Linley smiled, "Hello. Please excuse me, I'm busy. What is it?"
Hermes, as the god of commerce, had many followers, and almost all merchant caravans had devotees of his. However, it was not common for a guild master to directly serve as his deity. Usually, the guild master would worship the most influential deity in the local area. For example, in Athens, they worshipped Athena; in Sparta, they worshipped Ares, the god of war; and in Persia, they worshipped the twin dragons of light and darkness.
Empton Bach volunteered, "Lord Dionysus, I have a good relationship with the soldiers inside. I'm willing to go and persuade them to surrender."
Linley asked, "Will they be willing to surrender?"
Empton Bach answered, "Many of the soldiers here are not Romans, but locals from our Andros."
"Then go ahead," Linley nodded in agreement.
Soon after, Empton Bach returned and said to Linley, "They said they would withdraw from the prison if you could pardon their crimes and allow them to leave safely with their weapons."
Linley hesitated a moment, then shook his head and said, "I can let them go, but they must surrender their weapons."
Empton Bach said with some difficulty, "That might be a bit difficult, after all, you have fewer people and they have more."
Linley looked at him firmly and said, "Before landing, we sank a quinquereme and destroyed five hundred Roman soldiers on board, and then we stormed the governor's mansion. Do they think the prison can hold us? We can just charge once and break through the walls of the prison, drag everyone out and execute them!"
He gestured, and Goliath was dragged out, placed where the Romans could see him. Bavaria stood behind him, double-handed sword poised.
Goliath panicked, "You said you wouldn't kill me."
Linley comforted him, "Don't worry, I won't kill you. But the people inside are not necessarily, if they don't surrender, I will kill them all."
"Yes, yes," Empton Bach was sweating profusely, "I'll go and make it clear to them."
He entered the prison again, and soon after, there was a fierce fight coming from inside the prison. Soon, the prison gate opened and out came two hundred people. They laid down their weapons and surrendered.
Linley waved his hand and said, "You can go."
The men, relieved, hung their heads, then quickened their pace, finally breaking into a run and disappearing.
Linley breathed a sigh of relief. A fight would be costly, even with victory. He insisted that the soldiers lay down their weapons to prevent them from testing him.
If Linley agreed to let them leave with their weapons, they would think he was intimidated and resist, waiting for reinforcements. The Roman fleet could return at any time; a few days of resistance would force Linley to retreat.
Linley flatly refused, the guards were uncertain, so they could only surrender, some were unwilling and even started infighting — this was also in Linley's calculation. Normally, the prison wouldn't house so many people, so it must have been reinforced temporarily. But there were so many people, and they were unfamiliar with each other, their hearts were not united, they each had their own ideas and thoughts, and they could not work together, so they could only choose to surrender.
"Go in," Linley ordered, "Let all the prisoners out."
As they learned earlier, the prison now held all the priests of the Olympian gods, over a hundred of them. A centurion had been added to guard them.
The priests immediately recognized Linley, their eyes widening in surprise. "You are… Dionysus?" they asked.
Linley nodded slightly, calmly replying, "My name is Linley, the new Dionysus. Dionysus has passed away, and he entrusted the godhood to me before his death."
"This is against the rules…" one priest mumbled under his breath.
However, the other priests quickly covered his mouth, clearly unwilling to risk angering Linley. Although Dionysus's ascension to the godhood did not conform to the traditional and complicated procedures for achieving godhood in ancient Greece, it seemed pointless to dwell on such matters at this moment. After all, the other Olympian gods had ceased responding to the prayers of their worshippers, their fate unknown.
Linley had personally led his troops to liberate Andros Island, a clear indication that he was their only hope.
An elderly priest stepped forward, introducing himself. "My lord, I am Morris, the priest of Zeus, and I am highly respected on this island. Thank you for rescuing us. Is His Majesty Zeus safe?"
"I don't know, I have no news of them," Linley replied. "Andros Island is not safe. The Roman fleet could return at any moment. You can come back to Dionysus's Isle with me."
"Dionysus's Isle?" Morris asked, puzzled.
"It's a secret island, very safe," Linley explained.
Morris stated resolutely, "My lord, my worshippers are all on Andros Island. I would like to stay here."
Linley questioned, "What if the Roman fleet returns?"
Morris answered confidently, "I will hide. I have lived on Andros for decades, and I have many hiding places. While I don't know where Dionysus's Isle is, since it's a secret island, it must be quite small, right?"
Linley conceded, "Indeed, it's not very big."
Morris continued, "Then it must be lacking in supplies. If I stay here, not only can I hide among my worshippers, but I can also procure supplies for you."
In truth, Morris was simply reluctant to leave his familiar surroundings. Linley was frustrated, but he could not force him to leave.
Linley announced, "Those who wish to come with me can follow the group now, and those who wish to stay are welcome to do so."
Ultimately, about half the people chose to follow Linley, mostly younger individuals, while the other half, older in age, decided to stay.
Linley handed the list of supplies compiled by Odysseus to Morris, saying, "Since you want to stay, help me find these supplies."
"As you command," Morris accepted the list and immediately left with his people.