Antaoris nodded to him, and then looked around at the crowd, their eyes looking at him with wariness and scrutiny, which lowered his expectations for the success of this mission.

Antaoris secretly cheered himself up, mobilized his emotions as quickly as possible, and made his words more powerful: "Ladies and gentlemen, Dionys, as the leader of the alliance of the Greek city-states of southern Italy (here, he is obviously exaggerating the prosperity of Dionia. It was his duty to maintain peace between the Greek city-states of southern Italy and to protect the lives and property of the Greeks, as Theoria had been doing for more than half a year. A few months ago, Dionya had mediated the war between Crotone and Lokri, and a few days earlier, at the request of the allies, he had sent troops to aid Tarantum against the invasion of Tarantum by the Mesapi and Puchetti people......"

As Antaoris said this, he saw that everyone's expressions became solemn.

"Siru, a tribe of Greeks who have always lived peacefully in this mountainous region, and who have always lived in friendship with the surrounding tribes, but now that their very existence is threatened, your newly formed tribal alliance threatens this weak tribe, which has never harmed any of the Brutis, to leave their homeland for decades and accept your co-optation in Cosenza, and they are compelled to ask for help from Dionia. In order to protect the lives and property of the Greeks in southern Italy, the Dionian Senate reached an agreement and sent me here, hoping that the Bruti tribal alliance would stop the threat to the Silu tribe and restore its peaceful and peaceful life! ”

After Antaoris finished speaking, the people present did not seem to be surprised, they looked at each other. Yesterday, when the reason for the Ionian envoy to Bruti was discussed, someone really said that the Ionians had come for Siru.

And the person in question is the great chief of Knappetia, Pangairu, and the settlement of the Silen tribe is not far north of the city of Knappettia. At this time, he stood up angrily: "Arrogant Dionians, Siru lives in the land of Bruti, their food and clothing are produced in this land, they are the tribe of Bruti, this is the internal affairs of Bruti, and it has nothing to do with you Greeks!" If you're just for it, you can go back! You are not welcome in Bruti, and you don't like a force outside the mountains interfering in Bruti's affairs! ”

Antaoris sneered: "The Bruti region is only because of the large number of Bruti tribes gathered here, and people are used to calling this mountainous area as such. In fact, this mountainous region is neither a country nor a city-state, so there is no unified territory and borders! Everyone knows that Silu is a tribe of Greeks who lived on this land a hundred years ago, and they have the right to continue to live independently here! ”

The great chief of Bissinia, Nikuru, like his son Kanaru, had a violent temper, and immediately scolded, and shouted: "What right do the Dionians have to dictate in the land of our Brutis! Originally, we were going to deal with the problem of the Xilu tribe in a few days, but now that you say this, I have decided to send a large army to destroy it in the afternoon! ”

"If Dionya can give Crimesa, Asprarustum, and Niutum the right to live independently. Well, it's not a big problem for us to let Siru go. Not to be outdone, the Grand Leader of Ambanya, Bergam, mocked.

Antaoris stood quietly, unheard of their scolding.

At this time, Sedorum asked aloud: "What will happen if we refuse the demands of your Ionians?" ”

The scolding in the hall suddenly became much quieter.

"I have only been instructed to inform you of the Senate's demands, and you do not accept them, and the Dionian Senate needs to be discussed before it can make a decision on the next step." Antaoris remained silent, but his tone was aggravated: "However, Dionya has always kept his promise that he will not let his allies be bullied, even if it costs a lot, and the previous examples have shown it all. And as I have already said, I, Lord Davers, the Archon of Dionia, in order to fulfill the covenant with Tarantom, led 15,000 soldiers to fight against Mesapi, who had invaded our ally, in the land of Tarantum, and just as I was about to send an envoy to Cosenza, there was already a report of the battle, Lord Davers led his army to defeat the 30,000 combined forces of Mesapi and Puchetti in the mountains, and the Mae and Puchetti coalition forces suffered numerous casualties and were forced to sign a peace agreement with Tarantum. Soon Lord Davers will return to Turiyi with a victorious army for a triumphal ceremony! ”

Threat! This is a naked threat! Everyone looked at each other, and the Grand Leader of Nikuru jumped to his feet and cursed, and threatened not to be afraid of war with Dionia.

"Quiet! Be quiet! High Priest Philo Taru stood up and kept order in the hall.

"Dionians, we Bruti warriors are not afraid of war!" Pianlun, who was sitting in the middle, spoke: "But Bruti and Dionya are neighbors, once there is a conflict, then it will permanently damage the relationship between the two races, leading to wars, in order to avoid the possible loss of countless people's lives because of the affairs of the Silu tribe, Bruti is willing to make concessions, we will not punish Silu for violating the order, and let them leave Bruti safely." ”

"What are you talking about, Pianren! Bruti will never give in to Dionia! Nikuru immediately expressed displeasure.

