Chapter 262: A New Emotion
It was as if midsummer had suddenly turned to frost.
The abrupt change forced Zephyr to set aside his grief. He shook off his disheveled state by force, and his expression returned to its usual stern seriousness.
Axel slowly opened his blood-red eyes.
They were like moons stained crimson, emitting a red glow that made the heart tighten.
It was vivid red, but there was nothing bright about it. It was the dark, glossy sheen of blood.
Zephyr immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Because he knew Axel well, he could tell that this gaze did not belong to that child.
In the past, even when Axel's methods were sharp, there had always been a sense that he was acting deliberately. But now, his emotions seemed completely erased, replaced by a domineering indifference.
Zephyr was no stranger to this feeling.
During his years carrying out missions as a Marine Admiral, he had encountered it often.
However, he usually felt it from nobles.
Or from the Gorosei.
Most nobles were parasites, but among them were also people who stood above everything. They were indifferent to wealth and their surroundings because they already possessed everything.
They had grown weary of it all.
In their eyes, life and everything else were merely numbers used to measure profit.
Their actions were based only on personal preference or internal standards.
Those people were the true aristocrats.
The real rulers of this world.
Zephyr did not understand how Axel could possess such an emotion.
But he did not want his student to become that kind of person.
Just as Zephyr was about to act, Axel moved first.
He closed his eyes once more.
Then he opened them again.
With that single blink, the eerie atmosphere vanished instantly.
The abruptness of it left Zephyr stunned.
Axel slowly withdrew the grin at the corner of his mouth and shook his head.
"No. I just lost control of my emotions for a moment."
"..."
Zephyr did not believe him.
But he did not press further.
"Teacher Zephyr, can you tell me in detail what happened?" Axel asked calmly.
Zephyr looked at Axel again.
This attitude could no longer be called a change.
It was a complete reversal from top to bottom.
What kind of event could cause such a shift?
Axel's current calmness made Zephyr feel afraid.
There was a saying that a crying child gets milk.
As long as elders paid attention to a child's thoughts, they could understand what the child wanted.
Axel's previous anxiety, panic, and disbelief had allowed Zephyr to see the changes in his heart.
Even the later shift into indifference had still revealed something.
But now...
Zephyr could not see the slightest ripple at all.
"Teacher Zephyr, what's wrong?"
Axel's voice remained flat.
"Can you tell me the details of what happened?"
"...Yes."
Zephyr's voice was hoarse.
"I... can."
Although recounting it would bring back painful memories, Zephyr was more worried about what had yet to happen than what had already occurred.
What exactly was wrong with Axel?
Zephyr slowly sat down and recounted the events.
"You mean to say that about half of the students were lost in this battle, and you successfully repelled the opponent?"
Axel glanced at the arm that, in his memory, should have been severed.
It was still there.
"Yes..."
Zephyr lowered his gaze.
"Because of your warning, I wasn't careless during the fight. But even so, I still couldn't protect the students."
His words were heavy.
In the end, he had still been too arrogant.
If he had been even more careful, if he had not slackened in his daily training, the outcome might not have been like this.
"Then can you describe it in more detail?"
Axel's tone remained calm.
"Including the sea area, the time of the attack, the attacker's abilities, the surrounding damage, and the manner of death for those lost."
That made Zephyr feel the abnormality once again.
"Calling you back this time really was the right choice."
Zephyr looked at him.
"If I hadn't let you come back, I wouldn't have known you were facing such a serious problem."
Axel raised his eyes.
There was no fluctuation in them.
"I am merely analyzing the situation in the most appropriate way and excising my emotions in the most appropriate manner."
Zephyr roared, "Describing comrades and friends as 'those lost'? Is this still you?"
His anger shook the room.
"Humans are human precisely because of these complex emotions. We change because of emotions, and we act because of emotions."
"Excising emotions? Most appropriate?"
"What kind of joke is that!"
Axel's brain analyzed the reason for Zephyr's agitation.
But at this moment, he did not comprehend those emotions.
Because, just as he had said, he currently had no emotions.
It was neither his original complicated emotions nor those cruel impulses.
It was an emotionless state.
This was Axel's third emotional state.
A third state his brain had produced as self-protection during the emotional agitation earlier.
"Emotions...?"
Axel spoke indifferently.
"According to analysis, emotions are the cause of disruption in a person's normal actions."
"After excising them, a person can act without interference, which undoubtedly improves efficiency and accuracy while reducing the possibility of error."
When people acted, a large portion of their behavior changed based on emotion.
For example, knowing certain vegetables were nutritious, yet choosing meat because of the desire for taste.
Or doing uncontrollable things while angry.
Excising those impulses was equivalent to turning oneself into a highly efficient machine.
It allowed one's talents to be fully utilized without judgment being affected by emotion.
That was Axel's current thought process.
Bang!
Zephyr's fist, coated in Armament Haki, suddenly swung out.
Even his unhealed injuries could not suppress his anger.
However, the moment Zephyr threw his fist, Axel raised his wooden blade with startling speed and blocked the strike.
His body naturally slid backward while his brain performed the fastest calculations, dissipating the excess force.
Axel analyzed calmly, "Teacher Zephyr, after hearing that sentence, there was a seventy percent probability that you would attack, a twenty percent probability that you would reprimand me, a nine percent probability that you would show an angry expression but take no action, and a one percent probability of other outcomes."
His reaction speed was even more terrifying than before.
If it had been the original Axel, he would have hesitated because the attacker was Zephyr, and that hesitation would undoubtedly have sent him flying.
But the current Axel had no such redundant emotions.
If the opponent attacked, his brain had only one answer.
Defend.
His body made the most appropriate reaction at the fastest speed.
"Teacher Zephyr, I suggest you do not use your left arm."
Axel looked at him quietly.
"The injury on your left arm is several times worse than the right. Using it will not only worsen the wound, but also fail to provide sufficient strength."
.....
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