A pawn

Fog blanketed the sea. Faced with such conditions, even the most experienced captain would be helpless, and even the most optimistic sailor could not help feeling a shadow fall over his heart.

But those aboard the Argo thought otherwise. On the contrary, they felt quite relaxed.

After all, with fog this thick, the fleet from Colchis would have a hard time catching up to them.

Jason was the exception. He was beset by worries.

Jason kept calculating how long their remaining food would last. He could leave Bai Mo to find a way to deal with fresh water, but Bai Mo did not yet have the power to conjure bread by hand. Even if he did, revealing it now would be far too strange.

Jason was already considering whether to get everyone to try fishing like Bai Mo.

Medea stood beside Jason like a devoted wife and asked considerately, "My love, what has furrowed your brow? Tell me your troubles, and I will resolve them all for you."

Jason was actually still very reluctant to rely on Medea's power, but now there really seemed to be no other way.

Then Jason composed himself and replied, "Medea, my love, we are in desperate straits. With Colchis hunting us, none of the surrounding countries are willing to trade with us. The food aboard the ship is running short."

Indeed, this was a troublesome problem, but every problem had a solution. Some solutions were simply steeped in blood. Yet that meant nothing to Medea now. Love had gone to her head. Bloodshed and infamy were worth far less than a single word of praise from Jason.

"It is all right, my love. I already have a plan. It will certainly resolve your worries."

Medea's words gave Jason goosebumps, but he still patiently listened to her plan.

Then Jason frowned in thought. This plan is too risky. I don't know whether it will work.

Bai Mo was in his usual spot, fishing with a rod in hand. The hook sank deep into the sea, drifting with the current, yet gleamed with an eerie cold light. Bai Mo closed his eyes and quietly sensed it all.

Suddenly, a swordfish swept past. It was incredibly fast, like a sharp sword, and spared not a glance for that insignificant bait. Rather, with the water moving this quickly, no fish would bite at all.

"Perfect timing. You'll do."

Bai Mo immediately sensed the swift swordfish and swung his rod. The power of electric current push instantly made the fishing line as sharp as a blade. Then, under Bai Mo's control, the line actually formed a whirlpool, entangling this swift swordsman of the sea.

This process required extraordinary control over his strength to bind the creature without injuring it. Too much force would kill the swordfish; too little, and the fragile fishing line would be easily broken.

"I finally did it. Looks like my complete realm has improved again. Too bad this isn't the Magnetic Field World. Without anyone to compare myself to, I don't even know how many tenths I've reached. Ah, I should be past three-tenths by now."

Bai Mo had once tried striking fish with the unfinished blade while shattering rock, managing to break the rock while leaving the fish alive. That had been practice in transmitting force, while this was training in controlling its output.

The complete realm encompassed everything. It required painstaking, gradual work. Bai Mo did not consider his talent comparable to those lunatics', so he had to work harder.

Apart from sleeping on the day he spent recovering from his injuries, Bai Mo had devoted all his time to improving himself. So what if he could not reach magnetic field rotation? He had come to terms with it. Life offered countless paths; why stake everything on just one? Mm, from now on, I'll aim for the powerhouses of the Phoenix series.

"Bai Ermo, sorry for the trouble, but come down for a moment."

Medea's call reached Bai Mo's ears. He put down his fishing rod, and the bewildered swordfish in the sea regained its freedom.

Bai Mo went to where Medea was. She was adjusting a magic potion.

"Bai Ermo, I assume you already know the Argo's current situation. I have a plan, and I will need you to serve as my guard during it."

Bai Mo's expression turned a little odd. After this part of the story, Medea would truly begin to bear the title of the Witch of Betrayal. For the Argo's sake, she would approach her younger brother in another territory, deceive him into believing she was being coerced, and have him pretend to trade with the Argo before finally taking her own brother hostage.

During Aeëtes's final pursuit, Medea would ruthlessly dismember her brother and throw him into the sea. In the end, Aeëtes would have to slow down to collect his remains.

Although in many versions, Medea possessed divine blood, and they were all children of the first sun god and immortal, able to live on even after being dismembered as long as they were put back together.

