"But Lord Dionysus, I, I am a follower of Poseidon," the girl stammered.
"It doesn't matter," Linley replied calmly.
The girl looked at the ring ecstatically, ran carefully to the edge of the sea, washed the ring clean, and put it on her finger.
Linley's thoughts lingered on the owner of the severed hand. To possess such an expensive yet without practical use ring indicated a wealthy lifestyle. Such people were not uncommon in Greece; under the protection of the Roman Empire, they enjoyed long-lasting peace and accumulated vast wealth.
These people usually would not venture out to sea easily, and even if they did, they would choose large ships. How could they have had an arm bitten off by a shark?
He picked up a stick and rummaged through the shark's belly, but found no other parts. The arm was still fresh, indicating that the shark had just eaten it not long ago. Perhaps the owner of the arm was still nearby.
"Can our ship head out to sea?" Linley asked.
"Yes," Dave replied.
"Let's head out," Linley decided.
"Lord, can I come with you?" the girl asked.
"Come along," Linley agreed.
Dave brought a few fishermen and set out to sea on the best-maintained ship. Linley continuously observed the sun and the direction of the sea breeze, sailing for a long time without noticing anything unusual.
"Lord Dionysus, what are we looking for?" the girl asked.
"A ship," Linley replied.
"A ship?" the girl asked, puzzled.
"There must be more people who escaped besides us," Linley explained.
In this era, almost all Greeks worshipped the Olympian gods. Although most were superficial believers, there were also many true believers and zealots. True believers would not easily change their faith, and zealots would even attack those who tried to force them to convert.
Even though Rome used its army to compel them, many true believers refused to change their faith and chose to flee Greece by setting sail. Especially the priests of the various Olympian gods, most of them would not be willing to convert.
It might have been such a group of believers who set out to sea and met with disaster, with one being eaten by a shark. The fishing boat drifted on the sea for several hours. The sun gradually set, casting a fiery red glow on the sea's surface. When the sun completely set, the entire ocean fell into darkness, but there was still a place in the distance that remained glowing.
"Let's head over there and check it out," Linley ordered.
Dave pulled the ropes to adjust the sails, letting the wind drive the ship towards the firelight.
That was a giant ship engulfed in flames. The ship was five stories tall and dozens of meters long, with a large hole at the stern where seawater was constantly pouring in. The upper levels of the ship were ablaze, and despite being attacked from above and below, the ship had not yet sunk and seemed to be able to hold on for a while.
There were about a dozen people at the bow, watching the hole in the stern and the fire on the ship with eyes full of despair. Suddenly, they saw a fishing boat, and their eyes immediately lit up.
"Look, a fishing boat over there!" one middle-aged man shouted for help, "Come over quickly and save us! We'll give you lots and lots of money!"
Linley ordered, "Get closer to them."
"We can't get too close. If their ship sinks, the whirlpool it creates will drag our boat down too," Dave reminded.
"It's okay. This ship will take a long time to sink," Linley said confidently.
Dave carefully maneuvered the fishing boat, maintaining a safe distance of about ten meters from the slowly sinking giant ship. The water currents were unpredictable, and he was worried the fishing boat might get sucked in.
"Hurry up and come over!" the middle-aged man shouted loudly.
"You swim over here yourselves," Linley responded.
The middle-aged man shouted angrily, "How dare you! Do you know who we are? We are priests of Zeus!"
"Priests of Zeus?" Linley asked, puzzled.
"That's right, we are priests of Zeus, and this ship is the Thunder," the middle-aged man said proudly. "You're Greeks too, right? Come over quickly, don't be afraid of the danger. It's your duty. We have the protection of Zeus!"
Zeus is the chief god of Olympus, holding a higher status than other gods and called the father of gods. The priests of Zeus hold themselves in high regard and look down upon other priests. However, Zeus does not have his own main city; Athens worships Athena, Sparta worships Ares, and no city worships Zeus.
"Are you escaping?" Linley asked disdainfully.
"We are, it's a strategic retreat!" the middle-aged man explained. "Hurry up and come save us, or Zeus will bring divine punishment upon you!"
"You swim over here yourselves," Linley said unceremoniously, "and hand over all your weapons before boarding."
The middle-aged man turned red with anger, "You... Zeus..."
"If Zeus shows up, I'll explain it to him myself," Linley said coldly.
If it weren't for Zeus's incompetence, Linley wouldn't have ended up in this situation. Greek culture once conquered Rome, and the Olympian gods were the official faith of Rome. The most famous building in Rome, the Pantheon, was built for the Olympian gods but was later overthrown by Christianity.
Linley had once been an apostle of Dionysus, living comfortably in Athens, but now he was forced to become the god of wine and was stranded on a deserted island.
"You... you... blasphemer!" the middle-aged man finally managed to say.
"How dare you!" Dave shouted, "In front of you is one of the masters of Olympus, the lord of the wine realm, the god of wine!"
The middle-aged man was shocked and, upon closer inspection, finally noticed the divine power emanating from Linley. He stammered, "How can this be? The god of wine should be Dionysus."
"He is dead. Before he died, he promoted me to the god of wine to take his place," Linley explained.
"Lord Dionysus," the middle-aged man quickly knelt down, "please save us."
"I didn't say I wouldn't save you. Swim over here yourselves," Linley said.
Before the middle-aged man could say anything more, the others on the ship jumped into the water and swam towards the fishing boat. They quickly reached the fishing boat, throwing their weapons and clothes onto the boat, and the fishermen pulled them up with oars.
"What are your names?" Linley asked, "Why are you trapped at sea?"
"Lord," the middle-aged man said shamefully, "I am Bryan, the high priest of Zeus. A few days ago, Lord Zeus suddenly gave us an oracle, telling us to pack our valuables and leave Greece. We were half-believing..."
"You were half-believing the oracle?" a young girl blurted out.
The middle-aged man was even more ashamed and said, "Lord Zeus often gives impulsive and inexplicable orders and then denies them, punishing those who carry them out. We thought it was the same this time, but who knew it was real. Ah, if only we had prepared earlier."