Chapter 428 The Last Princess Sivir
In the stone house, the argument between the two girls has not yet ended.
Taliyah told Sivir that everyone is equal in a harmonious society, people are not objects, sex is not a resource, and it is impossible to distribute them by force.
People who do not pay attention to personal hygiene will not be loved by anyone in the Datong society.
Sivir was silent for a while.
Taliyah was very direct in her words. She knew what she meant.
Then……
"Hiss..." Sivir lifted up her sticky, sweaty feet and took a deep sniff.
Then she looked up. "Is this okay? It doesn't smell."
Taliyah: “…”
"Haha." Sivir was not ashamed at all: "Taliyah, look at you, you are about to become a sophisticated lady of Piltover."
"We mercenaries live in the desert every day, so what does this little taste mean to us?"
"...Okay." Taliyah sighed helplessly.
Rather than changing Sivir's hygiene habits, she is more concerned about changing Sivir's thoughts and cognition.
So she asked, "You should understand what I just said. Miss Shiver, do you still think that a harmonious society is an impossible fairy tale?"
"This..." Xiweier fell into deep thought.
Her doubts seemed to have been answered.
Since the Great Harmony Society is distributed according to the reasonable needs of human beings, and there is always an upper limit to people's reasonable needs, it seems that as long as the material is abundant enough, the so-called Great Harmony Society can be realized.
but……
"I always feel like something is wrong." Xiweier pondered carefully.
She still feels that this harmonious society is a little too idealistic.
Where is the idealization?
"Taliyah." Sivir thought for a moment and said, "I believe that distribution based on reasonable needs is achievable."
"But... humans are not creatures that can be satisfied just by satisfying their reasonable needs."
Human desires are endless.
Tam has been eating for ten thousand years, but he still cannot eat away all of humanity’s greed.
Many humans knew that he was a devil, but they still sold their lives and souls to the devil time and time again in order to satisfy their desire for more things.
" This is human nature." Sivir said, "Humans can never be satisfied."
"It's the same in Datong Society. Datong Society allocated him a big house, but he still wanted to live in a palace. You gave him a palace, but he still wanted beautiful maids and princesses."
"The weak may be able to reluctantly accept what you call distribution according to need. After all, if they rely on themselves, they may not even be able to meet their own reasonable needs."
"But what about the strong ones?" Shiver pointed at herself.
She is also a top figure in Shurima, so she is used to looking at problems from the perspective of a strong person:
"Taliyah, you also said that even in a harmonious society, people are not absolutely equal. Even if two people do the same job, there will be differences in strength due to personal ability."
Even in a harmonious society, people are divided into strong and weak.
In the extraordinary world of Runeterra, the gap in abilities between people and the difference between the strong and the weak are even more extreme.
“In a private property society, the strong are able to acquire more wealth and possess more resources than the weak.”
"If that's the case, then why should they support a harmonious society? Why should they subject themselves to the same treatment as the weak? Why should they only be able to meet their own reasonable demands instead of asking for more?"
As he spoke, as if noticing the loophole in his words, Sivir added:
"Of course, you can use the force of Goddess Janna to force those strong men to accept, so that they will have to satisfy only reasonable demands."
"But you also said that a harmonious society should be a society of free people, a society where everyone can realize themselves. If you just use force to force them to accept this rule, then can this be considered a true harmonious society?"
Sivir asked another sharp question.
Taliyah said calmly, "Don't forget, Miss Sivir."
"In addition to highly developed productivity and abundant material resources, the Great Harmony Society also has another characteristic - people have a high level of ideological awareness."
"Huh?" Shiver was slightly stunned.
Then the questioning look in her eyes became even stronger: "In other words... you hope to achieve a harmonious society through human consciousness?"
"How is this possible!?"
"Human nature will not change, Taliyah!" Sivir said with deep emotion.
As a female mercenary who is well versed in human nature, she understands human virtues too well.
She had been backstabbed by her most trusted friend and had betrayed her own employer.
