The mermaid had a petite figure, standing at about five feet tall, significantly shorter than Linley. She had golden hair, snow-white skin on her upper body, and a green fish tail, making her look exceptionally beautiful.
At this moment, she was tightly bound by ropes, trapped in a water tank, unable to move, and looking extremely weak. When she saw Linley, her face lit up with surprise and joy, and she seemed eager to say something, but because the water tank was tightly sealed, the sound was very muffled.
Three sides of the water tank were made of wooden boards, and the fourth side was made of a transparent material that looked like glass. However, at that time, there were no such large pieces of transparent glass, only small, opaque, colored glass pieces occasionally produced, known as 'liuli'.
Linley walked up and knocked on the glass-like material, producing a clear sound. It turned out to be crystal. Such a large and smoothly polished piece of transparent crystal was a treasure.
He forcefully lifted the crystal panel and set it aside. The crystal panel weighed about a thousand pounds; without Linley's divine strength, it would have been impossible to move.
"Help! Save me!" As the crystal panel was moved aside, her voice became much clearer.
Linley pulled the mermaid out and untied the ropes around her, asking, "Who are you? Why are you here?"
"I... I am Pandora, the princess of Atlantis," the mermaid said in a melodious voice. "I was offered as a sacrifice to Zeus."
Pandora? That name wasn't very auspicious. According to legend, Zeus had a perfect woman named Pandora created by the god of craftsmen and gave her a box. When humans opened the box, various plagues and disasters escaped, leaving only hope inside, meaning that no matter how much misfortune one experiences, one must keep hope.
Now, the king of Atlantis had named his daughter Pandora and offered her as a sacrifice to Zeus. Was this performance art? Or was it a subtle expression of dissatisfaction?
Atlantis was a mermaid kingdom under the Mediterranean Sea, said to be very prosperous, but few had visited, and its authenticity was unverified.
Zeus, being lecherous, would accept the mermaid princess's sacrifice and not kill her, but she would certainly become his concubine. Unexpectedly, even Zeus ran into trouble and had to flee after being defeated by Holiness, and the mermaid princess was brought on board. Since she was a sacrifice, no one dared to release her, and no one truly cared about her, even if the ship was sinking, they didn't open the box.
"It's okay now, you can go," Linley said.
"I can't just leave like this. If I leave without permission, Zeus will bring disaster to Atlantis," Pandora said.
"I believe Zeus has no time to deal with these trivial matters right now," Linley replied.
"I can feel the power of the god of wine in you. Are you an apostle of the god of wine?" Pandora asked.
"I am the god of wine. Dionysus is dead," Linley replied.
"What!" Pandora's already large eyes widened further. "My father will be very sad to hear this. He loved drinking and often invited the priests of the god of wine to the palace to drink together."
"So what do you plan to do now?" Linley asked.
"I want to follow you until I meet Lord Zeus," Pandora said. "Don't worry, I can do many things and will not just eat and drink for free."
Hearing her say she could do many things, Linley couldn't help but glance at Pandora's body.
"Not that," Pandora's face immediately turned red, and she shyly lowered her head. "I must remain a virgin for Lord Zeus, but I have many other skills."
"That's not what I meant," Linley hurriedly explained.
"Then stick with me for now," Linley said to Pandora.
"Thank you, Lord Dionysus. I'll do my best," Pandora replied cheerfully.
At that moment, Linley heard a system prompt in his mind, announcing that he had completed the mission of exploring the Thunder. Not only had he uncovered the Thunder's hidden secret—Pandora's existence—but he had also successfully brought her under his control.
"You've done an excellent job on this mission. You can now draw a prize," the system prompted.
Linley pressed a button, and the pointer began to spin rapidly, passing over weapons, plants, and various icons, finally stopping on an icon of a muscular arm.
"You've gained a strength point," the system announced.
"Only one?" Linley felt a bit disappointed but then immediately felt his strength significantly increase, as if he could knock out a tiger with one punch.
"This increase is to your base strength. With divine power amplification, your actual strength will be much higher. So, an increase of one is already quite impressive," the system explained. "Your strength was ten when you crossed over, and now it's twelve. Those famous strongmen only have strengths of fifteen or sixteen. Even the demigod Hercules had a base strength of only thirty."
Hercules, the legendary hero who crushed snakes at birth, completed twelve labors, killed the Hydra, found the Golden Fleece, obtained the Golden Apples, and was ultimately poisoned and deified. If his strength was only thirty, then Linley would need to gain eighteen more strength points to match Hercules. But even then, what would be the point? The entire Olympian pantheon had been defeated by Holiness, and the Thunder was nearly destroyed by the Fire Angel.
"Are there any more missions?" Linley asked, eager for more.
"Not for now," the system replied. "Pandora is a mermaid princess, and her power far exceeds your imagination. Go find out what Pandora can really do."
What does that mean? What else could Pandora do? Linley left the divine realm and returned to the Thunder, bringing Pandora to the dock. When the others saw Pandora, they shouted, "A mermaid!"
"How can there be a mermaid?"
"Cover your ears! Don't listen to her singing!"
"A mermaid! A man-eating monster!"
Many people quickly covered their ears, and some even tied themselves to pillars. Sailors believed that hearing a mermaid's song at sea would make them swim towards her without hesitation, causing ships to wreck and sailors to be dragged into the sea to be eaten by mermaids. Thus, the island where mermaids lived was said to be littered with human bones.
"No, you misunderstand," Pandora explained, feeling wronged. "It's the Sirens that eat people, not mermaids. Sirens have two tails; we only have one."
"This is the mermaid princess of Atlantis. She..." Linley started but then suddenly realized he had no idea if what Pandora said was true.