Arthur stepped forward and examined the woman; her complexion was fine, but her expression was a bit dazed. His arrival clearly startled her. The woman turned her head, and upon seeing Arthur, she was momentarily stunned.
"You..."
She retreated two steps in disbelief. Arthur continuously observed her, searching for traces of himself in her. In fact, Arthur didn't resemble the Queen much, but he did look a lot like his father.
"Atlanna above!" The Queen covered her mouth in disbelief. Her entire body was trembling, and as she looked at Arthur's features, it was as if she had already sunk into memories.
"I'm Arthur, Arthur Curry. My father is..."
"Tom! You're Tom's son!!!" Tears couldn't help but overflow from the Queen's eyes. She said, "Oh my god, you've grown so big. When I left, you were just a little baby..."
Arthur's Adam's apple moved. He could imagine a woman being forced to separate from her newborn child shortly after giving birth, being hunted by soldiers, and eventually being forced to give birth to a child she didn't love. She had already suffered enough. Not to mention, later on, she had been trapped in this dark place, enduring the torment of loneliness for decades.
Hal quickly stepped forward and pulled Arthur. Unlike others, coming back to life is inherently an incredible thing, and people always need time to accept it. But if a loved one was never dead, it's much easier to accept.
But precisely because of this, the behind-the-scenes manipulator could easily set traps in this place, making them believe Arthur's mother wasn't dead, but actually was someone who had been brought back to life — it's entirely doable.
Arthur sighed deeply and said, "Mother, I have returned to Atlantis and inherited the throne."
"What?!" The Queen looked very surprised and said, "How could you... What about Tom? Is he... is he gone?"
"No, he's still guarding the Lighthouse."
"Then how could you leave him alone? Or has he had other children over the years?"
Arthur shook his head and said, "No, just me. He refuses to remarry and has been waiting for you to return."
The Queen showed a painful expression and then said, "Then you absolutely cannot leave him alone. If you become Aquaman, you can't regularly return to the land, and once again, he'll be all alone."
"So, I want to bring you back..."
"No!" The Queen said decisively, "Back then, I was being hunted, severely injured, and shortly after giving birth to Orm, I was exiled. It caused severe damage to my body, making it impossible for me to leave the seawater."
"But you can return to Atlantis..."
"That's even less possible," the Queen refused again, "You've inherited the throne; if I, the former Queen, return, they wouldn't know whose orders to follow. That's the biggest taboo in ruling a country."
"Moreover, for me, there's no difference between there and here. Here, I can enjoy peace, without seeing the ugly faces of those people. How is Orm? Did you kill him?"
Arthur shook his head and said, "No."
The Queen sighed and said, "I know you can't bring yourself to do it, but I must remind you, Orm has inherited his father's brutal genes. But their biggest problem is that they aren't smart enough. Even with violent methods, they can't suppress the Seven Ocean Tribes and will eventually spell disaster for the ocean."
"In fact, Orm has already done so." Arthur lowered his eyes and said, "Not only does he want to unite the Seven Ocean Tribes, but he also wants to invade the Mainland."
The Queen turned around, snorted disdainfully, and said, "Just like his foolish deceased father. They simply don't understand that Earth has long been the domain of the Human race. No one can take this planet from them. The Ancient Relic Clan is a thing of the past, and indulging in past glories, trying to provoke war, is just a path to self-destruction."
Listening to the Queen's words, Hal's heart moved. The Queen seemed to know a lot, so he asked, "Your Majesty, do you know anything about the Mother Box?"
The Queen turned back and stared firmly at Hal. Hal extended his hand and said, "Previously, we dealt with a monster called Savage Wolf, sent by Darkseid to find the Mother Box."
The Queen's expression changed immediately, and she looked at Arthur and asked, "Savage Wolf?! Where is he now?"
"We've already killed him," Arthur said, "but Darkseid has stirred up a wave of darkness in the Multiverse, and our cosmos is the first to be hit."
"That guy's really incorrigible!" The Queen cursed through gritted teeth, then said, "Regarding the Mother Box, I've only heard rumors. But I remember, the Mother Box that fell to Earth has three parts..."
"Wait a minute," Hal interrupted her and asked, "Divided into three parts, not three Mother Boxes?"
During the battle against Savage Wolf, they already knew that the mysterious cubic objects known as Mother Boxes totaled three. One fused with Victor, another was in Atlantis, and the other was in Amazon.
They initially thought there were three Mother Boxes, like gear components of certain machines, with three of the same model. But according to the Queen, there was only one Mother Box, so what were these three cubes?
