Mel followed Levi to many other places, including casinos, brothels, and Shimmer shops.
Most of the casinos had been shut down, while a small portion were converted into board game arcades.
The brothels were repurposed into legitimate bars and inns.
The Shimmer shops, however, did not close. Instead, their signs were swapped out on the spot, transforming them into "Piltover Addiction Treatment Centers."
Not only did they help the addicts taken in by the Windguides overcome their dependency, but they also opened their doors to the public, accepting anyone willing to save themselves free of charge.
But aside from these places, what amazed Mel the most was the South City Zaunite Community after the Windguides took over.
She knew exactly what the Zaunite Community used to be like:
Dirty, chaotic, and abysmal. The streets had been piled high with garbage, sewage flowed beside the buildings, and the air reeked of putrid odors. Beggars, vagrants, and addicts were everywhere, making it so disgusting that one could hardly find a place to step.
Yet, less than ten days after the Windguides took over, the Zaunite Community had completely transformed.
"There isn't a single piece of trash left?"
The buildings in the Zaunite Community were still dilapidated, but the streets and alleys had become exceptionally clean.
Not only was there no garbage in sight, but there was barely even any dust on the roads.
It was just like the articles written by foreigners praising Piltover—you could walk around in your socks and return home without them turning black.
"Of course it's clean," Levi explained.
"We organized the rescued sex workers, beggars, and vagrants we took in into sanitation labor squads. This street alone gets swept seven times a day."
"Swept seven times a day?" Mel raised an eyebrow.
'Did the Windguides read too many Piltovan propaganda pieces and lose their minds, treating street sweeping like washing dishes?'
Suddenly, Mel realized something. "Do you pay those people to sweep the streets?"
"We do," Levi replied.
Now Mel understood. "Work relief. That is a tried-and-true method."
"But the problem is..."
Work relief required suitable work projects.
The fact that the Windguides had them sweeping the streets seven times a day clearly showed they lacked enough projects to solve the re-employment issues of these beggars, vagrants, and sex workers.
As a result, the people were rescued, but their jobs and livelihoods were left up in the air.
They could only use the organization's financial subsidies to create jobs out of thin air.
"Why not just hand out money directly?" Mel asked. "The jobs you've created are practically redundant anyway."
"We can give direct subsidies to workers," Levi explained. "But for these beggars and vagrants who are used to living on handouts, and the sex workers who earned money with their bodies, we have to make them get used to a life of earning their keep and supporting themselves through labor again."
"Conditions are limited right now. Once we have the resources in the future, we will also tailor vocational skills training courses for them."
"I see." Mel nodded in appreciation.
'Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.'
"But this cannot continue," Mel pointed out sharply. "Projects that fail to turn a profit are destined to be unsustainable in the long run."
"I don't know how much longer the Windguides' finances can hold out. But if their employment issues aren't resolved before the money burns out, this attempt of yours will become a joke."
"I understand." Levi, of course, knew this.
Yet he still emphasized to Mel with full confidence, "Miss Mel, you should look a little deeper."
"In truth, aside from small-scale projects like the Walkmans, the Board Game Arcade, and music cassettes, we also have many highly profitable, cutting-edge technology projects."
"As long as the funding is in place, our factories can be opened one after another."
"When that time comes, solving the employment of tens of thousands of people won't be an issue, let alone just these few."
Mel listened with a silent smile.
'Fundraisers selling pipe dreams to investors—I'm sick of hearing this kind of rhetoric.'
However, Mel also knew in her heart that Professor Viktor's abilities were no less than those of Jayce Talis, whom she admired.
With Viktor backing the Windguides, she was willing to believe the pipe dreams Levi was selling.
But Mel didn't want to talk business just yet.
She still had something she wanted to understand. "If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Levi—"
"Your Windguide Association should still be running the contract labor business left behind by the Iron Fist Gang, right?"
"Yes," Levi replied with a complex expression. "Miss Mel, have you investigated us?"
Mel shook her head. "There is no need for an investigation."
"The Iron Fist Gang's primary livelihood was leasing contract laborers. It's obvious when you think about it—you can't even solve the employment issues of these sex workers, let alone the thousands of contract laborers."
"And your Walkman project hasn't started turning a profit yet, nor are you running casinos, brothels, or Shimmer shops."
"Aside from continuing the contract labor business, I truly cannot imagine what other projects you could rely on to feed those thousands of people."
"That is indeed the case," Levi admitted helplessly.
