"A beautiful lady?"
Zeus's eyes lit up at the words.
Athena's suggestion gave him an idea. Indeed, he could send a beautiful goddess to be Hades's wife, to become the Queen of the Underworld, sharing his power, just like Hera and him.
However, this goddess's heart must definitely be aligned with him.
This was not easy, as ninety-nine percent of the goddesses on Olympus were not very willing to marry Hades. It wasn't that Hades was bad; it was just that goddesses generally coveted the prosperity of Olympus and had a fear of the sunless Underworld.
If Zeus were to truly force them to marry Hades, then these goddesses would likely immediately side with the gods of the Underworld the moment they married.
There was some subtlety here; he really needed to think carefully about how to proceed. However, the main task now was to first appease his seemingly desireless elder brother.
"A beautiful lady… let's not bother."
The King of the Underworld in the holy fire shook his head with a bitter smile and said,
"I know how unpopular I am among the gods, Zeus. If they're unwilling, don't force them."
"Exactly, why do you have to force Hades to do such a thing!"
Ares also shouted,
"Isn't it good to live a single life like me, free and unrestrained? When you want to do something, no one can control you!"
"Ares, shut up!"
Zeus glared at his foolish son and said,
"I'm talking about something good for your uncle. What are you meddling in here? Go on, go play with your Spartans."
"Ares, don't say that."
After hearing Ares's words, Hades's old face also showed some embarrassment:
"Unlike you, your uncle actually has a girlfriend."
"What? Traitor!"
Ares cried out to Hades in heartbroken indignation:
"I always thought you couldn't find a woman! Hades, how could you betray me!"
"Damn it, Mother Rhea above, this kid's words are truly asking for a beating."
Hades in the torch clicked his tongue and said to Zeus:
"Just like you and Poseidon back in the day."
"Alright, let's not bring up those things again."
Hearing Hades bring up old matters again, Zeus was somewhat displeased. He felt that Hades was trying to assert his authority as an elder brother, so he interrupted the conversation between the King of the Underworld and the God of War and continued to press:
"Hades, if you wish, you can choose any goddess on Olympus. As long as you fancy her, I, Zeus, will use my power as the King of Gods to make her descend to the Underworld to serve you. How does that sound?"
"Let's not bother, let's not bother."
Hades shook his head and said,
"I already have a candidate for the Queen of the Underworld. You should leave those beautiful goddesses for others."
After speaking, he seemed afraid that Zeus would ask further, so he added, "Have the three judges report to the Underworld early," and then hung up the communication with Zeus.
Seeing his elder brother leave, a trace of unwillingness flashed across Zeus's face. Then, he looked around and asked,
"I think that since the heavens and the sea have their queens, the Underworld should also have its mistress. What do you all think?"
Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and other elder generation main gods present all expressed their agreement, while Ares and the younger generation main gods told Zeus, "Whatever makes you happy."
"So it's settled then. What methods do you have to make my stubborn elder brother fall in love?"
Zeus inquired.
"That's easy, Zeus. You go to the Underworld, put a divine lightning bolt to Hades's neck, and directly threaten him." Ares cleared his throat, imitating Zeus's tone, and said fiercely, "Hades, are you going to marry this woman or not?!"
Are you trying to make Hades directly use his authority as the King of the Underworld to trap me in the Underworld?
Practice makes perfect; Zeus had now become immune to Ares's behavior. Therefore, this time he simply smiled and ignored his son's disruptive suggestion. He looked at Aphrodite, who was in charge of matters of love between men and women, and asked,
"Aphrodite, do you have any good ideas?"
"This…"
Aphrodite hesitated and said,
"Perhaps we can enlist the power of Eros."
Eros is the god of love and desire, but he is not, as later legends claim, the child born from an affair between Ares and Aphrodite. Instead, he is one of the primordial gods who participated in the creation of the world at the very beginning of the planet's birth, and also the primordial god who endowed all things with desire and love. His divine status is higher than all the gods of Olympus combined, and naturally much higher than Aphrodite, who is a superficial main god.
Moreover, it was inherently absurd that the son of Ares and Aphrodite could control the desires of great gods like Hades, the King of the Underworld, and Apollo, the God of Light. To control main god-level deities, only great gods of the primordial god-tier of Earth could do so.
However, when the Youxing Vanguard attacked, Eros had already been torn apart by that monster along with the first generation of great gods, and he had long since died, becoming a mere record in Earth's history.
However, after thinking for a moment, Zeus understood Aphrodite's meaning:
"Hmm, Aphrodite, you mean you can use your divine office to obtain a portion of Eros's power?"
"Yes." Aphrodite bit her red lips cautiously and whispered, "However, Eros's power is too immense. Even if I exhaust all my divine power, I can only obtain one bow and arrow from him, which serves as his divine tool, and there will only be one chance. If this attempt fails, I will have no way to deal with Hades."
"Then, I'll leave this matter to you."
Zeus instructed Aphrodite.
"Yes." Aphrodite quickly smiled and bowed her head, accepting the task.
Ever since she became a main god, she had basically been treated as a public lover by powerful male gods on Olympus. The minor gods were fine, but among the twelve main gods of equal rank, no one respected her. This time was her chance to prove herself; she wanted to show her colleagues that she, Aphrodite, was not just a pretty face, but also capable of getting things done.
After explaining some specific details to Aphrodite, Zeus then asked the other main gods:
"I want this goddess who marries into the Underworld to still have her heart set on Olympus even after she arrives there. Do you have any ideas?"
"Didn't you just provide the solution, Zeus?"
Athena said softly with confidence:
"Since Aphrodite can incite Hades's desires, let his desires be incited even more intensely. If he were to seize a goddess as his wife by force, just as Poseidon forcibly seized the Queen of the Sea, and then you mediate, allowing this goddess to return to the mortal world every so often to enjoy the prosperity of the surface, then I think the one this goddess would resent would definitely not be you, but Hades, who forcibly took her."