Proofreader&Editor: Lotas
David grasped Mera through the air, whose disappearance could stir tensions between two nations, and swiftly ascended through the water.
The boundless azure ocean was suddenly disrupted by a shadow, like a missile breaking the surface, shooting into the sky with a towering wave.
After a brief pause, David propelled the oval gravity field enveloping him like an intercontinental missile, accelerating continuously beyond two hundred times the speed of sound.
He glanced at Mera, still struggling in his grasp.
Released by David, Mera plummeted, her eyes wide with panic, bracing for impact on the sea a kilometer below, only to thud onto a solid barrier.
Trying to regain her composure, she attempted to stand, only to bump her head against the barrier with a painful thud.
"Don't move recklessly, or I won't bother to pick you up if you fall."
David looked at her with an expression reserved for fools.
The streamlined shuttle-shaped force field was more efficient in the air, too cramped for a person to stand.
Outside the force field, the blue sky and white clouds rapidly receded into a blur, as if blue and white paint were colliding and churning.
"At least a hundred times the speed of sound."
Mera's face betrayed her astonishment as she watched David's flight.
She could reach supersonic speeds underwater, her reflexes far surpassing those of land dwellers, but not only could she not outpace David in the water, she couldn't even discern the speed of his flight.
Recalling the tip of the iceberg of his strength when he took her from Xebel, she wondered just how powerful this man was.
Mera stiffened, looking up at David flying at full speed above, with the sky beneath her, too apprehensive to make a move.
"Without his force field, I'd be sent hurtling across the sky at over a hundred times the speed of sound, crashing into the sea or land, undoubtedly reduced to a pile of mush."
But after a while…
Mera couldn't help but feel the position of the two within the barrier was somewhat awkward, one above the other, making her uncomfortable.
Yet David, gazing ahead at the rapidly passing sky, paid her no heed.
"Who exactly are you?
I am Princess Mera of Xebel, fiancée to the King of the Seven Seas.
Land dweller, if you abduct me, you might bring disaster upon the entire world."
Mera, now accustomed to her surroundings, warned David, dressed in land dweller attire.
"You keep calling me a land dweller, how do you know I'm not from Atlantis."
David looked at her with a smile.
The ancient Atlanteans were also a land-based civilization, but after sinking beneath the sea, various tribes began to evolve, some into the briny Trench, unrecognizable as humans.
There were also the Fishermen, a hybrid of human and fish, and Atlanteans who, aside from breathing underwater, bore no discernible difference from humans.
"Do you take me for a fool? Land dweller."
Mera scoffed coldly.
Atlantean attire, aside from ancient and high-tech armor, typically clung to the body like a wetsuit, whereas David's outfit, more suited for a seaside vacation, was clearly not Atlantean.
The main point being…
"Atlanteans live in water, cherish it like air to land dwellers, and do not shun contact with water, whereas you…"
David chuckled. "So that's your point."
He had avoided getting wet underwater, but he had no intention of changing this giveaway.
"Did you not hear what I said?"
Mera pressed, as David continued to look forward, ignoring her.
"Which part?"
"My disappearance could pose a danger to the land." Mera, seeing his indifferent demeanor, couldn't help but emphasize again.
It wasn't an exaggeration; her status was one thing, Orm's ambition was another.
"Orm has always been extremely dissatisfied with the land's years of polluting the ocean, turning his domain into your dumping ground.
It could even be called hatred."
"My abduction could very well be the pretext he needs to wage war on the land and conquer the world!"
"It has nothing to do with me."
The howling wind that could tear a person apart was kept at bay by the force field, and David spoke indifferently.
"As for the so-called King of the Seven Seas, he won't be for much longer."
"You're too arrogant, land dweller."
Mera shook her head with a cold laugh.
"Orm possesses the purest royal bloodline among the Atlanteans today.
The royal family and ordinary Atlanteans might as well be two different species."
Atlanteans could live freely in the high-pressure depths, their bodies tougher than steel, and the royal family's strength casually surpassing that of the commoners by ten to a hundredfold.
David chuckled lightly, neither confirming nor denying Mera's claim about Orm's strength.
Within the Justice League, Aquaman's strength on land paled in comparison to Superman, and even Wonder Woman, but in the sea, it was a different story, where even Wonder Woman was no match for him.
A shark is only the fiercest in the water.
"A strength that can easily lift a nuclear submarine weighing thousands of tons, swiftly bringing it to the surface.
In the water, Aquaman's strength could probably reach tens of thousands of tons."
And Orm, the Ocean Master who had lived in the sea since birth, could unleash even greater power in the water than Aquaman.
"Don't place too much hope on the Trident of Neptune."
Mera hoped he would abandon his plans to seize the throne of the Seven Seas and return her to the ocean depths.
"Even if you obtain the Trident of Neptune, you may not be a match for Orm."
"Since sinking into the deep sea, Atlanteans have evolved, not just technologically, but physically as well.
Any Atlantean today could be an invincible warrior of legend if thrown back into ancient times."
She always harbored doubts about the legendary Trident of Neptune.
"I never pinned my hopes on using any trident to deal with Orm."
David sought the trident not for its power, but for its symbolic meaning, to claim the throne of the Seven Seas with a just cause.
A land dweller could not possibly ascend to the throne of the Seven Seas; he could conquer the Atlanteans through brutal slaughter and fear, but he couldn't stay in the dark, sunless depths indefinitely.
"A throne won through slaughter and enslavement would be prone to rebellion, large and small, especially in my absence."
And it was not in his nature to do such things.
Mera was about to say more when…
"We've arrived."
David halted his flight and looked down at his destination.
A beautiful island, with a slightly hot breeze blowing over the crystal-clear waters, and a white seabed visible at a glance—a scene nearly rivaling Paradise Island in its splendor.
Italy, the beautiful island of Sicily.
But to Mera, this was another place entirely, and her expression changed.
"This is where the Trench dwell.
What are you doing here?"
The Trench, once Atlanteans too, had become deep-sea monsters, whether through evolution or devolution.
The briny creatures, though resembling crabs and crustaceans, at least retained their intelligence.
The Trench, with only madness and bloodlust in their minds, would shred any creature entering their abyssal trenches into pieces.
Mera's expression was complex.
The queen who had watched over her growth had been sacrificed to the Trench for mating with a land dweller, seen as a stain on the Atlantean royal bloodline.
David gazed at the water.
"Because the lost Trident of Neptune is down there."