mtl008 Chapter 4375 The Justice League Assembles (23)
Chapter 4375 The Justice League Assembles (23)
Chapter 4375 Justice League: Assemble (Twenty-Three)
After leaving the palace, Arthur and Mera both wore grave expressions. No one had expected Orm to be so insane, daring to join forces with Nereus to directly attack the Amazons, and even ambush the Amazonian princess. This was a serious grudge.
“What’s with those monsters that appeared on the coast?” Arthur asked.
“That’s the insidious part of Orm,” Mera said, frowning. “Those are the Atlanteans who have transformed into monsters; we call them the Trench. Not all of them are brutal and bloodthirsty, but they are certainly very ugly. Sometimes we ourselves are afraid of them, let alone humans.”
“That’s really vicious,” Arthur said. “They can’t launch a full-scale attack on the Amazon coastline, but if the Trench Tribe surrounds it, the Amazon’s tourism industry will be completely ruined. The shipping industry will definitely be affected too. Will they also attack human fleets?”
As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and started checking the news. After just one glance, he looked like he was about to faint. He said, "Sure enough, they attacked the cargo ship. No, we can't wait any longer. Let's go find the Golden Trident."
The two set off quickly, swimming towards the location marked on the nautical chart. Meanwhile, in the Amazon Queen's palace, a physician was bandaging Diana's wounds. She gasped for breath and said, "Never fight them in the sea. My Vulcan sword is completely ineffective there, and they've dodged my lasso. It's too dangerous."
She picked up her phone, intending to send Bruce Wayne a message saying she couldn't be back at the agreed time, but as soon as she opened it, a news article popped up on her screen.
"What?! Oh..."
She jumped to her feet, which aggravated her wound, causing her to gasp in pain. Looking at her phone, she exclaimed, "Those sea monsters attacked the cargo ship?! Mother, we have to stop them, or no shipping company will dare to ship goods to the Amazon."
"Don't worry, I've already sent troops over." The Queen had calmed down by now. She said, "You're too badly injured to fight anymore. Go back to your chambers and rest."
Diana was clearly unwilling, but the Queen's order had been given, and the female warriors came forward to escort her back. Diana's shoulder wound was in great pain, and she had no choice but to return.
But back in her chambers, she couldn't sleep because of anxiety, her mind filled with images of her sisters being wounded in battle. So, instead of the leave request text she had originally sent to Bruce, she changed the subject and began discussing the battle with him.
“Something’s not right,” Bruce replied. “If, as you say, he attacked out of revenge because your mother refused to give Orm any clues about the Golden Trident, then he should have focused all his efforts on attacking Paradise Island instead of letting the sea monsters surround the Amazon.”
“I’m also puzzled,” Diana texted him, then said, “If they bring all those sea monsters over, we’ll suffer heavy casualties this time. The warriors of Paradise Island are the elite of the Amazons, but we are too few in number and have no underwater combat capabilities. If they launch a full-scale attack, we’re finished.”
"His siege of the Amazons wasn't just about regaining lost face. There's another piece of evidence to support this: King Nereus, who helped him, had no reason to attack the Amazons for his own sake. In other words, they must have something to gain."
Diana sat up straight and said, "They're not trying to steal the Golden Trident, are they? But it's not with us... Oh, I see, he's trying to force the Queen to reveal clues."
“I’m afraid not,” Bruce replied. “He understands that the more he does such things, the less likely the Queen is to give him any clues. Or giving him a wrong clue could also waste a lot of his time. And with another competitor around, he doesn’t have that much time. So he never intended to do this in the first place.”
"So what is he trying to do?"
"Broad robbery."
"What?!" Diana exclaimed in disbelief. "But we don't have the Golden Trident! That thing is still in the sea!"
"But you have the raw materials, right?"
Diana was stunned; she truly had no idea. She hurriedly ran out of her bedchamber and back to the Queen's palace, then asked, "Mother, does the Amazon have the raw materials to make the golden trident?"
The Queen sighed, then nodded and said, "Yes. I also have a piece of Poseidon's Cold Iron here, and Orm is probably after this."
"But how could he know... there was a traitor?"
The Queen shook her head and said, "There are also immortals among the sea creatures. That Om is cruel and reckless; he could easily extract the truth about what happened back then from them."
"so……"
"This is about the struggle between Poseidon and Zeus. All you need to know is that Zeus wanted to destroy Atlantis, while Poseidon wanted to save it. The golden trident was created during that period."
"Is Amazon involved too?"
“This concerns my struggle with Hera, it’s too complicated for you to know. Anyway, the last piece of Poseidon’s Iron is with me, and Orm found out about it and he probably wants to take it.”
Diana returned to her bedchamber, sighed, and lay down on her bed, saying, "I've come to realize that most of the conflicts among these remnants of the ancient gods are the calamities left behind by the gods. Zeus and his brother, Ares, Hera and Zeus's lovers... if they don't move away, the earth won't have a single day of peace!"
“I don’t think so,” Bruce replied.
Diana replied with a question mark.
