How should they propagandize? How could they unite the people?
Viktor stopped in his tracks, lost in deep thought for a long time.
As a reclusive scholar who barely even recognized the faces of his academy colleagues, this problem was far more headache-inducing to him than calculating the confinement equations for a Hextech artificial gravity singularity.
"Professor Viktor," Lina asked tentatively, "why don't we start our propaganda by focusing on the conflict between Zaun and Piltover?"
"After all, as you know, the only thing that can unconditionally unite Zaunites—regardless of age, gender, status, region, or education level—is our shared hatred for Piltovans."
"We can start by telling them that we are all Zaunites, and that we are here to fight for the well-being of our people."
It was a practical and feasible suggestion.
Even though the concept of a "Zaunite" had never truly existed in the past.
It was an artificially constructed demographic.
But it had already been created.
The Twin Cities were like a cake sliced in half; one half was carefully preserved in a refrigerator, while the other was tossed into a dumpster to rot and mold.
After more than two centuries, no matter how loudly visionaries proclaimed, "We are all the same cake," they had become two entirely different, incompatible pieces.
Piltover's oppression and discrimination against Zaun had never ceased.
Naturally, the Zaunites' hatred for Piltover was etched into their very bones.
To a Zaunite, it didn't matter who you were—as long as you cursed out the Piltovans, they would gladly back you up.
The reason Viktor had managed to gather so many Zaunite students that morning was precisely because he had leveraged Piltover's rejection of them and their resulting resentment. By tapping into the conflict between the Twin Cities, he had successfully paved the way for deeper ideological propaganda.
"No, we cannot simply copy our previous methods."
After careful consideration, Viktor rejected the very approach he had used before.
"Before, I was facing all of you—the brightest, most talented, and most analytical university students in the Twin Cities."
"But now, we are dealing with apprentices. They are ordinary Zaunite workers who lack formal education and the habit of critical thinking."
Students were analytical and possessed strong comprehension skills.
Therefore, after stoking their anger, Viktor could use the ideological theories in "Where Did Zaun Come From?" to make them think and understand, ultimately realizing where their anger originated and who it should be directed toward.
But would the same method work on the apprentices?
Not necessarily.
Because the article "Where Did Zaun Come From?" was, in truth, not engaging in the slightest.
From its inception, it was a serious academic outline written by Levi, extracting key theories specifically for intellectuals.
It wasn't some accessible, popular reading material like "A Taste of the Twin Cities", "Secret History of Piltover", or "Tales of Shurima".
The article didn't just consist of those few widely circulated, catchy slogans.
On the contrary, aside from the novel historical secrets and those deafeningly profound classic quotes, it contained massive blocks of philosophical and economic theories that would appear convoluted and unfathomable to the average person.
It would be genuinely difficult for an ordinary person to digest.
It required patience and critical thought.
Viktor did not believe that these apprentices, who had absolutely no time for study or reflection in their daily lives, could understand Janna's theories in a short amount of time.
"If we just read the theories to them from a book like a classroom lecture, I'm afraid..."
Viktor recalled his days as a university lecturer. Because his course material was too advanced and dry, the students in the audience always looked bored out of their minds and on the verge of falling asleep.
"I'm afraid those workers would just fall asleep listening to it, wouldn't they?" he chuckled helplessly.
It was a good thing Runeterra didn't have smartphones.
Otherwise, the lively scenes Levi used to witness in his university philosophy classes—students furiously tapping away to score quadra kills, penta kills, and godlike streaks on their screens—would likely repeat themselves right here.
"Then we don't have to lecture them right away," Lina suggested thoughtfully. "We can first use the conflict between the Twin Cities to unite everyone, and then slowly figure out a way to explain the meaning of Janna Thought to them."
"In my opinion, that's the simplest method."
Focusing on the Twin Cities' conflict to unite the people was indeed the simplest and most viable method.
Because it was the easiest to understand.
Whether it was a highly educated university professor or a barely literate factory apprentice, everyone could distinguish each other through culture, customs, and regional origins at a single glance.
Moreover, even if you didn't know how to differentiate or didn't want to, the Piltovans would do it for you.
Every shout of "Zaunite scum," "Sump rat," and "Go back to Zaun" was practically the best education in Zaunite identity awareness.
In contrast, discussing the class divisions of Janna Thought had a high barrier to entry.
One needed a certain educational foundation and a willingness to think in order to understand and accept the theory.
And even after accepting the theory, the internal debates on how to put it into practice could split them into various factions, arguing until the end of time and the seas ran dry.
