Chapter 47: Aquaman
At first, the Atlanteans believed they were under attack by a foreign enemy.
Atlantis had always prided itself on its advanced weaponry, far surpassing terrestrial technology, and its powerful magical culture, which had been developing for tens of thousands of years.
But when those weapons struck the young man, at most they produced a wave of heat or a wisp of smoke. They could not even break his skin.
Countless soldiers clad in battle armor that combined magic and technology charged forward in relentless waves.
It's worth noting that the average Atlantean's physical capabilities far exceeded those of ordinary humans on the surface. Moreover, their supposedly formidable armor could amplify their natural strength by several times, even dozens of times.
But to this formidable 'foreign enemy,' it was as if they did not exist at all. The countless tons of force they amassed together felt like nothing more than a breeze brushing his face.
Occasionally, when truly annoyed, he would frown, casually wave his hand, and send over a hundred Atlantean soldiers flying with agonized cries.
It wasn't until the enraged Aquaman Arthur and Sea Queen Mera stormed out of the city that the King of the Seven Seas, upon seeing his opponent, had his fury instantly replaced by astonishment.
"Everyone, stand down!"
Aquaman, clad in golden scale armor, dismissed his people and casually handed his Golden Trident, originally meant for battle, to a nearby guard. He strode slowly toward Luka, whose expression remained cold.
"Why are you causing trouble in Atlantis?"
Luka stared quietly at Aquaman, then suddenly grinned, revealing a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"I've been learning a lot from Ms. Prince lately. I couldn't sleep tonight, so I thought I'd find someone to spar with and test what I've learned."
Aquaman immediately understood.
Bad mood. Looking for a fight to vent.
Although he had remained in Atlantis all day, directing his citizens in preventing a highly dangerous tectonic quake, he had been paying close attention to the Watchtower.
With the help of communication equipment designed by Batman and several monitors connected to space signals, he had a rough idea of what had happened.
The boy in front of him had retrieved a "family member" for Superman from the edge of the solar system.
After that, everyone had completely ignored the day's hero and crowded around Superman instead.
He's still a kid. Feeling resentful after being overlooked is normal, he thought.
Thinking this, Aquaman suppressed his own irritation and even chuckled heartily a few times.
"No problem, but this is my kingdom. Fighting here would endanger my people. I know a deeper, much wider stretch of ocean."
Aquaman thumped his chest.
"As long as we control our strength, we shouldn't trigger any tectonic disasters there."
Luka's lips twitched, but he nodded and followed Aquaman out of the magical bubble. The two surged forward, one after the other, toward the deeper waters.
The Atlanteans, realizing the newcomer was likely Aquaman's ally, relaxed and their forces gradually retreated back to Atlantis.
Half an hour later, the ocean in the entire region began to tremble violently.
An hour later, the tremors subsided.
Just as Mera was preparing to question Arthur thoroughly about the rude young man's identity when he returned, the golden trident suddenly rippled with pale light. Then it shot out of Atlantis on its own, plunging into the dark sea.
Mera frowned.
She knew her husband had been a bit "playful" in his younger years.
"He's already king. How has he not grown out of those youthful habits?"
Shockwaves, even fiercer than before, surged again.
After several dozen minutes of uneasy calm, a relentless quake began battering the whole kingdom of Atlantis.
The people who had only just suppressed an unprecedented undersea earthquake during the day had no choice but to mobilize once more, using magic and technology to shield their city from the endless tremors.
Strictly speaking, the repair work required that night ended up being several times greater than the undersea earthquake they had successfully suppressed during the day.
Queen Mera's delicate brows furrowed with intense fury. With Aquaman absent, she had temporarily assumed his duties, racing throughout the night to issue commands and oversee the city's repairs.
Fighting a child for so long?!
He's clearly lost his mind!
And causing such massive losses to all of Atlantis, inflicting severe physical and mental exhaustion on the people.
It had also seriously impacted her beauty sleep.
There would be severe punishment when he got back.
Three hours later.
Aquaman, who couldn't even be described as just 'battered and bruised', swam back to Atlantis shivering uncontrollably.
The moment he passed through the magical bubble, his body, swollen like a pig, collapsed to the ground. The trident, which he had been barely clinging to, clattered to the floor with a dull thud.
The anger Mera had been preparing to unleash on Aquaman vanished instantly. She rushed forward, summoning a stream of healing magic-infused water to cradle the still-shaking king.
Looking at Arthur with heartache, Mera couldn't help but scold him.
"You too! If you knew you couldn't win, why did you keep fighting for so long?"
Aquaman shuddered at her words, struggling to lift his grotesquely swollen face.
His sausage lips, swollen to three times their normal size, vibrated at a frequency higher than the maximum power of a fascia gun.
Two streams of tears trickled down his face, winding through the crevices of his wounds.
"I tried to run... I... I... I couldn't escape!"
