The slave girl went and opened the door. Instead of seeing the person who would send them money, she saw heavily armed guards, making her a little nervous.
“You… Who are you looking for?”
“Oh, does the champion of Amphitheatrum Flavium live here?” A young man who did not look much older than Zhang Heng squeezed himself through the four guards and came to the front.
“Yes, that’s right.” Zhang Heng’s voice came from behind the slave girl. He then walked toward the young man.
The slave girl did not want to cause any trouble, so she quickly walked away from the entrance and retreated to a corner.
Zhang Heng then shook hands with the young man before allowing him to enter the house.
There was a smile on the young man’s face, “Hello! I also watched your gladiatorial performance at Amphitheatrum Flavium. It was indeed exhilarating, especially the battle between you and the Giant. Words can no longer describe how epic the battle was. That was definitely the greatest battle I have ever watched. Maybe I can tell my grandson about it in thirty years… Oh, I haven’t introduced myself to you yet. I’m Clint, the emperor’s advisor.”
Zhang Heng’s eyes moved slightly when he heard who the young man was. He knew about Clint. According to the information given by Dadatis, Clint, and his target, Altrus, were the most trusted advisors of Commodus. Known as the Commodus’s right-hand men, one of them worked behind the curtain, and the other one worked in the light. Both of them helped Commodus to govern the country and respond to threats from all sides.
Earlier, Zhang Heng had figured that Commodus could not wait to recruit him. However, he did not expect him to send Clint.
With Clint’s current position, there had to be many things that he had to attend to daily. He could have sent his foot soldiers to come and look for Zhang Heng. However, he insisted on meeting Zhang Heng personally. This was obviously a sign of goodwill.
Once he entered the house, Zhang Heng asked Clint politely to sit by the table. That was the only spot in the house where Zhang Heng could talk to his guests. After that, Zhang Heng asked the slave girl to pour two glasses of water for them.
“Presumably, you already know what I’m here for. Yes, our emperor admires you very much, and he hopes you can consider working for us.” Clint wasted no time talking nonsense. Once he sat down, he started to explain his intentions.
However, Zhang Heng did not immediately agree to it. Instead, he said, “Of course, I also hope that I can help lighten the emperor’s burden. But as you can see, I am just a gladiator who has just regained his freedom. I come from a distant, foreign land, and I don’t know much about the political situation. I am worried…”
“I can understand your worries. Don’t you worry, my friend. The place that you will work in will be different from the Senate, surrounded by a corrupted atmosphere. There, you find greedy old men everywhere. I am only a commoner, and I used to wander in the streets as well. However, I was lucky enough to be recruited by an open-minded and unorthodox emperor. He is willing to make use of people like you and me and give us the opportunities to grow further.” Clint patted Zhang Heng’s shoulder, “There’s nothing you need to worry about. So there’s nothing for you to worry about. As long as you are capable, there will always be a position here for you to fill in.”
“Then where should I start?” Zhang Heng asked.
“Very well, it seems like you are readied for the new job. Next, let me tell you what we need you to do.” Clint was still polite and enthusiastic, and it took him a pretty long time to explain in detail his given tasks. He was very patient. Considering that this was Zhang Heng’s first task, his job was not that complicated. And it had something to do with his previous job as a gladiator.
In the second century, there were no surveillance cameras and criminal investigation equipment. It was a problem for every ruler to maintain law and order in the city. And the population of Rome had exceeded one million. Most of them who lived at the bottom rungs of the society were thieves, crooks, killers. They were very active in every street, and crime took place almost every minute.
The job of the patrol team was to stop the crime in time and catch the criminal as quickly as possible after the crime happened. The first job Zhang Heng received from Commodus was to assist the patrol team in maintaining law and order.
“Of course, you can’t take care of such a big city by yourself. So, you just need to pick an area,” Clint said as he took out the map of Rome and spread it out on the table.
But at that moment, a man dressed as a servant walked in from outside and whispered something to Clint. And Clint’s face changed slightly. When he looked at Zhang Heng again, he showed a touch of embarrassment.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Heng took the initiative to speak, “Almost everything has been explained clearly. If you have anything urgent to attend to, you should make a move first.”
Clint seemed to feel bad about it.
“His Majesty is very concerned about your affairs. I pushed all the morning arrangements to meet you in person. Initially, I wanted you to personally check out your workplace, but a sudden emergency requires my attention. I have to deal with it right away. I have an idea,” Clint thought about it for a while and beckoned a guard into the house, “This is Pannonax from the Janissary Guard. He has dealt with the patrol gang before. Regarding picking the area, you can ask for his advice. Don’t worry.”
Clint lowered his voice a little, “…It doesn’t matter if you don’t achieve too much. As long as there are no major mistakes, I will speak good things of you to the emperor.”
“Thank you so much,” Zhang Heng replied in kind.
“Welcome to join us. It is always exciting to see the team grow,” Clint smiled again. This sunny and cheerful young man seemed to like to smile a lot. “Let’s join hands to take on senators that look down on people with an ordinary background.”
After speaking, Clint and left with his servant hurriedly, and three of the four guards he brought with him quickly followed behind him. And the guard with a knife wound between his eyebrows stayed behind. He should be Pannonax.
As a result, before Zhang Heng greeted him, Pannonax’s face was darkened. He walked toward the table, pointed to an area on the map, and said rudely, “The area you are responsible for is here. Go and report there before dark.”
“Wait, but the master said that he’s free to choose the area he wants to patrol?”
Before Zhang Heng could speak his mind, the slave girl in the corner started to fight for Zhang Heng’s right.
Pannonax sneered, glared at Zhang Heng, like a vulture staring at its prey, “Are you here to work or recruit others to work? How about we let you guard the palace?”
Zhang Heng waved his hand to stop the slave girl from speaking again. He then nodded and said, “Fine. I will head there.”
Pannonax was a little surprised when he heard Zhang Heng’s reply. According to his expectation, Zhang Heng should be fuming right now, and he might even attempt to beat him up. After all, he was the champion of the gladiatorial performance that was held recently in Rome. Although Pannonax did not watch the performance, he figured that Zhang Heng’s strength should be outstanding.
People like him usually could not resist the desire to use their strength whenever they encountered trouble since this was the easiest way for them to solve the problem. However, Zhang Heng seemed to have no intention to do so.
Pannonax did not even see that Zhang Heng was holding on to his anger. The latter seemed calm as if he had foreseen that such a thing would happen. This made Pannonax a little uncomfortable, but it did not matter to him. He had set more than one trap for Zhang Heng to step on. He assumed that there was no way Zhang Heng could avoid the next trap.
