Simulate the universe, starting with speedrunning Greek.

Karl's lifelong hope was to return to Rome after achieving enough military merits on the battlefield and reclaim his surname.

Even if they cannot reclaim the surname, they must ensure that their son receives enough money for a happy future.

He dedicated his entire life to the battlefields of Rome; such a life had been bitter enough, and he did not want his children to follow the same path.

Therefore, he couldn't afford to lose even more.

It was fine if Rome kept winning battles, but once it suffered a defeat, it would need to recruit more soldiers.

During the Second Punic War, Rome needed too many soldiers and kept lowering the minimum conscription level, which led to many poor people who were not originally required to enlist joining the army.

Karl did not want his son to be forcibly conscripted one day.

Night, who had overheard everything, quietly felt the sorrow of the ordinary Romans of this era, but he did not expose Karl's unrealistic fantasy.

In fact, after so many years of fighting, he should have understood that as long as the world was not unified, Rome's conquests would never cease.

Even if Rome stopped expanding, it would still occasionally get caught up in civil wars caused by rebellious forces, such as alliance wars.

Under these conditions, apart from nobles who had the right to be exempt from conscription, commoners had no choice but to embark on war when they were conscripted.

Carl: "Therefore, I absolutely cannot be a deserter..."

I'm not saying all this to get your pity.

I apologize for my impulsive actions earlier. I hope you can understand the emotions of an agitated father and not dwell on what happened before.

I won't lay a hand on you again, not even because of your promise. From now on, I'll protect you.

Karl looked at Tiberius, a young man in his late twenties, almost thirty, who was still just a child in Karl's eyes.

There are some things Karl just can't bring himself to say to such a young child.

In reality, as a veteran, he also had his own pride. Although he said he didn't want Tiberius to pity or sympathize with him, he secretly hoped that Tiberius wouldn't hold a grudge after hearing his story.

It doesn't matter if he dies, or even if he's branded as a deserter. At this age, he's long since taken all honors lightly and considered them as bullshit!

That kind of empty promises and grandstanding used by nobles to fool young people is long gone from his repertoire. Or rather, Karl's passion has long since dried up!

At this moment, Tiberius remained silent and distressed.

Carl greatly underestimated this man's magnanimity; he thought the man might not even be able to comprehend the sorrow and helplessness of an ordinary person.

Tiberius, however, understood it more deeply than anyone else.

Chapter 71 We were clearly fighting for our country, so why—

Some people may be born saints.

Born into privileged families, they were still able to humble themselves and listen to the suffering of ordinary people.

When a war is lost, outsiders might look for reasons in the army: is it a problem with the formation, tactics, or the soldiers' weapons?

But only Tiberius saw the physical and mental exhaustion of the warriors, ravaged by the long war.

And those one or two who lost their families and lives as a result, merely a drop in the ocean to fill the economic hole in Rome, were forcibly conscripted soldiers.

As a poor person, his poverty led to a low level of national recognition.

People with better economic conditions are also more likely to identify with their country.

People who struggle to even eat are unlikely to accept this country, so how much fighting spirit can soldiers from such backgrounds have when they are conscripted?

Rome's defeat was not unjust.

Perhaps the senators and nobles in the capital thought that these one or two defeats were just an accident.

However, some people feel that this is not just the beginning, but an eruption of the problems and troubles sown in the past.

As the only one who knew the future trends, Ye, more clear-headed than anyone else in this era, understood that Gracchus was right.

Rome was far too cruel to these soldiers...

Just as they never valued the human rights and dignity of slaves, the nobles also didn't really care about the lives of their soldiers.

Even if ordinary people lose their homes and lives, they still revel every night, maintaining a false sense of prosperity and power.

Perhaps, in the eyes of the Senate, the prosperity of the nation meant that the upper classes lived well.

A few civilian casualties are hardly the beginning of decline.

After this night, Ye felt a little heavy-hearted.

As an egoist, I believe that only when I live well can I be qualified to extend a helping hand of kindness and compassion to others.

He was not a saint, and he did not have the grand ambition to change the world by himself.

He is not a hero either; he would not risk his life and fight recklessly for a group of strangers.

However, some things are truly unbearable to watch.

If given the chance, I wouldn't mind cleaning up the corrupt Senate. There's no other reason than that it would make me feel great satisfaction, and that reason alone is enough.

