Chapter 1507: Chapter 207: Prisoner’s Dilemma

The concept of hierarchy among the Avianfolk is absolute—

Once Aiwass’s identity as the King of the Winged Ones was confirmed, Chief Elo immediately abandoned all earlier reservations.

She submissively knelt on the ground, just like those Avianfolk who knelt to her, trying to display her piety and loyalty in an almost humble manner. It was only when Aiwass lifted her up that she sat back in her previous position.

Finally, Elo spoke, revealing without reservation the most precious thing in the desert—information—to Aiwass.

“Although people refer to the forces against the Benevolent Lords as the ‘rebellion,’ they are not actually a unified organization. Their ideologies, combat abilities, distribution, and even races are completely different. Strictly speaking, the Dried Water Army can also be considered as an unorganized organization.

“For example, the largest insurgent group near Holy Spring City is called the ‘Primitive Sect.’ They are bound together in a sort of religious way, obeying the will of their leader. Their hostility towards the Benevolent Lords is not particularly strong… or rather, they just hope to form a semi-independent organization similar to the Snake-man Temple as slaves. They worship the Stone Celestial Marshal, avoiding cities and all civilization, not even using language to communicate, living a carefree life like beasts.

“Near Wanyu City, which holds the name ‘City of Ten Thousand Pleasures,’ the ‘Bloodthirst Gang’ has formed. It’s an extreme human supremacist armed group. They rescue and gather a large number of human slaves, wandering near the Oasis by plundering foreign resources. They also infiltrate many free people into the gang to discreetly provide resources from within the city.

“They do not oppose the system of the Parthian Ancient Country itself but seek to plunder a ‘city belonging only to humans.’ They even capture foreign slaves to sell to Slave Knights, or buy and rob some foreign slaves to use and execute freely. They demand that those who join the gang publicly eat a live foreign child to prove they do not consider foreigners as equals.”

Elo’s introduction of the ‘Bloodthirst Gang’ was evidently more detailed.

Clearly, the Avianfolk were also on the Bloodthirst Gang’s menu.

When Aiwass inquired, Elo nodded without hesitation and responded, “I have a son, who was caught and eaten by them.

“—If given a chance, I will hang them up and tear them apart. Feed their blood and flesh to all the compatriots who have lost family members.”

As a chief, Elo was unwavering on this matter: “Even if you stop me, I will certainly do it.”

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It is only right.”

Aiwass nodded slightly.

He then asked, “And what about Heaven City and Hassan?”

“The organization near Heaven City evolved from the one Hassan led back then. They have no specific organizational name… but people call them the ‘Red Hand Gang.’

“Is it the ‘Red Hands’ corresponding to ‘Flame Fist’?”

Aiwass asked.

Elo shook her head slightly: “Not quite. Mainly because their ideology… is more extreme.

“Hassan opposes the Benevolent Lords and regards ‘fire,’ the opposite of ‘water,’ as a symbol. Those who join the Red Hand Gang are basically avengers whose families were destroyed by the Benevolent Lords and their minions. They will stop at nothing to destroy these cities.

“To them, the free people who obey the will of the Benevolent Lords are no different from puppets and slaves. Even the free people have never truly obtained freedom. It is merely the freedom of being raised by the Benevolent Lords, like sheep grazed in a pen versus sheep grazed freely on the meadows.”

Elo said thus.

Aiwass was somewhat surprised.

—So you knew those sheep were raised by someone and weren’t wild, huh?

Elo continued, “Just as slaves are the property of their masters, if a slave commits a wrongdoing, it’s necessary to find the master for settlement… Some matters can gain forgiveness through punishing the slave, but for others, the master must pay the price themselves.

“Because slaves are inherently their master’s possessions. From this perspective, it’s impossible to expect slaves to oppose their masters or even stand neutrally. Some insurgent and rebel groups save slaves only to be betrayed and sold out by those very slaves… Those most righteous rebel forces can hardly survive.”

