The wealthy merchants, upon receiving their money, immediately broke into smiles, their eyes softening as they looked at Linley. The slaves, meanwhile, carefully stored away the grain, cloth, and other necessities they had received. This was the first time they had owned property after gaining freedom, making it an extraordinary moment.
Linley thus gained a substantial amount of faith power. Many merchants became his followers, though their faith was not yet deep and could change at any time. However, all faith is built from shallow to deep. No one can start with devout followers.
After taking over the port, Linley returned to the church, which was now overflowing with people. The slaves from the farms outside the city finally arrived. They had received word from the merchant fleet and learned of their freedom, but they still couldn't believe it entirely. They came to the city with their families and gathered at the church entrance.
The slaves erupted in cheers when Linley appeared.
"Dionysus!"
"Praise the Dionysus!"
"Dionysus has appeared!"
"Are we truly free?"
Linley nodded, indicating to them, "You are free! Form a line. I will give you release documents signed by Governor Goliath."
The slaves, overwhelmed with emotion, wept tears of joy and cried out, "Dionysus! Praise Dionysus!"
The slaves from the farms were different from those in the city. While the city slaves also faced beatings and abuse from their masters, their workload was relatively lighter. As long as their masters weren't sadists, they could still manage to get by.
The farm slaves' situation was much more difficult. During the busy farming season, they had to rush to plant and harvest, with the slave owners completely disregarding their hardship. They were constantly urged to work, no matter how exhausted, sore, or even injured they might be.
The heavy labor drove many slaves to attempt escape. To prevent escapes, many slaves were shackled with handcuffs and leg irons, further intensifying their suffering and pushing them to flee or seize any opportunity to shirk their duties.
This, in turn, led to even harsher exploitation by the slave owners. The slaves not only suffered themselves, but their families and children also endured hardship. The slaves themselves were considered human chattel, and their children were exploited from a young age, with no chance for freedom.
The farm slaves' suffering far surpassed that of the domestic slaves in the city, hence their excitement upon gaining freedom was tenfold, a hundredfold.
"We are free! We are free!"
"My God, am I dreaming?"
"Mom, Mom, did you hear? We are free!"
Linley's followers distributed documents to them, proving that they were now free citizens with full rights. The blacksmiths behind them removed their slave collars. As for the slave tattoos, farm slaves rarely had them because their labor was so demanding that any tattoos they had would have faded or distorted by now.
After all the paperwork was finished, the slaves clung to the church entrance, refusing to leave. The farm held only memories of suffering for them, and few were willing to return, despite knowing they could continue working.
Out of the more than ten thousand slaves, about seven to eight thousand chose to become Linley's followers, with three to four thousand unwilling to return to work on the farms. Despite Linley's explanation that no one would mistreat them anymore, it couldn't change their decision.
Linley told these slaves, "If you don't want to go back to the farms, you can come with me to Dionysus Island. But life there is very difficult, possibly even worse than when you were slaves. If you are not prepared, it is best to stay."
In the end, about two thousand were willing to follow Linley to Dionysus Island, while the remaining thousand or so preferred to stay in the city rather than return to the farms.
"Then you will work for the temple," said Linley. "From today on, this is my temple. I will provide you with food and grapes, which you can use to make wine and support yourselves."
Some of the wealthy merchants, having lost a large amount of labor, stepped forward to complain, stating that their farms would be unsustainable.
Linley rebuked them, "Silence! If you had treated them well in the past, why would the slaves choose to follow me rather than stay in familiar places? Didn't the slaves on those farms that treated them well all stay? I bought your slaves with money, freed them, and even let them stay on your farms to work. As long as you treat them fairly. How dare you complain!"
As a deity, Linley condemned their mistreatment of slaves, which was immoral even in a slave society, just like needlessly killing one's own oxen or horses. The merchants were speechless.
If Linley had freed the slaves when he first arrived, he might have faced fierce resistance from the wealthy merchants. But through careful planning and gaining the support of the people, he had established himself on the island and gained the support of both the upper and lower classes.
The slave owners reacted differently to Linley's actions. Some suffered minimal losses, some suffered significant losses but could still operate, and others suffered severe losses and could no longer continue their operations. Only a few wanted to fight back desperately, but they couldn't get support from others and had to accept reality.
Linley continued, "Besides the legal procedures and proper compensation, I have also compensated you. Didn't you get the goods on the ship? Why are you still so greedy!"
The merchants, thinking about the wealth they had already acquired, were resigned to the situation. The slaves were gone, and life had to go on. Could they really turn to Holiness? Holiness was even more ruthless than Linley. At least Linley was willing to sign an IOU, while Holiness wouldn't even bother with one.
In fact, they had not lost money. If they could cash in the IOU, the wealthy households on the island would make a fortune. And even if they cooperated with the Roman fleet to attack Linley, the escaped slaves would not return. These slaves would only defend their freedom and fight to the end. Although they might not be able to defeat the Roman army, couldn't they defeat these wealthy merchants?
"But your practical difficulties need to be addressed," said Linley. "It's not the peak farming season now, and we don't need many people. Now that everyone is free, we can't restrict them from working on any farm. If your farms don't have enough manpower to operate, just offer a premium to attract workers. You can always get through it."