During rainfall, the island often has rainwater washing away the soil, which gathers in low-lying areas where trees can grow. The trees' leaves fall and decompose into the soil, supporting the growth of more plants. These plants further erode the rocks, producing more organic matter and creating a positive cycle.
However, Dionysus Island has not formed such a cycle. The little soil that accumulates is washed into the caves by a single rain, dissolving into the water pools. As the water turns salty, the soil loses its vitality. Additionally, with insufficient sunlight, even if the plants could adapt to the salty water, they would not thrive.
If a one-way valve were installed, it could prevent the pool water from becoming salty, and the washed-down soil would not be ruined by the salty water but would instead accumulate in the caves, gradually allowing plants to grow.
If someone lived there, the cycle would speed up. By moving the soil to sunny areas, the plants could grow better. Linley could also use his divine power to speed up the growth of grapes, and the island could soon be cultivated.
Linley released his divine power to the grapevines, and the grapes quickly grew and ripened. However, before the grapes fully matured, Linley stopped, as his divine power was insufficient, and using more would cause him to faint.
The rain outside gradually lessened, but more water gathered in the caves, causing the pool to grow larger and submerge all the grapevines. Linley walked down to the pool, took a deep breath, and dove into the water, seeing Pandora lying on the sand, glowing.
Linley reached the bottom of the pool and found it was still fresh water with no trace of saltiness. He scooped up the sand and dug down over two meters, still finding fresh water. He couldn't help but wonder if digging further would lead directly to the sea.
"What are you doing?" Pandora approached and asked.
"I..." As Linley opened his mouth, he choked on a mouthful of water, panicked, and choked several more times, quickly surfacing and coughing for a while to clear the water from his windpipe.
"Lord Linley, you're still not used to this body, are you?" Pandora covered her mouth and laughed.
"Yes, I just became a god, still not quite used to it," Linley said.
"You don't need to breathe underwater," Pandora said. "I've seen other gods swallow the water into their stomachs, so they don't choke when they speak."
Swallow the water into the stomach? It should be into the lungs. Linley dived back into the water, slowly inhaled water through his nose, and indeed, he didn't choke. It turned out a god's body could function both on land and in water. Once his lungs were full, Linley could speak without any problem.
"Why are you awake?" Linley asked.
"I slept on a bed made of seahorse skin in the palace," Pandora replied.
Seahorse skin? Linley thought seahorses were very small, so how much skin could be used to make a bed?
"I've been thinking about the one-way valve you mentioned," Linley said. "If we install it, we'll have plenty of fresh water and won't have to worry about it anymore."
"Yeah! People on land need to drink fresh water," Pandora said.
"I wonder what it's like down there," Linley said.
"Below is a section of stone cave, filled with sand in the middle, and a narrow passage. As long as we install the one-way valve in this passage, fresh water can flow through it into the sea, but seawater won't come up. If we need more fresh water, we can directly close the valve to store it in the cave," Pandora explained.
Linley asked skeptically, "Can the valve be made of wood?"
Pandora explained, "It must be made of wood. If we use copper or iron, they will quickly rust and corrode, but wood can last long. The wood on the Thunderbolt has been blessed and can last for a hundred or two hundred years."
"One or two hundred years..." Linley pondered, thinking that even one or two years would be enough since he didn't plan to stay long on this small island.
"Let's go check it out," Linley suggested.
Pandora frowned, looking reluctant. "Do we have to climb up and down again?"
To complete the task quickly, Linley said without hesitation, "You rest here, I'll go see what kind of wood we need and bring it back for you."
Pandora nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll draw the design for you... it's a pity there's no parchment here."
At that time, there was no real paper yet. It wasn't until China invented paper and it spread to Europe through the Middle East that Europeans began using it, which was after the Tang Dynasty. However, real paper couldn't be used in water since it would be ruined after being soaked.
The Greeks used two types of writing materials: papyrus and parchment. Papyrus, a specialty of Egypt, was made by weaving thin strips of papyrus together, similar to a mat but far less durable than bamboo slips. Parchment was made from thin sheets of animal skin, which worked well but was expensive.
There was no paper on the island, so they could only write on wooden boards, but wood was prone to decay, inconvenient to use, and there weren't many spare boards.
Linley tore off a few grape leaves and infused them with divine power, making their surface suitable for writing. Pandora drew the design and listed the needed materials on the grape leaves. Linley memorized all the information after looking at it once.
He took the grape leaves to the dock, where it was bustling with activity. Fishermen were dismantling the Thunderbolt's wooden planks in the rain, piling them next to the dock. They had already dismantled more than half, and various planks were stacked like a mountain.
Many people transported the planks to the island, choosing flat ground to build houses, which were already taking shape, promising a future of stability and prosperity.
Seeing Linley, everyone stopped their work, saluted him, and sang praises. Linley waved for them to continue working, but he felt waves of divine power surging into him, as their faith in him deepened. Some Poseidon followers even switched their faith.
"My lord," Dave walked over joyfully, "the wood from this ship is amazing. We've never seen such sturdy planks. We'll definitely be able to build ships ten times better than our current fishing boats."
This was a ship blessed by Zeus, named Thunderbolt, so naturally, the materials were the best. But now, with Zeus's fate unknown, even his ship was being dismantled for reuse.
It seemed to symbolize the twilight of the Olympian gods. No matter how glorious they once were, they were now in ruins and had to be completely dismantled to be reused. Could Linley single-handedly revive the faith in the Olympian gods?