Hearing this, Aiwass nodded.

Indeed.

His Ritual Studies teacher, Ibn, was like this back then—saving people only to be betrayed by those he rescued. Even Zhu Tang had experienced similar situations… After all, in the perception of most slaves, the Benevolent Lords are an unassailable and unwavering existence, as fundamental as the world’s cornerstone, a divine being not to be harmed or moved.

Though they know how bitter their lives are. Maybe following the rebel forces could lead to execution if they fail, but betraying them once can instantly grant them the status of free people, along with considerable wealth.

No price, no risk—as long as they provide information, the Benevolent Lords can easily wipe out the insurgent forces. Sometimes just knowing the coordinates would suffice for Ritualists and Cursing Sorcerers to strike remotely, leaving no survivors inside, and sending in Knights to clean the battlefield afterward wouldn’t be a problem.

And certainly, more than one slave will be rescued.

Among these slaves, as long as one betrays them, everyone else will perish; if several betray them, the second and subsequent betrayers will barely gain any rewards.

—Aiwass knew this is a classic prisoner’s dilemma.

Based on Aiwass’s knowledge, the prisoner’s dilemma generally has two distinct solutions.

In experiments conducted over time and repeatedly, people tend to lean towards cooperation eventually. If multiple individuals participate in experiments, people will always tend to cooperate with those who choose to cooperate. As the mutual understanding deepens, those willing to cooperate with others will also become the choice of others.

This is the power of ‘morality’ and ‘benevolence.’

Civilization arises because of this.

But if they know ahead of time—and each party clearly knows—that the ‘experiment’ will only happen once, people tend to choose betrayal.

This is in part due to their unfamiliarity and mutual wariness, and also for ‘stability.’

The more people are in a tense, scarce, and dangerous environment, the more they tend to choose certainty—just like preferring a guaranteed fifty thousand over a fifty-percent chance of one hundred thousand.

Although mathematically, these two numbers are equal in expectation, people with no money are more likely to opt for the former, while those who don’t lack resources might consider the latter.

When slaves are captured and later rescued, they find themselves in an extremely awkward situation.

Getting caught will subject them to capital punishment—because cooperation with the insurgents gets them labeled as insurgents themselves. Hence, slaves who the insurgents invite to cooperate usually choose betrayal under pressure, which is naturally ‘human nature.’

Even slaves themselves do not wish to abolish slavery.

How can one save others if they do not save themselves?

“…Therefore, the Red Hand Gang chose the most extreme path. They abandoned rescuing slaves and gaining comrades from among the free people.”

Chief Elo spoke slowly: “‘Since free people are the Benevolent Lords’ slaves, harming the free people can hurt the Benevolent Lords too.’ This is their mindset.”

“…Indeed.”

Aiwass fell silent for a moment, yet he couldn’t help but sigh and nod in agreement.

To the Benevolent Lords, their residents are their property.

The Benevolent Lords are like protagonist characters in a simulation management game, where they must periodically sacrifice some population in exchange for water resources—the more they sacrifice, the more resources they obtain, attracting even more people to settle… It’s like the ‘residential buildings’ in such simulation games.

Thus, the greater population they accumulate, the larger their wealth base grows, leading to personal fortunes snowballing at an incredible speed until they reach a meaningless figure.

“And what the Red Hand Gang does is simple…”

Elo took a deep breath, clearly apprehensive about these madmen: “That is, light the fire.

“Burn the Oasis, destroy the water source. So long as people can’t reside here, they’ll naturally flee.

“Only by hurting the Benevolent Lords’ true assets—the population—will the Benevolent Lords feel pain, become furious, grow hysterical… and only then will they reveal true vulnerabilities. Other forms of rebellion are mere child’s play to the Benevolent Lords.”

“Are you saying…”

Aiwass’s eyes widened.

He realized a terrifying possibility.