Myth: The Spiritual Dominator

Riding on the sea breeze, on a clear morning, the ships docked around the naval port sailed away from the coast one after another.

Thousands of warships filled the sea, each with hundreds of soldiers on board.

Supply, patrol, guard... almost all of them were mobilized, leaving no spare energy.

Following a simple and straight line, the Athenian navy marched straight ahead.

According to the current progress, it only took half a month to reach the target location, which normally would take more than a month.

After all, there is no need for prior reconnaissance, no need to guard against enemy sneak attacks, and no need to travel on a route with a more suitable environment.

Then the straight line between two points is the shortest, so the extra time originally spent will naturally be saved.

However, despite the rapid advance, there was no joy in the entire fleet.

On the contrary, from top to bottom, the entire army was filled with a somewhat pessimistic mood.

Because during the more than half a month of sailing, any soldier with a bit of common sense realized that something was wrong.

After all, sailing in a straight line on an unfamiliar route was something they had never encountered before.

For a time, all kinds of rumors spread among the middle and lower levels of the fleet.

No one likes a leader who is parachuted in, and what is even less liked is a leader who is parachuted in and gives orders without regard to facts.

These two issues will be further magnified in the military. When it comes to matters involving one's own life, no one wants to have their life treated as a joke through trial and error.

However, no matter how the public opinion spread, Ryan, as the focus of discussion, never made any response.

……

dong dong dong-

Rhythmic knocks were heard outside the door of the flagship command room.

Without even raising his head, Ryan said calmly:

"The door is unlocked, please come in."

Squeak——

The door opened and a middle-aged general in military uniform walked in.

Looking at Ryan who was writing or drawing something at the desk, Kemon's expression was a little complicated.

"Sir Ivan, I came here today because I want to clarify something with you."

"The rumors currently circulating within the fleet were not spread by me."

"Although I have reservations about your choice, no matter what, as long as you are still the commander trusted by His Majesty, I will never use such despicable means to attack you."

The voice was sonorous and powerful, and the general's tone was sincere.

But if it were someone else, it would probably still be difficult to believe what he said.

After all, suspicion always exists, especially when it comes to a commander who temporarily takes over the army.

But Ryan was sure that what the other party said was true.

"I understand, General Kemon, I believe in your character."

"Besides that, do you have anything else to do?"

"..."

There was a slight silence. The middle-aged general did not expect Ryan's answer to be so straightforward.

He didn't know if Ryan really believed it, but he could only take it as such now.

"Besides that, I apologize to you for some of my previous doubts."

“It turns out that although this is an unproven route with frequent storms and huge waves, we were able to make it safely.”

"Excluding the unexpected factors, at least your achievements in meteorology are beyond my expectations."

"We have successfully approached the target location you set in advance. This is a mistake in my judgment - but we still need to face the other parts."

"For example, right now we have no idea where the enemy's main force is, and once we reach the enemy's territorial waters first, our presence will be exposed to others."

According to the various contingency plans previously formulated by Kemon, Athens' best response method was mostly to face the incoming enemy in waters that it was familiar with.

Only by taking advantage of geographical location and information differences can we stop the harassment from the maritime countries.

But now, with Ryan's order, the entire fleet drove straight in, taking a route that was not suitable for ships to sail straight into the enemy's hinterland, and the situation was completely reversed.

Using one's own weakness to attack the enemy's strength, this was also the biggest factor that caused Ke Meng to oppose it before.

"General, these are not things you should be thinking about."

"According to my judgment, when we arrive, the main force of the enemy will appear there."

"And all you need to do is to execute my orders when the time comes."

Ryan spoke quietly, his expression calm and composed.

For a moment, Kemon was not sure whether his knowledge was really too shallow to understand how Ryan came to the conclusion.

"What a coincidence, General Kemon, I had something to talk to you about today."

"Regarding our military's communications system, I need to make a simple change."

"Here are the specific changes, please take note of them."

Reaching out and pushing, Ryan pushed what he had just been writing to the other side.

Upon hearing this, Ke Meng took it and examined it carefully.

