Maggot Eye

"Maggot Eye."

Inside the gladiators' quarters, in a cave, Oenomaus stood by the iron-barred window and looked outside as he spoke the term to Qin Xa.

"That drone-like sphere is called Maggot Eye." Qin Xa nodded.

Oeno nodded as well.

Maggot Eye—that was the name the gladiators had given the sphere.

Though they did not know what the Host behind the sphere looked like, the gladiators all believed he was a gutless maggot, so they called the drone he controlled Maggot Eye.

"Angron." Oeno frowned. "That child... he seems deeply sensitive inside. He must be terrified."

Qin Xa said nothing and watched Angron.

Once the Host had given the primarch a name, the gladiatorial match was considered over.

Maggot Eye rotated, and the Host controlling it suddenly spoke in a calm tone.

"Alright, now get your ass into the doghouse where you gladiator slaves belong."

"Leave some time for the cleanup crew, will you?"

The beam enveloping Angron shifted direction, pointing toward a massive gate leading to the gladiators' quarters.

Oeno said gravely, "They cheer for our victories, but only because we are slaves who pose no threat to these spectators. Even if the audience goes mad for us, it cannot change our circumstances."

Hearing those remarkably sensible words, Qin Xa turned and gave Oeno a surprised look.

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

That clearly had nothing to do with him being over fifty.

"Damn slave masters." Oeno stopped watching the Arena, turned, and left, apparently to do something.

Qin Xa continued watching Angron.

The corrosive liquid had receded. Angron jumped down from the tower and looked around for a way to escape.

There was only one Maggot Eye in the combat area, and the drone did not appear to possess much offensive capability.

There was no apparent barrier between the combat area and the stands, either. It looked as though anyone with decent athletic ability could simply run over.

At least, from Angron's perspective, there was nothing blocking the combat area from the stands.

Still reeling from the flood of emotions, Angron failed to notice the humming transparent energy barrier between the stands and the combat area.

Angron began plotting how to run out, return to the mountains, and go back to those vast peaks that, despite leaving him with two bad memories, were still like heaven compared to this Arena.

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

The gigantic gate leading to the gladiators' quarters rose.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the vast dark corridor.

It was the sound of steel striking steel.

Pairs upon pairs of scarlet eyes gleamed with wicked light in the darkness of the corridor.

Angron thought they were monsters. He had encountered similar beasts in the mountains.

But when the owners of those pairs of scarlet eyes emerged from the darkness, Angron froze.

They were not beasts, but neatly arrayed robots marching in lockstep.

These robots stood roughly four meters tall. There were many of them, and they carried enlarged versions of the electro-batons used by the Slave Catchers.

"Looks like our Angron wants to test his strength against these Security Automata, huh?!"

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

It let out an excited cheer.

Then the Host's voice turned cold and indifferent.

"Move it."

"Or I'll have these machines beat your ass raw."

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

Scarlet eyes lined both sides of the path.

Angron did not know how many Security Automata he passed, though he secretly tried to count them.

By the time he reached a fork in the corridor, he abandoned the futile count.

At this intersection, seemingly meant to seal off routes if slaves broke out of the quarters and to rapidly deploy forces to suppress them, Security Automata were everywhere.

Tireless steel patrols marched through corridors where no one could possibly hide, while a heavy weapon suspended from the ceiling every three steps aimed at any living thing that passed through.

Angron silently followed Maggot Eye into the place he was meant to go.

"This damn place is fucking incredible." Qin Xa withdrew his gaze, sat on a stone in the corner, and looked at the nearest gladiator. "Right?"

The snow-pale, handsome gladiator wearing a collar around his neck shrugged. "First time?"

"What do you mean, first time?" Qin Xa raised a brow, slightly surprised. "Who here could possibly be coming in for a second time?"

The handsome gladiator curled his lip, pride faintly showing through his aloof expression. "This is my third."

"What?" Qin Xa was astonished.

"I escaped twice using sorcery. When they caught me and brought me back the third time, they discovered I could use sorcery to turn invisible, so they put this thing on me." The handsome gladiator pointed at the collar around his neck.

Then he swept his gaze around, pausing in turn on several gladiators nearby.

"Him, second time."

"This lady, fourth time."

"And that big man over there, his second time too."

Listening to the gladiator, Qin Xa looked over everyone in surprise.

Iron men, Nuceria's black technology...

Even collars that suppressed psychic power.

Nuceria was already incredible enough. Anyone who had managed to escape from here several times was no ordinary person.

"Don't listen to him brag." Oeno, who had left earlier to do who knew what, returned holding a cup of water and a shriveled piece of bread. "What they call escaping several times means running out of this cave a few times, then getting beaten senseless by the Intelligent Machines and thrown back before they even saw daylight."

Qin Xa nodded. "That makes more sense."

After Oeno exposed him, the handsome gladiator said nothing. He leaned in the corner and closed his eyes to rest.

Qin Xa leaned against the wall, looked up at the cave ceiling, and suddenly sighed. "Security Automata, anesthetic, Arena. I've seen all three treasures of Nuceria with my own eyes. There probably isn't anything in this damn place left that can shock me."

"The three treasures of Nuceria, huh..." Oeno nodded with a bitter smile. "You're quite optimistic, I see."

Qin Xa was just about to agree when the handsome gladiator, still with his eyes closed, spoke again. "Plenty of people are as optimistic as he is, but before long, they become as lifeless as most of the people here."

Qin Xa did not think so. Finding joy amid hardship was one of his talents; not even the Grey Knights' modifications could erase his personality.

As the three spoke, the cave gate opened, and Angron was escorted inside by the Intelligent Machines.

Once the Intelligent Machines shut the gate and left, Oeno walked over to Angron and offered him bread and water. "Eat something. At least you didn't vomit everything in your stomach in the Arena like most of us did when we first arrived."

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

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