This was undoubtedly a very glorious thing.
As a result, the heroes were all eager and ready to accomplish something great!
Not only that, but as time passed, the news of this event spread far and wide.
It had not been long, but warriors who had not received invitations yet longed to become one of the heroes and make a name for themselves also set out on the journey to the kingdom of Iolcus.
The gods were pleased to see this.
Therefore, they each pointed out the way and guided the heroes forward.
Even this matter soon spread to the underworld.
The underworld.
In front of the gates of the underworld.
"That guy Jason is stirring up trouble again?"
Orthrus, the two-headed guard dog at the gates, sniffed the trembling soul in front of him who was recounting the events on the surface world and could not help but mutter to himself.
At that moment, a creature from the underworld who had recently become quite familiar with Orthrus happened to pass by.
"Hey, hey, did you hear? That guy Jason is stirring up trouble again!"
And so, under Orthrus's casual sharing.
A few days later.
The lord of the underworld, Hades, personally arrived at the temple of the god of death, Thanatos.
He met the future god of medicine, who was already worthy of the title of god of medicine for developing the resurrection potion, Jason's senior brother Asclepius.
"This letter is from Jason to you."
Hades waved his hand, and a fainted little bird appeared in front of Asclepius.
Asclepius removed the exquisite envelope strapped to the bird's back, opened it, read it, and then looked at Hades.
"Go."
Hades, knowing what Asclepius wanted to ask, said faintly.
"I am no longer a living being of the mortal world."
Asclepius shook his head and said to Hades.
"Until that child's journey ends, if I say you are, then you are."
Asclepius was slightly stunned, looking at the impartial lord of the underworld, Hades, before him.
Then he smiled, stood up, bowed to Hades, and said, "Thank you, great lord of the underworld, Hades."
With that, Asclepius turned around, went back to pack his things briefly.
Then, carrying the fainted little bird, he headed toward the path of no return.
Back then, Jason had once led him through it, and at that time, they had been blocked by the spirits of the entire underworld.
This time, under the power of the lord of the underworld, Hades, all the spirits cleared the way for him.
The underworld gods, the gods of death along the way, and the gate-guarding two-headed dog Orthrus all instinctively turned their heads away the moment they saw Asclepius.
Indicating that they had not seen him.
In this way, Asclepius naturally walked out of the underworld.
What greeted him then was an incomparably brilliant light. The great god of light, Apollo, was watching over this outstanding child of his.
Guiding him to Jason's side!
...
...
The heroes set out, causing all the gods to take action for this.
The picture they painted together with their actions.
Undoubtedly added an epic feel to this journey that was about to unfold, one that could not be described in words.
At the same time, such a grand movement naturally drew the attention of Queen Hera.
When she learned of everything, she used her authority as a noble goddess to stand high above and gaze down upon the world.
She watched those handsome and beautiful heroes, because of the envelopes sent by Jason, beginning to gather toward Iolcus.
She watched them cross ancient forests, dense jungles, and vast swamps.
She watched the little birds protected by the gods, guiding them in the right direction.
When she saw that heroes across the entire continent were moving because of this.
Hera felt shock, but naturally also felt displeasure and irritation.
Because the initiator who gathered these people, drawing the attention of the entire Greek continent and the gazes of the gods, was actually Jason.
That Jason who had betrayed her and abandoned his faith in her!
Therefore, Hera's first reaction to this was to destroy it, to destroy this magnificent scene and make them all go back!
But soon, recalling the fate she had seen in the centaur sage Chiron's abode, the fate from Jason's destiny, Hera deeply suppressed this impulse.
Because this was a scene destined in Jason's fate. The only difference from Jason's original fate was.
In that original fate, the reason these heroes gathered was not because of the envelopes Jason sent, but because of Hera's help.
In Jason's original fate, it was Hera and Athena who worked together to gather heroes from all over the world.
Now, Jason had done it alone.
The reason Hera restrained herself from stopping it was that Hera had already figured out how to make Jason the fool.
The greatest fool in history!
Do you not want to change your fate?
Then Hera planned to make it so that Jason could not change his fate at all!
Moreover, she would make him as glorious as possible before departure, so that he would be as humiliated as possible in the later journey!
She planned to crush Jason's victories and hopes one by one, letting failure and despair accompany him forever.
Hera planned to make it so that Jason could never obtain that rare treasure, the Golden Fleece, and in the end, slink back in disgrace.
And she would proclaim this matter to every corner of the continent, letting everyone in the world know what a failure Jason was!
And his teacher, the goddess Hecate, was also a failed goddess!
In the end, Hera would make Jason die in the same ridiculous way as in his original fate, on the ship that symbolized his glorious life.
Hanging from the prow of the Argo, crushed to death by a heavy timber falling from the prow!
Thinking of this, Hera's expression gradually improved.
