Chapter 122 Zu An Investigation (Please subscribe~)

Ever since her brother Levi inexplicably became Janna's chosen one, Lina's life has undergone earth-shaking changes.

Less than two months ago, she was an international student with a dream of Pi City, and she regarded her hometown of Za'an as hell.

She studied and worked hard just to find an ideal job in Piltover after graduation and stay here forever.

But now, Lina still thinks Zaun is hell.

But she willingly returned to the city she had tried so hard to escape from.

Because her ideal is no longer to escape, but to change the entire world.

"Let's go, next one."

The trench area is deep underground. The light here is dim. But the light in the darkness is the brightest.

Lina looked up at the light leaking from the cracks in the ground, summoned up her tired energy, and led her members of the Zaun social investigation team to knock on the door of the next house.

"Hello, is there anyone?"

Dong-dong-dong, there was a sound of footsteps, and the door opened.

A middle-aged couple appeared behind the door. The man was holding a modified shotgun, and the woman was holding an alchemical potion mine.

This way of welcoming guests with soldiers first and courtesy second is actually not uncommon in Zaun.

Looking at the weapons carried on the waists of these leaders, both of them looked extremely wary.

It wasn't until they saw Lina's young and clean girl's face clearly that they relaxed a little: "Who are you?"

"We are social investigators from the Leader Association, and we are here to interview everyone and investigate."

As Lina spoke, she took out the small gift she had prepared in advance from her arms.

She knew that for Zaun people who were generally impulsive, fiery, and naturally wary of unfamiliar faces, a small daily gift worth 1 silver wheel would be the best helper to open up the conversation.

It must be a small gift of 1 silver wheel.

If the value is too high, others will covet it unnecessarily; if the value is too low, even the people of Zaun will look down upon it.

And if instead of a small gift, she gives money directly and people find out that she has so many silver wheels hidden in her pocket, it will cause a big trouble that is destined to bleed.

These are the experiences that Lina and her companions have gained step by step through work practice in the past few weeks.

"Sir, madam, this is what we have prepared."

Lina took out the gift with ease, a pack of first-aid bandages that were very useful to the Zaun people, and prepared to use this to start a conversation with this family.

But the middle-aged couple looked at each other and did not rush to get the gifts like the others. Instead, they asked rather enthusiastically:

"You are the Wind Leaders, the Wind Leaders Association that wrote "A Brief Introduction to Janna's Thoughts"?"

"Yes." Lina and others couldn't help but be delighted: "Have you seen our brochure?"

"I've seen it." The male owner of the house nodded, and then suddenly asked: "Then what is Janna's 'living soul'?"

"Integrate theory with practice, and analyze specific problems in detail." Lina blurted out.

"Hahaha." The male host put down his weapon and welcomed warmly: "It seems that you are really the leaders."

“Please come in, please come in——”

Lina didn't need to waste any words at all. The couple seemed to be believers in Janna's thoughts.

They warmly welcomed Lina and others into the house.

When Lina walked into this small single-family building with a large space, she secretly noticed that the interior decoration and furnishings of this family were far more tasteful than those of the residents of the Diggou District she had visited before.

Of course, it's also more expensive.

Apart from anything else, the two Walkmans on the table and Seraphine's complete set of music tapes are not something that ordinary Zaun people can afford.

"Master, what do you do?" Lina couldn't help but ask.

"Alchemist." The male host said, "My wife and I are both alchemists."

Alchemical technicians in Zaun do not refer to ordinary workers in chemical plants, but to senior engineers who are proficient in alchemical technology.

"I see." They are cultural people and highly skilled people. No wonder their family conditions are obviously better than those of their neighbors.

But with such good family conditions, why do they still live in the ditch area, the poorest and most run-down area in Zaun, where the destitute are concentrated?

"Have you never considered moving to the dark alley or the border market area above ground?"

"No, we like it here. It's quieter here." The couple's answer was a bit perfunctory, as if they didn't want to talk more about it.

Lina didn't force herself either. She never asked about topics that the interviewees didn't want to talk about in detail.

She just tried her best to open up the topic and start investigating the couple.

The content of the survey is also very simple. It is to ask these local residents about the distribution of gang forces in the ditch area, residents’ employment situation, income and expenditure, product types, and daily necessities prices.

The content of the question is complex, but not sensitive.

The couple has a good impression of the leader, and they are both willing to answer Lena's questions patiently.

