The article struck a nerve with these scientists, causing them to curse aloud without a shred of grace.
They completely disregarded the fact that just minutes ago, they had been unanimously praising the article for its unique insights and accurate analysis.
"You all..." Viktor was struck speechless.
But he quickly understood the reason behind this massive contrast:
A few minutes ago, these people were acting in their capacity as scientists, as spokespersons for advanced productive forces.
But now, their identity was simply that of Piltover's wealthy elite—
In this chaotic world where magical power held absolute dominance, the only people who had the opportunity to receive a comprehensive scientific education in a safe environment and make a name for themselves in Piltover's academic circles were, by default, the wealthy of Piltover.
Therefore, most of Viktor's scientist colleagues also hailed from Piltover's plutocratic families.
Even if they weren't born into wealth, upon becoming scientists of this caliber, they had long since established inextricable ties of interest with the major houses of Piltover during the process of transforming scientific research into commercial production.
Naturally, they wouldn't hold any favorable views toward such a scathingly worded article.
Especially the old scientist who had just reacted the most violently, slamming his hand on the table...
This guy was outright born into a branch of House Medarda.
And the main branch of House Medarda was located in Noxus. They were both wealthy merchants of Piltover and military warlords of Noxus.
Because of this, House Medarda's merchant caravans still followed the invading legions of the Noxian Empire to this day, conquering, pillaging, burning, and killing everywhere they went, engaging in the dirty business of colonial plunder and the slave trade.
The bloody colonial history Levi wrote about in his article was practically slapping them in the face by name, reaching across three hundred years of time.
And what about the other houses? Was the business these old money families were doing now truly clean?
"Professor Jayce!"
At that moment, the scientist from House Medarda stepped forward to express his dissatisfaction.
"I think we can vote right now to decide whether or not to admit Lina into the research group."
"Eh?" Jayce paused slightly.
He was still asking naively, "But everyone hasn't even reviewed Lina's thesis design yet..."
"There's no need to look at it!" The professor frowned coldly. "For her to copy such an article that distorts the facts into her own notebook, there is clearly a problem with her ideology. She is very likely an extremist who harbors hatred toward the Piltover Council!"
"To recruit someone with such ulterior motives into the research group and let her come into contact with our most cutting-edge Hextech research in Piltover—isn't that inviting a wolf into our home?"
"Speaking of which..."
"This girl didn't even write down a surname. Could she be a Zaunite?"
As soon as he said this, the air in the room became somewhat delicate.
Because everyone knew there was already a Zaunite present.
Everyone secretly glanced at Viktor.
Viktor's expression darkened uncertainly. Finally, breaking his usual low profile, he raised his head in direct confrontation.
"Professor Medarda, I would like to ask for your guidance:"
"An ideological problem... Explain to me—exactly what do you mean by an ideological problem!"
"Aren't we scientists? Scientists who don't even look at a scientific thesis, but instead use a historical article to judge a student's ideology, and then decide whether this student stays or goes based on this so-called ideological error and their regional background?"
"Then what kind of scientists are we—"
"We might as well go to the canal bridge and work as immigration inspectors!"
"You?!" Professor Medarda's beard trembled with anger.
"Viktor, calm down, calm down..." Jayce hurriedly held his friend back.
It was his first time seeing Viktor so irrational, so angry.
"Jayce?" Viktor looked deeply at his best friend. "Do you also believe that Lina has some sort of ideological error?"
Jayce was momentarily at a loss for words.
Then he answered, "Lina merely copied an article, how could that be considered an ideological problem... Young people are always curious about many things... Didn't I accidentally blow up an entire building a few years ago because I was privately researching contraband Hextech crystals? Haha."
"In other words," Viktor suddenly felt somewhat disappointed, "you believe Lina is not at fault, and the fault lies with that article?"
"Well..." Jayce thought about it seriously, and finally answered honestly, "Yes, I think that article does indeed have some problems."
"First, the historical materials he provided are not recorded in any history books, and much of the content cannot be verified."
"Second, the viewpoints in this article are indeed somewhat extreme."
"The author practically portrayed all the greatest and most prominent merchant families in Piltover's history as bloody executioners, shameless robbers, and cruel slave traders."
"It's as if not a single one of our Piltovan entrepreneurs is clean."
"But is that really the case?"
Jayce earnestly began to debate with Viktor:
"In fact, many of the business owners and merchants I know are gentle and elegant gentlemen, ambitious and hardworking strivers, and great philanthropists."
"Let's not talk about others, just take our House Talis—"
"My great-grandfather was just an ordinary blacksmith. He relied entirely on his own hard work and struggle to establish his own hammer manufacturing factory in Piltover."
"For generations, our family has only been dedicated to forging better quality hammers. We have never stolen from anyone or robbed anyone. All our accumulation comes from our own hard work and sweat."
"Viktor, look:"
"Is our House Talis also some kind of evil group that burns, kills, and loots?"
The history of House Talis's rise to fortune was indeed completely clean.
And the fact that House Talis had been able to leap from an ordinary family business to a prominent Piltovan house in recent years was entirely due to Jayce's genius intellect and great contributions as a scientist. There was nothing worthy of criticism.
To call them bad people would, of course, be an injustice.
Business owners were indeed not all bad people; there were many great people among them. Therefore, that article was definitely extreme.
"This..." Viktor went quiet.
He felt that something was wrong, but for a moment, he didn't know how to refute it.
"Alright, alright!" At this time, Professor Medarda grew impatient. "Since Professor Jayce also knows that this article is problematic, let's just vote by a show of hands!"
"Those who agree to give this extra spot to Lina can raise their hands now."
An awkward silence ensued.
Viktor was the first to raise his hand. "I am in favor!"
Then, a female researcher named Sky, after stealing a glance at him, also nervously and uneasily raised her hand amidst the strange looks from the crowd. "I... I am also in favor..."
The third person to raise his hand after some hesitation was Jayce.
"Professor Jayce?" Everyone was somewhat surprised.
Jayce merely explained carefully, "I do think the viewpoints in that article are wrong... but since the research group is recruiting an apprentice, shouldn't we primarily look at the student's academic level?"
"Her standard is indeed not bad, and she meets the requirements of our research group."
"So I still suggest that everyone look at Lina's thesis design first before voting."
He very openly set an example for everyone.
However, not a single person present went to look at Lina's thesis.
Nor did anyone else follow suit and raise their hand.
There were eleven people present in total, and only Jayce, Sky, and Viktor raised their hands in favor.
Eight to three. The outcome was decided.
"This..." Jayce hesitated as if he wanted to say something. But faced with his colleagues' firm and clear stance, he ultimately swallowed his words and tacitly accepted the result.
"Professor Viktor, I suggest you just throw this notebook away." Professor Medarda casually tossed the notebook back to Viktor, then turned away to adjust the experimental equipment without looking back.
The others did much the same.
No one cared about that article anymore, and even fewer cared about Lina, a girl they had never met.
Viktor silently watched the backs of these colleagues—people who usually cooperated well with him but stood firmly against him today—and remained speechless for a long time.
He seemed to have finally seen something clearly.
Jayce and Sky wanted to check on him again.
But Viktor tightly gripped Lina's notebook and strode away without looking back.
"Viktor, where are you going?"
"Back to the office. I still have some problems to research."
"Eh?" Jayce's expression was complicated. "What research are you doing alone? Our experiment's progress is still..."
Viktor did not answer.
The problem he needed to think about was perhaps more important than Hextech.
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