Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

However, the ringleader had to go into the sea to retrieve the remains of the Leviathan whale, and the accomplices had to be wary of 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. Meleageros, 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 comrades, looking helpless, patted the eldest brother, the ringleader, on the shoulder and left one after another.

In the end, the gloomy Prince Calydon had no choice but to bite the bullet and work hard, finally managing to gather all the necessary materials and deliver them to Samael.

"that…"

"Alright, go back to sleep. Leave the rest to me."

Before Prince Caludon could speak, Samael impatiently ordered him to leave. The main culprit 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 fell, Samael, who had been lying on the ship's side, yawned and listlessly pulled out his spear, severing the rope net that held it in place, letting the whale carcasses that everyone had painstakingly collected fall back into the deep sea.

"What are you doing?"

Orion was taken aback and subconsciously asked a question.

"Since we can't use it anyway, of course we should destroy the evidence."

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 spoils of war, so such a rare Leviathan whale core is naturally being carefully preserved."

Otherwise, things could get really messy.

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

Upon hearing this, Orion 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 do 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 they be taught 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.

Having successfully reached the Argo, the heroes 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 the 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 Argonauts indeed successfully passed every trial before them.

But because things went too smoothly for them, they lacked the tempering of their character, and thus, by a twist of fate, they have run into today's trouble.

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 even have stronger selfish desires and more obvious weaknesses than ordinary people.

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

In his original destiny, to ensure the fairness of the Calydon hunt, he disregarded objections and offered no explanation, awarding the boar's pelt 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.

However, can Prince Caludon and the group of seven who landed on the island simply blame fate?

It's not just about the prince's "good intentions gone wrong," the twin swordsmen's obsession and extremism, Caenis's arrogant boasting, Hercules's madness and mania, and Atalanta's confidence and pride...

All of these are weaknesses in their character.

Once exploited by the gods, it could very well become the cause of these heroes' demise.

Besides, he is a god. Although he has come to regard 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 Kingdom of Colkis yet. Even with divine favor, if they become too complacent, they will pay a heavy price sooner or later.

At this moment, Orion, who 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 Orion 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.

Warcraft spirit origin 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 circuit, unfold!

Soul medium core, activate!

Fortunately, the beastly powers that the Mother Goddess bestowed upon me are amplified at sea. The transformation of the womb of all beasts allows me to basically restore the original body of that Leviathan whale based on the magical beast spirit origin diagram.

Lost in thought, Samael, his face slightly pale, slowly released his grip. The upward-stretching blood vessels immediately absorbed the spirit core and merged into his new body.

"Woo!"

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 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, since the matter was resolved satisfactorily, the heroes who had been working hard all night were finally able to catch their breath.

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

Seeing that he had already kept this guy hanging 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 seas?"

"Correct!"

Prince 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! A member of the Sea King Clan! 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.

Chapter 193 The Navigator in the Storm (2/2)

The Sea of ​​Oceanus, a stormy sea.

The sky was as black as ink, with hundreds of tangled streams of air carrying water columns spiraling upwards, soaring into the clouds. They intertwined with each other, like snakes writhing on the water, forming dangerous rifts. Once caught in them, ships would immediately risk capsizing and breaking apart.

Wow!

On the deep, dark sea, a Leviathan whale, carrying its petite owner, leaps up with a roar, splashing water as it swings its tail.

"There are undercurrents and tornadoes everywhere inside, so stay close to me!"

The impetuous yet somewhat enthusiastic little mermaid, not forgetting to wave her fist, turned her head and gave a sharp, playful reminder.

Unable to refuse the guide's hospitality, the skilled and daring Argonauts hesitated briefly before deciding to follow him directly into the Stormy Seas, taking a shortcut to the Kingdom of Colchis.

Immediately, the Argo broke through the churning seawater, following closely behind the Leviathan whale, like a nimble fish tearing through the undercurrents and squeezing into the gaps between the wind columns.

As the ship ventured deeper into the stormy seas, the surrounding gales, tornadoes, and turbulent undercurrents became increasingly complex.

However, under the guidance of the little mermaid who was familiar with the surroundings, and with Jason's increasingly superb boat handling skills, the journey was thrilling but without any real danger.

