Chapter 69 Enemies, Noticed
"Why?" The congressmen looked over with concern.
"I wanted to listen to everyone's opinions before talking about this issue. But now, it seems that I have no choice but to talk about it." Mel nodded politely to Mrs. Gillaman and apologized with a faint smile: "Mrs. Gillaman, I'm sorry."
"But the factory that Miss Caitlin mentioned to you, the one that she and Professor Victor invested in together, is it called 'Elvin Hex Audio Workshop'?"
"Yes. How did you know?" Mrs. Gillaman frowned slightly.
Mel didn't answer directly, but asked with concern: "Did she mention someone to you?"
"who?"
"Levi," Mel said.
"Levi..." Everyone was recalling: "The Zaun mage who clashed with the Iron Fist Gang and accidentally provoked this incident?"
Because of Caitlyn, the Iron Fist Gang incident almost caused a catastrophe in the entire Piltover Council.
Naturally, Levi's name also entered the ears of these bigwigs.
But no one paid much attention to it.
The story of an ordinary person suddenly becoming a wizard may sound strange, but it is not uncommon in Runeterra.
With a population of several million in the Twin Cities, it was not uncommon for someone to occasionally awaken their magic power, or be lucky enough to be accepted as a disciple by a master.
Although the mage is worthy of attention, he is not worthy of the attention of these bigwigs.
"But the problem is..." Mel said, "Levi is more than just a wizard."
"He is still..." She suddenly smiled and hooked her finger, motioning the maid behind her to come to the table and distribute a booklet to each member present: "The author of these articles."
The members of parliament took the booklet curiously and looked at it. They saw the following words written on the cover:
A Brief Account of Janna's Thought
Compared with the initial version a week ago, this booklet has become much thicker. After all, Li Wei has nothing to do in prison every day, so he can calm down and improve his theoretical creation.
"Janna?" A congressman asked after seeing the cover: "Is this Janna... referring to the legendary goddess of wind?"
"Yes." Mel nodded: "But that's not the point. The point is what's inside."
"I must remind everyone that this is not just any ordinary religious text. The ideas expressed in it are very profound."
This aroused everyone's curiosity.
They opened the booklets in their hands and glanced through them.
The congressmen were a little nonchalant at first, but as they watched, their expressions became more subtle. They became more and more absorbed and serious.
No one spoke at the conference table for a long time, and the parliament seemed to have become a reading club.
finally……
A member of parliament was the first to express his opinion: "This is simply fabricated and a smear campaign! The people who wrote these articles are simply crazy and extreme haters of the rich!"
Several other congressmen also put down their booklets, their faces not looking very happy.
Even though this was a "mild version" that Levi had deliberately adjusted to avoid being noticed, it was enough to make these big capitalists and businessmen angry and embarrassed.
They were angry, but there was also a bit of fear in their anger.
Obviously, Levi has been emphasizing "non-violent non-cooperation", "gentleness" and "peace" in his article, but when they see these sharp words that speak coldly to the truth, they still feel a chill in their spines for some reason.
"This is simply a bunch of heresies...Ban it, it must be banned!" a member of parliament roared.
"Heretical ideas?" Mel smiled and shook his head: "I think these articles are very well-written and very thorough."
"Especially the part analyzing Zaun's history... The author has a very clear view of the source and accumulation of wealth."
The article mercilessly exposes Piltover's bloody colonial history. However, the Midarda family, from which Mel was born, still follows the invading army of the Noxian Empire and engages in the brutal and primitive colonial plundering business.
Mel should be angry.
But Mel admired the author's attitude.
Because she herself hated the bloody atmosphere of Noxus, and, rather than just talking nonsense, she would rather use her brain more:
"The theories proposed by the author have already reached the realm of science and truth. You may not like them, but you cannot just say they are wrong or do not exist."
"I don't think we need to be too resistant." Meier flipped through the booklet in his hand with interest and said with a smile: "If we can understand this and try to use it in reverse, it can be very instructive for our business."
"This..." The parliamentarians had different expressions and moods.
Heimerdinger, who usually doesn't speak much, also joined in the sigh:
"Congressman Meier is right. The author's analytical methods and theoretical tools for studying history and society are worthy of the evaluation of 'scientific rigor'."
