They sympathized with the masses, yet had never truly immersed themselves among them. Having never immersed themselves among the masses, they still loved to see themselves as the masses' enlighteners and saviors. But when it came to concrete problems, they could often offer only childish answers full of impractical romantic fantasies.
Li Wei himself had once been that kind of person.
Before inheriting the original owner's painful memories, he too had only engaged in lofty empty talk from the clouds.
But what he had not expected was that Seraphine's "illness" was even worse than his, a modern city youth's—and by so much.
"Mr. Ervin must love you very much."
"Hmm?"
"Nothing. I was just envious that you had such a good father."
At this moment, the tribespeople of Freljord were still struggling to survive amid ice and snow. Demacia's old farmers still toiled tirelessly for their knightly lords. Bilgewater's pirates slaughtered one another in endless conflicts, while Shurima's natives struggled to survive amid warlord warfare and colonial rule. Ionia's people fought desperately against Noxus's encroaching invasion, while Noxus's slaves barely clung to life in weapons workshops, military farms, noble estates, fighting pits, and every other place that could squeeze out the last of their lives.
As for Zaun, just across the river, there was even less need to explain its situation.
Li Wei truly envied Seraphine. In such a terrifying, cruel world, she had grown up so pure and innocent.
Her parents had truly taken good care of her.
They had never let her see even a glimpse of the world's true face.
"Sing," Li Wei suddenly said.
"Huh?" Seraphine tilted her head.
"Didn't you think music could move the world and solve problems?"
"Then sing now—"
Li Wei thought this was a rare opportunity. An opportunity to thoroughly shatter this young lady's naive fantasies. It was time for her to face the real world:
"Those beggars are still fighting desperately just to fight over the few coins you threw out."
"If you think singing can solve problems, then test your idea through practice right now—try it and see whether your singing can really save them."
Rather than personally stepping in to stop the chaos, Li Wei left the opportunity to Seraphine.
"M-Me?" Seraphine was completely at a loss.
"Yes, hurry up. We don't have time, and they have even less."
They were already drawing blood over there. If the beggars kept fighting like this, someone might actually die.
And she had caused all of it.
"I-I understand."
"But what song should I sing?"
"Wasn't that something you should have figured out before proposing this solution?" Li Wei criticized coolly.
"I, I..." Sweat trickled down Seraphine's forehead. She seemed to finally understand why both Li Wei and her father said she was naive.
"Then I'll sing... I'll sing that unnamed nursery rhyme. It's a nursery rhyme my father brought from Zaun. When I was little and being tormented by the 'noise,' he would always use that song to lull me to sleep..."
"Quit stalling and sing!"
"Yes..." Seraphine nodded pitifully, her presence as weak as a droopy-eared cat's.
However, once she cleared her throat, closed her eyes to feel, and poured herself into the emotion, her aura gradually changed again.
She began to sing. And whenever she sang, she was always confident.
Because she was the Starry-Eyed Songstress, a born soul musician.
"La~" The first note rang out.
It was not loud, and was even completely drowned out by the sounds of fighting nearby.
Li Wei watched from the side without much concern.
But gradually, the music began to build.
Seraphine opened her throat and sang, carrying her sympathy and pity, carrying that tender and sentimental heart of hers.
"That song..."
"Have I heard it somewhere before?"
The beggars, who had been fighting with bloodshot eyes, actually stopped one after another.
It was as if the coins no longer mattered, as if all their troubles had vanished. They only wanted to listen to the song, to this familiar song.
It was a nursery rhyme from Zaun. Of course Zaunites had all heard it.
Yet Seraphine elevated this utterly ordinary nursery rhyme to a new height. Her singing was so gentle, soothing, warm, and full of hope.
Everyone was entranced.
Including Li Wei, who had initially been dismissive.
When the song ended, the noisy battlefield became strangely quiet and harmonious.
They looked at one another, and had somehow all forgotten to continue fighting.
"Everyone." As the lingering notes echoed, Seraphine asked in her warm voice, "Please don't hurt each other anymore, okay? Whatever troubles there are, we can solve them together!"
"O-Okay," the beggars muttered in reply.