Aquaman looked completely wronged.
"That bastard! That fucking bastard!"
As he spoke, Aquaman let out a groan and fainted from anger.
Thanks to the continuous healing magic, the swollen wounds gradually receded, and within seconds, Aquaman regained consciousness.
A trace of anger also began to gather in Mera's eyes.
"This is outrageous! How could he do this? I'm contacting the Justice League to report him!"
"Wait!"
Aquaman suddenly grabbed Mera's arm.
"Actually, my injuries aren't that serious. See? They're already almost healed. Besides, there's something else I need to confirm right now."
...
At the start, bare-handed Aquaman truly was no match for Luka. However, sensing no immediate threat to his life and fueled by the pride of a man and a king, Arthur stubbornly endured the first hour of the brutal beating.
But soon, Aquaman began to falter.
Whether it was Wonder Woman's exceptional training or Luka's innate talent, the young man had truly mastered a combat style that inflicted pain without causing serious injury.
Helpless, Aquaman gritted his teeth and used his powers to part the surrounding seawater. He even extracted a small amount of oxygen from plankton before calling for a pause, pleading to be allowed to retrieve his Golden Trident for a rematch.
Luka readily agreed.
In moments, Aquaman summoned his signature weapon, his entire demeanor radiating renewed confidence that even surprised Luka.
Regaining his composure, Aquaman slammed the trident heavily into the ground.
"I am the King of the seven seas! In the ocean, this weapon grants me the strength of every sea on Earth!"
In the ensuing clash, Aquaman completely overwhelmed Luka in direct combat for a time.
The total mass of Earth's oceans is approximately 1.4 × 10^18 tons.
Aquaman didn't unleash the full power granted by the trident, lest their sparring escalate beyond a friendly exchange.
What troubled Luka was that his opponent seemed capable of continuously applying overwhelming pressure through some kind of authority-based magic.
Though Luka was immune to magic, and Aquaman was using magic, the manifestation of this pressure was purely physical.
After enduring dozens of brutal thrusts from the anchor-like butt of Aquaman's trident, Luka, now bearing a crushing weight far exceeding the pressure at the deepest ocean depths, found his mobility severely compromised. With a resigned gesture, he raised his hand in surrender.
He had come to vent his anger, not to kill or maim, but he couldn't simply endure this beating.
Luka politely pointed to his mouth, and Aquaman conjured another water bubble.
Then Luka began to inquire.
He found it strange. While he wasn't entirely incapable of unleashing greater speed and strength, under this magically enhanced hyper-pressure, every punch and kick required restraint and caution.
Otherwise, a single misstep could trigger a catastrophic rupture of Earth's tectonic plates.
Yet Aquaman could swim with reckless abandon at speeds far exceeding the danger threshold, without causing any destructive cavitation explosions.
Aquaman, ever the helpful sort, was so impressed by Luka's politeness that he immediately revealed it was a highly advanced technique for using superpowers.
"This isn't magic or an authority," he explained. "In theory, most superpowered individuals could master this technique by understanding their own abilities, as long as they learn to embrace the ocean instead of resisting it."
Luka's eyes lit up, and he pointed at himself. "Can I learn it too?"
"Of course. Atlanteans are born with this ability, but I can teach you."
Lost in a haze of sincere "Teacher Arthur" praises, Aquaman spent several minutes guiding Luka.
Luka quickly grasped the technique.
Aquaman even praised his natural talent.
The two then resumed their sparring match.
This time, Aquaman couldn't even think about escaping, as Luka could now swim just as fast as him.
After three hours of relentless pursuit, Luka finally caught up to the pig-headed Aquaman, who was frantically shaking his head and waving his hands to signal surrender. Luka frowned in thought for a moment.
Arthur's overly earnest and straightforward nature made Luka doubt whether the Pink Pearl had been a setup orchestrated by Aquaman and Batman.
"Where did you get those two pearls you gave me last time?"
"I just grabbed them from the Atlantis treasury. What's wrong? Batman specifically told me you needed some money, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to give you some travel funds to ease your financial troubles."
Aquaman lay sprawled unceremoniously on the damp seabed sand, panting heavily. His gaze toward Luka held both admiration and a hint of fear.
Luka glanced at Aquaman with a touch of pity.
He refrained from openly sowing discord, though he knew Batman's actions would inevitably backfire.
"This is tens of thousands of meters beneath the sea," Luka muttered. "How did Batman even manage this?"
After expressing his amazement, he sincerely apologized to Aquaman and thanked him for his selfless guidance.
Then, Luka departed, leaving Aquaman completely bewildered.
It wasn't until Aquaman returned to Atlantis and had his mind cleared by Mera's healing magic that he finally began to grasp the situation.
The next day, as he surveyed the eavesdropping devices dismantled from the royal treasury, Aquaman's expression darkened to the point where even his closest advisors felt a chill of fear.