Primarch's Talent

In the corner, Angron sat alone, eating in silence.

There wasn't even a stone to sit on.

Angron sat on the ground, curled up with his knees against his chest, one arm hugging his legs while the other held a cup of water, washing down the bread in his mouth.

Although he was in no mood to savor food, Angron still lowered his head and tasted the bread, as it was a novel flavor to him.

Perhaps this was the only good thing about the arena, compared to the mountains.

Compared to animal meat and plants mixed with colorful blood, at least the bread in his mouth counted as processed food.

After finishing the bread, Angron looked up at Oeno.

"There's no more," Oeno shook his head. "We'll be fasting for two days, then we'll have a feast before the next match. Maggot Eye will come to broadcast us eating when the time comes."

Angron lowered his head.

After eating, the primarch entered a state of calm, but as he settled, his perception of his surroundings became even more intense.

Pain, resentment, a yearning for freedom... these new emotions appeared within Angron's senses.

He disliked physical contact with others because whenever he touched someone, he felt these emotions, and having never received any education, he didn't know how to cope with them.

Qin Xa did not know what Angron was feeling at this moment; he was simply watching the primarch.

During the recent gladiatorial match known as Tears of the Demon, Qin Xa had focused on Angron and noticed that for a brief moment after his victory, joy had appeared on his face.

Immediately after, this visible joy vanished, replaced by an expression of confusion on Angron's part.

Clearly, he didn't even know why he felt a sudden surge of joy amidst the overwhelming cheers and after a brutal slaughter.

That was not Angron's own emotion; it was the audience's.

The future of this primarch was that of a bloodthirsty, cruel maniac, but he was not that yet.

Every primarch possessed a talent, and Angron's talent was the ability to perceive and absorb the emotions of others.

But judging by Angron's current state, this talent was a curse to him.

"How did you learn the language of Nuceria?"

As Angron felt overwhelmed by the negative emotions of all the gladiators in the cave, the sudden question was like pulling him out of the sea, shifting his focus.

The primarch looked up and saw Qin Xa, who had been staring at him, walk over and sit by his side.

Angron noticed Qin Xa's gaze, but he didn't know why this person was paying attention to him.

"I don't know..." Angron shook his head. "Perhaps it's because I've heard them speak."

"You are gifted, a master of linguistics," Qin Xa nodded with a smile. "Do you realize that you are different from the others? Have you ever suspected that you might be a... special creature?"

Angron was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head blankly: "How am I different?"

"Nothing," Qin Xa shook his head. "That's a good thing."

"Why are you asking him that? Before he arrived, you were the one who looked like a unique creature different from everyone else."

The handsome gladiator, who had been resting with his eyes closed, interjected.

Qin Xa ignored this remark and began to assess Angron's psychology.

Primarchs were all created by the Emperor, so it was only natural that they possessed powerful abilities that ordinary humans lacked.

The fact that Angron could learn the Nucerian language just by listening to the slave-catchers was proof of this.

And such an ability might lead a primarch to not consider humans as his own kind.

Angron was not stupid; he should now realize that the emotions he felt were not necessarily his own, so he discovered that others possessed emotions just like him, leading him to conclude they were his own kind.

That was a good thing; at least Angron wouldn't mistake himself for a beast because of his wild life in the mountains.

After reaching this conclusion, Qin Xa spoke: "You should understand that survival is a biological instinct. What happened in the arena just now was not entirely your fault."

Angron was being eroded by the feelings that had been temporarily dispelled by the distraction. As he recalled a fragment of what had just happened, those emotions of sadness, anger, fear, and unwillingness surged forth, causing him pain.

"I killed them," Angron shook his head. "I'm not sure if it's real or a hallucination. I feel like I can sense the emotions of every one of them. When they were killed by me, or when they were killed by others, I felt as if I were the one being killed."

Qin Xa listened to these words, recalling what he had read about Angron before coming to this universe.

