CG Chapter 137: The Rules of the Game
The eyes of the Kao-Suki were one of the many strange and mysterious abilities of the Sacred beast known as the Ryujo.
Of course, Aretius knew of this beast's existence and its abilities. After all, he was the Progenitor of the Ryujo.
He was its master, its origin, its creator, and, in other words, he was the Ryujo, and the Ryujo was him.
The Ryujo was the same semi-draconic beast that was currently floating around his avatar in his sea of consciousness.
Thus, Aretius wasn't surprised by the ability itself. Instead, he was surprised by the fact that he was able to somehow manifest its ability for even a short period. After all…
Most of the Ryujo's abilities were sealed due to his lack of energy and physical power, unable to use it in this world.
This was especially true after he had reincarnated in this world and exhausted most of his energy. So for him to suddenly manifest it made him question what had suddenly changed.
After thinking for a while, and even with a thousand and one ideas coming to his mind, he was, unfortunately, not any closer to the truth.
Without being able to look inside his sea of consciousness at the current moment, he didn't have the chance to see what had changed.
As he didn't have any other choice, he decided to use this rare opportunity to his advantage and make full use of one of the many abilities of his eyes, the ability to see hidden things and the truth of the world around him.
Unknown to him, at the same time he was using his ability.
Within his soul sea, a small, unnoticeable crack had opened within that eerie and ancient door lying inside his sea of consciousness.
It peculiarly opened just long enough for him to see the true inner workings of the city.
He saw what was going on in front of and around the ignorant masses, who were going through their lives as if nothing was happening, completely unaware of it…
All of it happened in less than a second before the door closed shut again.
At the same time, from Aretius's perspective, he witnessed a very bizarre scene.
Sinister strings were gathering from the hundreds of mortals within the city as they took something from each of them without them knowing.
These strings merged and gathered as they created a huge siphon that was above the center of the city.
Strangely enough, the energy gathered above the City Lord Manor.
This scene reminded Aretius of something he had witnessed not long ago.
The way of energy gathering from mortals, it increasing and decreasing as it fluctuated. It varied from person to person. Sometimes it was strong, and other times weak.
Sometimes the energy coming from a young child was stronger than that of an adult man.
He also noticed how the filthy and lowly beggars had the highest variety in their energy, as some of these beggars had an extremely strong energy coming from them, while at the same time, other beggars had an extremely faint and almost unnoticeable energy.
Finally, after entering the manor, the energy would pass through some strange transformation.
And then from it, a new energy emerged, turning into a dome that covered the whole city in a semi-protective light.
A creepy smile lingered on Aretius's old and hideous face for a brief moment before disappearing.
He was internally thinking of something that only a few people understood: 'I should have known. It's all the same.
The same game, just with different players. It doesn't matter which world I am in, the rules of the game remain, and those who know the rules rule over those who don't.
Life was but a grand game, and whether you choose to play or not doesn't matter, because once you are born, you have already become a member of this game, an actor in the story that is written by the author, the winner.
In life, people are separated into different groups. Those who know the rules of the game control those who don't but are aware of their roles, while those who are aware of their roles control those who don't know of their existence within the game.
Because in the middle of war and chaos, the noble families weren't focused on helping the peasants and providing rescue. Instead, they were more focused on seeking their own benefit and growing their power in these chaotic times.
However, Aretius wasn't surprised, as he was far too aware of the nature of mankind and their greed.
Those at the top would harvest those at the bottom like wheat, and those at the bottom would harvest the ones after, and so on, until you got to the bottom.
Having no one to extort, the ones at the bottom would try to flip the table and change the rules of the game, unaware that their acts were also part of the game.
They would say that those at the top had no right to hoard wealth and that everyone was equal no matter their background.
They preached equality and having people on the same level, lying that if they were at the top, they would share their wealth with the masses. However, if and once they got there, they would act in the same way that those at the top had; they would extort, rob, and rape the weaker ones.
Of course, a few might believe their lies, especially from the younger generation of the noble families who hadn't tasted the true taste of being lowly and unworthy.
But the majority would quickly change their minds after growing up, instead extorting the lower levels even more after tasting the bitter taste of being weak, wanting to maintain the status quo even more.
And as for those who don't wake up to reality,
They would just belong to the same group and cloth as the lowly ones; no, they would be even worse, as they wouldn't have the privileges of the powerful or the sympathy of the weak, who would hold a grudge against them for having tasted the sweet fruit of power, stuck between two worlds and not belonging to either, rejected by heaven and earth.'