"As expected," Mel said leisurely. "Even the most idealistic of idealists will eventually hit a wall in reality."
"But at the very least, we made a change," Levi retorted. "Even if that change is only a little bit... we still made the lives of those contract laborers better than before."
"Oh?" Mel raised an eyebrow, adopting a posture that showed she was willing to hear the details.
Levi patiently explained.
First, the Windguides gathered and burned the debt contracts and slave deeds of those contract laborers.
They still had nothing, but they were free.
Second, the Windguides did not take any commission, nor did they demand the contract laborers hand over their earnings like the Iron Fist Gang had.
Although the contract laborers still earned very little, the money they made at least belonged entirely to them.
"Letting them support themselves is not bad," Mel evaluated with an appreciative tone.
"There's more," Levi continued explaining. "We Windguides also stand up for the contract laborers, conducting friendly negotiations with the business owners who employ them. We use 'nonviolent noncooperation' to fight for the best possible treatment for them."
"Oh?" Mel was genuinely curious now.
She knew better than anyone just how stingy Piltovan business owners could be.
Trying to make business owners cough up money and bleed their own profits to improve the treatment of contract laborers through "friendly negotiations" and "nonviolent noncooperation"—was that even possible?
"These negotiations of yours..." Mel's expression turned subtle. "How exactly do you 'negotiate'?"
"I wouldn't want to receive a collective complaint from the business owners at the Council in a few days."
"Rest assured! We absolutely do not use any violent methods! And I can guarantee you that they will definitely not go to the Council to complain and cause trouble for you, Miss Mel."
Levi confidently vouched for it.
"Is that so?" Mel was highly skeptical. "If there's a chance, could you take me to see it?"
"Sure." Levi didn't deflect in the slightest. "We can head back to the Factory District right now—our Windguide negotiation squad is currently having a friendly negotiation with the business owners as we speak!"
A short while later.
After wandering around the city on a whim for quite some time, Mel finally returned to the Factory District.
She followed Levi to the entrance of a factory, where they coincidentally ran into the "friendly negotiation squad" he had mentioned.
This "friendly negotiation squad" primarily consisted of three people.
All three of them were girls:
Vi, Caitlyn, and Seraphine.
They didn't even go inside. Instead, they called the business owner out to the factory entrance before beginning their "friendly negotiation."
At first, Mel didn't quite understand, but once the negotiation began, she realized...
The reason these three young ladies didn't go inside to talk was probably because there wasn't enough room to maneuver indoors.
Because the negotiation process went roughly like this:
To start, Vi, wearing her Hextech Gauntlets, casually snapped off a seven- or eight-meter-long streetlight from the side of the road.
Then, she hoisted the streetlight right over the business owner's head.
"I'm asking you, are you going to give the contract laborers a damn raise?"
"If you don't, I'll hang your ass right up on this thing!"
Mel was speechless.
'Levi, are you sure the business owners won't come to the Council to complain about this?'
As she thought this, she saw Caitlyn step up right behind Vi, her face dark as she threatened the shivering, terrified business owner.
"Sir, I advise you to drop any thoughts of looking for the Enforcers or complaining to the Council."
"My mother is a Councilor. Go ahead and sue me if you have the guts!"
Mel was speechless once again.
'This is even more thuggish than the Iron Fist Gang.'
"Is there no justice left? Is there no law?" The business owner cried out in indignation.
Caitlyn, the former Sheriff of Piltover, coldly told him, "I am justice, and Kiramman is the law! Try me if you don't believe it!"
The business owner, who clearly lacked a strong enough backing, was quickly frightened into submission. "Fine, fine, I can improve the contract laborers' treatment a bit."
"But I can't raise it too much, otherwise the labor costs will be too high, and my small business will operate at a loss."
"The most I can give is..."
The business owner hesitantly stated a price.
"Just that little bit of money?" Vi cursed, swinging the streetlight. "Are you trying to brush off a damn beggar?"
"I-I really can't go any higher..." the business owner pleaded tearfully. "If the wages go up any more, I'll go bankrupt and shut down!"
He cried with genuine emotion. Because it truly hurt his wallet.
And at this moment, it was time for Seraphine, the third member of the negotiation squad, to make her entrance.
"This guy is lying!"
While the business owner was crying about his difficulties, Seraphine, who had been keeping her eyes closed to listen to the voices of the heart, suddenly pointed at him.
"I 'heard' it all clearly—"
"Even with this wage, he still has plenty of room for profit!"