It wasn't like being a simple Zaunite supporter—they only needed to tell their compatriots that Piltover was the enemy, and then work together to beat the enemy to a pulp.
Low barrier to entry, high mobilization power, high cohesion, and a direct, clear goal.
This was also why this kind of ideology still possessed unstoppable, vigorous vitality and was so prevalent across all of Runeterra.
So when it came to the word "unity," the lengthy discourses of Janna Thought were currently truly less effective than the simple slogan: "We are all Zaunites."
"No, that won't work!"
After careful consideration, Viktor's expression turned serious.
"It is precisely because these apprentices have a hard time understanding Janna Thought that we must help them understand it, rather than simply exploiting their dissatisfaction with Piltover to unite them."
Viktor wasn't worried that this tactic would be useless; he was worried it would be too useful.
If the workers fell into that simple Zaunite ethnic identity, they would naturally pursue Zaunite supremacy in the future.
"Lina, your brother emphasized this during his lectures—"
"The Single-City Victory Theory is not the Zaun First Theory. What we should be pursuing is a community of shared destiny for all intelligent species in Runeterra, not just the simple rise of Zaun."
"Zaun should not become a second Piltover."
"It should be a beacon for Janna believers all over the world, a standard to inspire their awakening and guide their progress."
"This..." Lina fell into deep thought.
In truth, she felt—and she knew many of her classmates felt the same way:
If they could build Zaun into a second Piltover before their generation died off, that would already be pretty good.
Progress had to be made one step at a time.
If Zaunites could live the lives of Piltovans, they would wake up laughing in their dreams.
And Levi had also said that the other regions of Runeterra were still stuck in feudal and primitive societies, completely lacking the soil to immediately spark a struggle.
Wasn't it a bit unrealistic to rush into rejecting Zaun's priority now and prepare to export their ideology abroad?
"No, Lina, this is exactly where you all are failing to be realistic," Viktor said, looking at her with a firm gaze. "Let me ask you, what is the fundamental guarantee of victory in our struggle?"
"Military force," Lina replied.
"And where does that force come from?"
"Janna." Levi had analyzed this long ago. In this world where individual might trumped all, to achieve victory, they had to use magic to defeat magic, using the faith of the masses to forge an invincible, transcendent powerhouse.
"Exactly. Our greatest guarantee of force is Janna."
"And the more believers she has, the stronger Janna's power becomes."
"While Zaun's population of two million is not small, their power ultimately has a limit. Only by gradually awakening the sufferers across all of Runeterra can Janna gain the mighty power to contend with any enemy."
"Therefore—"
"Ideology! Ideology is our strongest weapon!"
"If we fall into the trap of prioritizing Zaun and temporarily lay down this sharpest of weapons, then under the hostility, blockades, competition, and opposition of vested interests worldwide..."
"...we will likely end up unable to even maintain the victory of Zaun as a single city."
Viktor sighed, his gaze distant and profound.
"I understand now," Lina said, finally realizing her mistake.
That's right, they had Janna watching over them!
There was absolutely no need to hold back. They just needed to spread the faith with all their might, develop comrades, and help Janna level up!
And to spread Janna's faith, they naturally couldn't focus their propaganda on Zaunite ethnic identity, but rather...
"Class! We must use propaganda to prioritize awakening everyone's class consciousness!"
"However," Lina frowned.
As they talked, the topic had circled right back around:
"How exactly should we propagandize to awaken this kind of consciousness in everyone?"
They didn't know.
None of them had ever tried it.
"Why don't we try that tactic?" Amidst his internal struggle, Viktor finally remembered something. "Your brother gave me some advice."
"What advice?"
"'Airing grievances,'" Viktor recalled Levi's exact words. "Have the apprentices recount the history of their oppression by class enemies. Use bitterness to draw out bitterness. While inciting class hatred in others, it will also solidify their own class consciousness."
This tactic sounded incredibly formidable just hearing about it.
"So how exactly do we go about this 'airing grievances'?"
Viktor: "..."
He didn't know.
Levi hadn't explained it.
He had never done it himself, so even if he wanted to explain it, he couldn't.
"Theoretical guidance always reaches its limit eventually." Viktor ultimately firmed his resolve. "In the end, we have to forge our own path."
"Let's not worry about all that for now—"
"Let's just give it a try!"
Power Stones, reviews, and comments— really helps a lot
Want to read ahead? Get access to 50+ extra chapters on my Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/Aragai_Sama