Levi arrived at the factory early, but the boss he was looking for, Mr. Ivern, was not there.
He wasn't in a rush. According to the original owner's memories, Mr. Ivern's factory had grown from a family workshop into the small factory it was today. Therefore, his home was right next to the factory; his entire family even lived next to the workshop.
And this wealthy man was still very dedicated to his business. He personally inspected the workshop almost every night.
Levi just needed to wait patiently, and it wouldn't be hard to meet Mr. Ivern.
As for now, it wasn't time for the shift change yet, so he joined the coworkers waiting for the night shift, chatting idly with them.
They were all rough Zaunites with no cultural or entertainment life to speak of, so naturally, they couldn't talk about anything elegant. As they chatted, the topic inevitably drifted toward the gutter.
Wild girls from Zaun, noble ladies from Piltover, female mercenaries from Shurima, beautiful pirates from Bilgewater, young warmothers from the Freljord, and even various beast-girls from Ionia... The stories grew increasingly bizarre, and Levi joined in with great interest.
"Hey, Mr. Summoner."
Hiding in his pocket, Janna frowned as she listened—although she was currently a bird and didn't have eyebrows.
Finally, she asked telepathically, "Summoner, is this your plan? Sitting here leisurely, wasting all your time on these vulgar topics?"
"It's just idle chatter... And what do you mean by vulgar topics? Cough, I'm only human, too."
"To be honest, I also wanted to find a pretty wife on Runeterra... Um, preferably a non-human species that doesn't exist on Earth. Animal ears, wings, tails, living skin... I'm pretty okay with all of that."
Janna was speechless.
She secretly decided that even if her powers recovered in the future, she would try her best to avoid transforming back into a human.
"But didn't you say the workers are our natural followers?" Janna questioned. "If so, why aren't you promoting your ideas to them instead of telling dirty jokes here?"
"You said the people of Zaun need to think, so why don't you inspire them to think right now?"
Janna fired off her questions.
Levi laughed. "Janna, oh Janna. You've been a deity for so long that you're a bit out of touch with reality."
"Do you really think my theories are some kind of brainwashing music? That as long as I play them through a loudspeaker in the factory, everyone will listen in a trance?"
"This..." Janna fell deep into thought.
"Do you know Maslow's hierarchy of needs?"
Of course she didn't.
Janna learned another new term.
"This theory divides human needs into five levels from bottom to top. Specific to the targets we want to develop, those five levels of needs should be:"
"Physiological (having enough to eat), safety (protection of life and property), social (having an organization and like-minded friends), esteem (winning social recognition), and self-actualization (pursuing great ideals)."
Janna had spent thousands of years dedicated to helping the people at the bottom; she certainly wasn't some out-of-touch fool who wondered why the starving didn't just eat meat.
With Levi explaining it like this, she immediately understood:
Those apprentices couldn't even get enough to eat right now, and they lived in constant fear under the dual oppression of gangs and Enforcers. Their safety was not guaranteed at all.
Their most basic physiological and safety needs weren't met. Was this the time to talk to them about self-actualization and great ideals?
'I'm starving while doing hard labor, who has the mind to listen to you intellectuals spout theory!'
"To mobilize them, we must first have a certain amount of power. At the very least, we need to be able to fill their stomachs, keep them safe from threats, and let them see the hope of victory in the struggle."
"That's why the article I wrote was never meant to be shown directly to the apprentices."
"Then who did you write it for?" Janna asked.
"I wrote it for those who have enough to eat, have time to think, but aren't living very well—those who have suffered a certain amount of hardship and felt oppression."
"You mean..." Janna thought for a moment. "The local workers in Piltover?"
"Sort of," Levi hesitated.
Piltover also had commoners and workers, who were theoretically viable targets for development.
But these Piltovans...
Their lives were simply too good!
Although they basically did the same jobs, even working in the same factories, the welfare and benefits of Piltover workers were more than ten times those of Zaunite apprentices.
They only needed to work eight hours a day, five days a week, and half a year's salary was enough to buy a hoverboard.
They lived in houses, ate steak, wore suits, drove hoverboards, and could show off in front of those miserable Zaunites every day. Their lives couldn't be more comfortable.
If a mud-legged Zaunite bumpkin ran over to talk to them about faith...
Those Piltover workers would probably just laugh and ask, "Jannaism? What the hell is that? Isn't the life I'm living right now exactly what you call Jannaism?"
If he ran into someone with poor manners, they might even hurl discriminatory remarks at him like "trench rat" or "roll back to Zaun."
Although Levi believed there must be many sympathetic fighters among the Piltovans who could be developed, the original owner's memories—filled with pain and torment—constantly reminded him that Piltovans were not friends.
At the very least, he couldn't be too naive.
"Actually, compared to these Piltover workers who have already been bought off by the super-profits extracted by advanced capitalism through military, technological, and financial hegemony..."
"I'm more inclined to prioritize developing the Zaunite immigrants living in Piltover."
