Chapter 4368

After Arthur and Mera left the palace, their expressions were both very grave. No one expected that Orm would be crazy to this extent, actually daring to unite with Nereus to directly attack Themyscira, and even launching a sneak attack on the Amazon princess. This grudge was now deeply set.

"What is going on with those monsters that appeared on the coast?" Arthur asked.

"This is exactly where Orm's insidiousness lies," Mera said with a frown. "Those are the citizens of Atlantis who have transformed into monsters; we call them the Trench. They aren't all bloodthirsty and cruel, but their appearance is indeed very ugly. 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, letting the Trench surround it like that means the Amazon tourism industry is completely finished. The shipping industry will definitely be affected too. They wouldn't also attack human fleets, would they?"

As he spoke, he took out his phone to check the news. After just one glance, he had an expression like he was about to faint. He said: "Sure enough, they attacked a cargo ship. No, we can't wait any longer. Let's go, the two of us need to find the Golden Trident."

The two set off rapidly, swimming toward the location marked on the sea chart. On the other side, in the Amazon Queen's palace, a physician was bandaging Diana's wound. She caught her breath and said: "Whatever you do, don't fight them in the ocean. My God Killer sword is completely ineffective in the water, and they dodged the Lasso too. It's too deadly."

She picked up the phone on the side, originally intending to send a message to Bruce Wayne to say she couldn't return at the agreed time, but as soon as she opened it, a news alert was pushed right into her face.

"What?! Oh..."

She stood up with a start, but ended up pulling at her wound, causing her to gasp in pain. She looked at her phone and said: "That gang of sea monsters attacked a cargo ship?! Mother, we have to go stop them, otherwise no shipping company will dare to transport goods to Themyscira."

"Don't worry, I have already sent troops there." The Queen had calmed down by now, and she said: "You are too severely injured to fight anymore. Hurry back to your bedchamber to rest."

Diana was clearly unwilling, but the Queen's order had been given, and a female warrior walked up to escort her back. The wound on Diana's shoulder was aching severely, and she had no choice but to return.

But after returning to her bedchamber, she was too anxious to sleep, her mind filled with images of her sisters fighting and getting injured. Consequently, the leave-of-absence text message originally intended for Bruce took a turn, and she began discussing this battle with him.

"Something isn't right," Bruce replied to her. "If, as you say, he only attacked because your mother refused to provide the clues to the Golden Trident, then he should have concentrated all his forces to attack Themyscira, rather than letting sea monsters surround the Amazons."

"I'm also very puzzled," Diana sent him a voice message and said, "If they had brought all those sea monsters over, we would definitely have suffered heavy casualties this time. Although the warriors of Themyscira are the elite of the Amazons, we are too few in number and lack underwater combat capabilities. If he attacked with full force, we would be finished."

"He is surrounding the Amazons not just to regain lost face. There is another piece of evidence that can corroborate this, which is that Nereus, the king who is helping him, has no reason to attack the Amazons just for his face. In other words, they must have something to gain."

Diana sat up straight and said: "They aren't trying to steal the Golden Trident, are they? But that thing isn't with us... Oh, I understand, he is trying to force the Queen to reveal the clues."

"I'm afraid not," Bruce replied. "He understands that the more he does things like this, the less likely the Queen is to give him any clues at all. Or, giving him a false clue could also delay him for a long time. And with another competitor in existence, he doesn't have that much time. So he never had such an intention from the start."

"Then what is he trying to do?"

"Robbery in broad daylight."

"What?!" Diana said in disbelief. "But we don't have the Golden Trident! That thing is still in the ocean!"

"But you have the raw materials, don't you?"

Diana was stunned; this was something she truly didn't know. So she hurriedly ran out of her bedchamber again, came to the Queen's palace, and asked: "Mother, does Themyscira have the raw materials to manufacture the Golden Trident?"

The Queen sighed, then nodded and said: "Yes. I still have a piece of Poseidon's Cold Iron here; Orm is likely aiming for this."

"But how would he know... is there a traitor?"

The Queen shook her head and said: "There are also immortals among the sea race. That Orm acts with cruelty and without scruples; he could completely force the truth of what happened back then out of their mouths."

"So..."

"This concerns the struggle between Poseidon and Zeus. You only need to know that Zeus wanted to destroy Atlantis, while Poseidon wanted to save it. The Golden Trident was born during that period."

"Did the Amazons also participate in it?"

"This concerns the struggle between me and Hera; it's too complicated. You don't need to know. In short, the last piece of Poseidon's Cold Iron is with me, and Orm learned of this news; he must be wanting to steal it."

Diana returned to her bedchamber again, sighed, lay on the bed, and said: "I've discovered that most of the struggles of these remnant races on Earth today are the disasters left behind by the gods of the past. Zeus and his brother, the God of War, Hera, and Zeus's lovers... if they don't move away, Earth won't have a single day of peace!"

"I don't think so," Bruce replied again.

Diana replied with a question mark.

"Although the origin of the Golden Trident is related to ancient struggles, Orm's actions are so aggressive that there should be another reason."

