Ten minutes later.
"I'm a veteran. You won't beat me so easily."
"Is that all you've got?"
Inside an abandoned bunker that Adam had prepared for Grot, Grot, wielding an iron rod, darted and weaved through the assault of six attackers. His exceptional combat skills allowed him to evade and counter their strikes with ease.
One by one, the six men were struck on their arms or legs, either dropping their weapons or falling to one knee. Even without power armor, Grot was undeniably a capable warrior.
"Is this the best you Servants can do? Your combat skills are even worse than the Planetary Defense Force. Your fanaticism won't help you on the battlefield," Grot taunted, leaning on his iron rod and looking down at the defeated men, pride and exhilaration radiating from him.
Adam stood nearby, silently observing. He had interacted with Grot before, and while Grot had made significant progress in controlling his emotions, he consistently failed to rein in his pride and excitement during battle.
It reminded Adam of the heretics involved in the Champion of Valor incident. Reflecting on this, Adam still couldn't quite pinpoint the exact reason Grot had been expelled from the Guards, though he suspected it had to do with Grot's overindulgence in the thrill of battle.
"Let me have a turn," Adam said, his expression stoic as he approached Grot, picking up an iron rod from one of the fallen men.
"Finally! I've been dying to see if you can fight," Grot exclaimed, his excitement mounting. He took a few steps back before charging forward, aiming to shoulder-check Adam.
But Adam didn't evade. Instead, he met Grot head-on, their bodies colliding with force. Adam was no less physically imposing than Grot, and in terms of technique and speed, he far surpassed him.
The impact shocked Grot, who was surprised by Adam's strength, causing him to stagger back. Adam, however, reached out, grabbed Grot by the collar, and, just as Grot was about to thank him for the assist, Adam punched him square in the face.
Boom—
Grot hit the ground hard, lying flat on his back. He took a moment to recover, then quickly jumped up and charged at Adam again, head-butting him with all his might.
This time, Adam went down, lying on the ground for a few moments before rising, his face completely devoid of emotion, as if he hadn't just been hit.
"How are you still so calm?" Grot couldn't believe it. Adam seemed more like a machine than a man. Though the Servants all strove to suppress their emotions like the cold, efficient mechanics, few could match Adam's level of composure. After all, people were not machines—they couldn't be entirely devoid of emotion.
"Thank you for your help, brothers," Adam said, turning to the six men, who all shook their heads and quietly left.
Adam then turned back to Grot and asked in a low voice, "As a former Guard, you must know more about the Champion of Valor incident than I do as a mere officer, correct?"
"Know more? I was practically involved," Grot said, sitting down with a serious look, eyeing Adam warily. "What are you getting at?"
"I think you're smart enough to know why you were dismissed from the Guards," Adam replied.
Grot frowned, quickly realizing Adam's implication. "You're saying the Legion Commander expelled me because he feared I'd turn into a bloodthirsty killer like my brother?"
Adam nodded in agreement.
Grot snorted. "Do you really need to say it? I figured that out ages ago."
Indeed, Grot had long pondered why he was expelled and had come to that conclusion. At first, he thought it might have been due to his act of vengeance in the gladiatorial arena, but later dismissed that idea—after all, Qin Mo would surely support a justified act of retribution.
That left only one reason: the Champion of Valor incident.
Upon reflecting further, Grot realized that, like his brother, he took great pleasure in combat. The only difference was that he didn't slaughter the innocent—but even that distinction felt tenuous.
Still, Grot couldn't quite understand—what was so wrong about enjoying battle?
"Do you think your brother was truly a ruthless killer? Or do you believe there was another reason behind his rampage?" Adam asked seriously, sitting down across from Grot.
As an ordinary officer, Adam knew only the basic facts of the Champion of Valor incident. He lacked deeper insights into the people involved, which was why he needed Grot's perspective.
After much deliberation, Grot began to recount a long story to Adam, starting from 24 years ago, when a boy came home to find his parents dead, forcing him to take care of his younger sister and brother in the slums. The tale ended with him being enslaved in the Deep Pit, becoming a gladiator, and eventually reuniting with his brother in the arena.
As Adam listened, he realized that Grot's brother had not been a bloodthirsty man. Quite the opposite—he had been a good man, someone who acted as both brother and father to his siblings, someone who always lent a helping hand to others.
But this kind-hearted brother had one flaw: he reveled in combat. Sometimes, he would even go out of his way to pick fights with thugs.
"Perhaps something changed him," Grot murmured, staring at the ground, his words vague.
He deliberately withheld a key detail from Adam: the statue of the Champion of Valor. Although the statue had been destroyed, Grot wasn't sure whether he should share this information.
Adam, cold and analytical as ever, continued. "Your brother was turned into a Deep Pit slave, then trained as a gladiator. It's understandable that he'd want to kill, but the fact that he slaughtered others like him in the arena is the real issue."
"That makes sense," Grot nodded in agreement.
Adam pressed on. "The Legion Commander likely dismissed you because he feared that, like your brother, you'd eventually be driven by some external influence, causing your love of battle to spiral out of control, leading you to indiscriminate killing."
"Obviously," Grot said, nodding emphatically.
The two men fell silent, both lost in thought, contemplating the forces that could shape one's personality.
After a long pause, Adam offered a new theory. "There must be something that affected your brother, and that something..."
Grot listened intently.
"...might be in your bloodline. Maybe your family carries a genetic trait—one that predisposes you to a love of battle. At first, it manifests as a mere thrill for combat, but under certain circumstances, it could escalate into an insatiable bloodlust. If you went through what your brother did, you might have ended up the same way."
Grot almost cursed at him but then stopped to think. Initially, Grot had blamed the Champion of Valor statue for his brother's change in behavior, but what power could a mere statue hold? Humanity had only one god—the Emperor on the Golden Throne. There was no such thing as a Champion of Valor.
However, Adam's genetic theory made sense. Perhaps there was a recessive gene in their family that influenced their personalities... Grot wasn't educated, but he had heard of such things.
After pondering this, Grot took a deep breath and said, "You might actually be right."