About half an hour later—
Princess Mera's father, King Nereus of Xebel, along with Atlantis's core ministers led by Vulko, all gathered in the council chamber.
They stood before King Orm.
At this moment, Orm's brows carried a faint trace of dejection.
The sharp edge he usually radiated had noticeably receded, as though his blade had been sheathed.
This immediately caused the core ministers to speculate about what had happened half an hour earlier—
What exactly had taken place in the royal hall?
And what, precisely, had occurred in that battle?
No matter what, the destruction of one thousand warships was an event of colossal scale. The core ministers had all used their own channels to investigate.
Logically speaking, with such a massive incident—such enormous commotion—there should have been at least some clues.
Yet astonishingly, they found nothing.
How those thousand warships were destroyed, and by whom, remained a complete mystery.
That was why they had rushed to Orm at once, hoping to get to the bottom of it.
"King Orm, what exactly happened? Say something already."
"Everyone is waiting for your answer!"
In the heavy, stifling atmosphere, King Nereus stepped up beside Orm and urged him.
Hearing this, Orm—who had been lost in thought—finally turned his head and glanced around.
Sure enough, he found everyone staring straight at him.
"Everyone,"
Orm steadied himself and spoke in a low voice,
"Atlantis has encountered the most powerful enemy in its history!"
The most powerful enemy!
Whether it was King Nereus or the other core ministers, all were immediately startled.
Just what kind of enemy had King Orm faced, for him to speak with such fear?
Wasn't calling them the most powerful enemy a bit exaggerated?
"I know it may sound like an exaggeration,"
Princess Mera spoke up solemnly at this moment,
"but it isn't. Everything His Majesty said is true."
Even so, the matter was simply too unbelievable. Despite Mera's testimony, the core ministers still found it hard to accept.
Instead, their curiosity only deepened.
Who exactly was this person who had frightened both King Orm and Princess Mera to such an extent?
"Vulko."
Orm called out to Vulko, who stood nearby.
Vulko nodded in understanding and walked over to a console-like platform, tapping a few controls.
Whoosh!
A corresponding video projection appeared before everyone's eyes.
"What is this?"
The attention of all the core ministers was immediately drawn to it.
They saw the scene outside the royal hall—one thousand warships, densely packed together.
Even through the projection alone, an oppressive pressure could be felt.
Everyone instantly realized—
Orm was showing them how those thousand warships had been destroyed.
Perfect.
They were about to see for themselves how such an enormous fleet had been annihilated without leaving a trace.
"Is this what you're relying on?"
"I'll show you just how ridiculous your confidence really is!"
An Eastern-faced young man appeared on screen.
After letting out a cold laugh, his figure flickered—
And he vanished.
Only a vague, blurry afterimage remained.
At that same instant—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The thousand warships outside exploded one after another.
"Th-this…"
"How is that possible?!"
Everyone present was completely stunned, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
No wonder—
No wonder they couldn't find out how those thousand warships had been destroyed.
It turned out someone had accomplished it all in an instant.
How could that ever be traced?
But just who in the world was that man?
To destroy a thousand warships single-handedly?
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, the core ministers would never have believed such a thing.
At last, they fully understood what Orm meant by the most powerful enemy.
Next, Orm explained the loss of the Mother Box, as well as the conditions Alex—the Homelander—had put forward.
The room instantly erupted.
The Sacred Trident had been lost for thousands of years—how were they supposed to find it?
That Homelander was truly asking the impossible!
Yet, considering the utterly terrifying strength he had displayed, King Nereus and the others simply couldn't think of any viable countermeasure.
After all, based on what they had just seen, destroying a thousand warships had been effortless for him.
That clearly wasn't his limit.
No one knew how many warships Alex could destroy.
And no one dared to gamble.
As unwilling as they were to admit it, they had no choice but to acknowledge one thing—
The Homelander was an existence they absolutely could not afford to provoke.
Otherwise, he could wipe out every Atlantean noble in minutes, taking their lives as easily as reaching into a pocket.
Atlantis would be utterly powerless to stop him.
If they wanted to reclaim the Mother Box, aside from complying with his demand and exchanging it for the Sacred Trident, there truly was no other option.
Despite their extreme frustration and resentment—
King Orm and the core ministers of Atlantis ultimately made their decision.
…
"At least they know how to read the situation."
In a deserted corner of Atlantis,
Having listened to every word exchanged between Orm and the core ministers, Alex nodded faintly.
Their compromise had not come as a surprise.
After all—
The power Alex had displayed was simply overwhelming.
Anyone with even a shred of rationality would never choose to confront him head-on.
That would be nothing short of suicide.
So, could forcing King Orm to mobilize the full power of Atlantis to search for the Sacred Trident actually succeed?
Alex believed the chances were quite high.
After all, according to the Aquaman storyline, Vulko had quietly found the crucial "key."
And he hadn't even spent that long searching.
He only began once Orm decided to launch a war against the surface and planned to support Arthur as king.
Even then, it hadn't taken much time.
Now—
With the resources of the entire Atlantean empire thrown into the search, Alex had every reason to remain optimistic.
"Very well."
"I'll head back and wait for the good news."
In good spirits, Alex withdrew his super senses.
With a thought, he stepped onto his surfboard and whooshed away.
Passing through Atlantis's city walls as though they didn't exist—
He returned once more to the seaside town of Amnesty Bay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 60 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~