People will do anything for profit, but their desires are never satisfied. This is human nature.
How can we expect humans to overcome human nature through self-awareness?
Sivir thought this was ridiculous.
"Well..." Taliyah did not answer directly.
She just suddenly asked without thinking: "Xiweier, you don't like taking a bath, is it because you are born with a bad habit of cleanliness?"
"Huh?" Xiweier's face darkened.
She subconsciously pulled her feet back into the stinky blanket, and then asked unhappily, "Why do you keep bringing this up?"
"Answer my question." Taliyah's expression was serious.
"Hmm..." Sivir replied unhappily, "No one is born unclean! I don't like to take a bath, but there is nothing I can do about it, right?"
Mercenaries have to engage in very intense physical activity every day, and they have to travel through the desert every day without any water to waste.
Even if she took a shower today, she would still become a dirty charcoal ball if she put on airtight boots and leather armor the next day, carried heavy weapons and equipment, and was exposed to the scorching sun and wind in the desert. Her sweat mixed with sand would stick to her skin.
It’s better not to wash it at all.
Anyway, they are used to it. Not taking a shower, letting themselves live a rough life, and letting that layer of "petrified skin" help to resist the scorching sun and wild sand of Shurima.
"Yes." Taliyah said, "Your habit of not taking a bath comes entirely from the alienation of objective conditions on you."
"But if we treat the mercenary group as a closed human society and ask scientists to observe it, then he can also draw a conclusion;"
"People don't like to take showers. It's human nature. It's impossible to build a society where everyone takes showers."
"Even if productivity develops to the point where everyone has their own bathroom, it's still impossible."
"This..." Xiweier was a little confused.
But she still instinctively questioned: "Can this be the same?"
"Okay." Taliyah was prepared.
She continued calmly: "Let me give you another example."
"Ms. Sivir, I heard that you betrayed your employer, right?"
"I..." Shiver glanced at her Charikar.
This cross blade from ancient Shurima was snatched from her employer by her unethical means.
"Yes," she admitted, nodding.
“Why?” Taliyah asked.
"Because I want it, why else?"
“Why do you want it?” Taliyah asked again.
"Because this weapon is very suitable for me, as if it was born for me." Sivir answered patiently and truthfully: "With it, my strength can be taken to a higher level!"
"Then why are you so eager to improve your strength, even at the cost of betraying your integrity?"
"Why so many whys!" Sivir curled her lips: "Do I need a reason to become stronger?"
"Without strength, how can I survive in the desert? How can I make the mercenary group stronger and bigger? How can I earn more gold coins and gain a higher status?"
"As long as you can get money and status, you can do anything - this is the law of survival in Shurima!"
Taliyah smiled.
She said, "So, you're still after money and status."
"What else?" Xiweier snorted coldly.
"Then why do you pursue money and status?" Taliyah asked a key question: "Because you are born to like it?"
"I..." Xiweier was slightly stunned.
Of course not. When she was a child, she knew nothing, not even what money was.
But after the tragic death of her parents, life quickly taught her the importance of money and status.
"So, you don't make money because you like it; you don't become a mercenary because you love this profession;"
"You are not born a bad person, and you betray your employer just for the sake of perverted pleasure."
"Your greed, cruelty, and endless desire for money and status - what you call human nature - are largely shaped by this private property society."
As she spoke, Taliyah looked at Sivir who was lost in thought.
"Miss Sivir, I know you still have doubts. But I can give you a more direct example:"
“That’s me.” Taliyah pointed at herself. “Our weaver tribe.”
The weaver tribe she came from made a nomadic living in the barren semi-desert hills in southern Shurima all year round.
Only sparse grass can grow on this dry land, which can only support a small flock of sheep roaming here.
These limited numbers of livestock, together with the scarce and unstable water sources in the area, are barely enough for a tribe to survive.
At the same time, as a marginal wandering tribe living in the south of the desert, in the hilly area close to the sparsely populated Ekassia, the Weaver Tribe rarely communicates with the outside world.
