After a long while, the students' discussion came to an end.
Based on their individual circumstances, they divided into several working groups, preparing to carry out their work across three fronts: schools, factories, and the Zaunite community.
The school front was easy enough. These young people were Zaunite exchange students themselves and usually mingled within their own circles. Whether within their own university or at others, they knew people and could easily strike up conversations.
But when it came to the factories and the community, and the prospect of spreading their message to Zaunite apprentices, the students found themselves in a bit of a bind.
This wasn't because the students were out of touch or didn't know how to communicate with workers.
Quite the opposite. These Zaunite exchange students weren't sheltered scholars who had never worked a day in their lives. Almost every single one of them had relied on work-study programs, sweating and struggling just to escape that hellhole of Zaun and make it here.
They had all seen what the factories were like.
They knew exactly what the workers' lives entailed.
But precisely because of this, they knew just how difficult it would be to spread their message to the workers.
"Teacher Levi," someone began.
"The lives of Zaunite apprentices are indeed incredibly grueling. They earn barely enough to keep their families alive, work over ten hours a day, and get almost no time off year-round except for a few holidays like Progress Day..."
"But even so, compared to the workers back home in Zaun, their lives are considered fortunate."
This was true. Happiness was relative.
Compared to Zaun's authentic old-Victorian-style meat grinders where the average life expectancy of a worker was under thirty, living as an apprentice in Piltover really was a damn blessing.
Therefore, Zaunite apprentices were generally satisfied with the status quo and largely lacked any spirit of rebellion.
"And that's just a minor issue," another student chimed in.
"The most important problem is that the ten-plus hours of heavy labor every day consumes the vast majority of their personal time. It turns them into mindless cogs in this massive industrial machine, with neither the capacity nor the time to think."
"They're already exhausted enough from work. If we go and preach to them, will they really have the patience to listen?"
"Hmm... you're not wrong," Levi agreed.
Levi couldn't help but think of himself.
Back when he was a student, he had dreamed of buying a high-end PC after getting a job, so he could play whatever games he wanted.
But once he actually started working, he couldn't even be bothered to turn the computer on.
Every day after work, he would just collapse on his bed and scroll through short videos on his phone. The day would inexplicably vanish, as if time had been erased by King Crimson.
Why?
Because work was too exhausting.
Under such fatigue, he didn't even have the patience to play AAA games that required time and immersion. He only wanted fragmented, bite-sized entertainment to relax his brain.
If that was the case for playing games, it was even more so for reading, studying, or researching grand philosophies.
And the work of these Zaunite apprentices was undoubtedly ten, if not a hundred times more grueling than Levi's old job.
Levi had suffered, awakened to reality, and managed to redirect his video-scrolling time toward reading and studying.
He still had time to think about his ideals.
But these Zaunite apprentices had almost nothing left but time to eat and sleep outside of work.
"How do we make them willingly spare a portion of that precious time for us?"
The students were all deeply troubled.
But Levi wasn't faring much better.
It was the same old problem: he had never done this before either!
However, he did recall his childhood. Following his grandmother, he had eaten free vegetarian meals from monks, freeloaded off the "five loaves and two fishes" at church, snatched discounted vegetables at the supermarket, and hoarded free eggs at promotional seminars...
He even remembered sitting through various boring lectures in college just to earn useless credits.
He got the goods, but he also gave up his time.
"Since the apprentices only have time to eat and sleep, we'll start with their meal times," Levi declared.
Levi put himself in the shoes of his original body's owner, imagining himself as an ordinary Zaunite apprentice.
How do you get an apprentice to listen to you patiently?
By offering something tangible first, of course.
"We'll set up a breakfast stall at the factory gates. We'll sell the food at half price or give it away. I guarantee they'll have the patience to chat with you while they eat."
Levi gave a casual example.
To a Zaunite apprentice, the allure of a free piece of black bread spoke louder than a thousand words.
"That's a great idea! But..."
These students were smart, and they quickly realized the catch. "That's going to cost money."
Yes, waging a struggle required money.
Without funds, trying to run on passion alone would likely accomplish nothing.
But where would the money come from?
These Zaunite students were almost all dead broke. Their pockets were so empty they could make a thief cry.
"I have some!" Viktor stepped forward without hesitation. "I've been saving my salary all these years with nowhere to spend it. I can use it to support our cause!"
"Will it be enough?" Levi asked, concerned for him.
"For now..." Viktor also began to look troubled.
Although his salary was high and his savings substantial, in the long run, his individual wealth definitely wouldn't be enough to sustain the entire organization's operations.
