Chapter 494 ‘Strategy’

"Well..."

"When was this...?"

Gorgeously decorated room, soft bed.

When Helen woke up from her daze, her eyes were a little dazed.

Outside the window is the sunset, and the day is coming to an end.

But Helen remembered clearly that she fell asleep on such an evening.

Did you fall asleep all day without paying attention... Shaking her head slightly, the girl tried to sit up from the bed, but she only felt weak.

It was as if she had not simply slept, but that a long time had passed.

After some efforts to no avail, Helen lay back on the bed and began to recall what happened before she went to bed.

There is nothing special. The only difference is that I seem to have had a long dream...

After clearing her mind, Helen vaguely remembered something.

She seemed to be transformed into a woman much older than herself, on a high mountain peak.

Two other vague figures were accompanying him, one of them was weaving and the other was holding scissors.

As for Helen herself, she held a long ruler to measure the length of the cut.

Every time you measure a piece of cloth, it's like seeing a piece of life.

At the end of this long dream, Helen felt like she had seen a very familiar figure.

That figure's life has gone through many twists and turns, troughs and peaks.

The moment before she woke up from the dream, she was standing on the top of a high city, showing a sad smile to the countless figures below.

At this moment, Helen opened her eyes.

"What a strange dream..."

He muttered to himself, looking at the chandelier on the roof with distracted eyes.

Helen was still very young at this time, even just an adult.

After lying on the bed for a while, the girl tried to sit up again.

But this time, Helen's hand accidentally touched something hard.

"……What's this?"

Putting the object she touched in front of her eyes, Helen unexpectedly discovered that it was a wooden stick with distinct joints like fingers.

She had never seen it before, and there was no place for such a stick in her bed.

But for some reason, Helen felt a feeling of love and closeness while holding this object of unknown origin.

It's like it should belong to you, and you are its only owner.

"..."

There was silence for a while, and at a certain moment, Helen suddenly felt blessed.

She waved slightly, towards herself.

The next moment, the feeling of powerlessness all over my body was driven away.

Instead, there is energy and spirit.

"this--!"

With her eyes widened, Helen was a little overwhelmed, but more of an unexpected surprise.

This was the first time she had seen such a magical scene.

"It doesn't matter where you come from, but this is my room."

"Now that you have come to my place, you are my property from now on!"

Holding the stick tightly, Helen whispered to herself, and then a smile appeared on her face.

In this era, everyone may encounter various adventures.

The great heroes in legendary stories are even more likely to pick up a sword, which is a sharp weapon forged by the God of Craftsman; drink a glass of wine, which is a reward from the goddess of youth.

After taking a nap, it was not surprising that there was such a thing beside me.

The only thing she needs to worry about is probably whether she will suddenly have an extra child after a while.

After all, there is a precedent for all this... After a golden rain, the queen who was locked in the tower became pregnant with the descendant of the God King.

Although this is not necessarily a bad thing, for young Helen, this is not the future she wants.

…

trickle--

Outside the sky window of the palace, white pigeons were sitting quietly on the treetops.

Through the edge of the window, Lachesis quietly watched Helen wake up and then use the wand for the first time.

If you replace someone else's fate, you must return an equal reward.

So Lachesis simply left the elder wand that could not be used there. As for the possible disturbance of fate... there was nothing that could be done about it.

After all, even Paris is dead. As another mortal protagonist, Helen probably has no chance to cause a new round of Trojan War.

"...This fate ends here."

"It's hard to correct something that's already wrong. I can only try to avoid bigger mistakes."

After watching it for a while, Lachesis flapped her wings.

Soon, the white pigeon flew from the tree and headed towards the east of the mainland.

······

North of Athens.

It is near a huge harbor on the coastline.

Densely packed warships were lined up on the coast, and most of them had already sailed out of the port.

A solemn atmosphere permeated the coast. Apparently, word had spread that the maritime countries had begun to tentatively enter the Athenian trade route.

