Philosophy

Chapter 31: Philosophy

The gate within the cave roared open.

Security Mechs escorted Angron, Klyster, and Yochura back to the Gladiator quarters.

Klyster helped the armless Yochura to a stone, letting him sit down.

Angron walked to the corner where Qin Xia and Ono were, slumping down dejectedly.

Qin Xia noticed the Primarch's fists were clenched tight.

"Angron..." Ono sat down in front of Angron, wanting to offer some words of comfort.

But Angron shook his head, clearly not wanting anyone to disturb him.

This was also why Qin Xia didn't try to console Angron.

The Primarch needed rest and calm right now.

Silence fell over the cave.

Angron occasionally glanced at the others, but his gaze was no longer one of shared suffering; instead, it held a degree of wariness.

The Primarch wasn't afraid of the Gladiators here, who might be getting along harmoniously one second and trying to kill him the next. He wasn't afraid of physical harm.

What the Primarch feared was further emotional damage.

Everyone remained silent for quite some time.

Finally, it wasn't Ono who broke the silence, but Angron himself.

"How cruel must the people in the stands be, to cheer and rejoice when one person kills another?" Angron asked.

Qin Xia had an answer, but he felt his answer would be dry.

"They aren't all nobles," Ono said calmly.

"Those cheering in the stands, those cheering in front of their televisions and projections, they aren't all nobles either."

"They are almost entirely the lower class from the slums, the scum in the eyes of the nobles."

Hearing this, Angron frowned, looking blank and confused.

He couldn't understand why people who were also enslaved and oppressed would be so happy to see Gladiators die.

"Almost all of them live miserable lives every day. Their only joy comes after finishing their heavy labor at night, returning home, buying some alcohol, standing by the window to watch the projections on the street or the primitive television at home, and watching the gladiatorial combat."

"Or they spend months of their wages to buy the cheapest ticket and watch the combat from the most remote corner of the arena."

"Their lives are no different from being dead."

"They are just walking, eating corpses."

Ono said this, looked at Qin Xia, and then back at Angron.

"Watching us die makes them feel alive."

Upon hearing this, Qin Xia nodded at Ono. He also felt that the people of Nuceria were like that psychologically.

Angron, however, heard Ono making excuses for the common people of Nuceria.

It was as if those common people also sympathized with the Gladiators, and their cheering for the combat was merely out of helplessness.

Yet, in Angron's eyes, they were not worthy of pity. If he could escape one day, he would kill nobles and commoners alike.

"If they are also pitiful, then they should pity us, not see life in our deaths," Angron said.

"The world isn't black and white. Good people can do evil deeds, and evil people may not be without pity, let alone those miserable people on Nuceria," Ono advised.

Angron first shook his head after hearing this, but he didn't directly refute it.

Because he didn't think everything Ono said was wrong, even from his own perspective.

Some of those people in the stands...

Some people in the corners.

The hidden emotions in their hearts, the negative emotions dulled by the excitement of combat, made Angron feel a relatable sense of oppression and pain.

There were even some with feelings of worship, as if... Seeing my beloved Gladiator kill several people in the arena makes the whips the nobles lash me with hurt less.

And earlier, when fighting the Scum Butcher, Angron had also felt some expectations, suppressed expectations and the most forbidden fantasies – for other nobles to be slaughtered like those Butchers.

Of course, there was also the purest desire to witness slaughter.

The more Angron thought, the more anxious he became. He scratched his scalp like self-harm, leaving bloody marks beneath his thick hair.

Why are people so complex? Why can't people have only one pure emotion? Why do the emotions of those who seem to be merely cheering for one person to kill another, these brutal people, all differ?

Angron was anxious, manic. Those emotions that didn't belong to him were now gone, but they tormented his mind incessantly.

"Rest," Qin Xia said. "I know what confuses you the most. When you've completely calmed down, I'll teach you something else."

Angron looked up, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Qin Xia, his gaze filled with helplessness and pleading.

The Primarch nodded gently.

Deep in the night.

All the gladiators were fast asleep.

Except for Angron and Qin Xia.

While Qin Xia was still meditating with his legs crossed, Angron got up and quietly walked over to sit beside him.

