You're Lucky You've Lived This Long!

As night fell, the group, each with their own guilty consciences, hastily ended the banquet. Samael stood on the deck, gazing absently at the undulating sea.

"I said, at most we'll get a skeleton. Where are we going to get a live Leviathan Whale?"

The teddy bear-shaped Oryx climbed onto the ship's railing, his face full of sorrow. He rested his chin on his hand and looked at Samael with a hint of reproach.

The ancient snake stroked its chin, its expression resolute.

"Don't worry, I say I have it, but I need someone to help out with a small favor..."

"No problem! Just tell me what needs to be done!"

At this moment, the seven people who had landed on the island, realizing they were in the wrong, squeezed out from around the corner of the corridor, with Prince of Calydon, who was in the lead, readily agreeing.

"What are you hiding for? I saw all of you who ate the meat and laid a hand on me. Come out here, all of you!"

With a laugh and a curse from Samael, the accomplices emerged one after another from the shadowy corners, looking rather annoyed. As more and more people arrived, the initial awkward atmosphere was somewhat eased by this subtle change.

"Is that little girl asleep?"

"Mmm, she slept so soundly, she didn't even take Circe's Magic Potion..."

Atalanta shook her head helplessly, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"Alright, let's get to work, everyone! We need to finish before dawn!"

Samael snapped his fingers, his expression meaningful.

The accomplices only realized the malice hidden in that expression throughout the night that followed.

The adopted son of the Goddess of Wisdom claimed that he had received divine revelation and could, through some means, repent before Mount of Ares and pray for a miracle.

However, in return, the criminals had to go into the sea to retrieve the remains of the Leviathan Whale, and the accomplices also had to guard against sea monsters that would come from the vicinity attracted by the smell of blood. In short, it took most of the night to complete all the necessary preparations, and all the participants were miserable.

"Alright, everyone disperse. Meleager, you stay behind alone. Go to that little girl's room later, take a drop of blood from her fingertip, and don't wake her up."

Samael clapped his hands and gave the order. The other men, looking helpless, patted the eldest brother on the shoulder and left one after another.

In the end, the gloomy Prince of Calydon had no choice but to grit his teeth and get to work. After a tremendous amount of effort, he finally managed to gather all the necessary materials and deliver them to Samael.

"That..."

"Alright, go back to sleep. I'll take the rest."

Before Prince of Calydon could speak, Samael impatiently ordered him to leave. The prince hesitated several times, but at the serpent's insistence, he had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

Judging from his appearance, he'll probably be spending the rest of the night sleepless.

As night was about to fall, Samael, who was lying on the ship's side, yawned and listlessly pulled out his spear, cut the rope net, and let the whale carcasses that everyone had painstakingly collected fall back into the deep sea.

What are you doing?

The Oryx was taken aback and subconsciously asked a question.

"Since we can't get any evidence anyway, of course we have to destroy it."

Samael responded casually, smiling as he pulled a light blue crystal core from his pocket, the inside of which seemed to have whales swimming around it, and played with it by turning it over in his palm.

"This Spirit Core, which houses the consciousness of the magical beast, is the key. Blood and bones are actually unnecessary."

Meanwhile, the ancient serpent secretly thought to himself, "Luckily, the beasts on the Argo have a habit of collecting war artifacts. Such a rare Vitan whale Spirit Core is naturally being carefully preserved."

Otherwise, things could get really messy.

"Then why did you let them do all this?"

Upon hearing this, the Oryx rolled his eyes and retorted.

Samael scoffed irritably, "Whether I need it or not is irrelevant; their consciences do. If we don't let them steal something, they won't get a good night's sleep tonight. Besides, they can make a mess of things like collecting fresh water and eating a meal. Shouldn't we teach them a lesson?"

Then, the ancient serpent glanced at the huge shadow cast by the Argo on the sea, its tone meaningful.

"Moreover, learning a lesson might not be a bad thing for them."

Indeed, they have had an incredibly smooth journey so far.

The heroes of the Argo became somewhat arrogant and self-important.

This can be seen from the advance team's presumptuous "rescue of the weak" and their act of roughly knocking the girl unconscious because they couldn't understand the language.

In fact, not only the advance team, but also the personnel left behind on Argo and him, if they had been more observant and woken the girl up earlier to ask about the situation, they wouldn't have caused such a big problem.

But their recent smooth sailing has made them complacent.

Thinking of this, Samael couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

With his covert protection, the Argo Heroes indeed successfully passed every trial before them.

