The flag

Some time had passed since they left Lemnos Island, and now a new problem had arisen: they seemed to be lost.

"Jason, I'm really starting to doubt your professional competence. Or are you still pining for your days on Lemnos?" Bai Mo teased Jason from a chair by the window.

"Spare me the snide remarks! This is my first time at sea too. If anything, getting lost for the first time only now is pretty good, isn't it? We must not have made proper sacrifices to Poseidon, and now he's taking his anger out on me."

Hearing this, Bai Mo gave Jason a look of contempt, but Jason had no attention to spare for it. They had a serious problem on their hands: supplies were running short.

Because of the situation on Lemnos, they had barely replenished the ship's supplies. The only reason no major problems had arisen yet was that Bai Mo and the others who stayed aboard had gathered some food and water, but now even those were nowhere near enough.

"I can do something about the water. As for food... how about we all go fishing?"

"No fish is going to bite at the speed we're sailing! Wait, you can deal with the water problem?"

"Yeah, I should be able to, barring any surprises."

"Why didn't you say so sooner if you had a way? Never mind, what do you need? Come with me, quick."

A little later, Jason brought Bai Mo to an unoccupied room. After all, the outcome was still uncertain. If they announced it beforehand only to fail, a lot of people would resent Bai Mo.

Bai Mo then dipped his hand into the seawater and activated his Magnetic Field Power.

Although Magnetic Field Power was capable of almost anything, could Electric Current Push accomplish something like this?

Absolutely. When Bai Mo realized that both his Complete Realm and Magnetic Field Power had hit a wall, he had sought another path, trying to develop the power of nature as Sea Tiger once had. And now, although he could not match Sea Tiger's might, it was enough.

Soon, the bucket of seawater began to grow cold, and the salt crystallized. Then the seawater gradually turned into fresh water. Even so, it was still undrinkable. Next, some unusual substances could be seen changing the color of the salt crystals at the bottom, and in the end, what remained was clean drinking water.

"Five seconds? Sigh, if just one bucket of water takes this long, how am I supposed to reach Sea Tiger's level?"

Bai Mo felt somewhat dejected. He had been pleased with himself when he first gained Magnetic Field Power, then had been tempered by the great saber. Yet now he felt weak and powerless, with even a trace of doubt-doubt in himself.

He yearned wholeheartedly to grow stronger, yet could not advance a single step. Bai Mo felt he was utterly pathetic.

Bai Mo disparaged himself because, deep down, he was comparing himself with the terrifying powerhouses of those magnetic field worlds. Such a comparison was, in fact, completely foolish, but he had that desire within him, that thirst for power.

And that thirst drove him to judge himself against an unrealistic goal.

Some time later, Atalanta brought word again. After so many days of sailing, it seemed they had finally encountered land.

The others headed to the kingdom on the island, while Bai Mo stayed aboard with Heracles again. This was an opportunity, a rare chance to fight. Bai Mo waited, and soon, just as in the myth, this proved to be Doliones, with a band of giants on the island. Bai Mo stroked his unfinished blade, drawing a sidelong glance from Heracles, who had sensed his fighting spirit.

Sure enough, before long, the giants took a fancy to the exquisite Argo and wanted to claim her for themselves. Heracles immediately stood at the bow and drew his bow into a full moon. An arrow coated with Hydra's venom instantly claimed a giant's life. His action seemed to enrage them, and the remaining giants let out deafening roars and launched their attacks.

Arrow after arrow flew. Atalanta's arrows could not kill a giant in a single shot as Heracles's could, so she could only aim for their eyes as best she could to hold them back. Heracles was finding the situation troublesome too.

The giants were utterly fearless in the face of death and possessed immense strength. Enraged, they no longer cared what happened to the ship. They lifted boulders, and countless rocks rained down.

Heracles now faced a problem. If he shot the boulders, he could not spare any attention for the charging giants; if he shot the giants, their stones might damage the Argo. All he could do was have Atalanta hold them off for now. Once the stone-throwing giants grew exhausted, he could kill them all.

In an instant, a figure landed directly on one of the hurled boulders. It was Bai Mo.

"Hydra's venom really is potent. But if Heracles's arrows can pierce them, that proves their bodies aren't indestructible."

Bai Mo stamped his foot, and the boulder beneath him dropped straight down, crushing a giant below it to death.

"Looks like a heavy blow to the head still kills them. That makes things easy."

Having propelled himself into the air, Bai Mo looked into the distance. The giants throwing stones seemed to have plenty of strength left.

"I'm diving their back line. Hold on!"

