Vulko had to admit that this man was a walking disaster. With nothing more than a casual wave of his hand, Daniel had caused destruction that left even him speechless.
No wonder people on Earth called him the Reaper. The fact that he possessed enough power to flatten entire buildings made him someone even Atlanteans had to treat with caution.
He glanced toward Mera and lowered his voice.
"Do you think he came here with ulterior motives? Why would someone like him involve himself in Atlantis's affairs when he has nothing to gain from them?"
Mera shook her head. "No. From what I've seen, he simply wants to avoid a war. That's the only reason he's helping us."
"And if we fail to stop this conflict, the first threat Atlantis may end up facing won't be the surface world. It will be him."
Vulko considered that for a moment. "So there's nothing to worry about?"
"For now," Mera replied.
Bruce, who had been listening quietly, moved the discussion forward. "When do we leave for the Deserter Kingdom?"
The longer they remained here, the greater the chance their location would be compromised.
Vulko handed the ancient artifact to Mera.
"You leave immediately. Retrieve the Trident as quickly as possible."
His expression grew serious.
"Orm has already secured the support of Xebel. It won't be long before he gains the backing of the remaining kingdoms as well."
Mera frowned. Her father was the king of Xebel, and she knew he had never shown any interest in attacking the surface world. Agreeing to Orm's plan seemed completely out of character.
"A human submarine attacked the meeting place where Orm and King Nereus were negotiating," Vulko said. "After that, Nereus agreed to support Orm's campaign."
Batman listened carefully but remained unconvinced.
How could ordinary humans possibly know the exact location of a secret meeting between two rulers of sea kingdoms?
The more he considered it, the more it looked like a staged attack — something Orm had orchestrated himself to drag the other kingdoms into his cause without leaving fingerprints.
Vulko turned to Arthur. "That is why you must obtain the Trident quickly. Once Orm secures every kingdom's support, stopping him becomes far more difficult."
Daniel casually waved his hand, and a solid platform of flattened energy appeared beneath them. It floated effortlessly in the water, large enough for everyone to stand on comfortably.
Stepping onto it, Daniel glanced at the others.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go."
Arthur, Mera, and Bruce climbed aboard. The platform immediately surged forward, gliding through the ocean at remarkable speed.
Behind them, Vulko watched their departure.
He could only hope Arthur would succeed.
The future of Atlantis depended on it.
As they traveled through the depths, Arthur looked toward Mera.
"So where exactly is this lost kingdom?"
"It was once part of Atlantis," Mera explained. "Long ago, its people separated from the other kingdoms and settled in a distant region. Eventually, a catastrophe destroyed their civilization."
She paused before continuing.
"The area where their kingdom once stood is now beneath the Sahara Desert."
Arthur stared at her.
"Wait. The Sahara Desert?" he asked. "That's enormous. How are we supposed to find whatever we're looking for in a place that big?"
Mera held up a small device.
"With this."
Arthur examined the tracker.
"It contains the coordinates of the ruins we're searching for," Mera said. "As long as it still works, it will guide us directly there."
Before Arthur could respond, several flashes of light appeared in the distance behind them.
Mera immediately turned around.
A group of Atlantean warships was approaching at high speed through the water.
"They're already chasing us?" Arthur said.
The vessels were rapidly closing the gap.
Arthur looked back at Daniel.
"Can this thing move any faster?"
Daniel glanced over his shoulder at the pursuing ships.
"Can it?" he repeated.
A moment later, a transparent spherical barrier formed around the platform, completely enclosing everyone inside it.
The water around them suddenly began to distort.
Then the platform shot forward.
The surrounding ocean blurred as they accelerated through the depths. Massive currents split apart before the barrier, allowing them to cut through the water with almost no resistance.
Within seconds, the Atlantean warships were left far behind.
The pursuing vessels continued at full speed, but the distance between them grew larger and larger until they became little more than faint lights in the darkness of the ocean.
Arthur stared at Daniel for a few moments before finally asking the question that had been bothering him.
"Seriously, who the hell are you?"
Daniel glanced at him. "That's why it's better to know what's happening in the world instead of spending all your time getting drunk."
Arthur frowned. "Again, are you some kind of celebrity?"
The question earned him tired looks from both Bruce and Mera. Daniel's face was known across the world. Even someone who had never seen him personally would have heard of the Reaper. Yet Arthur remained completely clueless.
Daniel simply shrugged. "Whatever explanation helps you sleep at night."
Arthur looked unconvinced but decided not to press it further.
Daniel turned his attention to Bruce. "Can you arrange air transport in Morocco so we can reach the Sahara once we hit the surface?"
Bruce nodded. "Consider it done." Compared to everything they had witnessed today, arranging transportation was trivial.
*****
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