This time, Linley had gathered a large amount of wood. Although it was enough to repair ships and build houses, it was still insufficient for building a furnace. Dionysus Island has long dealt with a fuel shortage, and if this problem isn't fixed, the island's growth will be stunted.
Should they move to another island, like Andros Island? Even though other resources there aren't plentiful, the infrastructure is pretty complete and it has fuel, making it much better than Dionysus Island. Or, he could rally the whole army to take over Crete.
Crete has a big population, developed agriculture, and decent handicrafts. Even though its mineral resources aren't complete, it already has the foundation for dominance. Or, he could head to Cyprus, where copper resources are abundant, cutting down the need for imported resources a lot. He could even think about moving into Asia Minor and taking over Byzantine lands directly.
Even though these places are resource-rich, they all have the same problem: they're too noticeable. In contrast, Dionysus Island is small, off the main sea routes, and can stay hidden.
But as Linley's followers grow and interactions with the outside world become more frequent, Dionysus Island will eventually be exposed. Because the island is small, enemy forces can only land through the port. As long as the port is defended, enemy ships can only hover offshore and can't stick around for long. Large-scale military operations need a lot of food and money, especially at sea, where all supplies have to be shipped over, making it unsustainable.
So, Linley decided to stay on Dionysus Island for now and think about expanding after solidifying his foundation.
After making his decision, Linley walked to the deck and saw Nemo sitting at the front of the ship, fishing.
"Sir," Nemo stood up and saluted.
Linley waved his hand, signaling him to continue fishing.
Nemo sat back down and fiddled with his fishing rod. After a while, he caught an oddly shaped small fish. Nemo glanced at it, removed the fish, and threw it back into the sea.
"Can't we eat this fish?" Linley asked.
"I don't recognize this fish," Nemo explained. "It's best not to eat anything from the sea that you don't recognize. It could be poisonous."
The ocean remains mysterious to humans. Even before the crossing, humans could build submersibles that dive tens of thousands of meters into the deep sea, but their understanding of the deep sea was still limited, even less than their understanding of the moon.
At that moment, Nemo's fishing rod suddenly dipped down. Excitedly, he stood up and shouted, "A big fish is hooked!"
He gripped the rod tightly and pulled with all his might. The rod quickly bent, and Nemo ran around following its direction, sometimes in front, sometimes behind. A few minutes later, a fish Linley had never seen before surfaced, with colorful patterns on its skin, looking very beautiful.
Linley asked, puzzled, "What is this?"
Nemo looked confused, "I don't know either..."
Suddenly, the fishing rod snapped with a crisp sound, making Nemo lose his balance and tumble onto the deck, almost falling into the sea. He sat on the ground, panting heavily, his hands already red and swollen. Seeing this, Linley realized that fishing could be quite physically demanding.
"What a shame," Linley sighed.
Nemo shrugged it off, "It's fine, I've never seen this kind of fish before, and it's probably not good to eat anyway."
Linley nodded, "There are so many creatures in the ocean we've never seen."
Pandora chimed in, "That's just a rainbow fish, they're pretty common underwater."
"Is it really that common?" Linley asked, skeptical.
Pandora explained, "In Atlantis, these fish are everywhere, but they don't taste good, so we usually don't eat them. Some people even train them to pull carts."
"Pull carts?" Linley immediately thought about using them for cavalry.
If these fish could be trained to pull carts, could we form a marine cavalry? Just dive under enemy ships, make a few holes, and the Roman fleet would be wiped out in no time.
Pandora continued, "Rainbow fish are carnivorous. If you dangle a piece of meat in front of them, they'll chase it, so they can be used to pull carts."
Linley thought to himself, this method seemed too primitive for forming a cavalry.
So he asked, "Are there any sea creatures that are easier to tame and intelligent enough to use as mounts?"
Pandora answered, "My father usually rides an orca."
"Orca? I don't think there are any around here," Linley said doubtfully.
Pandora shook her head, "I don't know either, I haven't seen any lately."
Linley asked again, "What about other people?"
Pandora said, "I usually don't use mounts; I travel by carriage. We have a kind of seahorse that can swim in the sea..." She suddenly looked into the distance, "There seems to be something over there."
"What?" Linley asked, looking in the same direction.
At first, he couldn't see anything, but as his eyes adjusted, he barely saw a white spot. It was a wave surging from the seabed, although it looked small from here, the actual area was at least several hundred square meters.
Pandora frowned, "It feels familiar, it seems to be... Poseidon's power."
"Poseidon!" Linley immediately perked up.
Poseidon was Zeus's brother, in charge of the sea. If he could find Poseidon, Linley wouldn't be isolated and helpless. Moreover, with the protection of the sea god, he would be safer in the sea.
Pandora suggested, "I'll go check it out."
Linley shook his head, "No, you stay here, I'll go. You are a sacrifice to Zeus, meeting Poseidon might cause problems."
Pandora explained, "I am a secret follower of Poseidon, there won't be any problems."
Linley retorted, "Poseidon knows you are not real."
After saying that, he jumped into the water and swam in that direction. After swimming for a while, he was surprised to find a dragon.
It was a western dragon, resembling a lizard with a pair of wings on its back, slender in shape, swimming quickly in the water. Linley was shocked, he didn't expect to encounter a dragon here.
The dragon was covered in scars, some of which were still bleeding, emitting a faint holy light. What was going on? Was it injured by holy light? Or was it actually Holiness's? Linley recalled Holiness's scriptures, which described dragons as enemies, so this dragon should not belong to Holiness.
"Hey, hello," Linley greeted tentatively.
"Ah, what do I see!" The dragon's eyes widened in surprise, "It's actually a weak god!"
This made Linley instantly alert, "Were you injured by Holiness's people?"
"Yes," the dragon replied, "I encountered a cardinal at sea, what bad luck, who would have thought that randomly attacking a fleet would lead to meeting a cardinal."