Clang—clang—clang—
The crisp sound of striking filled the air above Lemnos Island.
Anyone hearing this sound would know that the skilled God of Flame and Forging was once again forging a divine artifact imbued with immense power.
Inside the temple located within the volcano, Hephaestus, holding a hammer, was intently striking a large, red-hot piece of metal on the anvil.
What seemed like simple hammering actually contained infinite skill in every strike.
In terms of angle, force, vibration, and so on—each strike perfectly guided out the potential contained within this metal.
And with each strike, a certain power seemed to be inscribed on the metal—profound and mysterious, yet imperceptibly subtle.
Hephaestus hammered for a full hour before finally placing the gradually forming metal into a bucket of water he had prepared beside him, submerging the still-high-temperature metal into a special liquid to complete the quenching process.
After another round of polishing, the basic process was finally completed—revealing its full form.
“Not bad.”
Looking at the spiral greatsword he had just created, Hephaestus nodded with satisfaction, then stood up and stretched.
Crack, crack, crack—
A series of popping sounds erupted from Hephaestus’s body.
He shook his head, and inadvertently caught sight of the vast sky outside the temple and the faint sounds of revelry.
His slightly relaxed expression instantly became complicated.
More than a year had passed since he built the Hall of the Gods for the gods.
Feasts were still being held on Olympus.
The gods reveled all night, wantonly squandering time, making merry day and night.
However, this was inevitable.
For the gods, time held no meaning—and the war that had threatened them was already over.
Now they could indulge in pleasure.
And in this era, there were only a few means of entertainment.
Fine wine, delicious food, and beautiful women.
Very primitive and crude forms of entertainment.
Except for a very few deities, the vast majority truly only had these few forms of entertainment.
Moreover, the first God King—Uranus, the God of the Sky—had set a bad precedent.
This God King didn’t even need to eat or drink.
He only liked to do one thing every day—have children with Gaia, the Goddess of the Earth.
Why did Uranus end up with such a tragic fate?
Because Gaia felt that it was too frequent and too long—and she couldn’t bear it anymore—so she had her son go and [beep—] his father!
With such an example before them, the next two generations of God Kings were much the same.
However, Cronus was quite devoted—just like his own father who was [beep—].
Zeus was completely different.
Although this fellow thought he was well-hidden—let alone Metis—even he, the God of Fire who stayed at home for a long time, occasionally saw this God King flying through the sky.
Hmm.
He was probably on his way to an appointment—and the object of his affection was not the Queen of the Gods.
“Tsk.
That old man.”
Hephaestus spat, glaring unhappily at the sky.
“Serves him right to be plotted against.”
Although he grumbled, recalling Metis’s heartfelt confession to him a year ago, Hephaestus still felt incredibly complex.
This year seemed short, but many things had actually happened.
Numerous living beings had appeared on the earth—including animals Hephaestus knew from his previous life, as well as creatures with strange appearances.
These were all Prometheus’s creations.
But unfortunately, these creations had no intelligence—most of them were ignorant, with only the most basic instincts.
During this time, Hephaestus had also visited the earth and even caught some to raise on his island—such as rabbits, wild boars, cattle, sheep, deer, and chickens.
Don’t ask why he caught these.
If you ask—it’s to raise them for food.
As for the ark Prometheus had asked him to build—it currently only had a basic framework.
There was no specified deadline, so Hephaestus naturally procrastinated as much as he could.
Hammering iron every day, slacking off, occasionally catching small animals for a meal, researching the First Flame, and then exercising his body—that was how a day passed.
After all, the world would only undergo a drastic change when Prometheus created humans—so Hephaestus had plenty of time.
Of course, what Hephaestus cared about most was naturally Metis.
Although he knew that this older sister willingly and meticulously desired to merge with her beloved and never be separated—he, as her younger brother, naturally could not stop her.
But that didn’t prevent him from paying attention to Metis’s situation.
Now Metis’s belly was slightly larger than a year ago—but it was only about four months along.
It seemed there was still a long time until birth.
Therefore, Zeus’s attitude was still quite gentle.
He was not in a state of anxiousness that kept him awake at night.
Or rather—even if he was, Hephaestus couldn’t perceive it.
According to Hephaestus’s speculation, Zeus was probably still hesitating.
After all, he still had genuine feelings for Metis—and for now, he couldn’t bring himself to be ruthless.
“How vexing.”
Rubbing his temples, Hephaestus somewhat dejectedly opened the refrigerator beside him, took out a glass bottle, and drank the cool grape juice inside in one gulp.
The sweet, sour, refreshing coolness instantly dispelled much of the boredom in Hephaestus’s heart.
He looked contentedly at the glass bottle in his hand and the refrigerator not far away.
In the past year or so, what he was most proud of was recreating many creations from his previous life.
For example, he had made household appliances—air conditioners, fans, electric lights, refrigerators—all handcrafted, made by the God of Fire—guaranteed to be excellent!
Although he didn’t know the scientific principles of these things originally—he had divine power!
This was something even more unreasonable than magic—whatever effect he wanted, he could have.
Even if he couldn’t figure it out for a while, he would go to the Underworld to ask Hecate for help—and he would always be able to overcome difficulties and produce results that satisfied him.
It was just a pity that the progress in exploring the First Flame was still small.
After all this time, there hadn’t been much improvement.
At most, it only advanced him a tiny bit closer to being able to casually beat Zeus—and it didn’t help much in improving his quality of life.
Sigh.
In this boring world, only forging iron could bring him happiness.
“Eh?!”
Just as he was lamenting his simple and boring life as the God of Fire, Hephaestus suddenly felt a “familiar” presence rapidly approaching his volcanic island.
“This is… Prometheus?!”
Hephaestus immediately recognized who the owner of this aura was.
What is this old schemer coming to find me for?!
Is he here to rush the progress?