Simulate the universe, starting with speedrunning Greek.

The ransom when he was kidnapped by pirates was only 50 talents (a walking 5 million).

The value of these 1300 talents is roughly equivalent to the annual salary of 11 troops.

Back then, Athens' last savings amounted to only eight hundred talents.

One can only imagine the enormous financial drain involved in nurturing Julius Caesar's infant son. It's no wonder that such a man eventually grew into the future Roman dictator, the first person who was more than an emperor.

This is also thanks to a mother who highly values ​​Caesar education and is willing to spend money on it—Aurelia Cotta.

In the past few years, when it came to cultivating knowledge about Caesar, the foundation was insufficient, so fancy educational methods were used to make up for it.

As a woman who married into an old noble family from a commoner background, Aurelia was not as traditional and stubborn as other Romans, who believed that only Greeks were the best and most outstanding teachers, partly because Greek teachers were expensive.

At that time, Greek culture was popular in Rome, and the best (and most expensive) teachers were Greeks.

Aurelia, however, chose the more cost-effective option: a Gaul (barbarian) who graduated from Egypt.

Before Rome and Carthage, the previous hegemon, rose to power, Gaul was the de facto ruler of Western Europe and had even sacked Rome.

The Gauls of that era were not necessarily inferior to the Greeks.

Even though she wanted to save money, Aurelia Cotta would never gamble with her son's future.

Similarly—not only in terms of academic knowledge, but also in terms of the all-round development of Caesar's moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and labor skills, Aurelia would naturally not miss the opportunity to train Caesar's courage and bravery.

This is why the two of them came to the slave market today.

Because of the problems of the Alliance War, the nobles, who are busy and overwhelmed with worries, have no time for leisure, which has led to a rather quiet slave market.

And like today, it's quite a rare occurrence for the slave market to have two big customers come in one after another (the first being Ye, and the second being Aurelia, Kota).

Many slave traders were now eager to seize the opportunity and make a big deal with Lady Aurelia.

Ye looked at the glamorous and noble woman with surprise.

After all, who doesn't love to look at beautiful women?! Compared to a woman like Aurelia, who possesses both wisdom and a broad perspective, as well as elegance and beauty, those beautiful slave girls locked in cages suddenly pale in comparison.

I never had the chance to see Helen, the most beautiful woman in Greece, before, but it's nice to see what Caesar's mother looks like now.

Ye is a man with perfectly normal sexual orientation and sexual function, even quite vigorous, of course—

After taking a few glances and feasting his eyes, he turned his gaze to Caesar beside him.

While he was somewhat interested in women like Aurelia, who were beautiful but already married, it was merely a man's interest in women, and not Ye's target.

The world is so big, there are plenty of beautiful women, he has no interest in being a traitor like Cao Cao... not counting those who offer themselves to him.

That night, when he looked at Caesar, a handsome boy with slightly curly brown hair appeared before him. The boy's eyes held a composure beyond his years, yet also a lively spirit.

Looking up at his three-dimensional facial features, he is a child who gives people a good impression at first glance, who seems to be very thoughtful, and always has a faint, calm smile on his lips.

People who know how to use their brains are always more popular.

This might explain why Crassus, who would later become one of the three giants of Rome, was willing to provide financial assistance to Caesar, a young man with nothing, in his early days.

There are indeed people in this world who are born extraordinary at first glance.

Chapter Fifty-Five: Knowing How to Protect Family, Julius Caesar—Not Bad

Of course—just kidding—Crassus shouldn't be that superficial, judging people solely by their appearance; at least he wouldn't have funded Caesar just for that reason.

The ancient divine family that Caesar represents, and Crassus's penchant for casting a wide net and investing in various young people, are likely related to this.

However, one person was truly willing to lend, and the other was truly willing to give.

It was roughly equivalent to a debt of the Athenian treasury. If it couldn't be recovered, Crassus would probably have to cry himself to death in a latrine.

Thinking about this, Ye pondered that perhaps he could also borrow some start-up capital from this Roman ATM.

Crassou, being a helpful man, would surely be delighted to offer the money with both hands... Hehe—!

If things don't go well, he'll use his fists to make that ATM realize how good he is.

Just as Ye was sizing up Caesar, Caesar's gaze also fell upon him. When he saw Ye's strong and handsome young figure, which resembled that of the sun god Apollo, Caesar was slightly taken aback.

Did Rome have such an outstanding young nobleman? But he didn't know him at all.

But to say that this person is just an ordinary citizen doesn't quite seem like it!

At that moment, Ye sensed the growing killing intent hidden behind him.

At this moment, Ye also realized that these hidden assassins were targeting Caesar and his mother with ill intentions.

To save or not to save?!

Is this the butterfly effect of the protracted Allied war?

He did not recall any near-death assassination attempts Julius Caesar had experienced in his childhood.

But perhaps they were well protected by the accompanying guards.

In the blink of an eye, Aurelia had already brought little Caesar toward them, and many slave traders came forward to greet her, vying to do business with this noblewoman.

