The moment Li Wei appeared on Piltover University's campus, he drew quite a few stares.
His shabby work clothes, worn only by Zaunite Apprentices, already clashed sharply with the refined surroundings. Yet this plainly dressed poor boy was holding the hand of an elegant, ethereal pink-haired lady.
Such an oddly mismatched pair naturally drew plenty of pointing and whispering from passersby.
But Seraphine ignored all that noise completely.
She merely gripped Li Wei's hand tightly, letting their souls merge through their touching skin as she drunkenly wandered the dreamlike world of endless, wondrous music he had created for her:
"Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh."
"Screwdriver, screwdriver~"
"Dun-dun-dun-dun! Dun-dun-dun-dun!"
"..."
Li Wei's music library was unfathomably deep and extraordinarily diverse, containing everything from classical music to rock to rap, along with many new musical styles unheard of in Runeterra.
There was even a song supposedly from some group called K/DA. It suited her perfectly, almost as if she herself had sung it.
Seraphine felt as though she had unearthed an inexhaustible treasure trove of music. Even after listening all the way there, she still wanted more. It felt like she would have to hold his hand and listen for an entire lifetime before she could be satisfied.
However, just as they were about to reach Hextech Academy, Seraphine suddenly stopped.
"Do you need to change songs?" Li Wei asked reflexively, like a smart speaker. "Would you like to replay an earlier track, or should I recommend something new based on your preferred style?"
"No." Seraphine looked at him with concern instead. "Mr. Li Wei."
"You seem nervous."
"Me?" Li Wei froze slightly.
Yes, he was nervous. He had not even realized it himself.
It was merely an instinctive emotion left behind in the original owner's memories—
The last time that Li Wei had come here, to Hextech Academy to see his younger sister, it had left a deeply unpleasant memory for both him and his sister Lina.
Why had it been unpleasant? That was easy enough to understand.
No young girl wanted her sloppy, raggedly dressed poor brother to appear before her wealthy classmates looking like the very picture of a pitiful Zaunite Apprentice.
After that incident, Lina had ignored him for several days. Only after gradually growing more mature had she apologized guiltily.
And that Li Wei had never come to the school to see his sister again.
"That was all in the past."
"You don't need to worry about me, Seraphine."
"Mm..." Seraphine seemed to want to say something, but stopped herself.
"Do you want to keep listening to music?"
"No." The little music addict actually shook her head. "Not for now."
"Mr. Li Wei, I want to talk about the method you mentioned before—the one that could truly help you, help the Zaunites."
Seraphine suddenly asked in an extremely serious tone.
Clearly, her earlier experience had left a deep impression on her, one that had not been erased by her obsession with music.
"That..." Li Wei found himself in a difficult position.
Although he had taught Seraphine to see the real world, he had only pulled her slightly out of her perpetual-spring greenhouse.
If she wanted to know how to change the world, that little bit of understanding was far from enough.
"What do you think should be done now?"
"Um... Since my music can't help everyone, then... then I'll go persuade my father. I'll have him give the people of Zaun higher wages and make them work less. That way, Mr. Li Wei, you and the others won't have to work so hard in the future."
Sure enough, it was a kind-hearted and innocent answer.
It could help a few people, perhaps for a while, but it could not change anything.
And her father would absolutely never agree to that plan. Even if he did, the improvements would not amount to much. That was simply how the market worked, whether he wanted it to or not.
"Then what should we do?"
"Uh..." Li Wei did not know where to begin teaching her.
Seraphine had far too many lessons to make up.
Because she had been unable to leave home as a child due to her uncontrollable gift, she had never received a systematic and complete education in history and literature either.
Though her parents had hired many private tutors for her, out of boundless indulgence toward their daughter, they had focused only on cultivating Seraphine's beloved musical talent.
In other words—
Seraphine was currently a pure arts student with zero social awareness—though she had made up for that somewhat by "experiencing life" through mind-reading—zero foundation in history and literature, no political training whatsoever, and a severely lopsided skill set.