On the smooth sea, the wooden hull of the ship shone with the light of runes; under the sails hung high were huge crossbows.

Occasionally, you can still see a few round tubes made of crystal on the hulls of several huge ships. If future generations see this scene, I am afraid they will blurt out the word "cannon".

For a time, the classical and modern painting styles seemed to be combined together, making people feel strange and harmonious.

But for the Athenians at this time, they were not aware of what was special about it.

After all, in their impression, this is what the navy should be like.

Among the numerous warships, on the largest and most ‘advanced’ flagship, a group of Athenian soldiers, who were obviously dressed like naval commanders, were gathered around a young man.

A sea chart was spread out in front of them, as if they were studying the war.

Judging from the faces of several people, they obviously did not reach a consensus on the future direction.

Shasha…

A faint friction sound was heard, and fingers slowly moved across the sea chart.

The middle-aged general was obviously trying to stay calm, but looking at the ridiculous straight line on the sea chart, his eyes were still twitching.

Not long ago, this young man holding the new king’s token came to the Athenian navy’s station and announced that he would take over the war against foreign enemies.

And his way to meet the enemy was this straight line.

Naval warfare strategy?

The middle-aged general hoped it was.

But no matter how you look at it, this is just a doodle that a three-year-old child can draw.

I don’t know the sea conditions, the climate, and I don’t know where the enemy and our supply are, and where it is possible to be affected by the power of the opposite side’s belief in gods.

If applied to the army's attack, this so-called strategy is like connecting the military camp with the enemy's city and then asking the army to charge.

No matter whether there are hills or swamps in front of you, or whether there is a possibility of an ambush, you must move forward at full speed and move forward without hesitation.

"Mr. Ivan... I have no objection to Her Majesty the Queen's trust in you."

"After all, to be honest, I am also a veteran who has followed the late king in battle."

"The late king was wise and courageous, and I believe his successor will not be much worse. Moreover, I have seen many capable people like you over the years."

Speaking slowly, the middle-aged general was considering his words.

Although he was already very dissatisfied with this, he still did not want to conflict with the newcomer.

"At first, I often judged them based on my first meeting."

"But later I gradually discovered that although some of them could show their abilities at the first meeting, others were not so obvious."

"But when I got in touch with them more, I realized that it was just because I didn't know what they were really good at."

"As a general, I don't know about governing a country or advanced alchemy technology. Just like these alchemy equipment bought at a high price, I can only use them, but I can't repair them at all."

"Maybe you are like this in some aspects, you have extraordinary abilities in professional fields , even among human countries, there are few who can match them. "

"But if we only talk about the war on the sea, then I think I still have some room to speak."

"No matter how you look at it, the plan you made does not conform to the traditional naval warfare ideas-at least that's what I understand."

"So if there are any special ideas here, I am willing to listen attentively and regard it as increasing my knowledge."

"But if not... maybe you can refer to the strategy we have formulated in advance."

Reaching out another sea chart, the middle-aged general felt that he had tried his best to use his poor language skills.

After all, Athens was not a traditional maritime power in the past.

Most of the Athenian navy today was established when Theseus was in power, and they could not compete with the traditional nobles in all aspects.

Take him for example, the divine blood in the middle-aged general's body has been out for ten generations.

"So... is this the strategy you have formulated?"

Ignoring the general's complicated mood, Ryan casually flipped through the map he took out.

Marks of all sizes filled the map, with arrows and curves all over it.

There were six such charts, which were obviously their previous deductions of the naval battle.

Putting aside various off-field factors, Ryan had to look up to this unprepossessing general just by looking at these charts.

Although the Athenian navy was established not long ago, perhaps because of this, they were not influenced by the continental countries in terms of tactical command, but were closer to the style of Silver Moon City.

Ryan admitted that the other party's plan was indeed very good, and it stands to reason that he did not have to insist on his own opinion.

