"I'll try to level up quickly and unlock it soon," Linley said.
After collecting the reward, Linley returned to the real world. He lay alone at the bottom of the sea when Pandora quickly swam over, grabbed him, and tears began to flow uncontrollably, forming pearls that scattered across the seabed.
"Why are you crying? I'm fine," Linley said as he swam over to collect the pearls.
"I saw it just now; you were swallowed by the dragon and almost died," Pandora said, her voice trembling.
"You saw that?" Linley asked.
"I swam as fast as I could, but I was still too late," Pandora said helplessly.
Linley recalled the scene of fighting the dragon, feeling as if time had slowed down, but maybe it was an illusion. Logically, if the fight had lasted long, the dragon should have had more means to deal with him.
"It's okay, see? I'm fine now... By the way, did you see the dragon's body?" Linley asked.
"I saw it, you dragged the body into the divine realm," Pandora replied.
"Really? You saw that?" Linley hadn't even noticed himself.
Linley began to ponder how the system worked. What was the outside world like when he was in the divine realm? He suddenly realized he knew nothing about these basic facts.
"Was I not supposed to see that?" Pandora asked cautiously.
"If you saw it, you saw it. Just don't tell anyone," Linley said.
"Even if you killed me, I wouldn't say a word!" Pandora vowed.
"What exactly did you see?" Linley asked.
"I saw the dragon falling to the bottom of the sea, then you emerged from its body, unfolded the divine realm, and I could vaguely see inside it. Then the dragon's body was taken into the divine kingdom, and you woke up," Pandora explained.
So that's how it was. Did Linley's body stay in the real world while only his spirit entered the divine realm? Or did his whole body enter, leaving just a shell outside?
"So you saw everything. You have to keep this secret. Let's go back," Linley said.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Pandora said, starting to cry again.
"Don't cry, I'm fine, see?" Linley said as he hurriedly collected the pearls while comforting Pandora.
"I recognized it just now. That dragon is called Alfred, a very powerful ancient dragon that destroyed several mermaid cities at the bottom of the sea in the past," Pandora continued. "He is Poseidon's apostle, specifically punishing those cities that betrayed Poseidon. We had no way to deal with Alfred, whether we gathered an army to resist, sent elite squads, or hired assassins to kill him, all failed. When I recognized him, I rushed over, but I was still too late... Fortunately, you won, otherwise what would I do?"
"Is he that powerful? Then how powerful must the cardinal who severely injured Alfred be?" Linley couldn't help but feel troubled. Now, if he encountered the cardinal, there was probably no way to win.
Aboard the Nemo, Pandora and Linley were warmly welcomed back by the crew, led by Nemo. The moment they stepped on deck, Nemo shouted excitedly, "Lord Dionysus, you killed a dragon!"
Linley responded calmly, "It was just a dragon. We'll face tougher enemies in the future, but we'll beat them all."
Nemo yelled, "Victory!" and the crew echoed, "Victory!"
The noise woke up crew members on other ships too. Even though many didn't know what happened, they joined in, shouting, "Victory!"
As the cheers died down, everyone started whispering, trying to figure out what had happened. When they found out their god had just killed a dragon, they were ecstatic. After all, it had been ages since a dragon appeared in Greece. Only the legendary hero Heracles had ever killed one, and that was the dragon guarding the apple orchard. Though Dionysus wasn't as powerful as Heracles, Linley pulling off a similar feat really boosted everyone's spirits.
As the sun slowly rose, its light gradually chased away the darkness. Linley was about to order the crew to set sail when he suddenly noticed dozens of black dots on the horizon. They looked like warships.
Linley's face changed dramatically as he thought, "This can't be a coincidence." Seeing this, Nemo asked, "What's wrong?"
Linley stared at the black dots and asked, "Are those Roman warships?"
Nemo, shocked, immediately climbed the mast to look where Linley pointed, but saw nothing. "I don't see anything," he said.
"Come down. Everyone, weigh anchor and get ready to set sail," Linley ordered.
The order was quickly passed along, and everyone got busy, pulling up the anchor, hoisting the sails, and gradually accelerating away. However, this was not enough, as the favorable wind allowed the enemy ships to move very quickly.
Pandora volunteered, "I'll go scout."
Linley shook his head and refused, "No, it's too dangerous." He took out a slingshot and a dragon eye, infused it with divine power, and shot the dragon eye towards the black dots.
Through the dragon eye, Linley saw the sea surface, then the mast, and then the entire ship. In fact, these black dot fleets were still below the horizon, but the light from the rising sun created a lens effect, allowing Linley to see those ships.
These were indeed Roman warships, with large rams mounted on the front of the flat-bottomed ships. Each ship was covered with numerous windows, from which oars could be extended, greatly accelerating the ships in a short time.
On the large ship in the middle, there was a middle-aged man in red clothes. The distance was too far to see his face clearly, but he was holding a book. As the dragon eye got closer, the man seemed to sense something, looked up at the sky, and his gaze was like lightning.
He licked his fingers, turned a page of the book, and recited something. Suddenly, holy light descended from the sky, shining directly on the dragon eye. Linley's eyes hurt sharply, and he involuntarily closed his eyes and cried out in pain.
Pandora asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
Linley shook his head, slowly opened his eyes, but his head was still buzzing, and his eyes kept tearing. He endured the pain and ordered, "Everyone retreat to the ships with triangular sails, abandon the other ships, use the crosswind to retreat, and hide in a secret place. We will return to Dionysus Island after shaking off the pursuers."