Decius had never been to East District before, but he had heard a lot about this place. Even the coachman was a little reluctant to take them when he heard that Zhang Heng and Decius wanted to travel there. In the end, Zhang Heng had to pay an extra fare to make the coachman bring them to their destination.
While they were on the way to the East District, Decius held back and did not say a word. However, after he got off the carriage, he could not help but ask, “Didn’t you say you want to find out who the mastermind behind Cobb is? Why are you here? As far as I know, everyone living in this place is either a criminal, a villain, or a pauper. I don’t think there’s anyone here that can make Cobb obey orders.”
“Yes, you are right, but they are our goal.”
“What? Are you saying that our targets are the criminals and villains?” Decius asked, puzzled.
“No. Our goal is the poor people here.”
“Poor people?”
“Yes, I told you before. Mines like those need a lot of manpower. The slaves alone are not enough to meet their labor needs. Besides, a strong, healthy, and capable slave does not come cheap. If the slave dies, the master will lose a lot of money. On the other hand, if they hire the poor, they don’t have to worry about this problem.”
Decius finally came to a realization, “You want to find the poor people who worked in the mine?”
“That’s right.” Zhang Heng nodded.
But Decius soon frowned again, “But this place is vast and chaotic. How can we find individuals that worked for the Binota Mine before?”
“That’s something you needn’t worry about,” Zhang Heng said with a wave of his hand. A kid that was playing with his companions on the street quickly ran to Zhang Heng. However, when the kid saw Zhang Heng closing in, he wanted to run away. Unfortunately, he could not do as he wished. In the end, he had to walk towards Zhang Heng obediently.
Zhang Heng whispered a few words into his ear and placed a copper coin in his palm.
The latter then grabbed the copper coin and ran away.
“Uh… I don’t think he’ll be back.” Decius watched the kid running away from the back.
“Yes, he won’t.” Zhang Heng nodded in agreement.
“Then what should we do next?”
“You can go around, enjoy yourself, or something. I will visit a friend to see if there are other places where you can get the copper you need. I am used to making backup plans. Let’s meet at the Blackwater Bay tavern later. Then, we will meet the people that worked in the mine,” Zhang Heng said.
“I… I don’t think we should act separately.” Decius was startled and had broken out in cold sweat. He did not even have time to ask Zhang Heng how he would spot a mine worker in the Blackwater Bay Tavern later. He felt really anxious. So, he hurriedly said, “You are not a Roman. Maybe that’s why you don’t know how insane this place is. Fabino of the Coruna family was hired as the assessor to appraise this place. He brought two guards with him when he came here for the first time. However, he ended up getting robbed on the street, and he was beaten badly. His engagement ring; lost as well. You are the gladiatorial champion of the Amphitheatrum Flavium, and you may not be afraid of the people here, but once we are separated, I’m not sure if you’ll see me again.”
“Relax, my friend, you came with me, and many people on the street saw it too. No one will mess with you. I promise,” Zhang Heng said.
“How do you guarantee that?” Decius did not believe Zhang Heng’s words. He held on to his money bag as tightly as he could. At the same, he became suspicious of everyone he laid his eyes on. He could not help but think that the bad guys would suddenly emerge from the crowd, kicking and swarming him and taking all his belongings.
Zhang Heng did not know what to do with him. Fortunately, at this time, they happened to run into a passing patrol team. The patrol team was currently made up of talented people led by two official patrol members. Zhang Heng then stopped them and asked them to accompany Decius. With that, Decius finally agreed to move separately.
But even so, Decius still did not dare wander around the place on his own. He asked the two patrol team members to take him to the patrol station right away. When he saw that the time was almost up, and asked the patrol team member to escort him to the Blackwater Bay Tavern.
Decius was trembling in fear all the time. He bowed his head and stared at his shoes, afraid that looking at the wrong person would cause him some serious trouble. And when he arrived at the Blackwater Bay Tavern, Decius saw countless fierce-looking men that were best not trifled with. He felt like a little white rabbit that strayed into a weasel pack.
After that, Decius hurriedly ordered a glass of wine and looked for a corner to nest up. Fortunately, Zhang Heng’s figure appeared at the tavern’s entrance before he had to wait for too long.
Decius suspected that he was hallucinating. When Zhang Heng entered the tavern, everyone seemed to keep quiet for a moment. No one dared to make a sound. It was not until Zhang Heng made a gesture that the tavern became lively again. After that, Zhang Heng came to Decius’ table and sat down.
“Are you done with your business?”
“Uh-huh,” replied Zhang Heng.
“How did it go? Did you manage to find other sources of copper ore?” Decius seemed very concerned about this matter. After all, no one knew when Binota Mine could resume operations. This had everything to do with whether Decius could complete the task given by Commodus on time.
“It’s not that easy. Recently, someone has been secretly purchasing copper ore in Rome. The price of copper ore has soared, but this is not the biggest problem. The main problem is that it seems copper ore has run out of stock everywhere.”
“Does that mean we can only rely on Binota Mine?” Decius looked a little frustrated.
“So, this is the case.” Zhang Heng took the wine he ordered from the waitress. His expression was as anxious.
At the next moment, two men in worn, old clothes and solemn looks walked into the tavern, heading right toward Zhang Heng. The older one of the two asked, “Are you looking for us?”
“Yes, please sit down.” Zhang Heng pointed at the seat opposite him. He then took out two gold coins and tossed them to the men. “Don’t be nervous. I just want to ask you a few questions. Please answer them truthfully. This is your reward.”
“Wait, who are they?” Decius asked with a look of surprise.
“We are workers from the Binota Mine.”
The elderly miner was overjoyed when he received the gold coin from Zhang Heng. He then thanked Zhang Heng and responded. It was a huge sum of money for the vast majority of people living in the southeast city. When he received such a large sum in front of everyone, he was supposed to worry if he could keep the money before someone snatched it away from him. However, since Zhang Heng was the one that gave him the money, it meant no one would dare to take this from him.
But Decius, on the other side, was really nervous. He quickly asked the two of them to put away the shiny gold coins. And at the same time, he looked around to make sure that no one was paying attention to them before he spoke.
“You are the miners of the Binota Mine? But how is this possible?” Decius turned to look at Zhang Heng. “You found them with the help of a single copper coin?”
“Of course not. I didn’t spend a single copper coin. That is my token,” Zhang Heng said as he took the copper coin, he gave to the kid from the old miner’s hand. This token was given to the slave girl by Commodus. However, the emperor later discarded this version, with the remaining coins remelted and recast. Hence, Zhang Heng used this one and only copper coin as his token. Basically, whoever held this copper coin would become his messenger.
As for the entire southeast city, no one would dare to ignore what he said.
