Two weeks later.

Their voyage had been mostly free from tumult. It was getting dark and they was only a few miles from Lugdunum, which was where they would begin their investigation. Caesar decided to stay for the night at a local inn. He found one on the road; the kind that is cheap and unsanitary, with a straw-covered floor teeming with rats. Still, it was more comfortable than sleeping under the stars. Caesar was not very young anymore, and he had started suffering from back pain. When they entered, the patrons stopped talking and looked at them with open hostility: Romans were not very welcome in Gaul. However, Romans also ruled the land, and Gauls had no choice but to serve them. They had entered a hot chauldron, ready to explode from the steam. It was vital to not cause trouble, and Caesar gave his companions instructions to be discreet. They sat at a table in the corner of the room, and the innkeeper, a chubby, red-haired woman, came to take the orders.

- What will you have, Romans?

- We will have your finest wines and meats, Brutus answered. Oh, and also, fresh pears, figs, and grapes.

Her little beady eyes stared at both him and Caesar suspiciously.

- You sure you can afford all that, merchant?

- He is just joking, Caesar intervened. Of course, we can't afford that. Bring us a loaf of bread and a cup of mead.

He waited for the innkeeper to leave before he grabbed Brutus by the collar and whispered angrily:

- You fool! We are supposed to be humble traders! You are going to tip them off about who we are. Have you forgotten all about Sun Tzu's art of secrecy?

Brutus apologised profusely. The innkeeper came back with their order and Caesar threw a sestertius on the table as payment.

- I couldn't stop thinking about it. Y'all are rich merchants, aren't you?

- We are not, Caesar answered. We only trade capsicum and it's not particularly profitable.

- Have we met before?

- I don't think so.

- Heh. Where's the girl from? I've never seen the like of her.

- She's from the East, he explained. Rome is a cosmopolitan place.

- Heh.

She took the coin and looked at it. She nodded her head as if she had solved a puzzle mentally.

- A sestertius, heh? I knew your face was familiar. You look a lot like the face engraved on the coin. The leader of the Romans, Caesar.

- And the leader of the Gauls, Brutus added.

- Heh. We didn't ask for him to lead us. He's a brute who has enslaved us.

- The strong leads the weak.

She called her husband who was working in the kitchen. She showed him the coin, and said:

- Doesn't this gentleman here look a lot like the picture on the coin.

She had said the word "gentleman" with as much contempt as she could. Her husband stared at Caesar and nodded.

- That sure looks like you, doesn't it? Roman art is so realistic.

Caesar ran out of patience. He perhaps could have talked his way out of this situation, but he had little tolerance for verbal jousting with illiterate commoners.

- Fine. You have uncovered me: I am Caesar, your supreme leader, and I expect you to show more respect to me!

He bumped his fist on the table with authority, hoping to intimidate the man, but it didn't work. Instead, the man felt insulted and flustered.

- You murderer! Our three sons have died fighting your invasion!

The Gaul threw him a punch, but he was overweight and slow and Caesar parried it dexterously. All the patrons had been watching the scene; they stood from their chairs and surrounded the Romans. Caesar gulped and assumed the Gong Jian Bu stance, ready to counter attack his opponents. But Brutus acted even more quickly: he grabbed his fiancée under the arms, pivoted on his heels and made her kick the Gauls in the head with the rotational force. This is a traditional tai chi move called "the plum blossom wheel". All Gauls but one fell on the floor, and she jumped on them to stab them in the throat. Lien Hua was a femme fatale, a sweet angel of death, and most men she kills fall in love with her. The one standing Gaul fled toward the door, but Caesar grabbed his arbalest and shot him three times in the back. He did not enjoy shooting a man in such cowardly manner, but he didn't want him to warn people about what happened because it could create an insurrection.

They finished their meal in silence, and left the tavern. Brutus felt embarrassed. He could feel his father's disdain. He knew he had arisen the innkeeper's suspicion with his oral clumsiness, and he promised himself to watch his words more carefully in the future. However, the innocent lives he had taken were far from high thoughts, because for him the Gauls were barbarians and their lives worth little.

A large, monstrous shade was following them from a prudent distance. It had witnessed everything that had happened in the inn from the window. The Frankenstein.

###

The next morning.

- Father, I think we are being followed.

- I know, Brutus. A Frankenstein has been stalking us. I spotted him last night. Your senses are not very sharp.

- What are we going to do about it? Lien Hua asked.

Caesar raised his fist on his side: it meant that everybody was to be quiet because he was thinking. He analysed his surroundings carefully.

- We are going to hang a weighted net on that branch, there. You will sit in the middle of the road and serve as bait. Brutus and I will hide in the bushes and we will make the net fall on the beast when it comes close to you. Are you fine with that plan?

