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Just one year after Laos joined Theonia, the change on Laos’ port was so much that it had truly surprised Kanos.

His boat even needed to wait for some time before a dock was freed for him to anchor. An official sent by the city hall of Laos, who had received the news, was already on the port waiting to greet him, and Kanos gladly accepted the invitation to meet the master of the city, the archon Avinoges.

“Could it be that the port is this busy every day?” Kanos asked.

“Yes.” The official then added with pride, “The merchants of Theonia Union like to come to us and charter ships to trade with the Gaul in the north or the Iberian Peninsula in the west, and then land here full of goods and carry them back to Thurii. A few months ago, after the establishment of the South Italia Alliance, we had even gotten busier! Because as long as they are allies of Theonia Union, we in Laos will provide the best services and preferential fees for docking, accommodation and water supply. Now, after Grumentum became a part of Theonia Union, more merchants had started coming here, and most of them came here for the excellent iron ore of Grumentum…and we also greatly welcome the merchants of Elea to trade here as well!”

Kanos was just about to respond with a smile when suddenly, an angry voice sounded from the front, “Damn moron, don’t get in the way!”

Then came the sound of screaming, and Kanos then saw two naked men lying on their back by the roadside and their bodies were covered with bloodstained whip marks and several heavy sacks dumped on one side.

“These slaves are Lucanians.” For fear of leaving a bad impression on the guests, the official hastily explained, “Their ancestors had forcibly captured Laos and made all the Greeks of Laos their slaves, and making our lives worse than death for generations. And lord Avinoges then led us to take back Laos! A year ago, they were the masters of this city, and they had treated us like livestock, but now we Greeks are the master of Laos once more and they are now also tasting what it is like to be a slave!”

Kanos looked at the excited official and thought about how he doesn’t look like a pure Greek.

“You have turned all the Lucanians in this city into slaves?!” Kanos asked.

“Not all. Some of them are relatives of the Lucanian citizens of Theonia Union, and were later released by lord Avinoges and went to Nerulum, and they may have now become citizens of Theonia. I don’t know why the Theonians are so tolerant of these savages who believe in strange gods!” The official murmured in a low voice. Although he said it with some hatred, he did not vent it as loudly as he had.

This also shows the influence of Theonia on the people of the city-states that are affiliated with them.

The city of Laos that was located near the estuary of the Lao river was not too big and it only has less than 5,000 citizens: Some of them were part of the tribe under the command of the Avinoges, which was the core of his strength in becoming the archon for life of Laos, and so when these people became citizens, Avinoges had given them an allotment of land. The others were the original Greek slaves that were liberated by Avinoges and had also given them citizenship, but no land was allocated to them. So for them to make a living, they either serve as a low-level civil servant in the city or become hired workers or worked at the port…fortunately, the tax burden in Laos is not heavy, as long as they are hardworking and are willing to work, they should still be able to earn small savings.

Although Avinoges claimed to be a descendant of the Greeks, he himself knew from his heart that he was of mixed blood, like most of the citizens in Laos, so Avinoges and the citizens of Laos have similar feelings of inferiority, exclusion and ethnic identity. Moreover, he rescued them from slavery, and as long as he treated the people well, they will support him. Therefore, although he learned from Davos and had made himself an archon for life, the truth is the council of Laos was only a decoration, and they don’t even have an ecclesia, and Avinoges is the only one making decisions whether it is big or small, he was a real tyrant.

In this so-called city hall, which is actually the residence of the lord of the city, Kanos met Avinoges. The burly, fat and slightly ferocious archon of Laos had even prepared a banquet to warmly welcome Kanos.

After taking his seat, he also raised his wine cup and expressed his sincere thanks to Avinoges for his hospitality, “I came to Laos three years ago, but this time, I found that Laos has changed a lot, especially the trade in the port is now very prosperous. It has only been just over a year since Laos gained its freedom, and yet it has achieved so much. Lord archon must have put a lot of effort into this!”

Kanos’ words of praise were soothing to the ears of Avinoges, which had even made him laugh heartily and said, “It is natural as I have given it all, but I should thank the allies of Laos more. Because in this alliance, Laos has enjoyed a lot of conveniences!…”

Kanos listened attentively.

