Chapter 1163 The War Between the Good Lords
"Robbery? Kidnapping?"
Aiwass frowned slightly: "Was it man-made? Or intentional?"
"That's right."
Ibn nodded and looked at his guide Anar, who was feeling uneasy and extremely uneasy.
Aiwass took a look and suddenly understood something.
This little girl, probably only fourteen or fifteen years old, wouldn't even be in college if she were in Avalon or Iris. Yet, now, she spoke a half-baked Star Antimony tongue and was adept at doing this kind of work that would have been punishable by death if caught. It would have been impossible to say she didn't have the guts.
But after she heard the word "petrification", she seemed to have become more anxious. It was obvious that she seemed to know part of the truth.
"I guess... someone in Rock Cellar City spread similar rumors, saying that this city is unclean, that the people in it have committed some serious sin, and that the sinners in this sinful city will be turned to stone..."
Aiwass said slowly: "Am I right?"
This kind of plot is really easy to understand.
For uneducated people, things that are too complex are incomprehensible to them. However, they can understand the concept of "crime" - the idea that someone is punished for their mistakes, and that the consequences of committing serious crimes are implicated, is not abstract but a very real situation for people in this slave society.
As the saying goes, people cannot teach people, but things can teach them once they are taught. In Anxi, this is a typical example of "things teaching people."
"Half of it... well, more than half."
Ibn nodded. "There's a similar saying among the people, saying that using rock slabs to block the desert is a taboo. This is because they didn't offer sacrifices—that is, water and blood—to the desert, which dried up.
"People die of thirst, and the desert's thirst kills people. Eventually, the sandstorm will submerge the entire city, turning everyone into waterless stone statues. This is also the version Anar knows."
Perhaps because of this, Anar was shocked when she heard that the whole city was petrified.
"But actually, there's another story among the higher-ups—that someone is blackmailing the benefactor of Rock Cellar City, demanding a huge sum of money from him."
Ibn said slowly, "This is a secret known to the priests. If you refuse to pay, they will declare that they will petrify the entire city—including the Good Lord."
"...City-State War?"
Aiwass immediately realized the essence of the matter: "How much?"
Ibn looked at Dongya, who immediately replied, "Two thousand slaves, eighty cals of gold, and three hu of pearls—the cal is our unit of weight here, and ten cals is approximately eight kilograms of star antimony."
Ten calories equals eight kilograms - that's more than sixty kilograms of gold.
"...That doesn't sound like a lot."
Aiwass complained subconsciously.
Although it's not nice to say this, this was Aiwass's first reaction.
He was not quite sure what two thousand slaves meant, but at least in terms of the gold, he felt that it was not a lot.
Even if we don't count the philanthropists who almost monopolize wealth, there are still many nobles and even merchants who can afford to give things like star antimony or irises. Not to mention the philanthropists who are willing to sacrifice everything for themselves.
Just for this little bit of money, are you going to sacrifice the lives of the entire city and yourself?
Or is it because the benevolent leader of Rock Cellar City didn't think the other party could do it, so he didn't take it seriously at all?
Guessing what Aiwass was thinking, Ibn explained directly, "The lord of Rock Cellar City won't take this as a joke. The threat comes from the lord of another, larger city. Even if he doesn't have the power to petrify Rock Cellar City, a mere thirty cavalrymen would be enough to take it down."
"—The real problem is that Rock Cellar City simply can't and can't afford that price."
After hearing this, Aiwass understood.
As Anar had said, Rock Cellar was a very small city. Counting the slaves, there were only about 800 residents. Assuming two or three slaves per free citizen, plus the slave traders' inventory and the Good Lord's own slaves... all together, there were probably just under 2,000.
——Obviously, this number is just right.
If the benevolent master of Rock Cellar City agreed, it would mean that Rock Cellar City would no longer be a peaceful city. All the slaves in the city would be bought... For the Parthians, this would mean that the free people of this city would become slaves of the benevolent master. Naturally, people would do everything they could to escape, even taking their slaves with them...
All it took was selling one or two slaves to buy a new freeman's status in a new city. That was better than suffering here.
