After Arthur and Mera left the palace, their expressions were very solemn. No one had expected Orm to go so far as to directly attack the Amazon alongside Nereus, and even ambush the Amazon Princess. This feud has escalated greatly.
"What were those monsters appearing on the coast?" Arthur asked.
"That's the insidious part of Orm's plan," Mera said with a frown, "those are Atlanteans transformed into monsters, known as the Sea Trench Clan. They are not all ruthless and bloodthirsty, but their appearance is indeed very hideous. Sometimes even we are afraid when we see them, let alone humans."
"Truly vicious," Arthur said, "although they can't launch a full-scale attack on the Amazon coastline, surrounding it with the Sea Trench Clan spells doom for the Amazon's tourism industry. The shipping industry will definitely be affected as well. They wouldn't go as far as attacking human fleets, would they?"
As he spoke, he pulled out his phone to check the news; at a glance, his face turned to one of near fainting. He said, "Sure enough, they've attacked a freighter. No, we can't wait any longer. Let's go, the two of us to find the golden trident."
The two set off quickly, swimming toward the location marked on the sea chart. Meanwhile, in the Amazon Queen's palace, a physician was bandaging Diana's wound. She took a breath and then said, "Whatever you do, don't fight them in the sea. My Fire God Sword is useless underwater, and the lasso can't reach them. It's deadly."
She picked up her phone, intending to message Bruce Wayne to say she couldn't return at the agreed time, but as soon as she opened it, a news alert popped up in her face.
"What?! Oh..."
She jumped up quickly, only to tug at her wound, inhaling sharply in pain. Looking at the phone, she said, "Those sea monsters attacked the freighter?! Mother, we must stop them, or no shipping company will dare send cargo to the Amazon."
"Don't worry, I've already sent troops," the Queen, now calm, said, "You're too injured to fight now. Go back to your chamber and rest."
Diana was clearly unwilling, but the Queen's order was given, and a female warrior came forward to escort her back. With the pain in her shoulder too severe, Diana had no choice but to return.
Back in her chamber, though, she was too anxious to sleep, her mind filled with images of her sisters injured in battle. Consequently, the intended leave message to Bruce turned into a discussion about the battle.
"Something's off," Bruce replied, "If, as you said, he attacked out of revenge solely because your mother refused to provide the golden trident's location, he should be focusing all his forces on attacking Paradise Island, not surrounding the Amazon with sea monsters."
"I find it strange too," Diana sent him a voice message, then said, "If they bring all those sea monsters here, we will suffer heavy casualties. Although the warriors on Paradise Island are the elite of the Amazon, there are too few of us, and we have no underwater combat ability. If they fully attack, we're doomed."
"Surrounding the Amazon isn't just about saving face. Another corroborating point is that King Nereus, who assists him, wouldn't attack the Amazon just for his reputation. This implies there must be some benefit."
Diana sat up and said, "Are they after the golden trident? But it's not here with us... Oh, I understand, they want to force the Queen to reveal its location."
"I fear not," Bruce replied, "He knows that the more he does such things, the less likely the Queen will give him any clues. Or she might deliberately give him the wrong lead, which could delay him for a long time. With another competitor around, he doesn't have much time. So he never planned on that."
"Then what is he planning?"
"To take it by force."
"What?!" Diana said incredulously, "But we don't have the golden trident! That thing is still in the sea!"
"But you have the raw materials, don't you?"
Diana was stunned, not knowing this. She hurriedly ran back to the Queen's palace and asked, "Mother, do we have the raw materials to make the golden trident?"
The Queen sighed and nodded, saying, "Yes. I have a piece of Poseidon Cold Iron here, and that's probably why Orm is after us."
"But how does he know... Is there a traitor?"
The Queen shook her head and said, "There are Long-lived among the Sea Clan. That Orm is ruthless and unscrupulous, he can force the truth of the past out of them."
"So..."
"This concerns the conflict 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 born during that time."
"Was the Amazon involved?"
"It's about my struggle with Hera, too complicated for you to need to know. In short, the last piece of Poseidon Cold Iron is with me, and Orm must have learned of this and wants to seize it."
Diana returned to her chamber, sighed, lay down, and said, "I've realized that the struggles of these remaining clans on Earth now are mostly the misfortunes left by those gods. Zeus, his brothers, War God, Hera, and Zeus's lovers... If they don't move out, Earth will never have a peaceful day!"
"I wouldn't be so sure," Bruce responded.
Diana replied with a question mark.
"Though the origin of the golden trident is tied to ancient conflicts, Orm's aggressive actions should have another reason."
Diana thought for a moment and said, "I think so too. No matter how the Poseidon Cold Iron is guarded by the Amazon, we are descendants of the gods, aren't we entitled to possess it? It's not like you can just come and take it from us, can you?"
