A month later, deep in the desert, outside the city of Vikaola.
The Shurima Survey Group, led by Taliyah, is traveling through the endless yellow sand.
Nasus was also among this team.
He was still wearing the dusty robe, carefully concealing his burly figure.
And with his three-meter height, he still looked as tall as the huge Skarash camel.
At this moment, Nasus was walking beside Sivir's mount:
"She flows like the sea," he said, reciting the ancient Shurima poetry word for word like a teacher.
"She flows like the sea..." Sivir said with a look of despair on her face.
"Use the tides to nourish people and the crops they grow." Nasus' voice was ups and downs, and every syllable was full of emotion.
"Using the tides to nourish people and the crops they grow..." Sivir was like a machine reciting the text without any emotion.
"She is wheat for food and cotton for clothes... Holy, vast mother of life, you are our eternal mother!" Nasus' recitation was like singing, seeming to make people forget the fatigue of traveling in this endless sea of ​​sand.
"She is..." Xiweier became more and more listless as he recited, his voice weak.
"You are out of spirit. Try again!" Teacher Nasus shouted in a deep voice.
"she is……"
"Louder! Recite with emotion!"
"I..." Sivir was silent.
Then, she burst out in silence: "Fuck! Is this ever going to end!"
Ever since this mysterious man joined the investigation team, he has been acting like the reincarnation of her dead father, forcing her to learn all kinds of useless knowledge.
Poetry, prose, mathematics, music, art, astronomy, geography, divination, common sense of magic, ancient Shurima language, and even ancient Shurima court etiquette...
Sivir is in class from morning to night, just like an elementary school student in Piltover who has been enrolled in a bunch of training classes by his parents without any care.
She was almost driven crazy.
How could she, the goddess of war and king of mercenaries, learn those nerdy things here every day?
"Fuck! I won't carry you anymore!" Sivir looked at the mercenary group members who were following her in frustration, and yelled at her deputy, "You! You——"
"Come here, all of you, and bury this piece of shit in the sand!"
"Um... this." The deputy smiled awkwardly.
"Haha, boss, you...you keep working hard." The mercenaries rode their mounts silently, moving further away from Sivir.
After a month of getting along, everyone in the mercenary group now knows that their leader suddenly has a "father".
Although the origins of this mysterious old man are unknown, his strength is terrifyingly strong.
The Shurimans respect the strong.
Everyone could only watch their leader Sivir suffer silently at the hands of this wild guy they picked up on the road.
"Bastard!" Sivir got angry and whipped her "horse", wanting to ride away on her Skarash.
But Nasus simply raised his arm.
Sivir and her camel seemed to be under a spell that stopped time, and their movements were infinitely slowed down.
"Let... me go..." She seemed to have aged a hundred years, and was so weak that she couldn't even speak.
“Stop it, Sivir.” Nasus waved his hand to remove the spell, walked to her side again, and took the reins of her mount.
Then he taught: "First, I have taught you etiquette, you should not speak so vulgarly;"
"Second, I am your teacher, you shouldn't call me a dog. Human civilization can continue because we have teachers;"
"Third, knowledge is valuable. You have missed too many opportunities to learn in the past. You should cherish it now."
"As the heir to the Shurima Empire, these are what you should do. Do you understand?"
"Bah! I don't want to be the heir to an empire!" As soon as Sivir got rid of the spell control, he answered rebelliously: "Even if I really want to pursue something great, I will only be a leader!"
As she spoke, Sivir looked at Taliyah with a look for help.
Taliyah just chuckled: "Leaders are also required to learn cultural knowledge."
"You should listen to Mr. Giant, Miss Sivir."
Because Nasus said that he did not want to reveal his identity until he saw hope for the rise of Shurima, Taliyah and others have always called him "Mr. Giant".
After a month of getting along with him, Talia discovered that this giant was not only powerful, but also extremely gentle, knowledgeable and patient.
Taliyah was also happy to see him become Sivir's teacher.
Apart from anything else... Ever since Sivir had such a "father", she was forced to take a bath and change clothes every day. After a month, her dark skin was rubbed several shades whiter and returned to a healthy wheat color.
This has greatly improved Taliya's living environment at night.
"Okay, reflect on yourself." Here, Nasus finished educating this useless student with a little disappointment.
It was obvious that Sivir was not the royal descendant he expected.
"Memorize the long poem I just taught you. I'll come to check your homework later." As he said this, Nasus left behind the autistic Sivir and slowly caught up with Taliyah's mount.
Sivir is learning, and he is always learning.
What we learn is the theory of leaders.
"Mr. Giant." Taliyah asked enthusiastically, "Do you have any questions to discuss with me?"
"Yes." Nasus used his thick, bandaged fingers to gently fiddle with the booklet in his hand.
