What is written in Chapter 4

« Prev

≡ Table of Contents

After leaving home, Li Wei spent his last copper ring on half a loaf of Siberian labor camp-style black bread.

I soaked it in a free public fountain and had dinner with it.

"You are very good to that child." Janna suddenly sighed while eating.

"This was her brother's last wish," Levi replied.

"...I now believe what you say, Mr. Summoner. You are not an evil guy."

Janna was much less hostile than before.

It's not only because of Levi's care for his sister, but also because of the article he wrote with her.

An evil person cannot write such words——

"Zuan, where did it come from?"

This seems to be just an article about popular science history.

The article is indeed like an ordinary history textbook, sorting out the history from top to bottom along the timeline, from the tribal civilization era after the great migration of mankind 7,000 years ago, the Shurima Empire era 6,000 years ago, the warlord and kingdom era 3,000 years ago, the parliamentary city-state era 300 years ago, to the two-city division era more than 200 years ago... From ancient times to the present, the entire history of the land of Zaun.

Janna had never been interested in this kind of article before.

Because she herself is a living history textbook that is thousands of years old. How can those history books compiled by mortals based on hearsay and blind groping know as much as she, an eyewitness to history?

But Levi's article shocked Janna.

It is not because Livy discovered some secret and novel historical materials, but because he provided a completely new perspective.

Before Levi, historians of Runeterra, even Janna herself, only knew how to tell history from the "ruler's perspective" or the "hero's perspective."

For example...

If Janna were to tell the story of the birth of the Shurima Empire, she would definitely say:

"The Ascended Queen Setaka was guided by the giant gods of heaven and baptized by the sun disc to become the first Ascended in history. With the powerful military force of the Ascended, she eliminated and annexed all the tribes of Shurima and established the first unified slave empire in human history."

But Levi only used this paragraph as the background of the story. He focused on writing:

"With the development of productivity, the increase in the amount of products reached a point where there was a surplus relative to the needs of survival. This allowed the tribal prisoners of war to be transformed from being killed to being economically profitable slaves. The tribal leaders were transformed into slave owners, and the others gradually became slaves..."

"Driven by economic interests, tribal slave owners including Setaka plundered, annexed, and united with each other to continuously strengthen themselves. Human civilization gradually evolved from individual tribes to tribal alliances, and from tribal alliances to slave kingdoms..."

“…”

These words almost overturned Janna's understanding of the world.

She had previously firmly believed that humans were able to build the civilized Shurima Empire from a barbaric primitive tribe thanks to the great power bestowed by the Titans and the Sun Disc.

But Levi believed that even without the giant gods and the sun disk, humans would sooner or later move from tribes to a slave kingdom.

The appearance of the giants and ascenders was nothing more than a plug-in for humans, which greatly accelerated the process.

Ultimately, it is productivity that is improving.

Yes, productivity...Janna learned many new words from Levi and was exposed to a whole new set of ideas and theories.

After being exposed to this knowledge, some questions that Janna had rarely thought about or understood in the past suddenly became clear.

Why was slavery gradually disintegrating by the end of the Shurima Empire?

Why was Shurima replaced by feudal kingdoms after its demise?

Why did the Kingdom of Zaun, once ruled by the king and nobles, gradually develop into a commercial city-state controlled by the Council of Plutocrats?

It seems that all of this has an answer.

but……

Know of some that would be useful?

Can promoting this history that not many people care about make people follow and believe in it?

As she thought about it, Janna couldn't help but feel confused again.

So she couldn't help asking:

"Mr. Summoner, I still don't quite understand. What you promote seems more like a... scientific theory? Rather than a belief."

“Can you really attract followers just by imparting theories and knowledge?”

"Of course." Levi said firmly: "Only by mastering this knowledge can we understand the past. Only by understanding the past can we understand the present."

"What the people of Zaun lack most now is thinking - they must seriously think about why Zaun is like this now."

"If you can figure it out..."

"They are already 'your' followers."

…

At the same time, in the rental house.

Lina was so fascinated that she read the article without sleeping or eating.

Now she really believed that Levi was blessed by the goddess Gana and was enlightened with wisdom.