"However, the 'ultimate goal' mentioned in the article...is a little too unrealistic."
Heimerdinger is a yordle. The yordle's homeland is in the spirit realm.
The residents there are born with long lifespans and are not restricted by material conditions, so everyone is free to pursue the life they want.
Those who want to be scientists can be scientists, those who want to be generals can be generals, those who want to take risks can take risks all over the world, those who want to grow mushrooms can grow mushrooms all over the world, and those who want to mess around can mess around...
Everyone does their best and takes what they need, and everyone has real freedom.
This is actually somewhat similar to the ultimate ideal described in the article.
But Heimerdinger cannot agree with the ultimate ideal of this article: "The spiritual realm has its own laws, and the material realm has its own laws."
"Humans are creatures of the material realm, and they need to rely on material resources to survive. To build a second 'Bandle City' in the material realm, I can only say... this is a great fantasy."
Heimerdinger sighed from the bottom of his heart.
The other members of the parliament didn't care what he said specifically, they just actively echoed him: "Yes! Since Professor Heimerdinger thinks these theories are wrong..."
"Eh? I didn't say this theory is wrong..."
"Then we should take decisive measures!" The councillors did not listen to Heimerdinger at all: "We must nip this dangerous idea in the bud!"
Although Levi wrote in the booklet that "non-violent non-cooperation" is required, in the eyes of these big capitalists:
What? You dare not cooperate?
Why don’t you give it a try?
"Senator Mel, where did these pamphlets come from?" Some people were eager to get to the bottom of the matter and arrest all the people involved: "Didn't Levi go to Jingshui Prison a long time ago? Who is helping him print these pamphlets?"
"These brochures..." Mel paused and looked at Mrs. Gilaman apologetically: "They are from the company invested by Miss Caitlin, 'Elvin Hex Audio Workshop'."
Piltover is neither small nor big. It is full of the henchmen and spies of the chaebols, and it is impossible to avoid them.
The fact that Leader's public propaganda campaign lasted a week before being discovered was considered a sign of the enemy's slow reaction.
and……
"In the past two days, local workers in Piltover have privately found the Government Affairs Office to report their boss, Elwin. The reporter said that Elwin not only illegally increased the salary of Zaun apprentices, but also privately organized mysterious propaganda activities against Zaun people..."
"They handed in these books when they reported it."
Not only are there the chaebol's henchmen and spies everywhere outside, but even inside the leader's base camp, there are many dissidents inside the audio factory - those local workers in Piltover.
Although the salaries of Zaun apprentices have increased, it seems to have little impact on these local workers in Piltover.
But... just seeing my "poor relatives" suddenly become rich, seeing that I can no longer ride on the shoulders of these Zaun people, and can no longer support Zaun female workers by spending a few silver wheels every week...
These Piltover locals are already unhappy enough.
Not to mention, Irwin and Viktor are also reforming the factory, trying to promote Zaun apprentices to management positions that were previously only available to people from Piltover...
This further affected the interests of the local people in Piltover, making them feel uncomfortable.
"In summary, according to these whistleblowers:"
"The person who distributed these pamphlets to Zaun apprentices and promoted the so-called Janna ideology was Professor Victor and a group of Piltover University students who followed him."
Meier looked at Heimerdinger thoughtfully again.
Seeing that Heimerdinger was also confused, she said slowly:
"These people call themselves 'Leaders', and their organization is called the Leaders Association. The president is the author of these articles, Mage Levi."
"Mrs. Gillaman, I'm afraid your daughter is not a business wizard - she is just a collaborator in this organization."
All the clues are connected.
No wonder Caitlin was able to pull together a team and start a project in just one week. It turned out that the project and team were already ready!
And this team that claims to be the leader...
"It's dangerous!" One congressman intuitively judged: "I think we need to eradicate it!"
"Not really?" Some people thought so for the sake of the Gilaman family, while others thought so themselves: "Didn't they also say in the article? We must not resort to bloodshed, and must use non-violent non-cooperation to strive for reform?"
"I don't think there's anything dangerous about this theory."
"It would be great if all the people of Zaun could believe in this 'non-violent non-cooperation'! Hahahaha..."
