Arthur failed to negotiate with The Trench and was ambushed by them.
Fortunately, Darian intervened in time, successfully repelled The Trench, and saved Arthur.
Perhaps because Arthur's brain suffered severe trauma during the ambush, after the paralysis wore off, he actually mistook his savior, Darian, for the assailant who attacked him.
Darian had no choice but to use electroshock therapy to help Arthur recover his original memories.
After a few sessions, the results were immediate.
Arthur finally recovered his memories, remembered that the assailant was The Trench, and tearfully thanked Darian for saving his life.
"Darian, it was you who saved me. I actually mistook you for the attacker. I really deserve to die!"
"It's fine, it's fine. I've always been magnanimous and never hold grudges."
"You really are such a good person!"
The two exchanged words, the atmosphere was very harmonious, and the little misunderstanding from just now was brushed aside in a few sentences, returning to being trusted teammates once again.
Mera: "Are these two perhaps suffering from some serious mental illness?"
Anyone with eyes could see that Darian was taking the opportunity to get revenge on Arthur, but it was enough to know it in one's heart; there was no need to point it out.
She didn't want to be like the unlucky Arthur and offend the petty Darian.
Darian was indeed magnanimous and didn't hold grudges, because he took his revenge on the spot and never let it last overnight.
Without the interference of The Trench, the three continued to descend, soon reaching the deepest part of the seabed and standing on solid ground once again.
This was a World of dead silence.
The ground was covered with thick, grey-white sediment, soft to step on like walking on snow, indistinguishable whether it was fine sand or the bone fragments of some creature.
Looking around, within the range of vision, not a trace of any living creature other than The Trench could be seen.
In this sea area, any creature that could still move had long since ended up in the stomachs of The Trench, not even leaving a scrap behind.
And the number of The Trench here was even more exaggerated than above.
Countless individuals of The Trench were densely clinging to the rock walls on both sides, layer upon layer, like some kind of moss parasitic on the rock surface, covering the entire cliff face.
Just one look at this scene made one's scalp tingle; it was simply a double delight for those with trypophobia and thalassophobia.
They immediately discovered the three friends who had come from afar, collectively swarming over with excitement to welcome the three, warmly inviting them to be guests in their stomachs.
Darian decisively declined this good intention, raised his hand, and once again cast an Illumination Spell.
A blinding white light exploded on the seabed; The Trench were instantly blinded, screaming as they turned and fled, not daring to come any closer.
Darian ignored them, followed the golden guide line in his vision, and pointed to the rock wall on the right.
"Found it, it should be inside."
Arthur and Mera looked in the direction his finger was pointing.
They saw a huge opening in the rock wall, as if cleaved by a giant axe, with a gap wide enough for several people to pass through side by side.
A soft blue light faintly emanated from deep within the crevice, appearing exceptionally abrupt in this pitch-black, dead-silent deep sea.
Seeing such a scene that defied common sense, Arthur and Mera immediately believed a little more in their hearts.
The three did not hesitate and rushed into the crevice glowing with blue light.
The further they went inside, the more spacious the area became, and the surrounding blue light grew brighter and brighter, until later, there was no need for additional lighting, as the entire passage was illuminated by the blue light.
Passing through the end of the crevice, the scene before them made the three stop in their tracks simultaneously.
Before them was a gigantic space.
In the center of the entire space, a giant waterspout was spinning crazily, its diameter shockingly thick, running straight from the ground to the dome, piercing through the entire space from top to bottom.
Inside the vortex, blue-white electric arcs were constantly jumping and flashing, the strong light tearing through the water curtain and illuminating everything around.
The top and bottom of the vortex each formed vortex-like cloud structures, the water current was churned upside down, the roaring sound shook the entire space, and the whole scene radiated an almost violent sense of oppression, making one feel as if they were in the midst of an apocalyptic destruction.
The turbulent currents stirred up by the waterspout swept in all directions, and even from far away, one could feel that powerful pulling force.
Fortunately, Arthur and Mera were both Atlanteans, with physical fitness far exceeding ordinary humans, plus they had a buff in the water; if it were an ordinary person, they would have been sucked in and torn to pieces long ago.
As for Darian, not a single drop of water touched his body, so he couldn't feel any force at all.