"What about the land? The land where Xilu has lived for generations has been robbed by you like this?! Antaoris was also quick to react and quickly asked rhetorically.

Pianren glanced at Nikuru, who said no more, though still resentful on his face.

High Priest Firotaru solemnly admonished Antaoris: "Not turning the Siru people into slaves is already the greatest kindness of our Bruti tribal alliance, don't be too greedy for the Dionians!" ”

Antaoris shook his head and said in a tough tone, "But the order of the Senate gave me the order, 'Siru's right to live independently in Buruti must be guaranteed!'" ”

The glint in Pianlun's eyes flickered, and his tone became indifferent: "In that case, we will make a decision after we deliberate." ”

"And we don't know the current situation of the Xilu tribe, and we also need to send someone to understand it before we can make a judgment." Sedorum quickly interjected.

As the escorts escorted Antaoris away, the discussion in the council hall became more intense.

"Dionyas bullied us too much, what to say to protect the Greeks in southern Italy, I think they just don't want to see us Brutis unite, so they deliberately cause trouble for us!" Pangaru said angrily.

High Priest Firotaru nodded and encouraged everyone: "So we Buruti people must unite more closely, so that we are not afraid of the Greeks and Lucanians!" ”

"Why don't we give these pesky Ionians—" Nikuru made a head-chopping gesture with a wave of his hand.

"That's not going to work!" Sedorum hurriedly persuaded: "Both the Greeks and the Lucanians have a rule of treating envoys well, even in times of war. We, Bruti, are becoming a powerful alliance, and we should abide by these universally agreed norms of all races in order to deal with them better. Not to mention that killing the Dionian emissary would only anger the Dionians, and war would be inevitable. ”

"What is Dionia! My people and I are not afraid of them at all! Nikuru said without showing weakness.

"We are certainly not afraid of Dionia! But in the event of a war, the major event of our unification of Bruti will be seriously affected! Pianlun said solemnly.

"I don't think it's better to imprison them for a few days, and then release them when we settle Silu. When the time comes, they want to defend Xilu again, but the Xilu tribe no longer exists, so they have to accept this fact. Bergaru suggested.

Inspired by this, Sedorum was inspired and said, "Guys, I think it's a good idea, and we can change it a little more......"

Sedorum finished his thoughts, and everyone else thought it was a good idea, but Nikuru was dismissive and said impatiently, "Why do you make it so complicated, as if we Bruti are afraid of the Dionians!" ”

Pianlun ignored him and cautiously reminded, "Elder Sedorum's suggestion, I think it can be implemented. However, we also need to be prepared, in case the Dioonians do not accept our approach, then we must be prepared for the war that may come! ”

After a brief silence in the hall, Nikuru first said, "I admit that Dionya is stronger than us, but as long as they dare to enter the Bruti Mountains, I promise that they will not return!" Because no one is more familiar with the mountains and plateaus than we are, Amara (the goddess of snow-capped mountains and plateaus worshipped by the Brutis) has sheltered us Brutis for hundreds of years, and will continue to protect us Brutis! ”

Nikuru's words lifted everyone's spirits.

High Priest Firotaru said, "In addition, we also need to find allies to fight against Dionya together, so as to relieve the pressure on us to face Dionia alone. ”

Ally? The Bruti region is already surrounded by Dionya and its allies, where to find allies? While everyone was pondering, Sedorum suddenly shouted excitedly: "Lucanian! We can go to the Lucanians! Dionya has already threatened the territory of Pikkos and Poittia after seizing Grummentium, and if they don't want to be the next Grummentum, they should be willing to ally with us. ”

Pianlun's eyes lit up. The reason why he did not think of the Lucarians was because two years ago the Lucanians were still the most feared enemies of the Brutis, and when the city of Vig surrendered to the Lucanian tribal alliance and the situation in the Bruti region was at its most critical, Pianlun even moved the idea of leading the tribe to move south, for which he also led the Cosenza army and Klapettia to attack Trina in the south, and there was a fierce battle with the Crotone League. But just two years later, the former tyrannical Lucanians have fallen to this point, which cannot but arouse Pianlen's alarm.

"The Grand Chief of Sedorum is a good friend of the Lucanians, and it's no wonder that you are the only one who thinks of Lucania. So if you want to talk about an alliance with the Lucanians, it's better for you to come forward and talk about it. Nikuru scoffed, ignoring the fact that Sedorum was the elder of the Bruti Alliance, along with him.