Heroes' Prison-Chapter 1339 - 1273: Seven Deadly Sins: Arrogance
The Poet nodded and said, "That’s what I think, too. The Seven Deadly Sins are generally derived from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Since the Virtual World draws from a wide array of human art forms, it’s highly likely that this Purgatory is constructed based on Dante’s Divine Comedy."
As he spoke, something seemed to occur to the Poet, and he suddenly turned to look at the United States Super-First Master, Dante, and said with a smile, "I don’t mean you! I mean the famous Italian poet Dante from history."
"I know!" Dante nodded, picking up the conversation from the Poet. "I love Dante’s poetry very much, which is why I chose his name. What you said, I actually know, too. According to the Divine Comedy·Purgatorio, the Seven Deadly Sins are Arrogance, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust. However, in the Divine Comedy, the penitence for ’Arrogance’ is the Soul carrying a heavy boulder, hunched over, circling the mountain path of Purgatory. But here, it’s different. There’s no mountain path in this city, and these souls aren’t carrying any boulders either."
The Poet thought for a moment and said, "In the Divine Comedy, the form of penitence corresponds to the sins. Take Arrogance as an example: the arrogant are proud, conceited, and they hold their heads high, showing contempt for others. So the punishment is to have them carry a giant stone, bow their heads, and walk humbly. Now that our city is meant for redeeming the sin of Arrogance, it’s likely that it follows this concept for atonement. If we observe these souls and respond accordingly, we might be able to solve the puzzle."
Listening to the analysis of the Poet and Dante, everyone instantly felt it made sense. They returned to the street outside, standing in the middle of the avenue, once again observing the souls coming and going, pondering the deeper meaning of their behavior. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
The souls continued to walk quietly, one by one passing through the flesh and gradually moving away, as if puppets, never stopping, never tiring.
"Don’t you think that standing here, we feel... how should I put it? We feel kind of discordant." At this moment, Heavenly Dao suddenly rubbed his chin and said.
"Of course we’re discordant. We’re flesh and blood, living people, they are souls, people who have already died. How can we be harmonious standing among them?" Thunder God laughed and shook his head, even reaching out to pat a woman’s buttocks as she passed through him, his hand penetrating without any sensation.
"That’s not what I mean!" Heavenly Dao shook his head but seemed unable to clearly describe the feeling in his heart, simply murmuring, "I mean in other aspects, there’s something that feels off, discordant. If we were walking down a normal street, it shouldn’t feel like this, but I can’t really pinpoint it."
"I have the same feeling!" Suddenly, Huang Yi nodded, took a step, and walked back to the entrance of the previous church, saying, "All of you, come over here and observe these people on the street closely."
Upon hearing his words, everyone left the street and returned to the church’s entrance, watching the souls coming and going outside on the street.
After observing for a while, Huang Yi’s gaze solemnly fixed on those souls on the street and said, "Did you all feel that once we left this street, these souls seem much more harmonious walking by themselves?"
"Yes, I have that feeling too!" Little Rascal immediately nodded his little head, then frowned slightly, seeming to think of a word to describe it, "It’s like, it’s like, how should I put it? It’s like..."
"Orderly!" Suddenly, the usually silent Dragon Spike uttered a word!
The moment they heard the word, Little Rascal’s eyes lit up, immediately grabbing Dragon Spike’s arm affectionately, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes! That’s the feeling! It’s orderly!"
Everyone observed the street, applying Dragon Spike’s term "orderly" to describe it, suddenly finding it very fitting.
The souls on the street, one by one, walked in an orderly fashion, looking extremely harmonious.
At this moment, Pharaoh was also deeply moved and nodded, stepping boldly to the center of the street, inserting himself among the souls coming and going, saying, "If we walk on the street and blend with these souls, it’s like dropping a few boulders into a calm river, disrupting the once peaceful and smooth flow with obstacles and breaking its tranquil order."
"But what does this have to do with Arrogance?" The Pope frowned and asked thoughtfully.
Little Rascal returned to the street, staring at the continuously approaching souls, and said, "I only know that the expressions of these souls are quite arrogant. Each of them walks with a swagger, glancing sideways, never once truly looking at us, treating us as nonexistent!" Little Rascal said this with a wrinkle of her little nose, mischievously reaching out a small hand, swinging it boldly at a soul walking towards her!
