Aulus frowned tightly. He called a soldier and whispered a few words to him.
Although Ella couldn't hear his voice, she could guess that Aulus wanted the soldier to ask other islanders for their current location. The soldier walked out for a while, then came back and whispered to Aulus.
A few words. As the soldiers reported, Aulus' arrogance gradually disappeared.
The general with 10,000 troops put down his posture and began to seek Ella's help:
"Baselisa, as you said, what should we do?"
"It's very simple. There are two things the other party wants: my life, and your fleet. Now the safety of your fleet is in the other party's control, but my life and death is in your control. Why?
Why not let them make a choice?"
"You want to say, let me keep your life and use it as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the other party?" Aulus smiled disdainfully, "My Baselisa, why do you think the other party will get rid of you?"
Is there a choice between you and my fleet? Do you really think that your life can be exchanged for this entire fleet?"
"I don't know why my life is so valuable. I only know that Su dispatched this entire huge fleet for this life."
——This is a lie. Ella knew very well that Su Ji probably mobilized such a huge army in order to show his military might in front of foreign envoys. But lies can also be used.
"Aulus, just answer me directly. Do you want to use this bargaining chip to negotiate, or do you want to easily destroy this bargaining chip here?"
After a period of silence, Aulus nodded:
"Baselisa, I have to admit that you have successfully raised your life to a value that should not have been there. You can live for the time being."
"No, I can still sell my life for a higher price."
Ella suddenly pulled out a dagger from her sleeve and put it on her own neck:
"Let your soldiers withdraw from Antilia immediately and stop harming the people here. Otherwise, I will commit suicide here."
After a brief moment of astonishment, Aulus laughed:
"Wonderful. When you were in the palace, I always thought you were just a canary in a birdcage. Now it seems that you are much better than your uncle who was easily fooled by the Tianfang Empire.
"
Before he finished speaking, Aulus suddenly flew up and kicked the table in front of him towards Ella!
Taking advantage of Ella's dodge, he stepped closer to Ella, grabbed Ella's hand holding the dagger and twisted it behind her back. The dagger immediately fell from Ella's hand. Ella struggled hard several times.
, but could not break free from Aulus' control.
"Are you trying to commit suicide now?" Several veins on Aulus' head swelled with anger, "Scipio, don't underestimate the Brutus family!"
However, Ella remained calm, as if all this was within her expectation:
"Aulus, you'd better agree to my conditions. Don't forget, you are about to have a negotiation with the Tianfang Empire, and negotiation requires more than just chips."
"Not just chips? What else do you need?"
"Of course he is an envoy who is born noble and can make full use of these bargaining chips. Aulus, do you have a suitable candidate in your army?"
Several soldiers broke in because they heard the commotion inside the house.
Aulus threw Ella to the ground and ordered: "Take her back to the ship!"
The soldiers obeyed the order and pushed Ella out of the house. However, they heard Aulus drink again inside the house:
"Let everyone get back to the ship and don't touch Antilia anymore - damn, how are Suta going to contact us after such a long distance?"
Although she was being escorted roughly, Ella laughed after hearing these words. She successfully used her only bargaining chip, herself, to exchange the lives of everyone on the island.
But at the same time, she also understood that the most difficult part had just begun - she had to protect the entire fleet of the Qiqiu Empire from the envoys of the Tianfang Empire.
How should she do it? What are the chips that can be used? And how to maximize the use of these chips? What is the Tianfang Empire afraid of? What is it longing for?
She sat with her legs crossed under the mast, thinking hard about the negotiation plan. Under Aulus's order, no soldiers dared to disturb her.
Time passed quietly, and someone brought the meal to her, but she just drank some soup. Her nails unconsciously dug into the deck, and her nails drew blood, but she didn't even notice.
When the sun was about to go down, Aulus hurried towards Ella with something in his hand. The adjutant yelled at the soldiers from behind and drove them all to the bow and stern of the ship. Ella's body shook and she knew the decision.
The moment of fate for her and the Qiqiu Empire is coming.
Aulus walked up to Ella, opened his hand, and revealed what he held inside: a piece of paper folded into the shape of a bird's beak. The beak opened and closed automatically, and from inside came Ella's uncle Su.
Cornelius Scipio's voice: "Ella! What on earth did you say to the navy!"
In the magic of the Seven Hills Empire, the high-level Hermes Protector can also transmit messages over long distances, but at most it can only be transmitted from one end of the battlefield to the other end, but Antilia and the Seven Hills Empire
What separates us is half a continent!
Ella looked up at Aulus. Apparently, the general was also afraid of the unknown magic in front of him.
Ella swallowed. She was the only one left.
Only she can never be afraid of the magic of Tianfang Empire.
"Who asked you to throw them into such an ocean?"
Ella forced herself to pretend to have an advantage and answered in a triumphant tone.
"If I die, who else can take them back to Constantiniya?"
"They want to go back to Constantiniya, what does that have to do with you! What ability do you have to bring them back?"
"Then why am I in Antilia now? Uncle, I don't have the magic of the Tianfang Empire to use like you."
"Ha, you can't fool me! You don't have this ability, you were just robbed by pirates!"
