Type-Moon, there are too many myths that defy the heavens!

"..." Listening to Hades' words, Ash couldn't help but praise, "As expected of Hercules, he is really strong and powerful."

"You're not bad either, Ash." Hades said with a smile, "Although you don't have the violent body of Hercules, you can still defeat Hydra alone."

"Ah? I'm going to fight Hydra alone?" Ash was speechless. "I don't look like I can defeat it at all."

"You have the equipment!" Hades said with a smile. "All you have to do is activate the 'Sword of Undead Slaying' to overload mode, unleash the anti-military blade, and chop off all nine of its heads. It will die instantly."

Don't say it yet, don't say it yet!

It's really unreasonable to use this weapon with the ability to kill + seriously injure against a blood-recovering monster like Hydra!

Ash had to admit that what Hades said made sense.

but.

"I've eaten too much, so I'll go kill Hydra!" Ash pulled up the face of the Hades puppet and said viciously, "Aren't you afraid that I'll be poisoned?"

"Ahaha, it's okay to be poisoned. You can return to the underworld and reunite with us~" Hades said with a smile, "Persephone hasn't seen you for the past two days, and your mental state has been a little bad."

"I've only been away for less than a month..." Ash said, feeling a bit nervous. "Besides, don't I chat with her every night through the 'Ring of the God of Spring'? Is that really that exaggerated?"

"Remote communication is naturally no match for meeting in person."

"You have no idea, she's been messing up the underworld these past two days." At this point, Hades revealed a bitter expression for the first time. "If I hadn't told her to renovate the underworld while you were away and give you a surprise when you came back, she would have almost torn down my temple!"

"So awesome?" Ash was stunned. "When I video chat with her every night, doesn't she always seem fine?"

"Look at what you said..." Hades was speechless. "She took her anger out on the underworld and me. How could she not be nice when she was chatting with you?"

"Uh..." Ash said after realizing it, "I was wondering why she hasn't chatted with me during the day lately... I think she's dealing with negative emotions..."

Hades complained, "Thanks to you, I'm almost becoming her emotional trash can!"

What I said is, you asked for it!

Didn’t you also tell me that you wanted me to betray her, let her awaken the dark will of Hades, and take me back?

How come I haven't betrayed her, but just been away from her for a month, and you can't stand her tormenting you?

Serves you right, Chunchun deserves it!

Ash complained bitterly in his heart, but said, "How about... I coax her tonight?"

"Hurry up and comfort her," Hades said. "Remember, don't tell her it was me who reported her, or she might even go even further and use me, the King of Hell, as a messenger between you two!"

Hey, that’s a great idea!

Why didn't I think of that?

As for Hades, only Persephone can cure him, no one else can help!

Seeing Hades in such pain, Ash felt much better and continued, "I'll go and comfort her, don't worry."

After that, Ash continued to ask: "You suddenly came to me not just for this matter, right?"

"Of course, it's not just about this." Hades continued, "Don't you want to be a hero who protects heroes? I just happened to predict an impending tragedy and wanted to tell you about it."

"Although this tragedy may not be a big deal to others, it's a serious matter to you. Furthermore, it's also related to our underworld." Hades said with a smile, "So, do you want to take care of it?"

"Then you have to tell me what kind of tragedy it is," Ash said. "If you don't tell me what kind of tragedy it is, I don't know how to help."

"This is simple."

Hades began his statement:

"After Minos, the son of Zeus and Europa, gained the throne of Crete, he prayed to Poseidon for a miracle to prove his legitimacy."

"Poseidon gave him a white bull and told him to kill it and sacrifice it to him. However, Minos saw the beauty of the white bull and took it upon himself to replace it with another bull as a sacrifice, hoping to deceive Poseidon by passing it off as a genuine one."

"Poseidon was furious and put a curse on Minos' wife so that she would no longer love only humans."

I'm boiling, yes?!

Ash listened to this all too familiar story and couldn't help but grumble, "So the Queen of Crete had sex with a cow and gave birth to a child?"

"Yes."

Hades continued, "That child's name is Asterios. Although he looks human, he's incredibly large. When he gets angry, he can unleash the power of a monster."

"Therefore, Minos kept all news of his birth secret. Minos built a labyrinth specifically for the child and locked him in it, not allowing him to leave."

"If that were all, it wouldn't be a big deal," Hades said. "The main thing is that this child has grown to about three meters in length and is regarded as a monster by Minos."

"Now, Minos is preparing to feed him humans and turn him into a complete monster," said Hades. "By then, he will be completely beyond help."

"This is a tragedy that belongs to the 'monster', not the hero." Hades said, "Are you interested in saving them?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

Ash said seriously with a serious expression, "He hasn't committed a serious crime yet, so of course I have to save him."

"Very good." Hades clapped his hands and said with a smile, "You are worthy of being a hero protecting heroes!"

