"Cindy, the clams for table five aren't out yet. Can you hurry it up?"
In a restaurant near Mercy Harbor, the proprietress was instructing the waitress Cindy, "Speed it up, we're getting more and more customers."
"Okay, Boss!"
Wearing her waitress uniform, Cindy walked quickly towards the kitchen, her head down, writing down the seafood orders in her notebook.
"Creak!"
An old regular customer of the seafood restaurant suddenly pushed open the door and walked in, saying to the people in the restaurant, "Hey, guys, you'll never guess who's here?"
Hearing his words, the people in the restaurant looked up in astonishment and turned their gaze towards him.
The door of the seafood restaurant was pushed open, and a Golden-haired young man with an enviable physique walked in.
Although his appearance was sunny, the young man's expression was not sunny at all; instead, it gave people a sense of low pressure.
Seeing the young man enter, everyone in the restaurant looked uneasy.
After all, many people in this vicinity knew that the young man who just entered was someone who was absolutely not to be trifled with.
"Why is he here? This is a seafood restaurant!"
"I… I feel like I'm deeply sinful."
"What should we do?"
The customers in the seafood restaurant immediately began to whisper.
The Golden-haired young man sat down at a window seat with a gloomy face.
"Gulp!"
A young man sitting next to him swallowed nervously.
"You go see what he needs?"
The proprietress quietly said to the waitress Cindy.
Cindy, though somewhat afraid to greet this eccentric young man, still braced herself and walked over.
The Golden-haired young man ignored the gazes of those around him, sat on the soft sofa, looked at the beach scenery outside for a while, then pulled a book from his pocket and began to read.
Cindy walked up and saw the title on the book's cover—cthulhu.
"Mr. Curry, hello!"
Cindy let out a breath and cautiously said to him, "I'm so sorry, I, uh, I must look a mess. I've been working three shifts straight! I, I have two kids to put through college, and, oh, dear, I'm sorry again, I shouldn't be telling you all this."
She had a good impression of the young man in front of her.
Arthur Curry was a lighthouse keeper nearby. With his muscular physique and handsome features, he was somewhat famous in the area.
Of course, the reason for his fame was not only his physique and appearance but also his exaggerated abilities!
Not only could he easily beat up three or five ruffians, but he could also swim in the water like a fish and even control fish creatures for his own use.
Many people said he could talk to fish and was a good friend of fish.
Some people swore they saw him talking to a lobster in a supermarket and even intended to do something unspeakable with an octopus, preparing to have the octopus perform some indescribable act for him.
Someone nearby even gave him the nickname—Aquaman!
Although there were many different opinions, one thing Cindy could confirm was that Arthur Curry should be very close to marine life.
That's why everyone was so terrified when they saw him enter the seafood restaurant.
What if Mr. Curry saw his good friends being cooked in various ways, and in a fit of rage, tore down this restaurant, and he himself would be caught in the crossfire.
Fortunately, Arthur behaved quite normally; although he seemed very unhappy, he still smiled faintly at Cindy.
"It's fine, you look pretty good! I'll have a fish and chips."
Arthur put down the book and said to Cindy.
"Uh…"
Cindy was stunned.
An uncle sitting behind Arthur leaned over and said to Arthur, "You can't order fish and chips?"
"Why?"
Arthur looked at the bearded uncle in confusion.
"Because you can talk to fish."
The uncle stated his reason.
Arthur's face immediately fell, and he felt a little aggrieved.
"I can't talk to fish."
"Nonsense, everyone in this area knows you can control fish!"
The uncle indicated, 'Don't lie to me, I'm a little genius.'
"Fish can't talk; their brains are too simple to communicate."
Although very annoyed, the future Aquaman was still a naive young man at this time, trying his best to communicate with the other party.
"Then how do you control them?"
The uncle seemed determined to get to the bottom of it.
"Just controlling them is enough. Squid, sharks, eels, it's all the same."
Arthur patiently explained to him, "However, dolphins are another matter."
"Hey!"
No sooner had Arthur finished speaking than a young man wearing glasses sat down opposite him and asked, "Mr. Curry, I have a blog. Would you mind if I interviewed you?"
"Actually, I'm about to eat."
Arthur felt that the other party was a bit clueless.
"It's very short, just a few simple questions. Why did you choose this restaurant? Is it because of the decor? Or for some other reason?"
