Chapter 824: Sharing
After hearing Di Snake's description, Qi Xia recalled the note he had seen.
"To make a 'Local' gain 'Echo,' make him eat the eyeball of an 'Echo user.'"
At the time, the "Heavenly Snake" had said this was his research result, but Qi Xia had never imagined the result was discovered in such a brutal and absurd way.
"You all know..." Di Snake continued, "Locals also need to eat. They live by instinct. If they don't eat for a long time, they starve to death. So, if you put a group of hungry Locals together and use a little trick, they'll start cannibalizing each other."
After saying this, Di Snake let out a slow sigh, as if recalling something extremely terrifying.
"My teacher told me to coat one of the Locals with spices, like marinating barbecue meat. Then he locked that one in a room with seven other starving Locals." Di Snake laughed. "Qi Xia, guess which of those seven was the first to want to eat the spice-covered one."
Qi Xia thought for a few seconds. "None of the seven chose to eat him."
"You even know that..."
"I can imagine it," Qi Xia said. "Locals live by instinct, but 'wanting to eat people' isn't an instinct. There's no 'option to eat people' in their subconscious at all. So I think the first one to start eating people was the one covered in spices. He began gnawing on himself first, right?"
"Only a madman can understand a madman's train of thought..." Di Snake gave a dry laugh. "You're right. Locals are numb to common sense and pain. So a few days later, the spice-covered Local couldn't stand it anymore. He always felt his own palm was irresistible. Every time he raised his right hand and stared at it, his eyes looked like he was holding a sizzling piece of grilled meat. Later, just like he was eating a charcoal-grilled chicken leg, he held his palm up, looked at it for a long time, and finally bit down."
The group all showed different expressions after hearing this. The scene was just too bizarre.
"But he didn't know there was nothing in his hand. Biting down would only bite into his own flesh and blood... How bizarre was that?" Di Snake continued telling the story. "Yes... what wonderful creatures humans are... I watched him with my own eyes...!!"
Di Snake grew more and more agitated as he spoke. He walked over to Qi Xia and grabbed his shoulders again. "I watched him gnaw off his own right hand bit by bit!! His mouth was full of blood, and only red bones were left!! I saw him bite through his hand tendons mouthful by mouthful... Do you know how much that scene looked like a vision of hell? Even though everyone here has died horribly... I still get chills down my spine when I think about it."
"Yes... I can imagine," Qi Xia said.
"Humans! Humanity!" Di Snake shrieked. "Qi Xia, guess again! How did the remaining seven react when they saw this terrifying scene?"
Qi Xia thought for a few seconds and sighed again. "The remaining seven watched, feeling ravenous," Qi Xia said. "Since they have no reason, they can't have 'empathy.' They only follow their desires. They realized this spice-covered man was edible, so they would want to eat him."
"Madman... you really are a madman..." Di Snake said, trembling all over. "Only a madman could come up with this answer..."
"Really?" Qi Xia answered ambiguously. "I don't think so."
"Don't you believe me? Your way of thinking is exactly the same as a madman's... What's the difference between you and an irrational Local?" Di Snake asked with a frown.
"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Qi Xia replied. "Or maybe I just have strong empathy and can imagine the psychological state of a Local."
"Fine, fine... you're making excuses, huh?" Di Snake nodded. "Then guess again... After the spice-covered man realized everyone wanted to eat him, how did he respond?"
Qi Xia lowered his head and thought for a moment. "The reason humans are called humans is that they are essentially different from other animals. Their intelligence is higher. In the situation you described, he would believe that the more people survive, the greater the chance of escape. So the spice-covered man ate his fill first, then actively shared the 'food' he found with the others."
"You motherfucker..." Di Snake grabbed Qi Xia by the collar. "If I hadn't personally selected those eight people, I'd swear you were there on the spot."
"I can only imagine it," Qi Xia said. "People without reason are like animals, but they aren't animals."
After hearing this, Di Snake slowly let go of his hands. He seemed lost.
"You guessed right..." He sighed and said in a deep voice. "Right before my eyes, that person gnawed off his own right hand, then warmly invited the others to eat him. The other seven didn't hold back at all. Like seven beasts, they devoured him, tearing and pulling, dismembering him with their teeth. Every one of them had blood smeared all over their hands and faces, like primitive humans from hundreds of thousands of years ago eating raw meat and drinking blood..."
Di Snake's voice gradually faded. Even though he was an Earth-level Zodiac, even though he had killed countless people, he was still shaken by that scene.
A few seconds later, deep sorrow surfaced in his eyes.
"Qi Xia, at that moment... I felt I was no different from them," Di Snake said. "They just acted more primitively, killing each other with teeth and instinct. We kill each other with wisdom and conspiracy. Tell me... what's the difference between us?"
Qi Xia gave Di Snake a complicated look and said with a frown, "Don't twist the concepts... The reason we're killing each other here is precisely because there are figures like your teacher. No one came here with the purpose of killing, and no one willingly entered this place."
"Maybe that's true..." Di Snake nodded. "I just feel deep sorrow for them, and for us."
"What happened next?" Qi Xia asked. "Seven Locals devoured one Local... What happened after that?"
"What happened at the time wasn't what my teacher expected... Not every one of the seven got a small part of 'Immortal Arts,' nor did all of them gain powerful 'Immortal Arts'... Instead, six people got nothing, and the remaining one became extremely powerful."
Qi Xia naturally knew the answer to this. But this method of raising a gu insect was utterly inhumane.
"So the teacher began to look for new ways to determine exactly how to make a Local acquire 'Immortal Arts' without error," Di Snake said. "Since these people had started to adapt to eating people, as long as you coat a person with the same spices, to them it would be 'food.' Then the next steps would be easier."