Zeus was smooth—smooth as ever.
Once again, he sailed the raft, drifting across the endless sea with an air of nonchalance.
Yes, that Zeus. The future King of the Gods, the ruler of Olympus, the greatest among the Twelve Olympians. And yet, at this moment, he had completely embraced a philosophy of playing it down.
Mother Goddess Gaia? His siblings? Oh, sure, they could come over for dinner. But drag him into a full-scale rebellion? Yeah, no thanks.
"If I had a choice in my next life, I'd rather be Big Ben in London—just standing there, ticking away, doing nothing."
Zeus couldn't care less about fate or whatever grand prophecy awaited him. Even if Jesus himself descended from the heavens to convince him otherwise, it wouldn't change a thing.
He had already made up his mind.
---
Meanwhile, back at the shore, Poseidon squinted at the distant figure of his brother disappearing into the horizon. "So, you're telling me our dear Sixth Brother went out to sea all on his own to retrieve our true bodies? Even with Mother's time manipulation powers, facing Pontos, Lord of the Sea, isn't going to be easy."
A few cups of divine wine wouldn't make a god drunk, but even so, none of them could quite understand why Zeus had chosen to act alone.
Wouldn't it make more sense to bring all of his siblings along? Strength in numbers and all that?
"Hehe~~ This is the brilliance of Zeus." Prometheus smirked knowingly, as if he alone could see through the grand design. "Rhea, the Goddess of Time, can mask Zeus's presence from Kronos, but her power is far from enough to hide all of us. The best she can do is shield Zeus alone. Anything beyond that is pushing it."
At that moment, Gaia appeared by the shore, watching Zeus vanish into the distance.
She sighed. That boy. He always acted indifferent, but deep down, his ambitions ran deep. His carefree attitude? A complete facade.
"In other words, while Zeus is off handling his mission, we need to start a full-scale rebellion in Crete," Hera said, quickly piecing everything together. "Now that the three of us sisters have retrieved our true forms, we should be able to delay Kronos."
"But why didn't Zeus discuss this with us?" Hestia frowned, her elder sister instincts kicking in.
Demeter, on the other hand, remained silent. It wasn't that she disagreed—she just wasn't sure what to say.
---
"Do I really need to spell it out?" Prometheus scoffed, reveling in his self-proclaimed intellectual superiority. "This plan could only work if it was a solo operation. Even without clairvoyance, Zeus has wisdom beyond his years. You should trust him."
Then, with an air of a seasoned professor preparing to lecture a class of dim-witted students, he continued,
"Zeus isn't just retrieving your bodies. He's also making moves to weaken the combat strength of the Twelve Titans."
Everyone stiffened.
Weaken the Titans?
Gaia frowned. She knew exactly how powerful her twelve children were. Even if Zeus was the chosen one of fate, he stood no chance against them—at least, not without his true form.
Prometheus smirked and began breaking it down.
"The Twelve Titans consist of six men and six women. Many of them are married. Now, let's analyze the battlefield:
The God of Light and the Goddess of Light live far to the east. They don't meddle in the Olympian power struggle. We can ignore them.
The Ocean God and the Water Goddess have six thousand children—our biggest potential enemies. However, their daughter, Metis, happens to be the one holding your three brothers' true bodies. And guess what? She's their favorite child.
If Zeus plays his cards right—ahem, if he charms Metis—he could recover the bodies and make the Ocean Gods stay neutral."
The room fell into a contemplative silence.
"But wait, there's more!" Prometheus grinned.
"Rhea, the Goddess of Time? She won't openly fight against Kronos, but she's also not going to help him. That makes her neutral.
The God of the Celestial Bodies and the Goddess of Prophecy have two daughters. They adore their children. If Zeus were to… persuade one of them, they'd likely side with us—or at the very least, remain neutral."
It took a moment for everyone to fully grasp what Prometheus was implying.
Hera narrowed her eyes. "Are you saying that through… romantic diplomacy, Zeus can fracture the Twelve Titans' unity?"
"Exactly," Prometheus said, looking proud of himself.
Gaia hesitated before slowly counting. "That would leave only five Titans actively fighting for Kronos…"
"Oh, we're not done yet," Prometheus smirked. "Remember how I said most of the Titans are married? There are still two powerful female Titans who are single. If Zeus… dedicates himself to the cause, he could potentially bring that number down to three Titans."
Three?
Hera and the others exchanged glances.
A war that was originally twelve Titans versus six Olympians had suddenly become six Olympians versus three Titans.
That was an advantageous ratio.
"But won't it be dangerous for Zeus?" Demeter asked, a hint of concern in her voice. "So many women… He's playing a risky game."
She wasn't wrong. The stronger a goddess was, the more possessive she tended to be. If Zeus pursued multiple divine women at once, it wouldn't be surprising if one of them killed him out of jealousy.
Prometheus merely chuckled. "Please. Zeus is as wise as I am. Do you really think he'd fall into such an amateurish trap?"
His clairvoyance had already shown him the future—Zeus, seated upon the throne of Olympus, surrounded by a divine harem.
A true master of love and war.
And this was the moment it all began.
Hera smirked, a dangerous glint in her eye. "Oh? That good, huh? Now I'm curious… Maybe I should test my dear brother myself."
She licked her lips, intrigued.
Among her peers, neither Hades nor Poseidon had ever caught her interest.
But Zeus?
He might just be worthy of her time.
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