Changing Faces

Meanwhile, Viktor brought Lina's notebook and Caitlyn's paper back to the laboratory.

Though night had deepened, scientists were creatures who never distinguished between day and night.

When Viktor returned, most of the members of their Hextech Applied Mechanics research group were still there. Jayce was there too.

"What is it, Viktor?"

"You want to fight for an additional spot in our research group for that student Lina?"

Viktor stated his purpose right away. This left Jayce somewhat confused. "Why?"

"Didn't we confirm the assessment results together earlier? Caitlyn was the one selected. One student is already enough for our group, so why recruit another?"

Although Lina's performance could be called genius-level, that was only in comparison to her peers.

In the eyes of a true unparalleled genius like Jayce, both Lina and Caitlyn were merely juniors with decent talent and some potential worth cultivating.

Losing one student of that caliber would not be a pity. Having an extra one would only be troublesome.

The professors in the research group were all leading experts focused on scientific research. They usually could not even be bothered to supervise their own graduate students, so how could they have the energy to take on another novice in the group?

"Viktor, our group's main work is cutting-edge scientific research, not teaching."

"Recruiting another student would probably affect our research progress."

Viktor: "..."

What he really wanted to say was that if Jayce attended fewer social engagements, their research progress would have improved long ago.

But after considering it for a moment, he still said calmly:

"I simply believe our previous judgment was somewhat flawed."

"Jayce, you should know as well that it is difficult to determine which of Lina's and Caitlyn's paper designs is superior. If we hastily declare one of them the winner, would that not be disrespectful to scientific truth?"

"This..." Jayce was genuinely persuaded.

Because he had already felt that it was difficult to determine a winner between Lina and Caitlyn's papers.

In the end, there had only been one opening, and someone had to be chosen. That was why the scales in his heart had unconsciously tipped toward Caitlyn, eliminating Lina.

Now that Viktor had invoked "scientific truth," Jayce had no choice but to reexamine whether his decision had truly been a fair scientific judgment.

"Mm, Viktor, the problem you pointed out does indeed exist. The judgment I made at the time was admittedly somewhat forced."

"But this research group is ultimately a place for everyone to conduct research. Whether we recruit another student is not something I can decide alone."

"Then let's do this. Since you brought Lina's and Caitlyn's paper outlines..." After hesitating for a moment, Jayce finally made a decision. "Let everyone in the group take a look at their paper designs. Then we'll vote."

"If everyone agrees that Lina and Caitlyn are truly too evenly matched to distinguish, then for the sake of fairness, we'll create an additional opening for her."

"No problem." Viktor nodded in agreement.

Whenever the members of their research group encountered disagreements during research, they often settled them by voting.

He had specifically brought Lina's notebook over this time because he had anticipated this situation.

Thus, under Jayce and Viktor's direction, the members of the research group gathered around.

There were eleven people present in total.

They gathered around a large office desk, waiting to review Lina's and Caitlyn's paper designs with curiosity, impatience, or complete indifference.

And Lina's notebook was finally opened.

But when Jayce, Viktor, and the others opened the notebook, their brows quietly furrowed.

"Where did Zaun come from?"

They had not noticed during their earlier review. Why was there another article at the beginning of this notebook?

And it was a historical paper?

"It should be something student Lina copied down in her spare time."

"An article about Zaun's history? That is rather unusual..."

At first, no one paid much attention. But after casually glancing at it, as they continued reading—

No one thought about the papers anymore. They were all reading the article.

"The author can explain the history from before ancient Shurima was founded so clearly?"

What first drew them in was the ancient historical material Li Wei had heard from Janna.

These records had long been forgotten in the river of time. Even Piltover's historians had been unable to reconstruct them.

Thus, everyone was naturally drawn to this detailed and novel "popular history article."

But as they continued reading—

They gradually realized how extraordinary the article was.

It was far more than a simple popular history article.

The secret tales of ancient Shurima's royal court that Piltover historians delighted in discussing, the Darkin War, the Rune Wars, and the legendary heroes of Demacia and Noxus throughout the ages—all of them were only briefly mentioned in the article.

The article shifted its focus away from kings, nobles, generals, and ministers, concentrating instead on the lives of ordinary people over thousands of years, social systems, national laws, agriculture and industry, and the development and transformation of productive forces and relations of production—subjects no one had previously paid attention to.

"Productive forces, relations of production."

"Brilliant. What an incisive summary!"

Everyone present applauded in admiration.

They were all scientists, and they all believed they could change the world through scientific creations.

Yet for the past several thousand years, Runeterra had always been a world ruled by magic and martial strength. Even now that Hextech existed, the dominance of mages and warriors over the world had not been shaken.

But Li Wei's article clearly revealed how scientific creations had shaped human society and influenced the course of history over the past several thousand years.

No matter how powerful mages and warriors were, that was only individual strength. They had contributed almost nothing to the progress of human civilization.

The efforts and achievements of scientists, on the other hand, were the true engines driving the development of the age and the advancement of civilization!

These theories naturally thrilled the scientists.

They suddenly realized that their current work was not merely about making scientific inventions. They were leading human civilization into an entirely new era.

"Interpreting history through scientific methods."

"This author is simply a genius!"

Every scientist was exhilarated.

Even Jayce and Viktor could not help becoming engrossed.

Then they could not resist continuing onward.

The article's historical thread gradually reached the past thousand years, the collapse of the kingdom system, the birth of merchant council city-states, and the division between Zaun and Piltover.

Especially the rise of Piltover's merchant groups, as well as the bloody colonial history they had personally begun.

As they read on, everyone's expressions gradually changed again.

"This article..."

Viktor was the most absorbed.

Every word of the article seemed like an unforgettable curse, endlessly lingering before Viktor's eyes and within his heart.

Viktor had been born in Zaun. Due to Zaun's severe alchemical pollution, he had been weak since birth, and his legs were disabled as well.

He had once hated—hated Zaun, hated himself.

He did not know why he suffered. He could only blame everything on this frail, wretched body.

It was all because flesh was weak and flawed, because he had been born unfortunate!

But now, with the appearance of this article—

It was as though a door to a new world had burst open before him.

The earth-shattering sense of upheaval was like when he had first encountered Hextech theory—no, it was even more shocking than that.

"This article..."

Viktor choked up, staring blankly, unable to speak.

"This article is utterly malicious!!"

Yet every one of his colleagues wore strange expressions.

Some of them even slammed their palms onto the table in anger.

"Fabricating lies, distorting history, slandering Piltover, inciting hatred—"

"These are nothing but the words of a demon!!"