Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 331 Punishment Mission
"Huh? How could I possibly lose to a tortoise? Musician, you must be joking with me, right?"

Theseus asked, puzzled.

The mysterious harpist smiled, plucked a string on his harp, and produced a clear, resonant sound. Then, he spoke.

“Theseus, imagine this: if there were a tortoise that could run at a fifth of a cubit per second (a cubit is 45 centimeters), and it was 200 cubits (about 90 meters) ahead of you, how long would it take you to catch it?”

Theseus thought for a moment and answered confidently.

"It only takes me five seconds to catch up with that turtle."

The musician replied again.

"So Theseus, in the five seconds you've run, that slow, sluggish tortoise has also moved forward an elbow's length, so five seconds have passed and you haven't caught up with the tortoise."

Theseus replied defiantly.

"Then I can catch up with it in one-fortieth of a second."

“But Theseus, in the time it took you a fortieth of a second to catch up, the tortoise has moved forward another two-hundredth of an elbow’s distance, and you still haven’t caught up with it.”

Theseus was still unconvinced and pressed for an answer.

"What if I pursue her further?"

"Theseus, you can keep chasing, but the tortoise is also running. Every little bit you chase, the tortoise runs a little bit too. So you'll never catch up with this tortoise."

The musician looked at Theseus, shrugged, and gave a mysterious smile.

Theseus was dumbfounded.

He came from Athens, a place famous for its many philosophers. Faced with this seemingly absurd question, he paused for a moment, but instead of giving a vague answer, he took it seriously.

"Turtle...I...wait, why can't I catch up?"

He held his head in his hands, silently calculating, muttering to himself how many seconds he had run and how much the tortoise had moved forward. In the end, he kept repeating all sorts of numbers.

Hercules, however, was not so patient and shouted at the lyre player.

"Hey! Don't you feel ashamed to use such clever words to deceive a young man?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The pianist burst into laughter, and then he said...

“It’s not that I deceived him; he simply got himself into the labyrinth and couldn’t get out. The young hero who could escape the Cretan labyrinth could not escape the labyrinth he created for himself.”

As he spoke, he put away his smile and bowed solemnly.

Orpheus of Thrace, a lyre player who believed he was no less capable in battle, sought to participate in the adventure of the Golden Fleece.

Seeing that the musician was no longer frivolous, the hero's frown eased slightly, and he responded.

"Hercules."

The harpist didn't make a good impression on the hero, so he spoke rudely.

However, the pianist, clearly aware of his reputation, exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, so you are the great hero of Thebes? That's amazing, it's an honor to meet you."

Faced with the musician's gesture of goodwill, the hero nodded, and that was how they became acquainted.

The merchant beside him pressed, "Is this wild boar still for sale? How much is it?" The great hero simply waved his hand dismissively, "No, it's not for sale."

He had a good impression of Theseus, the little fanboy, so he decided to roast the boar and have a meal together. He slapped Theseus, who was still obsessed with whether he could outrun the tortoise, and invited him and the others to join the meal.

The adventure of the Golden Fleece attracted many Greek heroes, making the qualification to board the ship a highly competitive event. Many warriors vied for a spot, which could be seen as a rehearsal before the adventure.

This adventure requires only the most outstanding heroes to overcome the most dangerous difficulties; it's perfectly normal for ordinary people not to be able to board the ship.

Therefore, boarding the ship is not something that can be done immediately; the adventure of the Golden Fleece is still some time away. In the meantime, it is better to get to know the heroes of all Greece.

During the meal, Hercules introduced his companion, Hylas, a handsome young man, to his young admirer. This young man was even younger than Theseus.

During the dinner party, Orpheus displayed his amazing musical skills. When he plucked the strings, the sound was crisp and melodious, and he would also sing for fun, making the party even more joyful.

Hercules raised his glass and asked.

"Orpheus, your harp looks very nice."

The musician replied with a smile.

“This was a gift from the gods to me, which attracted Apollo, the god who was playing music in the wild one day.”

Although Zeus forbade the gods from descending to earth at will, it wasn't strict; it wasn't unusual to occasionally encounter wandering deities in the wilderness. The group continued their casual conversation, sharing their observations and experiences. When the mood struck, the lyre player would even have a duel with Theseus. It must be said that Orpheus's lyre player attire was indeed very deceptive; he was far from the fragile figure he appeared to be, on the contrary, surprisingly powerful.

