Philosophy

Chapter 31: Philosophy

The gate inside the cave rumbled open.

The Security Automata escorted Angron, Kleist, and Yochula back to the Gladiators' quarters.

Kleist helped the armless Yochula over to a rock and let him sit down.

Angron walked over to the corner where Qin Xa and Oeno were, then sat down dejectedly.

Qin Xa noticed that the primarch had kept his fists clenched.

"Angron..." Oeno sat before Angron, about to offer some words of comfort.

But Angron shook his head. He clearly did not want anyone disturbing him.

That was why Qin Xa had not tried to comfort Angron.

The primarch needed rest and calm right now.

The cave fell silent.

Angron occasionally looked at the others, but his gaze no longer regarded them as fellow sufferers. It now carried a measure of wariness.

The primarch was not afraid that the Gladiators here might be getting along happily one second and trying to kill him the next. He did not fear physical harm.

What the primarch feared was being hurt emotionally again.

Everyone remained silent for quite a while.

In the end, it was not Oeno who broke the silence, but Angron himself.

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

Qin Xa had an answer, but he felt it would be a dull one.

"They are not all nobles."

Oeno spoke calmly.

"Those cheering in the stands, those cheering in front of televisions and projections, are not all nobles either."

"Almost all of them are lower-class people from the slums, plebeians in the eyes of the nobles."

Angron frowned at that, his face full of confusion and doubt.

He could not understand why those commoners, who suffered enslavement and oppression just as he did, would be so eager to watch Gladiators die.

"Almost all of them live miserable lives every day. Their only pleasure is returning home after heavy labor at night, buying some liquor, and standing by the window to watch Arena matches on street projections or their shabby televisions."

"Or spending several months' wages on the cheapest ticket to watch the matches from the most remote corner of the Arena."

"Their lives are no different from death."

"They are a group of walking, eating corpses."

Oeno looked at Qin Xa as he said this, then turned back to Angron.

"Watching us die makes them feel alive."

Qin Xa nodded at Oeno. He also felt that this was the mindset of the Nucerians.

But Angron heard an attempt to excuse Nuceria's ordinary people in Oeno's words.

It was as though those ordinary people were fellow sufferers with the Gladiators too, as though cheering for the Arena was something they did only out of necessity.

Yet Angron did not think they deserved pity. If he ever escaped, he would kill both nobles and commoners alike.

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

"The world is not simply black and white. Good people can commit evil deeds, and evil people may not be beyond pity, much less those miserable people of Nuceria," Oeno urged.

Angron first shook his head, but he did not directly refute him.

Because he did not think everything Oeno had said was wrong, even from his own perspective.

Some of the people in those stands...

Some of the people in those corners.

The emotions buried deep within them, the negative emotions diluted by the thrill of the Arena—the oppression and pain that Angron could empathize with.

Some even felt admiration, as though... seeing my beloved Gladiator kill several people from the Arena stands makes the nobles' whips hurt less.

And during his earlier battle with the Plebeian Butchers, Angron had also sensed some hope—suppressed hope, and the most forbidden fantasy: seeing other nobles 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 at his scalp as though mutilating himself, leaving bloody marks beneath his thick hair.

Why were people so complicated? Why could they not have only one pure emotion? Why did those brutal people, who seemed to be cheering merely because one person killed another, all feel differently?

Angron was anxious and irritable. Those emotions that did not belong to him had vanished now, yet they tormented his thoughts at every moment.

"Rest," Qin Xa said. "I know what confuses you most. Once you have calmed down completely, I will teach you something else."

Angron raised his head. His bloodshot eyes fixed on Qin Xa, yet they were filled with helplessness and pleading.

The primarch nodded gently.

Late at night.

All the Gladiators had fallen deeply asleep.

Except Angron and Qin Xa.

While Qin Xa still sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, studying, Angron rose and quietly walked over to sit beside him.

The primarch did not know that Qin Xa was contemplating how to regenerate Yochula's severed arm.

