CHAPTER 395: CHAPTER 274: SIBLINGS MEET

Casinos widened his eyes, meeting the intense gaze of Maximus, and quickly lowered his head.

To be honest, the beautiful future Maximus described was very tempting to Casinos, yet it also shocked him. Maximus didn’t just want to annex Segestica; he wanted to become the overlord of the vast Great River Plain. Casinos could feel the burning ambition in the young leader’s words, which was far from mere boasting...

The entire Great River Plain!... From childhood, Casinos had lived in the Segestica tribe, tucked away in a corner on the southwestern edge of the Great River Plain. He had only pieced together the vastness and grandeur of the Great River Plain from snippets spoken by other tribes and foreigners...

Maximus, seeing that Casinos remained silent with his head down, began to feel a little impatient, but he reined in his emotions and continued: "I’m fair. Since I gave Anrotas and his people a night to decide whether to surrender to me, I’ll give you a night to consider. If you don’t agree by tomorrow morning, hmph, I’ll consider finding another Segestica chief to cooperate! And you might end up working in those dark, gloomy mines of the Aldeans until you die of old age!"

Casinos shuddered involuntarily.

"By the way, my soldiers have found your father’s body in the river," Maximus said nonchalantly, "Whether you agree or not, I will give him a proper burial as a mark of respect for the enemy chief who died on the battlefield."

"Thank you, Leader Maximus!" Casinos said, his expression mournful and agitated, "I have a small request. I hope you will allow me to see my father!"

"If you agree to join the Nix tomorrow morning, you can see your father as long as you want. If you don’t, you’ll be taken straight to the Aldeans and won’t have the chance to see your father’s body again."

"I agree! I agree right now to join the Nix Tribe and serve under you, Leader!" Casinos said eagerly.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure! Sure!"

"Have you thought it through?"

"I... I’ve thought it through! I want to follow you, Leader Maximus, to see just how vast the Great River Plain is!" Casinos gathered his courage, facing Maximus directly, desire and fear intertwined on his face.

"Good!" Maximus smiled and echoed to the attendant, "Take him to have a good bath, change into clean clothes, have a good dinner, and then bring him to me."

"Yes, leader."

Maximus looked at Casinos again, this time with a very gentle tone: "When you come back, I’ll tell you about some important decrees of our Nix Tribe and what you might need to do next. You can also tell me about the situation in the Segestica territory, okay?"

"I will follow your orders, leader, and tell you everything I know!" Since he had already lowered his head, Casinos tried hard to show a submissive appearance.

After Casinos left, Maximus breathed a sigh of relief.

The threat he made to Casinos earlier about "finding another Segestica chief" was just a lie. It was based on analyzing data from various sources that he had determined if Casinos surrendered, it would serve as the best example to inspire other people of Segestica, bar none.

Firstly, Casinos was cowardly, afraid to die, and was relatively easy to persuade to surrender; as long as the Nix Tribe remained powerful, the likelihood of his betrayal was low;

Secondly, according to captives, he was adept at socializing, articulate, and had ties with leaders from various Segestica tribes. His father Cabdes gained the support of most leaders to become the Great Chief largely due to his efforts, which Maximus had witnessed just now. Indeed, this man was quite eloquent and quick-witted. Putting him to appease and persuade the Segestica people should have a significant effect;

Lastly, his identity as the son of Great Chief Cabdes and a prominent figure throughout the Segestica tribe, according to Pannonian tradition, he had a good chance of becoming the next Great Chief, so his joining the Nix Tribe would greatly shock the Segestica people, making the Nix conquer Segestica more easily.

Although everything went as expected, Maximus did not relax his vigilance. He summoned the Guard Captain and instructed: "Assign someone to keep a close watch on him at all times, we mustn’t let him escape!"

"Yes, leader!"

.............................................

More than 6,000 captives were housed within the camp, each 500 sharing a place, with a Nix legion in between. They had no tents but were allowed to light bonfires for warmth.

