Chapter 359 Military Alliance (Part 2)
"Oh, Lord Luca, your display really scared me. Why didn't you inform me in advance? I think wine and bread are much better than this!" In order to ease his embarrassment, Aetius kept explaining himself along the way. Now, he thought that he could embarrass Luca with an army of 500 people, but he didn't expect so many people to appear in Luca's camp out of thin air. As the commander of the Central Field Army of Italy, he naturally knew the movements of the Central Province and the regional army, but unfortunately, Aetius himself couldn't explain clearly where this army came from. The Senate also humiliated Luca severely. He shouldn't have so many troops because he had no money. This might really be a gift from God to Luca.
Walking into the central tent, Luca arranged for Aetius to sit down, poured him a glass of wine, and then asked him, "How about it, Sir Aetius, have you made up your mind?"
"Do you?" Aetius hesitated for a moment, then came to his senses in an instant, because he understood what Luca meant. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Oh, yes, yes, yes, I have thought about it carefully!"
"But sir!" Luca said seriously, "you haven't given me a definite answer yet!"
When asked this, the apologetic smile on Aetius' face froze. He knew that he couldn't hide this from Luca. Luca was not a fool and it was impossible for him to just laugh it off.
"Sir Luca, you know, this is indeed a very serious matter." Aetius hesitated.
"But I gave you two weeks to think about it." Luca pointed outside the camp and said to Aetius, "You brought so many people here today, you must be here to attend our alliance ceremony. Otherwise, who are you trying to show off to by bringing such a big show?"
As Luca approached, Aetius realized that his guards were blocked outside.
"I don't mean anything else, it's just that it's not safe here recently. Your Excellency, you know how rampant the bandits are around here!" Aetius didn't dare to look at Luga at all. It was only because of his negligence that the home ground became Luga's. He didn't know what Luga would do to him. He only knew that if he didn't obey Luga's temper, Luga would make him very uncomfortable.
"brush!"
What Aetius never expected was that at this critical moment, Luca actually pulled out an iron sword from somewhere. Without a word, Luca put the sword directly on Aetius' neck, which caught Aetius off guard.
"Oh, calm down, calm down, Lord Luca." Aetius was a soldier who had experienced many battles. When he spread his hands and comforted Luca with words, his expression did not show too much panic. He also knew that such a situation could not be panicked.
Luca put the sword on his neck, his face was fierce, and he stared at Aetius murderously, as if the current problem could not be solved without killing Aetius.
"I can see that, Lord Aetius." Luca said fiercely, his voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. "You don't really want to form an alliance with me. I can see that when you said you would give you two weeks, I could guess that you don't believe in my strength. If you don't believe me, fine, I will prove it to you, but now you want to shirk it. I'm afraid you can't stand up without your own guards, right?"
"I don't understand what you are saying, Lord Luca, but I still hope that you can lay down your weapon and we can sit down and talk calmly." Aetius' face turned red. It seemed that Luca had used a lot of strength and made him feel uncomfortable.
"Oh, sorry, Master Aetius." Luca said, and quickly let Aetius go. Aetius coughed repeatedly, and it seemed that Luca's "enthusiasm was indeed a bit too much for him to bear."
"You should understand what I mean now, Master Aetius." Luca was different from the warm welcome he had just given. He said this with a cold face and no expression. He slowly walked to a stool, sat down, and used his sword as support to stand in front of him. He nodded at Aetius and said, "Don't be polite, Master Aetius. The stool is behind you. Sit down!"
Aetius didn't know what Luca was thinking, but he had no choice but to find a stool and sit down with trepidation. He looked at Luca again, and saw that Luca's eyes were fixed on him, which made him very uncomfortable. After all, such a long time had passed, and no one dared to stare at him with such eyes. Luca was the first one.
"As we agreed before, you and I formed a military alliance mainly to deal with the threat of Augusta Placidia. I think you also know that she hopes that only one of us can survive, but I am extending an olive branch to you now. As long as you are willing to cooperate with me, we can avoid war. If you don't agree, then I can end your ridiculous life now." Luca spoke to Aetius slowly, but one can hear from Luca's tone that his words were full of gunpowder. Those who obey will prosper, and those who resist will perish!
"Sir Luca, this is a very tempting offer after all." Aetius hesitated and began to speak again, only to hear him continue to ask: "But I don't know what you want, Sir Luca? Or what can you get from our alliance? Moreover, what do you want me to do?"
"Our alliance is very simple." Luca tapped the iron sword in his hand lightly, making a "ding-dong" sound from time to time. "I ask you to keep an eye on the Goths in Ludug Gaul and Narpan Gaul, because he has threatened me. Of course, I know that you have a contract with the Gothic King Theodoric, but the contract is just a piece of paper after all. I need you to take action in all aspects, after all, Gaul is not safe."
Aetius did not speak. He remained silent. Although his life was threatened by Luca, he was naturally unwilling to accept Luca's orders. If he agreed, he would be determined to be inferior to Luca. Such humiliation was unacceptable to Aetius, who had struggled hard until now. He gritted his teeth and held his precious robe tightly in his hands. He was enduring, and Luca was challenging his patience.
"I can see that you are unhappy, Lord Aetius." Luca sneered and stared at Aetius and said, "Why, you are not satisfied with the alliance with me?"
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"Haha, how could that be?" Aetius sneered in response to Luca's sneer. He slowly stood up, stared at Luca, and said fiercely: "I am very much looking forward to what our alliance can bring me, Flavius Luca!"
(End of this chapter)