Sparta: Many childrens, Many Blessings, Starting from the Gladiator Chapter 19 19

[Task: Establish Prestige]

[Requirent: Before the performance match, obtain clear loyalty or following from at least ten gladiators (Current: 5/10)]

[Reward: System Points x300, Random Attribute Point x1]

Still short five people.

300 points, plus the existing 500, makes 800 points.

Just enough.

But finding five more people to pledge loyalty before the performance match is not easy.

Ti is too tight, and most people in the training ground are still watching — Crixus's remaining influence is still there, Batiatus's shadow covers everything, no one dares to easily choose a side.

Unless… there is enough big benefit, or enough big crisis.

He can't give too much benefit for now.

But crisis…

Lynx rembered the kitchen matter.

The food was drugged. After Mira's reminder, he had carefully avoided it.

Gisco and Amir also privately notified a few trustworthy ones, but most people are still eating.

If… let them know?

If all the gladiators in the training ground know that their food has a problem, their bodies are being slowly eroded, and the boss Batiatus tacitly allowed or even participated in this matter…

What will happen?

Panic? Anger? Or… resistance?

Lynx thought for a mont and shook his head.

Too risky.

Revealing it now will only alert the enemy.

Batiatus will imdiately clean the kitchen, destroy the evidence, and then point the finger at the "rumormongers".

At that ti, not to ntion gathering five more people, the existing five may not be preserved.

Need to change the approach.

Just as he was thinking, the cell door was knocked.

Knock knock.

Very light, hesitant knocking.

Lynx got up and opened the door.

Outside the door stood Amir, his face a bit white, his eyes panicked.

"Big Brother, sothing happened."

"What happened?"

"Marcus… Marcus suddenly fainted during training just now."

Amir lowered his voice. "The instructor said it was heatstroke, but Sister Mira secretly told that when she checked, she found Marcus's heartbeat was very slow, his pupils were a bit dilated… it doesn't look like heatstroke."

Lynx's heart sank.

Marcus was the gladiator who was thrown by him several tis in the sand pit that day and later clinked bowls with him by the bonfire.

"Where is he now?"

"dical room. Sister Mira asked to call you, said… said she might have sothing to tell you."

Lynx closed the door and quickly followed Amir to the dical room.

The dical room was filled with an even stronger sll of dicinal herbs.

Marcus lay on a simple wooden bed against the wall, eyes closed, face pale, breathing weak.

Mira was wiping his forehead. Seeing Lynx co in, she looked up, her eyes serious.

"How is he?"

Lynx asked urgently.

"Not good."

Mira said softly. "On the surface it looks like heatstroke, but when I checked, there is sothing strange in his body. I can't say what it is, but it is definitely not heatstroke."

Lynx walked to the bedside and looked at Marcus.

This man who called him out by the bonfire a few days ago was now as weak as a leaf.

"What special thing has he eaten recently?"

Mira shook her head: "Sa as everyone else, but…"

She hesitated for a mont. "Yesterday the kitchen sent him a special al, saying it was Master Batiatus rewarding him for training hard, a small bowl of stewed at, much better than usual."

Special al.

Lynx's eyes turned cold.

"Did others have it?"

"No, only he had it."

Mira said. "I felt strange at the ti. Marcus's training performance wasn't the best. Why would he be rewarded alone? Thinking about it now…"

"It's a test."

Lynx interrupted her. "To see the effect of the drugged food."

Mira's face turned white: "You an…"

"Soone wants to drug all of our food, but doesn't dare to put too much at once, afraid of being discovered, so they first find soone to test the dose and observe the reaction."

Lynx looked at the unconscious Marcus. "Marcus beca the guinea pig."

Amir sucked in a cold breath beside him.

"Then… what do we do now? Tell everyone?"

"No."

Lynx shook his head. "No evidence. And Marcus is like this now. Dead n tell no tales. If we say it, we will only be treated as rumormongers."

"But…"

"No buts."

Lynx turned to look at Mira. "Can you save him?"

Mira bit her lip: "I will try my best, but I need a few kinds of herbs. There are none in the training camp. I need to buy them in the city."

"I have money."

Lynx took out the denarii Batiatus gave him from his bosom, took out two and handed them to Mira. "Enough?"

Mira looked at the two silver coins, hesitated for a mont, and took one: "Enough, one is enough, but… how do I get out? Slaves cannot leave the training camp casually."

