She once thought of using her beauty to advantage, but her pride would not allow her to lower herself, especially on enemy territory. Thus, when she almost despaired, she chose Number Zero.
Number Zero was also examining the woman’s attributes. She was not a player, but an NPC. Yet, she differed from regular NPCs. Her attributes and name were all concealed, just as she had deliberately hidden her charm before, no different from a common passerby.
"Since I’m going to Rome City anyway, I might as well do like Yu Xiaonan and find a vehicle," Number Zero took another look at the woman’s face, well-masked during that moment of pleading. Seeing such an expression on a woman accustomed to high status discomforted Number Zero.
"Fine, but on the road, you must follow my command. You cannot, as before, recklessly unleash a snake," although it was just on the Military Road, Number Zero disliked waking up in the middle of the night with a cold snake wrapped around part of her body.
"Alright, on the road, I’ll keep Red Hidden in my sleeve," in fact, the woman’s red chain snake was her last line of defense, rarely seen unless she commanded. Defensive toxins, if revealed carelessly, would be like turning a hidden weapon into an obvious one, completely ineffective. When Number Zero appeared today, the red chain snake had reacted as if it saw its own kind and immediately coiled around, which even the woman found odd. Otherwise, she would not have noticed an ordinary female soldier who seemed much inferior in terms of spiritual power.
"Since we are to travel together, let’s exchange names. I’m called Number Zero, from Babylon City," Number Zero reached out her hand, but the other party seemed unaccustomed to this way of greeting, so she had to retract it.
"My name is Cleopatra, from Cairo City," exchanging names had a special effect; it could temporarily eliminate hostility between people.
"Cleopatra," Number Zero repeated the difficult name. Cairo City? Her heart sank. What the woman had just said about escorting her home, did that home not refer to Rome City?
(Number Zero, something doesn’t add up here, I seem to have heard that name before,) Little Eight, who had been quiet for a while, stated weakly.
Moreover, a woman with honey-tanned skin and jet-black hair could hardly be mistaken for the high-nosed, blue-eyed, golden-haired Italians.
Number Zero, sensing the ample caution of the woman, knew that even if she pursued further questions now, the other side was unlikely to reveal her true identity. Number Zero now only hoped that she was the wife of a Roman noble.
"Are you married into Rome City?" Number Zero probed.
"Sort of," Cleopatra was packing her luggage.
"Is your husband still in Rome City?" Number Zero asked again.
"He died, so I need to return to my hometown," Cleopatra gave Number Zero an odd look. This stranger from Babylon City seemed like a country bumpkin, unaware of the obvious hints she had dropped.
"Little Eight, could she be asking us to take her to Cairo City?" Number Zero groaned, hastily pulling out her mission handbook from her military bag to check if the dreaded task had been recorded. The mission handbook now included a new entry: "Escort Cleopatra VII through Rome City."
"Thank goodness, it’s only leaving Rome City," Number Zero breathed a sigh of relief. Geographically speaking, if she really had to escort Cleopatra to Cairo, she had no idea how long it would take.
(Something is off, Number Zero, did you notice? The mission handbook lists her as Cleopatra VII, that seems...) Little Eight, being a non-omnipotent Sub-God, knew that such a title was not commonly accorded to ordinary folk.
"Cleopatra VII?" Number Zero murmured lowly.
"You may call me Queen, as most people do," Cleopatra was pleased that the reckless stranger finally acknowledged her identity.
(Ask her if she’s acquainted with Caesar or Antony,) as it turned out, although Xia You had read world history, her understanding of history was still quite limited. So when Little Eight mentioned these two names, she suddenly realized and exclaimed, "You are Cleopatra."
Every person, upon hearing "Cleopatra," likely imagines something enchanting. Compared to China’s Empress Wu, this woman drew even more global attention. What she overturned was not just Upper and Lower Egypt under her skirt, but the civilizations of two continents, Europe and Africa.
The mighty Roman Empire and the pinnacle of African civilization, Egypt, nearly came under the dominion of this unremarkable-looking woman, who by her beauty marked down the annals of history with the most powerful empire of that time.
(Give her two men, and she could probably leverage the three great continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe,) Little Eight shivered.
"Cleopatra? So, that’s the impression I’ve left on you strangers," Cleopatra smiled sweetly, a smile that instantly pierced through time and history, causing Number Zero, this lackluster stranger, to miss her best chance for regret.
They say beauty is a curse, and it couldn’t be more true.