Darian observed for a moment and began to analyze: "This should be a teleportation channel, the principle is similar to a wormhole; passing through it will lead to another space, and the holy trident is likely on the other side."
"Are you sure?"
Arthur looked at the giant waterspout with electric arcs darting about, feeling a bit timid.
He felt that there were three people before passing through, and after passing through, there would be three piles of people.
Darian nodded affirmatively: "Of course, when have I ever lied to you?"
Bullshit, you just lied to me a moment ago.
Arthur only dared to mutter in his heart, lest he be targeted by this petty person again.
Darian was skilled and bold, and without a word, he took the lead and rushed towards the waterspout.
Arthur turned his head to look at Mera.
This time he learned to be smart; he didn't speak, but tried to learn that charming gaze of Clark, staring at Mera with deep affection.
It is said that back then, it was with this kind of gaze that Clark made that strong female reporter, Lois, fall directly for him.
Mera felt the gaze Arthur cast and snorted coldly.
"Atlanteans are fearless!"
After dropping this sentence, Mera did not hesitate at all and followed closely behind Darian, rushing into the waterspout.
Arthur: "?"
No, my operation wasn't much different from Clark's, how could this happen?
What he didn't know was that this set of operations purely relied on modeling; Clark's gaze was affectionate even when looking at a dog, but when he put on the same expression with his rough face, it looked like he was drunk and looking for a fight.
The three dove into the waterspout one after another, instantly feeling a terrifying centrifugal force wrapping around their bodies, as if they had been thrown into a high-speed centrifuge, their bodies being tossed around, with nothing before their eyes but crazily spinning water currents and constantly exploding electric light.
Darian cast a Protection Spell to resist this centrifugal force and scanned the surroundings. Mera had already been washed away by the turbulent currents, and only Arthur was nearby, being shaken so hard his brains were getting scrambled.
He rushed over to grab Arthur, but the turbulent current suddenly yanked, and he only managed to pull the jade pendant hanging around Arthur's neck; Arthur was directly sucked into the depths of the vortex.
Darian was very helpless and simply gave up resisting, letting the centrifugal force drag him all the way to the eye of the storm at the bottom of the vortex.
The roaring sound in his ears lasted for about a dozen seconds, and then his body suddenly felt light, and that crazy tearing force vanished abruptly.
The surrounding scene had already changed; the giant vortex was gone, the seawater had become calm, and light was penetrating down from above, as if they had arrived at a completely different place.
Darian spread his wings, flapped them hard, and broke through the water surface, flying out.
Immediately unfolding before his eyes was a completely independent World at the Earth's core.
Above his head was not the sky, but a thick dome of rock layers; huge rock structures hung upside down from the dome, suspended hundreds of meters above, jagged and interlocking.
Although it was in the Earth's core World, it was not dark here, because huge crystal pillars grew everywhere on the dome, and those light rays were emitted from the crystal pillars, illuminating the entire Earth's core World like broad daylight.
The area of the entire Earth's core World was not small, and one couldn't see the end at a glance.
In the distance, there were several giant islands covered with layers of dense vegetation, among which grew some strange-looking trees with thick trunks and crowns towering into the clouds, very primitive in style.
What was even more peculiar was that there were actually indigenous inhabitants here.
And they were the tenants of Earth before humans: dinosaurs.
This reminded Darian of a movie he had watched on the main server, also about an Earth's core World and also with a dinosaur theme.
One has to say, humans seem to have a special obsession with dinosaurs, always finding ways to bring them back to life.
Darian himself quite liked dinosaurs.
Tastes like chicken, crunchy.
He withdrew his thoughts, glanced downwards, and found a clump of seaweed floating on the sea surface below; it was Mera, who had fallen into a coma after being hit by the vortex.
Darian: "... This sister has the potential to be a game protagonist, falling asleep as soon as she hits the ground every day."
Darian swooped down, scooped Mera out of the water, kicked away a Liopleurodon that suddenly lunged out from the sea, and then flew to the shore of the nearest island.
Just at this moment, the bushes not far away were pushed aside by a hand, and a figure poked out from behind the branches and leaves.
That was a short member of The Trench.
Of course, "short" was only relative to the other members of The Trench who averaged over two meters tall; the one in front of him was at least 1.8 meters tall, almost catching up to Darian.
That's right, almost catching up.