Thanks to trade with Silvermoon City, the fleets of the classical era had established very advanced communication methods and no longer needed to use flag signals to communicate with each other.

However, as he read through what Ryan had written bit by bit, Kemon's expression changed again.

"Is this... a new order?"

"Yes, this will make it easier for you to accept my orders quickly."

"I have numbered each warship so that when my orders are given, you can respond more quickly."

"But……"

Trying his best to organize his words, Ke Meng took a deep breath.

"Are these new instructions a bit too 'detailed'?"

"Isn't this bad?"

Ryan looked up slightly, as if a little surprised.

"This is not a question of whether it's good or not... I mean, as the commander of the fleet, you don't really need to care about how many degrees a ship deflects, or how fast it travels, and how long it travels."

"In fact, you only need to give the formation or the timing of the attack. As for these——"

"General Kemon, this is a necessary preparation in order to completely annihilate the enemy."

"You may not understand why we have to do this, but you just need to know how to execute it."

“This shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

"..."

boom--

After a long silence, the conversation ended.

With a heavy sound of the door closing, the middle-aged general left the command room.

Just by looking at this document, he could guess what this commander who came from afar would do.

However, Ryan noticed that although the other party did not hide his anger, he still took away his corrected instructions in the end.

Obviously, Kemon is not someone who would let personal feelings affect his work.

No matter what, he will carry out his superiors' orders.

"...It's normal not to understand. After all, this is definitely not something a normal person can do."

"So Lord Nereus, you should be able to ensure the success of our trip, right?"

Ryan shook his head slightly and didn't care about this little thing.

He just took a conch from the table, which was a token given to him by the sea god.

Through it, they can communicate directly to convey Ryan's request.

"of course."

"When it comes to matters involving Poseidon, I can probably only try to help you as much as I can."

"But in this war on earth, on the sea, I can assure you."

"No matter how you fight, Athens will win."

The voice came from the conch, and Nereus' tone contained a hint of admiration.

He was not pretending, in fact, Old Man Hai really felt that he had learned something new.

"Speaking of which, with all due respect, before today, I was worried that if this victory was too fake, someone with ulterior motives would be able to see through it."

"But after seeing what you did today, it really opened my eyes and I no longer have any doubts."

"Although I don't know much about wars in the human world, it is possible that only a famous general could be able to describe the course of a war in such detail."

"In this way, even if you really win a great victory over the enemy, no one will doubt the success of the Athenians."

"Yeah... you're right, that's right."

There was silence at the table for a moment, and Ryan nodded slightly.

That's true. If you don't win something like micro-manipulation, then you are a master of micro-manipulation.

But if you win, it's the master who is micromanaging.

No matter who it is, they will just need to see the review of this battle in the future.

Faced with the result of victory, they could only use all their wisdom to try to understand Ryan's thinking.

They would try their best to imagine how he could accurately judge every move of the enemy in advance, and then marvel at the mystery, and no one dared to say that it was luck or any other reason.

People have always judged heroes by their results.

"Okay, since His Majesty the Sea God can guarantee it, I will wait for good news."

"In the evening of three days from now, we will reach the center of the sea off Pylos."

Ryan spoke calmly and immediately extinguished the power lingering on the conch.

The Kingdom of Pylos, one of the largest cities that worshiped Poseidon.

If one wants to lure him out, this kingdom will be the most direct target.

Therefore, the designated battlefield happened to be right next to him.

······

In the blink of an eye, three days passed quickly.

Standing on the bow of the flagship, holding an alchemical mirror in his hand.

Ryan seemed to be watching what was going on in the distance.

Beside him, General Kemon said nothing and just stood there with a stern face.

Three days later, the so-called new communication instructions had been passed down, and the fleet even conducted several rehearsals.

The test was not over until every ship that received the order was able to obey the order.

However, as long as the middle-aged general thought about the content of the test, he could hardly hide his anger.

"This is a war for the safety of Athens, not a joke on paper."

"Goddess, may your power protect me..."

Praying silently, just like many crew members at this moment.

For the Athenians, praying to their victorious god before a battle was a must for everyone.