However, when flipping through the charts at this moment, Ryan suddenly found a somewhat embarrassing problem.

That is, as a separated incarnation of humanity, he could not always accept Silver Moon City's prayers to the Lord of the Spirit World for thousands of years, nor could he receive the knowledge and memory returned by the Well of Samsara from the life and death of all living beings.

So at this moment, facing the large and small marks, Ryan actually didn't recognize any of them.

Well... it's no wonder.

After all, the reason why Ryan came to command this so-called naval battle was not because he was good at it, but because there was an insider to help in this battle.

Not long ago, in order to lure Poseidon out of his bedroom, Nereus, who finally got a positive response from the "Lord of Hell", proposed a bold idea.

He said that the harassment of Athens by the maritime countries was influenced by him, and most of them were believers of the Sea King.

And if you want to achieve your wish, the best way is to let them all die in the sea.

A big defeat, a miserable defeat, or even a provocation to the Sea King, this will definitely arouse Poseidon's anger.

And because of Athens' hostile relationship with the continental countries at the moment, no one would think there was anything wrong with it.

Even if Zeus knew about this, he would only think that this was some backhand left by Athena, and would not suspect the ancient sea god.

So in this case, it was completely "I am about to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first?" No matter how he fought, he would win, so Ryan did not spend more effort.

Just looking at the middle-aged general who was loyal to his duty in front of him, Ryan thought about it, and finally did not admit that he knew nothing about these sea charts.

Anyway, it is certain to win. Since the result is the same, the process is as simple as possible.

"Pop——"

Put a few sea charts aside and pulled out the one he drew at the beginning.

Under the gaze of the middle-aged general, Ryan slowly asked:

"Then this general, may I ask if you are sure to win if you execute your "plan"?"

"No one can say that they will win, not to mention that the former king is no longer here. Strictly speaking, our military strength is actually at a disadvantage."

Speaking in a deep voice, the middle-aged general explained.

"Well, how long will it take you to execute your 'plan'?"

"Naval warfare is about finding opportunities. No one can be sure when and where the battle will take place."

"In fact, the plan I made must also be adapted to the times and cannot be executed rigidly. I have marked it above..."

"Then can you keep the enemy out of the country and prevent the maritime trade routes from being affected again?"

"I can't."

The general continued to explain with an affirmative answer: "The ocean is too big, and we can't firmly guard all places."

"What's more, the enemy is strong and we are weak, so we are destined to not be able to defend all the gaps..."

"But I can."

"So... do it my way."

After drawing a circle on the first sea chart, Ryan put down his pen.

There is no need for anything fancy, as long as they go straight, they will almost certainly encounter the enemy navy without any defense in the place Ryan has marked.

As the war begins, the weather and the terrain will be on their side.

No matter the wind direction, sea conditions, or even the fish in the sea, they will help the Athenian army and assist them in winning the final victory.

The war of mortals is just the introduction, and Poseidon is the big fish to be caught.

However, after hearing this, the middle-aged general could hardly hold back any longer.

In any case, he could not tolerate such a thing happening in front of him!

"Sir Ivan, forgive me for being blunt-this is not a plan at all, this is suicide."

"No matter what, I will never-"

"Okay."

"If you have any opinions, you can raise them later."

"But now, I am the commander."

Sighing in his heart, Ryan decided to give this loyal general enough rewards later.

But now, he unceremoniously took out Andrea's token.

He couldn't explain to the other party what he was going to do... and looking at the token from the royal family, the middle-aged general's face became more and more ugly.

His hand was slightly raised, but in the end he still did nothing.

"Ivan, you will regret it."

"If you lose the war, you will be the sinner of Athens!"

After leaving the last sentence, the middle-aged general sat on the chair and stopped talking.

He couldn't stop it, but he would also express it in his own way.

Ryan just waved his hand and said calmly.

"It seems that no one has any objections now... Then get ready and set sail."

"Just follow the direction I drew, head east, and don't deviate for a moment."