161 Chapter 161: Strong eat the Weak? (1/2)
I had no idea how long I was out for. Probably an hour to an hour and a half. I didn't keep track of the time, and when I glanced out of the window, the sky was still dark. Dawn hadn't arrived yet. I could also sense fighting and tremendous mana bursts in the distance – evidently General Jiang Jun and his command staff were still going at it with the Silver Wing Wolf King.
”Whoa!”
”Hey! Watch it!”
”Do you have some space here?”
”Over here!”
It also seemed that the whole student population of Jing Tian Academy had been evacuated here as well. The students and staff were squeezing into the vast shelter, trying to find space to sit or sleep. Already crowded by civilians in the area, even the spacious interior of the shelter was barely enough to accommodate everybody.
And there were still more refugees flooding in. Not the students, but beleaguered survivors who looked haunted, almost as if they were wallowing in despair.
”Medic!”
”Help! Chan's bleeding out! I can't stop the blood!”
”Is there a doctor here?!”
”Over here!”
”Bring him over here! We'll treat his wounds!”
I turned my head at the familiar voices. Teacher Cure and Pearl Pang were taking charge of what looked like a hastily set up medical bay. Wounded soldiers were lying on sheets, blood seeping through improvised bandages. More soldiers were rushing over, bearing stretchers of their severely injured comrades.
In their mission to search for survivors and escort them to safety, the soldiers had clashed against powerful monsters that had invaded the city. Not all of them were of General Jiang's level, obviously. They evidently had a difficult time against the enemy. Several of them were already zipped up in black body bags and were being brought to another area to make space for the living.
It was cruel, but practical. The limited space of the shelter was of no use to the dead, but the living required the place to stay alive.
”What a waste.”
To my complete lack of surprise, it was Bu Fan. He was shaking his head as he watched Teacher Cure, Pearl and other healing mages work frantically to save the wounded and maimed soldiers. Beside him, Zhang Hou Zi had a quizzical look.
”What do you mean, Brother Fan?”
”Sacrificing yourself for the weak is plain silly. This is a dog eat dog world.” Bu Fan sighed mockingly. ”Each mage is worth a thousand ordinary humans. For a few mages to sacrifice their lives to protect a few hundred normal civilians is a waste. Why must the blood of the strong flow for the weak? Only idiots are stupid enough to become martyrs. It's not worth sacrificing your life for someone who is weaker, or someone who is normal. In this world, you can only rely on yourself! If you are weak, then you deserve to die! You can't expect other people to always save you!”
Several of the soldiers and quite a few civilians glared at him, but Bu Fan sneered at them.
”What? Don't like it when I say the truth? That's the harsh reality of this world. Survival of the fittest. The strong eat the weak. Best if you start dealing with it as soon as possible.”
One of the soldiers began stomping toward him, his face contorted in fury, but several of his comrades grabbed him and hauled him back.
”It's not worth it,” a stocky soldier told his burly friend, shaking his head.
”Yeah, we have more important things to do than argue with a self-centered brat.”
”Is it wrong to be self-centered? Why am I in the wrong for wanting to preserve my own life? I'm not obligated to sacrifice myself to save others.”
”No, you're not,” Teacher Fielding said, his tone frosty. ”But you have no right to insult and make fun of other people for nobly offering their lives to save others. No one cares if you prioritize your own life over others. It's human nature to want to live, even if it's at the expense of others. But you went and insulted those who chose to valiantly put themselves at risk to protect civilians. That's where you're wrong.”
”What? You guys just can't take the truth!”
”The truth?” I scoffed. ”What truth? The nonsense that you self-centered people like to spout about strong eat the weak? I can never understand all that rubbish. Would you constantly whip a horse that you must ride everyday? The horse will either throw you off or die. Just because you're stronger or you rule over and own a horse doesn't mean you abuse it. You're still reliant on the horse. Same with a dog – why should a dog be loyal to an owner who abandons it to the wolves at first sight? It might as well go live on its own, or find a less selfish owner.”
Bu Fan's lip curled. ”Even horses and dogs have their uses. What use are ordinary civilians? They can't even fight.”
One of the soldiers had enough. Breaking free of his comrades, he strode over, his face a mask of rage.
”The food I've eaten…” he jabbed at his stomach, and then began pointing toward several people in the crowd. ”…was produced by the farmers of the Jing Tian Muncipal Village. Transported by those drivers over there. Sold by those cashiers and logistics personnel running the Mu Biao Supermarket (Mu Biao is translated as Target, by the way) branch. As a soldier, I can focus on my training without having to worry about going hungry because my food is produced and delivered to me in an easy manner.”
He then drew his weapon, causing Bu Fan to flinch. Not caring about the brat's hesitation, he ran his hand along the smooth blade.
”This sword was forged by that uncle over there, the head of the Hei Tie Blacksmith Coproration. He's old now, and he has never fought with any of the swords he produced, but I can tell you now…and I'm sure many of my squad mates can tell you as well…his weapons have saved our lives. Many times. If it weren't for the weapons he forged for us, we would have died at the hands of beasts.”
”If it weren't for this teacher and healing mages, I would have died!” shouted an injured soldier, whose head was still bandaged and bloodied. Evidently he had received treatment from Teacher Cure, Pearl and the others, for his wounds were healing up nicely. ”We don't expect them to fight, but that doesn't mean they are useless! Imagine if we abandoned them because they are 'weak'! I bet most people would have lost their lives from sustaining fatal injuries!”
”It's not just about other people having the ability to save lives. The home I lived in was constructed by those workers of Tian Ling Construction Company. The furniture I bought was from Jiang Xiang. I've benefited from electricity produced by Quan Guo Dian Li Corporation. This smartphone was from Xiao Mi. all these things made my life so much easier. I could concentrate on training, on becoming a soldier while living off all these luxuries…my salary provided by taxpayers' money. In exchange, I became a warrior whose job is to fight monsters, to protect civilians. And now you're saying that after enjoying all these benefits and the fruits of labor of all these people during peacetime, when a crisis comes, I should just abandon all of them, forget about the benefits I reaped from them in terms of food, commodities and taxpayers' money, and prioritize my own life because I happen to be stronger than them? Because they are ordinary civilians and therefore they don't deserve to be protected?”
”You're underestimating us soldiers, boy!” another soldier, a grizzled sergeant, snapped. ”What have they been teaching you in the magic academy? That you can live off government funding, taxpayer money and learn magic to do whatever you want? That you don't have to do anything in return for the Federation who invested so much resources into nurturing you?”
”Why would a school and the government waste resources on grooming a talented person into a mage if that person is going to abandon the civilians he's being trained to protect?”
”That's…”
Bu Fan was unable to refute that. He seemed to shrink as everyone glared at him. He tried to splutter, but nothing came out. Zhang Hou Zi grabbed him and pulled him back, shaking his head. Even his loyal lackey was hard-pressed to find anything to defend his boss.
”What's going on here?”
An officer strode in, seeing the soldiers all confronting a kid instead of doing what they were supposed to be doing.