Septimus looked at the fat man and gestured for him to speak.
"General, would you be interested in becoming the protector of the city of Utica?" said the fat man with a fake smile on his face.
Septimus slightly raised his gaze while thinking about the pros and cons of becoming the protector of the city of Utica.
Becoming the protector of a city was, in reality, quite beneficial; the city would provide all kinds of support to Septimus.
Some historically important families in Rome gained many benefits because important members of their families were protectors of commercially developed city-states or even kingdoms, such as the Scipio family, which once gained many benefits from having Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus as the protector of the Kingdom of Numidia.
Seeing Septimus's interest in the proposal, the fat man presented all the advantages of the city of Utica.
Septimus becoming the protector of the city of Utica meant an enormous guarantee of security against possible enemies who might try to attack the city of Utica.
At least for now, Septimus was at the height of his power in Rome; protecting a simple city like Utica was no problem, and his legions belonged entirely to him.
The fat man and Septimus discussed some details; the fat man would present the resolution to the council of the city of Utica for approval, and after Septimus's signature, the city of Utica would support Septimus unconditionally and would be under his protection.
After the fat man left, Septimus gently rubbed his head; although the replication ability gave him incredible mental endurance, he was exhausted. From this morning until now, he had received several groups of guests, but the results were still good, and he had obtained great benefits.
"Next," said Septimus calmly.
Soon, the tent flap opened, and a plump black man entered.
As soon as he entered, he dropped to his knees with a loud thud and then crawled forward on his stomach.
Septimus lost his composure and looked at the plump black man in surprise; what was he doing?
"General Septimus, I am guilty, I confess it to you," said the black man, whimpering with his entire body pressed against the ground.
"Speak. What is your name, and what is your crime?" said Septimus, lightly tapping the table after recovering his composure.
"My name is Pomerca, chief of a Numidian tribe. I was deceived and could not prevent the men of my tribe from joining Enobarbus's army," said Pomerca with a sobbing expression.
"I did not expect that you had committed such a serious crime. This is troublesome. According to my orders, you will be designated as an enemy of Rome," said Septimus calmly.
"My crime is atrocious, but I have come with the intention of redeeming myself," said Pomerca with a pleading expression.
Septimus observed with some interest, allowing Pomerca to continue speaking.
"This time I have brought 200 tribal warriors, all cavalry, plus two units of elephant cavalry," said Pomerca with a flattering expression.
"Elephant cavalry?" asked Septimus with interest. He did not expect anyone to bring such troops. Elephant cavalry was a very powerful force that had inflicted considerable damage on the Roman army.
Septimus accepted Pomerca's Numidian cavalry. The Numidian auxiliary troops of the clone army exceeded 5,000 horsemen, and facing the Kingdom of Numidia required a large amount of local cavalry familiar with the area.
Septimus's main purpose in the African campaign was to form a clone light cavalry force, and to achieve that goal it was necessary to increase influence within the tribes in order to acquire many horses after the campaign ended.
On the other hand, Septimus understood Pomerca's exaggerated submission. The message he had spread through Manlius had circulated rapidly, and part of its content had been distorted, managing to frighten many tribal chiefs who did not know the truth.
The only certain thing was that Septimus would mercilessly punish all tribal leaders who supported the rebels.
Septimus accepted Pomerca's elephants and granted him forgiveness. It would be very ungrateful to accept a gift and then decapitate him.
In recent days, many people had brought the heads of their masters to Septimus's camp, managing to inherit half of their fortune.
Pomerca, who had been camping nearby, began to sweat coldly. Fortunately, he had arrived early; otherwise, they might have decapitated him at any moment.
He even forgot his fear of the mountain of human heads that Septimus had built on the battlefield and instead thanked him effusively.
Septimus was not interested in his gratitude, and his concentration was directed toward the two war elephants.
Five days passed quickly, and Septimus once again led his army, leaving the province of Africa and marching toward the Kingdom of Numidia.
This time, however, the army was much larger, with 9 clone legions and more than 5,000 light cavalry soldiers from various surrounding Numidian tribes.
The Numidian light cavalry was very useful for scouting the terrain, in addition to 10 war elephants that had been delivered by different tribal leaders and formed an elephant cavalry unit.
The clone army had recovered its losses from the battle with Enobarbus, and one clone legion remained in the province of Africa with the intention of maintaining control and protecting the supply lines.
Septimus would not trust his rear guard to a group of strangers.
The Kingdom of Numidia was located south of the province of Africa, in what is now northern Tunisia and Algeria. Its population was predominantly Berber, a local people of North Africa.
The clone army swept through the region like a whirlwind. Most tribes and small towns along its path surrendered, but some resisted and were conquered by the clone army.
On the vast plain, a small village burned in flames. Numidia had only recently entered an agricultural society and still preserved semi-nomadic traditions.
Powerful cities with decent defenses barely existed. Septimus conquered these small villages with remarkable ease.
The clone army faced no pressure when confronting nomadic warriors with rusty swords and fragile wooden and leather shields.
"Quickly, everyone line up!" shouted a clone soldier at the inhabitants. Under the threat of the whip, the inhabitants lined up with fearful expressions.
According to Roman tradition, the wealth of any rebellious city belonged to the Roman army, and the inhabitants were sold as slaves.
In the original history, when Lucullus campaigned against the Kingdom of Pontus, some Roman soldiers even refused to accept the surrender of enemy cities, for which Lucullus reprimanded them.
Pomerca smiled as he selected these inhabitants; they were all healthy slaves, capable of being both farmers and warriors.
Incorporating them into his tribe would strengthen it even more.
But his smile quickly faded. Beside him, many tribal chiefs were also selecting slaves.
Clearly, he was not the only clever leader following the clone army; this war was undoubtedly an opportunity for a major reorganization of internal power, and everyone was doing their best to profit from it.
"The auction begins now, in groups of one hundred. Those interested, bid quickly," announced a clone centurion coldly.
The tribal chiefs quickly began to bid, and even some Phoenician merchants joined the auction.
"300 dinars."
"400 dinars."
"450 dinars."
"..."
"Someone bid 450. Anyone else?" shouted the clone centurion to the crowd.
Seeing that no one was bidding, the clone centurion shouted louder.
But even so, no one bid. After all, there were simply too many slaves; a small village like this could easily provide thousands. And the clone army had conquered countless villages and small towns in recent days.
Seeing that no one raised the price, the clone centurion brought down the gavel, finalizing the final price.