To keep this cause going, they needed to find a stable source of income.
"Wait... I have an idea!"
"A method that can both solve our funding problem and help push our propaganda work forward."
Viktor had only thought for a moment before coming up with a solution.
For a genius scientist like him, getting rich really wasn't difficult at all.
The only reason he hadn't made a fortune before was that he was too engrossed in his scientific research and completely disregarded worldly possessions like wealth, fame, and material enjoyment.
So, while other scientists were busy integrating academia with industry, rushing to convert their research into economic profit, and even his close friend Jayce had started frequently attending various social banquets to secure benefits for his family...
Viktor was still burying his head in the laboratory alone, happily conducting his research.
"Over these years of research, I've actually accumulated many practical inventions."
"Steam-powered batteries, mechanical grappling hooks, precision joint transmission devices, smart microprocessors, Hextech mechanical prosthetics, laser cutters, gravity field generators..."
"I hold the patents for all these inventions!"
Viktor rattled them off like items on a menu, listing a slew of advanced tech products that left Levi marveling:
"We can absolutely use these research results to secure startup funding, recruit apprentice workers from Zaun, and open our very own factory!"
This was indeed a great idea.
Not only could they leverage the technological advantage built by Viktor's genius intellect to earn high profits from the market and fund the team, but they could also use their own factory as a base of operations to directly spread their message to the Zaunite apprentices working there.
"But..." Levi still hesitated. "Opening a factory isn't something you can just do overnight."
"Just like you said, Viktor, we have the technology but no capital."
"If we want to open a factory without capital, we'll need to seek investment from the wealthy. And seeking investment from the wealthy inevitably means cooperating with business owners, which will expose them to our cause..."
"If those investors realize what we're actually doing, how will they react? Won't we just invite trouble before the factory is even built?"
That was the crux of the problem.
Those Piltovan elites were the natural enemies of the Windguides. Making a deal with the devil to earn money alongside them was incredibly dangerous.
'Sigh, if only we knew a rich person who was wealthy, sympathized with the workers, had experienced the hardships of the common people, and had the potential to betray their class origins to stand on our side.'
'Ideally, someone who is also originally from Zaun and could be inspired by sentiments of national independence; plus, someone whose family already owns a factory and could help us start our propaganda work right now...'
Levi couldn't help but muse.
As he thought about it, he suddenly realized...
'Wait a minute?'
He actually did know a wealthy person exactly like that.
"Um... Seraphine?"
Levi looked toward the wealthy young lady.
The eyes of everyone in the room followed Levi's gaze, converging on Seraphine.
To be honest, ever since Seraphine stepped into the classroom, everyone had been incredibly curious about her identity.
Because this girl was simply too beautiful and elegant. Even her extravagant outfit of a princess dress, white stockings, and little leather boots was pulled off flawlessly.
Her aura screamed 'wealthy heiress' at first glance. She looked like a star who had just stepped off a stage, not like a Zaunite, and certainly not like someone poor.
How could someone like her appear alongside Levi?
"Brother, who is this lady?"
Lina finally couldn't hold back and asked the question on behalf of all the students.
She had initially guessed that Seraphine might also be one of Goddess Janna's Chosen, a companion in Levi's faith.
But later, Lina noticed that during Janna's Divine Selection process, there were no "white threads" connecting to this young lady at all—she wasn't a believer of Janna in the slightest.
So who exactly was this Miss Seraphine?
"Seraphine is my friend," Levi answered.
"Friend?" Lina's eyes darted around suspiciously.
"Mhm!" Seraphine not only voiced her agreement but also nodded solemnly. "Mr. Levi is my best friend!"
She hadn't left her house or made a friend in six or seven years, so of course Levi was her best friend.
"No, not just a friend..."
"He is also my only kindred spirit!"
Seraphine tended to speak straight from the heart, and whenever she did, her large eyes would sparkle with infatuation.
As a result, Lina's expression grew even more bizarre.
"Ahem, anyway, Seraphine's family runs a factory. Her father also started out as a Zaunite apprentice and has always been very sympathetic to the workers."
"Coupled with the friendship between Seraphine and me, we can absolutely try to approach her father for cooperation..."
Levi was right in the middle of explaining his work plan.
His sister, however, suddenly leaped up from her seat as if she had just realized some horrifying truth.
"By Janna—"
During the very first general meeting of the Windguide Association, student Lina publicly slandered their president:
"Brother, you... you actually bagged a sugar mama?!"
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