It wasn't until Linley stepped outside that he realized what had happened.
Before dawn, a group of Zeus's priests had secretly taken a fishing boat. By the time the fishermen noticed, the priests were already long gone.
"Those bastards!" Dave cursed angrily. "If they wanted to escape, fine, but why steal our boat?"
Linley thought, if those priests didn't steal the boat, how else could they escape? Fly over the water? If they had that ability, they wouldn't have been trapped on the ship waiting to die.
"Get our fastest boat ready. Let's see if we can catch up to them," Linley said.
However, by this time, catching up with them was extremely difficult. The vast sea made it impossible to know where they had gone. Even skilled sailors can only track along the route, but these priests clearly lacked that experience. They couldn't escape from the burning ship. A few of them were steering a fishing boat, not following the route, making their direction unpredictable.
Back then, the compass hadn't been invented yet, so it was impossible to determine direction on the open sea. Therefore, sea vessels could only navigate along the coastline. These navigable areas were like roads on land, known as sea routes.
There were sea routes near Dionysus Island too. If one didn't follow the sea route, it was easy to lose direction.
Linley and his crew wandered the sea for half a day but still couldn't find those Zeus priests. Suddenly, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and it started to rain heavily. At sea, rain wasn't a problem as long as there was no wind.
"Lord, let's head back," Dave suggested. "It's so dark and raining, we probably won't find them."
Linley was about to agree when a thought struck him. "Let's go check out the Thunder," he said.
The fishing boat pushed through the heavy rain and soon reached the Thunder. The rain had put out the fire, and the hole at the stern was no longer letting in water. The ship was half-submerged and half-floating on the surface.
"Get the other boats," Linley ordered. "We're towing this ship back."
"Tow it back?" Dave was stunned, then overjoyed. "Yes, let's tow it back."
They immediately set sail back to Bacchus Island, braving the wind and rain, and gathered all the boats they could. They went to the Thunder and tied ropes to its sides, rowing together to tow it back.
The Thunder was huge, and it took dozens of fishing boats several days to finally tow it back to Dionysus Island. When the Thunder docked, everyone cheered.
"Wow, it's huge!"
"Amazing, such a big ship."
"Can it be repaired? But we don't know how to sail it, it's too big."
Sailing a fishing boat and sailing a big ship are entirely different skills. Knowing how to sail a fishing boat doesn't mean you can sail a big ship. The sails, knots, and maintenance methods are completely different. Knowing when to raise which sail and how to handle the rudder are completely different for big and small ships.
Currently, Linley only had fishermen under him, no proper captains or first mates with experience in sailing big ships. Even if the Thunder was repaired, they couldn't operate it. Moreover, the ship was severely damaged, and they didn't have the tools to repair it here.
The only value of the ship was to dismantle it and use the wood as raw material. The wood could be used for building houses, expanding the dock, repairing fishing boats, or even building new ships.
At this moment, the system issued a task to Linley: "Explore the Thunder by yourself and uncover its hidden secrets."
"Hidden secrets?" Linley asked, puzzled. "What secrets? Why do I have to explore alone?"
The system did not answer. Linley looked around and felt there shouldn't be any danger, so he ordered, "You guys wait here, I'll go on board and check it out."
"My lord!" Everyone tried to stop him. "It's too dangerous, let us go instead."
"I'm a god, what threat can a ship be to me? You all wait here," Linley said firmly.
For some reason, the system insisted he explore by himself. He climbed up from the bow and found it well-preserved; the planks could still be reused. He walked along the deck, which was slanted, and some of the planks were burned, making them unusable for building a new ship, only for building houses.
The ship's masts had also been burned, which was a real pity. Masts in this era were usually made from whole large logs, extremely valuable and sturdy, not easily broken by strong winds. If the masts were made from various types of wood pieced together, they would not be as strong, and being heavy, they would easily break in strong winds, which was extremely dangerous.
The Thunder's masts were made from the best wood, imported oak from the northern barbarian regions. If they hadn't been burned, these masts could have been used for the keel of a new ship. Now, they can only be used to make furniture.
As he continued forward, he saw the ship's superstructure was severely burned and had collapsed into a large hole. Originally, this was a five-story ship, but the upper four and fifth stories were burned down, while the lower levels were still relatively intact.
Near the bow were the captain's and VIP rooms, luxuriously decorated with carpets and paintings on the walls, each room accommodating one or two people. The middle section was less luxurious, with little decoration, each room housing four people. The stern housed the sailors and rowers, in harsh conditions, with cramped rooms and densely packed beds, each room cramming in a dozen or twenty people, with a foul smell that lingered despite the water and fire damage.
Linley walked through the entire ship, his feet aching, but he found no hidden secrets. The task did not prompt completion. Why was there no guide, no hints, and not even an option to abandon the task? How was he supposed to complete it?
He felt thirsty, took out his wine flask, and took a sip. The wine flowed down his throat, sharpening his senses. The wind blew from the sea, causing the Thunder to rise and fall with the waves, constantly slapping the water. The ship was half-submerged, creaking.
"Help~"
Linley seemed to hear a sound. He perked up his ears to listen carefully, but heard nothing.
Was it a mistake?
While Linley was wondering, he heard the sound again.
The cries for help came every few minutes, very weak, drowned out by various noises, making it hard to hear.
It seemed to come from the bottom of the ship. Linley went to the bottom, searched for a while, and finally determined the sound came from a large broken plank. He reached out and pried open the plank, discovering a water tank inside. In the tank lay a mermaid.