Riven felt a kind of terror.

This kind of terror is different from Noxus's arrogant and unreasonable law of the jungle.

Rather, it is a social model that is quietly hidden under a bright appearance, has strict logic, mature theory, and good operation, and systematically oppresses "low-caste" untouchables.

Noxus beats you up and then tells you to beat you back if you can.

Ionia tramples people under its feet, and then uses objective facts to help you analyze why you should be beaten and why you shouldn't fight back.

Riven felt the latter was more terrifying.

She was born a serf, but she still knew how to join the army to save herself.

Since birth, these Ionian pariahs have lived in a "paradise" controlled by sect masters and clan elders, and have been instilled with the religious theory of "the balance of all things" since childhood.

If you make sacrifices to maintain the balance of all things during your lifetime, you can enjoy a "ghost life" in the spiritual realm after death; if you are reincarnated, you can also live in a good family.

Under the control of this religious theory, they don't even want to resist.

"Wait a minute." Riven couldn't understand. She asked these sailors: "You have been learning Janna thoughts from me these days, so what do you think of the 'equality for all' we pursue?"

The sailors looked at each other.

They thought for a while and replied: "Everyone is equal, and it should be on the premise of maintaining the balance of all things."

The implication is that

"Have you excluded yourself from 'people'?" Riven's eyes widened in disbelief.

How could anyone understand the Janna theory this way?

But that's what these Ionian pariahs think.

They studied Janna's theory, but they only admired Janna's power, and only hoped to rely on the power of the goddess to drive away the Noxian invaders.

As for themselves

"We are already redundant." Sailors said: "Our existence will only cause unbearable consumption to nature."

"Only by dying without worries can the balance of all things in Ionia be maintained."

"Balance is a piece of shit!" Riven said angrily.

She was very angry. She didn't know why she was so angry.

Maybe that booklet and all the experiences these days have really changed her.

In anger, Riven seemed to really regard herself as the leader, and she cursed:

"If you just want to save Ionia, then you don't need to follow the goddess Janna at all-"

"You just need to shout 'Ionia will never be destroyed', and then go to the battlefield with a knife and fight to the death!"

"You're not even afraid of death anyway, are you?"

"But I ask you, what kind of Ionia are you trying to save? Is it an Ionia that treats you as pariahs, or is it an Ionia where everyone is equal?"

The sailors were silent.

Miss Feiya on the side also drooped her cat ears and thought deeply.

But in the end, the sailors told Riven: "Miss Orianna, you are a foreigner after all. We, Ionia, have our own Ionia rules."

"." Riwen was speechless.

Because the most terrifying thing about this matter is the rules of Ionia and the religious ideas of "balance first" that have been instilled in the untouchables since childhood——

These are not the fantasy stories of foolish people, but objective facts that really exist in this extraordinary world.

If you sacrifice during your lifetime, you can go to "heaven" after your death?

It's true. Because Ionia is rich in magic, it is the place where the physical realm and the spiritual realm are most closely connected and where the barriers are weakest.

When people here die, they will really turn into undead and go to the spiritual realm.

The Ionians can even communicate with the spirits of their deceased relatives in the spiritual realm by drinking spiritual tea during the annual Soul Blooming Festival.

Will destroying the equilibrium lead to disaster?

This is still true.

All things in Ionia are animistic. If the forest is over-exploited and deforestation is carried out, even if the sect masters and clan elders do not stop it, the forest spirits will take revenge on humans.

The balance Ionia pursues is not only the balance between man and nature, but also the balance between the material realm and the spiritual realm.

If too many living flowers, plants and trees are eliminated in the material realm and too many spirits are produced, the balance between the material realm and the spiritual realm will be broken, and evil spirits will be born to punish humans, or even cause more terrible disasters.

Riven felt that it was the masters and elders who oppressed the untouchables.

But the masters and elders also have something to say. They are obviously trying to maintain the balance of all things and protect the human civilization in Ionia from real annihilation.

As for these untouchables, they are just necessary victims to maintain balance.

"If we are not sacrificed, it will only bring greater disaster to this material world. By then, the entire Ionia may be destroyed. Don't we still have to die? So."

"To protect all of Ionia, we accept our fate," the sailors said piously.

Riven was completely speechless.

After all, she was just an expert on parallel imports. She couldn't figure out how to solve this problem.

It seems that according to the natural laws of Ionia, some people are superfluous and should disappear by nature.

"No" Riwen couldn't think of a solution, but she still felt that there was something wrong with this theory: "Even if someone needs to sacrifice, why does it have to be you, instead of those masters, elders, landlords and rich people?"

“Who decides who is untouchable and who is not?”

"Well" the sailors were silent again.

Who is an untouchable is not determined by blood, but by actual material conditions.

If a poor farmer cannot afford to raise a child and there is no land to distribute to the child after his death, then the child is a pariah and a superfluous person.

This child will be called a bitch and driven out of the village, leaving him to fend for himself outside.

Just like Master Jie from the Shadow Stream Sect - he was abandoned in the wilderness by his poor peasant father when he was 4 years old, and he managed to survive by relying on the kindness of the Kinkou Sect to adopt him.

"So." Riven understood clearly: "What is the way of balance? Isn't this the law of the jungle that Noxus respects?"

Because the untouchables are weak, they need to be sacrificed to protect limited natural resources from being swallowed up by the infinitely expanding population.

However, the masters, elders, landlords and wealthy businessmen occupy a huge amount of resources with a very small number of people, but they need not be regarded as balanced enemies.

Because they are strong.

Ionia, it turns out, is no different from Noxus.

In other words, all countries in this world are similar. Everyone secretly follows the natural law of survival of the fittest.

Only those who lead the way are naive, dreaming that one day the world will be unified and everyone will be equal.

But the situation in Ionia is different from other places.

Simply overthrowing the master elders does not seem to be able to completely solve the problem.

"What should we do?" Riwen was angry and confused.

She still couldn't see clearly where the road ahead was.

At this time, Feiya interrupted her meditation with a complicated expression and whispered: "Orianna, me."

She asked tangledly: "In the eyes of you leaders, am I a bad person?"

"This" Riwen was in a subtle mood.

Feiya's family raised a large number of untouchables, and strictly speaking they were considered big slave owners.

But these untouchables are "free" - no one will stop them if they really want to leave.

If they just leave the job provided by the Feiya family, they will probably have nowhere to live, wander in the wilderness, and then starve to death in the fruit-rich forest.

Therefore, in the social environment of Ionia, if the Feiya family does this, it is considered to be helping the untouchables.

"I'm sorry." Feiya felt guilty: "When I was learning Janna's theory before, I always subconsciously counted them as superfluous people and didn't take them into consideration."

Riven thought she was teaching Janna how to think.

But Feiya and those sailors have always been studying an improved version of "Balance-Janna Thought" that is combined with Ionian religious thought.

In this version of Janna's thought, untouchables must be excluded before everyone can be equal.

Now that Fiya realizes how wrong she was in the past, she starts to feel guilty.

"Alas" Riven sighed softly, and had no choice but to say to Feiya: "No, you are not a bad person."

She recalled the text in the pamphlet and used it flexibly: "Just as the quality of an individual has nothing to do with the progress of the class, the progress of the class does not necessarily determine the quality of the individual."

"Then I, can I also become the leader?" Feiya asked nervously.

"Yes, we Wind Leaders only look at faith, not origin. Did you know? Director Mel of our Wind Leader Association is a military noble from Noxus."

Riven answered inexplicably smoothly, closing her mouth with a delicate expression as she spoke.

What is she talking about?
To be continued...