- I'm fine. I'm not scared, she responded swaggerly.

They set their trap and waited for the Frankenstein. A few minutes later, he came. He sniffed the air like a dog, and observed the Chinese lady with lust. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his entire life, and he wanted her as his bride, as his thing. He picked daisy flowers from the side of the road and made an impromptu bouquet for her. If she loved him back, he'd take care of her forever. But if she rejected him... Frankensteins had a twisted sense of romance. Their attractions to women was developed mostly out of a desire to be accepted, and rejection made them want to destroy their object of desire. They were not capable of feeling respect, even less unconditional love.

He blushed and approached hesitantly. The Romans felt embarrassed for him because he looked so pathetic. The net fell on him and entangled him. He roared like a lion and struggled madly to free himself. And he did: his muscular power was such that he could break he most solid Roman rope as if it was as fragile as a cobweb. Caesar's plan had not taken into account the superhuman strength of the Frankenstein. He did not feel discouraged because he had a back-up plan: he fired half a dozen bolts at his foe. However, rather than killing the monster, they seemed to make him even madder and stronger. His fury was frightening, even more frightening than the fury of the berserker warriors of the North. Lien Hua stepped back and drew a dagger in each of her hand.

That was not enough to impress Caesar: the man was born for war. He viewed life was a lascivious dance with death, where each step was maybe the last. But he was agile, and he was always leading the dance. He felt the essence of gods was running in his veins. As the Frankenstein walked toward the woman to choke her with his hands, the warrior assaulted him from behind: with a circular motion, he pulled his steel dao sabre from his back and cleanly cut the monster's right arm. A green, oily liquid leaked out of the wound. The dao was razor sharp and could cut through any organic material like it was butter. The Frankenstein turned back, screamed, and Caesar cut off his other arm. He then push kicked him on the floor and held his sandal on his torso. The push kick is a tai chi move where one puts all of his weight on the kick: it pushes the target back and often makes them fall. The Frankenstein, with his two arms missing, had lost his sense of balance, so it was easy.

- Frankenstein! Tell me who you are and who you worked for, and I'll spare your life.

But the Frankenstein didn't speak Latin, and couldn't communicate very well. After much effort, Caesar learnt the basic anatomical workings of a Frankenstein, and the name of their leader: Victor Frankenstein, a mad physician. Victor was a Latin name - "He who conquers" - which Caesar understood. When he couldn't learn anymore from his captive, he dipped his dao in the beast's muscular chest. He then contemplated the horizon with a heroic look on his face, and uttered theatrically:

- Victor, I'm coming for you, and we will see who's the boldest conqueror.

Behind him, Brutus was kicking the Frankenstein cadaver.

###

Of the Lugdunum's fortress only remained ashes and burnt pillars. The floor was covered with dead bodies: Caesar concluded that the Romans had been attacked by Frankensteins, and set the fortress to fire to burn their attackers. Their strategy had worked, however they had burned themselves too and there were no survivors. Caesar and his son spent the morning building a funerary pyre, in the rectangular shape of an altar to Mars, the god of war.

Caesar spoke a short eulogy, and then praised the gods. Behind, the bodies were burning, so that their soul could be freed and reach a heroic afterlife.

"Laozi, saintly god, savior of mankind, please bless their spirit and the spirit of their descendants who live.

Mars, governor of the spirit of war, please accept the spirit of those brave soldiers slain in action.

Confucius, wise philosopher, give us the knowledge of battle to avenge our dead and destroy the enemies of inner balance.

Laughing Buddha, god of happiness and plenitude, give us good luck, us survivors who follow faithfully the Tao."

Lien Hua was weeping; her husband was trying to comfort her.

- That was a beautiful prayer, she commented.

- Yes, it was. I am the best orator in the world, Caesar answered.

He grabbed her arm.

- We will find the Frankensteins, and destroy them. Look, you have to stop crying. Laughing Buddha wants you to smile. I know a way.

He grabbed the back of her head, and landed a kiss on her lips. It felt good enough that she opened her mouth and her rubbed the back of her top teeth with the tip of his tongue. They looked at each other in the eyes and Caesar laughed. She smiled awkwardly. Brutus, however, was furious, and clenched his fists. This display of affection offended him, and he wondered if they were secretly lovers. Why hadn't she pushed him away? He was too scared of his father to confront them. Caesar was the supreme ruler of the land, and Caesar answered to no one. On that moment, Brutus decided that he hated his fiancée, and that he would work for Victor Frankenstein to destroy his father. He walked toward the forest, and no one noticed that he was leaving.