"Pa bang..."

After traveling for about half a day, the crisp sound of raindrops echoed in everyone's ears, and the cool raindrops kept hitting the faces and skin of the crew members on the deck.

Looking up, one could see silver-purple lightning bolts slithering and moving within the thick black clouds above the dome, their power terrifying.

"A storm! This is getting a bit troublesome!"

At this moment, Orion broke free from the moon goddess's bosom. Upon seeing this, his expression changed slightly. His innate sensitivity to the sea made him sense a trace of violent and dangerous energy.

Due to the sudden change in weather, the Little Mermaid's understanding of the rules of travel was also affected, and she almost crashed into the wind pillars several times.

As the wind shifted, the turbulent air currents caused the ship to sway from side to side in the surging waves, and the Argo's sturdy wooden structure emitted strange creaking sounds.

"boom!"

A thunderclap, like a dragon soaring through the clouds, exploded, illuminating Orion's vision as bright as day. As the blinding light subsided, the ship rising from the giant waves trembled and rocked again, and the unsuspecting crew lost their footing.

"I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

All in position! Prepare to row! Activate defensive spells! Maximum intensity!

In a flash of light, Jason suddenly saw dozens of overwhelming water columns sweeping in from all sides, encircling and suffocating him. At the same time, the violent sea wind whipped up waves several meters high. On the black foam, the torn bones of sea beasts could be vaguely seen. Instantly, his sense of crisis surged, his eyelids twitched, and he frantically complained.

Spurred by the crisis, the heroes, instead of being alarmed, laughed and rushed into the cabin, took their positions, gripped the oars, and obeyed orders, their adventurous spirit boiling within them.

"The situation has changed. For safety's sake, Big Sister and Diana, keep an eye on the road and look after our navigator!"

Hercules, protect the captain! Circe, keep an eye on the defensive spells, and summon some golems and dragon tooth soldiers to handle deck clutter and drainage. Hurry!

Samael stood on the watchtower, side by side with two archers, his chest heaving as he roared, the sound breaking through the cacophony of wind and rain, reaching the ears of everyone present.

Theseus, my brother!

With his worries gone, Jason, who had been somewhat tense in the captain's cabin, looked at Hercules standing beside him, feeling very safe, and breathed a long sigh of relief with a broad smile, beginning to focus on directing the Argo's voyage.

"30 degrees south of east, distance 600 meters, speed level 3, steady progress!"

"Seven breaths later, hard to port! Forward five!"

Jason stood atop the amplified platform, brandishing his sword and giving commands. The heroes, in unison, their divine power surging, sang as they rowed their boats.

"Elegant musical notes bring us joy and wisdom, accompanying us on a safe voyage."

Storms cannot be our enemies, and the ocean is our playground!

The trials of God make the brave taste the hardships of life, yet also find them sweet!

Our courage shines like the sun and moon over the world; our glory will be remembered by all!

The Argonauts, proud and confident, mocked the threat of nature, each one like a human motor, making the huge ship as agile as a swimming fish, accelerating, stabilizing, and turning in one smooth motion, precisely avoiding the several columns of water that swept in.

"Watch out, the wind pillars...the wind pillars are coming again, so many! We can't get past them..."

At this moment, the Little Mermaid hurriedly stopped the Leviathan whale, pointed ahead in the storm, and shouted at the magic amulet in her hand, gesturing anxiously in her haste.

However, in the instant she relaxed her guard, several pillars of wind, carrying a strong cutting sensation, swept in and surrounded her in the blink of an eye.

"Dark Sky Eclipse Shot!"

"Purifying Arrow - Dispel!"

At the critical moment, two arrows, one red and one black, and one silver and white, whistled past, each shooting into the center of the two wind pillars sweeping towards the little navigator. They exploded with a deafening roar, and the spreading divine aura directly dispersed the terrifying storm.

Phew! That was close!

The clumsy mermaid patted her chest with a relieved expression and cast a grateful glance at the two figures on the lookout tower.

Samael, leaning back, casually dispelled the golden bowstring phantom that had gathered in his palm, appearing even more composed.

"Rest assured, we have people responsible for early warning and observation!"