"I…"
Arthur fell into thought, "My father used to bring me here."
He recalled the scene of his father bringing him here to eat when he was a child.
His father, Thomas Curry, had passed away a year ago.
Although Arthur had not yet become the ruler of Atlantis at this time, due to marine biologist Dr. Stephen Shin claiming that Arthur was an "Atlantean," people in this area knew about Arthur's magical abilities.
Despite this "Atlantean" claim being strongly denied by Arthur's father.
"Are you really an Atlantean?"
The young man with glasses asked him curiously.
"I don't know; my father's answer to me was that I needed to find out for myself."
"Is that so? Then, assuming Atlantis truly exists, what role do you think you would play in it?"
The young man continued to ask Arthur.
"Buddy, I'm just here to eat."
Arthur was already impatient, patting the book beside him as he spoke.
"Alright, my questions are over."
The young man left Arthur's side dejectedly.
Feeling the quietness around him, Arthur let out a long sigh.
This was his trouble.
He could never precisely define himself: was he human, or a so-called Atlantean?
His father, before his death, had told him to go into the sea himself to find Atlantis and find his mother.
But now he didn't want to go to Atlantis at all.
A flurry of complex thoughts flashed through his mind, and a bewildered Arthur picked up the book and tucked it into his arms.
But the sound from the television quickly caught his attention.
He turned his gaze to the TV screen and saw that the news was broadcasting about the Air Force fighting aliens.
Seeing the black-armored alien rocket into the air like a missile, tearing apart fighter jets with his bare hands, Arthur's brow furrowed.
"Aliens?"
Arthur murmured the word softly, as Cindy brought his food over.
After thanking her, Arthur ate his sashimi while recalling what his father had told him.
His father had told him that his great-grandfather's generation, when serving as a lighthouse keeper, had also seen "aliens!"
His great-grandfather had once witnessed a battle near San Francisco that was more brutal and intense than anyone could imagine.
Monsters dozens of meters tall fought beings in human form, causing the San Francisco earthquake, burning down countless buildings and structures, and a sweeping tsunami submerged the entire dock.
His great-grandfather had vaguely heard the cries from the battle.
The name "Homelander" left a deep impression on his great-grandfather.
Seeing Homelander, dressed in a black uniform, appear before the Pentagon on television, a huge wave surged within Arthur.
Could the culprit behind the San Francisco fire, Homelander, a story that had been passed down in his family, be this guy right in front of him?
But…
How could it be? The time span between them was almost a hundred years.
No matter how strong his vitality, he certainly couldn't live for a hundred years and still be so young and lively, could he?
Looking at Eric's youthful face on the television, Arthur was in a state of immense shock.
So much so that he didn't even bother to eat the sashimi beside him and immediately got up and walked out of the restaurant.
After walking out of the restaurant, he took out the book he always carried with him, and Arthur looked at the author's name on the cthulhu book—Eric Kent.
He had always thought that the San Francisco fire his father mentioned was a legend, but now, seeing Homelander reappear in the public eye, he immediately realized that it was not a legend.
His great-grandfather had also said that he heard the demon shout out Eric Kent's name.
He had initially thought that the author of this cthulhu book, Eric Kent, and the terrifying entity mentioned by his great-grandfather were just a coincidence of names, but now Arthur vaguely understood.
The entity that fought the demon in the San Francisco fire was Homelander Eric Kent; the alien appearing now was also Eric Kent; and the one who wrote this cthulhu was also Eric Kent.
Feeling incredible about his discovery, he slowly reached out and opened this book he liked very much.
The first page of the frontispiece depicted a merman with a horrifying appearance and slimy, cracked skin.
The second page showed a giant monster appearing in the deep, dark seabed, with the words "Atlantis" written in the bottom right corner of the page.
Looking at the words "Atlantis," the future Aquaman Arthur instantly made a decision.
Following his father's last wish, he would search for Atlantis!
And the biggest clue was Homelander, who was now attracting nationwide attention!
Thinking of this, Arthur immediately put away cthulhu and rushed towards Metropolis.
Although there was an alien crisis at this time, Arthur, whose abilities far exceeded those of ordinary people, naturally did not fear this.
At this moment, Arthur had completely forgotten his deceased father's admonition not to actively expose his abilities.
The desire for exploration rising within him sparked a strong interest in the various unknown entities of this world.
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