How was he supposed to teach politics to an arts student with such an unbalanced education?
Did he have to make her fail an exam first?
"Ugh, I'd better teach you from the very beginning!" Li Wei thought, his head aching. "First, I'll give you a basic overview of Runeterra's history."
"But before that, let's briefly introduce a concept: productive forces—"
"Productive forces! Productive forces are the key to resolving all contradictions!" An impassioned voice suddenly rang out from the teaching building nearby.
"Huh?" Li Wei paused in surprise.
That was not him speaking.
What was going on? Who was discussing a concept he had only written about in an article yesterday?
Curious, he followed the voice and found a large classroom on the first floor filled with students. They sat in groups of twos and threes, holding handouts as they argued with flushed faces. A thin but sharp-eyed middle-aged teacher stood at the podium, and on the blackboard behind him were clearly written portions of Li Wei's article, along with its title:
"Where Did Zaun Come From?"
"Lina?!" Before Li Wei even had time to be shocked, he spotted her. He did not need to wander around the academy looking for his sister after all.
His sister was standing right among those students.
And she was standing rather high up, looking excited. As she debated, she was even trading Zaunite insults with the person arguing against her. She could not have been more conspicuous.
And what these students were discussing was actually his article.
They were even discussing it more deeply and more broadly.
In that article, Li Wei had merely mentioned how to understand the world. He had not yet discussed how to change it.
Yet these students had already skipped past the what and why and were discussing what should be done!
"Holy shit!"
What the hell had happened?
I only spent one night welding boards at the factory, and you people have already formed a Jannaism study group?
"It should have something to do with your sister, as well as that teacher." Janna poked her head out of his pocket and looked thoughtfully toward the podium. "He is the sole remaining believer we are looking for."
"This..." Li Wei still could not understand how all this had happened.
However, regardless of the process, the result seemed to be—
The ideas he wanted to spread had apparently spread on their own.
Looking at these young students, who had already begun thinking and were passionately discussing the future, Li Wei was deeply stirred.
He could not help wanting to hear what answer these university students, whose knowledge and experience far surpassed Seraphine's and who had received higher education, would give:
"Productive forces are the key to resolving all contradictions!"
"And as future scientists, our mission is to create new things and develop productive forces! So we don't need to do anything else. We only need to work even harder at our own jobs and devote ourselves wholeheartedly to technological research!"
"As long as we can invent smarter Steam Golems to completely replace human labor, invent more powerful Hextech energy to completely replace old energy sources, invent even more—then every problem will be easily solved!"
Li Wei: "..."
Before he could say anything, another student's voice reached his ears:
"Legend says Bandle City, where the Yordles live, lies within the Spirit Realm. There, the sunlight is warm, spring waters flow endlessly, every plant bears abundant fruit, and food, energy, and daily necessities grow naturally in inexhaustible supply. Its inhabitants are forever happy and free from conflict."
"I think we can ask the Yordles to teach us the magic of traveling between the material realm and the Spirit Realm. Then we can use Hextech to reproduce that magic and eventually transform all humans into Yordle-like psionic beings who can live in the Spirit Realm without consuming material resources."
Li Wei: "..."
Before he could say anything, another student loudly suggested:
"Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly popular in both Zaun and Piltover to replace human organs with Chemtech or Hextech prosthetics. I think we can go much further down this path and try to find a way to use Hextech and Chemtech to transform humans completely into machines."
"As long as everyone becomes a robot, no one will need to eat or wear clothes, put on makeup and compete with others, reproduce, or have families."
"No families means no descendants. No descendants means there will naturally be no generational accumulation of family wealth, and the innate inequality between people will naturally disappear!"
Li Wei: "..."
"Seraphine?"
"Mm?" Seraphine looked over at him blankly.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you naive."
"I was too shallow."
Before you continue