One man and one blade streaked across the sky as Bai Mo dropped like a cannonball. A giant clapped both hands down, trying to squash this fly. A tremendous crash rang out, drawing glances from both Heracles and Atalanta aboard the ship. And Atalanta, an archery specialist, saw something that shocked her.

The giant had spread his hands and clapped them together, but Bai Mo had long since vanished.

"Not just slow, but terrible reactions too? You lot really disappoint me."

Bai Mo stood atop the giant's head and brought his unfinished blade down. The giant's skull split like a coconut with its shell cracked open, sending brains splattering everywhere.

Now Bai Mo was like an untouchable ghost, moving freely through the giants' formation. Their strength could not touch him, and even when they landed a hit, it was only because Bai Mo wanted to use their strength to move. With his control over force, these giants had no chance of killing him.

Now it was the giants' turn to be troubled. If they dealt with Bai Mo's attacks, Heracles would shoot down their vanguard at will like targets. If they ignored Bai Mo, he would crack their skulls open.

They still had a chance if they fled now. Unfortunately, their intelligence was truly pitiful. Anger had clouded their minds, and they were still wasting their strength trying to attack Bai Mo. Their actions sent them through the gates of the underworld.

Thud! The last giant fell. Bai Mo put away his unfinished blade, suddenly feeling regretful. Their battle had brought the departed Argonauts back, but there was nothing left for them to do. With giants lying fallen around the ship and Bai Mo standing atop their corpses, they had already seized the fruits of victory.

That afternoon, people began celebrating the victory, while Bai Mo once again stayed alone in his room as he had before. He closed his eyes and tried to break through again, only to fail, entirely unsurprisingly. Repeated failures had already left his heart calm, and he slowly left his room.

"Hey, Bai Ermo, you finally decided to come out of there!"

When the others saw Bai Mo emerge, they came over with cups of wine to welcome this contributor to their victory. For the first time, Bai Mo set aside his cultivation and chose to enjoy the pleasure the feast brought him.

Bai Mo had once yearned for power, but on Blue Star, he had ultimately been nothing more than an ordinary person. Back then, all his efforts had been for himself and Bozai to live better lives. But now he had the possibility of standing at the pinnacle, so enjoyment, pleasure, love-all of it could wait until he became the strongest.

That was how Bai Mo thought, but right now he needed something, some relaxation to dispel the dejection in his heart. This feast was quite good for that. Gradually, the stone weighing on his heart seemed to loosen considerably, and Bai Mo began mingling with these heroes.

The islanders were also very curious about this hero who had fought alongside Heracles to slay the giants. When someone asked about him, the Argonauts seemed to have found a topic to talk about.

"See that flag? That's Bai Ermo's room. Pretty unusual, isn't it?"

Then the people saw the flag, which shone even in the evening.

Elsewhere, however, Atalanta and Heracles had called Jason aside.

"Ow, ow, ow! Atalanta, what did you drag me over here for? Heracles, why are you here too?"

Tugging Jason's ear, Atalanta said, "Obviously, I came to you for a reason. Tell me, just what is Bai Ermo's background?"

"Huh? That's all you wanted to ask?"

"Obviously! Do you have any idea... never mind, hurry up and tell me!"

Then, like an orator preparing to deliver a speech, Jason climbed onto a wooden crate and coughed twice. Just as he was about to launch into a lengthy discourse, Atalanta kicked the crate out from under him.

"Aah! You violent woman! Whoever marries you must have angered the gods and been cursed!"

"Cut the crap!"

"Honestly, why are you so worked up over something so trivial? Don't be too shocked when I tell you. Bai Mo is an aide sent by the goddess Athena to assist me."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

"You idiot! I saw it! When Bai Mo was fighting, the unfinished blade in his hand was wreathed in the light of lightning! Did you seriously never know?"

Atalanta's words instantly rang through Jason's mind like a thunderclap. There was only one being in the world who possessed the power of lightning: Zeus, king of the gods.

"Bai Mo is a son of Zeus?" Jason blurted out instinctively. Heracles was also deeply shocked, but this seemed to be the only answer, and once it emerged, everything seemed to make sense.

Where did his power come from? Zeus's bloodline. Why had he remained unknown until now? What else could it be but Hera? So that was it. This fellow was actually a son of Zeus.

As for Heracles, his expression showed some surprise, but not too much. After all, the sons of Zeus produced by his old man's affairs could join hands and encircle a city wall. But this was the only one who could command thunder and lightning.

Yes, Zeus had many sons, but so far, only Bai Mo had demonstrated the power to wield lightning. What did that mean? It was enough to prove that he was, without question, the one with the greatest potential among Zeus's sons.

Jason's mind raced. Why would Athena help Bai Mo? It seemed everything made sense now.