Although he had not had contact with human society for many years, he knew nothing about the industrial revolution and civilization progress that the twin cities outside the desert had brought to the world in the past few hundred years.
But he has a wise mind and a thinking spirit.
Just by relying on the book's description of past historical developments and current social background, Nasus could understand what the Leader was talking about when he talked about Janna's thoughts.
After a month of study and understanding, he has gained a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical program of the Leader organization.
This is indeed a revolutionary, scientifically rigorous and extremely romantic belief.
The goddess Janna, who did not even have a proper doctrine back then, was able to summarize such a theory after observing the development of human society. This was indeed beyond Nasus's expectations.
"Your theory has practical guiding significance. I have benefited a lot from studying it for a month." Facing Taliyah's inquiring eyes, Nasus said modestly.
But he did not convert to Goddess Gana because of this.
He was just trying to understand the thoughts of Gana with a scholarly attitude, both to learn and to find faults with the leader.
Despite his deep feelings for the Shurima empire, Nasus still has doubts about some of the theory's details to this day.
"You go ahead." Taliyah responded carefully .
She did not dare to be too arrogant in front of this knowledgeable giant.
The other party always asked some sharp questions, which made even her, an experienced veteran cadre, unable to cope with them.
“I have thought about this for a long time.” Nasus then said, “The key reason why I have reservations about Janna’s theory is your ultimate goal, the so-called Great Harmony Society.”
After all, this is the ultimate ideal of the leaders. If a person does not believe that a harmonious society can be built, then he cannot become a true leader of Janna.
"Well, do you have any other questions?" Taliyah asked cautiously.
“In fact, I believe that a harmonious society can be built,” Nasus said. “Just as you discussed with Sivir a month ago, a highly developed productivity can meet the reasonable needs of all mankind, and a progressive society will create a new human nature.”
“People will feel satisfied when their reasonable needs are met, rather than endlessly pursuing desires.”
"But..." He paused slightly.
Then he bluntly questioned: "I think you have overlooked one point."
"That is, the progress of human society is largely driven by people's ambitions and desires, rather than simply being satisfied with the current status quo of life."
“The reason why heroes throughout the ages have become key figures in promoting the progress of civilization is because they know that by working hard to improve themselves, they can gain more for themselves.”
"But if in a harmonious society, everyone can only be allocated roughly the same material resources according to their needs, then what motivation will humans have to work hard and strive to improve themselves?"
"This..." Taliyah thought.
She asked, "Mr. Giant, you are worried that after the realization of the public ownership and distribution according to needs of the Great Harmony Society, human civilization will stagnate, right?"
“Yes.” Nasus nodded.
It doesn't matter whether you work more or less, the result is that no one works.
Even if they are urged to work, no one will actively seek improvement.
This is the experience that Nasus, as an old leader with hundreds of years of experience in personnel management, has gained from practice.
"I believe that a harmonious society is good for most people. But it is unfair to the strong."
"I believe it can be achieved. But the day when the Great Harmony Society is achieved will probably be the day when the development of human civilization stagnates."
“People will lie down happily in the paradise of distribution according to needs, and then slowly drown in the long river of time.”
“Like those Yodel people…” Nasus used Bandle City as an example with disdain: “They have lived in the spiritual realm for thousands of years, but have not created any brilliant civilization.”
"Almost all of them were eating, drinking, playing and fighting, just like playful children."
"So for thousands of years, they have been living exactly the same life as before, with almost no progress."
Runeterra has one advantage. When discussing the Great Harmony Society here, we have the real example of Bandle City, which can be directly used as a reference.
But the city of Bandle, which seems like a utopia to mortals, is so unbearable to Nasus.
He could not tolerate a stagnant world, a world without the birth of new knowledge.
But……
"Puchi——" Talia couldn't help laughing.
“?” Nasus was not angry.
He was just curious about what kind of ridiculous fallacy in his words could have caused the usually calm Taliah to lose her composure like this.
“Mr. Giant,” Taliyah said, “It seems that you don’t know enough about the outside world, nor about the Yodel people.”
"Did you know?"
"The leader of the Twin Cities' industrial revolution, the founder of modern scientific civilization, and now the chief engineer of our Leader's Scientific Equipment Department, Professor Heimerdinger—"
"He's a yordle."
Heimerdinger stayed in the Twin Cities for 300 years. The current flourishing scientific civilization of mankind was almost watered by him. It can be said that he greatly promoted the development of human society.
“Uh…” Nasus couldn’t help feeling embarrassed.
He didn't expect that the point of view he put forward was not tenable in terms of arguments.
In his impression, the Yodel people are still a group of children who will never grow up.
Who could have thought that such a great man could be born from these "little cuties" who were spoiled in utopia.
