(~˘▾˘)~~(˘▾˘~)
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Isn't it Mera's doing?
Who else among the Atlanteans can control the flow of water?
Vulko reacted quickly, wanting to reclaim the recorder that held the sacred trident's clues, but the water rushed towards a figure as if a giant hand was swiftly carrying the recorder to them.
A man with a tall body and handsome features, resembling an ancient Greek sculpture, stood there with one hand behind his back, extending his hand to catch the recorder.
"The Trident that can make Atlantis submit once they are acknowledged?"
"Who are you?"
Mera, looking like a startled fish, remained vigilant. She formed swirling currents of water in her hands, poised to unleash a formidable strike at any moment.
This was the palace that belonged to her, Princess Xebel, and was not a place for casual visitors. How could a stranger appear here?
David glanced casually at the guards who had been knocked unconscious by the water at the door behind him.
"Give it back to me!"
Vulko, in a fit of anger, lunged at David.
That recorder held the hope of fulfilling the late Queen's wishes.
Although Vulko was not of the Atlantean royal bloodline, he possessed undeniable noble lineage, with physical strength even greater than a blue whale. With a slight movement, he caused the water to ripple, and his body resembled a deep-sea torpedo.
But David merely glanced at him.
Suddenly, the gravity in the water surged.
Bang!
Vulko crashed heavily onto the palace floor, creating a spiderweb-like pattern of cracks, as if an aircraft carrier had landed on top of him.
His head lay disheveled against the ground, unable to even move a finger. His eyes darted toward the mysterious figure above, and he struggled to speak.
"Who... who are you!"
Under the immense gravity, even speaking took all his effort.
However, David had no intention of answering his question.
Swoosh!
The water gathered together like a monstrous python and suddenly whipped out at David.
Seeing the opponent's overwhelming strength, and the elder who had taught her combat skills when she was a child lying on the ground, Mera's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly launched an attack against the intruder in her palace.
She could manipulate the form of water, altering its density and hardness at will.
Even the weakest water flow could cut through steel and destroy city walls in her hands!
But with a mere gesture of raising his hand from David, she lost control of the water, and it immediately dissipated.
"Impossible!"
Mera retreated in shock, looking at her own hands. Her control over the water had been taken away so easily.
She felt like a child fighting for a toy from a giant, with the giant effortlessly taking away her control over the water.
Buzz!
Another invisible gravitational field spread.
Under the crushing pressure, the water churned, and Mera's chest tightened as she fell to her knees, forced down by the overwhelming force.
Facing the unfamiliar man, she felt deeply humiliated, struggling to get up, but sensing a mountain pressing down on her, making it nearly impossible to resist.
"Stop struggling," David said.
He casually played with the recorder in his hand and then crushed it, letting the fragments float in the seawater.
"No!"
Vulko shouted, "What have you done? This was the only clue to finding the sacred trident!"
He tried to get up, but he was helpless.
The only hope that could have put Arthur, the son of the late Queen, on the throne was now destroyed.
Mera, with her red hair disheveled, looked bewildered at David, not understanding his actions. If it wasn't for obtaining clues to the trident, why would he suddenly appear and defeat them?
"This recorder is of no use to me," David replied. "I've known where the Sacred Trident is all along. I didn't go for it because I didn't need it."
This recorder pointed to one of the lost nations of the seven underwater kingdoms of Atlantis, a palace relic in the dried-up Sahara Desert.
There, they would obtain a bottle, which would then point to the island of Sicily in Italy.
'Place the bottle on the statue of the first Roman Emperor on the island, look out to the sea from the bottle's opening, and you'll get the final location—the trench where the Trench People reside.'
That's where the Sacred Trident was.
The recorder meant nothing to David. He destroyed it merely to prevent others from getting the clue, not wanting his treasure hunt to be disturbed.
Hearing his tone of indifference, Vulko was shocked. Who was this person, and was what he said true?
He had known the whereabouts of the Sacred Trident, but he left it there because he didn't need it?
"Heh..." Mera, still kneeling under the pressure, remained proud and unyielding.
"What, you don't believe him?"
David raised an eyebrow. He reached out and grabbed Mera's neck with a hand made of water, lifting her up.
"Let go of me!"
Mera struggled with all her strength to break free, but the water hand gripping her neck was like a high-density alloy, and her powers were like weak sand. They couldn't penetrate it. She was caught by the water hand like a captured bird and brought over to David.
"Go back and tell Orm. I've taken his fiancée and asked him to gather all the Atlanteans."
Ignoring Mera's futile struggles beside him, David glanced at Vulko on the ground.
"When I return, Atlantis will have a new king," he said with a calm tone, as if stating an established fact, showing complete disregard for the current king of Atlantis.
"Don't go!" Vulko struggled to get up to save Mera.
"Release Princess Mera!"
David, with Mera held by the water around her neck, flew out of the palace. They were spotted by a group of palace guards armed with long spears and tridents, who angrily charged toward them.
He waved his hand casually.
A wave of gravitational forces spread, and several elite Atlantean warriors were sent flying like kicked soccer balls, crashing through the palace walls.
David planned to execute a plan similar to the one on Themyscira for Atlantis: ruling them but making them resentful and powerless under his rule.
'No matter how wise a king might be, it is impossible for his subjects to miss him and be in awe of him every day.'
As he flew over the kingdom, high tower-like structures and buildings resembling glowing jellyfish stood on the seabed. Sleek underwater trains occasionally traversed between the advanced and developed cities.
'But, on the other hand, the humiliated and oppressed subjects will always hope for the tyrant oppressing them to die!'
He didn't need to be excessively tyrannical; as long as the Atlanteans harbored resentment, it was enough.
"Intruder, release the princess!"
Numerous warriors, riding deep-sea creatures resembling sharks, brandished their long spears and charged toward him.
Humming!
Without even looking, he emitted wave after wave of gravitational forces. Under the sea, there were obvious and massive ripples, like unstoppable waves. The Atlantean warriors charging towards him were sent flying like autumn leaves in the wind.
It was like an underwater earthquake, shaking the entire city.
"By the Sea God, is that Princess Mera?"
Countless terrified Atlanteans looked up and saw a figure holding their princess, swaggering away like an unstoppable god. No one could even get close to him.
Even Mera, who had been struggling, stopped in astonishment, looking at the man in the clothes of the surface people had such incredible power!
"Daughter!"
After being informed of the news, King Xebel, with a dignified demeanor, rode a giant seahorse and chased after them urgently, only to see the figure of the intruder getting farther away.
Vulko, in a disheveled state, walked out of Mera's palace, clutching his chest.
"Vulko, what's going on?"
King Xebel, seeing Vulko who shouldn't have been here, immediately suspected him and angrily demanded an explanation.
Leaving the Campbell Capital City, David no longer deliberately slowed down. His speed suddenly increased, effortlessly reaching an astonishing ten times the speed of sound even in the deep sea, where he could crush steel.
He looked back at the rapidly shrinking city of Campbell.
'Now that I've revealed some of my power and left my message behind, when I return with the Trident, Orm and Mera's father will probably have mobilized all the Atlanteans from every nation, ready for a showdown.'
'That should save me a lot of time,' he concluded.
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(~˘▾˘)~Don't forget to send your power-stones!~(˘▾˘~)