The viciousness in their eyes had vanished completely. Even though the music had stopped, they had inexplicably lost all desire to kill. Even if they wanted to fight, they could no longer bring themselves to do it.
It was as though they had suddenly understood: Yeah, what was there to fight over? We were all neighbors and friends. Why were we killing each other instead of uniting and helping one another?
"It worked, it really worked." Seraphine clenched her small fists in excitement. She immediately turned to Li Wei. "Mr. Li Wei, see? My singing really does have an effect!"
"Yeah." Li Wei sighed sincerely. "Seraphine, I misjudged you! Your singing is simply heavenly music. It is a hand that soothes the soul, medicine that heals wounds, it is..."
"It is fucking bullshit!"
Li Wei snapped back to his senses with lingering fear.
Holy shit.
Was that singing?
That was SP Sona unleashing her ultimate, wasn't it?!
"Mr. Li Wei, why did you suddenly start swearing?" Seraphine looked aggrieved. After receiving one-on-one instruction from a famous Zaun teacher, she already knew that was not a nice phrase.
"Swearing at you is going easy on you!"
"Seraphine, is this what you meant by using song to make people understand one another?"
"Yes." The girl had not even realized that she had unconsciously used that ability she could not control at all.
"But this isn't fucking singing—scientifically speaking, this should be called brainwashing; magically speaking, this should be called enchantment!"
"Seraphine, do you know what you're doing?" For some reason, Li Wei was extremely angry.
Seraphine looked at him somewhat fearfully. "I-I don't know."
"You're stuffing Brainrot Music down those people's throats! You're wearing down their fighting spirit, corroding their minds, making them even more content with the status quo! No, the problem is even more serious than that."
If she merely sang well, it could only be considered Brainrot Music. There was nothing wrong with listening for entertainment and relaxation when one was tired.
But Seraphine was a mage.
Although she still could not control it freely, her singing could ultimately carry magic—magic-infused singing could directly influence her listeners' emotions.
And to those suffering Zaunites, it was practically the same as...
"It is no different from Shimmer!"
Shimmer could temporarily enhance a person's physique, giving the weak an intoxicating feeling of strength that trapped them and made them unable to forget it.
And Seraphine's magical music could immerse people in false dreams, producing warped spiritual pleasure. It made them forget reality, stop thinking, and numb themselves.
As though so long as they immersed themselves in the music, all the pain in their lives would simply disappear into thin air.
If she debuted as an idol using this kind of singing, then she would become the Twin Cities' greatest drug dealer in the future, without question!
"Seraphine, do you think these people who listened to your song..." Li Wei pointed at the beggars before them, who had inexplicably become docile. "Look at them. How are they any different from those Shimmer addicts earlier?"
"Think carefully. Once your magic's effect fades, will they still look this 'happy'?"
Magic's effects were not permanent, just like the strength Shimmer gave people would eventually fade. In the end, it only treated the symptoms, not the cause! Using it too much would only bring endless future harm!
"I..." Seraphine was speechless.
She thought of those Shimmer addicts, and their terrifying appearance like walking corpses.
She had thought she could help others, that she could let everyone live a good life and keep them from falling into such miserable, hopeless circumstances.
But now... Li Wei was telling her that the good deed she thought she had done was actually turning people into that very state.
"W-Was I wrong?"
Tears surged out as if a dam had burst.
The tears slid down Seraphine's spotless cheeks, across her smooth and delicate chin, and finally fell into the dust, landing on this ground she had never set foot upon before.
"Waaah..." Li Wei had scolded her awake—though he had also scolded her into tears.
She cried fiercely, her body trembling, like a pink-haired rabbit.
"Ah." Li Wei sighed. "Stop crying. How could this be your fault?"
Of course she was not at fault.
She was simply too naive.
"Mr. Li Wei, then... what should we do?"
"We'll have to explore that together. But before that..." Li Wei sincerely suggested, "I think you should first understand the suffering of Zaunites before talking about how to save them."
"This..." Seraphine took his words seriously. "How should I understand it?"
"Very simple—"
"Don't you read minds just by touching someone with your hand?"
"Perhaps this time, you can step down from that high stage, return to the ground, and shake hands with the people you want to help."
Li Wei boldly extended his hand this time:
"Are you willing, Seraphine?"
Before you continue