Rome Must Fall

Pricas had no intention of admiring such beautiful scenery. At this time, he led his men to row hard and sailed the boat into a river port on the left bank.

There were already many ships in the river port, and it took Pricas a long time to dock the ship at the pier.

Young Ancasus had fallen asleep, and Pricas carried him ashore.

There was a village not far away, and some people from Segestika who had fled here by boat were gathering at the entrance of the village. At the entrance of the village, there were a dozen strong young men holding wooden sticks blocking their way.

One of the leaders shouted loudly: "The leader of my family said that outsiders are not allowed to enter the village, otherwise the sticks in our hands will not recognize people! However, for the sake of our tribe, we will provide you with some food. Take it." Just leave the food and don’t stay here too long, you know..."

The fleeing people started shouting and yelling in dissatisfaction. This group of young people managed to keep their composure and did not yell at them. However, if anyone dared to rush forward, they would really beat them with sticks.

"It's Chief Pulikas!"

"Chief Pulikas is here!"

"Chief Pulikas, they actually treat us as enemies. This is too much!"

…

Everyone rushed to complain to Pulikas and make way for them.

With a livid face, Pulikas walked up to the group of people and said in a deep voice: "I am Pulikas, and I want to see your leader Iberus!"

Of course the young people knew who Pulikas was, and the leader quickly said: "Chief Pulikas, please wait a moment, I will tell our leader right now!" After saying that, he quickly ran towards the village. .

After a while he ran back again: "Chief Pulikas, my leader invites you!"

The young people made way for a narrow passage. Pricas looked back at his followers, hugged Ancasus, and walked into the village first. The followers followed closely. Other people also wanted to follow, but the young people were tough. stopped them again.

"Chief Pulikas!..." The fleeing people shouted to Pulikas for help.

"Let them come in too," said Pricas.

The young people looked at the young man who had sent the message before, and he shook his head.

So everyone remained unmoved.

Pulikas had no choice but to look darker. He walked forward with his head sullenly. When he came to the square in front of the main house of the village, he suddenly stopped because there were many tents set up in the square and there were people living in the tents. There were people sitting in the tent. Most of them looked haggard and confused. Even when they saw the arrival of Pulikas and others, no one took the initiative to say hello.

Standing at the door of the main house was a man with gray hair and beard, but his body was strong and his complexion was ruddy, so it was difficult to judge his true age. This man was none other than Iberus, the leader of this village.

Seeing Pulikas, he looked solemn, took the initiative to greet you, and said in a low voice: "I really don't want to see you here. It seems that the East Village is also lost?"

Pricas nodded.

Iberus glanced at Ancasus on his back, then at the entourage behind him, and said, "Let's talk inside first."

"Is there anything to eat? We are all starving." Pulikas whispered.

"I'll make arrangements right away."

The group entered the main house and found a place for Ancasus to sleep. Pricas followed Iberus to the living room and briefly told the story of the fall of Dongzhai.

"Is the Segestica tribe cursed?!" Iberus sighed after hearing this: "Since last year, Andres fought with these Nyx people and suffered many defeats. In the end, even his own Lives were lost... This year, the tribal alliance formed a large army. I originally thought that the Knicks were dead this time, but I didn't expect that such a large coalition army suffered a disastrous defeat in the blink of an eye, and the Knicks took the opportunity to attack. It took only two days for our territory to capture the entire main stronghold, hey! It seems that our tribe is in danger!"

Pulikas suddenly felt unhappy and scolded: "What are you talking about? The tribe is only temporarily encountering difficulties, but as long as we can regain our strength and invite reinforcements from the tribal alliance, we will definitely be able to recapture it soon. Our lost territory!"

"Kabdus used to think so, but what about now?!" Iberus smiled wryly and spread his hands.

"Kabuldes is a coward and a deserter! If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have been defeated so miserably!" When mentioning Kabdus, Pricas immediately became angry.

"But Andres, who knew how to fight, also suffered a disastrous defeat! Cabudes was able to clean up the mess left by Andres, and brought everyone a year of stability." Iberu Si said regretfully: "But he also died in battle... At this critical time, I'm afraid no one can unite the remaining tribes and let the fleeing people regain their courage to fight against the powerful Nix people. Let’s fight!”