The Primarch didn't know that Qin Xia was thinking about how to make Yochura's severed arm regenerate.

Although he had the ability to heal injuries, the methods he mastered couldn't make someone regrow a lost limb.

"Here."

Qin Xia heard Angron say a single word, then he opened his eyes and looked at Angron's outstretched hand.

In the Primarch's large palm lay something that existed within the heads of the Security Mechs.

Something like a processor.

"You said you studied technology when you were young," Angron said with a wry smile. "I thought it might be useful to you, so I hid one of these during the day. If you need anything else, we can collect them slowly."

"Thank you." Qin Xia took the processor and placed it on the ground.

The rock flowed, concealing the processor within.

Angron clearly hadn't come just for the processor. He opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, then hesitated again...

Finally, Qin Xia spoke first: "You want to ask me about what happened today. You are troubled by your talent, you have always been troubled, even tormented, and you want to find a solution."

"Yes," Angron nodded.

The Primarch was still thinking about what had happened today.

The rage...

The excitement from cheers and praise...

Were Onomamus's words right after all...

Angron felt he shouldn't have his emotions stirred by the cheers of a crowd of enemies, but he couldn't control it.

What Qin Xia had said last time about talent had resonated deeply with Angron. He recalled the emotional fluctuations of the Nusa Twins back then... if he had noticed that, he could have prevented it earlier.

"It might take you a long time to learn..." Qin Xia looked earnestly at the Primarch. "To learn to be unaffected by emotions, unaffected by talent; to instead control your talent and the emotions you feel, and not act irrationally due to being swayed by your emotions."

"But for now, you can at least learn one thing."

"That is to analyze which of the emotions you feel are worth paying attention to and experiencing deeply, and which should be ignored and their influence minimized."

Angron listened and nodded.

"Actually, Onomamus was right," Qin Xia glanced subconsciously at the sleeping "old bear." "The civilians of Nuceria also appreciate gladiatorial combat, even cheering for the deaths of gladiators, but it is truly the only entertainment in their endless suffering."

"They don't necessarily all want to see us die."

"Some of them see us as idols, as pillars of spiritual support, learning from the character we display."

"Of course, some of them are purely morbidly curious, wanting to see all sorts of strange ways to die."

"You need to realize the complexity and diversity of sentient beings."

"..."

Hearing this, Angron, as Qin Xia had advised earlier, tried to experience his emotions.

He began to imagine himself as an ordinary person, analyzing every emotion of the civilians in the spectator stands of the arena at that moment, and the possible reasons behind each emotion.

He then recalled an emotion he had felt... admiration, trust, reliance.

Indeed, some people treated gladiators as spiritual pillars; they felt the pain of spending money saved for a long time, but also the joy of seeing someone they liked succeed.

"Savor them," Qin Xia said, seeing Angron learning. "As for the emotions you should discard like worn-out shoes, they are those who purely want to be entertained, those who want to see you cruelly kill another group of people. The praise from this part of the crowd is false and harmful."

Qin Xia reached out and placed a hand on Angron's shoulder, smiling.

"Only empathize with those who are worthy of your empathy, and enjoy the trust and admiration they give you; this is what you deserve."

"As for who is worthy... that is something you will need to experience and learn later. It's not that I don't want to teach you with words, but words are too inferior and not intuitive enough compared to your talent, which can dissect and savor a person on a conceptual level."

After listening to Qin Xia's teachings, Angron nodded thoughtfully.

He seemed to understand.

But he didn't fully understand.

Angron was still too young; he still needed to learn and grow.

However, Angron would definitely remember what Qin Xia said today, and in his learning and growth, he would savor it and draw lessons from it.

"There are bad people among the gladiators," Qin Xia suddenly said. "Don't be sad about this."

Angron nodded in silence.

"And you will soon learn something else."

Angron looked confused at Qin Xia's words, unsure what he would learn.

"Sometimes, cruelty isn't something we want to wield, but it's necessary, both for us and for those we care about,"

Qin Xia said.

"It's not enough for a good person to only have gentleness, kindness, and tolerance."

"You empathize easily with others, but you have to face battles and enemies, so you need a unique quality..."

"The heart of a Bodhisattva, with thunderous execution!"