harleyscars Page 194
Page 194
"The martial arts world is not just about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and social interactions."
Rias took the drink; the cool bottle calmed her chaotic thoughts a little.
She took a big gulp, then looked up, her emerald green eyes filled with confusion and a hint of stubbornness.
"Humanity and worldliness?"
She countered with a question, her voice rising eight octaves.
"What about that three-way war back then?! They fought to the death! Demons, angels, and fallen angels all suffered heavy losses and haven't recovered yet! Was that some kind of human drama?!"
Here it comes, the little princess is starting to get hung up on things.
Indeed, in her sheltered worldview, war is simply a matter of life and death, where honor reigns supreme; she has no concept of the dirty politics involved.
Zhou Ye pulled up a chair, sat down opposite Rias, and crossed his legs.
"This is just like World War I and World War II in human history. There are too many contradictions and conflicts of interest that cannot be resolved internally and the resentment is too deep. So the only way to transfer contradictions and reshuffle the deck is through external wars."
His words were simple and blunt, yet like a scalpel, they precisely dissected the glamorous heroic epic of mythical wars, revealing the bloody entanglements of interests within.
Rias was speechless. She opened her mouth, but didn't know how to refute it.
Himejima Akeno, standing beside her, had a complex look in her eyes. As a half-human, half-fallen angel, she understood the root of this contradiction better than Rias.
"The boss is right!"
A crisp, efficient voice broke the silence. Nami tapped the table with her beverage bottle as if it were an account book, picked up a pair of glasses she'd somehow acquired, and her eyes behind the lenses gleamed with shrewdness.
"So-called wars are nothing more than a higher-level distribution of interests! If you can't reach an agreement at the table, then flip the table and fight until one side is willing to sit down at the table again to talk!"
She looked at Rias and added bluntly.
"What gods, demons, angels? In the end, after the fighting, don't we still have to calculate the losses, divide the territory, and seize the resources? What's the difference between this and businessmen fighting for business? It's just on a larger scale and with more bloody methods."
Nami's blatant money-first theory made Rias's face turn even paler.
She felt that what she had always firmly believed in—the glory of the devil, the pride of her family—became a joke in the face of Nami's words.
"Politics is too troublesome."
On the other side, Saeko Busujima, who had been quietly wiping her sword, spoke without looking up.
Her voice was soft, yet carried a resolute and icy chill.
"If someone is blocking your way, just cut them down. If a rock is blocking your way, just split it. Overthinking will only dull your blade."
This kendo girl's thinking is always so pure and so direct.
In her view, all schemes and tricks are no match for absolute sharpness.
"Ara ara," Akeno Himejima chuckled, covering her mouth. Her purple eyes sparkled, and beneath her gentle tone lay an undisguised cunning. "What Saeko-san said makes sense. Sometimes, a more direct approach can really save a lot of trouble."
She deliberately emphasized the word "communication," which sent a chill down Rias's spine for no apparent reason.
Rias looked around.
Zhou Ye's calm acceptance of everything.
Nami's shrewdness in viewing everything as money.
Saeko Busujima's pure, all-encompassing nature.
Himejima Akeno's hidden sadistic nature beneath her gentle exterior.
She suddenly realized that the worldview of the man she had fallen in love with, and of the members of his "Crystal Palace," was completely incompatible with that of her, the devil princess.
They are more realistic, more direct, and... more ruthless.
In comparison, his own petty thoughts about honor and family seemed so naive and laughable.
I used to think I could compete with Nami and Saeko for the position of "official wife," but now it seems I can't even keep up with their level of thinking.
A sense of powerlessness even more profound than when facing the mechanical dragon girl Draig gripped her heart.
She didn't lose because of a lack of strength, but because of a lack of understanding of the world.
She looked at Zhou Ye, and the anger and resentment in her bloodshot eyes gradually faded, replaced by a deep sense of confusion.
"So... what exactly is our purpose in dealing with Kirkbor this time?"
She asked softly, as if she were asking Zhou Ye, or perhaps herself.
"Is it for the sake of so-called fame? Or are they willingly... to be a disposable cleaner for those high and mighty figures?"
This is a very pointed question.
It gets straight to the heart of this operation, concerning the stance and dignity of each and every one of them.
Are they independent individuals, or pawns on someone else's chessboard?
In an instant, everyone's attention was focused on Zhou Ye.
Zhou Ye, under everyone's gaze, showed no sign of seriousness; instead, he flashed a bright smile.
He downed his drink in one gulp.
"neither."
He said firmly.