"Who says no!" Pulikas immediately retorted: "Ancassus, the son of the great leader Andres, has the most noble blood of the Segostica tribe! As long as he becomes the new chief, Leader, you can reunite the tribesmen!”

Iberus curled his lips disapprovingly: "How can a child with no hair grow have any appeal? Last year, no one recommended him to be the leader, and now it is even more impossible at this special time. You, Just stop messing around, it’s best to let the child grow up in peace.”

"What do you mean, Iberus!" Pricas's face changed, and he said angrily: "Chief Andres has always trusted you and given your tribe so many benefits, making you the most powerful leader in the Gonam Lake area. Is this how you repay him now!"

Iberus not only did not feel guilty, but responded angrily: "Andres did give my tribe a lot of benefits in the past, but that was just because he wanted me to lead other tribes around the Gonam Lake to obey him. Do you know how the tribesmen of other tribes here call me in private! - Traitor!"

Iberus laughed bitterly twice and said self-deprecatingly: "I am indeed a traitor. Last year, Andres conquered twice. When summoning warriors to fight the Nixes, I actively cooperated and sent many tribesmen here, but in the end... very few came back!

And this year, I was stupid again and was persuaded by Kabudes to provide a lot of food for his army. As a result... Hehe, the tribesmen of Lake Gonam scolded me, and they were right to scold me! "

Pulikas saw that the other party looked painful, and his anger disappeared by half. Instead, he comforted him: "Iberus, all the tribes in Segestica have had a hard time in the past two years, not just your Lake Gonam. Compared with the east and west banks of the main village, your situation is much better. At least this time you did not send your tribesmen to follow the stupid Kabudes to fight, and you still preserved some strength.

The reason why I chose to come here is that I hope to get your support, use Gonamamihu as a base, rely on Brochi, and gather the fleeing tribesmen——"

"Shut up! Stop talking!" Iberus interrupted Pricas and refused in a stiff tone: "There are not many fields in Gonamami Lake. This year, we have handed over a lot of food to the main village. Now all tribes are short of food and mainly rely on fishing.

But yesterday, many tribesmen fled from the north. For the sake of our compatriots, we took them in. You should have seen it when you passed the square just now, but this made our already insufficient food storage even more insufficient. The tribesmen are very dissatisfied with this, so from today on, we will no longer take in people from any other tribes!

Of course, you and your people should stay. No matter how hard it is, we will squeeze out some food to feed you, but for others, hehe——”

Iberus snorted twice: "We don't want them to stay in Lake Gonam. Who knows if they will destroy our fields and rob our property when they are extremely hungry! ——"

"Iberus!" Prikas yelled angrily: "Those people outside the village are not robbers! Not enemies! They are Segestica people! They are your compatriots! Your people!"

"I'm sorry, I seem to remember that I am a Brochi, and the tribes around Lake Gonam were originally Brochi's territory." Iberus' words immediately blocked Prikas' anger.

The ownership of the Gonam Lake area is more complicated. It did belong to Brochi's territory, but after the Pannoni were conquered by the Skodisti, the Skodisti who ruled Segestica included Lake Gonamai in their jurisdiction. However, later on, the Skodisti found that the Pannoni in Lake Gonamai were somewhat difficult to manage. They often failed to pay tribute on time and even dared to take in some Pannoni who resisted the Skodisti. Once the Skodisti sent troops to punish them, they would drive their boats and hide in the reeds...

Due to the special terrain of Lake Gonamai, if you want the people here to obey completely, you must make great efforts to rectify it. The chief of Skodisti did not want to mobilize troops, so he simply separated it and gave it to one of his sons to rule... Later, the Pannoni tribes successively rebelled, and it was the Segestica tribe that took the lead in defeating the Skodisti who were entrenched in Lake Gonamai, and the Pannoni tribe here was also incorporated into Segestica.

But this was only in name. Due to years of separation, the people here did not have a strong sense of belonging to Segestica. The food handed over to the main village was dispensable, and the orders given by the chief were obeyed or not. The semi-independence of the Gonamai Lake region lasted for several years until Andres succeeded to the throne. On the one hand, he severely punished the disobedient Gonamai Lake tribe, and on the other hand, he supported the Iberus tribe who were willing to obey his orders, and finally made the Gonamai Lake tribes bow down to his dominance.