Chapter 299 The Leader Goes First
Let other people’s children go.
Zeli's mother's words sounded a bit selfish.
But as a mother, she doesn't think she is wrong to think so.
War is no joke.
The Noxian Empire is an even more powerful enemy.
In recent years, the people of Zaun have become accustomed to hearing horror stories from across the ocean about how the Noxian Empire crushed its enemies on the battlefield.
Zelie's mother, or any mother, would not want her daughter to become a character in these terrible stories.
"Mom." Zeli had to deliberately use an optimistic tone: "Don't worry. The Noxian Empire is not as terrible as you think."
"They were already having a hard time in Ionia, and now that Ionia has the support of us and Demacia, it will be even more impossible for the Noxians to defeat us."
"I know that Noxus can't defeat the Leader." The mother still frowned tightly: "But they may be able to defeat you, child."
Mother Zeli also believes that the leader will win in the end.
But what if Zeli unfortunately dies before victory?
The leader may be the final winner, but the mother who loses her child will always be the loser.
"Zeli, I know it's selfish of me to say this." The mother became more and more worried. In the end, she held her daughter's hand tightly and refused to let her leave: "But there are so many soldiers in Zaan, and we don't need you."
"Why not?" Zeli said stubbornly.
She took out two things.
“When there is danger, the leader goes first.” One is the blue bird badge representing her membership.
"With great power comes great responsibility." The second was the faint flash of electricity in her palm.
"I am both a leader and a transcendent. If I don't fight when a war comes, why should others fight?"
"No!" The mother gritted her teeth and said, "Zeli, don't preach to me."
"I don't care whether you are a leader or a transcendent, you are still a child, my child! You still have parents at home!"
"Mom!" Zeli's green hair trembled, and she said stubbornly, "Am I the only child? Am I the only one with parents?"
"Other people's children are not children. Do other people's children have no parents?!"
"Uh..." It seems that there really isn't.
In Zaun, there are very few children like Zeli who have not become orphans in their teens, have both parents and living families.
"Then I have to go even more!" Zeli gritted her teeth and said, "The people of Zaun have suffered enough in the past. Now that life has finally gotten better, why should we let those poor children fight for us again?"
"Not to mention, mother—"
"When the Wind Leader came to Zaun, you saw that life was getting better, so you encouraged me to join the organization. Now that there's a war, you want me to be a deserter."
"Don't you think this is too much?" Zelle complained in Zaun dialect: "Even in the old Zaun, such a ballless guy would be looked down upon by the neighbors."
“……”Mother didn’t say anything.
Zeli raised her head unhappily, but only met her mother's almost pleading gaze.
"Mom..." Zeli was speechless.
It's not that the mother doesn't know what she said, but the mother's love is unreasonable.
"But." Zeli pondered for a moment, and finally gathered up her strength and broke free from her mother's hand that was holding her and refusing to let go.
"Mom, do you think that the war taking place in Ionia, thousands of miles away, has nothing to do with Zaun?"
She knew that maternal love was selfish, so she stopped talking about Levi's theory of ever-advancing faith.
She was just analyzing the pros and cons: "In fact, President Levi has already clearly told everyone at the mobilization meeting within the organization about the importance of supporting Ionia this time."
"In fact, Zaun has long been pushed to the brink of war by Noxus."
The Black Rose and the old aristocratic group that now control the center of Noxus have regarded the leader of Zaun as a major threat that must be eliminated.
Because she is still unsure of the true strength of Goddess Gana, Black Rose does not dare to take action personally and risk a full-scale war with Zuan.
They launched a massacre against the Windleader chapter in Ionia, one reason being to provoke more friction between Swain in Zaun and Piltover and force Swain to become the abandoned pawn to test the waters.
The second is to use this method, not declaring a full-scale war but starting a war in disguise.
The Black Rose actually treated the Ionian army as a discarded pawn like Swain, and tested the Wind Leader while both sides were leaving room for maneuver.
If the leader fails to show his might and strength on the battlefield of Ionia, or even retreats and loses again and again...
If at this point, the goddess Gana, who is feared by the enemy, still does not take action, then her terrifying deterrent power as a "nuclear weapon" will be greatly reduced.
Then Noxus will definitely pluck up the courage to further test the leader's trump card.
"By then, the battlefield will not be in Ionia, but in Zaun." Zeli said worriedly.
"Then, then..." The mother still couldn't understand: "Then let the goddess Janna help us... She saved us last time, this time..."
"No!" Zeli said righteously: "The Janna movement should be a human movement, and the goddess Janna is not our nanny ."
"In the past, many people in the organization became overly dependent on Goddess Janna and lost the fighting spirit of the pioneers of change. When they encountered big difficulties, they didn't think about handling them themselves, but just hoped that a goddess would fall from the sky to help them."
"Such people are no longer considered true leaders."
"So the goddess told everyone through President Levi that she will only help the leader when he is facing a life-or-death crisis. The rest depends on us."
Levi said this to everyone, firstly to improve the increasingly serious bad habit within the society, which was caused by people over-relying on gods and giving up their own efforts.
The second is to remind those leaders who have gradually lost their sense of crisis due to the goddess's protection of the seriousness and cruelty of this war.
But in fact, the truth is much more serious than what Levi told the leaders.
The fact is that even though Goddess Janna has now recovered her strength, she is still unable to compete with the Black Rose, which controls the vast Noxian Empire.
The demon Tam and the Wind Leader were in a cooperative relationship, and he only agreed to help with some odd jobs and deal with some minions. It was impossible to expect a demon like him to fight for the Wind Leader on the battlefield.
As for Nagakabouros... As a "movement" itself, He will not personally interfere with the movement. So unless the leader is at a critical moment of life and death, don't expect Him to show up and give any help.
In other words, the "nuclear weapon" in the leader's hands is just a showpiece.
If Noxus really uses the salami-slicing tactic to test the bottom line step by step, from Ionia to Zaun, the losses of the Leader will be extremely heavy.
"Goddess Janna will help us, and Nagakabouros might as well."
"But mother, have you ever thought about——"
"When the situation deteriorates to this point, how many more people will we have to sacrifice before the goddess descends, and what will Zaun become?"
"You thought I would be safe if I fled the battlefield. But if the war spreads to Zaun, where can we escape to?"
“This…” The mother was a little flustered: “Jana won’t do this. She won’t sit idly by and watch this happen.”
"Why not?" asked Zelie.
"Because we are followers of Janna," said the mother. "The goddess will protect us."
"But are we really followers of Janna?" Zeli said with a scorching gaze: "Mother -"
"If all the people in Zaun think like you, they will let their children escape the war like you do, and let other people's children go to the front lines to carry guns."
"Then there is actually no real leader in Zaun, no so-called believer of the goddess Janna."
"Since we have all abandoned Janna, why can't Janna abandon us?"
“……” Zeli’s mother could no longer speak.
Zeli, in turn, grasped her mother's hand, and showed her will with the flash of lightning in her eyes:
"I am going to Ionia to fight the Noxian Empire, just to keep the war out of Zaun for you and for millions of Zaun people."
"For the ideals of the Leader, for everyone in Zaun, and for our little family—"
"I have to fight on the front lines!"
