Viktor's Public Lecture (Seeking Recommendation Tickets~)

A long time later, at the Hextech Academy.

A classroom that should have been empty for lack of a scheduled lesson was unusually lively.

It was packed with students from Zaun, and the one teaching them was none other than the great Professor Viktor, who had previously stood up for Zaunite students and earned their goodwill.

Yet the lesson's content had nothing to do with hextech.

It was a historical essay:

"Zaun: Where Did It Come From?"

Everyone seated here was a university student, sharp-minded.

Under Viktor's explanation, they quickly grasped the essay's value and the theories and ideas it sought to convey.

In short, the essay explained:

What this world was like, and why it was that way.

It also left readers with a question to ponder—after knowing the what and the why, what should be done next (how)?

And so the discussion began.

"I think this essay's wording is a bit biased."

The discussion started with a challenge to the what.

Though all the students present were Zaunites, poor, their mindsets were far from uniform.

Viktor, after all, was just a scholar who had spent too long in his ivory tower.

The beautiful scene he'd imagined—raising his arm and rallying a crowd—never materialized in reality.

One student spoke up in doubt:

"This essay paints the Piltovan merchants of 300 years ago as butchers, executioners, genocidal madmen."

"But Piltover's history textbooks record that their military actions on the Shuriman continent were purely out of unavoidable self-defense—"

"Everyone should know that those Shuriman natives weren't innocent lambs either; they'd scalp people."

"It takes two to tango. If Shuriman natives could kill Piltovan merchants, then why couldn't Piltovan merchants fight back against those savages?"

A student voiced this view, sparking an uproar in the room.

"That's utter nonsense!" Lina glared indignantly at the speaker.

She knew this guy.

He was the type who usually spouted weird remarks like "Piltover's air is sweet and luxurious," shamelessly trying to squeeze into Piltovan social circles.

If not for the thick discrimination in Piltover keeping him out, he probably wouldn't even be here with his Zaunite compatriots now.

"Bastard, saying such twisted things—aren't you ashamed?"

"What do you mean 'it takes two to tango'? Did the Shuriman natives reach across the ocean and slap Piltover thousands of miles away first?"

"I swear, were you born from a toilet? Licking Piltovan ass is one thing, but now you're calling their shit sweet? Go fuck yourself!"

Since everyone here was Zaunite, Lina didn't bother pretending.

The student was thoroughly chewed out, and seeing no one around supporting his view, he slunk back into silence.

But then another student offered a new perspective:

"Everyone, I think the essay's analysis of how Piltovan business owners achieved primitive accumulation is spot-on. But the colonization and oppression it mentions are almost all from 300 years ago."

"Nowadays, across all of Runeterra, only the Noxus Empire still engages in that bloody colonial business."

"And today's Piltovan merchants are nothing like those of 300 years ago—what does the past's mistakes have to do with current Piltovans?"

"They're civilized now, progressive, follow business rules, and deal in legitimate trades like hextech, mechanical manufacturing, maritime logistics, and luxury goods."

With that, the student laid out his view on the how:

"I think we shouldn't judge them with outdated eyes."

"Besides, we're already students at Piltover University—we don't need to change anything, just work hard to fit in."

Unlike the earlier weirdo who whitewashed colonizers, this student's remarks won nods from many in the room.

Right, they'd all seen what Piltover was like now!

Top-tier quality of life in the world, top-tier welfare, top-tier cultural environment, top-tier technological level—calling it the beacon of human civilization wasn't an exaggeration!

What did that have to do with the bloody, brutal colonial empire of 300 years ago?

Who cared how they made their money back then? Now they were both wealthy and civilized, weren't they?

"Is that what everyone thinks?"

Seeing the wavering minds in the audience, Professor Viktor finally stepped forward:

"Do you all believe that exploitation and oppression don't exist in Piltover today?"

"Well—" If a Piltovan student were asked this, they'd answer "no" without hesitation.

After all, even the lowest-ranking Piltovan commoner can afford an apartment, buy a car, and laugh at the Zaunites every single day.