They live an isolated and self-sufficient life almost all year round.
"In our tribe, no one has private property."
"Everyone's status is equal. Everyone's labor income will be handed over, and then the clan leader will distribute it uniformly and equally."
"This..." Xiweier thought.
Indeed. She had heard of some small tribes in the desert before, who would advance and retreat together in the form of collective public ownership, and individuals would hardly retain any private property.
"You said that eating more and taking more is human nature. But why is human nature not applicable in our tribe?"
“This is also due to objective conditions.”
"Because our tribe's productivity is extremely low, we can only get very limited food and water."
"This meagre food was distributed uniformly; there could be no other way. For the product of labour could only barely satisfy the most pressing needs. If one member of the tribe received more than everyone was entitled to, another might starve to death."
"Therefore, we can only choose to gather together for warmth and regard the tribal collective as our common home."
"Here, the poor productivity can hardly produce any surplus products. Without surplus products, there is no commodity exchange. Without commodity exchange, there is general equivalent, and there is no such thing as 'money'."
Taliyah paused for a moment, then continued:
"I grew up in this environment, Sivir."
"I can say that from childhood to adulthood, I have never seen what money looks like, and I have no interest in money at all."
"Because there is no money in our tribe, money means nothing to us."
"My dream at that time was not to make more money or become a great master, but to be a good shepherdess for the tribe, to raise the sheep for the tribe, and to gain everyone's respect and recognition."
Hearing this, Xiweier fell silent.
She understood what Taliyah meant:
"Is it human nature that shapes today's society, or is it society that shapes modern people's 'human nature'? This is a question."
Sivir feels that human nature is greedy, and everyone craves money and status endlessly.
But the situation she was talking about was a phenomenon she observed in a private property society.
If it were a primitive public ownership society with poor productivity, would people still pursue money and status endlessly?
Of course not.
Because in this social context, money does not exist at all and everyone's status is equal.
So everyone will not think about pursuing their own personal interests, but work hard to contribute to the tribe and work together for warmth.
This is the case for primitive tribes with poor productivity. What about a harmonious society with highly developed productivity and abundant resources that can be distributed according to needs?
"Will people at that time still endlessly pursue money and status, and more material resources? Neither will they!"
"Because the people in the Great Harmony Society are a completely new generation of human beings compared to us."
"The new human beings will have new morals and new outlooks."
"Just like it is difficult for people living today to understand why people in primitive tribes do not accumulate wealth for themselves—"
"People in the future Great Harmony Society will probably find it difficult to understand why our generation has to work so hard and even risk their lives just to accumulate 'useless' money."
Taliyah concluded, "Sivir, you don't have to worry about human nature."
"There is an old Ionian saying that when the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace."
"When the times develop to the advanced stage of a harmonious society, people will naturally become highly conscious."
…
"Exquisite!" A strange and vicissitudes of life voice suddenly sounded from outside the house without any warning.
The sound actually penetrated the howling sandstorm, ignored the thick stone walls, and reached the ears of the two girls clearly.
"Who?! " Taliyah looked outside in astonishment.
Sivir, who was deep in thought, was awakened instantly. She turned over and picked up Charikar who was beside the bed, then jumped down to the ground barefoot, assuming a fierce fighting posture.
"Do not be afraid, children of Shurima." The voice sounded again, and it was very close, as close as if it was outside the window.
But they could see no one at all.
"Who are you?!" Sweat dripped from Sivir's forehead due to nervousness.
She had clearly asked the old brothers in the mercenary group to set up sentries around the camp.
But the other party was able to approach here silently, and even when he was standing outside the house, they couldn't see his figure clearly.
How can this not be scary?
"I am just a person who is thirsty for knowledge."
As he spoke, the stone door was slowly pushed open from the outside.
A tall and burly giant in a long robe, nearly three meters tall, emerged silently from the sandstorm.
He is Nasus, the dog... the desert god of death, the ascended one, and the former grand scholar of the Shurima Empire.