However, because she recalled this matter, Hera suddenly noticed a place that made her slightly puzzled.
That was, in the original fate, that Jason was clearly an unruly, arrogant, and conceited guy.
But...
Hera recalled the Jason she had seen during this time.
She could not help but tilt her head slightly.
"...Whatever, it's not a big deal."
After a brief thought, Hera, whose hatred had replaced reason, did not continue thinking about it.
...
...
One week after Jason bid farewell to his centaur teacher Chiron.
He was completely unaware. Well, not entirely.
Sitting on the beloved of the moon goddess Artemis, the beautiful golden-horned deer.
Passing through layers of ancient forests and perilous terrains, Jason returned to the place where they were about to set out.
And this place was still enveloped by the magical barrier created by the goddess Hecate.
Standing outside the barrier, Jason gazed into the midst, surrounded by thick mist.
He did not enter it.
He stood on the barren seashore, circled around the surroundings, and then pondered briefly for a while.
Finally, he took out the golden ear of wheat given by his godmother, the goddess of agriculture Demeter, and his elder sister, the queen of the underworld Persephone.
He scattered various plant seeds around.
Then, using his own power as a demigod, he nurtured these seeds and changed the surrounding environment.
In this way, a beautiful coast was created in Jason's hands.
It took only one day and one night.
Then Jason entered the ancient forest and communicated with the spirits within, obtaining a large amount of timber.
With this timber, Jason began building simple dwellings.
He did not stop until he had created a small village.
After doing all this, Jason began to wait.
In fact, he did not wait long.
On the third day after he had prepared everything, led by the little bird, the first hero arrived here.
"Long time no see, Jason. No, if I have to say it, we actually have not been apart for that long."
The god of medicine, Asclepius, with a smile on his face, came before him under Jason's surprised gaze.
"Senior brother Asclepius, how did you..."
Jason's surprised words were not finished before he realized it.
And after Asclepius nodded, confirming Jason's guess and verifying that it was the doing of the lord and queen of the underworld, a wave of warmth surged in Jason's heart.
It was not surprising that Asclepius was the first to arrive.
After all, he had run straight out from the underworld, and the entrance to the underworld was the Greek land. When he came out, Hades naturally quietly sent him to the nearest place.
Then the little bird landed on Jason's outstretched hand, chirping away to take credit with Jason, which made Jason's smile even brighter.
He took out exquisite food to entertain the little bird.
He gently stroked it and infused some life force into it.
Asclepius arrived at the small house Jason had prepared, put down his things, looked at everything around, and the village he had built, and could not help but sigh, "Junior brother Jason, your heart is still so meticulous. By the way, junior brother, do you know the rumors?"
"Rumors?" Jason blinked at Asclepius.
"I knew you would not know. Because when you travel, you never go to places where humans gather."
Asclepius chuckled lightly and said to Jason, "Now, the matter of you heading to the distant Colchis to retrieve the rare treasure, the Golden Fleece, has almost spread to every corner of the world."
"Is that so..."
Jason nodded, gently stroking the little bird in his arms.
Asclepius was slightly stunned at this and could not help but say to Jason, "Junior brother Jason, do you not care? Your name, Jason, has already spread throughout the world."
How much Jason rejected this, how could his senior brothers not know.
Otherwise, the name of the white-clothed Heracles would not have spread throughout Greece.
Jason looked at the slightly surprised Asclepius, smiled lightly, and said, "It has spread, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. I will never worry or waste time on things that are already determined.
Since it is decided, I will only seek to resolve it and complete it."
For predetermined events, Jason never got angry.
For troubles that were already confirmed, what he always thought about was how to solve them.
"My name spreading is something that was bound to happen sooner or later. Because this is the result she wants to see."
Jason toyed with the little bird in his hand, revealing a faint smile.
But Asclepius, watching this scene, could not help but be stunned.
"...Junior brother Jason, who bullied you!"
Then, his brows furrowed, and with a gloomy expression, he said, "Tell your senior brother, and I will go teach him a lesson!"
"No, I was not bullied..."
"You are lying!" Asclepius interrupted Jason's words and said to him, "You are in a bad mood now. Others may not see it, but as your senior brother, how could I not see it?!"
Looking at the angry Asclepius, Jason felt very helpless.
He indicated that he really was not angry and that his mood was not bad.
At most, at most... it was just disappointment.
Yes, just the disappointment after wishful thinking, and he could not blame others for it.
Therefore, after chuckling, Jason repeatedly assured Asclepius that he was fine. After much persuasion, he finally got Asclepius to calm down temporarily.
Then, on the second day after Asclepius's arrival.
Heracles, carrying the child Iolaus who had been poisoned by the nine-headed serpent Hydra, arrived here.
He was stunned for a moment when he saw Asclepius.
"I thought I was the first to arrive. I really did not expect that there would be a day when Asclepius and I could travel together."
