While Ares was appeasing Heracles and sending him by land to the Amazon Kingdom to complete the trial of obtaining the queen's belt, on the Argo, Jason, who had been swept away by the joy of victory, finally calmed down.
Gazing at the boundless blue before him, a sense of loss filled his heart, as if something was missing.
However, he looked back and saw the Argo Heroes on the ship, each performing their duties as if nothing was amiss, and he suppressed that feeling, not mentioning it to the Heroes.
"How strange, what could be missing?"
Jason sat cross-legged on the deck, muttering to himself:
"Did I lose something on shore?"
Perseus, who had not spoken since their departure, heard him now and casually interjected:
"Lost something? You didn't lose anything, but you lost a person."
"What do you mean?"
Jason exclaimed in surprise.
"Look closely, isn't someone missing from this ship?"
Perseus said.
Upon hearing this, Jason immediately looked at everyone one by one; he saw Atalanta chatting with Medea and Polydeuces, showing them a wolf pelt she had hunted on shore, while the straightforward Peleus next to them was pestering Castor to drink wine, and beside him sat the ship's physician Asclepius and the brothers Orpheus; further back, Theseus, Polyphemus, Son of the Sea God, Son of the Sun God, Son of the Sea God… they were all present and accounted for on the ship.
It wasn't until Jason's gaze fell upon the corner where a taciturn man usually sat that he suddenly realized it was empty, with no one there.
Jason swallowed hard, then shouted, "Where's Heracles? Has anyone seen him?"
The Heroes looked at each other, then the true Polyphemus said blankly, "Speaking of which, I don't think I've seen him."
"Maybe he went to the restroom," Peleus said. "Has anyone seen him below deck?"
The Heroes searched the entire Argo and finally confirmed that Heracles had not boarded the ship. Jason knelt on the deck in despair, clutching his head and shouting:
"It's over, we abandoned the strongest Hero! He won't hold a grudge against us, will he?"
"Hold a grudge against you for what?"
Perseus sneered:
"Are you worthy? He has his own things to do, and so do we. Did you really think we'd accompany you all the way to the end?"
Jason looked up, turning to face the Heroes behind him, his eyes filled with hopeful light, but the Heroes had no intention of humoring him. They told him directly:
"If something interesting appears halfway, we will definitely disembark."
"What, so everyone was just putting on a show?"
Jason looked shocked, as if he was hearing this for the first time.
"Don't worry, Captain," Medea said to him with a smile. "My hometown is Colchis Island, so I will definitely stay on this ship until the end."
"Miss Medea…" Jason looked at the little witch with great emotion, but before he could finish, Medea added, "But you don't have to rely on me; I also have my own things to do when I go home."
"Alas, I suddenly feel unmotivated."
Hearing the Heroes' declarations, Jason leaned on the Argo's mast, sighing repeatedly:
"Everything is illusory, this journey is like that, and so is life. In the end, only oneself is truly reliable."
"Then are you still going to Colchis Island?"
Perseus asked Jason:
"If you're not going, I'm getting off the ship. I still have to help Athena kill the monster Medusa who desecrated her. If losing Heracles makes you hesitate, then what's the point of our ship? Come on, Heracles is gone, everyone come and divide the luggage. Then you go back to your Thessaly, and I'll go back to my Athens, and from now on, we'll pretend we never met."
He shouted, calling the Heroes to come and have a farewell meal. Seeing Perseus like this, Jason angrily said:
"Divide what luggage! We haven't even reached halfway, do you want to run away already?"
"This isn't running, this is just strategically transferring my own investment."
Perseus spread his hands and said:
"After all, I think there's no future in following a gloomy person like you, who has lost his soul without Heracles."
Hearing Perseus's blunt words, Jason also grew angry. He pointed at Perseus and shouted loudly:
"Do you think that just because Heracles is gone, no one can control you? I tell you, Perseus, this ship is my ship, I, Jason, am the captain, and my guardian deity is the great Heavenly Queen Hera. Admittedly, Athena gave me a lot of help in building this ship, but that doesn't mean you, as her follower, can do whatever you want on my ship! This ship is protected by the Gods, not just Athena!"
"I'm not doing whatever I want," Perseus said, spreading his hands. "Look, if I really were doing whatever I wanted, the captain of this ship wouldn't be you anymore. I just think you're not fit to be captain right now."
"Good."
Jason laughed in anger, saying:
"Then I'll prove to you whether I'm worthy of being the captain of this ship! Raise the sails! Continue forward!"
Under his command, the sails were hoisted on the Argo. The four wind Gods in the clouds, seeing this, continued to stir the winds, propelling the giant ship swiftly towards its next destination.
Under the control of the Gods, the Argo soon arrived at the Poseidonia Kingdom. Its king, Amikos, was the son of Poseidon and a Bithynian Nymph. As a demigod, he inherited his father's immense power, and his strength was extraordinary.
As the king here, Amikos had a very cruel hobby: he would challenge all travelers passing through his kingdom to a boxing match. In this match, Amikos would wear bronze gauntlets gifted to him by his father, while his opponent was left bare-handed. This shameless tactic had ensured he remained undefeated to this day.
And those travelers who refused to fight him would be killed by him through various cruel means, forever remaining within this kingdom.
More importantly, Poseidon was his father. Both of Ares's identities, Ares and Perseus, had offended Poseidon, and it was highly likely that the uncle would use this opportunity to secretly trip up the Argo Heroes.
Sure enough, when the Argo docked, Amikos seemed to have already received the news. As soon as the ship docked, he immediately led a large number of his soldiers to surround the ship.