Next—
Vulko explained to Arthur in detail why he had been chosen.
The main reason was simple:
As the King of Atlantis, Orm's every move was far too conspicuous. Any unusual action would immediately attract attention from all sides.
If the Homelander were to notice something amiss, the consequences would be unimaginable.
After all—
That man's power was simply too absurd. He could casually wipe out the Atlantean fleet.
Atlantis had absolutely no desire to provoke such an existence.
As for Arthur—
Although he was a royal by blood, the second one besides Orm, his existence had always been a secret.
He could move silently, unnoticed, operating in the shadows.
In this way—
Orm would remain in the open, drawing the Homelander's attention,
while Arthur secretly moved first, finding the Sacred Trident and obtaining the power needed to oppose the Homelander.
Perfect.
"So this is your plan?"
After listening, Arthur spread his hands helplessly.
"You want me to become the savior? To save Atlantis—the place that got my mother killed? To save the bastard brother who exiled my mother?"
"This is the only way."
Vulko nodded heavily.
"Arthur, your mother and I have always believed that you are a hero."
"Don't bring up my mother!"
Arthur waved his hand irritably and began pacing back and forth in front of Vulko.
Vulko said nothing more.
He simply stood there, watching Arthur quietly.
He believed Arthur would make the right choice.
And just as Vulko expected—
After pacing around twice, Arthur finally stopped.
He pointed at Vulko and said:
"Let's be clear first—I'll only deal with the Homelander. Everything else has nothing to do with me!"
A satisfied smile appeared on Vulko's face.
As expected—
He hadn't misjudged Arthur.
"Of course," Vulko nodded.
"If you can do that—if you can do that—there's no need for anything more."
Arthur's decision was entirely within Alex's expectations.
This guy might claim he didn't care about Atlantis, but when Steppenwolf came for the Mother Box, didn't he still step up?
When Orm planned to wage war on the surface world, didn't he step up again?
That was just Arthur's nature.
On the surface, he looked carefree and rebellious—but deep down, he was a genuine superhero.
Only…
"Aquaman Arthur,"
Alex couldn't help but curl his lips into a mocking smile,
"who gave you that kind of blind confidence?"
To be blunt—
In front of Alex as he was now, Arthur was nothing more than an ant.
Alex could crush him with a single finger.
Even if the Sacred Trident really fell into Arthur's hands, it wouldn't matter much.
Alex wasn't afraid at all.
But after a brief moment of thought, Alex decided not to make a move against Arthur just yet.
After all—
Wasn't Vulko's plan effectively giving him another person to help search for the Sacred Trident?
In the original story, Arthur and Princess Mera were the ones who found it.
With that protagonist halo of his, who knew—maybe Arthur would succeed again?
When that happened—
Alex could simply step in and take the Sacred Trident.
That would be the end of it.
Alex happily made that decision.
From that point on, one more name was added to Alex's "monitor list":
Aquaman Arthur.
And Arthur did not disappoint him.
Neither did Atlantis.
Under the constant pressure Alex exerted, Atlantis spent half a year and finally managed to locate the crucial "key."
This was far longer than Alex's deadline—
For that reason, Alex had no choice but to "punish" Atlantis once along the way.
"Arthur, Mera—it's up to you now!"
"This is the key to finding the Sacred Trident!"
After the key was found, Atlantis naturally did not hand it over to Alex.
Instead, Vulko secretly passed it to Arthur.
Thus—
Arthur and Princess Mera officially embarked on the journey to find the Sacred Trident.
Just like in the movie.
They first found the ruins of the fallen kingdom buried beneath the desert, where they obtained further clues.
Then, guided by those clues, they arrived on Sicily, Italy.
From a statue there, they finally obtained the ultimate coordinates.
"We found it!"
"We really found it!"
Arthur and Mera were both overjoyed, even subconsciously grabbing each other's hands.
Along the way, the two had indeed sparked something… different.
"That really saves me a lot of trouble."
But at that moment—
A cold, sudden voice rang out behind them.
"Who's there?!"
Arthur was startled badly.
He spun around like he'd been electrocuted, only to see a young Eastern man standing behind him, appearing out of nowhere.
This guy—
Why did he look kind of familiar?
Arthur glanced at Alex and frowned slightly.
He was certain he'd seen this man somewhere before.
After a brief moment of thought, it clicked—
Wasn't this the tourist who had recently moved to Amnesty Bay?
They hadn't interacted, but the town was small. Arthur had definitely seen him around.
Back then, Arthur hadn't paid him any attention.
But now—
This man was clearly no ordinary person.
"The Homelander!"
Princess Mera cried out in shock, her face instantly filled with panic.
The Homelander?!
Arthur was equally shocked. His eyes sharpened immediately.
"You're the Homelander?"
"Your mission is over,"
Alex said calmly.
"I'll take it from here."
He didn't bother saying anything more to Arthur.
After leaving those words behind, he walked straight toward the statue in front of them.
Inside the bottle held by the statue were the coordinates of the Sacred Trident.
Alex only needed to take a look.
"No!"
"Stop!"
Arthur would never allow that to happen.
With a shout, he lunged forward, reaching out to grab Alex in an attempt to stop him.
As for Princess Mera—
Though she hadn't known Arthur for long, the two already had a certain tacit understanding.
As Arthur moved to block Alex, Mera immediately acted as well, rushing toward the statue to seize the bottle—
Trying to prevent Alex from obtaining the coordinates.
But—
Alex merely waved his hand lightly.
Arthur and Mera both shuddered violently, as if struck by lightning.
They were sent flying backward simultaneously, smashing heavily into the ground.
Not only that—
Both of them felt as though their entire skeletons were about to fall apart.
Every inch of muscle felt like it had been run over by a car.
They couldn't get up at all.
What?!
So this…
This was the Homelander's strength?
A tidal wave of shock exploded in Arthur's mind.
This was ridiculous.
Utterly ridiculous.
How could anyone be this strong?!
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