After learning of Thea's special relationship with Diana, Mera became much warmer toward both women. In her straightforward view, as long as someone wasn't trying to sabotage her marriage, they were fine.
The old man's eyes flickered as he weighed his options several times before finally backing down. A potential dramatic showdown vanished into thin air.
Thea sneered coldly. Aquaman and Mera probably didn't realize that the underwater world and the surface weren't as completely isolated as they imagined.
Having recently taken control of the criminal underworld, she knew very well that a hidden channel had always connected both sides. What brought them to the negotiating table was profit.
The ocean floor produced abundant pearls and salvaged goods from shipwrecks—items that fetched astronomical prices on the surface.
Likewise, the surface world's diverse pharmaceuticals and chemical products had an extremely strong market among underwater nobility.
The ocean was vast, true, but many things simply didn't exist underwater. They had to rely on the surface.
Both sides took what they needed. Thea even knew her medical pods had been smuggled down here—proof of how frequently the two sides interacted. When this hidden route was established, no one knew anymore. The people managing this channel had changed hands countless times. Some had worked their entire lives without knowing their trading partners were the legendary Atlanteans.
Having driven away the annoying pests, the Aquaman couple led Thea toward the city center.
"You saw how they treat me—hardly what you'd call friendly. Let's go ask my mother directly. She'll definitely know Poseidon's whereabouts."
"Your mother...?" Thea was somewhat surprised—not because Aquaman had a mother (except for those who popped out of rocks, everyone had a biological mother, which was perfectly normal), but rather why his mother was still alive.
Feeling things here were developing differently from her memories, Thea decided to listen and observe more while saying less.
The three entered through the city's main gate. All along the way, commoners stared at Thea in utter astonishment.
Visiting someone else's city, she naturally hadn't worn her hood. At first, she thought the residents were marveling at her appearance, but soon realized that wasn't it. While admiration remained, more prevalent was the commoners' shock at a surface dweller appearing here so brazenly.
"How can they tell I'm from the surface? Do I look that different from you?" Thea couldn't figure it out. She felt no different from Aquaman and the others. Could it be that Atlantis's population was so small that everyone knew each other?
"Haha—" Aquaman laughed heartily. "It's an extremely subtle detail to you. We have gills, and you don't."
As he spoke, Aquaman pointed to his neck. Looking carefully, Thea did indeed see fine breathing pores on both sides of his neck. It was just that the guy had thick hair that concealed them well—you really couldn't tell without specifically looking.
After this minor interlude, Thea calmly accepted everyone's gazes and followed them into the inner ring of the noble district as if nothing was amiss.
"My mother handed me the trident and the throne, and has now retired to the background. She's extremely kind and wise. She'll definitely have the answer to your question." Along the way, Aquaman occasionally introduced various aspects of the city's current state, and when speaking of his mother, his words carried deep pride.
Another old woman! The only thought that surfaced in Thea's mind. This world had far more old women than expected, and they were all political figures to boot.
Her own Moira, Diana's mother Hippolyta, Aquaman's mother, Luthor's mother...
In Aquaman's impression, his mother was kind, understanding, and compassionate. Without even looking, Thea knew it was all an act, because her own mother was the same way!
The three didn't go to the palace but came to a small courtyard not far from it. According to Aquaman, after he inherited the throne, his mother remained nearby to guide him.
Just as they stepped into the courtyard, someone rushed out in a hurry. The man had black hair and wore a black vest. His gaze swept over the three of them, pausing inexplicably on Thea's face for a moment before he left without looking back.
"That Orm guy shows no respect for Arthur at all!" Mera said indignantly. Aquaman, however, held no real grudge against his half-brother and even fantasized about brotherly harmony.
When the three walked inside, they were all stunned by the scene before them. A mature woman lay in a pool of blood. A blade had been thrust through her back and protruded from her chest.
"Mother!—" Aquaman roared. Mera stood frozen in shock before hurrying to examine the wound.
Thea just rolled her eyes in exasperation. In an instant, she thought of many things—conspiracy, conspiracy, and more conspiracy.
Unlike the naive couple, she thought deeper and further ahead. All explanations would need verification afterward, but the immediate priority was saving the victim.
"Let me save her." Thea moved Mera aside. The woman had no healing experience whatsoever. With Aquaman's mother barely breathing, she was still trying to freeze the wound with water? That might work for external injuries, but in this situation, the more body heat lost, the faster death would come.
Raising her hand, she cast three healing spells, barely keeping the woman alive. Thea directly pulled out her personal medical pod. Magic wasn't omnipotent—for treating such fatal wounds, some surgical methods worked better than magic.
Her super-vision scanned the woman's internal organs. They were similar to contemporary Earth humans, but Thea didn't dare be careless. Conveniently, Aquaman's mother's study contained many books, so she found one on medicine and started reading.
Using a time-flow barrier, while only thirty seconds passed in the outside world, she finished reading all of Atlantis's medical texts. Next came the specific work: establishing extracorporeal circulation, cleaning the wound, then using magic to promote cellular self-regeneration.
"There's a toxin in your mother's body that's resisting my magic. I need some time to study it. We'd better treat her on the surface."
Thea's treatment was extremely swift. Sometimes she felt like she was becoming the goddess of medicine...
"We have all the equipment in Atlantis. Why not treat her here?" Aquaman was puzzled. The relatively innocent man hadn't yet smelled the thick conspiracy in the air.
Thea smiled bitterly. "If I'm not mistaken, very soon Atlantis won't be 'yours' anymore—it'll become 'theirs.'"
Huh? The couple didn't understand such cryptic words. Fortunately, someone revealed the answer for him. Having been focused on his mother, he finally realized something.
Only then did voices from outside the courtyard reach them, many words drifting in unintentionally.
"That surface dweller killed the Queen! We must avenge the Queen!"
"Arthur is an accomplice too. They've all been bewitched by surface dwellers."
"Let Lord Orm lead us to take revenge on the surface dwellers!"
The situation's sharp reversal left the Aquaman couple dumbfounded, unable to understand how things had turned out this way.
"That old man who blocked our path earlier wasn't actually intimidated by my political status. Instead, he exploited it. They're trying to start a war." Thea helplessly revealed the answer.