"Don't flatter me, this matter is still a bit troublesome."

"Minos is the son of Zeus and Europa, so it's not appropriate to attack him directly," Ash said seriously. "In this situation, the best solution is to take Asterios away, but that won't solve all the problems."

"Don't worry, I've already solved this problem~" Hades said with a smile, "Don't worry about punishing Minos, Zeus won't object."

"What the hell?" Ash was a little surprised. "How did you do that?"

"Fate has ordained that Minos, after his death, should come to the underworld and become my judge."

Hades winked playfully. "I took Poseidon to negotiate with Zeus. I told him he doesn't need to train in the mortal world and can come to work with me early."

"How's it going?" Hades smiled slyly and asked for credit, "Did I do the right thing?"

“You are this?!”

For the first time, Ash felt that Hades was so pleasing to the eye that he couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

Chapter 28: Crete’s Master is Master

After accepting the task of sending Minos to take up the post of Judge of the Underworld, Ash immediately flew towards Crete on the Sphinx.

On the way, Ash learned about the culture and history of Crete from Hades.

Interestingly, in the original materialistic world, Crete, located at the southernmost tip of the Aegean Sea, was the birthplace of Aegean culture. Originally worshipping the bull god, this region grew and expanded, radiating its culture northward and integrating with other city-state cultures to form the earliest Greek culture and mythology.

In the history of Type-Moon, the island of Crete became the area closest to the machine god Zeus when Olympus came. It was also the first area to receive help from Zeus and provide him with faith and personality.

It is precisely because Zeus's earliest beliefs and personality originated from Crete that Europa is more like Zeus's witch and goddess than one of his wives.

As for the biggest reason why Minos refused to sacrifice the sacred bull even though he got it from Poseidon, it was not because he wanted to covet the bull, but because the original image of Zeus created by Crete was a strong and powerful bull god.

Therefore, as the son of the Bull God, Minos did not care when facing ordinary bulls, but when he was asked to sacrifice the sacred bull given by Poseidon, he went back on his word and performed this overly abstract operation.

This is naturally quite difficult to understand for outsiders. After all, as Hades said before, Zeus has too many images to count, and there is no shortage of images of the Bull God.

But in Minos's view, perhaps only by adhering to the belief in the bull god could he prove that he and the Kingdom of Crete were the orthodox Greek civilization and the city-state most loyal to Zeus.

Of course, Ash only understood Minos's abstract thought process, which did not mean that he agreed with the other party's ideas.

Rather, after learning about these things, he had a lot of complaints that he wanted to express.

"Crete is clearly the birthplace of Greek culture... but its development wasn't as good as Athens, Sparta, Troy, and Thebes... and then it looked down on these later city-states, thinking it was the cultural center... Why does it look like the Far Eastern kings, always emphasizing authenticity?"

Ash raised his chin and tilted his head, saying, "If that's the case, then Athens, Sparta, Troy, and Thebes... wouldn't that be Shanghai, Guangdong, bulk Su, and Shenzhen?"

"You're talking nonsense again," Hades said helplessly. "Crete, culturally speaking, should be like Xi'an and Henan in China, while Athens is like Beijing."

"But the smell of Crete being superior is really similar." Ash quipped with a rather malicious look, "According to this statement... then Sparta is the Lord, Troy is the Lord, and Thebes is the Bulk Su?"

Hades sighed and continued, "How can it be arranged like this... You're just forcing it."

Ash didn't care at all about Hades's complaints. Instead, he found his favorite regional joke material and made a joke: "You say... when I meet Minos, should I still speak nicely to him, the King of Crete, and invite him to take office in the underworld?"

Hades was speechless: "...as long as you are happy."

After the appropriate joke, Ash regained his composure and began to think about how to deal with Minos and Asterios.

"Capturing Minos and taking him to the underworld isn't a difficult task, but the problem is how to best place Asterios."

"This Asterios is nearly three meters tall, even more exaggerated than Hercules, and has horns... He's truly too terrifying for ordinary people."

"Looking across all of Greece, there are probably only a few regions that would accept him..." Ash pondered, "How about... I send him to Eleusis and ask Lady Demeter to take care of the child?"

"That's indeed a good choice." Hades nodded in agreement and said, "Demeter may not have been kind to me, but she has always been very caring and loving towards children. She is full of maternal love and is suitable to take care of him."

Look at what you said?

Considering the bad things you, a beast, did to Demeter, she was very kind-hearted for just being mean to you instead of eating your flesh raw or drinking your blood.

Ash looked at Hades with disdain and said seriously, "Sometimes I really envy you for being able to live so shamelessly."

Facing Ash's contempt, Hades was not angry at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "Haha, thank you for the compliment."

"...You are invincible."

