How were they supposed to make money, and fast?
Everyone, including Levi, was on the verge of being driven mad by this question.
"Why don't we rob a bank?" someone actually suggested.
"Or become pirates?" another took it a step further. "We could just rob the Noxian colonial gold ships. One successful heist and we'd be rich!"
"Yeah!" The crowd actually thought this was a good idea. "Janna can control storms, wouldn't she make the perfect pirate?"
Janna: "..."
The bluebird flapped her wings frantically in objection. She was a goddess born to protect; how could she use her divine power for robbery?
"Alright, alright," Levi interrupted them helplessly. "Let's think of some proper methods."
To solve a financial crisis, there were only two ways: increase revenue or reduce expenditure. Increasing revenue was impossible in the short term, so they could only think about cutting costs.
"My strategy to close the brothels, casinos, and Shimmer shops remains unchanged, but we will have to continue the contract labor business for a short while."
Levi sighed, deciding to compromise with reality.
He had originally planned to liberate all the enslaved contract laborers controlled by the Iron Fist Gang in one fell swoop after defeating them. That was a full four thousand people. If they didn't go to the factories as contract laborers, they would have no work. The Windguides simply couldn't provide that many jobs all at once, nor did they have the funds to support idle people.
"How about this... we still proceed with the original plan and destroy all the debt notes and slave contracts of the contract laborers, restoring their status as free citizens."
"If they are still willing to work in the factories, they can do so just like before."
"We won't collect any processing fees in the middle; we'll just provide them with an opportunity to be hired and work in the factories."
"Doing this will at least temporarily solve the employment and survival issues for these four thousand people."
Levi voiced his thoughts. Viktor, however, couldn't help but frown.
"But wouldn't that only offer a limited improvement to the living conditions of the contract laborers?"
True, after the Windguides arrived, the contract laborers were free. But free people still needed to eat. And these contract laborers happened to be undocumented residents without legal status in Piltover. If they had no food after gaining their freedom, wouldn't they still be forced to work in the factories?
The factories these contract laborers entered were not the ones managed and reformed by the Windguides, but those owned by private Piltovan entrepreneurs. Their treatment in those private factories was barely better than that of pigs.
Under Levi's method, the contract laborers' lives compared to before would merely mean they no longer had to hand over their earnings to the Iron Fist Gang. But their income would still be meager, and their lives would still be difficult.
"We can step forward and try our best to negotiate better treatment with the factory owners."
"But..." Currently, all the Windguides could do was "try their best to negotiate."
To avoid drawing the attention of the Piltover Council, Levi couldn't use force to coerce those business owners into making larger concessions. At most, they could adopt a "non-violent non-cooperation" approach, using the Windguides' martial power as a deterrent to stop the employers from beating and abusing the contract laborers, forcing them to pay just a tiny bit more in wages.
"In the short term, we really have no way to provide the contract laborers with better employment opportunities or better treatment."
"There's no other way," Levi said, ultimately making the difficult decision.
Viktor and the others reluctantly agreed.
But Ivern felt he wasn't doing enough.
"Only introducing jobs without taking a commission. Doing this is equivalent to acting as a free labor agency for those contract laborers; you won't earn a single dime."
"Although it has the effect of alleviating employment and financial pressure, don't forget that we've taken over an entire Zaunite Community. There are still plenty of places where we need to spend money."
"Then what are you suggesting?" Levi asked, unsure of what high-level theory this old entrepreneur had in mind now.
Sure enough, Ivern declared, "Pay cuts!"
He had his reasons for saying this. "You and Viktor made rash decisions earlier, raising the wages of the apprentices at the Hextech Audio Workshop tenfold in one go."
"We can hold on for now, but what about later?"
"If the Hextech Audio Workshop expands production to a thousand people in the future, are we going to give the newly recruited apprentices such high wages too?"
"Have you calculated how astronomically high these labor costs will be?"
Labor costs were still a minor issue.
The main point was: "You give the apprentices at the Hextech Audio Workshop such high wages, yet you leave those four thousand contract laborers to live terrible lives that are barely better than before."
"Isn't this equivalent to artificially creating a batch of 'aristocrats' among the workers?"
The problem wasn't scarcity, but inequality.
The 148 apprentices at the audio workshop were already earning salaries equivalent to local Piltovans. Meanwhile, the newly liberated four thousand contract laborers could only scrape by on a living slightly worse than that of ordinary apprentices. With both sides constantly crossing paths, resentment was bound to brew sooner or later.
"Benefits and wages should either be raised together, or not raised at all."
"Doing it like this is equivalent to splitting off yet another Twin Cities."
Ivern's words instantly awakened everyone.
"Indeed..." Levi sighed deeply.
Only now did he understand what it meant to say that conquering a nation was easier than ruling it. He initially thought that with his arrival, clear skies would follow. But reality told him that money didn't fall from the sky, and the pie wouldn't grow on its own.
In fact, because they had destroyed the Iron Fist Gang's black market industry chain, the "pie" Levi took over had actually shrunk. Even if he divided the pie with absolute fairness, everyone would still have to starve together.
"Alright," Levi decided solemnly. "Pay cuts—but not just for the apprentices, we Windguides must take a cut too!"
"Including myself, wages will be paid at one-third of the previous amount. Everyone will have to suffer a bit first, and I will bear the infamy!"
This decision did not provoke any opposition from the crowd. Because everyone sitting here was a Devout Believer of Janna, pure idealists. They were willing to work for free without a salary, let alone take a pay cut alongside the workers.
"But it seems that still isn't enough." Ivern rapidly ran the calculations in his head. "Right now, the Walkman project hasn't started turning a profit, and the money we have is already close to bottoming out."
"To survive this crisis, we must think of another way to make money, to get a lump sum of fast cash."
"This..." Levi's head throbbed.
Did he really have to go rob a bank?
"Um..." Finally, Levi looked at Caitlyn with a hint of embarrassment.
Caitlyn was not yet a Standing Committee Member of the Windguide General Council. The only reason she was present at this meeting was because she was currently the Windguides' biggest financial backer.
"Miss Caitlyn, can your family provide any more support?"
Caitlyn was also helpless. "I'm sorry, I really can't ask for any more."
Her mother wasn't an auto-respawning jungle monster that would drop a bag of gold coins every so often. In Madam Kiramman's eyes, the money she had given her daughter for "practice" was already more than enough. If that shrewd businesswoman discovered that her daughter had squandered this massive sum in less than two weeks... she probably wouldn't just refuse additional investment, she would decisively pull her funding.
"However," Caitlyn hesitated for a long time before saying, "Besides my mother, there is actually someone else willing to invest in us. She contacted me through my mother, hoping I would relay her request for cooperation."
"Who?" Levi asked.
"Mel, Mel Medarda."
"Medarda?" Everyone grew vigilant. "That Councilor from Noxus?"
Why would a Piltover Councilor invest in the Windguides?
They were their greatest enemies!
"Never mind all that," Levi said without hesitation.
The Windguides were practically going mad from poverty; if someone was coming to their door to give them money, they certainly couldn't stop them. Whether it smelled fishy or foul, meat was meat once it was in the mouth.
"How much does she want to invest?" Levi asked, cutting straight to the chase.
"I'm not sure," Caitlyn said with some hesitation. "Councilor Mel has one condition—"
"She wants to personally tour our territory and factories, and meet with you, Mr. Levi."
"As for the exact investment amount, we'll discuss it then."