Arcanum: Chaos Path

Chapter 281 You Should Have More Self
"Strictly speaking, no." Luo Lin shook his head. He smiled at Little Amon, who was thinking about something, and said, "You seem very confused, Little Amon, what are you confused about?"

This was obviously a question asked despite knowing the answer. As someone who could easily see through people's hearts, Luo Lin actually knew very well what little Amon was thinking at the moment.

"I just don't understand." Little Amon's face was filled with genuine confusion. He looked at Rowling, then at Klein, and said, "Since they are completely unrelated people, why are you helping them? Why are you feeling sad and happy about this?"

Little Amon really didn't understand. No matter how cute he was, he was essentially Amon - he had a special humanity and would feel affection for the people around him, but he still extremely lacked empathy and true humanity, so he couldn't understand these things.

"...That's a really good question." Luo Lin looked at Little Amon and suddenly smiled. He first snapped his fingers to make sure that no one around would notice them. Then he reached out and patted Little Amon's head again. His golden eyes looked directly into Little Amon's eyes and said:

"I once had the same confusion as you. Why do they help those who have nothing to do with them? Why do they feel so moved by this? Why do they feel sad for those who have nothing to do with them..."

Little Amon looked at Luo Lin. “He” seemed to understand something and asked softly, “Do you understand now?”

"Actually... I don't completely understand." Luo Lin gave an answer that was somewhat unexpected, but not that surprising. "I used to think that the answer was because they were good people. Although I couldn't understand good people at one point, I know that good people don't need a reason to do good things. But then I discovered that even bad people will, at a certain moment, fight to save someone."

"Later, I thought it was because of empathy, because of sympathy, because of the so-called sympathy for one's own kind..." Luo Lin's eyes were filled with reminiscence. He said softly, "But the answer seems to be more than that."

"So what is the answer?" Little Amon asked again, his eyes full of curiosity and stubbornness.

He was really curious about the answer to this question because it had troubled Him for a long time.

"The answer is... there is no standard answer." Luo Lin shook his head. He smiled at this moment, and his smile was unusually gentle. His eyes swept across the bustling crowd around him, across these people who were trying hard to survive, and finally fell on little Amon again, saying:

"Humans are very complex creatures, especially their emotions. They are really very complex, so complex that I still haven't fully learned how to be a human being."

"So on this question, different people can give different answers. It could be because of justice, responsibility, compassion, or even self-interest or fear... I can't give you an accurate answer because it doesn't exist."

Luo Lin looked at little Amon and said slowly, "But if you really need an answer, it's probably because of human nature. Human nature is such a complex thing. It has both beautiful and despicable parts."

Little Amon seemed to understand, but also seemed not to. He looked at Luo Lin and suddenly asked, "Then why did you do all this?"

"Me?" Luo Lin smiled and said, "Maybe it's just because it's convenient?"

"Just by chance?" Little Amon was obviously confused.

"Well, just like when you see a cute cat on the street and feed it, I do this because it's convenient." Luo Lin answered frankly. He said:

"Maybe you will be disappointed by this, but I am not the kind of person who saves others for a sense of justice. Many times I just do it out of convenience." Rowling has never had a strong sense of justice or morality. As he himself said, many times what Rowling did was just because it was convenient.

After all, you really can't expect a little Naija to be a good person. He is already a very good person as he didn't destroy the world.

Little Amon seemed to understand this time. He stared at Luo Lin and suddenly said, "So you don't really have much humanity."

"I don't deny that." Luo Lin remained calm. He nodded and said, "I'm indeed not a very human being."

"But you want me to have some humanity. Why?" Little Amon looked at Luo Lin in confusion, and asked a question that had been hidden in his heart for a long time: "You also lack much humanity, so theoretically, shouldn't you understand me very well? We should be the same kind."

Luo Lin was silent. He seemed to sigh, then continued, "Precisely because we are of the same kind, I understand more clearly what humanity means to us. Amon, for us, losing our humanity is equivalent to losing ourselves, and self is the only thing we truly possess."

Luo Lin looked at little Amon again, his expression unusually serious: "Without humanity, we are just beasts, monsters, or madmen dominated by divinity and madness."

Little Amon seemed to understand, and he whispered, "But what is human nature?"

"...I don't know." Luo Lin shook his head, then smiled and said, "So I'm learning, learning about human nature. You should learn too."

"Little Amon, I never expect you to love everyone, nor do I expect you to be a good person, but you should have more of yourself." Luo Lin looked at Little Amon and said seriously, "Except for the self influenced by Beyonder characteristics."

Little Amon was silent for a second after hearing this, then he said, "Like Mr. Azik?"

"I'm glad you thought of that." Luo Lin smiled and nodded. He looked at Little Amon and said, "The former Archon of Death was a puppet of the God of Death. The former Adam was a heartless puppet. They both lacked humanity and self. What about you?"

"After you discard the influence of uniqueness, how much of your own things do you have?" Luo Lin seemed to be talking to Little Amon, but also seemed to be talking to Amon's real self behind Little Amon:

"You enjoy stealing and playing pranks. You're a true pleasure-seeker. You seem to be quite self-centered. But, Amon, are these hobbies of yours truly yours, or are they simply the nature of the path itself?"

Little Amon was silent.

Luo Lin continued slowly, "I'm not completely denying these aspects of your selfhood and your likes. They can be considered part of your unique humanity, but you can't just have these. What's the difference between you being unique and having only these?"

"Even if one day in the future Amon's consciousness disappears, and only the thief's activities remain, he will still enjoy stealing and playing pranks, right? That's a thief's trait, but it's not yours."

(End of this chapter)