Chapter 92 The Mess
Another week has passed since the Leader defeated the Iron Fist Gang and took over the territory originally under the jurisdiction of the Iron Fist Gang.
"In the past week, we have taken over, destroyed and renovated 18 brothels, 11 casinos and 15 Glimmering Pharmacies from the Iron Fist Gang, rescued 101 male workers and 696 female workers, sheltered 501 beggars, vagrants and drug addicts, 621 hooligans, thugs and gang members, and liberated 4,087 slaves and bonded laborers."
"Next, we plan to carry out ideological education and labor reform for these beggars, vagrants, drug addicts, gang members, and sex workers who have been taken in, provide vocational skills training, and help them return to work in factories and live a self-reliant life."
“…”
At the meeting of the Leaders General Association, Lina, as a representative, made the above report to Levi and others who attended the meeting.
"These people used to be completely dependent on the Iron Fist Gang for survival. The Iron Fist Gang's livelihood, apart from the slave labor business, was nothing more than loan sharking, pornography, gambling and drugs."
"We plan to completely abandon the underground industrial chain that the Iron Fist Gang has established in the Zaun community. In the future, we will build a Hextech industry cluster based on the existing Hextech Audio Workshop and the technical patents provided by Professor Victor. Ultimately, we will gradually transform from illegal underground service and financial industries to mid-to-high-end manufacturing industries."
“…”
"In the past week, our publicity and recruitment work has also been progressing steadily. The Leaders Association has developed 412 formal members, and the Wind Chasers Association has developed 2,011 formal members."
"The number of Janna believers is growing at an exponential rate. I believe that within the next month, we will easily reach the goal of a total number of over 10,000."
“…”
But in just one week, Janna's followers increased several times more than before. Levi and Janna's power was also several times stronger than before.
It turns out that the Iron Fist Gang that rules the Zaun community is just a leech that sucks the blood of the Zaun people.
After killing these insects, the leader didn't deliver all the seed oil, but ran away leaving a mess behind.
Instead, they started from the grassroots level and established branches and sub-branches, replacing the old order with a new and tightly organized order.
Without the Iron Fist Gang's sustainable, blood-sucking rule, people's livelihood will naturally improve and society will become more harmonious and stable .
but……
After saying these good news, someone at the meeting started to curse:
"We have no money, no money, understand?!"
As the only one among the leaders who had been a business owner and knew how to make money, Erwin slammed the table in front of Levi:
"Levi, Levi."
"Don't be so idealistic before you do anything. Take a look at the reality, okay?"
"Lina's report just now also mentioned that there are about 5,000 to 6,000 people who used to rely on the Iron Fist Gang for survival, including bonded laborers, sex workers, and gang members."
"You liberated more than 5,000 people in one go. What will they eat?"
"We have so many jobs to offer them, do we have so much money to support idle people?"
Erwin acted like a man who doesn't manage household expenses, and looked at President Levi and Vice President Victor with resentment.
The last time they were looked at with such contempt was when they gave their apprentices a raise on a whim.
Victor was overwhelmed by what he saw, but he could only agree: "Mr. Erwin is right."
"Although the production line of Hex Audio Workshop has been successfully transformed, it can mass-produce tapes and Walkmans and sell them on a large scale."
"But even with the most optimistic estimates... this Hex Audio Workshop can only provide 1,000 jobs at most after it becomes profitable and expands production."
The only factory under Lingfengzhe can only provide a maximum of 1,000 jobs in the future.
This is still in the future. This "future" is at least one or two months away.
If you want to invest in building a new factory, it will take even longer from research and development, financing, factory construction, production, listing, sales to profitability.
Not to mention...
"Building a new factory also costs money!" Erwin angrily cursed, "You shut down all the profitable brothels, casinos, and glimmer shops, and you still have 5,000 or 6,000 idle people to support—"
"We would have to laugh out loud if we didn't go bankrupt. Where would we get so much money to expand production and build a new factory?"
"Uh..." Levi was speechless.
He could tell that Erwin was accusing him of taking too big a step.
"Then what do you think we should do?" Li Wei asked humbly.
"Well... I know you are all idealists, and you all have a moral obsession." After thinking deeply, Erwin gave a solution that only treats the symptoms but not the root cause:
"If you were asked to open brothels and glimmering shops like the Iron Fist Gang, and engage in this kind of business of taking advantage of people's blood and exchanging lives for money, you would definitely not want to do it."
"But I think that the dozen casinos left by the Iron Fist Gang can continue to operate - don't be in a hurry. What I mean is that while operating the casinos, they can also undergo certain reforms, such as requiring guests to verify their capital before entering and setting entry barriers."
"This way we can only allow the rich people in Piltover to enter the casino to spend money, while keeping the civilians and poor people out of danger."
They only cheat the rich, not the poor. If you round it off, running a casino is considered robbing the rich to help the poor.
The casino can also provide employment for a group of people, alleviating the huge employment pressure currently faced by the Zaun community.
It seems that Erwin's suggestion has some merits.
"No, absolutely not!" Although he knew that there would be huge financial difficulties, Levi still firmly opposed it.
“Our strongest weapon is not money, but ideas.”
"The perfect image of Goddess Janna is our greatest treasure."
If this were a world without supernatural powers, Levi might agree with Erwin.
After all, an organization can only develop if it survives. In the face of cruel objective reality, moral cleanliness can only bring failure to idealists.
But this is Runeland, a supernatural world—
Here, the leader's greatest reliance is the goddess Janna, and Janna's power comes entirely from the power of faith.
What is the power of faith? It is the recognition of the goddess Janna. If people knew that he, the chosen one of Janna, was actually leading the operation of the casino and leading the unhealthy trend, how would the believers view him?
This may have a very serious negative impact on the image of Goddess Gana.
In short, to put it simply, the most valuable asset of the leader is the "brand" of Janna. If the leader wants to win, he must never let his "brand image" be damaged.
"You have a point."
Erwin also agreed with Levi's opinion.
But he spread his hands and asked, "Now that my ideals are taken care of, what about food?"
"Tell me, how do you make money?"
Levi: “…”
Now the leader's Walkman project has not yet started to make a profit, but the money is flowing out like water.
And where does all this money come from?
Levi had originally planned to make a fortune by attacking the local tyrants from the Iron Fist Gang after defeating it.
The Iron Fist Gang has been operating in Piltover for many years and must have accumulated a lot of ill-gotten gains.
With this huge sum of money, it should not be difficult for the leader to survive this difficult transition period.
But Levi never expected...
The Iron Fist Gang simply doesn't have that much money.
They have a big business, but most of the money they earn is used to honor the people behind them.
The money Avery had left was not as much as Levi had imagined.
At least, this amount of money is far from enough to maintain the long-term operation of a community.
In the end, the Iron Fist Gang was destroyed.
But what was left for the leader to inherit was only a poor, shabby Zaun community with neither industry nor capital, and filled with brothels, casinos and glimmering shops.
This is such a huge mess.
“It will take some time for the Walkman project to go public and become profitable.”
"The money we spend now is all given by me and Miss Caitlin's family ."
Erwin sighed helplessly, his face full of pain:
"You squandered all the money I saved over the years in just two weeks. I'm afraid the money given by Miss Caitlin's family won't last long."
"Levi, you really should think about how we are going to survive!"
Levi: “…”
Now he finally understood how the Caucasian bandits came into being.
This has only been half a month...
He also wanted to rob a bank.