Diana thought for a moment and said: "I think so too. No matter how Poseidon's Cold Iron came to be kept by the Amazons, we are also descendants of the gods, so why don't we have the qualifications to possess it? It's not like he can just come and steal it because we have it, right?"

"That's not what I'm saying," Bruce said. "Orm's many actions in the Caribbean previously prove that he isn't the kind of very impulsive fool; otherwise, he shouldn't have started by occupying small countries, but should have directly attacked the United States."

"But now that he's attacking the Amazons, it's not much better than attacking the United States, is it? At least Americans don't have superpowers."

"Diana, did you not take your painkillers?"

"How did you know?"

"Your logic is completely chaotic. You are a demigod; you can absolutely use some painkillers, there won't be any side effects..."

"I want to too... hiss... but we only have herbal medicine for pain... the effect isn't very good..." Diana said, grimacing.

"Wait there, I'll have someone send you medicine."

In less than half an hour, a female warrior came in to report. She said: "An express delivery from Sicily, Italy. It seems to be something from a bank vault, specifically addressed to you, Your Highness. What is it?"

"Painkillers sent by a friend of mine. Don't misunderstand, I need to reason out Orm's motives with him right now, so I..."

"I understand. I will bring it in quietly so no one knows." The warrior left, and after a short while, she returned and handed Diana a package.

As Diana unwrapped the package, she said to Bruce: "You're really something, you have vaults and safe houses all over the world."

"I'm super rich."

After taking the painkillers, Diana felt much better, and her brain finally started working. After thinking for a while, she said: "It really doesn't make sense. No matter how you look at it, the Amazons shouldn't be the first enemy Orm provokes. This is of no benefit to his ruling the world; other than increasing casualties in vain, it serves no purpose. It's not like he wants to chew on the hard bones first, right?"

"Of course not, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to invade those small Caribbean countries." Bruce's tone remained very steady as he said, "I guess his original plan should have been to first find a foothold on land, then declare his arrival by launching terrorist attacks on the coastline, followed by uniting the Seven Seas to frequently harass the coastlines of NATO countries, forcing them to seek aid from the United States, gradually dispersing the United States' military power, and then attacking the U. S. mainland."

"That sounds much more reasonable," Diana said. "Then why on earth is he unable to think straight and insists on coming to fight us? It wouldn't just be for the Trident, would it? That thing existed before too, why didn't he think of coming to get it first?"

"Of course it's because, in the past, if he didn't take it, no one else would either. If I'm not mistaken, the Golden Trident isn't that easy to take, and even if you take it, it only allows for better control of the ocean; it's not that useful for his plan to conquer the land. But if a competitor who poses a threat to him is preparing to go take it, then he must also go take it; it's very likely he could be defeated by the other party, thereby losing his legitimacy."

Diana suddenly realized and said: "Someone is competing with him for the throne, right? If that person gets it and defeats him, then his plan will be completely ruined. No wonder he's so anxious."

"But the problem is, his competitor didn't clash with him head-on, but chose to go get the Trident instead. So how did he know about the other party's actions?"

"Are you saying there's a mole? But that doesn't seem right either; those who would follow a competitor in this situation don't need to be moles."

"Diana, how many painkillers did you take?"

"Five injections, why?"

"Those were high-efficiency and concentrated."

"I do feel like it doesn't hurt as much."

"You must be feeling the effects of the medicine. Are you seeing any hallucinations?"

"Uh, my vision is a bit blurry, and my head is spinning."

"You'd better sleep."

Diana really couldn't hold on anymore; the effect of the painkillers made her feel light and airy. She lay down on the bed and drifted directly into dreamland.

When she woke up again, it was because she was called by a phone call. She answered it groggily, and a slightly familiar male voice came from the other end.

"Hello, this is the A. R. G. U. S. speaking. May I ask if this is Ms. Diana Prince? It's like this, the Capitol has been moved to Metropolis for too long, and we are sincerely recruiting ambitious people to join the 'Capitol Home' squad..."

"Schiller?" Diana called out the other person's name with some confusion, then turned over and said, "What the hell? What Capitol Home? Isn't the Capitol just you..."

"Ahem, Madam, you have also lived in the United States for a long time, so you surely don't want to see this place mired in partisan strife, and the congressmen are unable to decide the country's future under such harsh conditions..."

Diana was still a bit sleepy, her head dizzy, and she said: "No matter what you want to find me for, I can't answer you right now; I'm injured. Let's talk after I've recovered."

After hanging up the phone, Schiller sighed, looked at the people gathering more and more behind him, and said: "She already said she's injured; you can't just run over and tie her up, right? Let's find out the news about Arthur's side instead."

"He has been out of contact for so long, when exactly will he be able to come back and work for us?!" asked a man who looked like an officer. His tone was somewhat broken, and he said, "The President has gone crazy; he has already gone to retrieve the security box. If we don't move the Capitol back and push the election process forward, the two parties will really start a hot war!"

"It's not like I'm not anxious. Haven't I been trying very hard to find them? This time I contacted two at once, Diana and Arthur; surely one of them will succeed. Just watch, we'll succeed soon."