With his rich experience, Orpheus even managed to slightly outperform Theseus, which greatly frustrated Theseus, who aspired to be the second Hercules. It was only after Hercules comforted him with a hearty laugh that Theseus's expression improved.

On Hercules' shoulder, the little snake was fast asleep.

The so-called Golden Fleece Adventure? It meant nothing to it. It would only be interested in stealing the thunderbolts from Zeus and embarking on a thunderbolt adventure.

Just as it was thinking this, its eyelids suddenly opened, and its vertical pupils stared at something not far away.

Ok?
It seems interesting.

……

The docks were bustling with activity, filled with Greek warriors and heroes, all vying for the Golden Fleece. But there was one particular clearing that everyone instinctively avoided, eventually creating an empty, circular space.

Then, in an instant, a group of people dressed in very different ways appeared in the open space. Some were wearing casual clothes, some were wearing medieval plate armor, and some were even dressed as mages.

Among these people, several men and women dressed in casual clothes and modern attire stared blankly at the oddly dressed individuals and their surroundings, speechless.

"Why am I here?"

"Hey buddy, is this a cosplay event?"

"Damn it, do you even know what I'm doing...?"

Some people asked questions, some remained silent, and some even started cursing right away.

The man dressed in medieval plate armor and a knight didn't hesitate; he drew his longsword and used the spine of the blade like a ruler to strike the young man. Amidst a woman's scream, the knight quickly knocked the cursing young man to the ground with his sword.

The heavy, sturdy longsword immediately calmed me down; it was definitely not a cosplay prop.

Strangely, no matter how much the man scolded them or how much the woman screamed, the people passing by seemed not to see it at all, calmly avoiding this invisible circular space.

"Help! Killer!"

Taking advantage of the others' inattention, someone tried to escape into the crowd, only to find themselves crashing directly into an invisible wall of air.

It was only then that the group, dressed in modern urban attire, realized that they were not dealing with kidnappers or mentally ill individuals.

"Alright, swordsman, just teach the newbie a lesson. White Mist, the protection lasts for 10 minutes. Introduce the newbie to the newcomer."

A silent man spoke up, reprimanding the man dressed as a knight and then addressing the woman dressed as a mage beside him.

The woman nodded and began her routine introductions to the newlyweds.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, this is no longer the 21st century..."

Leaving aside how the woman introduced the terrified newcomers, the swordsman sheathed his longsword and then addressed the leading man.

"Ninth Brother, this is a punishment mission. Have you found out what kind of world this is?"

The man nodded.

"If I'm not mistaken about the reward points I just spent, this is the world of Greek mythology, but I don't know which version of Greek mythology it is. If it's a movie or TV series, like 'Wrath of the Titans' or 'Troy,' the power system shouldn't be too strong. But if it's some kind of heavily modified Greek mythology... then that's going to be tricky."

The man pondered for a moment, then finally shook his head.

During their last mission, the team deliberately used items from the Harry Potter world to create a quest conflict bug, forcibly halting the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City for sixty years. The entire team essentially fought two Holy Grail Wars and seized the Grail twice.

I had been hoping for the best, but as soon as the mission ended, the God gave me a punishment mission without any mercy.

Before entering the punishment mission world, the group didn't even know which world it was. They only found out with reward points that it was a world based on Greek mythology.

"Greedy Wolf, hurry up and make some disguises for the newcomers. Once the protection period is over, who knows what will happen to us strangely dressed people?"

Another shirtless man nodded, and a pile of ancient Greek-style clothing quickly materialized in his hands. He was a martial artist, but he had learned a lot from Hassan the Hundred-Faced in the previous world and had gained considerable insight into rapid disguise.

The newlyweds were a little awkward about changing clothes in public, so the man waved his hand and forcibly changed their clothes in the sudden fog.

Before long, everyone had changed their clothes. Although they weren't used to wearing them, they looked fine at first glance.

At that moment, Ah Jiu's eyes flickered, and everyone, including the newcomers, froze for a moment, as if they were looking at something.

"Mission objective...kill Hercules?"

The swordsman read it aloud, word by word, his expression somewhat grim.

[P.S.: For some reason, the QQ group has been taken down again. This is the third group we've had. The new group number is 219047455.]

(End of this chapter)