Just a moment ago, Darian had suddenly undergone a secondary growth spurt and quietly grown a few centimeters taller; the human body is such a miraculous thing.
Darian did not take action because he could see the other person's information; this person was Arthur's biological mother, Atlanna.
Sure enough, Atlanna took off The Trench's headgear, revealing a face that was still young.
Atlanna possessed the royal bloodline of Atlantis, her lifespan was much longer than ordinary Atlanteans, and time left almost no traces on her face, so much so that her white hair appeared quite stylish.
Darian was just about to greet her when he saw Atlanna staring fixedly at the jade pendant in his hand; the next second her eyes turned red, and she rushed up to hug Darian.
"My child!"
Darian: "???" Don't talk nonsense, who is your son.
Darian's mouth twitched: "This lady, have you mistaken me for someone else?"
Atlanna said with a trembling voice: "Impossible, no mother would mistake her own child. I recognized at a glance that you are my child, Arthur Curry."
She knew very well how difficult it was to reach this Earth's core World.
First, one had to break through the layers of blockade by The Trench, and then withstand the tearing impact of that vortex; it was simply not something an ordinary person could do.
And the young man in front of her not only did it, but was also holding the jade pendant she had personally put on Arthur when he was a child, and was accompanied by Mera, the princess of Xebel.
All clues pointed to the same answer.
This was her son Arthur, from whom she had been separated for over twenty years.
Thinking of this, Atlanna's tears could no longer be held back, and she held Darian tightly without letting go: "I'm sorry, child, I didn't leave on purpose back then; only by leaving could I save you and your father..."
She told Darian intermittently about the helpless choice she was forced to make back then, and her day-and-night longing for Arthur and her husband over these years. Her emotions were abundant, obviously accumulated for a long time, making Darian feel embarrassed to interrupt her.
Mera, who was on the side, woke up leisurely at this moment. The moment she opened her eyes and saw this scene, she was completely stunned.
What is going on? Is Darian actually Queen Atlanna's biological son? Then who is Arthur?
Could it be that Arthur was just a puppet pushed to the front to take the blame, while Darian, the true royal bloodline, was hidden behind the scenes, secretly manipulating everything, waiting for the right time to reclaim his throne?
In an instant, a million-word palace intrigue drama popped into Mera's mind.
Atlanna spoke for several minutes before finally releasing Darian and stepping back to take a good look at the changes in her son over these years.
She raised her hand to stroke Darian's face and sighed: "Child, you have really changed so much, you've grown taller, become more handsome, and... changed race?"
Darian said speechlessly: "Is there a possibility that I am simply not your son, Arthur?"
Atlanna had a blank expression: "How can that be? You clearly have my jade pendant in your hand..."
"Oh, you mean this."
Darian looked at the jade pendant in his hand and explained: "I accidentally pulled this off Arthur. I am Arthur's friend. Arthur came with us, but he was thrown to another place during the teleportation. I guess he will be able to find this place in a while."
Atlanna: .....
"Mom!?"
Speak of the devil, a loud voice suddenly came from not far away.
Arthur walked out of the sea, looking at Atlanna with teary eyes: "Mom, you actually came back to life!"
Atlanna: "???" Have I died?
Arthur also realized there was something wrong with his words and quickly corrected himself: "Oh no, I mean, you didn't die... phew, I mean... Mom, I miss you so much!"
Seeing his mother, who had been deceased for many years, suddenly appear alive before him, the big, burly Arthur couldn't help but shed tears. He opened his arms, walked over to hug Atlanna, and cried like a several-hundred-pound child.
Being hugged like this, Atlanna finally recovered from the awkwardness just now and recognized that Arthur was her real child.
She looked at Arthur, who was crying like a tear-stained person in her arms. Her nose felt sore, and she wanted to shed tears along with him, but she couldn't squeeze out any tears no matter what.
Atlanna's expression was one of wanting to cry but being unable to.
Child, I have already completely released all my passion onto your friend just now.
That's the mood, why not let your friend convey it.
But fortunately, women are born actors; even if she couldn't cry, she could act it out, immediately getting into character and cooperating with Arthur to perform the family affection drama.
Darian watched from the side and nodded repeatedly.
What a touching scene of maternal kindness and filial piety, it's simply tear-jerking.
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