"After the riot began, no one saw him. According to the information reported by my spies, he was likely imprisoned by Gerolis," said Hiparinus.

"Damn Gerolis! I should have cut off his head and hung his body on the top of the city to warn those who have bad intentions! This time I want to kill his whole family and find the temple priest to curse his soul forever in the Styx River!..." Dionysius cursed loudly to vent his anger and annoyance: Without Phelistos, it would be like cutting off one of his arms, making many plans impossible to implement, because he quietly returned to Syracuse and did not intend to show up publicly, so as not to be criticized by the people. Many things can only be carried out by Phelistos. Now that Phelistos is not here, who can he rely on?!

"Gerolis is outside, controlling an army of tens of thousands of people in his hand. If you have the ability, you will defeat him and kill him! What's the use of yelling here!" Hiparinus said coldly. Among these people now, only he dares to embarrass Dionysius in person. Phylistos sometimes criticizes him, but he will never be as mean and unpleasant as him. It is only because he is not only Dionysius's father-in-law, but also a staunch supporter of Dionysius. When Dionysius was in the most difficult time, he took all his money and supported Dionysius to run for the election, and bribed him a large number of citizens, which made him elect the general of the commander-in-chief of Syracuse, led the citizens to fight against the Carthaginian army, and thus embarked on the path of a dictator.

Dionysius stared at Hiparinus with his eyes, his chest undulating rapidly, as if he would pour out his anger at any time. Calidmus was so scared that he took a few steps back. But Dionysius finally held back. He snorted heavily, turned his gaze to Megikolis, and asked in a deep voice: "How is the defense of Ortigia Island?"

"Sir, the rebels once attacked the walls of the isthmus, but they suffered heavy casualties and failed to attack the top of the city. Instead, they built a new wall at the exit of the isthmus to block us outside the city."

"Have you tried to lead troops to attack the isthmus?"

Megikolis didn't say anything, and his eyes turned to Hiparinus.

"I told Megikolis' mercenaries not to attack!" Hiparinus said without hesitation: "The situation was dangerous at that time and the situation was very chaotic. The first thing I have to ensure is the safety of Ortigia!"

Dionysius did not get angry this time. He was silent for a while and said loudly: "Well... Lord Shiparenus, you did it right! Megikolis, thank you very much for your efforts to defend Ortigia Island and give us a place to live!"

"Sir, it is our mercenary's duty to guard Ortigia Island!"

"Is Masias alive or dead now?" Dionysius asked about the whereabouts of another right-hand assistant.

"According to the news of the spies' return, he led the defeated soldiers back to the villages and towns established by former mercenaries outside the city, but Herolis did not give him a chance to rest, so he immediately sent tens of thousands of troops to attack the ex-mercenaries and their families on the land. Massias could not defeat and led his men to retreat to the western mountainous areas." Hiparinus said expressionlessly.

"It's enough if you don't die..." Dionysius couldn't consider contacting Massias for the time being, and his mind turned to another question: "Where is our fleet?"

"The sailors at the port participated in the rebellion. They imprisoned Palonisus, took the warships for themselves, and united with the rebels in Herolis, defeated the thousand mercenaries guarding the city gates, and were also responsible for clearing out the mercenaries outside the city... However, these sailors had some quarrels with the rebels in the city."

"What quarrel?!" Dionysius's heart moved.

"The reward of the spy is said to be that the sailors in the port hope to obtain all the land of former mercenaries and to obtain more political rights, but were opposed by Gloris and others..."

Dionysius wrote down this and asked another question he was most concerned about: "Where is the army of Dionys now?"

"They once went to Taunis to assist the rebels and controlled the whole city, and then seemed to go north again. Now Syracuse and all the passages in the north are blocked, and it is impossible to know in detail what's going on there." Hiparinus said.

The Dionysians were quite cautious! Dionysus felt a little anxious when he thought of this. After all, tens of thousands of Syracuses were thrown in Silitun by him to block Dionys' main force for him. If he could not retake the city of Syracuse before the Dionys resolved the Silitun problem, once the main force of Dionysians crossed the sea, he would be in danger!

"Where are those city-states on the South Coast? Have you ever asked them for help?!" Dionysius asked anxiously. This was the place where he was most likely to obtain reinforcements and his hope.

