Huh? Are they all real?...

The demigod fled in panic, as if granted a pardon.

The burly man's raised blade fell instantly, beheading the governor.

Before the returning Augustus, both the extraordinary and the powerful were defeated.

Chapter 242 I Go First (4k)

Complete victory soon arrived amidst the clamor of the powerful and wealthy.

The other four legions mentioned by the general did not arrive either.

They fled, running away upon seeing the burning city of Argas.

It wasn't because they knew Augustus had returned, but because the nobles who had found them beforehand had taken them away.

To avoid being hunted down by gladiators, he took them with him as his bodyguards and fled.

It's somewhat absurd, yet very Roman.

Meanwhile, Moen, who had captured Argas, was restoring order from the chaos.

Once long-term repression is released, its effects can be terrifying.

If this continues to develop, Moen wouldn't doubt that it could even bring about the appearance of demons in the world.

Fortunately, Moen now enjoys a high enough reputation among slaves and gladiators.

So when he stepped forward, the chaos quickly subsided.

All the slaves and gladiators simultaneously stopped what they were doing and eagerly looked toward the great one who stood on their side.

They prayed to the gods, kings, and monarchs for three whole ages, but all ignored their existence.

The world's ruler before them was the only one who had not received any prayers, yet had voluntarily stood beside them.

Looking down at the crowd, Moen, disguised as Augustus, stood on the city wall and addressed them loudly:

"Free every slave you see and tell them that Rome has no slaves from now on!"

"Then kill all the slave owners."

"Let children, women, the elderly, and commoners swear in the name of the gods and kings whether they have killed or mistreated slaves."

"If they exist, then kill them; if not, then ensure their safety."

"Do not set fires, do not destroy normal dwellings, and ensure the safety of food, water, and books!"

As Moen's voice faded, cheers erupted once more.

Augustus's voice echoed throughout the entire city of Argas.

In the early days of Rome, such scenes were commonplace in every city.

But at that time, it was every Roman who called out Augustus's name.

At this moment, however, there were only Roman slaves who were not considered Romans.

Even Augustus, as a synonym for emperor, has always been a character deeply hated by slaves.

But now, everything has changed.

Seeing that Agas had calmed down, Quintus walked to Moen's side and asked:

What should we do next?

"How's it going at the shipyard?"

"As you instructed, we arrived just in time, so there are still plenty of airships and crew available."

Before the uprising began, Moen specifically instructed Quintus to seize the shipyard as soon as possible to ensure that there would be a sufficient number of airships and crew.

Quintus speculated on this:

"Are you planning to attack nearby cities immediately to increase your troop strength and resources?"

If it were him, he would do the same, just as the uprising thirteen years ago did. The hero Spataco quickly dismantled the surrounding cities and freed a large number of slaves with an unexpected and swift offensive.

As a result, they obtained a massive amount of supplies and equipment, and made the whole of Rome aware of the outbreak of the uprising.

Moen shook his head and said:

"The surviving civilians will be allowed to leave in an airship in a little while."

This answer surprised Quintus, who said:

“Sir, if you are worried about their safety, you can simply leave them outside the city or give them food and water and let them leave on their own.”

Moen said:

"This is a city of slaves. Even if they are people who dare to swear in the name of God and the King that they have never killed or mistreated slaves, this place is not suitable for them. At least it was the first city of slaves to be liberated."

Quintus shook his head again:

"Sir, those airships are extremely important strategic resources. When we started our uprising, we suffered a great loss in the early stages due to the lack of a fast mode of transportation."

"You can't just send these important strategic materials out directly!"

Instead of answering that question, Moen asked in return:

"Quintus, what do you think is the key to winning this war?"

"More airships, land, army, population, resources?"

Quintus asked in confusion:

"Is not it?"

"No, it never will be. The key to winning the war is what the gods and kings think. The key to winning the war is what the superhumans think. The key to winning the war is how many of the high order representing the Roman order are left."

Before these issues are resolved or understood, occupying more land and cities, and rescuing more slaves and the lower classes, is merely superficial.

Thirteen years ago, Spataco and his team lost completely at the height of their power because they didn't understand this point.

Therefore, Moen has no intention of rushing to rescue slaves in more regions. What he needs most now is to let Rome and the world know that he has returned and that he is going to destroy the slave system that he has already destroyed once!

He wanted to see everyone's reaction.