Then Avinoges asked, “Is the reason why Elea has sent you here is to join the Theonia Union?”

Kanos was stunned. With the current situation of Elea, and the fact that they have sent someone to go to Theonia at this time, anyone with a good eye can roughly guess the purpose of their mission, but Kanos didn’t expect Avinoges to ask him so directly. He put down his cup and thought about it, and vaguely said, “Whether to join the alliance or to adopt other forms of alliance will depend on the outcome of the negotiation with Theonia.”

Avinoges looked at him and grinned, “Please forgive me for speaking directly, but with my understanding of Theonia and Elea’s current strength, I am afraid that Theonia will not accept other forms of agreement.”

This is obviously to say that Elea is not strong enough, so don’t expect to get better treatment in the talks with Theonia. Kanos was a little embarrassed and then bowed his head to drink and didn’t respond.

Then Avinoges said, “I heard that Elea has close contacts with the Greek city-states of Campania. Theonia may not accept Elea to join the alliance if Elea has any alliance with Campania, because they do not allow the city-states in their alliance to have any diplomatic relations with other city-states.”

Kanos was a little surprised because he did not know that there was such a rule between Theonia and her allies, “Thank you for your reminder! Even though the city-state of Campania has given Elea some help, Elea has no alliance agreement with any city-state.” Answered Kanos without hesitation.

In fact, the Campania alliance headed by Neapolis and Capua has not agreed to accept Elea, because there are two powerful races between Campania and Elea, namely Samnites and the Lucanians, and Elea is not strong enough. Once they become an alliance, only Campania will continue to help Elea, while Elea could barely contribute to the Campania alliance, so how could the shrewd Greeks do such a loss-making business. The only reason why Elea was able to trade with Campania was due to mutual demand, with Elea needing to recruit mercenaries from Campania to defend against the attack of the Lucanian, and they had to pay for them.

“That would be great. With that Elea can join Theonia Union, and with the strength and reputation of Theonia, the Lucanians will no longer be your problem. And with Elea and Laos being the only two coastal ports of Theonia Alliance in the Tyrrhenian Sea, we could cooperate and strengthen our trade exchange in the future….” Avinoges smiled excitedly and seems to have given his advice without any motives.

Kanos was silent for a moment, but how could he express his position without even seeing the archon of Theonia, so he changed the topic, “Lord archon must have met the archon of Theonia union, lord Davos, right? So what kind of person is he?”

“I saw him a lot of times, and have even fought with him side by side!” Avinoges looked proud as he wiped the wine stains off his mouth and said seriously, “Here is a piece of advice! Don’t look down on him just because he is young, he is an amazing man!”

Since Elea wants to have a cooperation with Theonia, they naturally made some investigation of Theonia, and naturally, the focus of their investigation was Davos. The members of the council of Elea had given Davos both praise and criticism. What they appreciate is his extraordinary ability in making Theonia rise in such a short time, which is inseparable from his efforts. However, what worried them is that he is the only archon and an archon for life for that, how is that different from Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse.

Would Elea’s collaboration with Theonia lead the wolf into their house? The prosperity of Laos had made Kanos’ worries to be reduced, while the words of Avinoges had made his curiously stronger, ‘Is this the admiration of a tyrant to a tyrant?’

“By the way, I can take you to Thurii tomorrow.” Said Avinoges suddenly.

“Milord, I am very grateful for your hospitality! So how could I dare to make you send me in person? It will just make me uneasy!” Kanos was moved but had tactfully declined.

“Hahaha!….” Avinoges laughed loudly, “You don’t have to thank me, the ride was just along the way. The temple of Hades in Thurii has been completed and Theonia has invited me to come for the celebration ceremony!”

The teasing of Avinoges had made Kanos embarrassed, but he was even more surprised by what he just said, ‘Temple of Hades?!’

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hearing that Heracleides had fainted when the Temple of Hades was completed and that he was in a coma, Davos immediately put off all his business and rushed to Heracleides’ home.

Although Heracleides managed to wake up, he was not able to move. His eyes were half-open, his mouth was wide open and his chest was heaving up and down like a ragged below and making a harsh “wheezing” sound…

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