Iolaus's poison had been cured by Asclepius's research on the nine-headed serpent Hydra, so Heracles naturally knew about Asclepius.
He also knew that Asclepius, who had developed the resurrection potion, should not be able to appear in the mortal world in principle.
But soon, Heracles accepted it.
Because he also knew how strong Jason's connections in the underworld were...
That was a bit of personal connections.
With Asclepius and Heracles leading the way, gradually more and more people appeared here.
The little birds successfully completed their mission.
Jason also expressed his heartfelt thanks to each of them one by one for their dutiful performance.
Half a month passed, and heroes not from Jason's line who heard the rumors also rushed here.
They expressed their wish to go together to Jason.
In response, Jason did not directly refuse. If it were in the past, Jason probably would have done so, because in his view, the danger brought by strangers was too great.
The senior brothers he invited by letter, not to mention knowing them inside out, but their relationships were good enough to warrant a certain degree of trust. To be precise, among the students under Chiron from the same era as Jason.
There was no one who had a bad relationship with the social butterfly Jason!
However, this was after all a scene 'they' wanted to see.
Jason would naturally satisfy those who were hiding in the dark, peeking from on high.
But not just any random ghosts or monsters could board the Argo, so Jason gave those heroes who came here a chance to challenge.
As long as they could defeat any one of the heroes already confirmed to board the ship, they could obtain permission to board.
This statement hit the heroes right in their preferences.
So, they challenged Jason's senior brothers one by one as they arrived.
While they were challenging, Jason hid away because he found it troublesome, but this was soon misunderstood by others as cowardice, so someone specifically named him for a challenge.
Seeing this, Jason did not delay.
He directly, in front of everyone, thoroughly thrashed the person who challenged him.
And then... there was no more.
Never try to play the pig to eat the tiger, because that will only turn you into a real pig!
After appropriately displaying his martial prowess, Jason personally cooked to entertain those who had been invited here.
Even the heroes who failed and left dejectedly, Jason would personally entertain them if he had time.
Facing the gourmet food made by Jason, the prince of Calydon, Meleager, could not help but laugh and say that he was just craving Jason's cooking, so he ignored the struggle for the throne and rushed over.
Such a reaction received unanimous agreement from Jason's senior brothers.
Back in the day, Jason had captured their stomachs this way and conquered their hearts!
Even during meals, one or two 'people' that only Jason could see would always mix in, stealing the food Jason made.
That is you, the ones led by Hermes!
After more than a month, basically all the invited people had gathered.
Even if the journey was far, with the secret help of the gods, it obviously would not take too much time.
After all, the gods themselves were creatures with little patience.
Then, naturally, someone would ask about the matter of the Argo ship.
After all, on the sea, besides the endless ocean, there was nothing else!
After learning that in the mist beside them, the noble god of craftsmen Hephaestus, the goddess of roads Hecate, and the goddess of wisdom Athena were making it inside, all doubts in everyone's hearts were naturally dispelled.
And it made them respectful and expectant.
What would a ship built by the gods be like?
Not only were the gathered heroes curious, but even the gods were very curious.
Because since it was thrown out last time, nearly a month had passed, and it had been enveloped by the barrier ever since. No one, no god knew the situation inside.
Jason was naturally very curious too, after all, his two respected beautiful goddess teachers were inside.
It had been nearly a month since he last saw them, nearly two months since he last hugged Hecate's thigh and rubbed against it!
But later, several more days passed. When Jason's last senior brother arrived here, the little bird perfectly completed its mission, happily pecking at the food Jason gave it, Jason fell into anxious waiting.
Because there was still one person who had not come... Among the envelopes he sent, there was still one person who had not arrived here!
Who was that?
"It must be Atalanta, right?"
Looking at Jason, who at some point had begun standing outside, gazing into the distance.
Meleager, the prince of Calydon, spoke first.
"Yes, that huntress."
Heracles also said with a smile.
"I think so too."
Theseus, the prince of Greece who had already arrived, also said.
"Atalanta, who is that?"
Seeing this, someone naturally felt puzzled.
"A beautiful huntress lady... At the same time, she is also a friend who has accompanied him all along the way."
Asclepius, who naturally knew the story of the white-clothed Heracles, provided the explanation.
That was right, the only huntress lady who appeared repeatedly in the story of that white-clothed hero so far.
The girl who made Medea in that distant country the most jealous.
The child of the moon goddess Artemis, Atalanta.
She had not been able to arrive yet... Actually, she was not far away.
Although the distance to this country was not close, it was not the farthest either.
Moreover, she ran the fastest, so in principle, she should have arrived long ago.
However, before setting out, Atalanta did one very wrong thing... But this was not her fault, after all, she did that every time before setting out.
That was praying to her goddess, the moon goddess Artemis.
Praying that her journey would be safe and sound...