Mera led Arthur to swim into the depths of the trench by memory. Along the way, Arthur saw many bizarre fish-like monsters. However, he didn't feel afraid, just found it somewhat amusing.
When passing by a fish-like monster that looked like seaweed, Arthur impulsively grabbed its tendril, causing the creature to almost fall flat. Mera hurriedly grabbed his hand back. Arthur smiled at her.
"Sorry, I was just trying to distract myself," Arthur sighed. Mera was somewhat helpless but kept a close watch on him, preventing him from being mischievous with those sea monsters again.
"Many members of the Sea Trench Clan have impaired intelligence," Mera said, "probably equivalent to a four- or five-year-old human child. You can't bully children."
"Alright," Arthur said, "actually, I think they're kind of cute."
Mera furrowed her brow, scrutinizing Arthur. Does this guy have a problem with aesthetics?
"Have you heard of the uncanny valley effect?"
Mera shook her head, so Arthur began to explain, "The uncanny valley effect refers to the apprehension people feel when they see something that resembles a human but isn't actually human."
"What do you mean by resembling a human but not being human?"
"It means something that looks very similar to humans but has subtle differences. Or has some human limbs but isn't human."
"And so?"
"You Atlanteans feel repelled and afraid when you see the Sea Trench Clan, perhaps triggering the uncanny valley effect. Because your essence is similar to mermaids, when you see these fish-like monsters, you feel they resemble you but are different, thus causing fear."
"But I'm different. I grew up on land and never saw fish with legs. So these monsters don't seem as scary to me; some even appear awkwardly cute," Arthur shrugged.
"I see," Mera nodded, "would you be afraid if you saw my fish tail?"
"You have a fish tail?" Arthur seemed quite surprised.
"Of course I do," Mera said.
"But aren't you from the Zebel Kingdom? Do you resemble the Kingdom of Atlantis?"
"We are collectively known as Atlantis civilization; externally, I also claim to be Atlantean. According to your human naming conventions, we should be called the Atlantis United Kingdom, except one particular kingdom is the Kingdom of Atlantis."
"Just like the Commonwealth and England?" Arthur muttered.
"Pretty much," Mera said, "apart from the Sea Trench Clan, other Atlanteans have similar bloodlines. We have both fish and human forms."
"Could you show me your tail?" Arthur was a bit curious.
Mera rolled her eyes and said, "Of course not. Female members of the Zebel Kingdom only reveal their tails during mating..."
Arthur widened his eyes and said, "Mating? But... but... you can only mate with those having tails...?"
Mera rolled her eyes again and said, "Of course not. We don't use tails for mating. It's just a mating dance ritual. Before mating, males and females pursue and dance, which makes the offspring stronger."
"Ahem..." Arthur coughed twice, then said, "What if you're unable to dance?"
"There will always be someone who can dance," Mera said, folding her arms without speaking further.
Although this conversation was somewhat peculiar, it effectively distracted Arthur, who now couldn't get the thought of having a fish tail out of his mind.
They swam deeper into the trench, passed through a dark underwater cave, swam past many seaweeds, and arrived at a strikingly illuminated throne hall made up of various glowing underwater plants. The figure sitting on the throne had four legs like a fish.
"Your Majesty," Mera bowed to him and said, "It's been a long time. This is the new King of Atlantis."
The fish-man immediately jumped off the throne and after standing, gabbling a bunch of words that Arthur couldn't understand. Mera seemed embarrassed and said, "No, no, no, not inviting you to a wedding feast. He's not Orm, he's Arthur, Orm's brother... no, no, not quite... I..."
Mera took a deep breathe and said, "We are here to request your aid. The Amazons are under attack; we hope Atlantis could send forces to help. But the Seven Ocean Tribes..."
Mera hadn't finished speaking when suddenly, a fish-man swam rapidly in front of the king and whispered a few words. The fish-man king jumped up high again and shouted sharply.
Mera's face suddenly turned very grim. Arthur asked her, "What's wrong?"
"Winged mechanical monsters are invading Atlantis!" Mera turned to Arthur and said, "It's the Type Demons!"
The two of them both looked outward from the trench, their view skimming over countless ocean currents, arriving at the barrier of the Kingdom of Atlantis. By this time, warriors from the Seven Ocean Tribes were already engaged in battle with the Type Demons.
They could choose not to assist the Amazons, but they couldn't ignore defending their home. Ocean combat was supposed to be their forte. However, Savage Wolf, who had failed to find the Queen at the Amazons, had now arrived in front of Atlantis after evading Ron.
"Something's wrong," Arthur said while swimming outward, "He has no reason to come to Atlantis. Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless what he's looking for is right here." Arthur looked at Mera and said, "Have you heard of the Mother Box?"
Mera shook her head and said, "Not at all. But I'm also from a new generation, so I don't know much about ancient things. If that thing has existed for a long time, I can't be certain..."
Arthur's expression grew even darker. He said, "First the Amazons, then Atlantis. Who gave him the lead on the Mother Box?"
The face that flashed in Arthur's mind was, of course, Victor's. Diana had personally said that Victor had a connection with the Mother Box, so he was likely the only one who knew where it was located.