So it was obvious that these two thousand slaves could not be collected no matter what.
In other words, this was a number that was beyond the reach of the benevolent lords of Rock Cellar City. It was like a kidnapper demanding a sum that would require selling all their possessions, emptying their savings, and borrowing as much money as possible to barely come up with—which was practically impossible.
Because once they have given up everything, there is no way they can bet that the kidnappers won't kill them. They no longer have the power to stop them from killing them.
"The other party set this price precisely because they hoped that Rock Cellar City would not be able to pay it."
Zhu Tang, standing by, scoffed and concluded, "He's just looking for trouble. He's...looking for someone to test his sword on."
Zhu Tang knew this situation all too well—he had seen similar situations in the Taichu Empire.
When someone gains power, they want to prove it. This is for their own satisfaction, but also to intimidate others, as a way to prove their strength: "Don't mess with me, I'll really do this."
"That's right."
Aiwass nodded and commented sharply, "It's only natural that Rock Cellar City couldn't offer a price, and Rock Cellar City's benevolent leader was still hopeful and refused to yield. In fact, if he had surrendered personally, perhaps he could have persuaded the other side to find a new target to establish their power. But it's clear that he still had a lucky glimmer of hope...so he did nothing.
"Neither fleeing nor surrendering. Neither submitting nor resisting."
This actually illustrates the necessity of such a goal of "establishing authority".
When the other party took out the power that could destroy them, the good master of Rock Cellar City replied, "I don't believe it."
“—And so, disaster struck.”
Ibn described the disaster that day: "Suddenly, a golden, transparent lotus blossomed in the center of the city, and a beam of light shot upward from the center.
The orange-yellow light spread rapidly. Most people were swallowed by it before they even realized what was happening, and were instantly turned into stone statues.
"Then the pillar of light slowly spread outward. Those who witnessed the 'petrification' would desperately flee. Initially, their escape speed was faster than the spread of the pillar of light, but soon the speed of the light spread became faster and faster.
"The screams that echoed one after another suddenly froze, and they were engulfed one by one by the glow. Therefore, the closer to the city center, the calmer the stone statues' expressions became. The further out, the more painful and struggling the stone statues looked. Even the lifeless buildings were covered with a layer of stone shell..."
"A power that can destroy cities and change the terrain at a very long range."
Even Aiwass couldn't help but take a breath: "Interesting... map cannon?"
This is a true map cannon.
However, as a ritualist, he also realized one thing—
"—However, there is no ritual that can locate it from such a distance. It is impossible. There must be some kind of ritual medium involved."
Aiwass pondered this seriously. "Judging from the curse Dongya endured, this petrification should be continuous. It's like a kind of radiation, constantly emitting a curse that strengthens and refreshes the stone statue... Thus, until this power dissipates, it can continue to seal this place and prevent it from being dispelled."
"In fact, as long as we find the curse medium and purify or destroy it... perhaps we can lift this petrification curse."
At this point, he asked with a mixture of caution and curiosity, "What's the name of the benefactor who sent the ransom letter? Which city is he from?"
For a moment, Aiwas wondered if that was Aymar Nur, the benevolent lord of Holy Spring City - the one who invited him here.
But Ibn quickly gave a negative answer: "It is 'Generous Adil', the Good Lord of Paradise."
"Generous Adil..."
This name... seems to have some impression.
Aiwass fell into deep thought, but couldn't think of anything for a moment.
Let’s go and take a look at the scene, Aiwass thought with a frown.
But before that...
"——Let me try first to see how strong this curse is."
As Aiwas said this, he reached out and gently touched Dongya's waist.
Update completed!
I got up at six in the afternoon yesterday, started working and typing at ten in the evening, and finally finished and left work at five in the morning... If you don't count the reversal of day and night, this schedule is quite healthy.
Except for the unhealthy ones, everything is quite healthy (arms on hips)
I feel like I'll need to slowly move the update back to noon in a couple of days, the cycle is starting to turn again!
Don’t wait for updates before going to bed, just read them after you wake up!
(End of this chapter)
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