"Impossible!"
"How could something like this be possible?!"
Vulko, who had been brimming with confidence just moments ago, froze on the spot. The smile on his face stiffened instantly, replaced by sheer shock.
He even cried out twice in disbelief, making it obvious just how shaken he was.
And it wasn't just Vulko.
Even Princess Mera, who had already personally witnessed Alex's terrifying strength, stood there as if struck by lightning, completely unable to move.
So this… was the Homelander's true power?
Strong to such an utterly unbelievable degree?
With a casual wave of his hand, forty warships were destroyed!
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, neither Vulko nor Mera would ever have believed such a thing was possible.
When Alex had earlier said that Vulko was being careless, Vulko had thought Alex was just bragging.
But now, Vulko finally understood—
Alex had merely been stating a fact.
To deal with a monster like this, it would probably take an entire fleet!
Sending just forty warships really had been careless.
"Whether you get the Mother Box back or not will depend on whether your sincerity is sufficient."
Leaving Vulko and Mera with those words, Alex didn't linger any longer.
With a whoosh, he stepped onto his surfboard and vanished.
Vulko and Mera only felt their vision blur—there was no trace at all of Alex leaving.
It was as if he had simply evaporated into thin air.
The two couldn't help but click their tongues inwardly.
To reach such terrifying speed even underwater?
Wasn't that a bit too exaggerated?
If the two of them knew that Alex's current underwater speed was already heavily suppressed by water resistance—and that on land he could be several times faster—they didn't even dare imagine what they would feel.
But at the moment, with the Mother Box already stolen, neither Vulko nor Mera had the luxury to dwell on Alex's speed.
They exchanged glances, both seeing the same deep gravity and shock in each other's eyes.
If not for the now-empty pillar and the devastation scattered everywhere, they might not even have believed that the Mother Box had truly been taken.
"This is bad."
"This is really bad."
After coming back to his senses, even someone like Vulko couldn't help but grow visibly unsettled.
That was the Mother Box!
Something tied to the safety of the entire world!
"Quick—go find King Orm!"
"We must report this to the king immediately!"
Mera called out to Vulko and shot off in a flash.
Vulko followed suit.
Both of them went all out, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
…
"What did you say? The Mother Box was stolen?!"
Atlantis, the royal hall.
King Orm stared at Vulko and Princess Mera, his voice rising an entire octave.
Without question, this was a major incident.
It didn't just concern Atlantis—it involved the Amazons and humanity as well.
More than that, it concerned the safety of the entire world.
That wasn't an exaggeration.
After all, once the three Mother Boxes were united, they truly possessed the power to destroy the world.
How could Orm not take this seriously?
"Who did it?"
Orm fixed his gaze on Vulko and asked in a deep voice.
"He calls himself the Homelander," Vulko replied immediately.
The Homelander?
Orm frowned deeply, racking his brain, but couldn't recall such a person at all.
"The Homelander is undoubtedly a noble,"
Mera spoke up, her expression solemn.
"He possesses hydrokinesis like I do—but far stronger. Several times stronger, at the very least."
She then explained Alex's identity and recounted the entire battle between herself and Alex.
Naturally, she also reported how Alex had destroyed the forty warships Vulko brought with a mere wave of his hand.
After hearing it all, King Orm was plunged into overwhelming shock.
"You're telling me… he did all of this by himself?"
"That one man broke through the border forces under your command, Mera—and then crushed Vulko's reinforcements as well?"
Orm asked incredulously.
When he first heard the name "Homelander," he had subconsciously assumed that this person was merely the culprit—
Someone who had accomplished all this by leading a massive force.
But now Mera was telling him—
That a single individual had done all of it?
"Are you certain?"
Orm asked again, still unable to believe it.
"Your Majesty, I know this sounds unbelievable—perhaps even absurd—but it all truly happened," Vulko added heavily from the side.
"That's impossible!"
Orm abruptly waved his hand, cutting them off decisively.
"He must have used some other method. There cannot be such a powerful being in the underwater world!"
Alex's displayed strength completely defied common sense.
For Orm, who hadn't witnessed it personally, it really was too hard to believe.
"Your Majesty—"
"Mera, enough. I know what you're trying to say."
Orm interrupted her coldly.
"That Homelander may have deceived you, but he won't deceive me!"
A chilling look filled Orm's face as he let out a cold snort.
"When I find him, I'll pierce his body with my trident and let him feel the wrath of the King of Atlantis!"
Mera and Vulko exchanged a glance, both revealing helpless expressions.
Orm simply didn't believe them.
And Orm had always been arrogant and conceited—no matter how much they said, he wouldn't be convinced.
"Your Majesty, the reason the Homelander took the Mother Box is because he has his sights set on the Sacred Trident,"
Vulko paused briefly, then continued his report.
"He wants us to exchange the Sacred Trident for the Mother Box."
"How outrageous!"
Orm instantly flew into a rage.
"That man actually dares to scheme like this?!"
The Sacred Trident was the weapon of the first king of Atlantis, possessing the power to command all sea-dwelling races.
Both its symbolic meaning and its actual power were of supreme importance to Orm.
But that trident had been lost for thousands of years—no one knew where it was.
Otherwise, Orm would have retrieved it himself long ago. Why wait for anyone else?
That Homelander… was he an idiot?
Didn't he understand something this basic?
"Search!"
"Search for the Homelander everywhere!"
"Use the fastest possible means to find him!"
"I will make him understand what kind of price one pays for provoking Atlantis!"
In his fury, Orm immediately issued the order.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 60 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~