Chapter 418 The Gods Are Missing?
Greece, over the Sea of Oceanus, the sky is dark and overcast.
A shabby little boat was swaying from side to side in the rolling waves. On the boat, an old fisherman in a linen shirt clenched his frozen fingers in the cold wind, struggling to pull the scattered fishing nets onto the boat.
As soon as the wet net bag was dragged into the cabin, the dark and thin little girl at the stern rushed forward excitedly with a small bucket and rummaged around.
However, the net only caught a few pitifully small fish, rotten seaweed and a few pieces of wood.
The little girl carried the light bucket, pursed her cracked lips, and felt very disappointed.
"Don't worry, there will definitely be one in the next net."
The old man comforted his granddaughter in a gentle voice, then cast his fishing net again.
But after several attempts, the fishing net didn't catch anything worthwhile.
Now, not only the little girl, but even the old man couldn't help but feel a little impatient.
Although he knew very well that the weather was not suitable for fishing due to his many years of experience in making a living at sea, there were several mouths at home waiting for him to feed.
If they don’t get anything today, the whole family will starve.
The old man glanced at his dark and thin granddaughter, gritted his teeth and picked up the oar in the cabin:
"Let's go deeper and take a look!"
The little girl nodded obediently, holding the bucket and sitting quietly at the stern.
The rowing oars created ripples on the water, and the boat sailed into a sparsely populated area of the Sea of Oceanus.
The old man stopped the boat, calmed himself, and then patiently looked for traces of nearby fish.
The weather was becoming increasingly colder, and thick white fog was gradually rising from the sea. The old man didn't know how long he had been waiting in the cold wind, and finally he saw the layers of waves rising from the water. He couldn't help but look delighted and his spirits were greatly lifted.
Something is coming! It looks like it's something big!
Thinking of the hot fish soup, delicious fish meat, and handfuls of Athena's Copper, the old man immediately stood on the bow and threw the fishing net forward with force.
However, just as he was waiting for the fish to come, the fog ahead surged violently.
A giant beast as majestic as a mountain came cutting through the waves at an extremely fast speed. The surging sea water raised waves several feet high, which instantly overturned the shabby boat under the old man.
The old man and the young man were caught off guard and fell into the icy sea immediately. Their bodies rose and fell with the waves, and their consciousness gradually became blurred due to suffocation and hypothermia.
"Anyone? Stop the boat!"
Just when the grandfather and grandson thought they were about to drown, a serious low voice echoed in their ears.
Then a gentle force dragged them out of the water and onto a deck covered with cedar wood.
The grandfather and grandson lay prone, coughing out the seawater that had choked their nasal cavities and trachea. After a while, they raised their heads and looked around tremblingly:
This is not a giant beast, but a warship that is larger than a giant beast.
The warship is made of solid fir wood, looking majestic and grand; the planks are engraved with a series of ancient symbols that gleam with light, exuding a sense of mystery; the central mast is cut from a sacred tree with human facial features, and looks inexplicably strange from a distance...
What surprised the grandparents the most was the crew members on board.
Among them were mighty men as tall as three meters, a graceful nobleman wearing golden silk clothes, a green-haired female hunter with cat ears and a tail, a strange girl with colorful wings and pointed ears, and... a group of white skeletons operating warships.
This rare scene had a strong impact on the worldview of the grandparents and grandchildren, leaving them stunned.
Seeing the grandparents and grandchildren being pulled aboard in shock, Lorne, the most humane and friendly person in the crowd, stepped forward and asked in a gentle voice:
"Old man, are you all right?"
The old man woke up as if from a dream and shook his head tremblingly.
Loen looked at the grandparents and grandchildren who were soaked in sea water and shivering with cold, and quickly raised his hands to dry the water off their bodies, and handed them two animal skin blankets.
"Come on, cover yourself up first. It's so cold, so you won't get frozen."
The man's voice seemed to have a soothing power, and the grandparents nodded obediently, gratefully taking the blanket and wrapping it around their thin bodies.
Seeing that the two men's emotions had gradually calmed down, Jason hurriedly stepped forward with a wry smile and apologized:
"I'm sorry, both of you. I just came out of the Sea of Chaos, and I'm not used to the feeling, so I accidentally dragged you in. Fortunately, you are fine, otherwise I would be guilty."
After listening to this, the old man finally understood the cause of the previous shipwreck.
Thinking of this, he rushed to the side of the ship, looked towards the sea, and finally saw his shattered old friend among the waves.
Seeing this, the old man couldn't help but look sad and worried about his future livelihood.
"Don't worry, I'll compensate you for your losses once we get ashore!"
Jason patted his chest and stepped forward to give assurances.
When the old man heard this, he was overjoyed, and hurriedly pulled his granddaughter to kneel down, trembling.
"Quick, kowtow to the kind-hearted gentleman."
Seeing this, Luo En hurried forward to help the grandfather and grandson up, and joked:
"Old man, it is only natural to pay back debts. No need to be polite to him."
Seeing that the grandparents and grandchildren were only concerned with nodding in agreement, with embarrassment and fear in every gesture, Loen felt that there was a pathetic thick barrier between them and couldn't help but frown.
That shouldn't be the case. The human world has just experienced the War of the Giants, and the relationship between humans, heroes, and gods should be in the honeymoon period. It's just a few words, there shouldn't be such a big reaction, right?
