The Greeks' understanding was indeed limited back then; they actually viewed India as a wild land. However, by today's standards, no region in the world back then could be considered truly developed, and there was no real sense of superiority among them.
In fact, not only was India not barbaric compared to Greece, but it was also one of the wealthiest regions in the world at the time. Even the concept of the number "zero," which is so important, was invented by the Indians.
In contrast, the Romans seemed more informed; at least they knew there was a large country further east of India. Although the two civilizations could not communicate directly, there were commercial routes. However, calling Pandora a Greek is also inaccurate; she was actually a mermaid from Atlantis, so it made sense that she wasn't familiar with matters on land.
"That's China," Linley explained.
"China?" Pandora was evidently unaware of it.
"It will never be ruled by Holiness," Linley added.
In fact, India was never ruled either, because it had its own native deities. If Linley tried to seize territory there, he might not succeed. But China was different; Chinese culture was very inclusive, and any belief could take root there.
If Linley claimed a mountain in China and called himself the god of wine, the Buddhist and Taoist deities probably wouldn't bother him; at most, the government might come to collect a wine tax.
"Even though I don't fully understand, it sounds impressive," Pandora said.
"Of course, it's impressive," Linley responded. "But that's a last resort. Unless we absolutely have to, we'd better not go that far; the journey is too dangerous."
"Yeah, from here to China, who knows how many thousands of miles it is," Pandora sighed.
In reality, the distance wasn't that far. The Earth's equatorial circumference is only about 40,000 kilometers, less than 100,000 li. The straight-line distance from Greece to China is only over 7,000 kilometers, about 14,000 li. However, there were no direct roads at that time. When the monk Xuanzang traveled from China to India for Buddhist scriptures, the straight-line distance was only a few thousand li, but he actually took a long detour. The journey from Greece to China was even longer.
Back then, Alexander the Great was invincible, conquering from Greece to India, but his soldiers were unwilling to advance further, forcing him to return, and he died shortly thereafter. At that time, China was still far away. Even an invincible army could not continue, so it was even more difficult for Linley with a group of ragtag soldiers.
Linley and Pandora chatted for a while, and a glimmer of dawn appeared on the horizon. The sun slowly rose, painting the white clouds and the sea a fiery red. The rain had stopped, and it looked like it would be a sunny day.
"Let's go back to the cave. I wonder what it looks like now," Linley said.
"Are we going back through the secret passage?" Pandora asked.
"Isn't the secret passage one-way?" Linley responded.
"I can use magic," Pandora explained.
"Forget it, let's go back from the dock," Linley said. "Or you can go back through the secret passage, and I'll take the mountain path from the dock. Let's see who gets there first."
"Great, great!" Pandora agreed excitedly. "The loser has to give a gift to the winner. Ready, go!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Pandora plunged into the water and instantly swam dozens of meters away. Linley realized he had miscalculated; he still had to swim to the dock and then take the mountain path back. Meanwhile, Pandora could return entirely by water. How could he compete with her?
When Linley arrived at the dock, the followers cheered and greeted him. He had to stop and acknowledge their greetings before he could start climbing the mountain. Along the way, there were more followers, so he had to walk slowly to avoid diminishing their faith.
When Linley finally reached the cave entrance, nearly an hour had quietly passed. Considering the mermaid had already swum tens of kilometers by then, it was clear the race was lost. Linley began to ponder what gift to give but didn't know what the mermaid would like.
He had no decent gifts; the most precious thing he had was a pearl, but that was a mermaid's tear, and giving it back to Pandora seemed inappropriate. A slingshot was something he often used, but giving pellets seemed too thoughtless. Grapes? They seemed insincere too.
Suddenly, Linley had a bright idea. Since there was no specific time for the gift, why not wait for the Dionysian grapes to mature, make wine from them, and give it to Pandora? He could even name the wine after her.
When he entered the cave, he found it flooded, with water spilling out. There was a pool inside the cave, and now the whole cave seemed like part of the pool. The people who originally lived in the cave had evacuated. Fortunately, the water rose slowly, and important items had been moved out, resulting in minimal loss.
The wooden planks from the Thunderbolt were now useful. People built small wooden houses beside the rocky mountain, so they wouldn't have to live in the cave anymore.
"Lord," Odysseus said worriedly, holding a Dionysian grapevine, "yesterday's rain kept getting heavier, and the water kept rising, flooding the entire cave. I was so busy evacuating people that I forgot about the grapevines below... I only managed to save this one."
"It's okay. Pandora and I installed a one-way valve below, so we'll have enough fresh water," Linley reassured him.
"But what about the Dionysian grapevines?" Odysseus asked.
"There's still one here. Besides, they might not be dead. I'll go check," Linley said before diving into the pool.
The underwater scene relieved Linley. The Dionysian grapevines were not dead; instead, they had grown even more luxuriantly, swaying beautifully in the water. The grape clusters had also matured significantly, almost turning completely purple. Linley picked one and tasted it; it was sweet and delicious, perfect for winemaking. However, he was concerned whether the grape skins still retained yeast underwater. If not, additional yeast would be needed for winemaking.
He felt the vitality of the grapevines and found them to be very vigorous, with no problems at all. Recalling the notes on the Dionysian grapes, it indeed mentioned that they could adapt to various environments, and it seemed underwater was one of them.
However, where had Pandora gone? Linley searched everywhere, even diving to the valve in the stone cave, but still couldn't find her. In just a few hundred meters, could something have happened?
"Pandora?" Linley called out underwater.
Sound travels farther and clearer underwater than on land, but there was no response. Linley couldn't help but worry, thinking of the man-eating sharks he had encountered by the sea when he first arrived here. Could there be other dangerous creatures in the sea that had devoured Pandora when she was alone?
Or perhaps Pandora suddenly realized she no longer needed to follow Linley and took the opportunity to escape?