything to achieve his goal!"
"What do you mean by doing it for Zaun? I think he just wants to use the excuse of rebelling against Piltover to tie all the Zaun people to his chariot and use their blood to realize his own ambitions!"
This statement does make sense in the right circumstances.
But that won’t work in today’s Zaun.
Talking about the dangers of nationalism in a semi-colony that is still suffering from brutal oppression from its colonial master is like advising a malnourished person to eat less meat, eggs and milk to avoid obesity.
"Wei, you are right. Hilco is using the Zaun people, using the slogan 'For Zaun' to trick them into stepping on the chariot and make them bleed for his ambitions."
"But if we don't do this, won't the people of Zaun bleed?"
"If they don't step onto the chariot, where go?"
"Where to go? Black mines, chemical plants? To serve the Alchemist Baron and the Lord of Piltover as industrial consumables with a life expectancy of less than 30 years?!"
"And then before he died, he irresponsibly left behind a few orphans, causing the next generation and the next generation to die in the stinking ditch of Zaun like them. After they died, their bodies were taken to the alchemy shop and sold. Not even a complete corpse could be left behind?"
Li Wei's repeated questioning left Wei unable to refute.
The people of Zaun have long reached the point where it would be easier to hang themselves with a rope than to continue living. If they don't resist now, are they just going to sit there and wait to die?
Although Hilco has his ambitions and his ideological limitations, he is at least a rebel.
“No…” Wei’s momentum gradually weakened.
But she still couldn't agree with Levi's praise of Silko: "No...it won't work."
"It's not like the Zaun people haven't tried what Hilko is doing now. We have tried it many times, but the result each time was... just like the failure that Fandel encountered at the canal bridge ten years ago, which resulted in everyone's blood being shed in vain."
Wei sighed deeply.
Her parents died in the failed armed uprising ten years ago.
She saw her parents die in front of her. She saw the bodies still warm on the ground, the pungent white smoke, the burning red blood. The blood...almost dyed the entire bridge red.
At a young age, Wei has already deeply experienced the consequences of resistance.
"You're scared." Levi said, revealing her thoughts.
"Nonsense!" Wei punched the wall in shame and anger, making a dull thud. "I just don't want to see the people of Zaun make such a meaningless resistance and let them die in vain!"
"So, this is where Hillco is better than Vander."
"He knew that Zaun's overall strength was not as good as Piltover's, so he had been accumulating strength and making preparations in secret, instead of acting blindly on emotion."
"Wei Guang, do you know this thing?"
The Glimmer Potion is the trump card that Hilco has prepared for his independence cause.
This powerful drug, which can greatly enhance human functions in a short period of time, can help the Zaun people barely make up for the absolute strength gap between them and Piltover.
With this thing, defeating the Piltover guys is no longer a pipe dream.
Not only did Hilco have a rebellious spirit, he also came up with a feasible resistance plan and implemented it day after day for years.
"They have goals, organization, and military support. They also know how to assess the situation, accumulate strength, and wait for the right time. Hilco's performance is better than any other rebel in Zaun's history."
"I think he might actually be able to do it this time."
Levi gave a good evaluation of Hilco.
"No, it's impossible!" Would the demon who caused her family to be broken up again become the hero who led Zaun to independence?
Wei simply couldn't stand the thought.
But she couldn't refute Levi's well-reasoned analysis at all.
As a rough Zaun tomboy, Wei is better at talking with her fists. But at this time, she couldn't punch first and then "exchange ideas" with Levi while they were in different cells.
So Wei could only murmur in pain: "No, he can't do it! The people of Zaun have always died in vain... Whether it's Fandel or Xierko, this kind of thing has happened too many times before!"
"Well..." Seeing that the time was right, Levi went into more depth, "In fact, the resistance of the Zaun people before was not completely a failure."
"Hmm?" Wei really listened carefully and questioned, "What do you mean? After all these years, the people of Zaun haven't even made it through once. Can this still be considered a success?"
"It's certainly not a success, but our resistance so many times did play some positive roles."
"Positive effect?"
Bah! Where is the positive effect?
After so many rebellions over the past 200 years, have the lives of the people of Zaan ever gotten better?
"Life has not improved for the people of Zaun, but..."
"Life has gotten better for the people of Piltover."
Levi gave a shocking and puzzling answer.
Then he asked, "Vi, do you think the people of Piltover are doing well?"
"certainly."
“Then why are they doing well?”
"The civilians of Piltover live well because they are naturally smarter, more capable, and more creative than the people of Zaun. Is it because the people of Piltover have a great and noble national character?"
Of course not.
Everyone knows that the people of Zaun are more hardworking, more capable, and more popular with employers than the people of Piltover.
Why do the civilians in Piltover live so much better than those in Zaun? Why do the people in Piltover earn significantly more than those in Zaun even if they do the same job?
"Why else..." Wei frowned, "Because the Piltover guys are their own people."
"Isn't it normal for the Lord of Piltover to give his people more money?"
"No, this is not normal." Levi couldn't help laughing:
"Wei, do you think that the wealthy tycoons in Piltover have too much money and are too kind-hearted, and that they treat the common people of Piltover as their own people, and that's why they provide such good benefits and high salaries to the common people of Piltover?"
"No—"
"The good life of the people of Piltover was actually brought about by the bloody resistance of the people of Zaun!"
