Hearing Amyntas's comfort.
Rhodes was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile.
"Yes."
"Let's continue looking at the map."
Rhodes turned his attention back to the map of Delos Island.
Delos, the name of Delos, is actually the origin of the Delian League. At that time, Athens took the lead in establishing the alliance, and placed the treasury on Delos, with more than 800 talents of gold, so it was named the Delian League. Although later, under the threat of Sparta, Athens moved the treasury of the Delian League to the city of Athens, and Delos lost its role as the alliance's treasury. However, as the core of the Delian League and the middle place of Athens' rule over the archipelago, it received strong support from Athens in its construction.
This is the case with the naval port on the island of Delos.
In fact, Delos is a very small island.
It is also one of the smallest islands in the archipelago.
It is only five kilometers long from north to south and only kilometers from east to west. It only takes a few minutes to run across Delos from east to west. As an island, it is extremely scarce in natural resources. There is almost no vegetation on the island. It is all made of granite. From a common sense point of view, Delos does not look like a place suitable for human habitation.
However, due to its central location, the island is the heart of the archipelago, and its location provides an ideal port for those sailing in the Argonian Gulf and the Ionian coast in the east. After the Athenians established a commercial port here, it became a prosperous commercial center.
At the same time, in Greek mythology, Delos is the residence of the goddess Tolle. It is said that Tolle gave birth to Apollo and Artemis in this place. Its special status in mythology makes this place a religious holy place no less than Delphi. On this small island, a large number of temples were built, including temples of Zeus, Hera, Dionysus, Artemis, and Apollo, which are scattered all over this small island.
And then the Delian League was established.
The excellent geographical location here also makes Delos an important military location.
The commercial port was continuously expanded and turned into a military port that could accommodate a large fleet. Almost the entire island was a dock for mooring ships. A large number of skilled craftsmen lived on Delos, responsible for repairing merchant ships. Since merchant ships could be repaired, warships could also be repaired. Therefore, it was understandable that the entire Athenian fleet was stationed on Delos.
Amyntas pointed to the island of Delos on the map.
Seriously said:
"Delos is located in the center of the archipelago, which is not convenient for the large fleet to deploy."
"If we resort to forceful attack, it will cause unnecessary losses."
"Although I can rely on your strength, I don't think you would be willing to destroy an entire fleet with your own hands?"
Amyntas' words.
Rhodes was also somewhat moved.
Indeed, as the oracle of the sea god, Rhodes could summon wind and waves, which was a huge threat to the fleet. In fact, Rhodes alone could destroy more than half of the Athenian warships. Those thin and light warships would definitely not be able to withstand the waves summoned by Rhodes. However, if he did so, it would mean that the number of people who died at Rhodes' hands would be a huge number of thousands.
Rhodes hesitated.
Finally said:
"If I have to, I can do it."
"Lord Rhodes, please don't force yourself."
"But……"
"Isn't our goal to preserve the Athenian fleet as much as possible? When the time comes, the Athenian fleet will still be very useful when dealing with the Persians." Amyntas smiled and comforted, "Your Majesty also said that our mission is not to destroy the Athenian fleet immediately. The current siege will have the same result whether we are there or not. If it is inconvenient for a large force to launch a battle, we only need to surround Delos and prevent the Athenian fleet from receiving supplies. Their fleet will have to rot on Delos."
"Is this okay?"
Rhodes hesitated.
"Of course, don't worry!"
"Then let's follow this plan first."
Indeed, there are no good ideas right now.
Although Delos is important, it is essentially a small island and must rely on other islands to transport resources. Delos cannot produce food, wood, marble, etc. In addition, because the small area of Delos is almost covered with various temples and private residences, its own storage capacity is not good enough. No one knows how long the stored materials can support Delos and the Athenian fleet.
So, Rhodes decided.
No matter what, let's set off for Delos now.
However, you can't just rush in.
Any unnecessary losses need to be avoided.
After this was confirmed, the Byzantine fleet weighed anchor and set sail again.
The sudden appearance of fog in the second section of the fifth tune
From Naxos to Delos.
It only took half a day to reach the waters outside Delos Island.
There are many small islands and reefs here, and many ships run aground in this sea every year. Many seas are also shallow, and some heavy ships have a deep draft and can easily hit the bottom. Therefore, any experienced sailor must be very careful when sailing here. Fortunately, with the map provided by Naxos, there are detailed markings on the route and possible reefs.
Along the way, Rhodes followed the directions given on the map. The huge fleet passed many obstacles in an orderly manner, and no ship sank due to hitting reefs. Based on this alone, it can be basically confirmed that the map provided by the Naxos is indeed a very good nautical chart. Then, the content about Delos Island shown above can also be basically confirmed to be correct.
"At this speed, we should be able to reach Delos before dark."
"Yes."
Amyntas looked around and frowned slightly.
He suddenly felt something was wrong.
"not good."
At this time, Amyntas discovered something unusual.
"It's getting foggy!"
"fog?"
Rhodes was stunned for a moment.