"Abducted by pirates? Then why can I still stand here and talk to you?"
If the chips are not enough, use lies to increase the chips.
"You don't really think that ordinary pirates dare to attack Constantiniya, do you? Uncle, you are too naive. You were deceived by me, but you don't know it at all."
"Uncle, do you know Mamelkus? Aren't you curious? Why did the pirates execute him directly instead of collecting ransom? Ah, by the way, uncle, do you know a list? A copy of Mamelkus
Kus’s list of ‘customers’. I see you are also on the list, you won’t say you don’t know, right?”
Su yelled from the opposite side: "What on earth do you want to do!"
"Uncle, I have long understood that if I continue to stay in Constantiniya, I will accomplish nothing. This decadent empire must be transformed with the help of external forces!"
Ella tried her best to bluff.
"In a few days, my messenger should arrive in Constantinople. He will announce a message to the whole country - I, Ira Cornelius Scipio, am here to regain the lost western part of the empire.
territory, decided to move the capital to Antilia on the North Sea. And you, Su. Cornelius Scipio, my loyal uncle, you were named co-emperor and managed the eastern part of the empire for me.
territory."
"Wait...wait a minute, do you know what you are talking about? Moving the capital to a small island that I have never heard of. Such a ridiculous decision will cause great chaos in the country!"
"Ha, after I leave, there will be no need to worry about the flood! I am in Antilia now. As for the matter of Constantiniya, my dear co-emperor, you will help me take care of it, right?"
"Of course, you can also try to depose me and establish yourself as king. But you don't know what kind of chaos this will cause in the Qiqiu Empire, right?"
"Uncle, you have to be careful. If the rebels attack the capital, your fate will be very miserable. Then I will have to come all the way back to avenge you. How troublesome is that?"
"I now have a group of pirates hired by me to work for me. And thank you, uncle, for sending me the navy. Uncle, pay attention to safety. I will come back when I regain the territory in the western part of the empire.
.Please build the Triumphal Arch in Constantiniya and wait for me - ah, if you are still alive and well by then."
"If you are still alive, I am Augusta, and you are the Vice-Emperor Caesar. I have completed my mission and returned in triumph, and you, manage this second capital - Antilia for me!"
Su yelled angrily over there: "Aulus! Do you support this kind of whimsical plan?"
Ella chuckled lightly, held up a piece of paper, wrote a few words on it, and showed it to Aulus.
Aulus looked at the content on the paper, was stunned for a moment, and looked at Ella in disbelief. After a while, he reacted, came over and slapped Ella hard in the face so that the person on the other side could hear it.
Then, he shouted at the top of his lungs: "Su! If you want your niece, let me return to Antilia immediately. No matter what you do to her next, I can pretend not to see it. Otherwise
, I will follow her back to Constantiniya! Do you want to destroy the Brutus family? Don’t forget, I have enough troops to conquer a small country as a stronghold! You weigh it carefully for me!"
Su obviously flinched: "Aulus, how could I have such an idea? I will get you back right away! Grigory, do you hear me? Hurry up and bring my navy back to Constantini with my niece."
yeah!"
It's coming. Ella touched her burning cheek and thought. Su's decision is completely irrelevant. The key is the messenger from the Tianfang Empire - will he believe that leaving the navy to Ella will be more harmful?
A voice unfamiliar to Ella with a Tianfang Empire accent sounded from the opposite side:
"To us, Constantiniya is a land completely occupied by uncivilized pagans. I cannot send people directly to such a land. The most I can do is send them to near Sicily. But that place is now occupied by Ai
Doesn’t it matter if Felica takes over?”
"Sicily is Sicily, I don't believe that Efilica dares to do anything to my navy!"
"Okay, you just wait where you are and don't go too far. I need three days to prepare the magic. After three days, I will either water it or soak it. In short, I will use the surrounding seawater to wet your body. Wait until this time
Click, and I’ll take you to Sicily.”
"Remember, those who have not been wetted by the seawater cannot come back! I can detect all this. If Ella Cornelius Scipio is not stained by seawater after time, it can be regarded as
You have betrayed!"
Gregory's words made Ella frown slightly - in the puzzle she completed, it was her uncle who wanted her life, and Gregory just took advantage of this. But listening to what Gregory just said,
It seems that he cares about her more than her uncle.
"Aulus, do you hear that? I'll send you to Sicily in three days! It won't take much time to get to Constantiniya from there, and you will benefit from it when you come back. But you must bring my niece back.
!”
The piece of paper automatically disassembled and returned to a flat state, and the sound suddenly stopped.
Ella breathed a long sigh of relief and lay down on the deck. In any case, she saved the Qiqiu Empire's fleet. As for the feeling of uneasiness just now - it must be a complete illusion. She has no value and can make her
Gregory did not hesitate to exchange a fleet for it.
Immediately, a sense of melancholy arose: in exchange for the fleet of the Seven Hills Empire, she was about to be taken back to Constantiniya.
She is no longer the girl who can only pray in the carriage for the White Knight to appear. She saved Antilia and the fleet of the Seven Hills Empire.