Although he could heal injuries, the methods he had mastered could not yet make someone regrow a lost limb.

"Here."

Qin Xa heard Angron say that single word. He opened his eyes and looked at the hand Angron held out.

In the primarch's huge palm were several things taken from inside the Security Automata's heads.

They resembled processors.

"You said you studied technology when you were young." Angron gave a bitter smile. "I thought these might be useful to you, so I hid one during the day. If you need anything else, we can slowly gather more."

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

The rock flowed, concealing the processor within it.

Angron had clearly not come merely because of the processor. He opened his mouth, hesitated, then tried to speak again...

In the end, Qin Xa took the initiative. "You want to ask about what happened during the day. Your gift confuses you. It has always confused you, even tormented you, and you want to find a solution."

"Yes." Angron nodded.

The primarch was still thinking about what had happened during the day.

Rage...

The excitement brought about by cheers and praise...

Whether what Oenomaus had said was right...

Angron felt that he should not have his emotions stirred by the cheers of a group of enemies, but he simply could not control it.

What Qin Xa had said last time about his gift had felt right to Angron. He recalled the emotional fluctuations of the Nusa Twins... If he could notice such things, he could guard against them in advance.

"You may need a long time to learn..." Qin Xa looked earnestly at the primarch. "To learn not to be affected by emotions, not to be affected by your gift. To instead control your gift and the emotions you sense, rather than letting emotions drive you into irrational actions."

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

"That is to analyze which emotions you sense are worth valuing and experiencing deeply, and which should be ignored and reduced to the smallest possible influence."

Angron listened and nodded.

"Actually, Oenomamus was right." Qin Xa instinctively glanced at the sleeping Old Bear. "The common people of Nuceria enjoy Arena matches too, and may even cheer at the deaths of Gladiators, but this truly is their only entertainment amid endless suffering."

"They do not necessarily all want to watch us die."

"Some of them see us as idols, as spiritual pillars, and learn from the qualities we display."

"Of course, some of them are merely seeking thrills and want to see all manner of bizarre deaths."

"You need to recognize the complexity and diversity of intelligent beings."

"..."

Hearing this, Angron followed Qin Xa's earlier advice and examined the emotions.

He began imagining himself as an ordinary person, analyzing every emotion felt by the commoners in the Arena stands at that moment, as well as the possible reasons behind each emotion.

He also recalled an emotion he had sensed... affection, trust, reliance.

There truly were people who regarded Gladiators as spiritual pillars. They felt the pain of spending money they had saved for so long, but also the joy of seeing someone they liked.

"Savor them." Qin Xa saw that Angron was learning. "As for the emotions you should cast aside like worn shoes, they are those of people who only want amusement, who only want to see you brutally kill another group of people. Praise from that portion is false and harmful."

Qin Xa reached out, placed a hand on Angron's shoulder, and smiled.

"Empathize only with those worthy of your empathy. Enjoy the trust and praise they give you. You deserve it."

"As for what kind of people are worthy... that is something you must experience and learn later. It is not that I do not want to teach you with words, but compared to your gift, which can dissect a person on a conceptual level and savor them, words are far too crude and not direct enough."

After hearing Qin Xa's guidance, Angron nodded thoughtfully.

He looked as though he understood.

But in truth, he did not fully understand.

Angron was still too young. He still needed to learn and grow.

But he would certainly remember what Qin Xa had said today, then savor it through learning and growth, drawing lessons from it.

"There are bad people among the Gladiators," Qin Xa suddenly said. "Do not feel sad about that."

Angron nodded silently.

"And soon, you will learn something else."

At Qin Xa's words, Angron looked puzzled, unsure what he would learn.

"Sometimes, cruelty is not what we desire, but it is necessary for both us and those we care about."

Qin Xa said.

"It is not enough for a good person to possess only gentleness, kindness, and tolerance."

"You empathize with others easily, but you must face battle and enemies, so you need a unique quality..."

"A bodhisattva's heart, thunderous means!"