Otherwise, with her brother's educational level, who only graduated from prenatal education, it would be impossible for him to write such an article.

"What exactly is going on? Did my brother really see Janna in person? I have to ask him about it when I come back tomorrow."

Lina was worried about Levi for a while, and then she noticed the content of the article itself:

"It turns out that there are so many secrets in Zaun's past history..."

Unlike Janna.

Janna's existence transcends the mundane world, and her vision encompasses all directions. When she first read the article, she realized that what Levi wanted to share was not history itself, but the ideological tools for analyzing history.

But as a Zaun who was struggling to survive in Piltover, Lina's first reaction to reading this article was:

"These damn Piltover guys - it turns out they were not good people from the beginning!"

What Lina is most concerned about are the various historical secrets mentioned in the article.

Especially the dark history of Piltover.

In the official textbook of Piltover, Piltover was founded 300 years ago by a group of merchants pursuing seed oil cooking.

They worked together to overthrow the evil rule of the old Zaun Kingdom and established the first parliamentary independent city-state on Runeterra, bringing unprecedented freedom and prosperity to the people of this land.

As for these great merchants of freedom...

How they accumulated enough wealth to overthrow an entire kingdom is only briefly mentioned in history books.

But Levi, with the help of Janna, clearly describes the process of their accumulation of wealth:

"Accompanied by the rumbling sound of steam engines, the few resources, land and population of the Kingdom of Zaun were quickly swallowed up by the gradually awakening beast...Zauan, a small country with a small population, certainly could not satisfy its endless desire..."

"Zuan merchants, who have made their living from maritime trade since ancient times, soon looked across the ocean to the lonely Shurima continent that had been desolate for a thousand years."

"In the hundreds of years that followed, privateers armed with guns and cannons gradually spread across the sea, and coastal colonial outposts were like pus spots on smallpox patients, almost filling the skin of the Shurima continent..."

"Shurima was transformed into a place of commercial slave hunting... Native peoples were exterminated, enslaved, and buried in mines, factories, ports, and anywhere else that money could be extracted from them."

"The virus has even gradually spread from Shurima to all parts of the world... Demacia, Noxus , Ionia, Bilgewater... As long as there is profit to be made, merchants dare to risk their lives to appear on any coast and attack any country..."

“…”

The great warriors who overthrew the kingdom more than 300 years ago, and the ancient business families who still hold power in the Piltover Council...

If you look back at their history of making a fortune, you'll find that almost every line is bloody and filthy.

"These Piltover guys have the nerve to call us barbaric... They themselves are the descendants of a gang of robbers!"

After reading this article, Lina felt that she had been deceived before.

She used to hate Piltover, but what she hated was only the arrogance of the people of Piltover and their discrimination against her.

But in her heart, Piltover is inherently better than Zaun.

Piltover is so civilized, progressive and prosperous, and the people of Piltover are so gentle, kind and elegant.

While the people of Zaun are killing each other for a few silver wheels, the people of Piltover can turn off the main power switch of the entire city in order to save a bird entangled in the power lines.

Zaun doesn't take human life seriously at all, but Piltover treats every life as a human being.

This may be the reason why Zaun will never be able to surpass Piltover.

…

That's what Lina thought before.

But now... she seemed to have a new answer to the question of why Zaan was lagging behind:

The law enforcers of Piltover still have a firm control over Zaun, and all the factories in Zaun are backed by capital from Piltover. Is this considered colonial plunder?

Her brother came to Piltover as an apprentice. How different is this from the slaves who were captured 300 years ago?

"It's all the fault of these sanctimonious Piltover guys!"

"If we can make Zaun independent from Piltover's rule, perhaps we can also have a chance to live like the people of Piltover."

Lina couldn't help but have this thought.

But after she thought about it for a while, she felt that she seemed to have missed something:

Levi's article seemed to be not just a simple scolding of the people of Piltover, but also exposing the scandals of those old nobles.

He seemed to be taking the opportunity to impart some more profound knowledge by dissecting this truly cruel history.

"What on earth is this..."

Lina still failed to achieve her goal.

At this time, the novel theory that Levi used in analyzing history finally attracted her attention...

She suddenly realized something:

"Oh! It's almost six o'clock..."