This was far more enthusiastic from the slave traders than they had been before nightfall.

Although Night's appearance and temperament are indeed very good, no one here knows Night. However, it's different for Aurelia Kota and even the Julius family.

This member of the old aristocracy, who lived almost exclusively in the market district, was a frequent sight on the streets, and many people knew his identity.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse; the slave traders would never doubt the purchasing power of the Julius family.

"Madam, what kind of slaves do you desire?"

I have them all here, let me show you.

“Madam, choose me. I have a much larger number of slaves than he does.”

"What did you say?! Damn it, Mark!!!! I have the most diverse variety of slaves here!"

The slave traders immediately started arguing.

The slave traders who were with Ye were unable to get there in time because they still had to deal with Ye. Seeing how fiercely other traders were competing, they simply gave up.

Although I'm a little envious, I wonder who will be the one to win over Aurelia, such a big client?

But he was no less wealthy; this master was truly rich, having purchased over twenty slaves from him in one go.

Meanwhile, the slave traders had brought all the slaves to the palace, including the three Spartans who were released according to Night's orders, but they did not dare to immediately untie the bonds binding them.

"I'll also give you three iron chains as a bonus."

"These Spartans are not easy to tame. I hope you will not loosen their bonds before you have completely tamed them," the slave trader said to Night, but received no response.

The three Spartans also heard the slave trader's words and immediately glared at him angrily, while also feeling somewhat disdainful—could this fair-skinned and handsome young man, who was as handsome as the sun god Apollo, tame their powerful Spartans?

Although they were unhappy about their freedom being restricted, they also believed that the slave traders were right.

Even with those chains binding them, they could still fight, confident that they could easily defeat Ye, a 'weak' nobleman'.

It looks good but is useless.

Not to mention, if you loosen the chains and free their hands and feet, you can forget about getting them to submit.

However, when the three Spartans and slave traders looked at Night, they found that Night was frowning and didn't seem to care at all what they were saying.

Just as the slave trader was about to say something.

Sudden--

Whoosh! They're getting closer! Just then, Aurelia arrived at Night's side with little Caesar.

Suddenly, a cold arrow shot out from the shadows.

"Madam, be careful!!!" A guard rushed forward, but before he could defend himself, he was shot directly in the chest and let out a scream.

"Take care of them—!!!" With a roar, seven or eight burly men suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

They surrounded Aurelia Corta and Caesar from all sides.

"Kill these damned Roman nobles—!!" When someone stepped forward with a sword and roared, the gleaming, cold light of the sword made the young Caesar, who had never seen blood before, feel his hair stand on end as he experienced such a life-or-death crisis for the first time.

Aurelia was so frightened that her face turned pale instantly.

No matter how noble, intelligent, and powerful she is, she is still just a woman who has never been to the battlefield, and she would naturally be afraid when she sees such a scene.

However, she was, after all, the mother who raised the legendary Julius Caesar.

Aurelia's courage was also extraordinary—she quickly forced herself to calm down and immediately gave the order—

"Protect Caesar!!!! Prioritize getting him to safety!" Aurelia Kota.

Then reality quickly gave her a cruel lesson.

Since it was in the capital of Rome, Aurelia, who never imagined she would be assassinated there, did not bring many attendants with her when she went out.

It was impossible for these people to break through with the two people. Let alone break through, they couldn't even manage to huddle together to resist the encirclement.

Soon, half of the few guards were killed.

Seeing that the situation had suddenly become extremely critical, the little boy Caesar, after the initial tension and helplessness, had completely calmed down. He quickly picked up the longsword from the waist of the guard who had been shot dead.

He drew his sword and stood in front of his mother, determined to protect her!

Upon seeing this, Ye Yan couldn't help but reveal a look of admiration.

In times of crisis, to remain calm and fearless, and to dare to confront the enemy to protect one's loved ones, this courage deserves praise.

This is also very much in line with Caesar's character.

He had seen a scene in a movie about Rome, but he didn't know if it was the same in history.

After Marius fell from power and Sulla emerged victorious and officially ascended to the center of power in Rome, Sulla posted a proclamation in Piazza della Signoria when he sought to purge Marius's faction and associates.

While the announcement was being posted, the people under his command had already begun to take action, almost simultaneously.

But Caesar did not choose to run away at this time. Instead, he immediately went to inform his uncle and others, trying to save them. As a result, he was captured by Sulla's men.

Despite being overwhelmed with his own problems, he had the courage to run back alone to save people.

If it weren't for Pompey and others, and Caesar's repeated requests as the last male heir of the Julius family...

Caesar, who was already on Sulla's purge list, was almost killed this time after being captured.

I never imagined that at such a young age, the courage of the future Julius Caesar was already so evident.

Knowing how to protect his family, Julius Caesar was no slouch!

Chapter Fifty-Six: Back then, the traveler held the Shadow Treasure, and Pao'er's psychological journey was probably similar.