After the deal was finalized, Li Wei "logged off" to attend to his own business.
Meanwhile:
Janna began teaching Seraphine magic, helping her gain an initial grasp of her talent.
After a long wait, Mr. and Mrs. Erwin finally got to meet their second business partner, Professor Viktor of Piltover University.
Viktor was gentle and refined, with an extraordinary bearing. His words and actions carried the strong air of a scholar, and the moment he appeared, Mr. and Mrs. Erwin—the two technically minded entrepreneurs—took a liking to him.
After discussing the relevant technical matters with Viktor in depth and confirming, then admiring, his background and academic ability, Erwin finally lowered the last of his guard.
"Professor Viktor, we can sign the contract with you right now. Here's to a pleasant partnership!"
Erwin showed his sincerity.
But Viktor shook his head. "There's no rush. We can sign the contract later."
"Why?" Erwin asked, puzzled.
Viktor gave him a long look.
Because once he signed this contract, the man would officially be dragged aboard the pirate ship.
If anything happened to the Wind Takers afterward, Erwin's family would inevitably be implicated as well.
The Wind Takers were not outlaw heroes from Bilgewater. They should not use deception and trickery to lure people onto their mountain without their knowing.
Otherwise, once Erwin discovered the truth, the trust they had worked so hard to establish would completely collapse.
Then whether he would accept his fate and remain on the mountain with a seat among the bandits, or look for an opportunity to surrender and accept the authorities' amnesty, would be hard to say.
In short, the Wind Takers needed like-minded companions, not ticking bombs sharing the same bed but dreaming different dreams.
So.
"Mr. Ervin, I hope we can first come to understand each other better, then formally confirm our partnership once you personally agree to it completely," Viktor explained sincerely.
"This..." Erwin assumed Viktor still wanted to inspect his family's factory on site for a while longer. "That's fine too. It will give both sides more time to consider things."
"Then, Professor Viktor, would you like me to accompany you to the factory for a look around now?"
"I was just about to mention that." Viktor smiled. "I hope the factory can suspend operations for one day. That way, my students and I can go deep into the front lines of the factory and understand the situation firsthand."
"You and your students?" Erwin was curious. "Are Piltover University students involved in this project too?"
"Yes, quite a few. You could say this is a form of... social practice for our college."
"Alright." Erwin thought it over. "Then I'll have the factory shut down now and let the workers go home to rest."
"No. You only need to send the local Piltover workers home."
"What about the Zaunite Apprentices?"
"They need to stay. My students and I are here for them."
At that answer, a flicker of surprise passed through Erwin's eyes.
In truth, he had already sensed that something was off.
Because he had come to believe in Janna's existence and in Li Wei being the chosen one of Goddess Janna.
On that desperate night twenty years ago, his tears and helpless prayers... aside from himself, perhaps only the goddess knew of them.
So it only took a little thought to realize:
Could Goddess Janna's return to the mortal world after several centuries truly be just to open a factory in Piltover, make music, and earn herself some pocket money?
Li Wei, Viktor, and the Goddess Janna behind them definitely had some grand and magnificent goal.
Students, workers, professors. These people would all unite beneath the goddess's banner. What exactly did they intend to do?
Erwin did not dare think too deeply about it.
But after hesitating, he still extended his hand to Viktor.
"No problem, Professor Viktor."
"Although I don't know what you and your students wish to 'practice' here, if this is Goddess Janna's will..." Goddess Janna was Zaun's guardian deity, a symbol of goodness and mercy. "Then I am willing to trust you."
"I'll leave this factory to you for now."
"Thank you!" Viktor gratefully shook his hand.
Then he took two booklets from his pocket.
One was written by Li Wei yesterday and printed by him that morning, titled "Zaun: Where Did It Come From?"
The other was compiled by Viktor from Li Wei's speech that morning, titled "Zaun: Where Should It Go?"
The former explained the what and the why, while the latter explained what ought to be done.
The latter's contents were clearly somewhat sensitive.
After thinking it over, Viktor temporarily handed only the first booklet to Erwin.
"Mr. Ervin, perhaps you should read this article."
"Once you understand it, you'll know what we're doing."
The afternoon passed, and night quietly fell.
