Chapter 61 The Historical Truth of the Twin Cities Split

Did the people of Piltover get their good life with the help of the people of Zaun?

This sounds counterintuitive.

“Zuan and Piltover guys…” Wei felt like her brain wasn’t enough: “Shouldn’t they be enemies?”

"Yes, yes, that's it—" Levi laughed: "The big tycoons in Piltover artificially created the differences between Zaun and Piltover people just to make you think the same way about each other!"

According to the history he learned from Janna:

In the early days of the Twin Cities split, Zaun and Piltover were not actually that far apart.

Now, crossing the canal bridge from Zaun to Piltover is like crossing a national border. There are smuggling inspections and qualification reviews, and law enforcement officers are standing guard with live ammunition, guarding against every Zaun who tries to sneak across the border.

The only thing missing is a very, very great wall to completely separate the border between Zaun and Piltover.

More than 200 years ago, when the two cities had just split, there was actually no checkpoint between Zaun and Piltover.

The people of Zaun can cross the river if they want, work in Piltover during the day, and return to Zaun to rest at night.

The Twin Cities are not so much twin cities as they are a slum and a rich area separated by a canal.

But later, things changed.

"Because Zaun people can travel freely, and poor immigrants from all over the world continue to pour into Piltover, indirectly enriching Zaun's labor force."

"So the business owners in Piltover are more willing to hire the poor people of Zaun who charge lower , rather than the civilians of Piltover who 'can't endure hardship'."

"Gradually, some civilians in Piltover who had no education or skills and lacked personal competitiveness began to lose their jobs, return to poverty, or were forced to accept pay cuts, or even fell from their original social class. They had to sell their houses in Piltover and move to Zaun across the river."

"The people of Piltover are getting poorer, while the people of Zaun are not getting richer."

"So, later on—"

"When the Zauns first began to rebel against the Piltover corporate owners, the civilians of Piltover not only did not stand with the Piltover Council, but they also secretly helped the Zauns' resistance organization."

Levi told the historical truth that people in Zaun and Piltover cannot believe now:

"Even the law enforcement officers of Piltover at the time were hesitant in suppressing the rebellion, and some even did not put in enough effort, and were unwilling to take action against the rebellious Zaun people."

“Because the two cities weren’t so clearly divided at that time.”

"Many of the Zaun people are Piltover people who have lost their jobs and returned to poverty."

"And most of those Piltover law enforcement officers come from civilian families. They are unwilling to work for the big tycoons in Piltover and wield the butcher's knife against their own compatriots."

"This..." Wei listened attentively.

She simply couldn't believe that the people of Zaun and the Piltover people she hated the most, and even the law enforcers, could have been "compatriots" in the past.

But now, they are hating each other and killing each other. Why?

"Because of the Zaun people's repeated rebellions and the subtle attitude shown by the Piltover people, the Piltover Council finally woke up."

“They realized they were not fighting Zaun, they were fighting the poor.”

"In order to fight against this weakest yet most powerful enemy, the Piltover Council chose to expand their base, consolidate their ruling foundation, and artificially create divisions within the enemy—"

"They began to set up checkpoints on the canal, officially separating Zaun and Piltover."

"They began to raise wages and provide benefits to the people of Piltover, guaranteeing employment for local Piltover residents, and used this to distinguish Piltover from Zaun, building an ethnic identity for the people of Piltover."

"The two different nations of Piltover and Zaun were artificially created."

The people of Piltover have become rich. When people become rich, they tend to look down on their poor relatives.

So the people of Piltover began to discriminate against Zaun, and the people of Zaun began to hate Piltover.

The conflict between the poor and the wealthy was quietly transformed into the conflict between Piltover and Zaun.

"This..." Wei felt a little dizzy after hearing this.

It turns out that the people of Zaun and Piltover are compatriots.

The good life of the people of Piltover was also indirectly won for them by the people of Zaun through their repeated resistance.

"This... this is really ridiculous." Wei murmured in shock: "Then what have we gained in return for all these years of resistance and the sacrifices of so many people?"

"In exchange for a good life for our 'compatriots', they still discriminate against us?!"

"And the real bad guys are hiding high up in the sky, watching us tear each other apart like rats on the ground?"

This is really fucking...

It’s so frustrating just thinking about it!

Any Zaun who heard this history would be filled with inexplicable anger.

"Wei." Levi felt her suddenly heavier breathing: "It seems that you also understand Xierko's hatred, right?"

"I..." Wei's face froze: "No! I'm different from him!"

In fact, after Levi's analysis of the situation and popularization of history, her thoughts have quietly changed.

She unknowingly let go of her resistance to the word "resistance" and realized the necessity and urgency of the struggle.

The only person she disagreed with was Hilco himself.

In Wei's opinion, Silko is a chem-baron after all, and the most despicable, cruel, and shameless one at that.

Wei doesn't think that Zaun's future will be much better if such a bad guy replaces the Piltover people to rule Zaun.

"Not only him, but also the group of alchemist barons who rallied around him. These alchemist barons were also attached to Fandel in the past."

"I know them—"

"Each of them is a treacherous, shameless, cruel, greedy scum, and a non-burnable garbage that will pollute the environment even if thrown into hell."

“Even if Zaun really defeated Piltover and gained independence at the hands of these people, under their rule… the lives of the Zaun people would not necessarily be much better.”

Wei sighed thoughtfully.

"You're right!" Levi was quite surprised.

He originally thought that Wei was the kind of girl with a simple mind and strong limbs, but he never expected that she was also very good at thinking.

The question Wei raised is crucial.

In history, many colonies, after gaining independence from their mother countries, had their fruits of victory stolen by "Alchemy Barons", resulting in the strange phenomenon of not making progress but regressing.

And Hilco, the so-called Zaun leader, is actually similar to the leader of the martial arts world.

He nominally rules Zaun, but in reality he has a large group of alchemy barons under his command.

If he cannot get rid of these alchemy barons, then even if he successfully leads Zaun to independence in the future, the lives of the Zaun people will probably not be much better.

To avoid this situation, we need to do a thorough cleaning in Zaun.

But how could this be so easy?

Hilco's rule over Zaun is still based on the traditional gangster model of leader and sub-leader.

After wiping out all the Alchemist Barons, Hilco lost his right-hand men and became a commander without troops.

At most, he could suppress a few disobedient younger brothers , but it was impossible for him to clean them all up.

So Levi believes:

Hilco may succeed, but he is doomed to fail.

"What if I can point out a different path from Hilco's?"

"Wei, are you interested in listening more?" Levi asked suddenly.

"I..." Wei was in a trance.

She clearly only cared about her sister, her only family, and never cared about history, nor did she have any ambition to save Zaun.

But after such a long conversation with Levi, she became inexplicably interested.