The moment Levi appeared on the University of Piltover campus, he attracted quite a bit of attention.
His tattered overalls, the kind only worn by Zaunite apprentices, were already completely out of place in this elegant environment. Yet, this plainly dressed, impoverished young man was actually holding hands with an elegant, ethereally beautiful pink-haired lady.
Such a bizarre pairing with a massive contrast in styles naturally drew the pointing fingers and whispers of many passersby.
But Seraphine completely ignored the background noise.
She simply gripped Levi's hand tightly, merging her soul with his through the touch of their skin, and blissfully wandered through the dreamlike world of endlessly beautiful music he had created for her.
"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh."
"Screwdriver, screwdriver."
"Dun dun dun dun! Dun dun dun dun!"
"..."
Levi's music library was unfathomably deep and incredibly diverse, ranging from classical to rock to rap. Many of them were entirely new musical genres unheard of in Runeterra.
There was even a song supposedly from some K/DA girl group. It resonated with her so perfectly that it felt as if she had sung it herself.
Seraphine felt like she had unearthed an inexhaustible treasure trove of music. Listening to it the entire way here wasn't nearly enough; it felt like she would have to hold his hand and listen for a lifetime to be truly satisfied.
However, just as the two were approaching the Academy of Hextech, Seraphine suddenly stopped.
"Do you need to change the song?" Levi asked instinctively, acting like a smart speaker. "Should I replay a previous track, or do you want me to recommend a new one based on the genre?"
"No," Seraphine replied, looking at him with concern. "Mr. Levi."
"You seem nervous."
"Me?" Levi paused in surprise.
Yes, he was nervous. He hadn't even realized it himself.
It was simply an instinctual emotion left over from the original owner's memories—
The last time the previous Levi had business here and came to the Academy of Hextech to find his sister, it left both him and Lina with an extremely unpleasant memory.
Why was it unpleasant? It was easy to understand.
No young girl would want her scruffy, ragged, dirt-poor brother to show up in front of her and her wealthy classmates looking like a pitiful, textbook Zaunite apprentice.
After that incident, Lina ignored him for several days, only apologizing out of guilt later when she gradually matured.
And that Levi never came to the school to look for his sister again.
"That's all in the past."
"You don't need to worry about me, Seraphine."
"Mhm." Seraphine hesitated, swallowing her words.
"Want to keep listening to music?"
"No." The little music fanatic actually shook her head. "Not right now."
"Mr. Levi, I want to talk about that method you mentioned before—the one that can truly help you and the people of Zaun."
Seraphine asked, her tone suddenly turning incredibly serious.
Clearly, the profound impression left by her earlier experience hadn't been forgotten amidst her obsession with music.
"About that," Levi said, looking a bit troubled.
Although he had taught Seraphine to recognize the real world, that was merely pulling her slightly out of her eternally spring-like greenhouse.
If she wanted to know how to change the world, just this little bit of awareness wasn't nearly enough.
"What do you think we should do now?"
"Um... since my music can't help everyone, then... then I'll go back and persuade my dad to pay the people of Zaun higher wages and reduce their working hours. That way, Mr. Levi, you and the others won't have to work so exhaustingly hard in the future."
Sure enough, it was a kind yet naive answer.
It could help a few people, and it could help for a time, but it wouldn't change anything fundamentally.
Moreover, her old man would absolutely never agree to this plan. Even if he did, the scale of improvement wouldn't amount to much. The laws of the market dictated it, whether he liked it or not.
"Then what exactly should be done?"
"Uh..." Levi didn't even know where to begin teaching her.
Seraphine had far too much catching up to do.
Because her uncontrollable talent had kept her indoors since childhood, she had never received a systematic and comprehensive education in literature and history.
Although her parents had hired many tutors, out of boundless doting for their daughter, they only focused on cultivating the musical talent Seraphine loved so much.
In other words...
Seraphine was currently a pure art student with zero social awareness (though she had somewhat compensated for this by experiencing life through mind-reading), zero foundation in literature and history, no political training whatsoever, and a severe imbalance in her studies.
