Necessary Cruelty

Chapter 32: Necessary Cruelty

"Onomamus."

"Onomamus."

In Onomamus's dream, he was carving Triumph Ropes with some warriors, discussing the deaths of the nobles they had just encountered.

As they reveled, everything around them suddenly vanished, and Onomamus's dreamscape shifted.

"Old Bear" saw Qin Xia.

"This..."

"This is not a dream."

As Onomamus was about to ask, Qin Xia answered first.

"You know I'm a Sorcerer. I can talk to you in dreams."

Qin Xia gestured for Onomamus to sit down.

The two sat opposite each other in the dream.

Onomamus was confused. He and Qin Xia were in the same cave, and Qin Xia could have just woken him up to talk. Why did he have to use Sorcery to converse in a dream?

However, the experienced Onomamus quickly guessed that this conversation was not meant to be known by anyone else.

"Why did you call me here?"

As Onomamus pondered, another person appeared.

Klyster emerged from the darkness and sat by the campfire that had suddenly appeared before Qin Xia and Onomamus.

The female gladiator yawned and instinctively looked around, only to realize she wasn't in the cave.

"Yes, you're in a dream, not awake," Qin Xia answered before Klyster could ask. "I just pulled you into the dream. What I'm about to say is something we need to discuss privately."

"What is it? So mysterious," Klyster immediately listened with seriousness.

"Do you remember what happened today?" Qin Xia said. "Yochura was almost killed by the Skinners, and the Nusa Twins wanted to kill Angron."

Klyster and Onomamus nodded simultaneously. Of course, they remembered.

"Next," Qin Xia's gaze focused solely on Onomamus, "you need to propose a non-killing principle to the others. As the name suggests, it means no gladiator is allowed to kill each other in regular combat."

Onomamus was stunned at first, then nodded earnestly. "I'd be very willing. But you're not the only one with this idea. I've also called on gladiators not to kill each other in regular combat, but they all dismissed my words. I don't have the same influence or deterrence as you and Angron."

"Precisely because you don't, I need you to bring this up," Qin Xia gestured for Onomamus to listen first. "I need you to propose it, and after you propose it, you need to ask for my opinion, and I won't state mine."

Onomamus looked confused.

He didn't understand why, if a rule that everyone had to follow needed to be established, it wasn't proposed by influential and intimidating figures like Qin Xia and Angron.

Even Qin Xia, who had proposed this idea to him, said he wouldn't state his opinion when Onomamus asked for it.

"He's not stupid, he's just too kind," Klyster patted "Old Bear's" back. "No matter how intimidating this old bear Onomamus looks, he's incredibly kind-hearted."

Onomamus looked at Klyster, giving her the same confused look.

To help Onomamus understand, Klyster, feigning ignorance, asked Qin Xia, "There will definitely be people who explicitly refuse to abide by Onomamus's non-killing principle. What will be the fate of those who refuse?"

"Those who refuse to abide by the non-killing principle will be killed," Qin Xia said nonchalantly. "Remember those who oppose, and find a way to kill them during regular combat or large-scale battles," Qin Xia replied.

"Yes," Klyster raised her fist.

Qin Xia and Klyster fist-bumped.

Onomamus, however, was utterly horrified. "If the non-killing principle is to protect people, then why kill those who are unwilling to abide by it?"

"It is indeed to protect people, but only to protect those who are worthy of protection," Qin Xia responded calmly. "Beasts like the Skinners, even if they outwardly comply with the non-killing principle, we still need to find a way to kill them. Of course, Klyster has already killed him. Well done."

"I never go easy on those who deserve to die, brother," Klyster said with a smile, pointing to her heart, meaning 'I understand you,' and fist-bumped Qin Xia again.

She was clearly very willing to accept this proposal regarding the non-killing principle.

"If we pick out and kill those who don't follow the rules, what's the difference between us and the Skinners or the Nusa Twins? We're all executioners," Onomamus still refused to accept.

