Chapter 293 You Can't Grasp This Golden Apple (4.6k, 7.8k for two chapters, please vote)
Seeing everyone's eyes on him, Hephaestus solemnly introduced his masterpiece.
The shield was made from the fragments of the chain that imprisoned Zeus during the battle between gods and then shattered him. Although it was only a remnant, the metal left at the scene absorbed the power of Zeus and the gods during the fierce battle and was very precious.
Therefore, Hephaestus collected these things and took great pains to forge this shield specifically for Lorne, who was about to marry Thetis.
With his superb skills, this god of craftsmen carved the sun, moon, stars, the universe, and two representative city scenes related to Lorn on the shield.
As long as he mobilizes the divine power and calls with his mind, Loen, as the user, can reconstruct time and space within a certain range and unfold the miniature [small world] surrounded by the sky for defense.
Theoretically, the performance of this divine weapon is no worse than the two Aegis Aegis. Only powerful attacks that can tear the world apart can barely be effective against it.
After hearing Hephaestus' explanation, the gods couldn't help but look envious.
The fact that it can be compared with the Aegis in the hands of Athena and Zeus is enough to prove the power of this divine weapon.
As the person who received the gift, Loen, who had seen many divine artifacts, couldn't help but be moved.
“Isn’t this too expensive?”
"Take it! Weapons were created to be used!"
Hephaestus unceremoniously stuffed the shield into Lorne's hand, then raised his strong right hand, patted the future "godfather" heavily on the shoulder, and spoke solemnly.
"Besides, I didn't give this thing to you for nothing. I hope you can use the shield I made to protect my adoptive mother. This is the treasure I really want to entrust to you!"
Hearing such a solemn instruction from this ugly and lame man, all the gods present were moved.
Hera, the goddess of marriage who was waiting on the stage to preside over the wedding, felt mixed emotions as she looked at her son whom she had abandoned and then picked up by Thetis.
If I had not abandoned him in the first place, perhaps I could have found a close relative who values friendship so much.
Maybe in this situation, it would be me who would stand there and accept this kindness.
At this moment, after a brief silence, Lorne came back to his senses, raised his hand to hold Hephaestus' hairy arm, and made a serious promise.
"I promise!"
Hearing that decisive answer, the God of Craftsman nodded with satisfaction, turned around and returned to the line of guests, leaving the remaining opportunities for performance to others.
Following the readings of the Muses, the gods presented the gifts they had prepared to the newlyweds in the order of their registered entry.
Hera's gift was her sacred pomegranate, which had the blessing of [fertility], and could ensure that the couple would continue their bloodline early and have many children;
Athena's gift was a pair of cute snowy owl chicks, which could not only serve as pets but also as messengers for couples to communicate. As for whether they had other uses, the goddess of wisdom did not say.
Artemis's gift was two carefully selected hound pups, which seemed to be similar in nature to Athena's gift. As to whether the two sides had discussed it in advance, no one knew.
Next, Apollo, Aphrodite and other Olympian gods from the rebel camp came forward one after another.
In the war between gods three days ago, most of them owed Loen a favor, so they were naturally not too stingy. They basically gave him some presentable weapons, musical instruments, divine symbols and other items.
However, with the example of Hephaestus, their gifts seemed a little lackluster.
The orthodox gods of Olympus, led by Zeus, were reluctant but had to hand over their gifts due to the restrictions of the three goddesses of fate.
However, the things they presented seemed much more shabby and obviously perfunctory.
Unable to find any opportunity to find fault, Loen had no choice but to maintain a professional fake smile and went through the motions smoothly.
After the Olympian gods, the sea gods, represented by Nereus, the old man of the sea, also sent gifts.
As the real mother's family, the old father Nereus and her sister Amphitrite, the Queen of the Sea, were very generous and brought many specialties from the Sea of Oceanus.
But Thetis was more or less disheartened because she had witnessed with her own eyes how these relatives had rejected her in order to protect themselves during Peleus' proposal of marriage.
Therefore, in response to her father and sister's kindness, she only expressed her gratitude politely, with a hint of alienation in her attitude.
Nereus and the Queen of the Sea knew they were in the wrong, so after giving their gifts, they obediently retreated back into the crowd, hoping that the passage of time would mend the rift between their relatives.
The last to appear are the brothers Death and Sleep from the underworld, and Melinoe, the daughter of Hades.
Ever since Hecate was caught, the daughter of Hades who has no restraint seems to be living a very comfortable life. She walks around with an attitude that she doesn't recognize anyone as her relatives. Even the twin gods of the underworld can only follow her closely to keep up appearances.
However, the moment he saw Loen's half-smile, Melinoe couldn't help but shudder, and quickly forced a smile from his face, and moved forward cautiously.
