When Vannus reawakens, he finds himself imprisoned in a bare compound. Beneath his feet was dry gravel, surrounded by sturdy walls, with a well in the corner, and the only copper-clad gate was closed, and soldiers could be seen patrolling the walls.

Looking to the left from his position, there was a group of dejected Roman soldiers, and when he turned his head, he was still a group of dejected Roman soldiers.

After seeing many familiar faces of the Sixth Legion, it finally dawned on Vanus that he had been captured!

And the place where they were imprisoned looked like a slave pen in a slave market, but they were not shackled.

But the question is, who is the captive of himself? Pompey's subordinates? Or the Egyptians?

“…… Ahem, we were captured by the army of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. Come, drink some water! ”

Phillips, a veteran from Sicily, who was sitting next to him, handed Vanus a bowl of cold water and solved the mystery for him, "...... The day after the rain of fire fell from heaven, the Queen's army entered the city and captured us living Romans. ”

“…… Oh my God, how dare the Egyptians treat us Romans like prisoners? ”

Varus, who had been thirsty for a long time, craned his neck and drank a small half bowl of water with a grunt, and then wiped his mouth and said with a surprised face, "...... Could it be that these humble Egyptians were not afraid of the majesty of Rome? Or is it ...... They have already taken republicans? By the way, what about Caesar the Dictator? How come I didn't see him here? ”

“…… I don't know. Maybe it's dead! Alas, this was a terrible catastrophe that destroyed half the city in an instant, and I had never seen anything so horrible as it was. Could it be that the gods are angry? Phillips sighed and shook his head wistfully, "...... If Caesar really died, then it was only natural that the Egyptians would make the choice to lean towards the republicans. ”

Listening to Phillips's words, Vanus was also silent - even if it was only as a small person at the bottom, he knew it very well. The opponent of this civil war was the Roman Senate, the legitimate government of the Roman Republic from its inception to the present day, and its authority in this country can be said to be entrenched. Before. It was entirely by virtue of Caesar's reputation as a victorious general that these legionnaires would have the courage to fight the Senate to the end and crusade against their homeland. But if Caesar is gone...... Vanus really didn't know who else could inherit Caesar's inheritance. Carry this civil war to the end.

After a sigh. Frustrated, Vanus touched his body and found that all his belongings—money bags, rings, bracelets, and daggers—were gone, and even the amulets had been seized by the greedy Egyptians, and the short sword, helmet, and armor had long since been stripped off, leaving him with only a shirt stained with blood and sweat, and even sandals...... Angry, Vanus cursed a few words, but he was helpless.

It didn't take long. Several other unkempt, ragged, barefoot Roman prisoners of war were pushed in. Immediately, a group of soldiers in shiny armor walked in. and a band of shirtless, black, skinny Egyptians.

Under the threat of the swords of these soldiers, the whole body of more than 200 Roman prisoners of war was forcibly cleaned—first, by several Egyptian barbers, their hair full of various parasites was shaved off and turned into bald heads, and even their beards were shaved off; Then their dirty, tattered clothes were forcibly stripped and piled together and set on fire; The Egyptians then gave them buckets and brushes, and told the Roman prisoners to bathe themselves by drawing water from the wells, and in pairs they cleaned each other of the dirt with brushes, and if they didn't get clean, they were whipped and whipped......

Under the pressure of swords and whips, the bald Roman prisoners of war had to try to brush their companions' skin red with brushes, cry in pain, and then stand in a row in the middle of the courtyard under the sun and bare-bottomed, as if they were holding a slave auction.

During this time, a Roman prisoner of war saw that the door was open, and relying on his agile Scud, he jerked out and tried to escape, but before he could run a few steps, he was shot into a hedgehog by a javelin and arrows...... This greatly deterred the unruly Romans, and made them dare not act rashly for the time being. But it also made them understand that the Egyptians did not seem to intend to take their lives - provided that they did not try to escape.

Next, each Roman prisoner of war was given a new set of clothes, a bright orange pullover shirt and a pair of trousers (prison clothes), which were of a strange style, unlike those of the Greeks, nor of the Egyptians or Romans, but of such fine workmanship that the stitches were almost invisible.

Moreover, this dress also uses a strange fabric (chemical fiber cloth) that they have never seen before, which is unusually smooth and fine to the touch, and does not wrinkle at all, and the bright orange dye used is also incredibly bright, which makes these ancient earth buns amazed.

The Roman soldiers, who wore straw sandals or leather boots, were also surprised by a pair of sandals made of unknown material (plastic slippers) - slippers, which were far more comfortable than straw sandals and did not tie their feet at all, were regarded as very luxurious objects and were reluctant to wear them.

