Chapter 411: The Renaissance of Carthage (3)

Only Luca knew what he was thinking. The three of them walked along the narrow road in the middle. There were many Vandal patrolling soldiers coming and going, but they just passed by Luca and his group and did not suspect that these three people were not locals.

"If the Roman Senate saw this scene, I'm afraid they would not try every possible means to stop you at that time, Luca."

Belia was interrupted by Luca who said, "This is not a good place to talk about this. Let's go back and talk about it."

After walking around for a long time, Luca felt that there was really nothing to see, so he planned to take Belia and Andrew back to the ship, because in that slightly secluded place, he could discuss his ideas with his two friends.

But just as he was about to board his merchant ship at the dock, a sudden scream attracted Luca's attention. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a huge gallows erected on a high ground not far away. Vandal soldiers were escorting a group of ragged and dusty guys to the gallows. The gallows was really huge and could accommodate more than a dozen people hanging on it at the same time. It might be because they thought there were too many guys to be executed this time.

"It seems that our troubles have also appeared on them." Looking at the Vandals tying ropes on the ragged "beggars" from afar, the beggars who were afraid of death naturally did not want to do this, so no matter how slim their hopes were, they would cry and wail at the top of their lungs to express their "innocence". But how could the onlookers believe his "crocodile tears"? No matter how they cried and shouted, they all chose to watch coldly.

"Let's go up and take a look." Luca called them and walked forward, only to see a masked Vandal soldier putting ropes around the necks of the pirates one by one. Although they were crying and crying, they did not move or resist when the ropes were put around their necks.

Luca could tell from the guy lying on the ground on their right, covered in blood and dying, that if they resisted, they would end up like this. Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys was really effective. Being beaten to death in front of everyone and then dying without dignity was not the primary choice. They all wanted to be more comfortable and not suffer so much.

An officer who looked like a Vandal official stood on the gallows and shouted to the citizens watching below: "These are all unforgivable bastards. I don't know how much good goods and money have been plundered by them. They killed people wantonly and even spared no children. Now it's good. We caught them and stopped their brutality in time. The punishment has come upon them. Believe me, it is impossible for them to survive because they have committed a crime!"

They even spoke fluent Latin, and Luca was even a little dazed. He didn't know to what extent these Vandals had become Romanized. But judging from the gold and silver on their clothes, it seemed that their quality of life had improved a lot.

What surprised Luka even more was that at the end, he actually made the sign of the cross on his chest, just like the onlookers below. This had never happened in previous battles with Luka.

"They have changed so much that I feel it's earth-shaking." Luca murmured, remained silent for a moment behind the crowd, and finally turned and left when the Vandals gave the order to execute him.

"Pirates, damn pirates, they can never be killed." At this time, Luga vaguely heard an old man beside him saying hatefully, which made Luga pause for a moment. Soon, he came to his senses, quickened his pace, and moved away from the cheering crowd.

Back on the boat, Andrew couldn't help but ask Luca, "I see you hesitated to speak, you must have come up with a good idea, right, Luca?"

Luca pondered for a moment and said slowly: "All this is true, just like what the elders of Syracuse said, the Vandals learned the business methods from nowhere, or this land itself is suitable for them, making them feel that they met too late and thrive. In any case, Carthage, once Rome's greatest enemy, is resurrecting in another form. No one knows how big a threat they are to us, at least the Roman court does not understand. They will only enjoy the insignificant money from the Vandals as a symbol of their victory. In short, the Vandals are accumulating wealth and expanding their wings. They are actively Romanizing because they want to become the successor of Rome. This is a truce, not peace!"

"So what should we do?" Andrew asked, "Should we go back right now and gather the army to hit them hard to let them know that making too much money will make people jealous?"

"No, we can't!" Luca shook his head, rejecting Andrew's idea, and then he explained: "Such a mighty army will naturally attract the attention of the Vandals from a long distance. Even if we succeed, we will pay a heavy price. What's more, the enemy is so powerful that we can't alert them. Even so, if we destroy them once, they will quickly rebuild on the ruins. We can't focus all our attention on the Vandals. There are too many wars, and after the first strike, the second and third strikes will become increasingly difficult. We can't afford it. We don't have that much money."

"So, we only have one way." Beria stroked his chin and said what he was thinking, "According to what you said, the war cannot last long, so we can concentrate our forces to fight quickly and take down Carthage in one go. As long as we take down such a prosperous city, the Vandals will not be our enemy."

"This idea is not impossible. But..." Luga nodded, confirming Belia's idea, but he also expressed his concerns: "But the most important thing is that none of us knows what kind of strength our enemy has reached after five years of recovery. If we attack rashly and the enemy is stronger than us, I'm afraid we will all die here."

"Yes, that's the problem, so we need to find out the enemy's strength!" Belia nodded.

"But this will take half a year or even one or two years." Lu Jia shook his head and said, "I can't wait that long. Besides, the enemy will only become stronger at this time."

"Hey, you guys have run out of cargo on the ship, why are you still waiting here? Hurry up and make room for others!"

At this time, a rude scolding voice came from outside the door, and then, quick footsteps were heard approaching the door. The door was opened, and a guard poked his head in and said to Luca: "Sir, the Vandal soldiers asked us to leave."

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"Then do as he wishes. I've been here long enough anyway." Luka waved at the guard and said, "Go back. We'll have plenty of time to discuss this when we get back."

(End of this chapter)