BOOM!
A muffled sound echoed. The continuous heavy blows had made Black Manta dizzy; he miscalculated the detonation time of the miniature naval mine. It exploded in his hand just as it touched Aquaman's skin.
Both suffered a violent impact. Although Black Manta's left hand was cushioned by the diving suit, facing the explosion directly still caused severe trauma.
Aquaman, who was shirtless, took the brunt of the blast. The original five-centimeter wound was blasted into a massive hole; one could faintly see signs of internal organs.
"Don't come over!..."
The blast-dazed Aquaman saw them making moves to intervene and hurriedly stopped them! The enemy was hanging by a thread; he couldn't let them steal the kill.
Stumbling over to Black Manta, he raised his massive fist and struck. Realizing the diving suit had excellent defense, he switched to attacking the half-exposed head.
"Do you yield?!"
"How dare you chase my companions!"
"How dare you offend the majesty of Atlantis!"
Black Manta was just an ordinary human after all; he couldn't take two punches and fainted in a daze. Although Aquaman's recovery was strong, he was also in a trance state, supported entirely by the refusal to admit defeat in his mind, punching again and again.
"Arthur, he's unconscious! You are the victor!" Mera looked at her husband like a die-hard fangirl, her eyes full of love.
"I won! Yes! I won!"
Aquaman, Arthur Curry, straightened to his full height and raised his right fist high, enjoying this hard-won victory.
Thea grimaced at this scene.
At this moment, Aquaman was covered in wounds. A long blade was stuck in his shoulder and arm, respectively. Various bits and pieces like steel needles and daggers hung off his body. A large hole was blown open in his stomach. A rope full of barbs was wrapped around his neck. A large patch of his left face was burned black by Black Manta's laser.
Anyone in the know would say Black Manta had an arsenal tailored specifically to counter Aquaman.
Those who didn't know, looking from a distance, would think he was cosplaying Whitebeard at the Battle of Marineford!
You beat an ordinary person with no combat training into this state, and you still have the face to raise your arm and cheer?
For the sake of the Dead King's Scepter and maintaining bilateral friendly relations with Atlantis, Thea turned her face away, forcibly suppressing the urge to roast him.
The fight was brutal—and ugly.
Thea waited a while until Aquaman stopped that particularly silly victory pose. She guessed he was mostly too injured to shout anymore.
Raising her hand, she cast a Heal on him. Although his recovery would skyrocket once he entered seawater, Thea was afraid he would keel over before they even reached the shore!
Acting on the principle of fairness, she also cast a Heal on Black Manta on the ground. He didn't have Aquaman's recovery; his face was deformed, beaten beyond recognition, looking like it had been run over by a train. Without external treatment, it would be impossible to recover for a year or so.
Black Manta was tied up tight; his subordinates were irrelevant. Without time to discuss, Ya'Wara opened her artifact portal and teleported everyone to the seaside... because Aquaman Arthur Curry was bleeding non-stop. His recovery couldn't keep up with the blood loss, and he was too weak to speak.
Teleporting to the North Sea, Mera controlled the water very gently, rolling her husband into the ocean.
They waited for less than half an hour before a lively and vigorous Aquaman reappeared in their sight.
This guy's recovery in the sea is fast enough... Thea couldn't help but think. Fighting this guy requires moving away from water sources; otherwise, his recovery is catching up to a Kryptonian. No one can beat him underwater.
"Arthur, should I hand this guy to A.R.G.U.S., or are you taking him?" Thea asked only after seeing Aquaman was mostly recovered.
"This..."
The fully healed Aquaman regained his calm. Looking at Black Manta, who had been beaten out of human shape, he felt a bit guilty. He had killed Manta's father and beaten him like this; handing him over to A.R.G.U.S. now seemed too cruel.
He weighed his words. "He killed many Atlanteans. I want to take him back to stand trial."
Thea nodded, defaulting to this solution. Black Manta posed almost no threat to the surface world; if Aquaman wanted to spare his life, he was just asking for trouble, but that had nothing to do with Thea.
Aquaman wanted to escort Black Manta back to Atlantis. He didn't invite them to visit, and naturally, Thea—who now had water attributes but still disliked going underwater—didn't bring it up. She remembered Aquaman had a pile of messy political crap at home; she had no interest in participating.
A ball of white light flashed on the Trident. Even without an oxygen mask, Black Manta could be dragged underwater by him. The group watched them swim directly into the deep sea. Thea and the others returned to the plane to head to the Dead King's Island first.
It was already night when they arrived over the Atlantic. A thin layer of mist rose on the sea surface, and the waves undulated lightly. Occasionally, there were a few scattered islands. If one were sightseeing, the environment was beautiful, but unfortunately, none were the Dead King's Island they were looking for.
Thea, Diana, and Mera had never been there. The job of navigation naturally fell to Aquaman's teammates.
But these guys were either hopeless shut-ins, wrestling with their own demons, or had never paid attention in geography class. They didn't push the responsibility around; the job automatically fell on The Operative.
Initially, the old man swore up and down that there was no problem. But after circling the Atlantic for an hour, his tone became less certain.
Within this hour, the old man swore more than ten times, but his words became less and less confident. From the initial "It's right around here" to the current "It might be nearby."
Helpless, they could only land on an island. Mera used her special contact method to call Aquaman.
They waited in boredom. Midway, Diana sparred with a few people. Thea went back to the jungle with Ya'Wara and adopted a jaguar cub that had just turned one month old, planning to take it back to Star City as a pet.
In Aquaman's small team, Thea had the best relationship with this girl who grew up in the woods. Ya'Wara was very simple; she stubbornly believed that people who were good to animals were good people. Plus, seeing the relationship between Thea and Diana, she was incredibly envious—because she had a secret crush on the Arabian woman, Kahina, but dared not say it.
They waited a full night. It wasn't until nearly dawn the next day that they saw Aquaman's exhausted figure. No wounds, no signs of fighting—which only meant his trip home was definitely unpleasant.
The group didn't say much and silently followed him.
Combined with their experience entering the island last time, Thea judged that the island had very strange magic, similar to Themyscira. It couldn't be found with the naked eye at all. However, Aquaman's Trident automatically guided the direction. They didn't take the plane again; Aquaman summoned several gentle dolphins for them to ride.