Qin Xia gazed at Onomamus.

His eyes did not turn cold due to Onomamus's resistance, but instead, he looked at him with respect and kindness.

"You are a kind person," Qin Xia said slowly.

He had already remembered why the name Onomamus sounded familiar.

Onomamus.

The kindest gladiator in the arena. When Angron believed all the spectators were cruel, Onomamus told Angron, "Watching us die makes them feel alive."

If everything continued as normal, Onomamus would be killed by Angron after Angron was fitted with the Butcher's Nails.

"Your soul radiates light."

Qin Xia's eyes were covered by a layer of white light.

"It is Nuceria's honor that you were born there, in that cesspool."

"Anyone fortunate enough to meet you is truly lucky, for they will be protected by you, directly or indirectly."

"But..."

The psychic glow in Qin Xia's eyes vanished.

"Goodness and justice alone can't achieve anything."

Hearing this, Ono lowered his head, feeling vexed.

"I don't want to kill anyone," Qin Xia said. "If I can, I want to save everyone, even those who don't deserve to be saved by me, but I'm not a god."

"If I have to choose, I'll choose the people I care about and abandon those I don't."

"A sorcerer mentor once told me that people come first, matters have priorities, and relationships have closeness and distance, so such a choice is not shameful."

Listening to Qin Xia's words, Ono looked up, took a deep breath, and asked softly, "Can't we isolate those who refuse to abide by the no-kill principle, ostracize them, be wary of them... They are gladiators, the oppressed, not nobles..."

"What we need to do isn't just to protect ourselves in the arena," Qin Xia explained. "We also need to escape. The slave owners even encourage us to try to escape, but those who want to stay in the arena will actively sabotage things."

"The no-kill principle is just a test."

"It's just a test to see who can cooperate and who can't. Whether in the arena or on the path to escaping our predicament in the future."

After hearing Qin Xia's words again, Ono lowered his head once more.

He wasn't foolish; he knew Qin Xia explained so much to him because he cared about him.

Just like Angron, Klyster.

Otherwise, Qin Xia wouldn't have said anything, and at worst, he would have killed Ono, the old man known as Onomamus, as someone uncooperative.

It was too easy for a sorcerer to kill someone.

"Do you see me as a cruel and cold-blooded person? Is that why you're unwilling to accept it?" Qin Xia suddenly asked.

"No, but you're certainly not as kind as I am."

Ono said this with a gentle tone and a warm gaze.

Qin Xia could read some information from this expression: Ono understood everything, but he was too kind and gentle, to the point where this moral quality became a hurdle his rationality couldn't overcome.

Ono continued, "In my life, I've rationally accepted that kindness and a sense of justice alone can't achieve anything."

"You're not as kind as me, but you are far more rational, intelligent, and much better at doing the right thing than I am. I believe if I, Onomamus, were in your place, I wouldn't be in this gladiatorial arena now, brooding over past mistakes."

"My rationality tells me that you kill, but you can save more people."

Hearing this, Qin Xia became even more convinced that Ono understood, but he simply couldn't overcome the hurdle in his heart, no matter who tried to persuade him.

In this dream conversation today, Qin Xia didn't necessarily want Ono to do anything; he just wanted Ono to understand some principles.

"You've helped me confirm a problem that has been bothering me for a long time today," Ono said. "Thank you."

Qin Xia nodded gently. "I just had to explain to you, Angron, and Klyster. It's not necessary for you to tell the gladiators about the no-kill principle; it's the same if Yochura says it."

"I will say it," Ono replied calmly.

Qin Xia fell silent, detached himself from Ono's dream, and prepared to enter Angron's dream, focusing his attention.

Angron's mind wasn't as easy to enter; his psychic resistance was stronger than that of the thirteenth Primarch, who liked blue and one-on-one duels, and had a bit of a sense of humor.