Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1007: Shortcut

He broke off and looked at Secilian, his face instantly breaking into a fawning smile. Bowing obsequiously, he stammered, "Lord... Lord Secilian, if I tell you where the tunnel is, what... what reward will you give me?"

Secilian forced down his annoyance and smiled. "If you can prove what you say is true, you'll have done a great service for the Kingdom of Daunia. In two years at most, you'll become a Daonian Official Citizen, enjoying the many rights the kingdom grants you!"

"Two whole years..." Carmilus grumbled, clearly dissatisfied. But seeing Secilian glaring at him like a vicious beast, he quickly shouted, "Of course the tunnel is real! It's right in the Lampcuba Estate!"

His words piqued the laborers' curiosity. "Which Lampcuba?"

"Lampcuba of the Hanno family, of course! The richest merchant in Lilybaeum!" Carmilus puffed out his chest, looking as proud as if the wealth were his own.

"You're lying! The people of the Lampcuba Estate are high and mighty. How could you ever get close to them? There's no way you'd know a secret like that!" The young Setonus voiced his doubts, drawing nods of agreement from several other laborers.

"Of course it's true!" Seeing the suspicion on Secilian's face as well, Carmilus hastily explained. "One night three years ago, I was bored and just wandering around the Port District... and, uh... somehow... I ended up walking into the Lampcuba Estate—"

Setonus let out a cold snort. The mockery plainly written across his face seemed to say: 'What do you mean, somehow? You obviously broke in to steal!'

Shameless, Carmilus ignored him and continued. "His estate was too big. I got lost and couldn't find my way out. Terrified of running into their guards, I found a place to hide. As luck would have it, I overheard their steward whispering with his men. They said they were 'going to use the estate's tunnel to transport military rations out of the Southwest Military Camp'... I'd heard Lampcuba holds a lot of power and status in Carthage, and no one in Lilybaeum dares cross his servants. Knowing a huge secret like that—if they found out, would I still be alive? I was scared out of my wits! After finally escaping, I buried the secret deep. I never dared tell a soul, so they have no idea..."

Thrilled by the revelation, Secilian had no time for the man's flattery. "Where is the Lampcuba Estate?!" he demanded.

"I know! I'll take you!" several laborers scrambled to answer, practically falling over each other in their eagerness to claim the credit and earn a reward.

"Hold on!" Carmilus shouted. "Lord Secilian, the Lampcuba Estate is massive! Finding that tunnel won't be easy! You'd be better off directly interrogating Lampcuba and his family!"

Secilian looked at him. The man's character was rotten, but he had a sharp mind. Turning back to his soldiers, he ordered, "Take him with you, and go arrest Lampcuba immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers roared in response, unable to suppress their excitement. Lord Secilian's seemingly flippant orders had actually uncovered the key to victory!

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

The Warships of the 3rd Fleet gradually pulled into the docks. Leotychides stepped ashore, preparing to assemble the Eighth Legion soldiers as they disembarked, when he spotted several troops from the Mountain Scout Corps rushing toward him.

"Secilian wants to see me? What's going on?" Leotychides asked, surprised by the scout's message.

"General, it concerns a crucial matter regarding the capture of this city. You'll understand once you get there!" the scout replied seriously, though he couldn't hide the excitement in his voice. He quickly added a warning, "It's best if you bring a small escort to avoid drawing the attention of the enemies on the wall."

Intrigued, Leotychides left Tagerus in charge of assembling the troops. Taking only a squad of soldiers from the Flagship, he hurried after the Mountain Scout Corps members toward the Port District.

While Lilybaeum was a key Carthaginian military stronghold in Sicily, it was also Carthage's only directly governed territory on the island. Over the past twenty years, the Carthaginians had poured immense wealth and manpower into it, fueling a thriving maritime trade. As a result, the Port District was expansive. Warehouses, shops, and markets stood shoulder to shoulder along grid-like streets. The residential blocks were densely packed yet meticulously planned. The further inland one went, the larger and more lavish the estates became... Yet, this sprawling district was now practically a ghost town. Most of its residents had been herded toward the city gates—a feat achieved not just by the Mountain Scout Corps, but with the heavy support of the Sicilian Fleet's naval infantry.

Upon learning that the tunnel was hidden within the Lampcuba Estate, Secilian had immediately sent men to arrest the key figures. At the same time, he rapidly deployed over a thousand naval infantrymen from the Corvus Warships to completely clear the civilians out of the Port District, ensuring no word of the discovery could leak.

