As Seraphine finished her song, tears wet the faces of the crowd.
This was different from the songs she had sung before. It was not some mind-warping magic.
She was simply sharing the stories she had seen, presenting them to everyone in the form of a "music video."
Modern people living privileged lives were often hard to move with formulaic dramas. However, the poor who had personally experienced the pain of oppression would often tear up the moment they saw them.
Different experiences yielded different feelings.
For these Zaunites, the power of the story itself was already enough.
And so, it wasn't long before a second person took the stage after Baku, followed by a third, a fourth, a fifth...
Seraphine also sang her second song, then her third...
Through her efforts and the resonance of these stories, the formal apprentices finally poured out their bitter emotions.
Having aired their Primal Suffering, when the Windguides took the stage again to promote their theories—helping them peel back the bitter fruits and dig up the roots of pain, prompting them to ponder a series of questions like "Where does the suffering come from?", "Who feeds whom?", and "What should be done?"—everyone was finally able to listen earnestly.
Finally, Seraphine stepped down from her stage.
No one viewed this pink-haired girl in a gold-embroidered princess dress as an aloof, high-born lady anymore. Instead, they showed her genuine warmth and respect.
"Seraphine, your singing was absolutely perfect!" Levi praised from the bottom of his heart.
Janna gently fluttered her wings, stirring up a soft breeze to wipe away the undried tears from the corners of Seraphine's eyes.
"Are you alright?" Levi could not help but ask out of concern.
He knew that every song Seraphine sang represented the life of a Zaunite. And the pain and darkness they had experienced in their lives were far beyond what an ordinary person could endure.
He had originally planned to have Seraphine stop after two songs, but the stubborn girl insisted on singing one after another, telling story after story.
Levi was a little worried about whether her mind could withstand such pressure.
"Don't worry, Mr. Levi."
After wiping away her tears, Seraphine actually smiled brightly.
"Before, I was just hiding in fear, so I didn't understand. But now that I've taken the initiative to listen, I realize that the melodies of everyone's souls aren't just filled with pain."
"Even though they face the life-and-death separation of family, they still have familial love. Even though lovers struggle to be together, they still have romance. Even though the world is dark, they still have eyes that can see the sunlight..."
Things like family and lovers were luxuries for Zaunites.
But precisely because they were luxuries, the love and warmth they possessed were all the more sincere and precious.
Even mired in darkness, they continued to live tenaciously, striving to create their own small slivers of happiness in this despairing world.
"I saw all of this, so what I felt wasn't just pain, but also their strength, bravery, kindness, and warmth..."
Seraphine sighed emotionally for the souls of the Zaunites, as if she were humming a breathtakingly beautiful melody.
"Mhm..." Levi was also moved.
This girl's foolish earnestness, looking at it now...
Was actually quite cute.
"Mr. Levi?" Seraphine suddenly called out to him.
"Hmm?"
"W-Why did you suddenly call me cute?" The pink-haired girl bit her cherry lips, her cheeks flushed pink.
"Huh?!" Levi exclaimed in shock. "You can read my mind even through our 'connection'?"
"No..." Seraphine replied. "It's Sister Janna. You were communicating with her through your thoughts, so she directly relayed your thoughts to me as well."
"..." Levi remained silent.
"Mr. Levi, it seems you... you really have fallen for me." The young girl's tone was quite expectant.
'No, he had just praised her for being cute. Did that count as liking her?'
'Did he really like this pink-haired brat?'
'Hiss... It seemed he actually did a little.'
'Wait—'
'Janna, cut this part, don't broadcast it!'
"..." Seraphine wore an alluring shade of pink on her face, as if she were brewing over what to say next.
"Ahem!" Ivern approached with a dark expression, firmly holding down his daughter who looked eager to throw herself at Levi.
"Levi! I have to say, for people in your line of work, isn't it a bit too early to be thinking about personal relationships?"
"If you can't even guarantee your own life, isn't falling in love just harming the other person?"
"Eh?" Before Levi could even answer, Seraphine interjected with a disappointed look. "Dad, then when can we date?"
"You, keep quiet!" The old father was so angry he looked ready to explode.