After the fall of the Shurima Empire, Nasus has been living in seclusion and self-exile out of guilt for sealing his brother away and blame for failing to save the empire.
He was unwilling to communicate with others, nor did he want anyone to see that he was a grand scholar who had lost his empire and failed to protect the Ascendants of Shurima.
But this time, Nasus took the initiative to show up in front of people.
Because he found new knowledge that fascinated him: "Great Harmony Society... This is indeed an ingenious theory."
"I have heard countless scholars expound on their thoughts and prospects for the future, but no one has ever been able to describe your assumptions about the future society as accurately and deduce them as rigorously as you have."
"Excuse me, kid."
"I have a few more questions that I hope to discuss with you..."
As he spoke, Nasus hunched over and squeezed his way through the open stone door.
"Stop!" Taliyah instinctively summoned a stone pillar, trying to keep the uninvited guest out.
But no one expected that the hard rock had just risen from the ground and quickly withered in front of the giant's footsteps.
Yes, withered. The stone was clearly lifeless, but it was like a withered flower. It lost its color and withered in front of Nasus, and finally collapsed into a pool of powdery rubble.
"Hiss——" Taliyah and Sivir gasped.
There is no need to fight anymore.
The opponent only showed a little bit of power, and they felt the terrifying gap like a chasm.
What kind of monster is this?
What evil had happened to them in the desert?
The two girls were feeling nervous, but Nasus had already squeezed into the room uninvited.
With his huge body of three meters in height, it was difficult for him to even straighten his back in this stone house.
But he still sat on the ground without caring about his image, then raised his head and looked carefully at Taliyah and Sivir:
"Don't be nervous, kid. I told you, I'm only here to gain knowledge."
“You…” Nasus’ voice suddenly got stuck in his throat.
Because he was immersed in the joy of seeking knowledge, he didn't notice it until he squeezed into the house:
The little girl named Sivir, the cross blade in her hand seemed to be...
"Charikar?" There was a fluctuation in Nasus's weathered voice.
"Yes." Sivir swallowed nervously: "Are you here for it?"
Nasus did not answer, but asked with great concern: "How did this weapon come to be in your hand?"
"It was dug out from an ancient tomb." Sivir answered truthfully. She didn't dare to lie in front of such an absolutely powerful person.
“This…” Nasus fell into deep thought.
Charikar, its former owner was named Setaka, the first war queen of the Ascended Lord.
Nasus gloriously accompanied Setaka in her conquests for three centuries until her death during the Void Disaster of Icathia.
After Setaka's death, he personally buried this legendary weapon of the Ascendant together with her body.
Later, in order to end the endless Darkin War, Nasus briefly loaned out Charikar.
But in the end, the weapon finally came back to him and he placed it back in Setaka's tomb.
“You…” Nasus was not angry when he learned that his old boss’s tomb had been dug up.
He was more concerned about one thing: "Can you use this weapon?"
"Yes..." Sivir was confused.
“This…” Nasus never expected that the cross blade that Sivir mentioned in the conversation he had heard before, which she had taken away by betraying her employer, was the Charikar inherited from the ascended queen Setaka.
And Sivir said at the time that this weapon seemed to be tailor-made for her.
She actually felt this way.
Could it be that...
"Sigh——" Nasus secretly released his magic power and gently sniffed the air in the room with his protruding nose.
Then… he fell silent, his nose trembling slightly.
"You..." Although she couldn't see the other person's face hidden by the veil, Sivir could still instinctively sense that the giant in front of her seemed a little uncomfortable.
So she asked nervously: "What, what happened?"
“You really should take a bath.” Nasus stroked the sensitive jackal's nose and replied in an unpleasant voice.
Sivir: “…”
“And…” Then, Nasus’ voice became more turbulent: “You have the aura of Ascension Blood. And it is very pure.”
"It won't be wrong, Sivir—"
"You are the pure descendant of Eagle King Azir, the heir to the Shurima Empire!"