The Hextech Sound Factory owned by Erwin's family was still brightly lit and bustling with activity. But today, it was not workers busying themselves inside. It was the group of Zaunite students Viktor had brought.
They were trying to confront and solve a problem:
How exactly should the Wind Takers' work be carried out?
No one knew.
It was everyone's first time. They had to accumulate experience through practice.
Fortunately, these students all came from hardship and got along well with the apprentices.
They were also future scientists and knew how to conduct an investigation scientifically.
And when the Zaunite Apprentices saw that they could receive their wages without working today, and that these students had been introduced by Boss Erwin, they were happy to chat with them as well.
For these still inexperienced and immature students, this was undoubtedly the best possible starting point for their future work.
After an afternoon of conversation and investigation, everyone finally gained an understanding of the factory's specific circumstances.
"Professor Viktor!" Lina came to Viktor, who was in charge here, carrying the conclusions everyone had gathered.
She reported the results of their afternoon investigation in full detail.
"The investigation shows that Erwin's Hextech Sound Factory has a total of fifty-one local Piltover employees and one hundred forty-eight Zaunite Apprentices."
"Wait." Viktor noticed something strange as soon as the report began. "Why are there so many Zaunite Apprentices?"
"Doesn't Piltover require that a company's ratio of local employees to foreign labor cannot be lower than fifty percent?"
Piltover did indeed have such a regulation to prioritize protecting local employment.
"But that's only on paper..."
When Viktor was a boy in Zaun, he had studied under a teacher. So he had not suffered much in factories before successfully testing into Piltover.
After arriving in Piltover, he had spent more than a decade without stepping beyond the university gates. He had never even seen what a factory looked like.
Compared to Viktor, who had spent so long in an ivory tower, Lina, the poor Zaunite girl, understood Piltover's social reality far better.
"Zaunites are cheap, and they work hard."
"Who wouldn't want to hire fewer pampered Piltovans and more hardworking Zaunites?"
"So although Piltover has such regulations, factory owners can secretly expand the proportion of foreign labor in their factories through false reporting, registered workers, indentured laborers, and all sorts of other methods."
"False reporting? Registered workers? Indentured laborers?" Viktor was utterly confused.
He had been a scholar for so long that he genuinely had no idea what any of those practices were.
"False reporting is the simplest." Lina explained, "It means hiding illegal immigrants who do not have valid apprentice qualifications and hiring them as illegal laborers in the factory for less than half the normal apprentice wage."
"Mr. Ervin may be rather timid, so he did not dare do that."
"But among the one hundred forty-eight Zaunite Apprentices in his factory, thirty-two are Registered Workers—"
"Officially, they are 'domestic servants' registered under Mr. Ervin's household or the households of several of his acquaintances. In reality, though, they work as apprentices in Mr. Ervin's factory."
"Another sixty-five are Indentured Laborers—"
"They sign contracts with labor contractors in society, and those well-connected, influential contractors dispatch their workers to the factory."
"These people likewise do not count as official Zaunite Apprentices and do not occupy positions on the factory's roster."
"So when you calculate it carefully, the factory only has fifty-one official apprentices on paper—exactly a one-to-one ratio with the local Piltover workers, fifty percent, without violating Piltover's local employment protection regulations."
"This..." If they had not investigated, they would never have known. Once they did, the discovery was shocking.
Viktor had never imagined that Mr. Ervin, who appeared so kind and honest on the surface, could be playing so many tricks behind the scenes.
And when he mentioned Goddess Janna, his expression had seemed so sincere.
Damn it. Had he given that booklet to the wrong person?
"No, you really can't blame Mr. Ervin for this." Lina shook her head helplessly. "Every Piltover factory owner does this. He's already considered one of the honest ones."
"This is considered honest?"
"In Piltover, yes."
"..."
Viktor fell silent for a long time before sighing.
"I thought I was the teacher during this practical exercise."
A great professor, a great intellectual—he naturally looked like someone who should lead everyone and enlighten the masses.
Even Viktor, mild and humble as he was, had instinctively believed that he stood higher than the students and workers, saw farther than they did, and was somewhat wiser.
But now that he had truly left the campus and entered a factory, Viktor realized:
"So... I was the student."
Before you continue