At this moment, Arthur wasn't doubting that Victor had betrayed them; he was just worried that the Savage Wolf might have some other means to extract information from Victor. After all, this guy's minions, those beasts called Type Demons, had remarkable technological equipment. He must come from a highly advanced civilization, and Victor's hacking skills might not be good enough against him. He could even reverse-engineer information from Victor.
Thinking of this, Arthur stopped, turned to Mera, and said, "I'll hold off that monster, you go release Orm."
"What?!"
"He wants to conquer the mainland, not destroy Earth, and he certainly doesn't want to destroy Atlantis. He couldn't possibly cooperate with the Savage Wolf. Release him, and he'll have no choice but to fight against the Savage Wolf with us."
"But he couldn't even defeat you!"
"He has connections with the Ancient One." Arthur finally had clarity in his thoughts and said, "Remember? He personally went to consult an Ancient One in Atlantis about the golden trident. So this Ancient One might also know something about the Mother Box. After we repel the Savage Wolf, I'll have him take me to find the Ancient One."
Mera pursed her lips, also realizing this was the best approach. So she said, "Be very careful."
After the two parted, Arthur rushed to the barrier at the fastest speed. He raised his trident and shouted, "Long live Atlantis!"
Seawater gathered into ocean currents, and the ocean currents condensed into a fearsome sea storm, shredding all the Type Demons that charged in almost instantly. The Savage Wolf turned around, and the moment he met Arthur's gaze, a great battle was imminent.
In Metropolis Hospital, Barry was sleeping restlessly. He dreamt of many things, the things he had seen in Lois's photographs, now playing out one by one in his dreams.
Homeless men frozen to death on the streets, drug addicts dying from childbirth, convulsing babies, charred child corpses...
Barry was trembling all over but couldn't wake up, only helplessly letting out painful moans, constantly struggling on the bed as sweat soaked the sheets. Suddenly, a blue light flashed, and the entire hospital building began to shake.
Lois downstairs jumped up and instinctively looked out the window but quickly realized that the problem was upstairs.
She hurriedly put down the glass and ran outside, entering the hallway where she saw countless blue lightning flashes leaping. A nurse pushed the door open and couldn't dodge in time. Just as she was about to hit the blue lightning, Lois rushed over and pushed her aside.
"Run, don't touch that thing!!!"
Her shout had a tremendous effect, and the people around hurriedly ran downstairs. Only Lois ran swiftly upstairs, charged into Barry's ward.
As she opened the door, the entire room was filled with blue light. Lois shouted, "Barry! Barry Allen! Wake up!!!!"
No matter how much she yelled, Barry wouldn't wake up. Fortunately, at this moment, the anomaly had spread outside the building, Hal in headquarters seemed to sense something strange, and as he flew out of the base, he saw the hospital's direction flashing with eerie blue light.
He flew over at the fastest speed, instinctively wrapping the entire building in Green Lantern energy. Lois clung to the door frame and saw the blue lightning gradually disappear, Barry sitting up in bed with yellow light in his eyes.
Hal flew in from the balcony, saw Lois and was momentarily stunned, but he was more concerned with Barry's condition. He walked to the bed, shook Barry awake, and said, "Barry, what's going on? Why has the Speed Force gone out of control?"
Barry woke up somewhat confused, but he quickly grabbed hold of the sheets, a look of terror on his face. He looked at Hal and said, "I... had a nightmare..."
Hal was a bit surprised, he said, "A nightmare? What did you dream about that scared you like this?"
"I... don't really remember." Barry said, still looking dazed, "Anyway, it was something very terrifying."
Lois was obviously more professional than Hal. She came over and said, "Don't think about what you dreamed of. Think about the last scene you saw when you woke up."
"Green light." Barry recalled carefully and said, "A green light appeared, and then those horrible things were all gone."
"That was my Green Lantern energy," Hal said, "But this doesn't seem to be any useful clue."
"No, it's important," Lois said, "The energy you used didn't directly make contact with him, but it immediately made him recover from the out-of-control state. This proves that the thing entangling Barry might really be afraid of you."
Hal only then realized. He had just discovered that it seemed the Speed Force had gone out of control, but his first thought was to save the building, as there were many ordinary people inside who hadn't managed to get out. So he hadn't directly used Green Lantern energy to touch Barry, instead first using energy to protect the building to prevent it from collapsing.
Without directly contacting Barry, yet allowing him to quickly free from the nightmare, even directly breaking free from the out-of-control state, it proved that Green Lantern energy might have severed some force controlling Barry.
"But I set up a barrier here before, why didn't it work?" Hal asked, looking around, but because he had just used Green Lantern energy to protect the building, he couldn't judge if the Green Lantern energy he previously set up was still there.
"That barrier should be consumable," Lois said, "It's possible he's been attacking not just once, but trying to break through the barrier over several days and depleting its energy, which finally allowed him to reach Barry."
"Also," Lois mentioned a crucial clue she had noticed, "When Barry woke up, I saw yellow light emitting from his eyes."