The small hand penetrated that soul’s head directly, but the soul continued to swagger forward, not giving Little Rascal a glance, and walked right through her body.
At this moment, a light suddenly flashed across Huang Yi’s mind as he blankly stared at the souls passing through Little Rascal, murmuring her recent words, as his eyes gradually lost focus—
"Treating us as nonexistent... Treating us as nonexistent..."
"What’s wrong? God of Slaughter, did you discover something?" The Poet, noticing Huang Yi’s change, immediately turned his head eagerly to ask.
Countless viewers around the world watching the live broadcast also focused on Huang Yi along with the Poet’s perspective, watching his thoughtful expression, and his unfocused eyes.
Other Super-First Masters, including the mischievous Little Rascal on the street, all stopped, turning their heads to look at Huang Yi!
They held their breath, making not the slightest sound, striving not to disturb his thoughts!
The whole world fell silent, all waiting for Huang Yi’s thoughts!
His contemplation would become the key to the entire world!
After a moment, Huang Yi’s eyes finally lit up again, focusing as if two lifeless planets suddenly regained vitality!
He looked at Little Rascal, shook his head, and said, "Actually, it’s not them who regard us as nonexistent, but we who regard them as nonexistent!"
"Why do you say that?" Little Rascal asked curiously, eyes wide open.
Huang Yi immediately walked to the middle of the street and reached out to touch the people walking towards him, saying, "Since we entered this city, we have habitually ignored these souls—not ignoring their existence, but ignoring their dignity. You could even say, we haven’t treated these souls as human beings at all! In our eyes, only our flesh and blood bodies are real humans, while they are merely souls who died long ago, no different from the city’s buildings and floors."
Everyone thought about it and realized that indeed, they didn’t treat these souls as normal human beings from their hearts. These souls were just background elements in a virtual scene; they, with their flesh and blood, were the real people.
"Even if that’s the case, what does it matter?" Dante asked, arms crossed, leaning against the church door.
"That precisely constitutes the sin of arrogance!" Huang Yi said gently, staring at a soul walking towards him, "Because psychologically, we did not treat these souls as fellow humans, so our actions inevitably become arrogant. The most apparent example is that when walking on the street, we never avoid these souls and pass right through them, as if they don’t exist!"
At this point, the soul walking towards him passed right through his body!
Huang Yi turned and glanced at the soul penetrating through him, saying, "And this is the reason why we feel disharmony while walking on the street, because if we were on a normal street, upon seeing pedestrians approaching, we would surely avoid them, not treating them as nonexistent!"
Everyone was momentarily stunned, watching the souls pass through Huang Yi, beginning to ponder his words.
At this time, Huang Yi stepped forward and returned to the church entrance.
Little Rascal and Pharaoh also walked back from the street, completely yielding the street to the souls, allowing the street to regain order.
Huang Yi looked at the orderly souls on the street and continued, "After we leave the street, the reason it looks harmonious and ordered is because they no longer pass through each other! Just like a real street!"
Everyone looked at the souls coming and going on the street and indeed noticed this point—
Although the souls appeared arrogant, walking with exaggerated posture and an insolent look, they did not pass through each other; each soul walked orderly, not interfering with others.
This was originally a very normal scene, but they hadn’t paid attention to it until now, after Huang Yi pointed it out, they finally realized!
Huang Yi said self-mockingly, "We always feel that the expressions of these souls are arrogant and self-important, but the truly self-important ones are actually us. Their arrogance is merely an expression, while our arrogance is in our actions!"
Huang Yi’s words were like a hammer, heavily striking everyone’s hearts!
Indeed! Since entering this city, they have arrogantly treated these souls, never avoiding them on the streets, treating them like air!
They always thought their behavior was normal, and the souls’ actions were abnormal!
They didn’t realize that the truly arrogant ones were not the souls, but themselves!
"So what should we do?" Little Rascal asked instinctively.
"It’s simple!" Huang Yi smiled, "Treat these souls as normal people. When we walk on the street and encounter approaching souls, we should avoid them, not pass through them, just like on a normal street. In doing so, we should be able to leave this city!"
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