“Perhaps this is just an extreme case,” Nasus said after thinking for a moment.
And he was right. Most of the Yodels were "street slickers" like Teemo. There were very few people like Heimerdinger who were devoted to a certain field and achieved great success.
"No, Mr. Giant, you can't apply the situation in Bandle City directly to humans."
"Most of the Yodel people have no interest in science or progress. It's probably because they live in the spiritual realm, and they have theoretically almost unlimited material resources."
"But a harmonious society for all mankind will never be like this. So we know that we can only keep making progress to live a better life."
“But how can we make progress?” Nasus returned to the original question: “Most people are mediocre and indulge in pleasure, and the pursuit of progress is an inhumane and painful thing.”
As he spoke, Nasus looked at Sivir again.
If you let her learn something, she will make a fuss like a pig being slaughtered.
If the Great Harmony Society came, wouldn't she be completely laid down and become a waste?
“No, you are wrong.” Taliyah argued, “You have fallen into the shackles of human nature again.”
“But some things never change,” Nasus said, “Just like when your hand is pricked, it hurts—for most humans, learning itself is a kind of pain.”
“I’m afraid this kind of suffering will not change until we reach a harmonious society.”
Nasus still believed that humans love to enjoy life in their bones. The Great Harmony Society would bring about the "brain death" of all mankind, which would be the end of human civilization.
"But, Mr. Giant," Taliyah thought for a moment and replied, "Don't forget that there is another characteristic of the Great Harmony Society :"
“Labor becomes the first necessity of life—we will work regardless of pay or conditions, just to realize the meaning of life.”
“In other words…” Nasus questioned, “You are still hoping that humans can overcome their instincts and unconditionally love learning and labor?”
Generating electricity for love? That doesn't sound plausible.
“Why not?” Taliyah asked, “Does Heimerdinger study science for reward? Mr. Giant, do you love knowledge for profit?”
“Everyone has a career that they love and are willing to fight for—”
"Including Miss Sivir."
Taliyah seemed to have guessed that Nasus would continue to use Sivir, the "mediocrity", as an example to prove that he and Heimerdinger were just unique cases that could not be replicated.
So she took the example of Sivir first and said, "Although Miss Sivir doesn't like reading, she is not very interested in music and art."
"But she loves sports very much. Throwing boomerangs is her biggest hobby in her spare time."
Although Sivir called it practicing combat skills, anyone familiar with her could see that she just enjoyed playing with the wheel.
"I think if she lived in a harmonious society where she didn't have to worry about making a living, Miss Sivir would definitely become a professional athlete."
"As for the others—"
“In fact, most people don’t have a career they love, but their lives restrict them so much that they don’t even have the opportunity to understand and discover what they love.”
Taliyah said a lot before she said:
"Mr. Giant, you can't assume that people who have been worn down by life are naturally numb just because you see them."
"It's like asking disaster victims why they don't drink meat porridge. It's irrational."
“This…” Nasus lowered his head thoughtfully.
At this time, Taliyah talked about the "demand theory" that Levi did not write in the book but was widely circulated among the leaders:
“Physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), social needs (friendship), esteem, and self-actualization.”
A harmonious society can only provide a safety net for people and satisfy the first two, or at most the first four, needs of mankind.
When humans have enough food and drink, no longer need to worry about making a living, have lovers and friends, and gain equality and respect...
Human beings will instinctively pursue higher needs - the pursuit of realizing their own abilities or potential and perfecting them.
"In a harmonious society, everyone's freedom and ability can be fully developed."
“We do a job not because of how respectable it is or how much money it makes, but because of the most direct reason: I like it and I am willing to do it.”
“That’s what we leaders say, everyone does their best.”
Taliyah expressed her opinion firmly.
"Okay..." After thinking for a while, Nasus nodded secretly.
But this does not mean that he completely agrees with it, but rather it is the beginning of his further questioning:
“I would like to believe that in a harmonious society, people will overcome their laziness and study and work simply out of passion.”
"But the question is... in a harmonious society, can humans really be completely free to choose the jobs they love?"
“Can the so-called doing one’s best really be achieved?”
Nasus's question was very sharp:
"According to the social division of labor among human beings, in a well-functioning social system, there will always be many jobs that people cannot love no matter what."
People can love literature, art, science, magic, politics, history...
Writers, artists, scientists, magicians, politicians, historians... there are people who are willing to do these jobs without any compensation.
But there won’t be anyone who loves to move bricks, carry bags, sweep the streets, or go into sewers, right?
“Everyone goes to do the work they like.”
"Who should do these jobs then?"
"This..." Taliyah thought about it seriously.
This question may seem difficult to answer at first glance, but if you think about it carefully...
"This problem can actually be solved through the development of productivity."
Those unlovable jobs that Nasus mentioned, such as moving bricks, sweeping the floor, picking up garbage, etc.