How was he supposed to teach such a specialized art student to understand politics?
Was he supposed to have her fail an art school entrance exam first?
"Sigh, I guess I'll just have to teach you from scratch!" Levi thought about it, his head throbbing. "First, let me give you a crash course on the history of Runeterra."
"But before that, let's briefly introduce a concept: productive forces."
"Productive forces! Productive forces are the key to resolving all contradictions!" an impassioned voice suddenly rang out from the adjacent teaching building.
"Huh?" Levi paused in surprise.
That wasn't him speaking.
What was going on? Who was discussing the concept he had just written about in his article yesterday?
Curious, he followed the sound and found a large classroom on the first floor packed with students. The students were sitting in small groups of twos and threes, holding handouts and debating with each other until their faces were flushed red. Standing at the podium was a thin but sharp-eyed middle-aged teacher. On the blackboard behind the teacher, excerpts from Levi's article were prominently displayed, along with the title:
"Where Did Zaun Come From?"
"Lina?!" Before Levi even had time to be shocked, he suddenly realized he didn't need to wander all over the academy looking for his sister anymore.
His sister was standing right in the middle of those students.
Moreover, she was standing quite high up, looking incredibly agitated. As she debated, she was even trading Zaunite profanities with her opponents, making her as conspicuous as humanly possible.
And the topic these students were discussing was actually his article.
They were even discussing it on a much deeper and broader level.
In that article, Levi had only mentioned how to understand the world; he hadn't yet touched upon how to change it.
Yet these students had already skipped past the what and the why and were actively debating the how!
"Holy crap!"
What happened?
I just spent one night soldering circuit boards in a factory, and you guys have already put together a Jannaism study group?
"It probably has something to do with your sister and that teacher," Janna said, poking her head out of his pocket and looking thoughtfully toward the podium. "He is the one we are looking for—the only current believer."
"This..." Levi still couldn't wrap his head around how all of this had happened.
However, regardless of the process, looking at the results...
The ideology he wanted to propagate seemed to have already propagated itself.
Looking at this group of young students before him, who had already begun to think critically and passionately debate the future, Levi felt deeply moved.
He found himself wanting to stay and hear what answers these university students—who had received higher education and possessed knowledge and experience far beyond Seraphine's—would come up with.
"Productive forces are the key to resolving all contradictions!"
"And as future scientists, our inherent mission is to create new things and develop productive forces! Therefore, we don't need to do anything else; we just need to work harder at our own jobs and dedicate ourselves entirely to technological research and development!"
"As long as we can invent smarter steam golems to completely replace human labor, invent more powerful Hextech energy to completely replace old energy sources, invent more... then all problems will be easily solved!"
Levi: "..."
Before he could say anything, another student's voice reached his ears.
"Legend has it that Bandle City, where the Yordles live, is located in the Spirit Realm. The sunlight there is warm and bright, the spring waters flow endlessly, and every plant bears abundant fruit. Food, energy, and daily necessities grow naturally and endlessly, and the residents are forever happy and free from conflict..."
"I think we can consult the Yordles about the magic used to traverse between the Material Realm and Spirit Realm, then use Hextech to replicate this magic. Ultimately, we can transform all of humanity into psionic beings similar to Yordles, capable of living in the Spirit Realm without needing to consume material resources."
He stood there in silence.
Before he could say anything, yet another student loudly suggested:
"Right now, it's becoming increasingly popular in both Zaun and Piltover to replace human organs with Chemtech or Hextech prosthetics... I think we can go much further down this path and try to find a way to use Hextech and Chemtech to completely transform humans into machines."
"As long as everyone becomes a machine, there will be no need to eat or wear clothes, no need for makeup or social comparison, no need to reproduce, and no need for families."
"Without families, there will be no descendants. Without descendants, the generational accumulation of family wealth will naturally cease to exist... The innate inequality between people will naturally disappear!"
Levi: "..."
"Seraphine?"
"Hmm?" Seraphine looked over blankly.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called you naive."
"I was being too superficial."
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