Since Doraemon had never even heard of this country in the future world, that meant it was probably nothing in the eyes of future humans. Maybe it got wiped out in some conflict with them or was driven off Earth long ago.
I didn't believe that future humans, with all their advanced tech, wouldn't explore places like the Bermuda Triangle or the Mariana Trench. If they encountered these undersea people, could they really coexist peacefully? On land, we humans fight each other to the death—how much worse would it be with outsiders?
in all the time I'd used the Time Machine, besides future humans, I'd rarely seen people from other civilizations. That showed future humans were pretty badass. That's how they stayed Earth's overlords in the 22nd century, expanding and colonizing the universe without invasions.
Sure, this was just my guess, but it proved that future gadgets could totally crush these undersea folks dimensionally. That's why I wasn't scared of them. They were just a bunch of weak, decaying old-timers hiding under their underwater barriers!
Facing the crowd of undersea soldiers surrounding us, I couldn't help but chuckle lightly. What's the point of numbers? If that mattered, why bother with tech? Of course, superpowers are a kind of tech too, right?
"surrender now!" one soldier shouted before the fight started.
But both sides knew surrender wasn't happening.
In the next moment, the encircling undersea people raised their harpoon-like weapons. White, lightning-like beams shot from the tips toward us. That's when Saotome Seiko, as we'd planned with Doraemon, stepped forward with the Rebounding Cloak.
The white lightning hit the red cape and bounced back, slamming into the undersea crowd and knocking down a bunch of them.
The battle erupted!
I kept applying telekinetic pressure, slowing the undersea people's movements. This time, I tried a new move: the Denkomaru floated up slowly by my hand. With my telekinesis controlling it, it flew into the crowd, darting like a nimble fish, slashing out strikes that felled one undersea person after another.
This was my superpowers evolving further—I could release pressure while controlling a flying sword for attacks. My vision was to become a mix of Magneto and Pain from Naruto. Then I'd be unstoppable!
When Doraemon and the others saw me going all out, they couldn't hold back either. Doraemon fired off several shots from his Air Cannon into the crowd, scattering them with screams. Gian used his Super Gloves to punch away anyone who got close. Suneo kept aiming and firing his Shock Gun, dropping people left and right. Shizuka was constantly using the Small Light, turning unlucky ones tiny—I wondered if they'd get squished in the chaos.
The hall turned into a battlefield, filled with shouts and flying lightning beams, all getting bounced back by the Rebounding Cloak.
That's when the prime minister's cleverness showed: with everyone fighting, who cared about those old geezers? Their cries for help drowned in the battle noise.
The stray attacks didn't discriminate, so those quivering old-timers, who were so arrogant before, got hit by stray shots now and then. The high-and-mighty rulers were just lambs for slaughter on the battlefield.
Thanks to Seiko's Rebounding Cloak and the thin telekinetic barrier I added, we were unscathed, repelling wave after wave of undersea attacks.
Seeing so many of their own fall, the commander in the crowd got desperate.
"Order the submarine fleet to deploy!"
"But this is the national hub!"
"Forget that! The prime minister commands it—we must execute these outsiders to uphold the Mu Federation's authority! Show them the consequences of challenging us!"
"Yes, sir!"
...
I overheard the faint conversation from the crowd and knew things were about to get complicated.
Sure enough, just as we'd repelled another wave, a massive explosion rocked the hall's roof. Everyone instinctively covered their ears. I thickened my telekinetic barrier to block the falling debris.
As for those old geezers, no one cared about them anymore. Maybe their best fate was to rot buried under the rubble.
Once the debris cleared, the roof was gone, revealing the light above. But looking up, undersea submarines had us surrounded densely—they'd blown the roof off.
Spotting their targets inside, they didn't hesitate and opened fire, ignoring any of their own people still retreating!
A beam thicker than the harpoons' lightning shot from a submarine toward us.
Seiko countered with the cape, bouncing it back, but the force made her stagger.
Doraemon quickly retaliated with his Air Cannon, downing a few subs.
But more attacked, and though they got bounced, the cape ended up with scorch marks.
"We can't stay here and fight! We won't hold against this many!" I said seriously to Doraemon.
"Then what? Should we fight while retreating?" Doraemon analyzed the battlefield calmly.
"No, we can't outrun subs on foot!" I rejected his idea.
"Remember the Giant Idol battle?" I said gravely.
"What? We can't do that again—you forgot last time's lesson?" Shizuka overheard and tried to stop me, remembering how I'd nearly been drained dry and left weak.
"You won't end up like last time, right?!" Doraemon looked me in the eyes seriously.
Doraemon didn't try to stop me; he knew if I suggested it, I had a plan. I'm stubborn like that—better to support a guy's decision!
"Won't be that bad—just a bit of leg weakness!" I said with a light laugh.
"Then go for it!" Doraemon told me.