Viktor's Disappointment

These scientists were all stung by the article, some even losing their composure and cursing out loud.

Completely ignoring that just minutes ago, they had been singing in unison about how insightful and accurate the article was.

"You all..." Viktor was left speechless.

But he quickly understood the reason behind this stark contrast:

Minutes ago, these people were still scientists, representatives of advanced productivity.

But now, their identities had shifted to just Piltover's wealthy—

In this chaotic world where magical power reigned supreme, the only ones who had the chance to receive a systematic, thorough scientific education in a safe environment and rise to prominence in Piltover's academic circles were the rich of Piltover.

So Viktor's scientist colleagues mostly came from Piltover's financial dynasties and powerful families.

Even if they weren't born into wealth, after becoming scientists of this caliber, they had long since established inextricable financial ties with Piltover's major families through the process of turning research results into commercial products.

Of course they wouldn't have a favorable view of this sharply worded article.

Especially the old scientist who had reacted the most violently, slamming the table in anger.

That guy was outright a member of the Medarda Family's collateral branch.

And the Medarda Family's main house was in Noxus. They were both wealthy merchants in Piltover and military leaders in Noxus.

So the Medarda Family's caravans, to this day, still followed the Noxus Empire's invasion legions on their campaigns, looting and burning, engaging in the dirty business of colonial plunder and the slave trade.

The bloody colonial history Li Wei wrote about in his article was practically slapping them in the face by name, across a gap of three hundred years.

And what about the other families? Were the businesses these old money types were running now really all that clean?

"Professor Jayce!"

At that moment, the scientist from the Medarda Family stepped forward with considerable displeasure:

"I think we can hold a vote right now to decide whether to admit Miss Lina into the research group."

"Huh?" Jayce was momentarily stunned.

He was still asking naively: "But no one has reviewed Miss Lina's thesis proposal yet."

"No need to look!" The professor frowned coldly: "For her to copy such a distorted article into her notebook clearly shows there's something wrong with her thinking. She's likely an extremist hostile to the Piltover Council!"

"Letting someone with ulterior motives like that into the research group, giving her access to Piltover's most cutting-edge Hextech research—isn't that like inviting a wolf into the house?"

"Come to think of it."

"This girl didn't even write down her surname. She's not a Zaunite, is she?"

The moment he said that, the atmosphere in the room turned a bit awkward.

Because everyone knew there was already a Zaunite here.

They all secretly glanced at Viktor.

Viktor's face darkened and flickered with uncertainty, but in the end, he broke from his usual low-key demeanor and raised his head to counter:

"Professor Medarda, I'd like to ask you something:"

"Something wrong with her thinking. Translate that for me—what exactly does 'something wrong with her thinking' mean!"

"Aren't we scientists? Do scientists not even read a scientific paper, but instead judge a student's thinking based on a history article, and then decide whether to keep or dismiss that student based on so-called ideological errors and regional background?"

"Then what kind of scientists are we—"

"Might as well go work as immigration inspectors on the Canal Bridge!"

"You?!" The Medarda professor's beard trembled with rage.

"Viktor, calm down, calm down." Jayce hurriedly grabbed his friend.

It was the first time he'd seen Viktor so irrational, so angry.

"Jayce?" Viktor looked deeply at his close friend: "Do you also think Miss Lina has some kind of ideological error?"

Jayce was momentarily at a loss for words.

Then he answered: "Miss Lina just copied an article. How can that count as an ideological problem? Young people, they're always curious about all sorts of things. Wasn't I the one who, just a few years ago, accidentally blew up an entire building because I was privately researching banned Hextech crystals? Haha."

"In other words." Viktor suddenly seemed a bit disappointed: "You think Miss Lina is innocent, and the fault lies with that article?"

"Well..." Jayce thought it over seriously, then finally answered honestly: "That's right. I do think that article has some problems."

"First, the historical sources it cites don't appear in any historical records. A lot of the content is unverifiable."

"Second, this article is... a bit extreme in its views."

"The author basically paints every great and illustrious commercial family in Piltover's history as bloody executioners, shameless robbers, and cruel slave traders."

"As if every entrepreneur in Piltover is dirty."

"But is that really the case?"

Jayce earnestly debated with Viktor:

"In fact, the business owners and merchants I know are mostly gentle, elegant gentlemen, hardworking strivers, and generous philanthropists."

"Not to mention anything else, just take our Talise Family—"

"My great-grandfather was nothing more than an ordinary blacksmith. Through his own effort and struggle alone, he built his own hammer-making factory in Piltover."

"For generations, our family has devoted itself solely to forging better-quality hammers. We have never stolen from anyone, never robbed anyone—every bit of our accumulation comes from our own hard work and sweat."

"Viktor, look:"

"Does that make our Talise family evil, guilty of arson and plunder?"

The Talise family's rise to prominence was indeed spotless.

And the reason Talise had leaped from an ordinary family business to one of Piltover's elite houses in recent years was entirely thanks to Jayce's genius intellect and great contributions as a scientist—nothing worthy of criticism.

Calling them bad people was certainly unjust.

Not all business owners were bad; many were genuinely good people. So that article was undoubtedly biased.

"This..." Viktor fell silent.

He felt something was off, but couldn't find the words to refute it at the moment.

"Alright, alright!" Professor Medarda grew impatient. "Since Professor Jayce agrees the article has issues, let's just put it to a vote!"

"Anyone in favor of granting this extra spot to Lina, raise your hand now."

An awkward silence.

Viktor raised his hand first. "I'm in favor."

Then a female researcher named Skaye, after stealing a glance at him, nervously raised her hand under the strange looks of the others. "I—I'm in favor too."

The third to raise his hand, after some hesitation, was Jayce.

"Professor Jayce?" The others were surprised.

Jayce carefully explained, "I do think the article's viewpoint is wrong, but since this is about recruiting apprentices for the research team, shouldn't we primarily consider the student's academic level?"

"Her ability isn't bad—she meets our team's requirements."

"So I suggest we all take a look at Lina's thesis design first, then vote."

He set an honest example for everyone.

But no one else bothered to look at Lina's thesis.

And no one else raised their hand.

There were eleven people present. Only Jayce, Skaye, and Viktor voted in favor.

Eight to three. The outcome was clear.

"This..." Jayce hesitated, as if wanting to say something. But faced with his colleagues' resolute stance, he ultimately held back and silently accepted the result.

"Professor Viktor, I suggest you just throw that notebook away." Professor Medarda tossed the notebook back to Viktor without a backward glance and went to calibrate the experimental equipment.

The others followed suit.

No one cared about the article anymore, let alone the stranger named Lina.

Viktor stood in silence, watching the backs of his colleagues—people he'd worked well with every day, yet who now stood firmly against him. He didn't speak for a long time.

It seemed he finally saw something clearly.

Jayce and Skaye wanted to check on him.

But Viktor clutched Lina's notebook tightly and strode off without looking back.

"Viktor, where are you going?"

"Back to the office. There are some issues I need to study."

"Huh?" Jayce's expression grew complicated. "What research are you doing alone? Our experiment's progress is still—"

Viktor didn't answer.

The questions he needed to think about might be more important than Hextech itself.