A Study Group Too?

Li Wei's appearance on the campus of Piltover University immediately drew a lot of attention.

His shabby work clothes, the kind only a Zaunite Apprentice would wear, clashed sharply with the refined environment here. And yet, this poorly dressed poor boy was holding hands with an elegant, ethereal pink-haired lady of noble bearing.

Such a mismatched pair, with their starkly contrasting styles, naturally drew pointing and whispering from passersby.

But Seraphine completely ignored the noise.

She simply clutched Li Wei's hand tightly, merging her soul with his through their skin, and reveled in the dreamlike world of endless, beautiful music he had created for her:

"Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh."

"Screwdriver, screwdriver~"

"Dun dun dun dun! Dun dun dun dun!"

"..."

Li Wei's music library was unfathomably deep and varied, spanning everything from classical to rock to rap, including many musical styles unheard of in Runeterra.

There was even a song supposedly from some group called K/DA, which felt like it fit her perfectly, as if she had sung it herself.

Seraphine felt like she had struck an inexhaustible treasure trove of music. Listening all the way wasn't enough; it seemed she'd need to hold his hand and listen for a lifetime to be satisfied.

But just as they were about to reach the vicinity of the Hextech Academy, Seraphine suddenly stopped.

"Do you need to switch tracks?" Li Wei asked instinctively, like a smart speaker. "Replay the previous song, or should I recommend something new based on style?"

"No," Seraphine said, looking at him with concern instead. "Mr. Li Wei."

"You seem nervous."

"Me?" Li Wei was slightly taken aback.

He was nervous. He hadn't even noticed it himself.

Because it was just an instinctive emotion left over from the original owner's memories—

That last time Li Wei had come here on business, to find his sister at the Hextech Academy, it had left an extremely unpleasant memory for both him and his sister, Lina.

Why was it unpleasant? Easy to understand.

No young girl would want a shabby, ragged, poor excuse for a brother to show up in front of her and her wealthy classmates, looking like a standard, pitiful Zaunite Apprentice.

After that incident, Lina ignored him for several days, only apologizing out of guilt later when she gradually matured.

And that Li Wei never came to the school to find his sister again.

"That's all in the past."

"You don't need to worry about me, Seraphine."

"Mm." Seraphine seemed to want to say more but held back.

"Want to keep listening to music?"

"No." The little music fanatic actually shook her head. "Not for now."

"Mr. Li Wei, I want to talk about that method you mentioned before—the one that could truly help you, help the Zaunites."

Seraphine suddenly asked with great seriousness.

Clearly, the profound impression that earlier experience had left on her hadn't been forgotten amidst her obsession with music.

"Ah, that..." Li Wei looked a bit troubled.

Although he had taught Seraphine to see the real world, that had only pulled her slightly out of her spring-like greenhouse.

To understand how to change the world, this level of awareness alone wasn't nearly enough.

"What do you think should be done now?"

"Well... since my music can't help everyone, then... then I'll go back and convince my father. Get him to pay the Zaunites more wages and give them less work. That way, Mr. Li Wei, you and the others won't have to struggle so much in the future."

Sure enough, it was a kind but naive answer.

It could help a few people, help for a while, but it wouldn't change anything.

And her father would absolutely never agree to that plan. Even if he did, the improvement wouldn't be significant. Because market laws were at play here, whether he liked it or not.

"Then what should be done?"

"Uh..." Li Wei didn't know where to start teaching.

Seraphine had too many lessons to catch up on.

Because she had been unable to go outside since childhood due to her uncontrollable talent, she had never received a systematic, well-rounded education in history and literature.

Although her parents had hired many tutors, out of infinite indulgence for their daughter, they had only focused on cultivating Seraphine's beloved musical talent.

In other words—

Seraphine was now a pure art student with zero social awareness (though she had somewhat made up for this by "experiencing life" through mind-reading), zero foundation in history and literature, no political training whatsoever, and severely skewed academic focus.

How was he supposed to teach such a lopsided art student to understand politics?

Was he supposed to make her fail an exam first?

"Sigh, I'll just have to start from the basics!" Li Wei racked his brain. "Let me first give you a primer on Runeterra's history."

"But before that, let's briefly introduce a concept: productivity."

"Productivity! Productivity is the key to resolving all contradictions!" Suddenly, a passionate voice rang out from the nearby teaching building.

"Huh?" Li Wei blinked in surprise.

That wasn't him speaking.

What was going on? Who was discussing the concept he'd only written about in his article yesterday?

Curious, he followed the sound and found a large classroom on the first floor packed with students. They sat in small groups, clutching handouts, arguing heatedly with flushed faces. On the podium stood a middle-aged teacher—thin but with sharp, focused eyes. Behind him, the blackboard was covered with excerpts from Li Wei's article, along with a title:

"Zaun: Where Did It Come From?"

"Lina?!" Before Li Wei could even process his shock, he realized he didn't need to wander the academy searching for his sister anymore.

She was standing right there among the students.

And she was standing tall, her expression animated, trading Zaunite curses with her debate partner as they argued. She couldn't have been more conspicuous.

And the topic of their discussion? It was his article.

They were even delving deeper and further than he had.

In his article, Li Wei had only touched on how to understand the world, not how to change it.

But these students had already skipped past the what and why, and were debating how to make it happen!

"Holy shit!"

What the hell happened?

I was just welding circuit boards in the factory all night, and you guys have already formed a Jannaism study group?

"It's probably thanks to your sister and that teacher," Janna said, poking her head out of his pocket, her gaze thoughtful as she looked toward the podium. "He's the one we're looking for—the only believer left now."

"This..." Li Wei still couldn't figure out how it had all come together.

But regardless of the process, the result seemed clear.

The ideas he wanted to spread had apparently started spreading on their own.

Looking at these young students—already thinking, already passionately discussing the future—Li Wei felt a surge of excitement.

He couldn't help but want to hear what answers these university students, with their far greater knowledge and experience than Seraphine, would offer:

"Productivity is the key to resolving all contradictions!"

"And as future scientists, our mission is to create new things and develop productivity! So we don't need to do anything else—just work harder at our own jobs, throw ourselves fully into technological research!"

"As long as we can invent smarter steam golems to completely replace human labor, develop more powerful Hextech energy to fully replace old energy sources, and create even better things... then all problems will be solved!"

Li Wei: "..."

Before he could respond, another student's voice reached his ears:

"Legend says that Bandle City, where the Yordles live, exists in the spirit realm. There, the sun is always warm, the rivers never freeze, every plant bears abundant fruit, and food, energy, and daily necessities grow endlessly on their own. The residents are forever happy and free from conflict."

"I think we could ask the Yordles for the magic to travel between the material and spirit realms, then use Hextech to replicate it. Eventually, we could transform all humans into spiritual beings like the Yordles, living in the spirit realm without needing material resources."

Li Wei: "..."

Before he could respond, another student loudly suggested:

"In Zaun and Piltover, it's becoming more popular to replace human organs with Chemtech or Hextech prosthetics. I think we could take this path even further—try to find a way to completely transform humans into robots using Hextech and Chemtech."

"If everyone becomes a robot, we won't need to eat or wear clothes, won't need to wear makeup or compete, won't need to reproduce, won't need families."

"Without families, there are no descendants. Without descendants, there's no generational accumulation of wealth. The natural inequality between people would simply disappear!"

Li Wei: "..."

"Seraphine?"

"Huh?" Seraphine looked over, dazed.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have called you naive."

"I was the shallow one."