Under everyone's watchful eyes, Baku began to tell his story.
Just as Levi remembered, he was an extrovert with a real gift for gab.
But the guy was a little *too* talkative.
Even though this was supposed to be an Airing Grievances session, Baku became more engrossed and cheerful the more he spoke, nearly turning the meeting into a stand-up comedy routine.
"Like everyone else here, I don't have a dad."
"My mom said I had one. I asked her who he was. She said there were too many guys to keep track of..."
"Do you know how I scraped together enough money to come to Piltover?"
"Because I'm handsome, heh. When I was working at a shop in the Black Lanes, the boss's wife would get red in the eyes the moment she saw me. She couldn't even keep her damn pants up."
"I had no choice. I just had to put in a little physical labor and earn some hard-earned cash."
"Things got even more troublesome after I came to Piltover."
"I just wanted to come here and work, but women kept slowing down my money-making grind."
"In the two years I've been here, I've lost count of how many girlfriends I've gone through... Those Piltovan foremen are just jealous of me because of it, always giving me a hard time, fuck!"
"They even spout some bullshit about factory rules forbidding male and female workers from dating. Fuck that! Aren't they just afraid that I'm too handsome and will get in the way of those Piltovan bastards hooking up with the Zaunite girls?"
After Baku finished speaking, everyone was laughing.
He had indeed shared a lot of hardships. But to Zaunites, these struggles weren't all that bitter to begin with. Filtered through his foul mouth, they turned into nothing more than bitter-melon-flavored candy.
"Will this really work..." Lina, Viktor, and the Zaunite students looked helplessly at the bluebird Janna.
What kind of Airing Grievances session ended up making the entire audience laugh?
Levi had definitely picked the wrong person for the job!
"No," Levi said leisurely. "This is exactly the effect we want."
"Do you really think Baku was laughing on the inside while recalling those memories?"
"Huh?" The crowd was slightly taken aback.
Levi didn't explain. Instead, he asked Seraphine, "Seraphine, how are your preparations coming along?"
"I... I..."
Seraphine's voice choked up, rendering her barely able to form a complete sentence.
Only then did everyone finally realize that not everyone was laughing.
Seraphine was crying. Tears welled up in her azure eyes, forming crystalline drops that slowly rolled down her cheeks.
"Mr. Levi, I'm ready..."
"Have you matched the music?"
"Yes... I picked a song that I feel is fitting." Seraphine raised a finger and gently wiped away her tears.
But the tears kept flowing, soaking the white silk gloves on her hands until they turned translucent.
It was obvious that she had been moved by Baku's story, and equally moved by her own creation.
"Looks like it's working." Levi felt a bit relieved.
"Then, next up—"
"Please welcome Miss Seraphine to the stage to sing a song for everyone."
"Huh?" Viktor and the others were dumbfounded.
Wasn't this supposed to be an Airing Grievances session?
Why had it turned into a concert?
"Do not underestimate the power of art and literature."
This was a propaganda tactic Levi had finally remembered after hitting a wall.
If reasoning failed and airing grievances wasn't clear enough, they could absolutely use operas, plays, music, and other artistic works to build the atmosphere and draw people in emotionally.
"Only by setting the right atmosphere and stirring their emotions can we draw out their 'primal suffering.' Once that primal suffering is exposed, we can help them 'dig up the roots of their pain' and make them realize the true source of their misery."
"And appropriate artistic works are our best tools for setting that mood and evoking those emotions."
Sometimes, preaching grand theories a hundred times wasn't as effective as a single performance of *The White-Haired Girl*.
Levi didn't know of any story scripts perfectly suited for Runeterra.
But he had Seraphine, a natural-born Soul Singer.
And he had countless stories from Zaunites—real stories.
When combined, the power they could unleash might be beyond imagination.
"Everyone, please listen to my song!"
Seraphine stepped onto her stage.
This stage wasn't glamorous. There were no lights, no smoke machines, no cheering fans, and no roaring crowds. It was a far cry from the idol stage she had once dreamed of.
Yet, at this very moment, Seraphine inexplicably felt that this was her destiny—the exact stage she was meant to stand on.
"La..."
The music began to play.
It was a sorrowful melody.
Seraphine's angelic voice perfectly conveyed the emotion of the piece.
Even without the use of magic, music inherently possessed the ability to infect people with emotion.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many depressed midnight music listeners.
Amidst the music, everyone present—whether Zaunite students or apprentices, university professors or Piltovan business owners—involuntarily empathized with Seraphine and the protagonist of the story.
No, it was more than just empathy.
Seraphine's singing held magic.
It was different from before.
This time, she wasn't using her magic to brainwash the audience or forcibly twist their will.
She was merely using the magical melody to share the story she had witnessed, breaking down the scenes she had seen within Baku's mind.
"La la la la la la la..."
Her voice echoed in everyone's ears.
Intoxicated by the music, they fell into a trance and saw the following scenes unfold:
Zaun. The Black Lanes. Inside a narrow, dilapidated alleyway.
A young Baku crouched in the corner.
The other children were laughing at him.
"Baku... Baku... Fatherless Baku..."
"I have a dad! I do!"
"Then what's your dad's name?"
"Haha, of course you don't know! Your mom sells herself in a brothel. Even she doesn't know how many dads she's found for you, hahaha!"
The music continued to echo.
Within the melody, Baku struggled to grow up amidst the Gray of Zaun.
The scenes remained bleak and gloomy, until that one day.
"Baku, please, take me away... I know you've saved up a lot of money. You can take me away from here, and we can escape to Piltover together."
Inside the shop in the Black Lanes, a young woman tightly gripped Baku's hand.
Baku had never held a woman's hand before.
His face flushed slightly. "I... I... But, you're the boss's woman."
"I'm just a slave he bought!"
"Please... If this keeps up, he's going to torture me to death..." The woman wept. "Take me away. We can go to Piltover to be apprentices, and live together..."
"Okay." Baku blurted out the word, as if possessed by some unseen force.
And then, his entire world lit up.
The music gradually became more cheerful.
No matter how much hardship he endured in Piltover afterward, the melody remained warm, happy, and full of hope.
Until that day arrived.
"I'm sorry, Baku..." The woman appeared before him with an awkward expression, her arm linked with the factory foreman, a middle-aged local Piltovan.
The Piltovan foreman sneered at him. "The factory has rules. Male and female workers are forbidden from dating."
"Zaunite, I suggest you know what's good for you. Otherwise, I'll have the boss fire you and send you packing back across the canal!"
The melody turned rapid and furious, but then gradually faded into a bleak, agonizing silence, devoid of any fluctuation.
Then, the scene shifted again.
"Sigh, if only I were a woman!"
In the workshop last night, Baku had lamented this to Levi.
"Huh?" Levi was shocked and confused.
But Baku had said, "It'd be great to be a woman. Just crawl into the bed of one of those Piltovan bastards, get a certificate, and you become a Piltovan."
"Look at those female workers in our factory. They've all hooked up with team leaders and technicians... Aren't their lives much easier than ours?"
"Hey, why are you looking at me like that? Looking down on me, Levi?"
The Baku in the vision was laughing.
But the Baku in reality was crying.
It wasn't just him. Almost everyone present was crying.
They saw the real Baku, and in him, they saw reflections of themselves.
To Zaunites, this story wasn't actually unique.
Everyone had, more or less, experienced something similar.
Finally, Seraphine stopped singing amidst her hot tears.
The song ended.
But the agonizing flames of fury burned on in silence.
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