When Bruce walked in with the documents, he just glanced at them but didn't say much. He projected the design onto the screen and then said, "First, we need a space station."
"That's why I said Hal came at the right time," Bruce said, "You and Carol should have quite a few friends in the aerospace industry, right?"
Hal took a sip of coffee, nodded, and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, "Do you want to take over the International Space Station, or do you want to build a new space station?"
"Of course, build a new one. But I've used brand new technology and materials that can meet the needs of superpower users. It's just that in terms of approval, it might..."
"I'll contact Carol's father." Hal seemed a bit better and, after thinking for a moment, said, "This might increase your budget, but it should eventually go through."
"How long will it take?" Bruce asked.
"Depends on how much you're willing to increase the budget." Hal said, "Overall, it's not difficult. We just need to get everyone the certification for cosmos operations and slightly modify the physical data..."
The two of them started discussing the matter. Diana was clearly exhausted; as she listened, her head began to droop and then she collapsed onto the desk. But after just a few minutes of sleep, she suddenly woke up.
"Ah!" she uttered a short cry.
Bruce looked at her concerned and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
"It's nothing, maybe yesterday..."
"You were injured yesterday, right?" Bruce asked, "You should go back and rest, ma'am. I'll have Victor send you the meeting video later."
Diana nodded, not insisting, and turned to leave. Bruce also looked at Arthur, whose face didn't look too good, and said, "You should go back too, Arthur. Go back, get some sleep, and come back once you're rested."
Arthur nodded; he wasn't that tired, but he indeed didn't understand these technical issues. He had a vague sense of unease and wanted to call his father, so he left as well.
But the others couldn't leave. Bruce looked at Victor, whose face also didn't look great, and said, "I heard you can directly create or erase objects at the data level."
Victor wasn't injured, just expended some physical strength and didn't sleep well last night. After drinking coffee, he was much clearer and nodded before saying, "Yes, erasing is somewhat easier, but to create requires extremely precise data."
"Look at this, can you make it?" Bruce handed over a drawing. Victor looked at it and said, "No problem, but you'll need to prepare the materials."
"Isn't it creating something out of thin air?"
"Creating out of thin air?" Victor widened his eyes and said, "I'm just a hacker, not a God. No one can create matter out of nothing. What you see as erasing is actually me moving the data to another place. Creating involves using existing materials, changing the material's physical form, and then assembling them."
"Actually, if you don't prepare the materials, I can also source them from somewhere else, but these aerospace materials are quite important. What if I accidentally dismantle an important part of a rocket while moving them; that could cost lives. So you'd better prepare in advance."
Bruce nodded and said, "Okay, I'll prepare the materials for you. Can I observe the creation process?"
"What do you mean 'can you observe'? You must observe! I didn't study this field; I can only grasp a rough idea of the design. You must be there to adjust the details." Victor said, spreading his hands.
"How long can it be completed approximately?"
"If we coordinate well, it'll take about a week," Victor said, "It's very large and very complex, with one part linking to another. To ensure precision, it can't be faster."
Bruce seemed rather satisfied with this speed. Then he turned to Ron and asked, "I heard that Martian civilization hasn't completely perished; there might be some useful things up there. Can we go over and check? Ron? Ron?"
Ron suddenly woke up and nodded, "Oh, sure, take whatever is useful."
"Alright, I have nothing more to ask, Hal, you stay behind, we'll confirm the launch details."
Arthur and Diana, who went back to rest, didn't rest well either. Lying in bed closing their eyes for a while, but due to various troubling thoughts, they couldn't fall asleep. By lunchtime, their faces were still not looking good.
Hal tentatively asked, "Why don't you also go to the hospital?"
Both shook their heads simultaneously, Diana said helplessly, "We are a demigod, a half-sea clan, human doctors probably can't solve our problems."
"Don't you have doctors in your tribes?" Hal asked.
"Amazon usually uses traditional herbs," Diana thought for a moment and said, "because the God Clan has very good physical constitutions and generally doesn't get sick. After injuries, they recover quickly, so medical science hasn't developed much..."
"I haven't been back yet, but I heard from Mera that Atlanteans also rarely need healing, or rather, the sea itself helps heal our wounds. I'm planning to take a soak in the sea later."
While everyone was chatting, Diana heard her phone ring. She picked it up, and then abruptly stood up from her chair.
"What?! He went to the Amazon???"
After hanging up the phone, Diana's face turned even paler. She said, in a slightly trembling voice, "Savage Wolf went to the Amazon! I need to go back immediately!"
