Chapter Thirty-Five: Diplomatic Gifts

Earlier, greed and shock had been absorbed from the four men. When Yan Luo slew Alex and the three soldiers, he harvested another surge of shock and fear before their deaths. Now, upon entering the town, the soldiers and slaves in the Kolta camp scattered in terror at the sight of him, their emotions radiating the same mixture—shock and fear.

After circling the town, the Emotionless Puppet had almost reached its capacity of stored emotions.

Greed: 20
Shock: 19
Fear: 53

At this point, Yan Luo made a setting: the limit for shock would be 20, and for fear, 60. Fear, in truth, was terror. Once, two portions of disgust, two of madness, and six of fear had fused to create the Persona: Nightmare. Now, with two of greed, two of shock, and six of fear—what might be forged this time?

As Yan Luo pondered, Wang Dongwei had gathered some intelligence from the slaves.

“So it’s Pericles, the era of the Archon.”

Neither Zhu Xiaoyong nor Yan Luo recognized the name.

“There’s good news and bad news,” Wang Dongwei explained after they regrouped. “The good news is, we probably don’t have to face those 300 Spartan brutes; the Greco-Persian Wars are over. What luck—we nearly ran into Leonidas. The bad news is that right now, ancient Greece is at the height of its slave system, a golden age of prosperity and pride among its citizens.”

“It’s almost impossible for us, by any means, to participate in the Olympic Games.”

At this, Zhu Xiaoyong cut in, “I have a bold idea…”

He raised his hand and brought it down in a decisive chopping gesture. “Why don’t we take over this place, develop domestic affairs, build irrigation, reclaim the farmlands, recruit soldiers and search for generals, then use this town as our base to conquer other cities and finally unify all of Greece?”

“You’ve played too much Three Kingdoms,” Wang Dongwei replied with a touch of exasperation. Ignoring him, he continued, “I know the general years of Pericles’ rule, but I can’t pinpoint the exact date. The Gregorian calendar doesn’t exist yet—Jesus hasn’t been born—but it’s roughly the 400s BC. In other words, we’re 2,500 years in the past.”

“China at this time must be in the Spring and Autumn or Warring States periods.”

For a moment, Yan Luo, Zhu Xiaoyong, and Wang Dongwei all fell silent. To think that entering a world of athletic competition could bring them 2,500 years into the past—Zhu Xiaoyong’s current feelings could only be described as, “I’m utterly speechless.”

Suddenly, Wang Dongwei’s expression grew resolute.

“In times such as these, only by facing death can we find life!”

“Hm?” the others responded.

“Yan Luo, no matter how strong you are, you can’t contend with an entire nation. Our main mission is to participate in the Olympics—the most important event to the Greeks, above all else! No trickery will work under the eyes of all. First, we don’t meet the qualifications; second, we can’t even disguise ourselves as Westerners.”

Clenching his fist, Wang Dongwei declared, “Right now, Socrates may well be in the Athenian Acropolis! Plato, Herodotus, Democritus, Hippocrates… the greatest minds of ancient Greece are gathered here! Meanwhile, in the East, Shakyamuni has entered nirvana, Confucius has passed, and Laozi has wandered west through Hangu Pass, his end unknown! We are disciples of the Eastern sages, envoys from a far-off nation, here in Greece not just to challenge a school, but to challenge the nation itself!”

“As envoys from the East, a nation at least owes us a measure of respect—they won’t turn on us for a sword the way that captain did.”

“Still, even foreign envoys would never be allowed to participate in the Olympics. My plan is to utterly crush these arrogant Greeks on the cultural front, to so humble them that they beg us to join their Olympic Games.”

“Right now, especially in Athens, Greece sees itself as the world’s most civilized nation and its very center. Let us show them that, in the distant East, there is a country even more civilized and greater still!”

In Yan Luo’s eyes, the fire in this man’s gaze was almost tangible. Had he not already restricted his emotional intake, he might have absorbed a surge of passionate feeling.

“Wait, wasn’t Shakyamuni Indian, not Chinese?” Zhu Xiaoyong asked, puzzled.

“True, but Buddhism barely survived in India and only flourished in China. In ancient times, Buddhism influenced dynasty after dynasty, blending into our native culture. It’s not wrong to regard it as part of our ancient civilization.”

“In any case, our chances of joining the Olympics are slim. So, we’ll take a gamble—if we fail, so be it. Aside from entering openly and upright, I see no other way. And to do that, we can’t avoid Athens’ Citizens’ Assembly. I’m no sage, but I know this: to earn respect, you must be strong. If we come as envoys from a powerful Eastern nation—here to challenge Greek envoys—only then might they actively invite us to participate.”

“The premise is, we must utterly defeat them culturally!”

“From now on, Yan Luo and Zhu Xiaoyong, remember: you no longer represent just yourselves, but China! And you face the very cradle of Western civilization: Greece.”

Wang Dongwei’s demeanor grew solemn.

“Before the Greeks, we must embody the wisdom of the East. Tonight, neither of you get any sleep—I’ll give you a crash course on the various schools of thought, philosophy, and debate. When facing the Greeks, words will serve us better than blades.”

“By the way, what did you do for a living in the real world?” Zhu Xiaoyong couldn’t help but ask. “Ordinary people wouldn’t know all this stuff.”

Wang Dongwei was silent for a moment, then sighed, “I suppose you could call me a man of letters. I know a little about many things, and I’ve read a fair amount of both Eastern and Western classics. But what good has it done? Nothing achieved… a scholar is the most useless of men.”

Unwilling to dwell further, he changed the subject. “Earlier, those Greek soldiers wanted to steal my leather jacket and Han sword.”

“The Eight-sided Han Sword, Yan Luo’s Paired Sabers, Zhu Xiaoyong’s Ghost-headed Saber—all bought with bio-energy, so naturally we can’t give them up. When we entered this inner world, only the clothes on our backs came with us; nothing else from the outer world. But I was cautious.”

“It was March in the real world, just warming up. Yan Luo and Zhu Xiaoyong, you were both dressed lightly, but I wore a leather jacket just in case—it might offer some protection. I also wore a pair of thermal fleece pants.”

Wang Dongwei removed his leather jacket, revealing a button-up shirt underneath, then took off his trousers to show a pair of deep blue long johns.

“We’ll present these—let’s call the jacket ‘leather armor’ and the long johns a gift for the Athenian elders. Then, we’ll request that we, Eastern envoys, meet the greatest minds of Greece! Of course, these garments must have impressive-sounding names to make them seem precious. What shall we call them…”

That night, Yan Luo, Zhu Xiaoyong, and Wang Dongwei stayed at the Kolta camp. Early the next morning, soldier Little Daifus set out for the Athenian Acropolis, bearing the “Eastern envoys’” gifts: the leather jacket and the long johns.

At noon, as the Archon Pericles was presiding over a session with the Senate, he received an important report.

Three envoys from an Eastern nation had arrived at the Kolta camp, and they had presented diplomatic gifts:

An orange-red leather jacket.

A deep blue pair of long johns.

Recalling the era China was in, Wang Dongwei gave the garments two names that would sound impressive yet mysterious to the Greeks:

Spring and Autumn Leather Armor;
Warring States Trousers.

A Persian slave woman and a black slave entered, each bearing a tray—one gold, one silver, atop which lay the jacket and the trousers. As the gathered senators crowded around and caught sight of these garments, their honey-like orange-red and sky-blue hues so vivid, astonishment appeared on every face.

Even the Archon Pericles could not help but be moved.