4 4-Land Of Fortune
Waking with a skip in his step if he was to get out of bed, August instead opted to stay for a while longer, breathing in Amy's heavenly scent that remained easily discernible despite the strong smell of sex on the both of them. Eventually forcing himself out of bed to address the men, he first made his way over to the table where the black label bottle remained, only now with 1/8th the contents it once had. It took him finishing the bottle to realise that he wasn't suffering a hangover from the previous night, a curious case. Opening his menu, he flicked through to his Inventory and then Stat menu, where he found the cause.
Imperator's Grace.: Whether from a god or several, something has given you a physique worthy of an Emperor. Peak human strength, 3x recovery, keen senses and the rare aptitude to wield magic are only the cherries on the top of the unexplored mountain that is your potential.
That explained the strength he experienced despite not having put it to use yet, even with his 'Celestial Bronze' gladius sword Aquila, a beautiful work that he had not yet wished to tarnish with the blood of the dead. Putting on some clothes before equipping his armor, he walked out to meet his men.
"Lord, we've had an incident. One of the slaves ended themselves" Pullo spoke as he waited outside the tent.
"Which one?" August asked as the Optio now had his full attention
"The dark-skinned one known as 'Jacqui' lord. The collar must not have sensed her intentions as a threat when she stole a dagger from the belt of a legionnaire Avitus who had just finished with her, slitting her wrist. By the time Arcanus Octavia could get to her, it was too late" Pullo replied with a somber face, but not for the slave, but in the case his Emperor would be in any way distressed by the news.
"Oh, ok. Has she been stuck in the head to ensure she doesn't turn?" August asked.
"Yes Lord, sister Octavia saw to it immediately. Her body has been disposed of in a large metal box in the street" Pullo replied.
"A dumpster? It will suffice. Dismissed Optio!" August replied as Pullo returned a salute before he marched off to coordinate the packing up of camp.
Before long, the army was on the move once more as they marched out of the city and onto the highway. Amy, finding herself 'unable' to walk thanks to last night's experience, opted to ride in August's embrace upon Arion, extra weight the Immortal steed failed to even notice with his strength dwarfing that of even the Legate's. After an hour of marching, the army was met with a car pile-up that stretched beyond the horizon.
"Order the Scouts to search every vehicle for anything of use. The first one to find a specific truck with large bottles of water gets double rations tonight. At the sight of any large numbers of death, they are to retreat back into formation" August spoke to Vorenus who with a nod, shouted his orders to the men.
Taking off in professional singe-file lines, the Scouts scoured through the cars like locusts to a wheat field, boosted in speed from the promise of more food. Finding the occasional weapon, ammo, camping supplies and edibles, the truck in question was quickly found.
"HERE!" One of the Scouts shouted as he rolled up a large roller door on the side of a truck, revealing sixteen total fifteen-liter bottles. Circling to the opposite side the same amount was found, totaling thirty-two fifteen liter bottles, equaling 480 liters, enough to water the entire army and then some with their -75% reduction thanks to one of Lanius's perks.
"DEAD SPOTTED!" One of the Scouts who had moved further up to probe the path shouted, causing all of them to retreat to the formation.
"PREPARE FOR BATTLE!, SQUARE FORMATION! SHIELDS UP!!" Pullo shouted as all the men formed the same formation as the day before, with the Arcanus quickly getting to work on forming the same two walls to prevent them from getting flanked.
By the time the dead had stumbled through the wrecks and found the formation, the walls had been erected and they were more than ready. The battle was a slow burn due to the day before, but with August getting his first kills in atop Arion and Lanius disposing of them in swaths, it remained menial to his men.
Once the final tallies rounded up to a total of 352, the walls were dropped as the Scouts took to their duties once more while the Arcanus got to work using Earth Magic to push the already cleared cars onto the sides of the road, giving the forces an unobstructed march.
"The conditions for the quest 'Cost of Innocence' have been met. Three hundred points have been awarded.
Checking the description of the quest, August was pleasantly surprised.