Lynx thought for a mont: "Go find Lady Lucretia. Say Marcus's condition is serious and needs special herbs. Ask her to help arrange it. She should agree — after all, a gladiator dying before the performance match is not good for Batiatus."

Mira nodded: "Good, I will go now."

She packed up the dicine box and hurriedly left the dical room.

Lynx asked Amir to guard the door. He sat down by the bedside himself and looked at Marcus's pale face.

This man who had provoked him before was now lying here between life and death because he ate the "reward" he shouldn't have eaten.

Ironic.

"System,"

Lynx asked in his heart, "Can you detect the toxin in his body?"

[Detection requires close contact with the target. Continue?]

"Continue."

[Detecting…]

[Detected compound neuro-inhibitor, dose: dium.]

[Component is homologous with the toxin detected in the Host's body, but the concentration is higher.]

[Current effect: Target's nervous system is damaged. Coma state will last 12-24 hours. If not treated in ti, it may cause permanent damage.]

Homologous.

It is indeed the sa thing.

Lynx clenched his fist.

Batiatus is really watertight.

Large-scale drugging uses micro doses, testing uses dium doses. It can control the overall situation and test the effect.

Ruthless enough.

Just as he was thinking, footsteps ca from outside the door.

Amir pushed the door open and said nervously: "Big Brother, Crixus is here!"

Lynx frowned, stood up and walked to the door.

Crixus was striding over. His face had no expression, but his eyes carried a trace of complexity.

He walked to the dical room door, looked at Marcus inside, then looked at Lynx.

"How is he?"

"Not good."

Crixus was silent for a mont, then suddenly lowered his voice: "I know what's going on."

Lynx slightly raised an eyebrow.

Crixus walked a few steps to the side and motioned for Lynx to follow.

The two walked to a corner of the courtyard, ensuring no one was around.

"Yesterday afternoon,"

Crixus opened his mouth, his voice very low. "I saw the kitchen steward secretly add sothing to Marcus's bowl of stewed at, white powder, just a little bit."

Lynx looked at him: "You saw it, but didn't stop it?"

"Why should I stop it?"

Crixus sneered. "That kid Marcus was still putting his arm around your shoulder a few days ago. I wished he would die."

"Then why are you telling now?"

Crixus's face changed. He gritted his teeth and said: "Because this morning, the kitchen also sent a 'special al'."

Lynx's eyes narrowed.

"I didn't eat it."

Crixus gritted his teeth. "I poured it to the dog. As a result, that dog collapsed in the afternoon and still can't stand up now."

He paused and stared at Lynx: "That old thing Batiatus wants to ss with too."

Lynx understood.

Crixus may be stupid, but he is not stupid enough to let others slaughter him.

After realizing that he had also beco a target, he finally couldn't sit still.

"So you ca to find ?"

"Yes."

Crixus nodded. "In the performance match, we need to cooperate, but the premise of cooperation is that we both have to go on the field alive."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

Crixus irritably scratched his hair. "But I know that relying on just the two of us is not enough. At least one third of the people in the training ground have eaten 'special als' recently. If we don't do sothing, on the day of the performance match, we may not even be able to hold the sword steadily."

Lynx looked at him and suddenly asked: "How many people can you pull in?"

Crixus was stunned: "What do you an?"

"It ans that if we want to resist, we need manpower."

"How many people can you guarantee will stand on our side at the critical mont?"

Crixus frowned and thought for a mont: "Five or six I guess. All the ones who follow . Their brains are not good, but they listen to ."

Five or six.

Plus the five on Lynx's side, eleven people.

Barely enough.

But not enough.

"We need more."

Lynx thought for a mont and said, "Before the performance match, we need to pull in at least fifteen people to ensure that half the strength in the training ground is in our hands."

"How to pull them in?"

"Tell them the truth."

"But not now. Wait until Marcus wakes up, let him say it himself, then find an opportunity to let everyone see the miserable state of that dog. With evidence in front of them, they will naturally choose a side."

Crixus stared at Lynx for a few seconds and suddenly smiled: "You kid, smarter than I thought."

"If I wasn't smart, I would have died long ago."

Lynx said flatly.

"Okay."

Crixus nodded. "I will contact my people. You handle Marcus's side. When the ti is right, we will act together."

"Fine."

Lynx extended his hand. "Temporary cooperation."

Crixus hesitated for a mont, but still extended his hand and shook it with him.

"Temporary."

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