"When there was a great riot in our city-states such as Syracuse, Katanai, Leotini, Taunis, etc., there were also quite a stir in various city-states on the south coast. Lord Calidmus once risked his life to Jera, Agrigento... for help, but they were rejected." Hiparinus said.

"Sir, these city-states have said, 'In order to help the adults attack Greece, many soldiers have been sent. In order to repel the Dionians who landed in Sicily, they have sent many young and middle-aged citizens, but most of them have not come back. Now the people in the city-state are rioting and the political situation is unstable, so they cannot send reinforcements again.'" Karidemus said helplessly.

"Even Kamanlina refused to send troops?!"

Facing Dionysius's cannibalism, Calidmus nodded tremblingly: "Yes...yes..."

"Damn!" Dionysius cursed: Other city-states are understandable. Camanlina's tyrant is his brother Reputin. He personally supported him. He even looked at Syracuse's affair. Does this idiot think that if I fall, he will be fine?!

Dionysius was angry at his short-sightedness, but a feeling of powerlessness appeared in his heart: the entire Syracuse was rebelled, he lost many civilians and the support of the sailors, and even the allies ignored his request. Can these two thousand mercenaries be regained the throne of power alone?

Dionysius was a little confused. He felt like a big fish stranded on the beach. He had strength but couldn't use it and was at risk of drying out at any time.

At this time, Kalidmus asked in a silly way: "Sir, I wonder how the army was going on in the expedition to Greece?"

Dionysius widened his eyes and looked straight at him.

Everyone around them knew very well that Dionysius had become a deserter, so they rationally did not mention this matter, but Calidemus mentioned the most taboo thing Dionysius had.

"I...I...I mean if the army in Greater Greece could return, it would be able to recapture... recapture..." Under Dionyssen's cold gaze, Calidemus fought in the teeth.

"What you said makes sense." Dionysius said without expression, and his tone was calm: "Since that's the case, I will send you to Siliteng to negotiate with the new king of Diony, and I authorize you to you. Any request he made can be agreed. As long as you can bring the soldiers back safely as soon as possible, you'd better set off now!"

"Ah! Me?! Now?!——" Kalidmus said in horror, no matter how many times he wanted to escape the patrol of the Syracuse rebel warships, break through the blockade of the Dionian fleet, and reach Silitung... This is at risk of his life!

But Dionysius could not tell him any more, and asked Megikolis and the guards to take him to Captain Laktinus.

Although Dionysius did not think that the smart King of Dionys would make such a mistake, he still held a little luck in his heart. After all, there were thousands of elite soldiers from former mercenaries in Siliteng. As long as he could return, he could easily retake Syracuse!

"I took the boat for two days and was a little tired. Let's go and rest for a while. Keep it confidential about my return--" Dionysius covered his head with one hand and told the people around him tiredly: "Not only do I keep it confidential to the rebels in the city, but also to Otigia Island, because the rebels captured most of the officials in the city hall, and their families on the island were worried!"

"Get a good rest. Thomaki and the children also need you to comfort me. They have been frightened these days!" Hiparinus sighed.

Dionysius turned around and looked at Phoebidas who had been silent: "You are with me, and I have something to discuss with you."

"Okay!" Phoebedas answered very simply.

On the way to the palace, Dionysius said frankly: "You have already understood the situation in Syracuse and even the situation in Sicily. To be honest, this time the situation is even more dangerous than the last time. The rebels in the city may have colluded with the Dionians, otherwise there would not have been a riot on the entire east coast of Sicily on the same day, and it happened to happen at the most critical moment. What do you think?"

"It's very likely." Phoebedas squeezed out a sentence with an indifferent expression.

Note:

In history, Dionysius finally chose Dionysius, the son of his son, born to the beautiful Lady Doris of Locre, as the heir to the tyrant of Syracuse, rather than the two sons born to Aristomachi, the daughter of Hiparinus. The possible reasons are: on the one hand, these two sons are indeed mediocre and have misconduct; on the other hand, it is also out of concern for Hiparinus's relatives to monopolize the government, and at the same time, it may be out of revenge for Hiparinus's insults over the years. When he established his heir, Hiparinus had already passed away.
Chapter completed!