This left Leotychides and his men navigating a completely deserted neighborhood. With no lights around, the streets were pitch-black, and they repeatedly stumbled over corpses littering the road.

"Are we there yet? Where exactly are we going?" the squad leader finally asked. He had already tripped twice along the way, leaving his helmet askew and his nose bruised, so understandably, he harbored a fair bit of resentment.

Leotychides didn't reprimand him, because his mind was still entirely occupied with the scout's earlier comment about "capturing Lilybaeum," so much so that he hadn't noticed they were nearing the city's inner walls.

The leading scout quickly reassured them. "Almost there! Just a bit further!"

After another ten meters, the scout stopped. He pointed to an open gate along the road. "We're here. Let's go in. Lord Secilian is waiting for you inside."

Leotychides, however, halted to carefully observe his surroundings. He suddenly noticed that the estate's perimeter wall was much taller than the others—easily over four meters high. Even in the gloom, he could tell the massive gates were incredibly thick. 'Whoever lives here is no ordinary family!...'

Just then, someone hurried out to greet them. "Lord Leotychides, you're finally here! Lord Secilian is growing anxious waiting for you!"

The man was a battalion commander of the Sicilian Fleet's naval infantry. Leotychides recognized him from past encounters, which finally put his mind at ease. He stepped forward and asked, "What exactly did Secilian find that requires all this secrecy?"

"A tunnel leading directly into the city!" the battalion commander whispered excitedly. "Lord Secilian learned of it from some dock laborers. He specifically had the Mountain Scout Detachment capture the people in this estate. It took executing a few of the captives to force the truth out of them."

'So this was the solution His Majesty mentioned!...' Leotychides's spirits soared. "Take me to it, quickly!" he urged.

The estate was massive. The commander led him inside, bypassing the main courtyard entirely. Instead, they slipped through a side gate and entered a paved passage wide enough to accommodate a large carriage. The path ran straight east, hugging the estate's outer wall.

Staring at the looming city wall ahead, Leotychides listened to the deafening battle cries echoing from just beyond it. A realization began to dawn on him.

After a few dozen meters, several towering, warehouse-like structures came into view. The battalion commander pointed to one of them. "Lord Secilian is in there."

Leotychides didn't enter right away. He took another careful look around, then pointed to the left. "Is the port's main gate into the city over that way?"

Surprised by the question, the commander glanced to the left. "That's right. There are several thousand civilians clustered over there. The Mountain Scout Detachment and our naval infantry spent a lot of effort herding them in that direction. The tactic worked perfectly, though. The Carthaginians haven't dared to open the gates since we arrived..."

Leotychides then turned to look back and to his right. A few hundred meters away, flames still flickered along the top of the wall. That had to be where the gate tower was located.

Recalling the layout of Lilybaeum he had mapped out after interrogating Carthaginian sailors, Leotychides could now make a definitive assessment: right behind the wall in front of them lay the city's Southwest Military Camp.

Gazing at the scattered torches flickering along the wall just a few dozen meters away, Leotychides instinctively pulled off his helmet, shielding its conspicuous purple-and-red crest with his body. He turned to the squad leader beside him. "Go wait by the estate gates. If any troops arrive, tell them there are to be no torches and absolutely no noise. They must advance in a single-file column, and they must remove any crested helmets..."

After delivering his solemn instructions, Leotychides followed the battalion commander into the warehouse.

The warehouse was cluttered with supplies. In a far corner, a dim light flickered. Secilian and seven or eight soldiers stood gathered in a circle, while a few other guards kept watch over two captives nearby.

At the sound of footsteps, Secilian turned. A smug grin spread across his face. "Prosous, come take a look! I've just brought you the perfect opportunity to achieve great glory!"

Ignoring his boastful tone, Leotychides strode quickly over to the group.

The soldiers hurriedly stepped aside to make room. What lay before Leotychides wasn't the pitch-black hole he had imagined, but something more like a cellar. A flight of stone steps led down to a solid floor, framed by stacked stone walls supported by iron pillars. Wall lamps cast light down a straight subterranean tunnel that stretched endlessly into the darkness ahead...

Leotychides stood at the entrance of the passage—wide enough for three adults to walk abreast—and observed it for a good while. Finally, he climbed the stone steps back up into the warehouse. His first words were, "A tunnel like this couldn't possibly have been dug out recently."