Zuihou, a few black slaves brought large bales of hay and spread them on the sand of this courtyard to serve as beds for Roman prisoners of war.

For the next few days, the Roman prisoners of war were not subjected to any ill-treatment, or even brought to torture, and spent the whole day sleeping in the courtyard, lying on haystacks, eating and sleeping, and eating and sleeping three times a day with a full amount of mixed vegetables and wheat porridge, and occasionally a little salted fish. Some of the captives, who had minor wounds on their bodies, were treated by Egyptian doctors, who applied a miraculous ointment to their wounds, and within a few days they were almost healed.

This unexpected kindness made them feel that the Egyptians would not have embarrassed themselves much, otherwise they would not have entertained them with good food and drink, and gave them clothes and treated their wounds...... It is estimated that most of them are going to detain them for a while. It was then handed over to the Republicans to dispose of.

Some of them are well-informed guys, who also claim to be the enemy lieutenant marshal of this civil war, the leader of the noble republicans of the Roman Senate. The famous moralist Cato the Younger, who had been stationed in Cyrenaica not far from Egypt with 10,000 troops, might be rushing to Egypt now. If this senator, who was known for his noble character, was in charge of dealing with himself, the Romans, it is estimated that he would not suffer too much.

They all knew that Cato the Younger, although he was on the same page as Caesar, led the republicans to fight Caesar for almost half his life. But after Caesar's death in battle. In the name of Cato the Younger as a moral model, he should not take revenge on them, the lowest ordinary Romans.

As for the fact that all the belongings were robbed by the Egyptians, it seems that they had to pinch their noses and admit it. As long as you can leave a life, you can count it as lucky...... The army of this era was so virtuous, and the soldiers of the Sixth Legion did not reduce Pompey's subordinates to pigs in the civil war.

However, just as Roman prisoners of war were blindly optimistic about the future. But he didn't know that his death had come quietly.

――――――――――――――――――――――――

“…… Bald head, bright orange prison uniform, plastic slippers...... It looks like a modern prisoner. Just take care to check their figure and see if there are any tattoos on their skin that would show the style of the ancient Roman era, in case they are discovered by the doctor who actually dissected them......"

On the courtyard wall of this temporary prison, Wang Qiu looked down at the idle Roman prisoners of war not far away with the eyes of the dead, and turned his head to Cleopatra beside him and said, "...... Also, are the legal documents ready for their execution? ”

“…… Alas. It's been ready for a long time! Although I think this is redundant no matter how I look at it, the Chinese government will not establish diplomatic relations with me through a wormhole......"

Cleopatra sighed. He took out a beautifully framed scroll of papyrus with an edict written in hieroglyphics, ancient Greek script, and simplified Chinese characters. The main content was to announce in the name of Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt that in accordance with the latest laws enacted by the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, 223 Roman prisoners of war and 855 mobs in Alexandria would be sentenced to death, deprived of all legal rights, and handed over to the government of the People's Republic of China for execution...... Zuihou stamped Cleopatra's seal at the end of the volume, with her autograph.

“…… While you may think this may seem like a cover-up, we still need to be procedural. It is true that this pharaoh's edict has no practical effect, but if the matter is turned over and attacked, it can be used as a shield to some extent......"

Wang Qiucao glanced at the edict written on the papyrus, and found nothing wrong with the content of the Chinese characters, so he put away the papyrus, rolled it into a bunch, and received it in his backpack, while shaking his head with a wry smile, "...... Alas, when Director Ma proposed in the Aztec Empire to take advantage of the local custom of human sacrifice to engage in the trade of human organs across the plane. I had stood on a moral and ethical standpoint and vigorously opposed this, and in the end the matter was aborted. Unexpectedly, after a circle, I still started this kind of business in order to make money...... Alas, it seems that this is indeed the same as Marx once said, capital came into the world, from head to toe, dripping with blood and filth from every pore......"

“…… Yes, as soon as there is a proper profit, capital is emboldened. If there is a 10% profit, it is guaranteed to be used everywhere; With a 20% profit, it becomes active; With a 50% profit, it takes risks; With 100% profits, it dares to trample on all human laws; With a 300% profit, it dares to commit any crime, even willing to risk being hung on the gallows......"

Queen Cleopatra shrugged her shoulders and recited the next passage fluently, then changed her tone, "...... However, Qiujun, you don't have to feel too much guilt. These Roman prisoners of war and the Greek mob were also to blame. When they were burning and slaughtering in the city of Alexandria, they probably never thought that they would be slaughtered like pigs and sheep one day! ”

Speaking of this, she glanced at these Roman prisoners of war who did not know the imminent date of death, and sighed faintly, "...... Anyway, these guys were going to die, so why not use their corpses to exert a little residual heat for the benefit of other people's lives and health! (To be continued.) )