When Lux arrived at this Chem-Baron factory, before she could even speak, several men who looked like thugs came forward to greet her.
"Our boss is waiting for you," the big-armed man leading them said respectfully, "Miss."
"Waiting for me? How interesting." Lux raised an eyebrow. "It seems your boss is very well-informed!"
"He always keeps an eye on the news from the upper levels." The other party responded with an ambiguous answer, "This way."
Lux nodded and silently followed behind him.
"Where exactly did this guy get his information?" Lux remained calm on the surface, but inwardly she was quickly communicating with Klein. "He said his boss is keeping an eye on the news from the upper levels…"
"It's clearly not news from the upper levels. They probably have some informants at the The Last Drop or something," Klein replied while observing and recording the factory's environment through Lux's eyes. "I don't think the Piltover Enforcers would leak our information, and to be honest, I don't think our information is of much value to a Chem-Baron."
"That should be the case, if Vander is telling the truth." Lux affirmed Klein's thought. "Vander and I seemed to have talked a bit too intensely, so they might have misunderstood something."
"It seems Vander's popularity hasn't reached the point where everyone likes him," Klein chuckled. "Let me see what kind of people these Chem-Barons really are."
"However, judging by their demeanor, the upcoming negotiation might not be peaceful!" Lux was still a bit nervous. "There are quite a lot of people here…"
"Don't forget, your current identity is a young lady from the upper levels; he wouldn't dare do anything to you," Klein said, not worried at all. "Besides, Ino is here!"
"That's true," Lux subtly twitched the corner of her mouth, "but I always feel that this trip to Zaun has been full of surprises from the very beginning."
"Surprises aren't necessarily bad things," Klein said, seemingly in a good mood. "In short, listen to my command and perform well!"
"Don't worry, I've always been good at this!"
...........
In the office on the second floor of the factory, Lux finally met the main person in charge.
"This is my boss, Mr. Finn," the thug who led Lux over introduced him. "You should have heard his name."
"Finn… Is that you?" Lux narrowed her eyes slightly, her hand on her saber, proudly sizing up the man in front of her. "I heard you're from Ionia?"
Upon hearing this, the thugs' expressions instantly became unnatural—they all knew their boss hated being reminded of his Ionian identity the most.
However, this time Finn did not get angry; instead, he waved his hand, telling them all to leave the room, and Lux also gave a look, signaling Ino to go out first.
Originally, Ino was a bit nervous and unwilling to leave.
But after Lux patted her shoulder and the hilt of her saber brushed against her wrist, Ino finally nodded and turned to leave the room.
"You know me well." Once everyone had left, Finn finally spoke again. "This is truly good news. Understanding means smooth communication, avoiding a lot of unnecessary trouble."
"To be honest, not very well," Lux said truthfully. "I know very little."
Finn heard this and gave a smile that said, "You're just beating around the bush."
"In all of Piltover, who doesn't know that the prices I, Finn, offer are the most reliable?" He toyed with a shiny lighter in his hand. "To be honest, you really don't need to bother with that old stubborn man at the The Last Drop; he's fallen behind the times!"
"But that old stubborn man's words are far more useful than yours," Lux continued, following his words. "Without his nod, nothing can be done."
"...But he's outdated!" Finn was clearly angry for a moment, but he still suppressed his rage. "We all know that Piltover represents evolution, represents the future!"
Such a "Spirit of Piltover" statement astonished Lux. Although she showed no reaction on her face, she was already too stunned to speak inwardly.
Fortunately, with Klein's reminder, she managed to continue the conversation.
"If everyone thought like you, that would be great," Lux said calmly, as if describing a group of foolish idiots. "They would only blindly follow Vander, causing trouble for evolution and the future."
"If I were Vander, I definitely wouldn't be foolish enough to cause trouble for the upper levels," Finn hinted, picking up a cigarette. "Do you mind if I smoke?"
"Not at all!" Lux made a gesture for him to proceed, then directly closed the filter. "What would you do?"
Lux's reaction instantly made Finn extremely awkward. He wanted to put down the cigarette, but felt it would lose his imposing manner, so he simply put the cigarette in his mouth, stood up, and pulled down the blinds.
"I have one of the largest Chem-Baron factories, and my labor costs are only two-thirds of other factories'—if your family is willing to offer friendship from Piltover, this price can be even lower."
…
"If I were Vander, all of Zaun's Chem-Baron factories would be at this price!"
…
"This isn't just a small-time operation; these are components for complex tidal power engineering machinery, and they have quality requirements," Lux said, barely managing to feign a look of interest on the surface. "Look at those emaciated guys; can they really do it?"
"Skinny as they are, as long as they work long enough, efficiency will always go up," Finn said, a knowing look appearing on his face when Lux mentioned the project. "Those who couldn't figure it out have already been eliminated—believe me, they are all seasoned veterans; even if they only work for me for three years, they'll have more experience than someone who worked in Piltover for ten years!"
The hidden meaning in Finn's words made Lux narrow her eyes and forcibly suppress her anger.
Unfortunately, in Finn's eyes, this was clearly an expression of appreciation.
"Let's go, respected Miss, let me give you a tour." Finn picked up the lighter from the table, struck a flame, lit his cigarette, and said, "Believe me, no one in all of Zaun understands how to serve evolution better than I do."
Klein's Small Class · Zaun's Advantages:
Although Piltover has a huge advantage over Zaun in terms of both technology and resources, Zaun's bottom-line-free factories always have some advantages that Piltover doesn't—human labor may not surpass machinery, but a large amount of human labor in Overload can.