"Who is this moron? Call its name, see if it answers you!"
With her strength increased, Thea naturally wouldn't be as cautious as before. Since the opponent was rude, she pushed back forcefully.
"Surface dweller! You..."
Before the helmeted young man holding the war halberd could finish, Thea turned the scepter.
A streak of dark gold lightning shot toward him.
He didn't know what she was capable of, so he cautiously dodged the attack. But he underestimated Thea's combat experience.
Just as he lifted his leg to take two steps to the left, a sharp earth spike rose abruptly from his landing spot.
—of all places, it went straight for his crotch.
The young man was shocked. Disregarding grace and demeanor, he fell back hard, barely dodging this "fatal" blow.
The earth spike's angle was tricky; it avoided his leg armor and cut a large gash on his inner thigh. Blood dripped down. Several subordinates hurriedly helped him up.
"Let go!"
The young man was furious.
His helmet had fallen off, revealing a somewhat majestic face. His originally cool outfit was now covered in mud, and his cape was stained with blood. His original arrogant momentum was forcibly knocked down by half.
"You dare attack me!" The young man said through gritted teeth.
Thea replied contemptuously, "Moron!"
The scepter in her hand accumulated energy again. This wasn't a game; you couldn't just pick up a piece of equipment and have all its stats explained clearly. The scepter's specific functions required a little experimentation.
"Stop! Everyone stop!"
Aquaman Arthur Curry stood in the middle, stopping the two sides from continuing the fight.
Seeing him jump out to take the heat, Thea seized the excuse to stop and continued studying the scepter.
This young man appeared here wearing a finned helmet and holding a war halberd. Combined with the strange soldiers behind him, it wasn't hard to guess his identity.
Ocean Master Orm.
Arthur Curry's maternal half-brother and the most direct competitor for his throne.
These two brothers had a relationship very similar to Thor and Loki from the Marvel universe next door. The difference was that here, the older brother was a hybrid and the younger brother was pure-blooded.
But the similarities were too many. The older brothers were reckless, and the younger brothers were cunning. The older brothers didn't want the throne, but it automatically fell on their heads; the younger brothers wanted the throne badly but couldn't get it no matter what.
Thea scoffed at this kind of melodramatic love-hate relationship. As long as the opponent didn't provoke her, she wouldn't meddle.
"Orm, you tracked me!" Aquaman wasn't stupid; with a little association, he knew the cause and effect.
Orm pointed at Thea, then swept his finger to include everyone. "Arthur! You actually gave all of Atlantis's artifacts to these surface dwellers! You are not fit to be called the King of the Seven Seas!"
Thea smiled and didn't speak. Originally, only Diana stood by her side.
But now, Thea could practically see Orm pulling massive aggro. Aquaman's teammates instantly stood on her side. They didn't care about artifacts, but Orm wanting to take them back with just empty words? No one could tolerate that.
Mera hesitated. Orm wanted to snatch her husband's throne; she couldn't support him. Looking left and right, she had no choice but to stand on Thea's side too.
Orm and Aquaman talked for two sentences before negotiations fell apart.
In Orm's heart, Thea and the others were only powerful because of the artifacts. Several surface dwellers were like weaklings in his eyes. He waved his hand and commanded his subordinates:
"Kill those surface dwellers! The artifacts must belong to Atlantis!"
"Don't hurt anyone!" Aquaman hurriedly shouted.
Actually, he was afraid Thea's group would strike without mercy; the soldiers in front of them were his clansmen.
Orm misunderstood. He thought his wild brother was worried about his friends. With a vicious grin, he held his war halberd, wanting to entangle Aquaman.
But the brothers had only exchanged two moves when Orm realized something was wrong.
He saw his subordinates rush up anxiously, only to be beaten back as if riding the clouds.
Screams rang out incessantly. The Atlantean armor, which usually had excellent protection, seemed non-existent. Several subordinates were knocked flying dozens of meters, their screams revealing pure misery.
Are you kidding me?!
Orm craned his neck to look sideways during a lull in the fight.
The one-sided situation he envisioned had indeed appeared. It was just one-sided against his side...
He saw a heroic woman holding a sword and shield, taking down one with each hit, tossing his elite guards away like trash.
Only his Captain of the Guard lasted three moves, but Diana gave him special care, kicking one of his legs to fracture directly. The usually brave Captain was now hugging his leg and wailing.
"These guys aren't strong," Diana told Thea truthfully. "No better than the German soldiers I fought back in the war."
"That's because you're much stronger than before..." Thea could only explain it this way.
In her eyes, these elite Atlantean soldiers were actually quite formidable. Pulling out tens of thousands of them could crush national armies without a problem.
The only defect was that very few soldiers could fight out of water. This small portion of soldiers had to wear special breathing equipment; otherwise, they couldn't exert their combat power.
Regardless of whether Atlantis's leaders wanted peace or war, their bodies were no longer suitable for surface life. Conquering the land and restoring past glory could only be heard as dream talk.
"Surface dwellers are this strong? Is this woman Greek? An Amazon...?"
Orm almost collapsed. He finally realized what Aquaman meant by shouting "Don't hurt anyone" earlier. He was so ashamed he almost wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Trying hard to keep his head calm, he carefully examined Diana's appearance and equipment.
The opponent was covered in artifacts, no doubt, but the casting style was obviously different from Atlantis. Unlike Arthur Curry, who was a wild child, he—Orm—and even Mera were royals who had received strict education.
Orm was arrogant, yes, but he had basic discernment. Looking closely, it wasn't hard to discover the difference between Diana's features and modern humans.
"Take your people and leave here now!"
Aquaman looked around and found that most of the soldiers only had flesh wounds; they would heal after soaking in water for two days. He nodded to Diana to express gratitude, then turned his head and shouted orders at Orm.
Orm was now alone, without a leg to stand on. He needed this step down. With a "Hmph" from his nose, he turned around and ran with his defeated remnants.
"Sigh!"
Aquaman sighed. Too many messy things. The surface people didn't accept him, and the underwater people rejected him too. He was caught between a rock and a hard place.
With matters here concluded, he held hands with Mera and bid farewell to everyone.
Thea looked around the site. There was no instruction manual, so she could only go back to study the scepter's functions.
She and Diana left the cave. The cavern, which had been bustling just moments ago, returned to calm, as if nothing had ever happened.