However, their complacency has prevented them from developing their character, leading them to unwittingly encounter the trouble they face today.

Fortunately, it was just a minor problem that I could fix myself. What if it had been a life-or-death situation?

Heroes are, in essence, human beings. They are not perfect, and they even have stronger selfish desires and more obvious weaknesses than ordinary people.

For example, Prince of Calydon was a typical example of "good intentions gone wrong".

In his own destiny, for the sake of fairness in the Calydonian Hunt, he disregarded objections and offered no explanation, awarding the boar's hide to Atalanta without any justification.

But this not only brought him to his death, but also made Atalanta a target of public criticism.

Today, similar history is repeating itself, perhaps driven by a curse of fate.

But can Prince of Calydon and the seven who landed on the island really blame everything on fate?

It's not just the That King's "good intentions gone wrong," the Twin Swordsmen's obsession and extremism, Caenis's arrogant boasting, Heracles's madness and mania, or Atalanta's confidence and pride...

All of these are weaknesses in their character.

Once they are cursed by the gods, it could very well become the cause of their deaths.

Besides, he is a god, and although he treats these heroes as friends, he cannot protect them forever.

It's better to learn a small lesson now and temper your temper than to lose your life prematurely because of it later.

They haven't even reached the King of Colchis yet. Even with divine favor, if they become too complacent, they will pay a heavy price sooner or later.

At this moment, the Oryx had already experienced a great voyage gradually understood Samael's good intentions, and his cynical eyes showed more respect and closeness.

This guy is indeed someone I can entrust with things; perhaps I should take advantage of this now...

Just as Oryx was lost in thought, Samael clapped his hands, gripped the Spirit Core tightly, his fingernails pierced his palm, and a large amount of golden-red blood stained the Spirit Core before dripping into the sea.

Beast Spirit Core extraction... flesh proliferation... architectural reconstruction!

The moment Samael solemnly chanted in his heart, the blood mist spreading in the sea immediately multiplied at an astonishing speed into flesh, skeletons, and organs of different parts.

In the blink of an eye, a huge shadow coalesced and took shape underwater on the Argo, but in the process, it remained motionless, like a living corpse.

Ether Magic Circuits, unfold!

Soul medium core, activate!

Fortunately, the Beast's Authority that the Mother Goddess bestowed upon me are amplified at sea. The essence of the Mother of Hundred Beasts can basically recreate the physical body of that Leviathan Whale based on the Beast Spirit Core diagram.

Lost in thought, Samael, his face slightly pale, slowly released his grip. The upward-stretching blood vessels immediately absorbed the Spirit Core and flowed into the body.

"Waaah!"

The enormous creature floating in the sea twitched for a moment, then stabilized, swung its long tail, creating waves several meters high, and surfaced with a joyful cry.

"Ah! My whale! It's my whale that's caught up with me!"

At the same time, the girl, who had been sleeping like a log, suddenly sat up with a start, wiped the drool from her mouth, rushed out of the room with shining eyes, and leaped into the deep sea.

"Huh, where are the islands and reefs? They're all gone! Oh well, this is more comfortable to hug!"

Seeing her pet, which had been "beaten away," return, the blue-haired girl excitedly approached her car and chattered about her experience the previous night.

To everyone's amusement and dismay, she actually drooled as she described the unforgettable meal to her Yang Leviathan Whale.

Fortunately, these sea creatures are rather slow-witted and have limited intelligence; otherwise, if they understood their predicament, they might have been so angry they would have vomited blood.

However, considering that the situation was resolved satisfactorily, the heroes who had been working hard all night could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Among them, Prince of Calydon, whose face looked haggard, showed the most obvious sign of relaxation.

Seeing that he had already hung this guy up all night, Samael had a rare moment of conscience and simply gave him a reassuring and calm look, without continuing to torment him.

"Hey, are you guys trying to cross the Stormy Sea Region?"

"Right!"

Prince of Calydon, still clinging to life, hurriedly answered.

"Since you treated me to a big meal, I can guide you and lead you out of that area."

The girl waved and swam forward without further ado.

As white waves splashed up behind her, everyone was shocked to discover that the navigator's lower body, submerged in the seawater, had transformed into a dark blue fish tail.

Half-human, half-fish! Sea Royal Family! How could we possibly encounter a legendary creature?

Moreover, this girl seems to have run away from the settlement alone, but her strength is so weak that she is obviously not a core divine bloodline. It's a wonder that she has survived until now despite her recklessness.

The heroes, belatedly realizing the situation, were quite taken aback and secretly grumbled to themselves.