Chapter 248: The Future of Rome 8
Chapter 248: The Future of Rome 8
Everyones face turned pale at Cassiuss scream.
The seawater is leaking in?
Is there a hole in the ship?
Trebonius and Decimus felt the floor with their hands frantically.
As expected, they felt the cold touch of seawater filling their palms and their hearts sank.
Why is water coming in? Did we hit a reef or something?
Come to think of it, I heard a loud noise earlier
Cassius lit a torch in a hurry and his eyes widened.
He saw that water was constantly flowing in from one corner of the ship.
Th-this. Lets go up first. There was another ship besides the one we boarded, right? We can move to that one.
Decimus, who had a thick bone from the battlefield, had not completely panicked yet.
On the battlefield, minor accidents or problems always happened.
If he was confused every time, how could he be a legion commander?
He regained his composure and tried to lead his colleagues to the deck of the ship.
But even that did not go as planned.
Damn it! The passage to the top is locked!
What? That can't be!
The colleagues who went up first were stuck and unable to move, and the faces of the people below became anxious.
The seawater had already risen to the point where it soaked their ankles.
If they stayed here any longer, they might really be in danger.
Decimus, who looked around, grabbed a barrel that had been filled with wine and handed it to the senators above.
If its blocked, break it! Its just a wooden door, so you can break it!
Only then did the senators come to their senses and started to hit the door that blocked the passage with hard objects such as wine barrel lids or chairs.
Aaaah! Open up! Please open up!
Bang bang bang!
The more urgent the situation, the more people show much stronger strength than usual.
This was exactly the case.
The assassins, who crazily smashed the door with various furniture, finally succeeded in tearing off half of the door that blocked the entrance.
Just a little more! If we break this, we can go up!
Cassius exerted all his strength and kicked the door.
He had long taken off his toga, which he wore even on the ship to maintain his dignity.
He had some scratches here and there from using his strength suddenly, and blood flowed from his fingers, but no one cared.
They poured out all their strength with the determination that they could not die here.
Crack!
With the sound of something heavy breaking completely, everyones lips curled into a smile of relief.
Lets go up! Hurry up and move to the other ship!
Even if Decimus didn't shout, the assassins were already running to the top of the ship at their fastest speed.
They thought they had an accident but solved it well, but at that moment, Decimus frowned at the nagging feeling in his chest.
But why didn't the soldiers come down to check? If we hit a reef, they should have come to explain the situation. Did they not notice the water leaking from the bottom of the ship?
Something was wrong.
There was no way they didn't notice the water rising, and there was no chance they didn't hear the noise of them trying to break the door from above.
Could it be No, that can't be. That's not Caesars style.
A horrible possibility crossed his mind for a moment, but he shook his head to deny it.
He had tried to assassinate Caesar, but he had also observed him for a long time under his command.
Caesar was not the type to say one thing and do another.
He had many times pierced his enemies with strategies they never imagined, but he had never stabbed them in the back by going back on his word.
If Caesar said he would spare them, he would spare them.
He kept his promises even with the barbarians of Gaul and Germania. He wouldn't break his promise with the Roman citizens.
But the more uneasy he felt, the more likely it was to be true.
The assassins who came up shouted loudly to call the soldiers and informed them of the situation inside.
Look! Is there anyone here? Theres a hole in the bottom of the ship!
This is not the time to relax! We have to move the food and water to another ship and get on it right away
They screamed in vain in the midst of an untimely silence, and looked at each others faces with a puzzled expression.
There was no one on the deck.
There were no soldiers who should have been on guard, nor sailors who should have checked if the ship was going well.
Whats going on? Are they all sleeping?
So That's why they didn't notice when we hit a reef. How pathetic, their morale is so low
Cassius sighed with a weak voice.
But his voice also betrayed an undeniable hint of anxiety.
It didn't make sense that there was no one on the ship.
The logical conclusion was that there was no one because they left.
Then why did they leave their own ship?
Did they not know that the assassins were sleeping below?
Or did they forget because it was too urgent?
Neither of them made sense.
The fact that the door to go up was locked also supported this uneasy guess.
No matter how hard he thought, there was only one answer.
This was a planned move.