As night fell, teams of Nix Soldiers appeared outside these divided captive camps. Most soldiers were fully armed, with only a few carrying heavy wooden buckets and sacks full of cold bread, who entered the captives’ encampments under the escort of their teammates.

"Get up and form a line! Collect the food!..."

The team officer shouted loudly in Illyrian, and the captives, who were lying around the bonfire as if dead, all staggered to their feet and swarmed over. Initially resistant, they were no match for the fiercely wielded square shields of the Nix Soldiers, and after suffering a bit, obediently lined up into several queues.

"Why is there so little bread! Can’t we get more?" The captive at the front of the line complained immediately upon seeing the quarter loaf in his hand.

"Shut up, you should be glad you have food, complain further and you won’t even get this!" A nearby Nix Soldier snapped impatiently, shoving him aside with a square shield, "Next!"

The soldier responsible for distributing bread shouted, "We came too fast, the Supply Team couldn’t keep up, these breads were split from our rations to tide you over, when we get into the camp tomorrow, your food won’t be as little!"

The soldier’s words quieted the captives, though they didn’t realize his statement was deliberately vague since not allowing captives to eat their fill was Nix’s experience, ensuring they wouldn’t resist unless they were fully submissive.

"Hey, you, over here!" A Nix Soldier squatting beside a wooden bucket beckoned to the captive with bread, ladling a scoop of warm porridge from the bucket, "Here, drink it."

The captives drank the two scoops swiftly and hungrily, eventually wanting more.

The Nix Soldier withdrew the scoop, saying, "That’s enough, your porridge’s done, next!"

"Please, just one more scoop! Just one!"

The fully armed Nix Soldiers next to him immediately drew a short sword and shouted, "Didn’t you understand earlier? Food is limited, drink too much and there’s none for others! Get lost!"

Among grudging complaints, the captives received their bread, drank their porridge, and then returned to lie beside the bonfire.

Instead of leaving right away, the Nix Soldiers remained where they stood, with a few stepping out into the midst of the captives.

These individuals held a special status; they were once Segestica people but were now reserve tribesmen of the Nix Tribe.

Sethonos was one of them, and though he initially joined the Nix Tribe under duress and participated in the war against the Panoni Alliance Army reluctantly, this time he voluntarily responded to the team officer’s call, coming to the captive camp to perform tasks.

He had just participated in the major battle a few days ago against the main force of the Panoni Alliance Army and had witnessed a scene of it, despite being more numerous than the Nix Army, being utterly defeated, fleeing in disarray over the wilderness, it shook the remnants of his convictions. Whatever lingering beliefs he had were completely dispelled when he followed the Nix Army here and witnessed the capture of so many Segestica compatriots.

Both the Celts and the Illyrians had traditions of respecting the strong, Sethonos thought: after this battle, the decline of his former tribe Segestica was inevitable, and it was natural for the Nix Tribe, which could decisively defeat the Panoni Alliance Army, to take control of the Sava River Plain.

Even though most of the Nix Tribe’s people were not Pannonians and even included Scodisqi slaves, Sethonos, having lived in Nix for over half a year, preferred staying with Nix, hoping for its growth not only because it was more powerful, vibrant but also more promising.

After defeating the main force of the Panoni Alliance, Leader Maximus gathered the reserve tribesmen who had fought and solemnly announced: that once the war ended, they would all become official tribe members, and based on their battle merits, their tribe status would be upgraded, and they would be allocated corresponding land...

The happy life of ordinary Nix tribe members that Sethonos envied would soon be his, so how could he not be loyal to it?

At present, Sethonos scanned the gaunt, dejected faces of his compatriots, remembering his past self, feeling not sympathy but a desire to help them escape their plight.

Sethonos stopped before a familiar face, whispering, "Uncle Onosis, Uncle Onosis!..."

Onosis, having just finished his meager bread and preparing to lie down to minimize energy consumption, looked up, was stunned, rubbed his eyes vigorously, took another careful look, and cautiously asked, "Are you... Sethonos?"