The couple quickly entered the cabin, and indeed, at the very back of the cabin, they found the two baskets of stones. So, they moved the two baskets of stones out, put on their veils, untied their belts, and then Pyrrha, following her husband, picked up a basket of stones each, skeptically, and began throwing them behind them.
As expected, after they threw the stones behind them, the stones rolled onto the ground and immediately began to change shape, transforming into humans, some tall and strong, others beautiful and gentle.
The stones Deucalion threw all turned into tall and mighty men, while the stones Pyrrha threw all turned into beautiful and intelligent women.
These humans quickly formed a crowd, dividing into two lines, following behind Deucalion and Pyrrha, and praising them: "Ah, Deucalion and Pyrrha, you are our father and mother; from today on, we shall serve you as we serve the Gods."
The activities of these humans soon caught the attention of Zeus, the King of the Gods in the heavens. So, he urgently summoned the Twelve Great Gods to the God King's Hall and, in a fit of rage, questioned them:
"Will someone tell me? What exactly is going on? What happened to the promised extinction of humanity? And where did these humans come from?"
"Didn't they just pop out of stones?" Ares bellowed. "I saw it."
Crack!
Before he could finish speaking, Zeus zapped him with a bolt of lightning. Fortunately, Ares's body was just a clone and felt no pain, but for the sake of the performance, he still cooperated by lying on the ground, twitching uncontrollably.
"Poseidon!" Zeus turned his head and roared at his brother, "Can you tell me why humanity isn't dead?!"
"How should I know?" The Sea King spread his hands innocently. "Anyway, I've been trying my best to stir up the seas, and I've made sure that all humans in the water are dead."
"Hades!" Zeus then contacted Hades, the King of the Underworld, who was far away in the nether regions, through the sacred flame. "How could you not have counted the number of humans properly?! Why didn't you tell me when people were missing?!"
"Zeus! That's enough!" Facing his younger brother's questioning, the gaunt King of the Underworld also grew somewhat annoyed. Behind him, the busy figures of the God of Death and the God of Sleep could vaguely be seen.
Currently, there aren't many Gods in the Underworld. Hades doesn't have a Queen of the Underworld, and Zeus hasn't yet brought forth the three judges who would later be responsible for judging the souls of the dead—Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. Even Hecate, the Moon Goddess, who should inherently belong to the Underworld, is still lingering on Earth, which leaves the vast Underworld without even a single guard dog.
It was fine before, when there were only a few humans on Earth, and not many died. The God of Death and the God of Sleep could handle it completely, and Hades's main duty was to guard their parents, the Titans. But now, the spirits of an entire human race are pouring into the Underworld on a massive scale at the same time. His two brother gods alone are simply overwhelmed, and Hades has had to personally intervene, even going so far as to pull in several river gods of the Underworld and Charon, the ferryman, to help busy themselves with judging these souls.
Under such immense pressure, and having to face Zeus's unreasonable accusations, the Lord of the Underworld uncharacteristically became enraged. He lowered his voice and replied, "I haven't even asked you yet why you've crammed so many souls into my Underworld in such a short time?! Do you take my Underworld for a dump?!"
When the King of the Underworld raged, a wave of death aura immediately surged back from him. The Twelve Great Gods on Olympus even seemed to smell a decaying scent through the sacred flame. Hermes, who had just taken Hades's place, shrank his neck in fright, and Zeus was speechless for a long time.
Only then did he remember that Hades was the eldest among their siblings. Although Zeus had an advantage over Hades in battles on the sky and land due to his divine thunder and his authority as King of the Gods, within the Underworld, the King of the Underworld was the only God.
"Enough! I'm not arguing with you!" Seeing the somewhat fearful expressions of his younger brother and the younger generation through the sacred flame, Hades also restrained his anger. He glanced behind him and then replied:
"I'm very busy here right now. Goodbye!"
With that, the King of the Underworld actively disconnected the communication with Zeus.
Seeing the sacred flame return to its clear state, the God King's Hall on Olympus fell silent for a long time, the atmosphere very awkward.
After a while, Zeus finally rubbed his nose and initiated conversation. Having been rebuffed by his elder brother, he was even more annoyed, so he shouted:
"Don't just stand there, all of you! Think of a solution!"
"I will!" Ares, who had just gotten up from the ground, immediately rushed forward, raising his hand and shouting, "Zeus, I'll go kill those people for you!"
"Get out!" Zeus roared at Ares. "Ares, if you say another word, I'll kick you out of here!"
The God of War immediately lowered his head sullenly, hiding his gloating smile.
"Zeus, calm your anger." At the crucial moment, it was Athena, the wise strategist of Olympus, who stepped forward. She gently said to her father, "Since things have come to this, the rise of humanity cannot be stopped. We can only control them and guide them."
"Hmph!" Seeing Athena's stance, Zeus knew perfectly well that he had been played by his good daughter, good brothers, and good children. His gaze slowly swept across the twelve main Gods in the God King's Hall. Except for a certain God of War who was bowing his head as if standing in punishment, he felt that everyone else was problematic.
"Tell me your plan, Athena."
"Yes." Having received Zeus's approval, the Goddess of Wisdom immediately spoke eloquently: "First, we must assign responsibility for this matter. Notus, the God of the South Wind, was responsible for destroying humanity. Since humanity was not destroyed, this is clearly his dereliction of duty. Zeus, you should punish this God who has repeatedly made mistakes."
"Hmm." Zeus said indifferently, "Tell Notus that he no longer needs to return to Olympus. Let him stay among the slaves for good."
"Secondly, we must gain the faith of humanity." Athena continued: "We must make them build our temples and our idols on Earth, and offer sacrifices to us. We must establish religions among them and promote sects to become the dominant force among them. We must use our power to help their development, but we cannot always help. When necessary, we also need to send down divine punishment to make humanity understand who the true rulers of this world are."
"Hmm." Zeus nodded lightly, expressing his agreement.
"The last point, and the most essential one, I believe this matter should be personally led by you, Zeus." Athena said with a gentle smile, "I suggest that the Gods may henceforth unite with beautiful men and women among humans, giving birth to demigods who inherit some of our power but do not possess eternal life. These demigods will become heroes and champions among humans, becoming their leaders. In this way, humanity will forever submit to divine authority."
"Good!" Hearing Athena's words, Zeus's eyes lit up. If Athena's previous measures were merely attempts to mend the fold after the sheep were lost, this particular suggestion truly resonated with the King of the Gods.
Even if Athena hadn't said it, Zeus would surely not mind having more demigods with human beauties.
"Then let it be so." Zeus raised his hand and settled the matter. "You all go down, choose the couples you deem worthy among the current humans, and according to Athena's plan, guide them to establish city-states, develop civilization, and control them."
The Olympus Gods all affirmed their agreement. Seeing this, Athena, who was nearby, smiled.
"Zeus, you have already lost."
She thought to herself:
"The humans of today are all my creations. They are naturally drawn to me, and even demigod heroes cannot stop this affinity. When the time comes, both heaven and earth will be filled with my people. Zeus, what will you use to fight me?"
And Ares, seeing Athena's smile, also revealed a smile that seemed somewhat foolish to the other Gods.
"I guess my virgin sister must think she's won now."
He thought to himself:
"Truly, great minds think alike. I think so too."