"They already have enough to eat, but they have also truly experienced hardship. These people should be able to understand us better."
Levi voiced his opinion.
Janna instantly pinpointed the target demographic they could most easily reach right now. "For example, Zaunite students studying in Piltover, like your sister?"
"Yeah." Levi nodded.
Zaunite students in Piltover were indeed his best targets for development.
"Then how do you plan to start?"
"Uh..." Levi was stumped.
Ideals were lofty, but reality was harsh.
Although those international students were all from Zaun, as the favored elites who already had one foot through Piltover's gates...
Would they really have the patience to pay attention to a lowly fellow townsman like him?
This troubled Levi a bit.
At the end of the day, he was just an armchair general. It was easy to talk theory, but hard to take action.
"Let's play it by ear..."
"There will always be an opportunity."
Meanwhile, at the University of Piltover, Academy of Hextech.
Lina hurried to the school, rushing to the classroom where the interview assessment was about to be held.
There were already dozens of people in the classroom. They were all waiting to participate in the interview, dreaming of becoming Professor Jayce's students. They were the most outstanding talents in the Academy of Hextech at the University of Piltover.
The interviews hadn't started yet, and the professors hadn't arrived.
However, these dozens of students had spontaneously divided into two distinct groups, each huddling on one side.
Lina certainly knew how they were divided into two groups—
The group on the left were all international students from Zaun.
The group on the right were local students from Piltover.
Piltover students had always looked down on Zaunite students, considering them poor beggars who came to take advantage of Piltover.
The Zaunite students tried very hard to integrate into the Piltover side, but unfortunately, their eager attempts at friendship were always met with cold shoulders, inviting discrimination and humiliation time and time again.
Over time, they secretly began to resent the Piltover students, believing them to be useless greenhouse flowers who only got in because they were born into good families.
Just like that, much like the twin cities separated by the canal, these young people studying and living under the same roof naturally split into two camps.
Lina naturally sat on the left, next to her fellow Zaunites.
But a girl from the Piltover camp stood up.
Holding a stack of manuscript paper, she walked over with an arrogant look on her face.
"Lina, you finally made it. I thought you were afraid of embarrassing yourself in front of Professor Jayce and ran away quietly."
"Kaya..." Lina gritted her teeth as she glared at the girl with beautiful silver-gray hair standing before her.
Kaya Ferros, her university classmate, a noble lady from the illustrious House Ferros of Piltover.
Because Lina always managed to beat her in grades, and the petty Miss Kaya was unwilling to lose to a lowly Zaunite, Lina had inexplicably become the target of her jealousy and hatred.
At first, Lina didn't know the other party's identity and had publicly retorted a few times, leaving Kaya unable to step down gracefully.
By the time she found out Kaya's surname was "Ferros"—a name few in Piltover dared to provoke...
Lina had already become a thorn in this girl's side. It was too late to back down now.
"Kaya, is there something you need from me?" Seeing this noble lady coming over to pick a fight over nothing again, Lina had no choice but to swallow her pride and show weakness, frustratingly pretending nothing was wrong.
But the noble Miss Kaya merely lifted her chin elegantly, shook the stack of manuscript paper in her arms, and asked Lina in a teasing tone:
"The teacher asked me to help distribute this manuscript paper for use in the upcoming interview assessment."
"Lina, do you want some—"
"It's 'free'."
Hearing the word 'free', Lina almost wanted to take the whole stack back with her.
Such a large stack of paper was enough to buy several loaves of black bread!
But that bastard woman was smiling.
"No need..."
Lina swallowed her pride, burying her frustration deep down:
"I brought my own paper!"
Enduring the humiliation, she took the notebook containing Levi's article out of her bag and placed it on the desk in front of her.
"Tch," Kaya punched the air a few times, wanting to say something else in a foul mood.
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed from outside the classroom.
A tall, handsome man in a sharp suit slowly appeared at the classroom door.
"It's Professor Jayce!"
Kaya could no longer bother making things difficult for Lina, and Lina likewise paid her no mind.
All the students present excitedly raised their heads, offering their most fanatical admiration to that man.
And he was worthy of this worship.
Jayce Talis, the inventor of Hextech, the man leading Piltover into a brand-new era, the symbol of the future of scientific civilization.
The Academy of Hextech they attended existed because of this man.
The students naturally worshipped Jayce immensely, their eyes constantly following him.
It was only then that, behind the radiant presence of Professor Jayce, everyone belatedly noticed another figure:
It was a middle-aged man leaning on a cane.
He had a pale complexion, messy curly hair, heavy dark circles under his eyes, and a very gaunt figure. He limped as he walked, looking as if a gust of wind could blow him over.
Standing next to the fit and energetic Jayce, he looked like an unnoticeable lackey.
"Who is this gentleman?"
"Eh... I think I've seen him around the school. Does he work over at the laboratory?"
Noticing that this man appeared alongside the great Professor Jayce, the students naturally began speculating about his identity.
"I am Jayce's friend."
"You can call me Professor Viktor."