Starting from Zu'an (Seeking Recommendation Tickets~)

Tears streamed down Seraphine's face.

She still didn't fully understand.

But she was shaken and moved by the soulful melodies ringing out from those voices.

The passion of the Zaunite students blazed like fire.

Even Viktor, the most rational and composed of them all, trembled with excitement.

After thinking it over last night, he had already arrived at an answer similar to the ultimate goal Li Wei had described.

But what troubled him was that the ideal was so beautiful, he had no idea how to realize it.

Human strength was far too weak.

Compared to building a utopia through human effort, Viktor even felt that the path of "mechanical transcendence" seemed more feasible—

At least it aligned with his expertise, and he had a vague grasp of how to approach it.

But when it came to achieving that ultimate ideal, Viktor had no confidence at all. He alone couldn't do it.

Now, though, Li Wei told him:

"So what if you can't do it?"

"Does that mean you shouldn't try?"

"No!" Viktor's thoughts suddenly cleared. "We don't need to achieve it—we just need to move forward! Even taking one step closer to the ideal is a victory!"

If they took one step forward, and future generations took another, step by step, even if the final ideal was never realized, they would still be drawing closer to the ultimate goal!

This world would, in the end, grow better because of their efforts!

With that thought, the students' minds gradually unified. No longer were they lost and uncertain about the ideal.

Even though, at this moment, they vaguely sensed from Li Wei's words that merely approaching that ideal would require sacrifice—sacrificing one generation, or even several.

Still, they chased the ideal with fervor:

"Then, Mr. Li Wei, what should we do now?"

With the ultimate goal set and the students' thoughts aligned, it was time to lay out the concrete plan of action.

What was the first step forward?

What was their short-term goal?

Li Wei had to present a practical, actionable plan, not just another stirring, passionate speech.

And Li Wei did not disappoint.

He had unknowingly become the mentor of these gifted students, guiding them toward the path ahead:

"Our short-term goal is—"

"To achieve Zaun's independence and autonomy, to build the first Jannaist city-state in history, and to win the struggle for Zaun as a single city!"

The declaration rang out with force. But the reactions were mixed.

Most students nodded in agreement, believing that their most urgent task was to rescue their suffering Zaunite compatriots.

Yet a few fiery students thought Li Wei's "single-city victory" theory was too conservative:

"Teacher Li Wei," they said, unconsciously addressing him as teacher, though he was just a worker, "shouldn't the Great Harmony you speak of be realized across the entire world?"

"Why emphasize victory for just Zaun, instead of considering a global struggle?"

Because if you take too big a step, you'll strain yourself.

As a newborn, just surviving is good enough.

Dying young is normal. You might lose several before one grows up.

Li Wei appreciated the students' passion, but he told them rationally:

"Struggle isn't writing a novel. We have to be practical, analyzing specific problems in specific contexts."

"Think about it—given the current objective conditions in Runeterra, is there really fertile ground for an immediate worldwide struggle?"

Compared to Earth, Runeterra's current political landscape was downright fantastical.

Piltover and Zaun had started their industrial revolution three hundred years ago, unlocking the tech trees of steam and electricity. Now they had even entered the third industrial revolution, sparked by Hextech and Chemtech.

But what about everywhere else?

Forget embracing the ideas of the industrial revolution, achieving mass machine production, or developing a mature working class.

Most regions and nations hadn't even sparked an "Renaissance" movement yet!

Demacia was still stuck in its knightly aristocracy, while Shurima was overrun with warlords and chieftains.

Ionia was essentially a giant martial arts world, with various sects and schools occupying mountain peaks, farming and living self-sufficiently.

Freljord was even more absurd. The frozen wasteland was hardly suitable for human civilization, and it remained stuck in a primitive tribal slave system.

Noxus was a bit better, with a lopsided military-industrial base. But at its core, it was still a classical slave-based military empire. Countless serfs were bound to the estates and fields of military nobles, never liberated.

And yet, three hundred years had already passed since the Twin Cities' industrial revolution.

The Twin Cities are already practically Cyberpunk 2077, so why are other countries still playing Crusader Kings?

"Why is this happening?"

Well, of course, because this world was originally made up by Earthlings—it's already a mercy they didn't throw in a Wakanda brawling with alien tech. Ahem.

Anyway, if we analyze it seriously:

"It's because the merchant class in Runeterra isn't nearly as powerful as it appears."

"They've only developed abnormally in Zaun and Piltover, without successfully extending their tendrils to every corner of the world."

On Earth, the Industrial Revolution tolled the death knell for the age of monarchy, with machines roaring to crush all outdated things in their path.

If you didn't want to change, the foreigners' warships and cannons would come and force you to.

But Runeterra's situation is completely different:

Warships and cannons? Tanks and machine guns?

Pretty impressive?

Check out Demacian Justice, look into Noxian Guillotine, get a feel for Ionian Spirit Unyielding.

Imagine a Piltover merchant just sailing an armed merchant ship to a foreign coast, ready to deliver some "freedom and democracy" to those "natives"—

And then the "natives" charge out in rune-forged armor, swinging enchanted greatswords, riding Dragon Lizards, Dragon Birds, Juvask Boars, while conjuring colorful fireballs, water blasts, rock shards, and tornadoes in an overwhelming tide.

Pfft! What Industrial Revolution?

Is it better than the bow-and-arrow cavalry and spell magic passed down from the ancestors?

I just want to close the country and farm at home—you think you can shell me?

"So, outside the Twin Cities, in other countries and regions, the old relations of production have never been broken. The power we currently hold is nowhere near enough to rival the warriors and mages who rule the old world."

"And as a highly developed commercial economy, Piltover's internal contradictions have long been shifted by its rulers—using their technological and financial hegemony—onto economic colonies like Zaun and Shurima."

"So the only place in the world with fertile ground for struggle and development is Zaun!"

"And thanks to the Twin Cities' distorted economy, Zaun is now Runeterra's largest heavy industrial city, the world's factory with the most concentrated labor force. Its population has been growing for the past 300 years, now reaching as many as two million people!"

Yes, even if Zaun is a hellhole, its population has always been rising.

Because across the way, Piltover is a paradise.

Every year, foreigners from all over the world pour everything into chasing their dreams in Piltover. Most of them get weeded out by the city—either driven over by the Enforcers or ending up in Zaun on their own.

As Piltover's giant factory and massive slum, Zaun takes in plenty of bankrupt immigrants from the city every year.

The bigger Piltover's business grows, the more factories open in Zaun.

So naturally, the population keeps climbing.

And almost all of them are workers—natural allies, workers.

"If we can unite these two million Zaunites, that's already enough to guarantee our victory!"

Janna's prime was thousands of years ago, before the Shuriman Empire began suppressing her faith.

How many people were in the world back then?

And how many of them were Janna's followers?

In other words, even at her peak, Janna's followers numbered only a few million.

And a single modern industrial metropolis can match the population of an ancient nation.

So just with Zaun's current two million people, there's hope to push Janna's power back to its peak.

"Then Zaun will have a demigod's protection, and even against a power like Noxus, we won't be at a disadvantage!"

"We'll have a way to survive, and then—"

"Explore the road ahead!"