"Father and Mother asked me to bring it to you."
As she spoke, the daughter of Hades waved her hand, and the two brothers, the god of death and the god of sleep, stepped forward and presented the gift boxes in their hands.
When Loen opened it, he immediately smiled with relief.
There are no precious treasures in it, on the contrary, two very common things.
One is the daffodil, which is supposed to be unique to the underworld but can bloom in the world;
One is a piece of golden garden branch planted in a pot, which contains vigorous vitality;
It seems that my adoptive father and mother have a harmonious married life and are living a very good life.
After understanding what the old couple meant, Lorne closed the gift box and began to give instructions to Melinoe.
"Give my regards to Hades and Queen of the Underworld."
"Don't worry, I'm here."
Melinoe waved back, and then in full view of everyone, the two brothers, Sleep and Death, came up, one leading a goat and the other holding a jar of honey.
After seeing these two things, Loen's eyes gradually became deep and he spoke with a smile.
"I don't eat mutton recently..."
Melinoe waved his hand and quickly began to explain.
"Don't worry, this isn't for you to eat, nor is it for you. I'm asking you to give it to someone else..."
Looking at the cunning flashing in those eyes, Loen immediately understood.
The so-called other person was naturally the one they all knew and had worked together to cheat.
How does that sentence go?
Some people, who have been caught in the rain themselves, don't want to see people running in the rain without an umbrella, so they want to hold an umbrella for others.
Some people, because they have been caught in the rain, want to tear up other people's umbrellas so that they can be exposed to the rain together.
If Medusa belongs to the former, then Melinoe is undoubtedly the latter.
The reason why she gave this gift was obviously to express her perverted filial piety to her former teacher, and to let Hecate also taste the power of the goat-headed demon and honey.
In response, Loen nodded happily and took the two things.
When Melinoe saw this, he immediately smiled.
It’s a pity that we can’t see the old witch crying yet, otherwise the purpose of this trip would be more fulfilling.
As the gift-giving stage was completed, Hera stepped forward and presided over the marriage ceremony between Lorne and Thetis.
Witnessed by the gods, the two exchanged tokens of love and officially became husband and wife.
When the ceremony was successfully concluded and the wedding came to an end, the gods entered the banquet hall arranged at the venue together, ready to enjoy food and drinks together.
However, when a tablecloth was lifted somewhere, a golden apple placed on the central plate came into the eyes of the gods.
The brilliant color and rich divine fragrance made the guests present subconsciously want to take it for themselves, especially Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, whose eyes were filled with a hint of burning desire.
Because, on the surface of the golden apple, the words "Dedicated to the most beautiful goddess" were clearly engraved.
As three goddesses renowned for their beauty in Olympus, they all seemed to subconsciously believe that they deserved this praise because of their outstanding looks.
The guests around couldn't help but be aroused by the desire to win, and they cheered for the goddesses they supported.
The atmosphere at the wedding banquet had already reached an inexplicable climax before the banquet was officially held.
Looking at the gods who were arguing with red faces and thick necks, Loen couldn't help but frown slightly.
[Dispute] Is the divinity so strong? Or has Eris made some kind of breakthrough after the chaos of the last war between gods, and is now completely different from before?
But soon, Loen shook his head and overturned this conclusion.
No, it was understandable that Aphrodite was affected. But Hera had a whole golden apple tree in her hands, with as many golden apples as she wanted, so in theory she shouldn't have been affected by this thing.
Not to mention Athena. In this kind of situation, with such a simple trick, as the embodiment of wisdom, she would not easily get involved in such a low-level [dispute].
As a sense of excitement to join the argument surged in his heart, Loen carefully distinguished the obscure but uncontrollable feeling, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
It's not [dispute], but [destiny]!
If I remember correctly, the original goddess of discord, Eris, was also split from the three-phase goddess Nyx.
Either a small part of the divinity of fate still remains in her, or this is a [script] written by the three goddesses of fate and cannot be changed.
Interesting, it's getting more and more interesting.
As Loen unraveled the mystery like peeling off layers of silk from an onion, a playful smile appeared on his face.
"Since we can't come to a conclusion by arguing, why not let the host of today's banquet make the judgment?"
“Good idea!”
The "suggestion" that came from nowhere attracted everyone to respond, and Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, who were gradually arguing about the golden apple, couldn't help but brighten their eyes and looked at the host of the banquet.
As Luo En was being watched by many eyes, his face turned dark.
Damn it, which bastard wants to frame me?
According to the original [fate], this thankless refereeing job would fall on the head of the Trojan Prince Paris, and then the entire [Golden Apple Incident] would become the fuse of the future Trojan War.
