Inside the Fire God's Hall, Ares meticulously recounted the affair between Notus, the God of the South Wind, and Aphrodite to Hephaestus. After listening, though the God of Fire appeared calm on the surface, Ares noticed that the veins on his right hand, gripping the hammer, were bulging.
Unlike Ares in mythology, where Hephaestus chose to humiliate his brother, who was having an affair with his wife, by setting a trap because he couldn't defeat Ares in direct combat, Notus, a lesser god, could be easily subdued by Hephaestus, a chief god, no matter how weak his combat prowess might be.
Ares guessed that his elder brother was now secretly considering whether to use the hammer in his hand to directly smash Notus, the God of the South Wind's, head.
So he quickly advised, "Hephaestus, don't be anxious now. For this kind of thing, if you don't catch them in the act, Notus and Aphrodite won't admit it. Even if you are a chief god, if you randomly beat a wind god without evidence, Themis won't side with you."
Hephaestus took two deep breaths and said in a deep voice, "I know."
"Alright," Ares said to him, "I have a method here that can not only severely retaliate against Notus, the God of the South Wind, but also serve as a warning to those male gods who still covet your wife, making them wary and unwilling to cause trouble again for a short time."
"Oh?" The honest God of Fire quickly asked upon hearing this, "What method?"
"Lean your ear closer," Ares crooked his finger, then whispered to the God of Fire, "I remember, doesn't your wife have a belt that can arouse the desires of all living beings? Get it, and then do this and that…"
Ares remembered that in his previous life, in their era, there was a device specifically used for slicing foods like ham sausages. As long as the ham sausage was inserted into the slicer, the slicer would automatically cut it into neat, thin slices, which was very convenient.
And in a news story he had seen in his previous life, whose authenticity was unknown, a girl from America, after encountering a rapist, used this slicer to confiscate the rapist's 'tool of crime'.
At that time, this news had a huge impact on Ares' young mind, shocking him for almost a week.
Now, although he didn't know if that news was a fabricated story for traffic, it didn't matter. With Hephaestus' skillful hands, similar things could certainly be created.
After listening to Ares' narration, Hephaestus was also startled by his words. The God of Fire cautiously asked, "This… won't it be too terrifying?"
"What's so terrifying? That's exactly the effect we want," Ares loudly declared. "If we don't do this, won't every random minor god dare to urinate on your head, God of Fire, in the future?"
He continued to instigate, "I'll patrol tonight and guard outside. Once it's done, I'll rush in, help you beat him up severely, and then drag him before Zeus to be judged directly!"
Hephaestus seemed hesitant, but when he thought of his beautiful and delicate wife, cooing sweetly in front of that Notus, the God of the South Wind, on a night he knew nothing about, anger immediately surged from his heart, and evil arose within him. He gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "We'll use this method! However, Ares, you don't need to get involved in this. I'll deal with him myself!"
"Oh, what are you saying!" Ares said with dissatisfaction, "Hephaestus, we are blood brothers. If I don't help you, who will? If this little god Notus dares to bully you, then he's bullying me, Ares, the God of War!"
"Ares…" Hephaestus looked at Ares gratefully and said, "You are truly my good brother."
"No need to say more," Ares patted his elder brother's shoulder and said to him, "Come on, just do as I say."
After the two gods had finished their discussion, Ares returned directly to the God of War Palace, while Hephaestus put down his work and went to the Temple of Aphrodite to find his wife.
When he arrived at the Temple of Aphrodite, he happened to see Aphrodite lying on a soft couch inside the Temple of Aphrodite, surrounded by many beautiful nymphs serving her. They were all disheveled, and besides these nymphs, there were also several lesser male gods present. These male gods were all renowned handsome men on Olympus. Now, each of them sat around Aphrodite, holding wine cups, their faces flushed, their eyes fixed on the disheveled Goddess of Beauty, their breathing heavy.
Hearing his wife emit bell-like giggles towards these male gods, Hephaestus' face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, but he did not directly erupt in anger. Instead, he walked straight into the Temple of Aphrodite and found his wife.
Seeing the God of Fire return, these lesser gods were immediately startled sober and quickly excused themselves to the Goddess of Beauty, then left. Aphrodite, whose joyous gathering had been interrupted by Hephaestus, naturally showed an expression of displeasure. She asked her husband impolitely, "Hephaestus, weren't you working? Why are you back already?"
"I've finished my work for today," Hephaestus tried hard to force out his usual fawning smile, "Aphrodite, where is your belt?"
"What do you want to do?" Aphrodite showed a somewhat nervous expression. She had never worn that belt in front of her husband Hephaestus, except when attending banquets of the gods.
However, unlike for the God of Fire, in front of the handsome men Aphrodite met at night, she often dressed herself beautifully and wore that belt to entice them.
Now that Hephaestus asked, it couldn't help but make Aphrodite feel a little guilty. One of her lovers had told her that recently, when leaving the Temple of Aphrodite at night, for some reason, they always felt as if someone was watching them.
However, Hephaestus' answer made Aphrodite lower her guard. He said with a chuckle, "Not long ago, the automatons I made mined a beautiful diamond in the eastern mountains. I thought, if I could inlay it into your belt, that treasure of yours would surely make the wearer even more beautiful."
"So that's it." Aphrodite thought for a moment and quickly let down her guard. There was no way around it; both her feminine nature and her divine duties made her completely resistant to anything that would make her more beautiful.
Moreover, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty, was not particularly intelligent among goddesses. In her eyes, her husband Hephaestus was just a particularly fawning backup. Now, it was not surprising that Hephaestus had dropped his work to fawn over her.
So she directly summoned a maidservant to retrieve her belt from the bedroom behind the temple, then handed it to Hephaestus: "Here, be careful; don't break it."
The God of Fire took the belt, touched it, and then revealed a smile of unknown meaning: "Don't worry, Aphrodite, I will definitely make it even more powerful."