Despite his words, Jason eventually allowed Heracles and Perseus to board the ship.
This blond-haired youth was also very afraid of Heracles, but he didn't fear Heracles as an inhumane monster. Instead, he feared him as a violent gay top, as the rumors claimed. This reaction left Heracles with mixed feelings. On one hand, he was happy that his friend saw him as a human, but on the other hand, because Jason thought he was a dead gay man, he felt a little like punching him to vent his frustration.
With these complex emotions, Heracles and Perseus boarded the Argo together. As soon as they were on the ship, Heracles proactively distanced himself from Perseus, drawing a clear line.
After Jason introduced Heracles and Perseus to the Heroes on board, the Heroes naturally kept a bit of distance from Heracles. After all, the rumors in the Greek World had completely demonized Heracles. After he successively killed the Nemean Lion and the Hydra, he had, in the Heroes' minds, transcended the scope of normal human strength and was moving towards the realm of the gods.
However, Heracles had long anticipated this reaction and wasn't disappointed. In fact, it made him feel more at peace and made it easier for him to communicate with others.
After finding a quiet corner on the Argo's deck and sitting down, Heracles extended his hand, and a small bird circled in the sky before landing on his finger. Gazing at the bird, Heracles quietly asked:
"Teacher, I don't understand. Why did you want me to board the ship with Perseus? Has he not completely fallen in with Athena's faction?"
"Whose faction he belongs to is not important, Heracles."
The small bird gently opened its beak, and from within came Ares's voice, audible only to Heracles:
"Look, after such a short time traveling with him, do you feel that you dislike him now?"
Heracles lowered his head and thought for a moment. He recalled Perseus's smug expression and his manipulative words at the harbor, then nodded, saying, "Honestly, I want to throw him off this ship right now and tell him and his goddess to get as far away as possible."
"Exactly," Ares said. "You see, you dislike him because of his actions, doesn't that mean other Heroes will also dislike him because of his actions?"
"I understand," Heracles suddenly realized. "Teacher, you want to use this opportunity to ruin Athena's reputation among these Heroes. As expected of you, Teacher, you are truly the dirtiest."
"...I'll take that as a compliment."
Ares, controlling the bird's avatar, slightly spread its wings and flew high into the sky, only his voice echoing from afar:
"Remember, Heracles, from now on, if you don't like Perseus's actions, you can freely confront him."
Heracles watched the bird fly away, then nodded slightly.
None of the Heroes on this ship knew who was truly behind Perseus. They only knew that Perseus was Athena's goddess warrior, and behind him stood Athena, who had built this miraculous ship.
Ares could make Perseus jump back and forth on this ship, but of course, he had to be careful, otherwise, if it was too obvious, Athena would surely deal with him. Therefore, Perseus could not be a character who could do whatever he wanted on this ship.
For this reason, Ares deliberately reduced the functionality of Perseus's clone, making the Perseus clone, who could chase Heracles and beat him when they were young, physically weaker than Heracles when he grew up. As for magic, although Heracles himself didn't know any magic or mysticism, his physical body inherently contained almost the highest level of mysticism in this era. Besides Hecate and Ares, it would be difficult to find anyone else who could break through Heracles's defenses with magic.
Thus, Heracles became Perseus's suppressor on this ship. He would act on Ares's behalf, performing a double act with the Perseus controlled by Ares, repeatedly defeating Perseus, the "villain," accumulating prestige while also pushing the character of Perseus to the extreme.
Having finalized the subsequent plan, Ares switched the bird's avatar to "auto-cruise" mode, trailing behind the Argo. Then, he focused most of his energy on Perseus.
Due to his promise to Jason, Perseus behaved very honestly for the first day or two. He no longer asked about others' beliefs, but instead engaged in normal conversations and made friends with other Heroes. During this time, some Heroes on the ship proactively came to get to know him.
There were quite a few people who believed in Athena in the Greek World, and many of these Heroes did as well. There was no comparison, no harm done. Although Athena's attitude towards mortals wasn't great, other gods were much worse than her. Moreover, Athena particularly favored Heroes and champions; once they achieved some feats, they could receive praise and courtesy from this goddess.
However, apart from Perseus, those whom Athena sought to win over were mostly "Heroes" typical of Greece, of little value for Ares to befriend. In future confrontations, these individuals would not play any decisive role.
It wasn't until the third day that Jason and Asclepius brought new passengers. This time, there were four passengers, and to everyone's surprise, three of them were female.
Among these four, two had golden hair and looked like twins. When Jason introduced them, he referred to them as "Queen Leda of Sparta and Zeus's children." The brother was named Castor, and the sister was named Polydeuces.
This brother and sister duo were collectively known as the Dioscuri, meaning "Zeus's son." However, Ares noticed that when Jason introduced them in this way, the sister Polydeuces's smile was a bit forced, and the brother Castor openly showed his dislike for this title.
This brother and sister duo later became Gemini, one of the twelve constellations in the world. Of course, Ares knew that they were not Zeuss son, but rather older local deities, similar in nature to Medusa and her two sisters. After the rise of Zeus's divine court, these brother and sister gods, who were worshipped locally, reluctantly submitted to the divine power of the King of the Gods. The brother, Castor, was directly stripped of his divinity and became mortal, while the sister was forced to accept Zeus's blood and became Zeus's daughter.
It was not Ares, nor Athena, but Zeus himself who conquered the Dioscuri. He used this brother and sister duo as one of the tools to display his authority as the King of the Gods. He personally stripped the brother Castor of his godhood and divine power. When Zeus did this, Ares was also present and witnessed everything.
This brother and sister duo were also targets Ares could try to win over. He planned to try and approach them next to see if he could bring them into the anti-Zeus faction.
Aside from the Gemini siblings, of the remaining two women, one had a beautiful face, a slender figure, long emerald hair flowing behind her, and a longbow on her back. She should be Atalanta, the famous female Hero of the Greek World. The other, however, completely astonished Ares.
Because she had an even more petite and slender figure than Atalanta, with long, light purple hair styled into a single ponytail, and she held a crescent-shaped magic staff in her hand.
This girl was none other than Medea, Ares's junior sister from both his identities, and Hecate's young apprentice.