"What?" Bale asked with a puzzled expression.
"If it's just these three people, I might be able to hold them off and give you a chance to escape," Hagrid said. "However, the outside might already be surrounded. Even if I can hold them off, it would be in vain, and we would all end up sacrificing ourselves for nothing. Boss, you should consider surrendering."
"You... you..." Bale glared angrily at Hagrid, wanting to refute how he knew the outside was surrounded. Even if it was, it didn't necessarily mean they couldn't escape. However, he suddenly realized Hagrid's true intentions. "You... you betrayed me too! You want my property as well!"
Hagrid's eyes flickered, unable to look Bale in the eye. "Boss, everyone knows about your devotion to Dionysus. Since we are all doomed, you might as well give your property to me. It's better than letting it fall into the hands of outsiders."
"So, you are a follower of Dionysus," Linley said to Bale.
"I..." Bale thought to himself, how could he be joking at a time like this?
Just then, Roman soldiers approached and questioned, "Who are you people?"
A servant answered quickly, "They are here to discuss business with Bale. They are very wealthy. I saw them sell many gems."
"Very wealthy?" A Roman soldier revealed a mouthful of black teeth and sneered. "They must also be followers of Dionysus. Arrest them all!"
Linley said, "You are mistaken. I am not a follower of Dionysus."
The Roman soldier sneered, "Tell that to the judge..." Before he could finish, he suddenly felt dizzy and saw his body, hands, and feet from an angle he had never seen before. By the time he realized what had happened, his head had already fallen to the ground, and blood was gushing out.
The people around screamed, and Bavarius swung a giant sword, beheading the other two Roman soldiers.
"You, you..." Bale looked at Linley and Bavarius, as if he were in a dream.
"I am not a follower of Dionysus. I am Dionysus," Linley's body exuded divine majesty.
Bale suddenly realized and knelt down, "From today on, I will be your faithful follower for life!"
Linley nodded in satisfaction. "Good. The outside is already surrounded by Roman soldiers. What do you suggest?"
Bale quickly said, "I have a secret passage here. We can escape through it... but let's gather some valuables first."
He quickly ran to the bedroom, opened a hidden cabinet filled with gold and silver coins. He took out a large bag, swept the coins into it, then pushed the cabinet aside, revealing the secret passage behind it. The passage was narrow and dark. Bale was the first to crawl in and said to Linley, "Follow me. This passage hasn't been used in a long time, so I'm not sure about its condition. The last person in should put the cabinet back; they won't find it for a while."
Linley sighed, "I didn't expect you to have such a long secret passage here."
Bale explained, "As intermediaries, we often offend people. The suppliers feel taken advantage of, and the buyers think we're not good people either. So I've always been prepared. After things stabilized, I stopped worrying about the passage. I didn't expect it to come in handy today."
The secret passage twisted and turned, and the rustling of mice was constant. However, Linley could see perfectly in the dark, so he did not feel afraid. They traveled underground for about ten minutes and finally returned to the surface, successfully getting around to the rear of the encirclement.
Attacking from behind and defeating the hundred or so Roman soldiers in the encirclement wouldn't be hard right now. But doing that would be pointless because there were still many Roman soldiers on the island. If they made a commotion, they'd have to run and wouldn't be able to gather supplies.
Thinking back to their rushed escape from Athens, they hadn't had time to take anything with them. Athens had plenty of supplies; if they had managed to grab something before leaving, they could have made a big profit. Even if they couldn't grab supplies from the city, looting the countryside would have gotten them something.
"Let's head to a farm outside the city. I know an unguarded path," Bell suggested.
They quickly left Knossos along the path, and the further they went, the more desolate it got. Weeds grew among the palace ruins, showing Crete's decline.
After walking a bit further, Bell led them into a forest, and after passing through it, they arrived at an olive grove. Greeks love olive oil, which comes from the olives of these trees.
"We're here," Bell let out a sigh of relief. "This is my relative's farm. No one knows our relationship, so it's safe."
He entered the farm in the dark, and dogs suddenly started barking. A dozen people armed with pitchforks rushed out, shouting, "Who is it? Are you here to steal?"
"It's me!" Bell responded. "I brought some friends."
"It's you?" The leader, an old man, stepped forward to confirm. "Why did you come so late? Why didn't you notify us in advance?"
"My family ran into trouble," Bell explained.
"In trouble and you come here? Are you trying to drag us down with you?" the old man said discontentedly.
"What did you say!" Bell glared at him. "If I hadn't lent you money back then, you would have gone bankrupt long ago and might even have become slaves!"
Most slaves in the Roman Empire were war captives or debtors. Those who couldn't repay their debts would be auctioned off as slaves, losing all citizenship rights and possibly being beaten to death by their owners without any recourse. Although there was a slim chance of redeeming oneself, most people remained slaves for life, with some dying from exhaustion after just a few years of labor.
"That was then, this is now," the old man said. "Leave immediately, or I'll hand you over to the Romans."
"Fine, very well!" Bell sneered. "I'll remember how your family repaid kindness with ingratitude!"
Linley looked at Bell, who shook his head, signaling them to leave the olive grove. Bavaria asked, "He has seen our whereabouts, why not kill them?"
"There are dozens of olive farms around here, all with relatives. If we cause trouble, people from nearby farms will come to help, and it will quickly alert the Romans," Bell explained.
"You are relatives with them; aren't you related to the other farms as well?" Bavaria asked.
"No, I only have a cousin married over here. Their family owed a lot of money back then, and I lent them money to get through the crisis for my cousin's sake. I never asked for the money back, but today they turned their backs on me!" Bell said indignantly.
So, never easily test human nature; the answer is often disappointing.