Caesar Did you try to get rid of us like this
As time passed, some of them who realized the situation began to appear besides Cassius and Decimus.
In fact, it wasn't that they were short of intelligence or irrational that they realized the situation late.
They probably all imagined the worst outcome in one corner of their heads.
But they were afraid to face it, so they tried to ignore it.
But when the cruel reality hit them in front of their eyes, they couldn't deny it anymore.
Theres no one I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find a single ant.
At Treboniuss lament, Cassius clenched his fist so hard that blood came out and closed his eyes.
The fog is thick and hard to see, but Maybe they moved to the ship that was following us and left.
Did Caesar plan this from the beginning?
Its strange. The Caesar I know is not someone who would make such a ruthless plan
Decimus muttered in a dazed voice, and Treboniuss face twisted like a piece of tissue paper.
Then who do you think did this?
I I don't know. Maybe someone who is overly loyal to him paid for it behind his back. Anyway, this is not Caesars way. Something is wrong!
The reason Decimus was able to keep some sanity until now was because he was sure he knew Caesar well.
Caesar never killed fellow Romans without a valid reason.
He based himself on that principle and did not waver.
He still didn't change his mind about that.
The other assassins cursed Caesar and gritted their teeth, but Decimus was different.
But he couldn't deny that he had been short-sighted.
Even if Caesar didn't have such a thought, he should have considered that those who followed him might cause some trouble.
Of course, there must be some people who want to make him king. I wasn't wrong.
Splash! Bang!
As the water rose above a certain level, the ship tilted to one side with a loud noise.
Aaaah! Jupiter!
Neptune! Please save us from Caesars evil hands!
The assassins cried out for help from the gods with broken voices.
There was nothing they could do.
The vast sea with no end in sight.
There was no help in sight, and the ship was sinking helplessly.
Some of them, who had not yet given up hope completely, looked for something that could float on the water.
But surviving with such things was a story that only appeared in myths.
Moreover, this area was covered with a foggy mist, so not even a fishing boat was visible.
The soldiers had said they were going to Alexandria, but now that he thought about it, even that seemed doubtful.
Most likely, the ship was in the middle of the sea, farthest from the mainland.
It was all a perfectly planned gamble from the beginning.
Anyone who has the authority to pull off something like this must be at least a law officer
It didn't matter anymore, but Cassiuss body froze for a moment as he tried to narrow down the culprit.
Wait. Then was the wine also part of the plan to make us drunk?
He did think that there was too much wine.
If they hadn't all drunk the wine and collapsed, they would have noticed the soldiers leaving the ship beforehand.
But from what I heard, the person who allowed the wine to be brought in was
Cassiuss face turned pale and his deduction was cut off.
The ship, unable to withstand the weight, split in two and most of the people slid down.
The cruel sea did not care whether they were noble or commoner, and swallowed them mercilessly.
No matter how great their power was, they were powerless in front of nature.
The rough Mediterranean waves swept away more than twenty nobles and calmed down as if nothing had happened.
They pierced cruelly over the heads of those who were struggling desperately to rise to the surface and dragged them down.
The sea became calm again after a few hours, but there was no one left on the surface.
Only the wreckage of the ship floating on the calm water hinted at what had happened.
The news of the shipwreck of the escort ship carrying the exiles reached Rome relatively quickly.
Thanks to several soldiers who managed to escape and arrive in Rome.
Their testimonies were consistent.
The exiles tried to hijack the ship and flee to Greece instead of Egypt. A fight broke out for control of the ship, and a hole was punctured in it and it sank. We moved to another ship nearby, but we couldn't look after the exiles.
There were also soldiers who had been bribed by the exiles on board. Maybe they had planned to escape from the beginning?
In fact, less than half of the soldiers returned to Rome.
When this news spread, the citizens were outraged and the already shrinking nobility faction received a fatal blow.
It was an act of crossing the line to try to escape even after receiving a generous sentence of exile instead of death.
The sparks flew not only to the assassins, but also to the entire anti-Caesar faction.
Everyone was waiting for Caesars statement, but he did not move hastily.
He sensed that Romes future was at a critical juncture and decided that he had to be more careful than ever.
And as if reading Caesars mind, Marcus came to his residence.