"Jayce, what's wrong with you? Why are you shouting Cipher's name so loudly?"
Viktor put down The Book of Revolution and looked at his friend with confusion. The normally composed scientist was red-faced, his hands clenched into tight fists.
He couldn't understand why he was screaming Cipher's name as if he were a mortal enemy.
"Viktor, listen to me first. He's been lying to us. All this time!" Jayce paced the room, his boots clicking against the stone floor. "Cipher has deceived us. He has been secretly developing and selling weapons to Noxus and even attempted to start a war."
He forced himself to calm down and revealed Cipher's true nature to Viktor.
To his surprise, Viktor only nodded slightly and said indifferently, "After reading that book, I had already vaguely guessed it."
"Guessed? Viktor, what are you talking about?"
"The last time we developed Hextech, that lab was probably Cipher's weapons research facility, and that factory was a military factory."
"And you're defending this?" Jayce's voice rose again.
"I'm explaining. There's a difference." Viktor's calm tone contrasted sharply with Jayce's agitation.
"?"
Jayce stared at Viktor in bewilderment. I haven't even said anything yet. I haven't shown you the data. How do you already know?
"Do you remember when we went to Zaun, that fierce-looking woman?" Viktor asked. He was about to explain to Jayce.
"Of course, I remember. She's actually a high-ranking member of an underground organization, not just a bodyguard hired by Cipher. He has been deceiving us all along." Jayce's fist slammed onto a nearby table. "He used us, Viktor! Used our research!"
He emphasized again that Cipher was a liar, highlighting his anger toward him.
As for Sevika, the woman Viktor mentioned, he certainly remembered her. Mel's intelligence had mentioned her, and Jayce had a strong impression, her gaze was as if she wanted to devour someone alive. Even now, the memory made him shiver slightly.
"Last night, I ran into Cipher at Councilor Medarda's banquet hall. He said that was his sister, Sevika."
"And? He just wanted to mislead you. He probably had Sevika clear out any traces of weapon production at the military factory in advance when we had been in Zaun. Viktor, this isn't a misunderstanding. Cipher is manufacturing and selling weapons. He is a liar. He has deceived us!"
"Progress isn't always peaceful, Jayce."
"Progress through weapons? Through war?"
"Through whatever means necessary to break the chains."
Jayce leaned over the workbench toward Viktor, noticing that Viktor's words seemed to be defending Cipher.
He had to emphasize once again that Cipher was a liar who had betrayed their trust. Why can't he see it? Why won't he understand?
Last night, Jayce did see Sevika in the banquet hall, but he was too drunk, and his attention was entirely on Viktor, so he hadn't paid much notice. Now every detail of that encounter seemed significant.
"Jayce, Cipher is not a liar. On the contrary, he is a pioneer, he is ahead of everyone else on the path of progress."
If Viktor had realized before reading The Book of Revolution that Cipher was selling weapons, he would have reacted like Jayce, believing that Cipher had deceived and taken advantage of them. But now everything looked different, as if he was seeing through new eyes.
His perspective had completely changed. The words had revealed truths he'd always known but never acknowledged.
Zaun had long been brutally oppressed and exploited by the elites of Piltover. For Zaun to rise and progress, it had to break free from the Upper City's control. The air in Zaun wasn't the only thing that was toxic, the whole relationship between the cities was poisoned.
And to resist the ruling elites of Piltover, Zaun had to arm itself and fight back. There was no peaceful path to freedom when your oppressor holded all the cards.
Struggle always meant sacrifice.
Cipher didn't want Zaun to keep bleeding; he simply sought to shift the inevitable sacrifices elsewhere.
The logic was cold but clear.
Since Viktor was from Zaun, he naturally stood from Zaun's perspective. From his point of view, Cipher had no better alternative.
Selling weapons to Noxus was, perhaps, the best solution Cipher could find. It was ugly, but it was the only way.
Zaun was just too weak. Conventional methods could never break through the oppressive blockade imposed by Piltover's ruling class. The city of progress had made sure of that.
