Since an agreement had already been signed with Athens, Achilles was quite straightforward and personally led 50,000 Myrmidon warriors to escort the king across the sea to the south.
Accompanying them were, of course, the high priest who was most familiar with the temple, and the king's personal maid, Lillian.
Across the strait is the territory of Athens.
Having received orders from Cleisthenes, the Athenian garrison did not embarrass the Stoica army, but simply joined them in the march towards Athens.
After two days and two nights of travel, Xia Zhe finally caught up with Cleisthenes before he entered Athens.
Cleisthenes was deeply moved that King Stobi trusted him so much that he dared to advance alone just after signing the agreement.
Without further ado, he made a decision immediately and the next morning, he and King Stobi entered the city of Athens hand in hand.
The next morning, the sun was shining brightly and the sky was cloudless.
Xia Zhe and Cleisthenes stood side by side in the golden chariot and entered the city of Athens from the north gate.
The Athenian people had already received the news in advance. Knowing that the northern power Stobia and Athens had become friends, the Stobia king was willing to intervene to prevent Sparta from invading the north.
Millions of people poured into the streets to welcome King Stobi. The enthusiastic atmosphere made Xia Zhe very excited.
Athens is known as the largest city in Greece, ten times larger than the new capital of Stoica, Botaïtia.
After walking on the streets of the city for most of the day, Cleisthenes finally brought Xia Zhe to the outside of the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens.
Athena, the patron saint of Athens, is enshrined here, as well as a large number of ancient sacrificial items.
Because he didn't know what kind of rare treasures King Stobi liked, Cleisthenes was not in a position to take those things out. He just asked the temple priests to bring the three distinguished guests from Stobi into the temple to choose.
Very satisfied with this arrangement.
Without even having time to eat lunch, Xia Zhe immediately walked in first.
Seeing the king so anxious, the high priest and Lillian hurried to follow.
The Parthenon is magnificent, and there are countless rare treasures along the way.
The high priest didn't understand what the king wanted, so he could only taste and analyze the good things he saw along the way, hoping to arouse the king's interest.
No matter how good the treasure was, or how the high priest praised it, Xia Zhe always ignored it and kept urging them to keep going forward and not stop.
This left the high priest extremely puzzled.
Even the managers of the Parthenon couldn't figure out what King Strobe was up to.
Only Lillian knew clearly that Wang Ba was here to find the King's Heart.
Lillian had also seen the clues on the sand table in the dark. She remembered that the King's Heart of Athens should be purple.
So, along the way, Lillian kept looking around for something purple and glowing.
Suddenly, a pure purple light from above attracted her attention.
Without hesitation, Lillian immediately pointed high and screamed loudly.
"There! Yes, right there! What is that thing emitting purple light?" Lillian said.
Something that glows purple?
Hearing Lillian's reminder, Xia Zhe hurriedly looked in the direction of Lillian's finger.
Above the tall statue of Athena, on a sunken platform, something was indeed emitting a purple light.
"Oh. It's a round stone left over from an unknown era. Because it's too hard to be made into a sacrificial vessel, it's placed there as a decoration. It's not a treasure." The priest who manages the temple replied.
"Can I take it down and have a look?" Xia Zhe asked.
Hearing this, the priests smiled, brought a ladder, and took down the purple stone.
Seeing the size and shape of the stone, as well as the unusually familiar way it glowed, Xia Zhe could be sure that this was the king's heart of Athens.
In order to avoid attracting unnecessary attention, Xia Zhe simply said that he liked this thing and asked Lillian to put it away.
Then, he began to appreciate the artwork in the Parthenon seriously.
In the end, Xia Zhe walked out of the Parthenon with satisfaction, carrying the four exquisite works of art recommended by the priests and the inconspicuous purple stone in Lillian's pocket.
Seeing that King Stobi was quite satisfied, Cleisthenes felt relieved.
He hurriedly took King Stobi to the palace and started the welcoming banquet.
After three rounds of drinks, Xia Zhe took Lillian back to his residence, using the excuse that he was drunk and needed to take a rest.
He closed the doors and windows, took out the other King's Heart he had with him, and placed them side by side.
Xia Zhe confirmed with satisfaction that the two stones could resonate with each other. This stone was definitely the King's Heart.
In this way, five of the nine King's Hearts have been obtained. This trip to Athens can be considered a complete success.
He told Lillian to keep the two king's hearts, walked out of the residence, and just returned to the banquet.
Before I could even sit down, the guards came running over.
"Report to the Archon. King Leonidas of Sparta was very angry when he heard that Stoica and Athens had signed a peace agreement. He has ordered the Peloponnesian League to intensify the attack. Our army's defense lines in the south are under great pressure!" said the guard.
Sparta intensifies its attack!
Upon hearing this, the faces of the Athenian nobles at the banquet changed drastically. Only Xia Zhe, Achilles, the high priest and other guests from Stoicism remained calm.
"Your Majesty, if you intend to mediate with the King of Sparta, do it sooner rather than later! We in Athens will provide whatever you need!"
Christine said anxiously, looking at Xia Zhe eagerly.
Other Athenian nobles also echoed his words.
These people were no fools; they knew the Peloponnesian League was now in name only. If Sparta led the Peloponnesian League in an all-out attack, Athens would have a hard time holding on on its own.
This is also the reason why everyone treats King Stobi with such courtesy.
"Okay. I'll go talk to Leonidas." Hearing this, Xia Zhe nodded in agreement.
Now that I have the good stuff, I will never be the kind of person who goes back on his word and burns the bridge after crossing it.
It's just a chat with the King of Sparta.
If we can negotiate, then we can negotiate. If we can’t, then forget it. As long as you’ve done your best, that’s all that matters.
Hearing King Stobi agree so readily, Cleisthenes and the Athenian nobles all beamed.
On the contrary, Achilles and the high priest on the side frowned suddenly.
The country of Sparta is famous for its iron-blooded nature.
It is said that Spartan boys as young as seven or eight years old had to go into the forest to survive.
Only those who could successfully avoid the attacks of wild beasts and survive for three days could become a Spartan citizen.
Therefore, every heavy infantryman in the Spartan army is a born killer!
The Spartan heavy infantry are the elite among the elite!
As the king's personal guards, every member of this team has the fighting power to defeat ten enemies at once.
In addition, Sparta equipped them with the best weapons and armor.
Although this army only had 200,000 men, it was enough to defeat millions of heavy infantry from other city-states.
Known as the strongest military force in the world.
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