"Anyway, Levi—I now know what it is you are trying to do."
"I am willing to support your cause. As for Seraphine, I can't control her... This child is foolish and stubborn. If she insists on working with you, I certainly won't be able to stop her."
Saying this, Ivern let out a helpless sigh.
"My only condition is that, before your cause succeeds, do not let her officially join your organization, and do not let her develop too deep of a personal relationship with you."
"I can agree to that."
Levi understood Ivern's feelings, but he still lamented the man's naivety.
This old business owner still thought too highly of his peers.
When Piltover tore off its mask of civilization and peace, when the enemy's butcher knife truly fell, it would be a campaign of absolute extermination—leaving no stone unturned and no survivor breathing. They would absolutely implicate entire families and burn everything to the ground.
At that time, let alone an assistant like Seraphine, even sympathizers, dissidents, or innocent bystanders within the enemy's ranks could be dragged into it.
Under those circumstances, even a passing dog would get slashed twice.
"I cannot guarantee that bad things won't happen," Levi promised solemnly. "But I can guarantee that as long as I am alive, and as long as Janna is alive, we will definitely use all our strength to protect her!"
"Good." Ivern seemed to age several years in an instant. "I leave Seraphine in your care."
"Uh..." Noticing his daughter's eyes suddenly light up, he quickly added, "I mean I want you to protect her well, don't get any damn funny ideas!"
"Also, since we are already in the same boat, we need to discuss what to do next."
Ivern's stance and mindset shifted very quickly.
For one, the Airing Grievances session just now had indeed affected him. For another, his daughter had already run off to join them; he had no choice but to follow suit.
Thus, Ivern immediately began analyzing the first problem they had to face for Levi. "It's still that issue you guys came up with on a whim—the problem of raising the wages for the formal apprentices—"
"The wages for the formal apprentices and ghost employees can still be raised, but what about the contract laborers?"
The formal apprentices were at least free men.
The ghost employees relied on their host family, but now that Ivern had joined the Windguides, they were no different from free men either.
But the contract laborers were temporary workers that Ivern rented from outside labor contractors. To put it bluntly, they were slaves.
Their lives, property, and personal freedom were completely controlled by those labor contractors. Even their daily commutes were specially monitored and escorted by people sent by the contractors.
After being escorted back, they would be strip-searched again to prevent these slave laborers from secretly hiding any rewards or extra money they earned at the factory without handing it over to their masters.
"That's why when I subsidized those contract laborers in the past, I only provided food and daily necessities. If I gave them money directly and the labor contractors found out, they would be in huge trouble."
"Now you want to increase their wages tenfold all at once. How are you going to do that?"
"We can't just convert all that money into exotic delicacies and feed it to them, right?" Would those contract laborers even be willing to consume such luxuries themselves?
"Or should we save it for them first?" The contract laborers didn't even have freedom. Saving their wages for them was essentially planning to never pay them out for the rest of their lives.
"Or should we just not pay them for now?" That was even worse. People did not worry about poverty, but about unequal distribution. If the formal apprentices and ghost employees got paid, but the contract laborers didn't, wouldn't that be artificially creating a division among the groups?
"Can't we buy their freedom?" Levi asked.
"No." Ivern shook his head helplessly. "They all fell into becoming debt slaves and contract laborers because they owed loan sharks."
"If you try to buy their freedom, those labor contractors—who are actually gang bosses—will definitely pull out these people's loan shark contracts and demand an exorbitant price from us."
"We have 65 contract laborers in our factory. We definitely can't afford the ransom for so many people."
"I see..." Levi realized the severity of the problem.
He had only thought about how to deal with the business owners, never expecting that he would have to deal with the slave owners first.
Damn it, it was already the Hextech Industrial Revolution, please practice some capitalism! Slavery was way too low-class!
"Then, Mr. Ivern, which labor contractor did you rent our factory's contract laborers from?"
Levi wanted to figure out who the enemy was first.
"Uh, well..." Speaking of this, Ivern suddenly looked a bit embarrassed. "The masters of those contract laborers—"
"Are the Iron Fist Gang."
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