"No, Cl—mmph! Mmph!!"
Below the surface, within the aquatic shield.
Witnessing her boyfriend's death once again, Lois Lane's emotions instantly crumbled. Her heartbreaking wails were stifled by Mera's hand covering her mouth before they could fully escape.
Lois Lane looked back; Mera, who called herself the Queen of Atlantis, also had tears shimmering in her eyes.
"Don't make a sound, understand?"
"I'll take you away from here." Her voice choked, followed by tears that could no longer be held back.
Mera, experiencing the separation of life and death for the first time, forced herself not to cry aloud. Her rosy lips were bitten until they bled, unnoticed, the metallic taste of blood in her mouth continuously stimulating her tear ducts.
Sobbing, weeping. And hysterical roaring. She wanted to do all of these, but she knew she couldn't.
Lothar was dead, but Darkseid was not.
She had to live. Only if she lived could Lothar possibly be resurrected.
"Where are we going?"
Lois Lane, the renowned reporter from the Daily Planet, had lost the spark in her eyes.
"My home."
Mera manipulated the water, binding Lois Lane firmly behind her, and quietly swam towards the ruins of Metropolis.
She left with grim determination.
There was no melodramatic crying, nor was there any ignorant fearlessness about avenging Lothar.
As a child raised with royal education, Mera understood sacrifice, compromise, and what it meant to preserve hope.
The ruins of Metropolis.
The dying Wonder Woman, Diana, and the Flash, Barry Allen, barely clung to life under the protection of Alfred in his armor.
The soldiers of Apokolips, however, continued to pour in like a breached dam, endless.
Alfred, after all, was just an old man, and he was quickly overwhelmed.
Just as Diana and the other two were about to be devoured, three fierce torrents of water instantly dispersed the gathered Apokoliptian soldiers, forming water spheres that carried Diana and the others away from Metropolis.
The Golden Trident no longer glimmered faintly; Mera, fulfilling her duty as the co-ruler of the Seven Seas, stood at the forefront of the maelstrom, manipulating the raging seawater to provide shelter for all coastal cities on Earth.
Any Apokoliptian soldier attempting to breach these cities was ultimately shredded by sharp blades of water.
"Lord Darkseid, our forces are being held back."
Steppenwolf, informed of the situation, came before Darkseid, bowing in report.
"It's that Atlantean weapon."
"That one has a good successor."
Darkseid paid it no mind, signaling Steppenwolf to intensify the assault.
"Her power won't sustain her for long. Deal with the other humans on this planet first."
Darkseid waved his hand, and Steppenwolf nodded in assent, slowly retreating. Before leaving, he glanced at the two corpses hanging from the Apokoliptian portal.
The blonde-haired, green-eyed Lothar, and the black-haired, black-eyed Clark. Both had an unhealable wound in their hearts, pierced by the Omega Beam.
"Perish in despair, humans."
Darkseid, walking among the clouds, was expressionless, his presence overwhelming as he gazed down at the corpse-strewn land below.
In the underwater world, in the Kingdom of Xebel.
Queen Mera, wielding the Golden Trident, brought the four individuals she had rescued from the battlefield to this temporarily safe haven.
King Nereus of Xebel watched his daughter's hurried arrival with complex emotions. He had seen everything that transpired on the surface clearly.
"Father, quickly! They need treatment!"
"I know, it's already prepared." Earlier, upon seeing Mera bringing people home, Nereus had already guessed his daughter's intentions, and medical equipment was already prepared.
Barry and Diana were taken away and sent to the Xebel treatment center. Only Alfred and Lois Lane remained in the royal palace, surveying the unfamiliar surroundings.
"Darkseid's army cannot breach our underwater defenses for now, so we are temporarily safe here."
"You two can stay here for the time being."
After seeing Diana and Barry Allen off, Mera turned to explain to the two behind her.
"Underwater? Wait, what about the humans on land?" Lois Lane immediately thought of those on the surface.
"I've protected most of the coastal cities. I know this is just a drop in the bucket compared to the total number of human cities. But this is the limit of my power."
"Our enemy is formidable. If we don't find a way to defeat him, then even the underwater world will cease to exist."
Mera's eyes were resolute.
"But what can we do? Even Clark..." Lois Lane reached up to wipe away the tears on her face. Suddenly, she remembered someone.
"What about Bruce? Alfred, what about Bruce?"
"If it were him, he should be able to figure out a way to fight Darkseid."
"Master Bruce was killed by Clark before Darkseid arrived." Alfred shook his head, a bitter taste in the corner of his eye.
"...???" Lois Lane was utterly bewildered.
"We don't have much time. My power can only last for three days. After three days, my power will be exhausted, and then the entire land world, including the ocean world, will be swallowed by Darkseid's army."
"So, Alfred, tell me." Mera directly stated the limit of her power, then looked at Batman's butler with an extremely solemn expression. "How did you resurrect Superman?"
If he could be resurrected once, he could certainly be resurrected a second time. This was Mera's only hope for turning the tide. If Superman could be resurrected, then Lothar could naturally be resurrected too.
"It's no use."
"Clark's resurrection was because Barry activated the Mother Box's power, and that child named Victor Stone controlled the Kryptonian spaceship with his mechanical arm."
"But now, the Mother Box has been taken, and Victor Stone, who could operate the Kryptonian spaceship, was also... by Lothar."
Not to mention Barry Allen, who could activate the Mother Box, was now severely injured. He was currently clinging to life purely by Diana's divine power, and it was uncertain if he'd even be off the sickbed when Mera's power ran out in three days.
The vast royal palace fell into an eerie silence.
"Actually, I can try to control the Kryptonian spaceship."
Suddenly, a voice familiar to Mera broke the strange atmosphere. A completely blue robot cat awakened from standby mode, projecting from the bracelet into the royal palace.
"Woz?!"
"Woz, you're awake?!"
The moment she saw the robot cat, a glimmer of surprise flashed in Mera's eyes.
When Lothar had given it to her earlier, Woz's panel had displayed "shutting down."
Mera's previous plan to use water currents to whisk Lothar away had been devised by Woz just before it shut down.
"Wait, you said you can control the Kryptonian spaceship?"
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