"That's not what I'm saying," Bruce said, "Orm's many operations in the Caribbean show he's not an impulsive fool, or he wouldn't have started by taking small countries, but would instead attack America directly."
"But now that he's attacking the Amazon, isn't that just as bad as attacking America? At least Americans don't have superpowers."
"Diana, haven't you taken any painkillers?"
"How did you know?"
"Your logic is completely muddled. You're a demigod, you can totally use some painkillers, they won't have any side effects..."
"I want to... hiss... but we only have pain-relieving herbs here... they're not very effective..." Diana said, grimacing.
"Hold on, I'll have someone send you some medicine."
Within half an hour, a female warrior came in to report. She said, "A urgent item from Sicily, Italy, seems like something from a bank vault, specifically marked to be delivered to you, Your Highness. What is it?"
"It's some painkillers a friend sent me. Don't get me wrong, I need to analyze Orm's motives with him, so I..."
"Understood. I'll sneak it in without anyone knowing." The female warrior left and soon returned, handing Diana a package.
As Diana opened the package, she said to Bruce, "You're incredible, you have vaults and safe houses all over the world."
"I'm super rich."
After taking the painkillers, Diana felt a lot better, and her mind finally started working. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Something's definitely off. No matter how you look at it, the Amazon shouldn't be Orm's first target. It's no help at all to his world domination, other than causing more casualties. It can't be that he wants to tackle the toughest opponent first, can it?"
"Of course not, otherwise he wouldn't invade those small Caribbean countries." Bruce's tone remained steady. He said, "I guess his original plan was to first find a foothold on land, then announce his arrival by launching terror attacks on coastlines, followed by joint harassment of NATO countries' coastlines with the Seven Ocean Tribes, forcing them to seek assistance from the US, gradually diluting America's military strength, and then attacking the US mainland."
"That sounds much more logical," Diana said. "Then why would he irrationally decide to attack us? It can't be just for the Trident, can it? That thing has existed before, why didn't he think to come for it first?"
"It's because, previously, even if he didn't take it, no one else would. If I'm not mistaken, the golden trident isn't so easily taken, and after obtaining it, it just enhances control over the ocean, not much use for his land conquest plan. But if there's a threatening rival preparing to take it, he has to go for it too, possibly getting defeated by the opponent and losing his legitimacy."
Diana suddenly realized, "Someone is contending with him for the throne, right? If that person gets it and defeats him, his entire plan will be ruined. No wonder he's so anxious."
"But the problem is, his competitor hasn't confronted him directly but has chosen to go after the Trident, so how did he know about the rival's actions?"
"Are you saying there's an inside man? But that doesn't make sense, anyone following the competitor doesn't need to be a mole under such circumstances."
"Diana, how many painkillers have you taken?"
"Five shots, why?"
"Mine are highly effective and concentrate."
"I don't feel much pain now."
"Then it's likely that the medicine is kicking in. Are you seeing any hallucinations?"
"Uh, my vision is a bit blurry, and my head's spinning."
"You'd better sleep."
Diana indeed couldn't hold on any longer; the effects of the painkillers made her feel ethereal. Lying on the bed, she drifted straight into sleep.
When she woke up again, it was a phone call that roused her. She groggily picked up the phone, and a somewhat familiar male voice came through.
"Hello, this is A.R.G.U.S., may I speak with Mistress Diana Prince? You see, the Capitol Building has been relocated to Metropolis for too long, and we're earnestly seeking individuals eager to join the 'Capitol Building Homecoming' team..."
"Shiller?" Diana called out the name somewhat puzzled, then turned over, saying, "What the heck? What Capitol Building Homecoming? Isn't the Capitol Building just..."
"Ahem, ma'am, you've been living in America for quite a while, you surely wouldn't want to see it mired in bipartisan dispute, and the congressmen can't decide the country's future under such adverse conditions..."
Diana was still a bit sleepy, her head groggy, she said, "No matter what you're asking about, I can't answer you right now, I'm injured. Talk to me when I'm better."
After hanging up, Shiller sighed, looking at the ever-increasing crowd behind him, and said, "She said she's injured, you can't just go tie her up, right? Better check Arthur's side of the story."
"He's been out of touch for so long, when will he be back to work for us?!" asked a military officer, his tone somewhat desperate. He said, "The President has already gone mad; he's already fetched the security box. If we don't get the Capitol Building back and push the election process along, the two parties will truly go to hot war!"
"As if I'm not anxious too. I've been trying really hard to find them. This time I've contacted two at once, Diana and Arthur, surely one of them will come through. Just watch, success is close."