Publicity Priorities

How should they spread the message? How could they unite people?

Viktor stamped his foot in thought and remained silent for a long while.

As a cloistered scholar who was not even familiar with his colleagues at the academy, this question gave him more of a headache than calculating the constraint equations for a Hextech Artificial Gravity Singularity.

"Professor Viktor," Lina asked tentatively, "should we start by publicizing the conflict between Zaun and Piltover?"

"After all, you know that the only thing capable of unconditionally uniting Zaunites regardless of age, gender, status, region, or education is our hatred for Piltovans."

"We can first tell them that we are all Zaunites, and that we have come to seek happiness for Zaunites."

It was a practical suggestion.

Although the concept of "Zaunites" had not existed at all in the past.

It was a group artificially created.

But it had already been created.

The Twin Cities were like a cake cut in half. One half was carefully kept in a refrigerator, while the other was tossed into a garbage heap to rot and grow mold.

After more than two hundred years, no matter how loudly the enlightened cried, "We are all cake," they had become two utterly different cakes that could no longer blend together.

Piltover's oppression and discrimination against Zaun had never ceased.

Naturally, the Zaunites' hatred of Piltover had sunk deep into their bones.

To Zaunites, it did not matter who you were. So long as you cursed Piltovans, they would definitely come help you make a scene.

And when Viktor had gathered so many Zaunite students that morning, he had in fact taken advantage of Piltovans' rejection of them and their resentment toward Piltovans. Only by starting with the conflict between the Twin Cities had he successfully carried out the deeper publicity that followed.

"No, we can't completely copy our previous experience."

After careful thought, Viktor rejected the method he had used before.

"Before, I was facing all of you—the finest, most gifted, most thoughtful university students in the Twin Cities."

"But now we are facing apprentice workers, ordinary Zaunite laborers who lack education and the habit of thinking."

Students were good at thinking and had strong comprehension skills.

So after stirring up their anger, Viktor had been able to use the ideas and theories in Zaun, From Whence It Came? to make them think, understand, and ultimately recognize where their anger came from and whom it should be directed at.

But would the same method work well on apprentice workers?

Not necessarily.

Because Zaun, From Whence It Came? was not interesting at all.

From the very beginning, it had been a serious academic outline written by Li Wei after extracting key theories, intended for intellectuals.

It was not some accessible popular-science book like "Tasting the Twin Cities," "Piltover's Secret History," or "Those Things About Shurima."

Nor did it contain only those widely circulated, catchy slogans and phrases.

On the contrary, beyond those fresh historical secrets and thunderous classic lines, it also contained long passages of philosophical and economic theory that ordinary people found convoluted and unfathomable.

It was genuinely difficult for the average person to chew through.

It required patience and thought.

Viktor did not believe that apprentice workers, who normally had no time at all to study or think, could understand Janna's theories in a short period of time.

"If we simply teach them theory word for word like we're giving a lesson, then I'm afraid..."

Viktor recalled his days as a university lecturer, when his material had been too profound and dull, leaving the students below utterly bored and drowsy.

"I'm afraid those workers would all fall asleep listening too," he said with a helpless smile.

It was only because Runeterra had no smartphones.

Otherwise, the lively spectacle Li Wei had seen in university philosophy classes—four consecutive transcendents, five consecutive legends, six consecutive world-ending slaughters—might very well be reenacted here.

"Then we don't have to lecture them first." Lina suggested thoughtfully, "We can first use the conflict between the Twin Cities to unite everyone, then slowly find ways to explain the meaning of Janna's Ideology to them."

"In my view, that's the simplest method."

Focusing on the conflict between the Twin Cities to unite people's hearts was indeed the simplest and most feasible method.

Because it was the easiest for people to understand.

Whether one was a learned university professor or a barely literate factory apprentice, everyone could distinguish one another through culture, customs, and place of origin at a glance.

And even if you could not distinguish them or did not want to, Piltovans would help you do so.

Those repeated cries of "Zaunite," "Sewer Rat," and "Go back to Zaun" were simply the best identity education for Zaunites.

By comparison, Janna's Ideology, which discussed class distinctions, had a high barrier to entry.

One needed a certain educational foundation and a willingness to think before one could understand and accept the theory.

And after accepting it, people could still divide into countless schools over how to put it into practice, arguing with one another until the end of time.

Unlike simple supporters of Zaun—they only needed to tell their compatriots that Piltover was the enemy, then work together to beat that enemy down.

Low threshold, strong mobilizing power, strong cohesion, and a direct, clear goal.

That was also why this current of thought still possessed such unstoppable vitality and was so widespread across all of Runeterra.

So when it came to the word "unity," the lengthy Janna's Ideology was currently not as effective as the simple slogan, "We are all Zaunites."

"No, that won't do!"

After thinking it over carefully, Viktor's expression grew solemn.

"It is precisely because these apprentice workers find Janna's Ideology difficult to understand that we must help them understand it, rather than simply using their dissatisfaction with Piltover to unite people."

Viktor was not worried that this method would fail. He was worried that it would work too well.

If the workers became immersed in a simple Zaunite group identity, they would naturally pursue Zaunite priority in the future.

"Lina, your brother emphasized this when he taught—"

"The theory of victory in one city is not the theory of Zaunite priority. What we should pursue is a community of shared destiny for all intelligent species in Runeterra, not simply Zaun's rise."

"Zaun should not become a second Piltover."

"It should be a beacon for Janna's believers throughout the world, a model that inspires them to awaken and guides them forward."

"This..." Lina fell into thought.

In truth, she felt that quite a few of her classmates felt the same way.

If they could turn Zaun into a second Piltover before their generation died, that would already be quite good.

You had to eat one bite at a time.

If Zaunites could live like Piltovans, they would laugh aloud even in their dreams.

And Li Wei had also said that other regions of Runeterra remained in feudal or primitive societies, with no conditions for immediately launching struggles.

Was it not a little unrealistic to reject Zaunite priority now and prepare to export their ideas abroad?

"No, Lina, that is where you are failing to seek truth from facts." Viktor looked at her with unwavering eyes. "Tell me: what is the fundamental guarantee of our victory in this struggle?"

"Force," Lina answered.

"Where does force come from?"

"Janna." Li Wei had analyzed this long ago. In a world where individual power surpassed everything else, victory required using magic to defeat magic and building an invincible transcendent powerhouse from the faith of the masses.

"That's right. Our greatest guarantee of force is Janna."

"And the more believers there are, the stronger Janna becomes."

"Zaun's population of two million may be considerable, but its strength ultimately has limits. Only by gradually awakening the suffering people across all of Runeterra can we grant Janna the mighty power to contend against every enemy."

"So—"

"Ideology! Ideology is our strongest weapon!"

"If we fall into the misconception of Zaunite priority and temporarily lay down this sharpest of weapons, then under the hostility, blockade, competition, and opposition of vested interests throughout the world..."

"In the end, we may not even be able to preserve victory in Zaun alone."

Viktor sighed, his gaze distant.

"I understand." Lina finally realized her mistake—

That was right, Janna was protecting them!

There was no need for any reservations. They only needed to spread the faith with all their might, develop more comrades, and help Janna grow stronger!

And to spread Janna's faith, they naturally could not focus on promoting Zaunite group identity. Instead, they should—

"Class! Through publicity, we must first awaken everyone's class consciousness!"

"However..." Lina frowned.

As they spoke, the topic had circled back again.

"How should we spread the message to awaken this kind of consciousness in everyone?"

No one knew.

No one had tried it before.

"Should we try that method?" After struggling with it, Viktor finally thought of something. "Your brother gave me some advice."