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Wow, ” Brody said to Hermes as the crowd murmured in reaction to Zeus' announcement. “ I guess we'll get to check out this Alcides guy for ourselves soon, huh?” He glanced around. “ Look, there are Markos and Julia. Let's see if they bought those eels for dinner. I'm hungry! ” Hermes didn't seem to hear him. He was still staring at Zeus. Meanwhile Ares pushed forward. Brody gasped when he saw the god of war. Ares' hair always looked as red as flames. But now it had turned into real flames! The people near Ares shrank back, looking nervous as sparks flew from the god's head.

“哇，”布罗迪对赫尔墨斯说，宙斯的宣言引起了人群的一阵骚动。 “我想我们很快就可以亲自去看看这个叫阿尔西德斯的家伙了，是吧？”他环顾四周。 “看，是马库斯和茱莉亚。我们去看看他们是否买了些鳗鱼当晚餐吧。我饿了！” 赫尔墨斯似乎没听见他说话。他仍然盯着宙斯。 与此同时，阿瑞斯奋力向前走。看到战神时布罗迪倒吸了一口冷气。阿瑞斯的头发总是像火焰一样红。 但现在它变成了真正的火焰！火星从他的头上冒了出来，阿瑞斯身旁的人往后缩了缩，紧张极了。

“ We'll be ready for your champion, Zeus! ” Ares called out. “ I hope he's ready for us. ” Zeus smirked. “ Trust me when I say that you won't be ready, Ares. Nobody in Greece has ever seen anything like Alcides before. Now excuse me while I go prepare for my champion's arrival. ” “ Pay my husband no mind! ” Hera's sharp voice cut through the noise of the crowd. “ I don't know why you're all making such a fuss over his mysterious champion. Nobody in Olympia has seen Poseidon's champion yet, nor Hades' champion either. ”

“我们会准备好迎接你的冠军，宙斯！“阿瑞斯喊道。“希望他也准备好迎接我们了。“ 宙斯笑了。“阿瑞斯，相信我说的你还没做好准备。在希腊，从来没有人见过像阿尔西德斯这样的人。现在请原谅我，我要去为冠军的到来做准备了。” “别在意我丈夫说的话！”赫拉尖锐的声音划破了人群的喧嚣。 “我不知道你们为什么对他的神秘冠军如此大惊小怪。在奥林匹亚，还没有人见过波塞冬的冠军，也没有人见过哈迪斯的冠军。

“ That's different, ” Ares snarled. “ Poseidon and Hades aren't telling outrageous tales about their champions. ” “ Yes, ” a man in the crowd called out. “ I heard Alcides can read people's minds! ” “ Nonsense, ” Hera spat out. “ No mortal can do that. ” Zeus smiled at her. “ We shall see, my dear wife. Now I really have to go. ” Thunder boomed, and lightning sizzled on the dais, so brightly that Brody closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Zeus was gone. “ Whoa! ” Brody said. “ How'd he do that?”

“那不一样，”阿瑞斯喝道。“波塞冬和哈迪斯并没有说关于他们冠军的离谱故事。” “是的，”人群中的一名男子喊道。“我听说阿尔西德斯能读懂人们的心思！” “胡说八道，”赫拉说。“没有凡人能做到这一点。” 宙斯对她微笑。“我们拭目以待，我亲爱的妻子。现在我真的得走了。” 台上电闪雷鸣，布罗迪闭上了眼睛。当他再次睁开眼时，宙斯已经离开了。 “哇哦！”布罗迪说。“他是怎么做到的？”

Instead of answering, Hermes grabbed Brody's arm and dragged him over to Apollo, Artemis, and Caerus, who were all standing nearby. “ What do you think?” Hermes asked the other gods. “ Will Zeus really show his champion soon?” Brody didn't pay attention to the other gods' responses because Julia and Markos had just joined the group. “ Did you see Zeus' lightning trick?” Brody asked them. “ Totally cool, huh? And Ares' hair—” Julia cut him off. “ Never mind that, Brody. We've been talking to some of the other champions, and—”

赫尔墨斯没有回答，而是抓住布罗迪的胳膊，把他拖到站在附近的阿波罗、阿尔忒弥斯和卡埃罗斯身边。 “你们觉得呢？”赫尔墨斯问其他神。“宙斯真的会这么快让他的冠军露面吗？” 布罗迪没有注意其他神的反应，因为茱莉亚和马库斯刚刚加入了这个群体。 “你看到宙斯的闪电绝活了吗？”布罗迪问他们。“很酷吧？还有阿瑞斯的头发——” 茱莉亚打断了他的话。“别担心，布罗迪。我们一直在和其他一些冠军交谈，而且——”

She stopped talking as Hermes suddenly yanked Brody forward. “ And my champion will beat Alcides at every event! ” Hermes bragged loudly. “ He's the best mortal athlete Olympia has ever seen. ” “ So you keep saying. ” Artemis looked Brody up and down. “ I suppose we'll find out soon enough if it's true. ” “ Being the best athlete won't help your champion if Alcides is as sneaky and ruthless as everyone says, ” Apollo remarked. “ I heard he killed his music teacher as a boy, and . . . ”

她停下了话语，因为赫尔墨斯突然拉着布罗迪向前走。 “我的冠军将在每场比赛中击败阿尔西德斯！”赫尔墨斯大声自夸道。“他是奥林匹亚见过的最好的凡人运动员。” “所以你一直在说。”阿尔忒弥斯上下打量着布罗迪。“我想我们很快就会知道这是不是真的。” “如果阿尔西德斯像大家所说的那样狡猾无情，那么成为最好的运动员对你的冠军毫无帮助，”阿波罗说。“我听说他小时候杀了他的音乐老师，然后......”

Just then Brody spotted Aphrodite approaching. “ Don't worry, I'll beat Alcides, ” he said loudly, hoping that the goddess of beauty would hear him. “ I'm going to win every event, like Hermes said— just watch! ” He ran forward and went into a bodybuilder pose right in front of Aphrodite. “ Oh, my, ” she said with a smile. “ What an impressive display! ” “ Thanks. ” Brody puffed his chest out. “ But this is nothing. You should see me catch a football! ” Aphrodite tilted her head, looking confused.

就在这时，布罗迪发现阿芙罗狄蒂正在靠近。“别担心，我会打败阿尔西德斯的，”他大声说道，希望这位美丽的女神能听到他的声音。“我会赢得每一场比赛，就像赫尔墨斯所说的那样——看吧！” 他跑向前，在阿芙罗狄蒂面前摆出一个健美的姿势。 “哦，天啊，”她笑着说。“多么令人印象深刻的展示！” “谢谢。”布罗迪挺起胸膛。“但这不算什么。你应该看我接球！” 阿芙罗狄蒂歪着头，看起来很困惑。