Chapter 1 Gaius Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman ruler who had left a resounding reputation in history, returned to his mansion. The flowers and cheers in the plaza and streets seemed to still surround him, bringing a satisfied smile to his face. With the help of his servants, he removed his decorative armor and sat in his favorite wide chair to ponder some things.

He was contemplating the rule of Rome—his own rule. He had just completed the final step in purging this great nation. The two who had stirred up rebellion—Pompey's two sons—had been utterly defeated under the Roman army's steamroller. Caesar found his rule over the nation at an unprecedented peak. There was no more triumvirate, nor did he have to appoint consuls to share power. He had become the de facto sole ruler of this country. So, what kind of identity should this sole ruler have?

Caesar was thinking. He had no intention—or rather, he could not find an opportunity—to destroy Rome's long-standing parliamentary system, so he would not become an emperor. The most suitable position for him was still the consul of the republic, but it would be the sole consul. Perhaps it should have a new name, such as dictator.

Caesar's thoughts drifted, as if he already saw the glorious future of the republic and himself. He did not know about the assassination he was about to face, nor did he know that in just a few decades, his adopted son, Octavian, would transform Rome from a republic to an empire. He was even more unaware of the Twilight of the Gods that was ending the reign of the gods far away from the human world. All he knew was that unwelcome guests seemed to have broken into his room, and the guards waiting outside had not made any sound at all.

The windows were closed, but a gust of wind suddenly swirled through the room. Caesar looked up at the direction of the hanging curtains and found two men and two women standing there. These four mysterious uninvited guests were surrounded by a hazy mist. He could only roughly see their figures, but could not distinguish any details of their facial features. They appeared abruptly in the room, as if they had been hiding behind the pillars all along.

Of course, there could not be anyone hiding in the room. Caesar had carefully confirmed this when he entered the room, and the hazy mist surrounding the two men and two women was enough to explain some things: they possessed powers beyond human comprehension, either divine or demonic.

In this era, the activities of the gods were not far from humans. Many kings and priests had at least two or three encounters with gods in their lives. Caesar was no exception, so he quickly calmed down and maintained the greatest dignity he could muster as a human: "What do you want from me?"

He did not ask the two men and two women in front of him their names or where they came from, because according to common sense, asking such questions to these guys who possessed extraordinary powers was meaningless, and might even bring unnecessary disasters.

Hassu stepped forward: "Gaius Julius Caesar, we are here to ask you some questions."

Caesar's eyes glanced to the side, as if looking for something to use as a weapon, but he did not hesitate in his words: "Ask away."

"Have you ever heard of a name—Vivian Ansetta," Hassu asked, "She is a member of the gods, but she should be traveling in your country at this moment."

Caesar's wandering gaze instantly froze, and then a strange expression began to appear on his face—an expression with a bit of indignation, and an undisguisable embarrassment, but at the same time he tried to control the expression on his face, so as not to lose his composure.

Hao Ren hid in the magic mist, and he knew what was going on just by looking at Caesar's expression: it seemed that Vivian had already kicked this guy into the moat once... Although it was quite unfair to Caesar, Hao Ren thought it was good news, which meant that the other party had already contacted Vivian.

Hao Ren chose to come to Caesar to inquire about the situation for a reason, because he had heard Vivian mention in previous chats that the latter had known Caesar during the Roman Republic, and had dealt with him more than once. Caesar was able to lay the foundation for the later Roman Empire and create a great cause that would be remembered in history, and Vivian's help was indispensable.

Although Vivian was wandering in the world at this time, suffering from the curse of poverty and unable to live in peace, she would still interact with the locals when she stayed in a place for a short time. In Rome, she had been active as a prophet, witch, and foreign god, and Caesar, this Roman with keen eyes and bold speculative spirit, had long noticed this strange "prophet and god", and sought help from Vivian at a considerable cost.

During the Gallic Wars, Vivian used the power of plague blood to help the Romans defeat their enemies and allowed Caesar to advance all the way to the Germans' homeland—and after this war, the Greek gods unusually did not express any objection to the Romans' seeking help from foreign gods. This made Caesar believe that he had found a huge backer, and he even considered building a blood temple in Rome.