Oppression? What oppression? We Piltovans don't feel a thing, do we?

But everyone here was a Zaunite student.

Did they really not know whether the Piltovans had been oppressing them?

"It's not that Piltovan rich people have stopped oppressing or bleeding us dry." Lina unconsciously became the "Class Representative": "They've just stretched the blood-drawing tube from Piltover to Zaun, overseas, to places where Piltovans can't see it!"

"That's how they keep blood off their own hands, while shamelessly parading themselves as civilized and refined!"

"Exactly!" Viktor shot an approving glance at Lina and added, "Especially with the invention of the Hexgates in recent years, it's foreseeable that Runeterra will become increasingly connected as a single economic whole."

"Goods produced in Piltover can be shipped to Noxus and Demacia within a single day; minerals and raw materials excavated from Shurima and Ixtal can be transported to Zaun's processing factories in no time."

"I personally call this situation Runeterra's 'Globalization.'"

"So a bizarre state of affairs will become more and more obvious as globalization advances:"

"That a country's most destitute poor might not even be within its borders—they could be in another country ten thousand miles away!"

Viktor's words were like a bucket of cold water, jolting everyone awake.

They were all Zaunites, so this was very easy to understand.

They didn't even need to think about future globalization, because Piltovan rich people had been doing this to Zaun for two hundred years already.

Zaun was Piltover's mine and factory, constantly supplying minerals, chemical raw materials, and mechanical parts at the lowest prices.

The lion's share of the profits was taken by Piltovan business owners, while the garbage, sewage, alchemical toxins, and the bone-grinding consumption of human labor were all left behind in Zaun.

And the Chem-Barons who ruled Zaun never hid their cooperation with Piltovan business owners.

They even openly flaunted the great Piltovan families backing them as their own competitive advantage.

Then there were Chem-Barons like Renata, who, after getting rich by squeezing Zaunites, simply expanded their businesses bigger and stronger, across the canal, even moving their corporate headquarters to Piltover—

Making it clear they wanted to merge with the Piltovan rich, pursue an "international strategy," and become a "Mars Enterprise."

In the end, for these past two hundred years, Piltover had been carrying out an invisible colonial plunder of Zaun, and those Zaunite Chem-Barons—

Rather than ruling Zaun, they were more like dogs for the Piltovan rich.

No, calling them dogs was a bit emotional.

Everyone thought of that new word from the article: "Comprador?"

"Exactly, with Piltover's economic colonial plunder on the outside and Zaun's comprador rule and oppression on the inside—that's the reality for Zaunites!"

"You can acknowledge Piltover's progress and civilization, but you absolutely cannot ignore that this so-called prosperity is built on their plunder of Zaun, Shurima, and even more impoverished regions!"

Viktor's words carried weight, leaving the students in deep thought.

Then he continued:

"Actually, that classmate just now was right about one thing."

"You are all now students of Piltover University—you don't need to change anything, just work hard to fit in here."

Piltover University was Piltover's top institution, the finest scientific academy in all of Runeterra.

The Zaunite students who managed to study here were all top-tier talents, fiercely competing their way out of countless Zaunites—the high-quality fresh blood Piltover would always need.

In other words, the moment these students set foot here, they were already future beneficiaries.

They didn't need to overthrow anything.

They just had to do what Viktor had done before: study hard here, get a job, obtain legal Piltovan status, and then, as new Piltovans, enjoy the wonderful dividends that came with that identity.

"So, do you still want to keep listening?"

Having covered the what and the why, next came the how.

And that wasn't something you could just casually talk about.

"If you don't want to, you can leave now." Viktor advised kindly.

The road ahead wouldn't be easy.

These students all had bright futures; they didn't need to go down this path.

But students were always the most progressive, the most passionate bunch.

They were like the rising sun, a blazing fire, forever radiating light and heat, impossible to extinguish.

"We want to!"

Some in the crowd were still questioning, still thinking.

But no one left.