After once again despising Hades's shamelessness, Ash continued, "Sending him to Demeter alone isn't a good idea. I think we need to find him something to do so he can interact with humans and avoid becoming withdrawn."

"That's easy. You can make him the guardian of the temple. He'll be considered a subordinate god," Hades said. "If he becomes a subordinate god, even if the people of Eleusis are afraid of him, they won't oppose him."

"That's fine." Ash accepted Hades's suggestion. "Letting him receive normal treatment should be the best outcome."

At this point, Ash couldn't help but sigh, "For some people, the privileges and preferential treatment they receive out of the mercy of others isn't kindness. Instead, it's like tearing away their flesh and blood, deepening the stigma of them being 'others.'"

While they were discussing a solution, the Sphinx had already crossed the Aegean Sea and arrived over Crete.

"Is this the Kingdom of Crete?" Ash's eyes widened as he looked at the dazzling array of buildings before him, brimming with cultural and artistic ambiance. "Isn't this too much?"

It’s really not Ash’s fault for making a fuss, because the Crete in front of him can really be said to be a collection of wonders.

Looking around, the entire island of Crete is filled with duplex palaces, connected by various courtyards, corridors and staircases. The walls of these palaces and even the corridors are painted with colorful artistic paintings full of natural landscapes and humanistic atmosphere.

Not only that, he could also see canals and water pipes everywhere in the kingdom, as well as sanitary facilities set up at regular intervals, which could be said to be both beautiful and practical.

The most amazing thing is that although this complex is built like a large maze, its internal structure is as square as Chang'an City. As long as you have a map and can tell the directions, it is easy to find your way. It is different from some multi-story cities built on the mountains, where you can't tell where you are even with a GPS.

If this Cretan architectural complex were placed in Civilization VI, it would be like creating a modern city in the classical era. I wonder how exaggerated the livability and cultural value would be!

Oh my god, no wonder the Cretans thought they were the authentic Greek culture and regarded themselves as the masters!

In my opinion, the Cretans are the real bosses. Being able to live in such a good environment, their lives are much more comfortable than in other city-states!

"Excuse me, but this Kingdom of Crete...wasn't built by humans?" After internally complaining, Ash looked at the vaguely mysterious aura above the palace and asked, "It's not that I don't believe in the architectural skills of the Cretans...it's just that this city seems to be built not just of stone...it seems like they also use Sacred Steel?"

"Yes."

"This island of Crete was built by Zeus and the Cretans together," Hades explained. "Zeus used divine steel as the core, providing the entire city-state with extraordinary durability and energy."

"However, Zeus only provided the core of Crete. The entire city's exterior style and overall design were created by the Cretans themselves."

After listening to Hades' explanation, Ash couldn't help but sigh, "Looking at it this way, the civilization of Crete is really advanced."

"But then again..." Ash continued, "Crete is so developed, why isn't it ranked in the top three?"

"Because this is a habitable isolated island," Hades said, "it has abundant resources and no enemies around, so there's no need to expand outward, so it naturally becomes more lazy."

"That means the people here aren't that crazy." Ash complained, "Now that I put it that way, this place seems more like Xi'an."

After sighing, Ash put on his cloak, activated the force field that obscured his perception, and rode the Sphinx to the palace.

Inside the palace, a middle-aged man with white hair and silver eyes was sitting on the throne, handling today's affairs.

"Once the Chaos Labyrinthos is completed, Daedalus and Ikaros will no longer be necessary," Minos ordered his men. "Throw them into the labyrinth and let them die of old age among their own creations."

"Also, from this day forward, every nine years we must select seven pairs of young boys and girls and send them into the labyrinth as sacrifices to the monster," Minos continued. "The Athenians killed my son Androgeos, so let Athens provide us with sacrifices as compensation."

How could Minos be so cruel and indifferent to human life?

As Ash listened to Minos' orders to his subordinates, he couldn't help but whisper to Hades, "I'm telling you, this kind of idiot can become one of the three judges of the underworld?"

"Although he may have been brutal, his military and political abilities were first-rate," Hades explained. "You don't know that he once launched an attack on Athens for his son, forcing it to sue for peace. He was considered a first-rate king in Greece."

"But I remember him being defeated by Theseus later on." Ash complained, "Is he really that strong?"

"Theseus was chosen by Athena to be the next king of Athens, and Athens' most iconic hero. It's no surprise that he was able to defeat Minos," Hades said with a smile. "Even if he lost to Theseus, that doesn't mean he's ineffective, right?"

"It's not like I don't understand that the underworld exists evil, and it needs evil people like him to manage it," Ash continued, "but there are so many powerful evil people in this world, why did they have to choose him?"

Hades smiled slyly upon hearing this: "When you asked me this question, didn't you already know the answer?"

My goodness, the core competitiveness of Minos in becoming the judge is not his governing ability, but his father, the God-King, right?

Oh my god, this is so real!