Only something more terrifying than the elites themselves could make them fearful and ease their exploitation of Zaun, only then would Zaun have a chance to rise.
Sometimes you needed poison to fight poison... a monster to fight monsters.
But Jayce, at this moment, could not understand any of this. His world was still simple, still clean.
"Viktor, wake up! Don't let him fool you. He's nothing but a liar!"
"A weapons merchant without a shred of conscience, selling death to Noxus! Do you know how many people will die because of this?"
Jayce slammed his hands on the workbench, his emotions surging. He could not stand by and watch Viktor, his only friend on the path of scientific research, continue to be deceived by Cipher.
"Conscience?"
Viktor suddenly chuckled as if he had heard something amusing. With a strange smile, he asked in an odd tone, "Jayce, do you think you have a conscience?"
"Of course, I do!" Jayce answered without hesitation. "I offer salaries so high that even Piltover elites envy them, just to give my employees a better life."
"I feel pain for the suffering of others. I research science and develop Hextech to benefit all of humanity. Of course, I have a conscience."
Jayce declared firmly, completely confident in his words, he had every reason to say what he did.
With the success of Hextech, he had become a household name in Piltover.
He knew how many residents of the Upper City praised his achievements. When he walked the streets, people would personally express their gratitude, thanking him for what he had done for Piltover.
"Councilor Medarda, what about you? Do you think you have a conscience?"
In response to Jayce's words, Viktor simply nodded without replying. Instead, he turned to Mel and asked her the question. The councilor stood straighter.
"Of course, I do."
"Though my mother is from Noxus, I am a Piltovan. I love peace, and I will do everything in my power to protect it and prevent war."
Mel was momentarily stunned. She wasn't sure what Viktor was implying, but she firmly believed she had a conscience.
For years, she had worked in the council to improve the lives of the people in the Upper City. Every decision, every policy had been carefully crafted.
As for Zaun, she had always supported a policy of appeasement rather than violent suppression.
"But in my eyes, neither of you have a conscience. Your true conscience was taken away by capital, and you haven't even realized it."
"You only have the conscience that capital allows you to have, a false conscience, fabricated to create conflict between the two cities and hinder real progress."
Viktor shook his head after speaking, outright stating that Jayce and Mel had no real conscience, or rather, that their conscience had long been corrupted.
"That's impossible! My conscience is right here. Who could possibly take it away?"
"And what exactly do you mean by 'capital'? Are you saying Cipher tricked you into believing this?"
Jayce pounded his chest, unable to grasp Viktor's point. To him, Viktor's words were a sign of severe delusion.
And the culprit could only be Cipher. He must have done something to Viktor, driving him into madness.
"Still don't see the problem? In all the examples you gave to prove your conscience, did you ever mention Zaun?"
Viktor shook his head, disappointment evident on his face.
With Jayce's intelligence, he should have been able to deduce what Viktor meant. But capital had blinded him, making him unable to see the reality of the world.
The truth was right in front of him, but he kept looking the other way, maybe because it was easier that way.
"When you speak, you instinctively exclude Zaun, that is proof that you've been controlled and deceived by capital."
"You claim to have a conscience, but are you even aware of Zaun's horrific living conditions?"
"Before Cipher took control of Zaun and established its industrial system—"
"In the mines, Zaunite miners worked over 16 hours a day. Every night, countless miners died in those tunnels, including children as young as seven or eight years old." Viktor's voice grew harder with each word.
"Children dying in mines, Jayce."
"Where was your conscience then?"
"Where was your compassion."
"Where was your heart?"
"Did you know about this? The council knew. The government knew. Every single person in Piltover knew. And yet, did anyone do anything about it?"
"Your conscience is limited to the Upper City."
"Piltover is not a city of progress. The entire city is enslaved by capital, including you, including me, and including every single person in the Upper City."
The truth, once spoken, could never be unheard.
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30 advance chapters!
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