To sum up, these are essentially boring, repetitive physical work that cannot create new things.
Doing the same thing every day without creating any labor results that can make people proud, people will naturally dislike work.
"But these boring and repetitive jobs can, in theory, be completely replaced by robots and artificial intelligence."
“Robot?” Nasus frowned slightly.
This is somewhat beyond his knowledge.
"It's similar to a self-disciplined puppet." Taliyah changed the way she put it to make it easier to understand.
"But unlike puppets handcrafted by wizards, robots can be industrialized and mass-produced at low cost, and used on a large scale in actual production and life."
"In fact, Zaun can now mass-produce steam robots. These mass-produced steam robots are still a bit clumsy, but they can already replace humans in doing some simple manual labor."
"Imagine, Mr. Giant..."
"In the future, when boring and repetitive manual labor is completely replaced by machines, material resources are extremely abundant and can be distributed on demand..."
"Then everyone can completely let go of the burden of life and freely choose the work he loves."
"Our society will have hundreds of millions of scientists, artists, writers, politicians, and magicians - everyone can be a scholar like you, or Professor Heimerdinger!"
Taliyah excitedly spoke of such a bright future.
Nasus was slightly shocked.
With the advancement of science and technology, everyone can be a dragon!
Enlighten the saints and awaken their wisdom, so that everyone can become a saint!
This is the ideal harmonious society that leaders envision!
If it were a month ago, Nasus would have scoffed at such "unrealistic fantasy".
But now, after a month of study and understanding, he unexpectedly discovered:
Such a society is actually possible in theory!
“Hmm…” Nasus thought for a while.
He still did not give in. After thinking about it, he raised his head and asked a question:
"Then Taliyah, do you leaders have any specific criteria for judging when a harmonious society can be achieved?"
It's possible in theory, but practice is another matter.
After listening to the leader's "fantasy", Nasus wanted to know their specific development plans for the future.
"In short, to what extent must productivity develop before we can enter a harmonious society?"
"With the capabilities of human civilization, is it possible to develop to this point?"
"This..." Taliyah was stunned.
The Grand Secretary is worthy of being a Grand Secretary, as he asked the very crucial question.
Leaders all believe that a harmonious society can be realized. They share the same ideal, so they are called comrades.
However, when will humans be able to enter a harmonious society?
There are significant differences among the leaders regarding this issue.
The radicals believe that with the current productivity level of the Twin Cities, they can lead the whole world into a harmonious society at an accelerated pace;
Conservatives believe that the current level of human science and technology is still very backward, and the Great Harmony Society is still very far away from us. Leaders should now make improvements on the basis of the seed-based system, and only consider entering the next stage when productivity is improved.
These two groups of people look down on each other.
One side said that the other side was driven by fanaticism, while the other side criticized that the poison of benzene was still there.
If it weren't for the organization's discipline, the strong leadership with Levi at the core to guide the direction, and especially the real goddess Janna hanging over their heads to unite the people...
Taliyah doubted that the two factions would actually start fighting each other, given the huge differences between them.
"Well, Mr. Giant..." She thought for a long time and could only answer truthfully: "In fact, we leaders don't have a specific answer as to when we can achieve a harmonious society."
“Yes.” Nasus nodded.
He accepted the answer.
Predicting the specific solution to the ultimate problem is somewhat difficult, even for leaders.
Knowing what you don’t know, admitting your ignorance, and then groping forward in the right direction may also be the correct answer.
"But President Levi does have a rough hypothesis about this."
To Nasus's surprise, Taliyah actually thought about this and gave him a relatively specific answer.
"President Levi believes that the industrialization and electrification of the entire Runeterra, coupled with the Wind Leader regime, can achieve the initial stage of a harmonious society."
"A true harmonious society is one where all of Runeterra is informationized and intelligent, and the Wind Leader regime is added to it."
Such predictions cannot be verified now, of course.
After all, in the entire Runeterra, only the small twin cities have truly achieved industrialization.
To achieve informatization and intelligence throughout the world, humanity still has a long way to go.
But this ultimately sets a concrete goal for mankind, allowing leaders to find the right direction for future progress.
"This... is indeed a feasible and ambitious plan." Nasus commented after pondering.
"Huh." Taliyah secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, she asked carefully, "Mr. Giant, do you have any other questions?"
“I…” Nasus was silent: “No more.”
Yes, no more.
He could hardly find any problems with the Leader's Theory.
But the Shurima Empire he longed for had one problem - it was dead.
The empire has been dead for 3,000 years, and there is still no hope of revival.
At this time, Janna brought a new answer. He took a closer look and found that it was quite correct.
“Could it be that…” Nasus finally became entangled: “The prophecy really led Shurima to Janna?”