But Bai Mo had previously sounded Medea out through indirect questions and arrived at a rather bizarre conclusion.

This woman had not a trace of divinity in her. Barring anything unexpected, those family members of hers would truly die if cut apart.

Have I come to the Greek mythology of a parallel world? Or were the mythological accounts rewritten?

In any case, dismembering one's brother for a man was an act of astonishing wisdom that would rank highly even in the Sea Tiger series. Anyone would recoil from it. In Bai Mo's memory, even animated adaptations had been forced to soften Medea's actions somewhat, or they would never have passed censorship.

"What is it? Is there something on my face? Or do you have an objection?"

"Nothing. Go ahead."

Medea then gave Bai Mo a rough account of her plan. It was no different from what he had expected, but when she reached the part about taking a hostage, Bai Mo raised a question.

"Medea, what do you intend to do with the brother you take hostage?"

"My brother has always been my father's favorite. Father will stop pursuing us for his sake."

"Don't evade my question."

Medea fell silent. In truth, she already had a solution in mind. She simply did not know whether Jason would object if she revealed it now and Bai Mo told him.

"Medea, since you want me to serve as your guard, I should be the one restraining your brother when the time comes. At the very least, I need to know what will happen to the person I restrain."

Bai Mo spoke calmly. Medea looked at her ring finger, around which a thread was wound.

Once he had finished, she turned back and said, "If we take him along, Father will pursue us relentlessly. Leaving him behind will only bring trouble in the end. If Father insists on pressing me, he cannot blame me."

Bai Mo slapped the table and stood up. He had originally thought the Medea of myth had been left with no choice, but he had never expected it to be premeditated.

"I know, Bai Ermo. To you, this is an affront to your honor. Once it is over, I will make our circumstances public. Everyone will know you were coerced. You need not worry."

Before Bai Mo could speak, Medea cut off what he was about to say, then displayed her ring finger. Wound around it was the thread of fate bestowed by Hecate, the Goddess of Fate.

Bai Mo sank back into his chair, somewhat dejected. To be honest, he regretted it a little.

But fortunately, he still had a chance to make amends.

"Medea, do you know what the most vicious curse in this world is?"

Medea was somewhat puzzled. Though she knew countless curses, she truly could not name one specific curse as the most vicious.

"Love. More precisely, the little god of love's arrow of love."

Medea was exceptionally clever. She immediately understood what Bai Mo meant, yet at that moment, an inexplicable indignation rose within her.

"Are you trying to say that the feelings in my heart, the love I feel for him now, are all the work of Aphrodite, the goddess of love?"

Bai Mo was just about to retort, Isn't that so? Her heart instantly felt as though a huge hand had clenched around it. He could barely breathe. Worse still, his thoughts were now as chaotic as a storm.

Bai Mo's face went deathly pale. He looked overhead, but could see only the cabin's wooden planks.

Medea was somewhat surprised to see Bai Mo like this, but she still said evenly, "I know in my heart what my love for him is. Bai Ermo, don't think you are the only clever person in the world."

Then Medea went to the door, preparing to leave. Before she left, she said one more thing.

"Bai Ermo, even if this is the goddess of love's curse, to me, it truly is incomparable happiness. If what a curse ultimately brings is joy and happiness, then I am willing to bear it. So do not do anything meaningless."

Then Medea left.

Only then did the spasms in Bai Mo's heart gradually subside. He clenched his fist and smashed the wooden table with one punch. Then a cool sensation rushed through his brain. The olive branch had taken effect once again. Bai Mo took it out and stared intently at it, thinking in silence.

Medea has made her choice. Now it's my turn.

In the end, Bai Mo chose his own fate: an option he did not know was right, but would not regret.

Then he thought that, barring anything unexpected, he should now be under the gods' watchful eyes. Was that a warning to me? Heh, am I merely a fish on their chopping block? When did they secretly do something to me? What should I do?

Time, strength, and... the wisdom to break this deadlock. Too little. There's too little of all of it. It's nowhere near enough.

The pressure of reality even slowed his breathing. It was as though he had returned to the very beginning, when the unfinished blade had pinned him in the sea and his life had hung by a thread. But this time, he might not have the strength to push that heavy weight away.