69novels Chapter 442 A Heartwarming Ocean Festival, The Atlantis Incident
Chapter 442 A Heartwarming Ocean Festival, The Atlantis Incident
Chapter 442 A Heartwarming Ocean Festival, The Atlantis Incident
Ocean Festival.
The area was bustling with crowds, and giant hot dog-shaped balloons floated in the air. Although Cien Harbor holds a marine festival every year, this year's festival was the largest and most attended in its history.
Aquaman Arthur and Mera walked among the crowd, both dressed in casual clothes.
Behind them followed Tula, the regent of Atlantis, and Commander Muk.
Aquaman Arthur was dressed in all black, even with a hood. Unlike Superman, who has a biological shield protecting his true identity, or Batman, who always wears a mask, both he and Mera belong to the type who are real-name superheroes... oops, real-name superheroes.
Perhaps in inland cities they wouldn't have to worry about being recognized, but in a small place like Ci'en Port, it's best to keep a low profile.
"La la la da da~"
"You're singing that song again," Arthur said.
"No, I didn't," Mera denied her boyfriend, then immediately changed the subject: "I've always felt uncomfortable with these clothes."
“Land people wear these, Mera,” Arthur said, “so that we can interact in their way.”
"These clothes are incredibly stupid," said Regent Tula, who was standing nearby.
Arthur laughed. "I admit it on that point."
"Me too," Commander Muke, who had been silently following behind the group, said in a deep, muffled voice.
He was the commander of the Atlantis fleet, a strong, bald, middle-aged man who was half a head taller than Arthur. He was blind in one eye, with only the white of his eye showing, which added to his fierce appearance: "I think I'm wearing my pants inside out."
"The clothes aren't inside out, Muke," Mera said. She spoke before her boyfriend could.
"There's a saying among land dwellers," Arthur said, "In Rome, you have to..."
"This is not Rome."
"That's not true, but the principle is the same, Muke, listen. There's some unpleasant tension between Atlantis and the mainland, but they don't understand us. We don't understand them either, so we're afraid of each other."
"You always mistakenly believe yourself to be one of them, my king," Muk said. "But you belong to Atlantis."
As soon as she said that, Tula sensed something was off, and she shrank back in fear. Even though she was called Regent, the future water-wielding girl was still just a girl.
"That's not the case. I am half sea and half land; I don't belong to either side," Arthur said. "And to correct you, I am not yet the King of Atlantis, so it's best not to address me as 'My King.'"
He shrugged, smoothly brushing it off: "Anyway, it's a great learning opportunity; we're just hanging out. They know us, and we know them, right?"
"Hmm." Muke hummed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"Yes, yes." Regent Tula nodded like a chick pecking at rice, then quickly changed the subject, staring blankly at a stall not far away: "What's cotton candy?"
"Alright, let's start with that," said Aquaman Arthur.
10 minute later.
"This is the best thing I've ever eaten," Commander Muke said. Standing beside him was the stall owner, who seemed somewhat bewildered by his blind eye.
"Can I ask for some more Land Coins to buy some more?" Tula hopped over, her ponytail bouncing behind her.
"Of course," Arthur said.
"That's more like it. Arthur, give the kids a sweet treat." Mera said as she watched Muk and Tura walk away.
"So, what's my proposal?"
"Do you think what we really lack is mutual understanding?" Mera asked.
"The Atlanteans were seen as aliens because Atlantis was a mystery for a long time, but it is still a part of the world and a part of human civilization."
"Part of the edge."
"You have proven my point. Atlantis is land. The nation only occasionally sinks into the water, and I believe this is perhaps the role I can play. I was born between land and sea, and I am the first person to have the opportunity to bridge the gap after Atlantis fell silent."
"A sacred ideal, I suppose you are unique in that regard," Mera said, then she cried out:
"Tula!!! Don't feed the dog the marshmallows you've already eaten and then stuff them into your own mouth!!!"
"But it loves my marshmallow!"
"Woof woof woof!"
"Alright..." Mera turned her attention back to her conversation with Arthur: "You want Atlantis to be a part of the world again?"
"I want to make it part of the international community. I want to pull Atlantis out of the sea and put it into the whole world."
Mera: ...?
She tilted her head.
"This is just a metaphor. I think it's time for Atlantis to explore the land and deepen its understanding in order to know how Atlantis can achieve a win-win situation with the world."
"My God, how did you do that?" He turned his head and saw Muke staring wide-eyed in his only remaining eye, holding a model pirate ship in a bottle.
"If you think that's impressive, I have quite a few friends in cities inside bottles."
"Alright, let me see... where are Batman and Wonder Woman?"
Arthur muttered, "They should have arrived long ago, but they haven't contacted us yet."
He said, "I've done a lot of preparation for this. If Batman stands me up, I swear I'll hit him on the head with a crowbar."
Mera: ...?
She tilted her head again.
"...This is just a metaphor."
Arthur said, "Let me see, it looks like..."
Then the two of them heard a commotion coming from ahead.
"I can't believe it, can you?"
"Oh, of course I believe you!"
"Move aside, I can't see!"
A bad feeling rose in Arthur's heart.
"Good heavens, Wonder Woman and Batman are sitting right there in our little restaurant!"
"Go ask them what they think of my pancakes!"
Aquaman Arthur slapped his forehead, and then he saw Batman and Wonder Woman dressed in full military attire, with Wonder Woman even carrying her Lasso of Truth.
They sat in a small restaurant next to the Ocean Festival venue, which was packed with onlookers.
Arthur had Mera lift him above his head—Mera, though a sorceress, was also a superhuman from Atlantis, so it wasn't difficult for her to do so.