The Queen shook her head and said, "This involves principles that I can't explain either. It seems like there are three cubes, but in reality, there is only one Mother Box. To say they are three parts is not quite accurate; it should be said they are three sides of the Mother Box. Although humans see three, they are actually observing from different rule perspectives, but it is truly the same one."
Hal started to understand. The Mother Box on Victor was merely one side of the Mother Box. The other two sides weren't fused into his body, so the strength obtained might be incomplete. Although one side was enough to revive Victor, the secondary strength output wasn't sufficient for a complete revival.
"It seems a lot has happened outside during my time here," the Queen sighed, "But I'm already old, not as fit as before, and can't really help much. I can only tell you that if you want to pursue the oldest secrets of Atlantis, you must go to the Tomb of Atlanna."
"The Tomb of Atlanna?"
"Atlanna is an ancestor of Atlantis. Because of involvement in Poseidon and Zeus's struggles, it implicated the destruction of entire Atlantis. Hence, he exiled himself from Atlantis with the golden trident..."
"Is this the golden trident you're talking about?" Arthur gestured, and the trident flew into his hand. The Queen's eyes widened.
"My goodness, how did you get it?"
"I simply took it from the place you mentioned, inside the Tomb of Atlanna. But I didn't see anything else."
"Did you see Atlanna's remains?"
Arthur shook his head, and the Queen continued, "Then you must have gone to the wrong place. That is his throne, not his tomb chamber. His tomb chamber hides many ancient secrets. If you could find it, perhaps it could solve many of your questions."
Hal and Arthur exchanged glances and silently noted this matter. The Mother Box is ultimately a hidden threat; if it cannot be completely resolved, it will surely become a major issue in the future.
The Queen was unwilling to leave with Arthur. This indicated she might not be one of the resurrected. But they still did not lower their guard. After leaving, Arthur asked Mera, "Who established this layer of protective shield?"
Mera thought for a moment and then said, "I'm not quite sure about that. But once sentenced and exiled, it's impossible to leave the trench. Only a sea king recognized by the Sea People can freely come and go here."
Arthur nodded. Although the Queen seems fine now, she might present one way while acting another, so it's best if she can't leave.
After several people left the trench, Arthur said, "I want to stay here to guard against any anomalies. Additionally, I might need to explore the Tomb of Atlanna further. If there is any news, I will contact you all immediately."
Everyone agreed on this plan, so Arthur stayed behind while others returned to the Justice League base.
"Next it's Wonder Woman and Victor, whose status is unclear. They've been absent for so long, they might have gone to see resurrected relatives. Who do you think we should start with?"
"I think we should divide into two groups," Hal said, "The behind-the-scenes manipulator will soon realize his plan has largely failed. The soft approach won't work, and he might confront us directly. We have little time left."
"Exactly," Barry nodded as he spoke, "The behind-the-scenes manipulator must have a way to observe our cosmos, otherwise he wouldn't choose here. Once he finds out this phase of his plan has failed, he'll inevitably move to the next phase ahead of schedule, and what he plans next is unknown to anyone. We need to be ahead in our preparation."
"Alright," Ron said, "Hal, since you're closer to Victor, you go and talk with him. Barry and I will go find Diana. In case the resurrected are from the God Clan, we can't avoid a battle, and it'll be safer if I go."
Thus, they split into two paths. Barry, taking Ron, went to Amazon to find Diana, but that's not the focus for now. As for Hal, he initially planned to find Victor, but before he could, Victor returned.
Seeing Hal, Victor hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "How's your health? Are you feeling okay?"
"Actually, not too bad," Hal nodded, observing Victor's expression. Victor was very young, and his emotional control wasn't fully mature, which Hal quickly noticed.
But he didn't expose him directly, instead telling the truth through another method. He directly informed Victor about Barry and Ron's experiences and their solutions.
"...That's how it is. Now, the impostors who appeared in their homes have been controlled. My father is too. I have to say, the behind-the-scenes manipulator is truly malicious. Thankfully, Batman had precautionary measures."
Victor's body visibly tensed. He realized Hal had noticed something wrong about him, but he didn't know how to respond.
Victor felt deeply ashamed. It seemed that he was the only one within the Justice League who didn't make a calm decision, but he also felt some resentment. Even if one other person acted like him, he wouldn't be under such immense pressure. It's really hard for him to abandon his mother.
In the midst of mixed emotions, Victor suddenly recalled something. He looked at Hal and asked, "Barry and Ron's relatives are waiting at their homes for them? Are they able to move freely?"
Hal was momentarily taken aback by his question, then nodded and said, "That's right. Later, the police investigated, and there were signs of the graves having been dug open, from the inside out. This proves they really crawled out of the grave and returned home..."
Victor had already stood up, saying to Hal, "Sorry, I have something to do. I'll be back soon."