After talking freely, Lina and her companions had written down several dense pages in their notebooks.

"Miss Lina, can I see your notebook?" The male host seemed to be very curious about the content of their investigation.

"Okay." Lina handed her notebook over generously.

The male host took it over and took a closer look:

I saw that the detailed records in this notebook were all similar to the questions Lina had asked in the conversation just now. They were all trivial data and intelligence.

The details of Zaun’s gang strength, business conditions, transportation and logistics, import and export trade, and various industries are almost all-encompassing.

Regarding the import and export goods alone, Lina and others listed all the information on the import and export goods of Zaun and Noxus, Zaun and Piltover, the two major trading partners.

Imported from Noxus: tea, milk, furs, leather, bristles, bones, bakelite, vegetable oils, greases, flour, rice, starch, corn, soybeans, sugar, salt

Imported from Piltover include: dyes, fabrics, fiber filaments, inks, cigarettes, books, desk lamps, refrigerators, stereos, typewriters, passenger locomotives, steam robots, special steels, mining equipment, industrial machines, mithril circuit boards

Exports to Noxus and Piltover include: ready-made clothing, ore, coal, paper, firearms, ammunition, wires, steel, mechanical parts, chemical raw materials, and alchemical reagents.

"What's the use of investigating these?"

Lina's memory was so detailed that it made the male host feel dizzy:

"I thought that what the leader wanted to pursue was a more ambitious goal."

After reading that booklet, people will always have the ambition to change the world.

But when leaders actually do things, they are so "gritty" and "trivial".

No one in Zaun has ever done such a detailed investigation before. Therefore, the people of Zaun cannot understand what the leader is doing.

"We are doing social research."

"Only by discovering problems can we solve them. And social investigation itself is a process of discovering problems."

"Everyone knows that Zu'an is not good, but when asked what exactly is wrong, they can't tell."

"So when they succeed in the struggle, all they can solve are the problems they can see - nothing more than defeating one or two irritating alchemy barons so that everyone can breathe a little easier."

"What Zaun needs now is not a 'breath of relief'. What it needs is a complete change. What it needs is that every specific problem be solved!"

Lina explained it this way, but the male host still couldn't understand it.

"Give me an example?" He looked at the overwhelming investigation notebook and asked, "What problems have you seen about Zaun from these intelligence and data?"

"This." Lina thought for a moment.

Then she opened her mouth and overturned the male host's perception: "Everyone thinks that Zaun is the world's factory, but after our investigation, this is actually wrong -"

"We are not worthy of the title of 'World Factory'."

"For example, you should have seen in the investigation notes before that Zaun's textile and clothing industries are very developed, and the export of ready-made clothes to Piltover and Noxus is a major item every year."

"But the question is, we produce so many ready-made clothes, where do the raw materials come from?"

"It is provided by Noxus. Velvet, wool, linen, long silk, and short silk, all come from the colonial plantations of Noxus."

"When these raw materials come to the Shuang Cities, the first stop they visit is not Za'an."

"Dye, wool, fiber, fabric, non-woven fabrics and other midstream raw materials with a slight technical content are all produced in Piltover."

"The only thing Zaun provides is cheap labor, using midstream materials imported from Piltover to manufacture garments at the lowest end of the industrial chain."

"This is true for raw materials, not to mention the sales, design, brand packaging and other more profitable aspects of clothing."

"When a piece of clothing is sold, if 1 silver wheel out of 10 is left in the hands of the Zaun people, that would be considered good."

Lena said a lot.

The male host thought thoughtfully: "You mean, Zaun's problem is that its overall technology is backward and its industry is large but not strong?"

"This is still a small problem." Lina sighed: "The big problem is that our raw material import channels and industrial product export channels are all firmly controlled by Piltover and Noxus."

"Our raw materials and machinery and equipment are all imported from them; the goods we produce can only be sold to them."

"Once something happens to Zaun, such as independence, it angers Piltover and Noxus."

Zuan has never been able to get better after becoming independent. After a little research, you will know that there are still many problems that it will face after becoming independent.

If not handled properly, independence may even be worse than not being independent, and worse than Piltover being a semi-colony:

"They only need to impose a trade blockade on us, and within a month, all factories in Zaun will close down. The more than 2 million people in Zaun will face a terrifying wave of unemployment in a short period of time."

Even, this is a minor issue in comparison.

"The real big question is"
Chapter completed!