In the future, Tethys, the Chief Librarian of the World Eaters Legion, would probe the primarch's memories and discover that before the Butcher's Nails were implanted, Angron felt agonizing pain every time he killed a gladiator.

The Butcher's Nails were an implant that, once installed in the brain, would torture the host incessantly, and only by killing could the host find a moment of relief.

So, after the Butcher's Nails were installed, that agonizing pain turned into a temporary release that satisfied the urge to kill.

Just now, Angron clearly had the same feeling; he was weeping as he killed.

"Everyone here has swung a blade at others to survive," Oeno walked over and said to Angron. "Outside the arena, in the slums, it's the same. Although it sounds like an excuse to shirk responsibility and guilt, the vast majority of the sin of this slaughter should be blamed on the slave owners."

Qin Xa looked at Oeno in agreement, feeling more and more that this burly man actually had a philosophical side.

"I can roughly guess what you're feeling right now; you are very sad," Qin Xa said. "But sadness is a luxury in this situation. You have to learn to handle those emotions, or at least don't let them drive you to suicide or self-destruction."

Angron nodded.

But it was a perfunctory nod. Qin Xa had not offered any constructive advice because he was also encountering Angron for the first time and needed more information to help Angron deal with the problems brought about by his own talent.

"Hey, listen."

Qin Xa placed his hand on Angron's thick arm, his tone low and steady as he began to speak.

"I am a person who loves to acquire knowledge, very, very much."

"Because it was knowledge that once changed my fate. When I was a child, I lost my parents and lived in an orphanage. That place was like a gladiator pit that didn't require fighting; every night, everyone slept in the same room."

"Later, relying on that knowledge, I developed a technology, and that alone allowed me to make a fortune at a very young age."

"Then, I used that money to improve the environment of the orphanage where I grew up, to make it better."

Listening to what Qin Xa said, Angron's eyes were filled with curiosity.

He could understand the meaning behind all these words; the context allowed Angron to grasp the significance of the terms he had never learned before.

And because he had never seen the world beyond the mountains and the gladiator pits, he was deeply interested.

However, after listening and pondering for a moment, Angron asked, "I understand you might want me to learn something from this story... but I really don't see the connection between this story and my current situation."

"There is no connection." Qin Xa smiled and shook his head, "I just wanted to say it to show off."

Angron revealed a smile filled with bitterness.

Oeno, standing to the side, lowered his head and raised a hand to cover his mouth.

Not far away, the handsome gladiator who had been resting with his eyes closed let out a laugh.

The other gladiators in the cave were just like those two; they had expected Qin Xa to spout some grand philosophy, and they couldn't help but break down at this sudden turn of events.

Angron felt the gloom in the cave break in that instant, and as the others laughed, the negative emotions that had been pressing down on him like dark clouds briefly receded.

"Can't you guys just play along and flatter me a bit?" Qin Xa looked at Oeno.

Oeno tried hard to keep a straight face, making his expression match his bear-like appearance, and nodded, "Very... very impressive. I mean it. You are clearly much better off than those of us who don't even know how to write."

"Then what did you do before?" a gladiator walked over and asked curiously, "I feel like someone like you shouldn't have ended up here."

Another gladiator walked over and asked, "Let me guess, you must have been a rich man, riding an anti-gravity disc through the city skies, showing off until you went bankrupt."

The gladiators all looked at Qin Xa, curious about his past.

Qin Xa's joke had lightened the mood, and the story he told had piqued everyone's interest, invisibly closing the distance between the gladiators scattered throughout the cave.

For some simple people, becoming friends only requires a few words that bring a smile to their faces.

But Qin Xa did not continue to satisfy their curiosity; his entire demeanor turned serious.

"My past is not important. What matters is that we are all locked up in this hellhole."

"So why can't we gather together, sit on this cold, hard ground, and talk? Although this place is far from comfortable, at least we have each other, all suffering the same fate."

"Then, tell me everything you know about the gladiator pit. I will collect the information, and it will be for the benefit of us all."