Then, Rhode saw that a thick fog suddenly floated over the sea. It instantly blocked the fleet's vision. The fog made the visibility around less than 50 meters. Rhode could hardly see the ships at the edge of the fleet with his naked eyes. Once the fog came, if the fleet continued to sail here, it would only face great danger.
Under such circumstances, Rhodes could only order the fleet to slow down its advance.
"Stop!"
woo-
The sound of the horn echoed over the fleet.
When the fleet could not communicate through flags or torches, the horn became the only tool for issuing orders. A melodious horn sound represented the order for all warships to stop immediately. So, more than 400 warships slowly stopped in the fog, waiting for the next order. But for Rhodes, this fog was not good news.
It is normal for thick fog to suddenly appear on the sea.
It's just that it's such an unfortunate time now.
Rhodes looked at the thick fog and said helplessly, "Now, we can only wait for the fog to dissipate."
"The fog at sea can sometimes last for several days."
"What if the Athenian fleet escapes..."
Rhodes said with some concern.
"That can't be helped. We can't let the fleet advance in the fog."
"yes……"
No matter how urgent the situation was, the fleet could not risk moving forward in such a fog. Running aground and colliding were minor matters. If the fleet was dispersed and lost, and the enemy seized the opportunity, even the Byzantine fleet would suffer a very painful loss. Therefore, Rhodes could only sigh helplessly and accept this fact.
"Why is there a sudden fog?"
"Lord Rhodes..."
Amyntas looked around.
"Don't you think the fog is getting thicker?"
"what?"
"The sudden appearance of fog is already quite abnormal. But now, I haven't seen this level of fog at sea for a long time." Amyntas walked to the side of the ship and looked at the trireme not far away. "Sure enough, the fog is getting heavier. I could see things a hundred meters away before, but now if I look carefully, it seems that I can only see fifty meters away."
"Yes."
Rhodes also discovered it.
Originally, I could barely see the ship in the distance.
And now, even the ships next to it have begun to blur.
"What on earth is this..."
"I am not sure."
Amyntas couldn't help but think of it.
Many years ago, he was ordered to send Hilde to Byzantium City, and encountered a sea monster on the way. At that time, Amyntas thought that he would definitely die, but Hilde killed the sea monster in one breath. And now, the situation made Amyntas' mind emerge with that scene. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Lord Rhodes, do you feel any strange aura?"
"No."
Rhodes became a little nervous.
She held the trident tightly in her hand.
"Did you find anything?"
"No, but I just remembered that when we were on the ship with His Majesty, we once encountered a siren."
"Oh, I know. Sissi told me about this."
"It seemed that fog suddenly appeared at that time, and we heard a strange song. Everyone was mesmerized by the song."
"Not now."
"No...but this fog is really strange."
For some reason, Amyntas felt very uneasy.
I always feel like something bad is going to happen.
However, he thought again, Rhode was by his side now. If they really encountered a sea monster, with Rhode as the oracle, there would be no problem. So, Amyntas turned around and said to Rhode with a smile: "With Lord Rhode here, there will be no problem even if we encounter a sea monster. So, let's wait and see here."
"Um……"
Rhodes nodded.
"I will protect the fleet."
"Then..."
Amyntas was still talking.
Suddenly, the trident in Rhodes' hand trembled violently as if it was sensed by something. Rhodes failed to catch it in time, and the trident broke free from Rhodes' hand and plunged into the sea.
"Eh!"
Rhode was shocked. Without thinking too much, she rushed to the side of the ship and shouted to Amyntas, "I'll leave this to you!"
"Lord Rhodes!"
"The trident must not be lost!"
After saying that, Rhodes jumped directly into the sea.
Amyntas sighed helplessly as he watched Rhodes disappear into the waves.
I just finished saying that Lord Rhodes is protecting the fleet.
As a result, Lord Rhodes disappeared.
——————————Dividing line——————————
The trident sank into the sea water very quickly, as if being pulled by something, and moved quickly towards the depths of the ocean. Rhodes shuttled freely in the sea water, like a dolphin, and was also chasing the golden trident at a fast speed. Rhodes didn't know why his weapon seemed to be controlled by someone and flew directly to the bottom of the sea, but Rhodes would never lose this artifact given to her by Poseidon.
But Rhodes was also quite surprised that she had been chasing for a long time but had not reached the bottom of the ocean.
The sea level is very low in the archipelago area. At this speed, you should be able to see the seabed after jumping in for more than ten seconds.
Chapter 3 of the Fifth Tune: City in the Sea
But now, it feels like being in an endless abyss.
I don’t know how long it took.
But still couldn't see the sea bottom.
Moreover, the surroundings had begun to become completely dark, and the light could no longer penetrate the sea water and illuminate the bottom. Now, the only way for Rhode to distinguish the direction was the golden light on the trident. Rhode stared at the trident and had forgotten how deep she had entered. She could only feel that the surrounding darkness seemed to swallow everything, and the cold feeling made it difficult for her to hold on.