While a slender girl lifting a strong man and placing him elsewhere might be a spectacular feat that attracts attention, it's nothing compared to Batman and Wonder Woman.
His extraordinary hearing allowed Arthur to hear, amidst the noise, the restaurant owner not far ahead speaking to Batman and Wonder Woman:
"Excuse me, kids, are you satisfied?"
"Very good, thank you." That was Wonder Woman's reply, which sounded quite normal.
"Thank you, Mary." That was Batman's reply.
and many more.
Mary?
"How do you know my name?" the restaurant owner asked. She was an older woman, and seemed somewhat flattered to hear Batman say her name so readily.
"Oh my god, he's Batman, Mary!" Behind the proprietress, her husband, the restaurant owner, exclaimed excitedly, almost nervously, "He knows everyone's name!"
"Batman is quite considerate."
Mera, who was below, also heard Batman's words. In terms of exceptional hearing, she was almost as sharp as Arthur.
Then she looked up and saw Arthur's somewhat forced smile.
"What's wrong?"
"I bet Batman not only knows the names of the restaurant's owners, but he also knows everything about the customers who have been there in the past few days."
"Uh...why?" Mera said, "Last time I went to the Justice League to ask Batman to rescue you, he was quite responsible and gave us Zatanna's contact number."
"That's why I was able to use shapeshifting magic to turn my fish head into a normal human form. I know that, but that's a different matter."
Arthur said, "Do you know why Batman would look into this?"
"To cultivate a relationship with the owners of this shop?"
"He's afraid the shop owners will poison him..." Arthur slapped his forehead. "Alright, I need to call them and tell them to stop parading around in that outfit. Who wears a superhero costume in their free time?"
5 minute later.
"...You didn't say you were going to wear casual clothes." Chen Tao was dressed in casual clothes, with Diana following behind him.
Both of them were wearing glasses... Although without a biological stance, these glasses couldn't make people face-blind like Clark, but they could pretend the glasses had that effect as much as possible.
Not far away, Tula and Muke were playing a game:
"Look, if you can get a prize by throwing the iron ring and getting it around the tip of the trident, you'll win one."
"Fame or honor? Prestige? Or just a medal?"
"...No, it's a plush toy, or some salted toffee."
"If this test were to drop a trident into a ring, I should be pretty good at it," Mook said.
Meanwhile, Chen Tao and his group were standing in front of a sign with Arthur.
"This is shameful," Mera said.
"No, this is very interesting," Arthur said.
"Everyone, get ready to take a picture."
The amusement facility they are in is a frame structure designed with cartoon character head models.
Players insert their heads into pre-set holes, allowing their faces to blend perfectly with the rest of the cartoon head, making it look like the player has become a quirky cartoon character from the front.
At this moment, the cartoon character that Arthur and Mera were playing with was Popeye holding a mermaid. Arthur played Popeye, while Mera's head was sticking out of the hole where the mermaid's face was.
"Yours is great.
Mera took the photo: "Oh, damn it, I look exactly what they think I look like."
"That's the interesting thing. Sometimes you have to face what people on land are showing you, you understand their imagination of you, and show them that you can accept those things."
"Face it squarely, for example, by wearing clothes like this?"
"Yes, we showed them that the Atlanteans were people too. They could have a little joke, just like everyone else—"
Arthur turned his head and saw Tula tapping his shoulder:
"Arthur!!! I want to ride one of those banana boats, give me some coins!!!"
Arthur gave him the money, then turned around and saw Batman and Wonder Woman also playing with that cartoon photo.
"Haha, Batman is playing a mermaid, and Wonder Woman is playing Popeye?"
Arthur almost burst out laughing, then was stared at by Batman, which made him shiver in fright.
As dusk fell.
Aquaman Arthur, Mera, Wonder Woman Diana, and Chen Tao walked together on the beach.
Not far away, people sang and danced, and a huge bonfire illuminated the black beach. The bonfire party at the Ocean Festival would continue until the early hours of the morning.
"Arthur, now that we have the chance, why don't we talk about what we mentioned before... that Dead Water guy you arrested..."
"Ah~ Ah~ Ah~"
Arthur waved his hand: "Let's not talk about work now."
"...You know," he said, "the only thing I want to hear from you today is that you had a great time."
Chen Tao took a deep breath. He wanted to speak again and ask Arthur about Lord Orm, but he was interrupted by Arthur once more.
"Batman. You need a break. You're always like this, and one day the string will snap. Just like with the stagnant water..." Arthur patted the other on the shoulder: "I can handle Orm, don't worry."
Then he nudged the other person with his elbow: "Wonder Woman is still waiting for you over there."
"Everyone! Everyone!"
"It's time for the singing relay! That red-haired lady just sang 'The Lighthouse Tune'!"
"The next person to sing is the one circled in red—"
In the distance, the host at the bonfire party shouted loudly as he threw a red ring. He seemed to have missed, and the ring flew across the crowd on an off-track, heading straight for Chen Tao's head.
He instinctively tried to dodge, but Arthur caught the red circle and then put it around his neck.
"Come on, come on! Don't be shy!"
……
……
……
Atlantis.
boom!!!
"No, no, no! Help! Help! Don't kill me!"
boom!!!
The submarine's missiles flew violently, burning the land of Atlantis and even scorching the water.
Countless civilians of Atlantis wailed as they were slaughtered by high-tech weapons. Their bodies were on fire as they swam desperately in the water, like fish being burned to death in gasoline.
When the mysterious fleet sailed away, Lord Orm and his men, who arrived late, were met with nothing but scorched earth.
"This is an attack, everyone," Lord Om said.
"And Atlantis must retaliate and react to this." He suppressed his anger: "Someone will pay the price, gentlemen."
(End of this chapter)