"Although the origin of the Golden Trident is related to the ancient struggles, the Om Operation is so radical, there must be another reason."
Diana thought for a moment and said, "I think so too. Regardless of how the Amazons keep Poseidon's Iron, we are also descendants of the gods, so why aren't we entitled to possess it? You can't just take it from us because we have it, can you?"
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Bruce said. “Om’s many actions in the Caribbean have proven that he is not the kind of impulsive fool he is. Otherwise, he shouldn’t have gone to occupy small countries first, but should have attacked the United States directly.”
"But his attack on the Amazon isn't much better than attacking the United States, is it? At least Americans don't have superpowers."
"Diana, did you forget to take your painkillers?"
"how do you know?"
"Your logic is completely nonsensical. You're a demigod; you could easily use painkillers without any side effects..."
“I wish I could… ouch… but all we have here are pain-relieving herbs… and they’re not very effective…” Diana said, grimacing.
"Wait here, I'll have someone bring you medicine."
Less than half an hour later, a female soldier came in to report. She said, "It's an urgent message from Sicily, Italy. It seems to be something from a bank vault, specifically addressed to you, Your Highness. What is it?"
“A friend gave me these painkillers. Don’t get me wrong, I need to deduce Om’s motives with him right now, so I…”
"I understand. I'll bring it in quietly, without anyone knowing." The female warrior left, and returned a moment later, handing Diana a package.
As Diana unpacked the package, she said to Bruce, "You're really something, having vaults and safe houses all over the world."
"I'm super rich."
After receiving the painkiller, Diana felt much better, and her mind finally started to work again. She thought for a moment and then said, "Something definitely doesn't seem right. No matter what, Amazon shouldn't be the first enemy Orm has provoked. It wouldn't do him any good in his world domination; it would only increase casualties and serve no other purpose. Surely he wouldn't be trying to tackle the toughest challenges first?"
“Of course not, otherwise he wouldn’t have invaded those small Caribbean countries.” Bruce’s tone remained calm. He said, “I guess his original plan was to first find a foothold on land, then announce his arrival by launching terrorist attacks on the coastline, and then unite with the Seven Seas to frequently harass the coastlines of NATO countries, forcing them to ask the United States for help, gradually dispersing the United States’ military forces, and then attack the United States mainland.”
“That sounds much more reasonable,” Diana said. “So why did he suddenly decide to attack us? It couldn’t be just for the trident, could it? That thing existed before, why didn’t he think of taking it first?”
"Of course, it's because if he didn't take it before, no one else would. If I'm not mistaken, the Golden Trident isn't easy to obtain, and even if he did, it would only allow him to better control the oceans, not be that useful for his plans to conquer the land. But if a threatening competitor were to take it, he would have no choice but to take it too, and he might very well be defeated by the opponent, thus losing his legitimacy."
Diana suddenly realized, and said, "Is someone vying for the throne with him? If that person gets it and defeats him, then his plans will be completely ruined. No wonder he's in such a hurry."
"But the problem is, his competitors didn't confront him directly; instead, they chose to take the Trident. So how did he know about their actions?"
"You mean there's a mole? But that doesn't make sense. In this situation, there's no need for someone to follow their competitor and become a mole."
"Diana, how many painkillers did you take?"
"Five needles, right? What's wrong?"
"Mine is highly concentrated."
"I don't feel much pain anymore."
"Your medication is probably taking effect. Have you been hallucinating?"
"Uh, my eyes are a little blurry, and my head is spinning."
"You should go to sleep."
Diana was indeed struggling to cope; the painkillers made her feel lightheaded, and she lay down on the bed and immediately fell asleep.
She was woken up by a phone call. She answered it groggily, and a slightly familiar male voice came from the other end.
"Hello, this is the Sky Eye Society. Are you Ms. Diana Prince? It's like this, the Capitol has been moved to the Metropolitan Government for far too long. We are sincerely recruiting ambitious individuals to join the 'Capitol Returns Home' team..."
“Schiller?” Diana called out his name with some confusion, then rolled over and said, “What the hell? What do you mean, ‘Going home from the Capitol’? The Capitol is you…”
"Ahem, ma'am, you've lived in the United States for a long time, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to see this place mired in partisan strife, with lawmakers unable to decide the country's future under such dire circumstances..."
Diana was still a little sleepy and her head was spinning. She said, "Whatever you want from me, I can't answer you right now. I'm injured. Let's talk when I'm better."
After hanging up the phone, Schiller sighed, looked at the growing crowd behind him, and said, "She said she's injured. You can't just run over there and tie her up, can you? Let's find out what's going on with Arthur."
“He’s been out of contact for so long, when is he finally going to come back and get back to work for us?!” a man who looked like an officer asked, his voice breaking. “The president has gone mad. He’s gone to retrieve the security case. If we don’t get the Capitol back and move the election process forward soon, the two parties are really going to have a hot war!”
"It's not like I'm not in a hurry. I'm already working very hard to find someone. This time I've contacted two people at the same time, Diana and Arthur. One of them will work out. Just watch, it'll be successful soon."