He stood up, looked around at the girls who had different personalities but had all chosen to follow him, and his voice carried an undeniable domineering air.
"We do it so that... we can make ourselves comfortable."
"Whoever makes us uncomfortable, we'll kill them."
"Anyone who tries to scheme against us, we'll flip their table."
"It's that simple."
He casually tossed the empty beverage bottle aside; it arced through the air before landing precisely in a distant trash can.
Chapter 162 Rias Understands
The phrase "It's that simple," accompanied by the crisp sound of an empty beverage bottle falling into the trash can, echoed in the living room. Every word struck Rias's heart like a heavy hammer.
Simple?
These words sounded blunt and even somewhat unreasonable and domineering.
But it was this domineering nature that, like a lightning bolt tearing through the darkness, instantly illuminated all the confusion and bewilderment in Lia G's heart.
"The boss is absolutely right!"
Nami was the first to jump up, her beautiful eyes sparkling with a light more dazzling than when she saw a mountain of gold.
"Comfortable! How can we be comfortable? Of course, by having endless money and absolute power! If anyone makes us uncomfortable, we'll empty their coffers and seize their territory! That's the most direct and effective way to communicate!"
She waved her little fists, looking just like a navigator preparing to lead her pirate crew to rob a Yonko (Emperor of the Sea).
"Excessive thoughts will only dull the knife."
Saeko Busujima slowly sheathed her clean sword with a soft "click".
She looked up at Zhou Ye with an expression of appreciation and recognition that suggested they were evenly matched.
To her, Zhou Ye's words were the purest form of swordsmanship.
Cut off all hesitation and cleave through all obstacles.
"Ara ara," Akeno Himejima covered her mouth, laughing uncontrollably, but the purple lightning in her eyes grew even more bewitching. "What Ye means is, if someone makes us uncomfortable..."
"If that's the case, we need to use various methods to communicate with him thoroughly until he feels comfortable, then we'll feel comfortable too, right?"
She deliberately emphasized the words "uncomfortable" and "deep communication" in a soft and seductive tone, while her gaze drifted towards Rias almost imperceptibly. The teasing and suggestive undertones made Rias's cheeks instantly flush.
Seeing her companions' drastically different yet ultimately similar reactions, Rias fell completely silent.
She discovered that the issues of "righteousness," "status," and "pawn" that she had previously struggled with simply did not exist in the world of Zhou Ye and the women around him.
Their goals were terrifyingly pure.
It means "to make yourself comfortable".
For this goal, gods and demons can be slain, and rules can be broken.
Meanwhile, she herself, a so-called pure-blooded high-ranking demon and the princess of the Gremory family, was still obsessing over those illusory honors and face.
How ridiculous.
Zhou Ye walked up to her, looked into her still slightly chaotic, red eyes, and spoke calmly.
"Rias, in this world, strength reigns supreme."
"Isn't your recently dissolved engagement the most typical example?"
[Here it comes...] Rias's heart tightened. She knew that this was Zhou Ye teaching her the most important, and also the cruelest, lesson.
"If you hadn't defeated Riseel Phoenix in the ranking game, if you hadn't had my help, if your brother wasn't the Demon King Sazex, but just an ordinary demon noble, do you think you could have so easily broken off the engagement?"
Zhou Ye's voice wasn't loud, but every word was piercing.
"Even if you do manage to defeat Riesel by sheer luck, will the Phoenix family let it go? Will those nobles who value interests and ancient alliances let you have your way? Can you handle the ensuing turmoil?"
A series of questions, like peeling an onion, peeled away layer by layer the shell that Rias had built with "glory" and "pride," revealing the most vulnerable and real core within.
Rias's body trembled slightly, and she clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her palms.
She wanted to refute him, but found that every word Zhou Ye said was an undeniable, bloody truth.
Yes, without Zhou Ye, my best outcome would have been a Pyrrhic victory over Riesel, followed by facing the wrath of the entire Phoenix family and immense pressure from the underworld's aristocratic society.
At that time, for the sake of the family and the greater good, I will probably still have to take that path of arranged marriage.
The so-called victory is nothing more than a fleeting moment of self-consolation.
Upon hearing Zhou Ye's question, Rias was taken aback at first, and then a deep bitterness crept onto her pretty face.
She loosened her fist, slowly raised her head, met Zhou Ye's gaze, and said in an almost self-deprecating tone:
“I… will naturally be forced into the Phoenix family, living a marriage that is not what I truly want, a marriage that will never be happy, until the end of my life.”
She took a deep breath, as if to expel the last bit of unrealistic fantasy in her heart.