All this time, Arthur had heard the name "Homelander," but he had never truly taken it to heart.
He knew the man had defeated General Zod and was very powerful, but he had no real sense of how powerful.
Deep down, he might not have even believed that the Homelander was necessarily stronger than himself.
After all, Arthur didn't know how strong Zod was, nor did he know how strong Alex truly was—so this was understandable.
It wasn't until Vulko came to him and told him that the Homelander had rendered the entire Atlantean empire helpless that Arthur finally began to take the Homelander seriously.
But no matter what, Arthur had never imagined that the Homelander would be powerful to this extent.
Just a casual wave of his hand!
And Arthur had completely lost his ability to fight!
If he hadn't experienced it personally, he would never have believed it.
How could there possibly be someone this powerful in the world?
What kind of joke was this?!
Under the shocked and unwilling gazes of Arthur and Mera, Alex strolled leisurely over to the statue and leaned in to examine the bottle.
The coordinates engraved at the bottom of the bottle perfectly aligned with the distant horizon of the sea.
In that instant, Alex obtained the exact location of the Sacred Trident.
The corners of his mouth curved into a smile.
"Thanks for the assist."
Alex smiled as he glanced at Arthur and Princess Mera.
Both of their expressions instantly darkened.
This was bad.
Really bad.
All the little schemes they had carried out behind the Homelander's back had been completely seen through.
What were they supposed to do now?
But what Mera didn't expect was that Alex suddenly extended his hand in midair.
Whoosh!
In a flash of light, a black "box" appeared in Alex's hand.
The Mother Box!
Mera's pupils shrank slightly, her nerves tensing as she stared fixedly at Alex.
She had no idea what Alex intended to do by taking out the Mother Box at this moment.
But in the next second, Alex casually tossed the Mother Box toward her, as if he were throwing away a piece of trash.
Pa!
The Mother Box landed squarely in Mera's hands.
She was completely stunned.
No matter how she thought about it, she never expected the Homelander to actually return the Mother Box.
"This thing is useless to me now,"
Alex shrugged, speaking indifferently.
Mera carefully studied Alex, saw that he didn't seem to be lying, then checked the Mother Box in her hands.
After confirming there was nothing wrong with it, excitement finally surfaced on her face.
The Mother Box—had finally been recovered!
"So… can we leave now?"
Clutching the Mother Box, Mera struggled to her feet and cautiously looked at Alex.
"That's your freedom," Alex spread his hands.
"But if you insist on staying to admire the scenery, that's fine too."
As if anyone would stay to admire scenery!
Mera cursed inwardly and immediately called out, "Arthur, let's go!"
Arthur nodded, saying nothing more, and prepared to leave with Mera.
Although he had completely failed to accomplish what Vulko had entrusted him with, there was nothing he could do.
The Homelander was simply too powerful.
With a person like that around, Arthur had no chance of seizing the Sacred Trident from him.
Arthur at least had that much self-awareness.
"Wait."
Just as the two turned around, Alex's calm voice sounded behind them.
Freeze.
Arthur and Mera stiffened simultaneously, as if someone had pressed a pause button.
"Homelander, you're not going back on your word, are you?"
Mera turned around with extreme difficulty, her face full of misery as she looked at Alex.
Her arms instinctively tightened around the Mother Box.
Seeing how tense she was, Alex couldn't help but laugh.
They had clearly misunderstood him.
He hadn't called them back because he intended to take the Mother Box again.
Rather, Alex had suddenly thought of something.
Since he was already going to retrieve the Sacred Trident anyway, why not bring Aquaman Arthur along while he was at it?
It was just a matter of convenience.
Of course—
It wouldn't be for free.
"I was calling Arthur, not you,"
Alex said casually.
"You're free to leave anytime—I don't care. But Arthur, I'd like to make a deal with you."
A deal?
Arthur and Mera exchanged glances, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.
What exactly was the Homelander up to?
Arthur was just a nobody living on land—what could possibly be worth trading?
But since these words were coming from someone like the Homelander, neither of them dared to ignore it.
"You said a 'deal,' which means I have the right to refuse, correct?"
Arthur pondered for a moment, then asked Alex cautiously.
"Of course," Alex replied matter-of-factly.
"If you couldn't refuse, it wouldn't be called a deal."
Arthur and Mera exchanged looks again.
Both felt that Alex wasn't trying to trick them—he genuinely wanted to make a deal.
After all, with his overwhelming power, there was no need for schemes or tricks.
He could simply crush them outright.
They had absolutely no power to resist.
With that in mind, Arthur actually became curious about this so-called deal.
"Alright," Arthur finally decided.
"You've got my attention. Go ahead—what kind of deal do you want to make?"
"It's simple," Alex said casually.
"I want you to agree to do one thing for me after you become the King of Atlantis in the future."
He was acting on a whim—treating this as an investment in Arthur's future.
Even though, after Alex's interference, Arthur might not necessarily become king again, he was still worth investing in.
After all, it cost Alex nothing.
So why not?
"Heh."
Arthur couldn't help but laugh.
If Alex didn't look so serious, Arthur would have thought he was joking.
"Homelander, I think you've misunderstood something."
"I'm not going to become the King of Atlantis. Do I look like a king to you?"
Arthur spread his hands and even looked himself over.
No matter how you looked at it, he resembled a street brawler far more than a king.
"The future is unpredictable,"
Alex replied with a meaningful smile.
"But no matter what, you are Queen Atlanna's eldest son
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 60 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~