"The events leading up to the death of Sophia Peletier have been avoided. Some would call you a hero if they knew...some"
Switching to the Map where all points of interest had automatically been identified, August checked for the location of the Greene Farm and found them to still be on track. Eventually reaching the property by mid-day, August spent ten minutes with Vorenus and Lanius in devising a short plan. Four scouts would quickly make their way over to the stables where four horses were being kept. Ten Legionnaires would deal with the walkers in the barn, and Pullo leading five other Legionnaires would storm the house, taking the Greene's by surprise and apprehending them.
The plan went off without a hitch as all the Greene's and their farm hands were brought before him already collared with only Otis, who in the attempt to grab a rifle from the fireplace mantle piece, caught a sword through the throat curiously of Pullo.
"What do you want? We barely have enough food or water to feed ourselves, let alone all of you" Hershel spoke as August squatted to meet him face to face, saying something that'd haunt the man for the rest of his life.
"Everything, including all that you care for in this world" August replied as he looked over at Maggie, who not only had her stomach sink, but Beth
feared for her even more, adding tears to those already shed for Otis.
"Search the house, strip it bare. We make camp here for the night. I want four groups of five scouts on rotational watch until further notice" August commanded as he got a stomp and salute from his men. "You know, I could be convinced to spare Beth from my men, but you would need to be mighty helpful in pointing out potential stashes or points of interest. Our success dictates what happens to her" August spoke, making the elderly man bow his head in despair.
"We don't have any hidden stashes, but we know a few places in town that could hold something. Please, kill me if you must, but don't harm my daughters" Hershel pleaded.
"We will see" August replied as a Scout approached to report their findings.
"My Lord. We have discovered several cattle on the land and a handful of chickens in the barn. What is your will?" She asked, surprising August as he only now realised he had women among his ranks other than the Arcanus.
"Are any pregnant?" August asked.
"No Lord" The Scout replied.
"Butcher them all. Jerky 1/3 of the Beef, then store it along with the rest in the Inventory. All the chickens will be butchered to supplement tonight's meals, using as little Beef as possible. Dismissed" August replied as the Scout saluted before running back towards the paddock.
Marched over and forced to sit with the other slaves who primarily consisted of women and children who couldn't withstand the intense manual labour, Beth looked over to Lori, Miranda, Carol and Andrea who all appeared to have glazed-over eyes as some of them cuddled their frightened children.
"Everything will be alright, you hear me! We will be fine!" Hershel reassured his girls.
Aurelia approached the slaves as she began chanting in Latin, causing the tattoos on their necks to glow as they received new control conditions. As the hours passed, Scout paths were set, tents were erected, and food began being prepared over one large central fire in the heart of the camp.
"Vorenus. A word if you will" August requested, causing his Centurion who was at the time sitting with some of his men to quickly rise to his feet. "At ease, It's an inquiry. How would we go about training the children to join our numbers? Are they too old to be pliant without the use of the collars?" He asked.
"I could do it with the traditional method of separating them from their parents, then establishing a routine for them to follow as we show them the truth about you, but if all else fails, I believe sister Octavia of the Arcanus holds the answer we speak. She is the Legion's designated Chaplain. All the sisters are connected to both the Gods and the Earth, but Octavia can hear them directly, bestowing her the 'Voice of the Ancients', an ability that be used to magnify someone's voice, to force someone into submission as it 'fills in the cracks within their weakened psyche' so to speak, breeding loyalty in the recipient. Mainly she just uses it to scare the ever-living shit out of the men, but if all else fails, she is the answer you seek Lord" Vorenus replied.
"Attempt your method first. Every day once camp and scout lines have been established, run them through what you believe to be necessary. I will instruct Aurelia to add another command to both children and parents that they aren't to interact. In one month, I want a report on this matter. The pregnant woman by the name of Lori is not to be touched if her child is still alive after what the men have done to her, if not, shame, the child would've made a good soldier. I also permit to you and you alone the new blonde slave, if that's something you do... Dismissed Centurion" August spoke as Vorenus returned a salute.
