'Tell me the Mother Box's location, Mera.'
'Tell me the Mother Box's location, now, or you will die.'
Mera, holding the Golden Trident, stood within the now ruined sacred ground, staring blankly in the direction Lothar had departed, remaining silent for a long time.
"Cough, cough... cough, cough, cough..."
Her father Nereus's coughing brought her back to her senses.
"Mera, what happened?"
Nereus had to admit that when his throat was seized earlier, he truly felt the fear of death. This surprised him greatly. Lothar was the man Mera herself had brought back; not to mention, he was the one who had initially taken Mera, alone, out of the Xebelian royal palace when she intended to break ties with him.
"I... I don't know."
"I don't know, Father..."
Mera's mind was in turmoil. Because a possibility suddenly occurred to her. A possibility she was unwilling to admit.
"His purpose in approaching you was for the Mother Box, wasn't it, Mera?"
Queen Atlanna, temporarily acting as the ruler of Atlantis after the death of King Orm, came to Mera's side, gently stroking her back as she softly asked.
"Impossible..."
"I mean, you know. If that was truly his purpose, there would have been no need for him to do that..."
If it was just for the Mother Box, why would he have said those things to her? Couldn't he have just stayed silent the whole time? Or simply acted as a bodyguard?
"Are you sure, Mera?"
"I... I don't know, I don't know, Atlanna..." Mera wanted to say she was sure, but the words caught in her throat. Lothar's behavior earlier was simply too abnormal.
"I'll figure it out, anyway."
"Even if Lothar's purpose in approaching me was the Mother Box, why would he reveal it at this moment?"
Mera couldn't understand. Why not keep up the act? Most importantly, what would Lothar use the Mother Box for? World destruction? He didn't seem to have that inclination or idea.
"I'll get to the bottom of this."
"I'll get to the bottom of this."
Mera tightened her grip on the Golden Trident. She trusted her intuition. Although Lothar had revealed his covetousness for the Mother Box.
...
"Woz, pinpoint Gotham's direction."
"Location pinpointed. Plotting route now."
"Route plotted, Your Highness Lothar."
At the same time, over the turbulent Atlantic Ocean, Lothar flew through the air, heading directly for Gotham City. The Mother Box was his; no one could take it. His thinking was that simple.
"Your Highness Lothar, detecting the energy field of the Golden Trident. It should be Lady Mera."
The alert from Woz on his right eye's screen made Lothar increase his flying speed. The next second, on the ocean surface not far from him, Mera, stripped of her crown and golden armor, slowly emerged from the water, standing atop a colossal blue whale.
"Lothar!"
"We need to talk—"
Whoosh!
Lothar's figure flew directly over Mera's head, cutting her words short.
"Lothar!"
Mera swiftly turned, but Lothar in the sky had already vanished without a trace.
"That direction, you can't escape, Lothar."
Mera exhaled and plunged back into the ocean.
...
Gotham, Wayne Manor.
Diana, still recuperating in bed, watched the media reports about the so-called "end of the world" on the television screen, her emotions fluctuating.
"In fact, Master Bruce intends to..."
"Resurrect Superman."
Alfred's parting words completely prevented Diana from finding peace.
'Using the Mother Box's energy.'
"Bruce, it's me, Diana."
"If you hear this, you'd better call me back quickly, I'm serious."
"Listen, the Mother Box's power is immense, no doubt. But will the Superman resurrected by the Mother Box be the Superman we need?"
"You and I both know, Clark is dead. His body lies motionless in a coffin."
"The consciousness named Clark has completely vanished."
"..."
Diana's rambling message went entirely into Bruce Wayne's voicemail.
She disagreed with Bruce Wayne's decision.
No one could guarantee whether Superman, resurrected by the Mother Box, would still be Clark.
What if he wasn't?
Wouldn't that just create another Doomsday out of thin air?
Wasn't the world chaotic enough already?
"We interrupt this program for an urgent news bulletin. We interrupt this program for an urgent news bulletin."
"According to military radar monitoring, an extremely fast unidentified flying object is rapidly approaching Gotham from the Atlantic direction."
"If..."
Diana, hanging up the phone, was drawn by the blurred figure displayed on the television screen.
"Is that... Lothar?"
The tail coiled around his waist had certainly left a profound impression on Diana.
"Lothar and Mera have left the undersea world?"
Recalling Lothar's terrifying strength, a hint of joy immediately flashed across Diana's face.
"Hello? Mera?"
Diana quickly dialed Mera's phone. As she expected, Mera's phone connected.
"Mera, it's me, Diana. Where are you?!"
"Hmm, how to put it, I don't know either."
Mera closed her eyes, sensing the messages sent to her by all marine creatures. Guided by a live shrimp in an open-air market, Mera continued to drive, chasing the direction Lothar had gone.
"What? Alright, none of that matters, Mera, listen to me, we need Lothar right now..."
...
Beep!
Inside the Kryptonian spaceship, Bruce Wayne, halfway through listening to the voicemail, directly hung up the phone.
"Are you ready, Victor?" Bruce Wayne asked the man standing near the Kryptonian control console.
A cyborg composed almost entirely of various mechanical parts—Victor Stone. He was an individual Bruce had been monitoring for a long time.
Two days prior, due to Darkseid's threat and the impending "end of the world," Bruce successfully recruited him into the league he was forming and, with his help, located the last human Mother Box. Because Victor Stone's creation was intricately linked to the power of the human Mother Box.
"No problem."
"Alright then, let's begin, Barry."
Looking at the activated Kryptonian spaceship, Bruce Wayne gave the command for the plan to commence.
Using the energy field generated by Barry Allen to activate the Mother Box's internal energy to resurrect Superman Clark.
A very simple plan, yet it required their absolute concentration.
"3, 2, 1."
"Go!"
Blue electrical arcs instantly unlocked the Mother Box's energy.
Boom!!!!
"Alert! Alert! Detecting an extremely powerful energy source approaching!"
"Alert! Alert! Detecting an extremely powerful energy source approaching!"
In the clear blue sky, Lothar, still flying at high speed, suddenly heard the warning from Woz.
"What?"
As he wondered, an intense sense of crisis suddenly surged within Lothar!
His muscles subconsciously tensed. Years of combat instinct made Lothar react immediately, but he still collided in mid-air with the powerful energy source Woz had mentioned.
Bang!!!
Like two speeding cars colliding, Lothar felt a force he usually couldn't absorb slam into him, sending him crashing to the ground!
Thud!
Thud!
Two figures descending from the sky directly smashed two visible deep pits in the empty plaza. In an instant, dust billowed!
Step, step...
As the dust settled, Lothar walked out of the deep pit and saw a figure walking towards him. Bare-chested, bare-footed, with a square face, and eyes staring at him like brass bells.
Lothar was watching him too.
The silent stare left the patrolling police officer nearby bewildered. To the officer, their mutual gaze gave him an odd feeling that they were about to fight the next second. If he had to provide a translation, it might be something like this:
What are you looking at?
What if I am?
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are 50+ advance chapters available for you to read!