Maggot Eye

"Maggot Eye."

Inside the cave that served as the gladiators' quarters, Oenomaus stood by the iron grate, looking outside as he spoke the words to Qin Xa.

"That drone-like sphere, it's called the Maggot Eye." Qin Xa nodded.

Oenomaus nodded in return.

The Maggot Eye; that was the name the gladiators had given the sphere.

Although they didn't know what the announcer behind the sphere looked like, the gladiators all felt he was a spineless maggot, so they called the drone controlled by him the Maggot Eye.

"Angron." Oenomaus frowned. "That child, he seems like a very sensitive person... he must be terrified."

Qin Xa remained silent, keeping his eyes on Angron.

After the announcer had given the primarch his name, the gladiatorial match was considered over.

The Maggot Eye rotated slightly, and the tone of the announcer controlling it suddenly turned calm.

"Alright, you can crawl back into your gladiator slave kennel now."

"Leave some time for the cleanup crew, won't you?"

The beam of light enveloping Angron shifted, aiming toward a massive gate leading to the gladiators' quarters.

Oenomaus said in a low voice, "They cheer for our victory, but only because we are slaves who pose no threat to them as spectators. Even if these crowds go crazy for us, we still cannot change our own circumstances."

Hearing these sensible words, Qin Xa turned his head in surprise to look at Oenomaus.

The man looked burly and rugged, like a bear, yet he was very gentle and spoke with great reason.

This clearly had nothing to do with his age, which was well over fifty.

"Damned slave masters." Oenomaus stopped observing the arena, turned around, and walked away, off to do who knows what.

Qin Xa, meanwhile, continued to watch Angron.

The corrosive liquid had faded away, and Angron jumped down from the high tower, looking around, searching for a way to escape.

There was only one Maggot Eye in the combat zone, and this drone did not appear to have any offensive capabilities.

There were no barriers between the combat zone and the spectator stands; it looked as if anyone with decent athletic ability could just run over.

At least from Angron's perspective, there was nothing blocking the path between the combat zone and the stands.

Having been hit by a massive surge of emotions, Angron did not notice the buzzing, transparent energy barrier between the boundary of the spectator stands and the combat zone.

Angron planned to run out just like that, to return to those high mountains, to that vast expanse of peaks that, even with the two painful memories they left him, were still a paradise compared to this arena.

But just as Angron truly intended to do so...

The giant gate leading to the gladiators' quarters rose.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the vast, dark corridor.

It was the sound of steel clashing against steel.

Pairs upon pairs of crimson eyes flickered with evil light in the darkness of the corridor.

Angron thought they were monsters; he had encountered similar beasts back in the mountains.

But when the owners of those pairs of crimson eyes stepped out from the darkness, Angron stood frozen.

They were not beasts, but robots standing in neat, uniform rows.

These robots were about four meters tall, numerous, and held enlarged versions of the shock batons used by slave-catching squads.

"Looks like our Angron wants to try his luck against these Security Automata, does he?!"

The Maggot Eye flew down and landed between Angron and the iron men known as Security Automata.

It let out an excited cheer.

But then, the announcer's voice turned cold and indifferent.

"Get a move on."

"Or I'll have these automatons beat your ass to a pulp."

Angron lowered his head and walked toward the gladiators' quarters, stepping into the dark corridor.

On both sides of the path were crimson eyes.

Angron did not know how many Security Automata he had passed, and he secretly tried to calculate their numbers.

It wasn't until he reached a fork in the corridor that he gave up the futile calculation.

At this junction, which seemed designed to prevent slaves from breaking out of their quarters and to allow for the rapid deployment of forces to suppress them, Security Automata were everywhere.

The tireless steel patrols marched through the corridor where absolutely no one could hide, and every three steps, a heavy weapon hanging from the ceiling aimed at any creature passing by.

Angron remained silent, led by the Maggot Eye into the place he was meant to go.

"This place is truly amazing." Qin Xa withdrew his gaze and sat on a rock in the corner, looking at the nearest gladiator. "Isn't it?"

The gladiator, with snow-white skin, a handsome face, and a collar around his neck, shrugged. "First time?"

"What first time?" Qin Xa raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. "Who in this place could be here for a second time?"

The handsome gladiator curled his lip, his aloof expression tinged with pride: "This is my third time."

"What?" Qin Xa was surprised.

"I used sorcery to escape twice, but after I was dragged back the third time, they realized I could turn invisible, so they slapped this thing on me." The handsome gladiator pointed to the collar around his neck.

Then, he scanned his surroundings, letting his gaze linger on each of the gladiators nearby.

"Him, second time."

"This lady, fourth time."

"And that burly man over there, he's also on his second."

Listening to the gladiator's words, Qin Xa examined everyone in astonishment.

Between the Iron Men and the black technology of Nuceria.

They even had collars to suppress psychic powers.

This godforsaken place called Nuceria was already miraculous enough; anyone present who had managed to escape it several times was clearly no pushover.

"Don't listen to his bragging." Oeno, who had gone off to do something earlier, returned holding a cup of water and a piece of shriveled bread. "Their so-called escapes are just them running out of this cave a few times, only to be beaten senseless by the Security Automata and tossed back before they even see the sky."

Qin Xa nodded: "That sounds reasonable."

Exposed by Oeno, the handsome gladiator fell silent, leaning back in the corner with his eyes closed to rest.

Qin Xa leaned against the wall, tilted his head to look at the cave ceiling, and sighed with sudden emotion: "Security Automata, sedatives, the gladiator pits. I've seen all three treasures of Nuceria with my own eyes; there shouldn't be anything else in this hellhole that can shock me."

"The three treasures of Nuceria, heh..." Oeno nodded with a bitter smile. "I can see you're an optimist."

Just as Qin Xa was about to admit it, the handsome gladiator with his eyes closed spoke up again: "There are plenty of optimists like him, but soon they'll be just as lifeless as the rest of the people here."

Qin Xa didn't think so. Finding joy in suffering was one of his talents; even the augmentations of the Grey Knights couldn't erase his personality.

As the three of them were talking, the cave door opened, and Angron was escorted in by the Security Automata.

Once the machines had closed the door and left, Oeno walked over to Angron and handed him the bread and water: "Eat something. Though you didn't vomit your guts out in the arena like most of us did when we first arrived."

Angron looked up at Oeno, nodded, and took the bread and water.

Under Qin Xa's gaze, the Primarch walked over to an empty corner, sat down on the ground, and began to eat.