However, he also knew that such impulsive actions, regardless of the consequences, would only bring him some personal pleasure and would have no effect on changing the country.

Even if one group of senators dies, a second group of senators will emerge.

Even if all the Roman nobles were killed, new nobles would emerge from the common people.

Only by fundamentally changing Rome's system and making everyone subject to new rules could a limited form of justice possibly emerge.

At least like the heroes of Greece, they could, in the name of heroism, barely restrain those shameless dragons.

"After this war ends—will we be able to go home then?"

"Rome—how is it now?"

"Will our family and friends be proud of us?"

"Who knows about such things?"

"That's just how it is. Glory and victory belong to the great nobles, while we are just insignificant laborers."

It's ridiculous.

I haven't been back to Rome for over a decade.

It's said that the younger sister who lives in the capital must already be married.

I don't know if my wife has run off with someone else.

"What a joke! We're fighting for our country, and those guys are stealing everything from us!"

Aren't they heroes?

One soldier had this thought:

No, what a load of rubbish about heroes. It's precisely because most people here have seen through the ugly faces of those in the Senate that they're quick to flee when things get tough.

In the past, they might have chosen to trust the nobility.

But now all that's left is anger and cursing.

Including Gracchus's previous promises, how many of the 43 people here actually believed them? Or were they forced to believe them?

Ye's exceptional hearing allowed him to hear the soldiers' whispers in the dead of night, and even to sense some of their innermost thoughts.

This finally gave Ye a sense of reality regarding this dreamlike era, which she had previously had a vague understanding of.

On the banks of the Ebro River, you and the soldiers walk along the river until sunset and night falls.

The group of 43 people rested on the spot, using the sky as their blanket and the ground as their bed.

That night you heard many trivial sounds and came to understand the oppression of ordinary people in the era called Rome.

Not only did slaves live in misery, but ordinary people also had a hard time.

As the dominant power in the Mediterranean, this vast and powerful nation has an alarmingly low happiness index among its citizens.

At this moment, you seem to understand the inner thoughts of the Gracchi brothers, Lucius Caesar, and many others whose names are not even remembered, who were eager to implement reforms in Rome but died in assassinations.

This barbaric, brutal, and backward era desperately needs a spark to revive it.

Those nobles who did not want to see this new beginning, the Senate,

Perhaps they sent assassins to kill the tribunes who wanted to change all this injustice, thinking that this would end everything, but they did not expect it to trigger the outbreak of the Alliance War in reality.

They assumed that oppression would continue to work, unaware that when despair accumulates to a certain point, even the most tolerant person will rise up in resistance.

Ye suddenly felt that helping the Gracchi brothers change history might actually be an interesting thing, and this goal finally didn't seem so boring anymore.

Just then, a slight noise suddenly interrupted Ye's thoughts. Sensing something, Ye abruptly opened his eyes and shouted sharply, "Enemy attack! Grab your weapons and prepare for battle!"

Whoosh! The moment Ye Hua finished speaking, an arrow shot over.

Ye instinctively raised his arm to block, and the arrow struck the joint of his armor, but bounced off because of his impenetrable body.

However, the others were not as lucky as Ye.

Although the soldiers reacted quickly, several were still hit by arrows and fell down with a painful groan.

One soldier had just stood up when he was unlucky enough to be hit by three arrows in a row.

Ye had a memory of this soldier; he was the same guy who had previously muttered bitterly that he was fighting for his country, but his wife might have run off with someone else.

I was just angry, and this battle was meaningless. I was confused about what I had been doing all this time.

The young man who died fighting for Rome the very next moment was such an abrupt and tragic end.

The passing of life amplified the resentment in his heart in a short period of time, and he suddenly found it increasingly difficult to understand what he was doing...

He simply couldn't swallow that insult.

But that's reality, that's war.

There were no heroes or miracles, only human lives disappearing like ants.

Once anger or despair takes hold, one can instantly become a victim of the giant jaws of death.

Chapter Seventy-Two: Desperate Situation, Number of Survivors—39

Calm down, calm down...

The soldiers fought while suppressing their anger and fear.

At this moment, the enemy also revealed themselves, a group of Spanish rebels holding torches appeared before us.

After a round of firing, the rebels did not choose to distance themselves, but instead took the initiative to move forward, wanting to wipe out the Roman soldiers in front of them.