For the gods and kings, for the high-order beings, for the extraordinary.

Only in this way can we decide what to do next.

Only in this way can one ensure that one does not rescue the slaves of a city only to plunge them into an even greater hell.

This left Quintus speechless.

Moen's voice continued:

“Sending the remaining civilians out shows that we are not bloodthirsty monsters; we are simply rebelling against this inherently wrong tyranny.”

"This is both to show our attitude and to let us see the world's response better, because the Romans would do everything they could to block the news."

“They know what my return means.”

"Their methods can't hide from the higher-ups, but they're enough to fool those below."

"Because only their army and nobles left. It is enough to control them as soon as possible, since they are already far removed from the masses."

"And now, I want to send back the ordinary people who are truly connected to the grassroots."

This is both kindness and a means to an end.

More people in the lower strata of Rome will know what really happened.

Then the mortals of the world will find out what really happened.

Quintus gaped, his eyes wide open. He only saw what the airships in the dock represented, but he didn't see anything deeper.

However, this was already quite good, because many slaves and gladiators felt that the airships in the docks were a form of oppression against them, and they wanted to burn them down.

After a moment, Quintus lowered his head, looking somewhat bewildered, and said:

"But, but those airships probably can't hold so many people. This is Argas, the largest arena in the Eastern Roman Empire. There will definitely be many civilians left behind!"

Quintus, there aren't many left.

"grown ups?"

Quintus was stunned again; the city looked like it had millions of inhabitants.

He figured that those airships could take away at most fifty or sixty thousand people.

"Quintus, have you forgotten that in Rome today, only one out of thirteen people is not a slave?"

This was something Quintus had told him on the road, saying that thirteen years ago they were surprised to find that only one out of almost thirteen people was Roman, while the other twelve were slaves.

And in such an environment, how many people could still swear in the name of God and the King that they had never killed or mistreated slaves?

Moen thought there might only be a few thousand people.

Quintus remained silent.

It's not that he's forgotten this; he's subconsciously unwilling to admit that he, a person living in the present, sees things less clearly than someone who has just returned to Rome.

Moen looked down at the cheering slaves and let out a long sigh.

Rome remains as solid as a rock to this day, even though only one of its thirteen inhabitants was not a slave.

This wasn't Moen blaming the slaves for not resisting, but rather Moen feeling immense pressure about the superhumans losing control.

In the Human Alliance, even one of the top ten council members is just a mortal. He is not capable of fighting against thousands. A disgruntled guard or a janitor who is owed wages could take his life.

Therefore, a social system will never become excessively distorted.

But here, the lords can truly slaughter tens of thousands or even millions of ordinary people all by themselves.

In this situation, to be honest, Rome's current situation is actually not bad.

After a moment of silence, Quintus lowered his head seriously and said:

"I understand, sir. I will take care of everything!"

"It's troublesome."

"I'm sorry, this is all I can do, sir."

Moen turned and glanced at him, saying:

"Thank you."

Quintus then quickly gathered the surviving civilians together.

To be honest, the number of people was a bit beyond Moen's expectations. It wasn't the expected two or three thousand people, but more than twenty thousand.

This was the only thing that made Moen relatively happy.

To watch the largest gladiatorial combat, many airships remained in the dock, making the transport capacity of 20,000 people extremely simple.

As Moen requested, they dispersed and flew towards various cities.

Furthermore, to increase credibility, Quintus also nailed the heads of the nobles to the sides of the airship.

In this way, the Romans would no longer have any chance to cover up any news.

-

Meanwhile, in Capua, the temporary capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The Eastern Roman emperor and many elders and nobles stared in disbelief at the demigod who was fleeing back at top speed.

The man who produced the sash of Augustus was not there to hold the greatest gladiatorial contest in history, but to lead the gladiators in a rebellion?

And now, not a single one of the nobles who went to Argas survived? The governor and General Galli were both beheaded.

And most importantly, the one who led that slave revolt was no longer some lowly slave, but Augustus, who had bestowed upon them all power and glory?

After a long while, the Eastern Roman Emperor, wearing a laurel wreath, hesitantly asked:

"Are you joking?"

The demigod looked up in astonishment and saw countless nobles who were equally incredulous.

He then smiled wryly and said:

"I would have to be crazy to say something so stupid in a place like this."

At this point, the crowd erupted in uproar.