"We'll go back with you," Ron said, "We must find a way to drive him off Earth, or everyone will suffer."
The group immediately set off and reached the Amazon as quickly as possible. By then, the battle had already begun. On the Amazonian coast, large numbers of Type Demons were fighting the Amazon warriors.
Type Demons are a kind of monster with wings but are mechanized all over. Individually, they aren't as strong as female warriors, but there are simply too many of them, completely surrounding the Amazonian coastline. Seeing this almost drove Diana to despair.
"I'll go back to Atlantis and call for help immediately," Arthur patted Diana on the shoulder and said, "You guys hold off Savage Wolf for a while, I'll be back very soon."
Diana steadied her mind and nodded. She knew that the Amazon's biggest problem was lack of manpower. Even if everyone was a soldier, there weren't many of them. With so many Type Demons, they needed a sufficiently large army to withstand the assault.
Diana flew over the Amazon, searching for the figure of Savage Wolf. The worst-case scenario had happened; the Amazon Queen's palace was in ruins.
"Mother!!!" Diana screamed as she flew over. As expected, she saw Savage Wolf standing atop the ruins, seemingly directing the Type Demons to search for something.
She rushed forward and punched Savage Wolf on the back. Taken by surprise, Savage Wolf stumbled a few steps but quickly steadied himself, looking at Diana with disdain.
"Where is my mother?!" Diana's eyes were wide with rage.
Savage Wolf revealed a cruel smile and then said, "He's dead. I killed him because he refused to tell me where the Mother Box is..."
"Don't listen to his nonsense," Ron quickly flew over and said, "He hasn't found your mother, he's trying to figure out where she is now."
Savage Wolf suddenly turned his head, glaring at Ron. He realized he had been mind-read, so he stopped paying attention to Diana and focused on attacking Ron instead.
Ron didn't fear him; the two engaged in close combat, exchanging blows, neither giving an inch. Although Ron couldn't shake Savage Wolf, Savage Wolf also couldn't deal with the Martian Manhunter's intangibility, leading to a deadlock.
Meanwhile, Arthur's path to Atlantis was also blocked. Even though he had ascended the throne, the Seven Ocean Tribes had various complaints against him. On one hand, he was an illegitimate child, a mixed breed, and even though he defeated Prince Orm, it wasn't entirely legitimate. On the other hand, since his ascension, he hadn't returned, spending all his time on land, which made it difficult for anyone to respect him.
Therefore, when Arthur proposed sending troops to aid the Amazon, most kings refused. Arthur, unlike Orm, couldn't just obliterate them for refusing. So, he had to go to Mera.
Mera's Zeber Kingdom was quite supportive of him. After all, if Mera married Arthur, they would be the Queen's Matriarchy. But the power of one kingdom was too weak. So, Mera suggested they seek help from the Sea Trench Clan.
The so-called Sea Trench Clan is actually where the Sea Clan transformed into monsters when Atlantis sunk into the sea. Other kingdoms shunned them, but Mera knew that these monsters weren't as savage and mindless as many believed. On the contrary, there were some kind-hearted ones whose natures were purer than other sea clans.
"I accidentally ventured there when I was a child," Mera said as she swam deeper into the sea with Arthur, "At that time, I was terrified of the monsters, but a very unattractive four-legged Fish-Man escorted me back. That's when I learned it's wrong to judge others by their appearance."
"Is that so? What do you think of my appearance?" Arthur asked.
Mera glanced at Arthur curiously. By rights, this was somewhat of a suggestive remark, but having spent some time with Arthur, Mera knew he wasn't the type to flirt in inappropriate settings or places. With enemies pressing in, he shouldn't be in the mood for that, but it seemed Arthur just needed some conversation, which is why he said it.
"Of course, you're very impressive," Mera replied, "In fact, one of the reasons I didn't choose Orm was because he wasn't strong enough, and his hairstyle was utterly ridiculous, like a bald catfish, which I really disliked. I prefer those with more hair."
Mera's words were almost a clear indication, but Arthur only absentmindedly nodded. Mera instinctively felt a bit dissatisfied, but she was mostly worried.
"Are you alright, Arthur?"
"Oh, I'm fine, I just feel a little uneasy, maybe I didn't sleep well last night. Sorry."
"No need to apologize," Mera shook her head and gently stroked his back, a gesture of comfort in Atlantis. Arthur also shook his head, dismissing miscellaneous thoughts, and looked up to see the vast darkness of the trench ahead.
"We're here."