Turning to one of his Praetorians, August whispered to them a command that immediately made two of them break off in the direction of the slaves.
"So who is he? What does he want?" Hershel asked Amy.
"A sociopath, psychopa..." Amy attempted to speak, only for her collar to activate with a powerful shock.
"What the hell are these things..." Maggie whispered to herself as she rubbed the tattoo on her neck.
Before she knew it, two silver armor-clad men quickly approached. One grabbed Amy who didn't resist, but Maggie thrashed with the might of a she-wolf, only for the Praetorian to be completely unfazed in the short time before her collar activated, causing her to go partially limp. Brought into the house, Amy was placed on a couch in the living room downstairs as her Praetorian stood beside her like a statue once more. Meanwhile, Maggie was dragged upstairs where she was brought into what used to be Hershel's study, the only reminder of that being the desk with how trashed the room now was.
Ripping her arm from the Praetorian's grasp as soon as they allowed it, Maggie stood tall before the armored man all these psycho's called 'Emperor'. Dismissing the guard, August faced Maggie, showing her his face for the first time. She could say one thing for the man, he wasn't some pathetic ball sack-looking geezer she expected, but one of the hottest men she'd ever seen, but these thoughts were kept deep inside and away from the scowl she currently gave him.
"I can understand your first impressions. A man I killed once said something that summed it up perfectly. 'You have something good, so they'll want to take it from you'. But that's just the way the world works now. Humanity got kicked in the ass hard enough to where no one cared if we resorted back to what we've always been, animals. Monkeys, Apes, Lions, Elephants, hell fucking ANTS kill each other over the smallest things such as land, females and resources. To call me an animal as you are likely thinking right about now, is one of the most truthful things someone can say to me, because all I see when I look at the people who preach the 'Civilized in the apocalypse' act, are kidding themselves. So go on, I give you express permission to get whatever it is off your chest" August spoke as he sat down in an old nicely built leather chair.
"I've got nothing to say to someone like you. If you've dragged me all the way up here to have your way with me, then GET ON WITH IT!. But don't talk your justification horseshit to me, for that's all I'll tell you to go eat!" Maggie snarled while shedding a single tear, only causing August to have a smile spread across his face.
"You know, I came all the way from Atlanta just for you. Your sister and the farmhand woman, well, my men can have them. Your father? He'll be useful for the horse breeding program I'm going to build, but you...you are the GOLDEN GOOSE!" He said as he tapped the table twice, causing the door to open as none other than Carl and Sophia brought in plates of beef stew and steak, placing both on the table before quickly leaving.
"Now I'd give you permission to do the whole 'sending the perfectly good steak across the room' cliche, but I won't, because DAMN does this look good. Sit, eat, you're gonna need it" August commanded as the collar glowed as Maggie slumped into the seat opposite the table.
"More hesitant to defy him after the threat to her sister, Maggie begrudgingly answered all his prying questions about her and her family.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I had both my parents, despite killing one in the end. I'm assuming that despite your father's and younger sisters' beliefs, you saw them as exactly what they are, the dead!" He inquired.
"My father saw them as nothing more than sick the same way pa..."
"Paranoid schizophrenics are, yeah. I have the same types of people many times, only they weren't so fortunate to live in seclusion when their hypotheses came back to literally bite them in the ass" August chuckled for a good few seconds while Maggie's expression remained stone could.
The two eventually finished their meals, August long before Maggie. Getting up from his chair, he made his way over to her side, coming down to face-to-face level to whisper something in her ear.
"You're not gonna like what I'm going to tell you to do next, it's quite dirty" He chuckled, causing her to stagger in her breathing and shut her eyes as she imagined the horrific things his men had done to some of the women.
Leaning in far enough to give her a soft kiss on the cheek, he suddenly pulled away as he reached over the desk to stack his empty plate on top of hers.
"These dishes are so troublesome to clean. I'll leave them to you for tonight. Like I said sweetness, quite dirty!" He said before exiting the room, leaving her to drop her act and silently cry.