But like every "god", Vivian Ansetta was also eccentric and capricious. Caesar still did not know how he had offended that great god, and was kicked into the moat by her...

And now, four guys who didn't know whether they were gods or demons suddenly appeared, and specifically asked for that Vivian Ansetta, which made Caesar even more uneasy. He frowned, and suddenly felt that getting involved in these "gods'" affairs was not a smart thing.

"You don't have to worry," Hao Ren deliberately waited for a while, letting Caesar think a few steps further, before slowly opening his mouth, "We are her friends, you just need to tell us where she is."

"She did stay in Rome," Caesar said cautiously, "But unless she takes the initiative to show herself, I have no way to find her—that is a god, her whereabouts will not fall into the eyes of mortals."

"You're not telling the truth." Lily stood up. She realized with her animal-like intuition that this Caesar was indeed lying.

Caesar's face twitched, and he began to suspect whether the guys in front of him had the ability to discern lies, and then helplessly spread his hands: "I can't bear the wrath of the gods—whether it's yours, or hers."

"No one will vent their anger on you," Hassu's voice carried a wonderful magic, and a little bit of imperceptible mental suggestion was injected into his voice, "On the contrary, Vivian Ansetta will appreciate you even more because of your help to us. Now tell us, where is Vivian?"

Caesar's expression恍惚for a moment, but then there were signs of恢复清明: although he was just a human without special powers, he had a heart that surprised even the old demon hunters. Hassu had to temporarily increase the intensity of his mental suggestion in order to suppress Caesar's will.

Caesar's eyes were blank, and he opened his mouth as if in a dream: "In the northeast corner of Rome, a block next to the city wall, she often haunts there. If she wants to see you, she will definitely take the initiative to appear..."

Hassu withdrew his magic: "Thank you for your cooperation."

A gust of wind blew past, and Caesar激灵一下子 woke up. When he focused his vision again, he could no longer see anyone in front of him.

Looking at the empty room, and seeing the exquisite gifts presented to the Roman ruler from various places on the table not far away, he suddenly felt a burst of boredom.

"By the way, why didn't you let me appear just now?" On the way to the northeast district, Hesperide grumbled a bit and looked at Hao Ren, "I could have just told that Caesar that I was looking for my mom, why would you need so much nonsense?"

"First, as far as I know, Vivian didn't show you to Caesar, so Caesar doesn't know that Vivian has a little拖油瓶 by her side. If you suddenly pop out, it will only make him more suspicious. Second, that sentence of yours is too特娘的destructive to the atmosphere. Is it easy for me to装个逼?"

Hesperide thought for a while, jumped up and bit at Hao Ren: "Who are you calling a little拖油瓶?!"

Hao Ren熟路地 resisted the sharp teeth of this bear kid king: "What else could you be to Vivian at this time other than a拖油瓶? A little bat that has just cultivated into a 精 can sweep the world?"

The two of them were as incompatible as usual, even though they had been teammates in this time-travel journey for a short time.吵吵嚷嚷着, they found the block mentioned by Caesar: near the city wall, a jumble of buildings that looked more dilapidated than other places were crowded together, and two of the houses even had obvious signs of smoke from a small fire. Some people were gathered around the two houses, talking about the kitchen fires that had occurred in these two households a few days ago.

Hao Ren: "...Sometimes I really don't understand, is it that Vivian can only choose to live in poor places, or do the places she lives in become so poor?"

Hesperide sighed: "It must be the second one—it used to be quite prosperous here."

Everyone: "..."

After entering the block, the task of finding people fell on Hesperide and Lily—the former had a strong心灵感应 to Vivian, while the latter had an惊世骇俗dog nose. Hao Ren would not compare himself to her in this respect no matter what.

"How is it? Have you sensed her aura?" Although he often gets liver fire when arguing with the little bat 精, Hao Ren still speaks nicely to Hesperide when doing serious business, "Also, have you remembered anything?"

"I haven't sensed her aura yet, but I do remember some scattered things..." Hesperide said in a nostalgic tone, raising her hand and pointing to a stone wall not far away, "I used to engrave something on that..."

Lily was sniffing and smelling here and there, and after hearing Hesperide's words, she looked up and shouted, "Hey hey, little bat, there's really something on the wall over there!"