However, since Loen himself intervened in the fate of Thetis too early, the time of the wedding was greatly advanced. Now, let alone the Trojan War, even Paris might not have been born yet. So it was not unfair for him to be blamed for being the referee.
But having said that, knowing that it was a big trap that would offend people, Loen naturally did not intend to jump into it.
What's more, Athena and Hera were inside, with whom he had just spent two days and one night.
Just as Loen, who was overwhelmed with desire to survive, was about to find an excuse to refuse, he felt his hand sink.
He looked down and saw the tray in his hand and the golden apple with words engraved on it.
"It's up to you to decide who to give it to."
The bride Thetis handed over the knife with a smile, as if she had made a choice following advice, and looked at her popular husband with anticipation.
However, the cunningness deep in those blue eyes did not escape Loen's sight.
"..." The person involved looked resentful and depressed.
Well, most likely it happened.
I knew that marrying a woman who is too smart would not lead to a peaceful life. It seems that this wife is not an easy person to deal with.
"Let me share, right? Okay, come on!"
Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Loen thought for a moment, then made up his mind, went straight to the platform, picked up the knife with a smile, and made the judgment in front of everyone.
The first step is to peel the fruit and give the peel to Aphrodite.
"To be honest, you are indeed very pretty. As a layer of skin, you are still pretty good."
The second step is to cut the pulp and give the pulp to Hera.
"You may be the Queen of Heaven, but everyone in Olympus, from 800-year-olds to animals, can cheat on you, including men, women, and sheep. Since you can no longer save your dignity, I will give you the benefits."
The third step is to share the remaining cores with Athena.
"You were supposed to be born as a male god and inherit Zeus's throne, but because of Zeus, you lost your seed, so I'll give you this seed."
When the result came out, the whole place fell into dead silence.
Aphrodite clenched her fists, Hera raised her scepter, and Athena summoned her spear and shield, gritting their teeth as they looked at the unscrupulous referee who had framed them.
Seeing this, Loen quickly took a step back, pulled Eris, the goddess of discord, out of the crowd, and protected her firmly in front of him.
"You still want to be the goddess of discord? Look at me. I can unite them in an instant. Even you can't fan the flames as well as me."
“…”
Eris, who was watching the show, was a little confused. Then she looked at the three aggressive goddesses and quickly denied it.
"I'm not, I didn't, don't be blind..."
“Snap!”
With a crisp sound of landing, Loen took a rune crystal from the beam and threw it into the center of the venue.
Suddenly, the projected image showed everything that happened last night, how a bloody figure sneaked into the venue and dropped the golden apple in advance.
With irrefutable evidence before their eyes, the gods attending the meeting regained consciousness from a state of frenzy. The shame of being fooled made their faces darken, and they looked at the culprit on the field with their knives sharpened.
Eris' body suddenly froze and he could only grit his teeth and fight back.
"Misunderstanding, this is a misunderstanding!"
Hearing this, Loen asked thoughtfully.
"You mean, this wasn't your intention?"
"Yes, that's right! That's what I wanted to say!"
Hearing that someone actually handed her a ladder at the critical moment, Eris nodded repeatedly and tried to slide down the pole and free herself as soon as possible.
Lorne nodded and handed the plate and knife to Eris.
"Don't make such jokes next time."
Hearing the obviously softening tone, Eris, who felt like he had survived a disaster, was immediately overjoyed and nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice.
How could he believe it so easily? Isn't this guy too easy to fool?
In this case, next time...
A certain goddess of discord looked at the person's back as he left, her eyes flickering faintly, invisibly exposing her own evil nature that would never change.
"Well, now that they have divided their shares, this remaining one is yours, Your Majesty."
At this moment, Rhoan, who had abandoned Eris, came to Zeus, smiled and put the remaining small piece of fruit stalk in his hand.
I see!
In an instant, the surrounding gods suddenly realized what was going on and looked at the Olympian King with disdain.
Everyone present knew that Eris brought three hundred-armed giants to the rescue at the critical moment of the war of gods and was the number one supporter of His Majesty the God King. If no one had instructed her, how could she have the audacity to play tricks on the gods present.
It's you again, Zeus!
Feeling the gazes of contempt, anger, or gloating focused on him, Zeus was in a daze, with a bewildered look on his face.
"What are you talking about? This is incomprehensible!"
"It seems that I was right."
Hearing this, Loen sneered, pointed at the piece of fruit stalk in Zeus's hand, and spoke directly, with full sarcasm.
"You dare not admit it, and you dare not even share an apple. I guess your life is about the same as this."
In an instant, the God King, who was ridiculed in public, was so angry that his whole body trembled and his face turned red.
Let me ask you, which man can accept the humiliation of others questioning his "inability"?
(End of this chapter)
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