Thinking of the fact that the magic spells around the Argo suddenly went out after breaking through the chaotic sea, Loen's heart moved, and he suddenly had a bad premonition in his mind. He quickly pulled the old man up and asked:
"Old man, you know about the battle of the giants in Thessaly, right? How long has it been since that battle?"
"The Battle of the Giants?" The old man was stunned, then he counted on his fingers and answered uncertainly, "That seems to have happened more than two hundred years ago."
When Loen heard this, his heart skipped a beat, and the Argonauts on the ship also changed their expressions.
Two hundred years? Such a long time has passed!
"The time and space on the Sea of Chaos are disordered, and cannot be measured in a normal way. It only took us two hundred years to go back and forth, which is considered very fast."
Hecate walked out of the cabin and answered with a smile.
When everyone heard the relaxed tone, they couldn't help but feel relieved.
Only two hundred years, which is not too long for them, the descendants of gods.
Seeing the atmosphere ease, Lorne waved his hand with a smile and cursed, dispersing the heroes gathered on the deck: "Okay, since you want to go home early, then go back to your positions."
Upon hearing the order, the Argonauts, who were eager to return home, returned to their respective posts and tried their best to urge the Argo to dock.
Then, Loen turned to look at Medea beside him:
"Medea, go make some broth so these two can have a good meal. After all, it will take some time to reach the shore."
Medea nodded obediently and led the two of them away alone.
When the deck was empty again, Hecate and Lorne looked at each other, their faces gradually becoming more gloomy:
"You felt it too?"
"Well, I didn't notice it before, but now I realize that this place seems to be different from when I left. The restrictions of the [Fate Contract] on divinity and personality seem to have been strengthened several times."
Loen spread out his palms and looked at the golden flame in his hand which had shrunk a lot, and frowned deeply.
Hecate said faintly, "Strictly speaking, a fixed number is a fixed number. According to the stubbornness of the three goddesses of fate, the restrictions of the [Fate Contract] will not be easily changed."
Lorne looked at Hecate and slowly said the answer that they both knew: "Unless something goes wrong..."
Compared to two hundred years, this is what they are really worried about.
It was for this reason that the two of them had tacitly changed the subject in public, in order to prevent the Argonauts from hearing any important information from the mouths of the grandfather and grandson, which would cause the army's morale to fluctuate.
Next, let these two decision makers ask in person to find out what happened in Greece in the past two hundred years.
Thinking of this, the two looked at each other and nodded, and went to the kitchen together.
At this time, the grandparents and grandchildren who were invited here were sitting at the dining table, wolfing down the meat porridge brought by Medea.
The salty and fragrant taste and the feeling of fullness brought by the meat made the two people who had not eaten a full meal for a long time look extremely satisfied. Even their originally pale faces gradually showed a healthy redness.
"Old man, I want to ask you something." Lorne pulled a chair over and sat next to the grandparents and grandchildren, and took the initiative to speak.
The old man quickly put down the bowl of porridge, stood up and answered respectfully: "Ask whatever you want, I will tell you everything I know!"
"Don't be so nervous, just chat casually." Lorne pushed the old man back to his seat helplessly, and asked various common questions in a calm tone, as if he was chatting about family matters.
As the topic unfolded, the old man gradually relaxed and told the truth about everything he knew.
When the questioning was finished, Loen said goodbye to the old man with a smile, stuffed a few homemade candies into the dark and thin girl's hand, and then walked out the door with Hecate, who had been listening throughout the whole process.
The two men stood in the shadow of the boat, gazing at the vast Oceanus Sea, their faces not looking very good.
Greece is now experiencing disasters everywhere: locusts, plagues, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters continue one after another...Humanity immersed in suffering is suffering.
There were wars everywhere: the territorial dispute between Argos and Thebes, the status dispute between Athens and Sparta, the trade friction between Corinth and Cyprus... The alliances that the various city-states had originally established in the War of the Giants had long since become a mere formality, and the entire Peloponnese Peninsula was almost in chaos.
The reason for all this is——
The gods and heroes who had participated in the Battle of Thessaly suddenly disappeared overnight!
Almost all!
Without the restraint of the gods and the pioneering of heroes, the social order that had been established with great difficulty in the world deteriorated rapidly in the past two hundred years, and eventually became the chaotic society it is today.
Lorne took a deep breath, calmed his chaotic mind, and turned to look at Hecate:
"Master, what do you think about this matter?"
"It's probably related to the one in Olympus."
Hecate looked up at the outline of the mountains among the stars and answered briefly.
Luo En nodded slightly, agreeing with this statement.
After all, apart from His Majesty the God King, no other god could easily stir up the turmoil in Greece.
But he still has a few questions that cannot be answered definitely at the moment.
First, even if His Majesty the God-King wanted to take action, how could he make all the rebel gods and heroes disappear overnight?
Second, with so many gods and heroes disappearing, why didn’t the three goddesses of fate show any intention of intervening?
Third, who is in charge of the Greek city-states now? Who are the enemies and who are the friends? Are those lost heroes and gods alive or dead?
Since the grandparents on the boat were just ordinary fishermen with limited access to information, they didn't know much, and Loen was unable to make accurate judgments on these issues.
"Don't worry, no news is the best news." Hecate comforted softly, "Wait until the ship reaches the shore, then we will send someone to inquire."
Loen calmed down and nodded, then took out a frost-green stone box with nine locks from the magic circle. He rubbed the cold runes on the surface with his fingertips, then looked up at Olympus among the stars with a grim look.
(End of this chapter)
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