The So-Called Revolutionary Army

"No, that's not what I mean. I'm not asking whether you can keep going for that long. Don't you think your methods are wrong?"

After hearing Sabo's answer, Chen Qiang shook his head and continued.

"Wrong?"

Sabo didn't understand what Chen Qiang meant. Ever since joining the Revolutionary Army, he had relied on this ideal to rescue slaves and liberate corrupt kingdoms. Now he was hearing someone say they were wrong, and he couldn't make sense of it.

"I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your ideals. I'm saying your methods are wrong!"

This time, Chen Qiang didn't wait for Sabo to respond. He started explaining.

"Your ideal is to overthrow the Celestial Dragons' unjust rule over the World Government and free all the slaves. There's nothing wrong with that."

"The problem is the way you act. A few of your leaders go to places where people are suffering, explain your ideals to the villagers, and help them fight against their cruel rulers. That's far too inefficient. After all, only a handful of your leaders can handle things on their own."

"You have to understand that a revolution isn't something a few powerful people can bring about gradually. Doing things this way won't just take a very long time. Once those powerful people leave, many people won't even understand why you did what you did. You shouldn't call yourselves a revolutionary army. You should call yourselves saviors."

"But that's not what revolution means to me. A revolution isn't the business of one person, or even a group of people. It should belong to everyone who's oppressed. Running all over the world every day, rescuing one person here and another there, and doing things that oppose the World Government doesn't make it a revolution."

"A revolution should be..."

For the next hour, Chen Qiang explained the principles of revolution to Sabo: what revolution really meant and how it ought to be carried out.

Having completed nine years of compulsory education and mastered the art of overthrowing a tyrant, Chen Qiang's ideas hit Sabo hard. Sabo had only been relying on his own passionate desire to save the world.

By the time Chen Qiang finished explaining the principles of revolution and started discussing how to put them into practice, Sabo had somehow produced a notebook and was listening carefully as he took notes.

Chen Qiang talked about many things. A revolution shouldn't be carried out in secret. They should spread their ideals so that everyone in the world knew what they stood for, explain how to make those ideals a reality, and show people what they stood to gain if they succeeded.

Then Chen Qiang poured out all kinds of ideas and concepts from his previous life for Sabo to hear.

By the time Chen Qiang finished, Sabo's eyes were shining with fervor. The slaves who had rushed out of the city had obediently sat nearby to listen to him speak. Now, each of them gazed at him with burning eyes.

These were the slaves who had escaped from the city earlier. Many had received keys to their chains from Chen Qiang's clone, so most of them recognized him. When they arrived and saw him talking to someone, they hadn't wanted to interrupt, so they waited nearby.

As they waited, though, they were gradually drawn in by the world Chen Qiang described. They began listening closely as he explained the ideals of revolution and how they could overthrow the current regime.

Having been slaves themselves, they identified with Chen Qiang's words even more strongly than Sabo and his companions did. Once Chen Qiang had shared everything he understood, their eyes burned with fervor, and they broke into enthusiastic applause.

"Can this really work? Won't a lot of people die?"

As the Revolutionary Army's chief of staff, every decision Sabo made affected not just himself, but everyone who followed them. So even after listening to Chen Qiang's explanation, he still wasn't sure and asked again.

"Of course. There's no such thing as a savior in this world. Ask these slaves: when they were captured and made slaves, didn't they beg the heavens to save them? But their prayers never reached those so-called gods. And this time, they didn't escape because I saved them. I gave them a chance to escape. They made it here through their own desperate efforts. If you want to talk about saviors, then everyone is their own savior."

"And what revolution doesn't involve bloodshed and sacrifice? But if we can make sure the bloodshed and sacrifice begin and end with our generation, that will be the most successful revolution."

Chen Qiang stood and pointed to the growing number of slaves escaping to this place, then continued.

"No one in this world wants to be a slave. They became slaves and were forced to serve others only because they could no longer see any hope. Without hope, even resistance seems powerless. But once I put hope in front of them, even if it's only a tiny glimmer, they'll still fight with everything they have to seize it."

After saying that, Chen Qiang stopped looking at Sabo and went to stand before the group of slaves, his expression earnest.

"Children and the elderly, board the ship first. The rest of you young people, come pay for your passage here, then get on board."

"After hearing your words, Lord Chen Qiang, I've found a purpose to live for. Now I understand what I should do. I'll guide those who've lost hope and give them a reason to keep living. Even if each of us is weak, I believe, just as you said, a single spark can start a prairie fire. As long as we stand together, no one can defeat us."

After Chen Qiang finished speaking, the slaves fell silent for a moment. Then a tall young man stood up and shouted.

"Brothers, let's go back and rescue our people! Let's give them more hope!"

After shouting, he grabbed the weapon he had taken in the city and charged back toward it.

More and more people followed him toward the city. Only some children, the elderly, and a small number of people who were truly afraid to die stayed behind.

Watching them charge toward the city, Chen Qiang nodded with satisfaction. This was the result he'd been trying to achieve all this time. Even if it meant people who otherwise wouldn't have died now would, what did it matter? The road to success was littered with bones. They would die for a worthy cause.

"Get on the ship!"

After watching them disappear into the city, leaving behind corpses scattered across the ground, Chen Qiang pointed to a ship behind him and spoke to the people who remained. Then he left them to it and started tossing the bodies onto a pile nearby.

"Chen Qiang, does the kind of world you described, where everyone is equal, really exist?"

After Chen Qiang finished dealing with all the corpses, Sabo came back to his side and asked, looking dazed. What Chen Qiang had said was so shocking that Sabo hadn't been able to absorb it all at once. He seemed completely bewildered.

"Of course it exists. As long as we believe in it and work toward it using the right methods, everything I've said will come true. Do you see the people who just charged into the city? They'll be the seeds of the revolution. Seeds will eventually sprout and grow into towering trees."

"Then what about you? What role do you play in the revolution you described?" Sabo asked again.

"Me? I suppose I'm a guide, and someone who draws the enemy's fire until they've grown strong enough."

Chen Qiang smiled, his smile brilliant.