But as a seasoned king, war was merely a means to an end.
If victory were easy, Nereus wouldn't mind dominating the surface.
But he wasn't guaranteed a win this time!
And after all this time, Nereus had also recovered his senses.
He had agreed to Orm's request for troops because he and his pet whale had been attacked by human whalers and pirates.
Now, looking back, it seemed entirely possible that Orm had deliberately set a trap.
He just hadn't considered that Orm might have connections with humans before.
Continuing this war made a lot of sense for Orm; if they won, he, as the instigator of the war, would become the most powerful and prestigious ocean lord since the ancient kings of Atlantis.
But for Nereus and Xebel, it held little significance.
After all, they had already retaliated, and they had showcased their power to the surface dwellers. Further demands could easily be achieved through diplomatic channels.
If they lost, however, they would suffer heavy losses.
Nereus understood these things clearly, but Riva, the King of the Saltwater Kingdom, might not.
Though the Saltwater Kingdom was known for its individual bravery, their minds seemed to be trending towards the Trench. Nereus felt it was necessary to advise King Riva.
"Let's just fight for a bit, see how it goes. Kaldan, let's move!"
King Riva didn't listen. Instead, he slapped his giant crab's antennae and charged forward with his trident.
"Sigh..."
Nereus sighed helplessly and followed.
He had to keep an eye on things, lest King Riva be killed and an irreparable feud be formed with the surface dwellers.
"This crab is truly enormous..."
Qingshui floated in the air, marveling at the colossal creature whose head was not much lower than his own.
Its size was much larger than the mutated Killer Croc he had encountered in that Cthulhu Batman's alternate world.
It perfectly fit people's fantasies of deep-sea behemoths, even if it wasn't scientifically plausible.
The deeper the water, the less oxygen there was, and the larger the body, the greater the pressure it endured.
Qingshui felt that the crab's size might even surpass a fully formed Susanoo. Could simply breathing oxygen truly sustain such a massive creature's energy supply?
"Hoo-ah!"
Wonder Woman leaped high, letting out a powerful battle cry, and swung her Sword of Hephaestus down at the head of the giant beast named Kaldan.
Riva tried to block, jumping forward to meet her head-on, but the Sword of Hephaestus sliced his bone trident in two.
Fortunately, Kaldan swung its massive pincers at that moment, knocking Diana out of the air.
The massive carapace pressed down like a mountain on Diana, who narrowly evaded it by raising her shield with one hand and shifting sideways.
Ice Bombs rained down from the sky, but they were caught by transparent hands rising from the seawater, exploding mid-air and transforming into giant ice crystal hands.
Qingshui glanced sideways, looking at the old man nearby, who was riding a large seahorse, clad in armor, and wearing a golden crown.
"Let them fight. Let's not escalate the war and hatred further. We only wish for the surface dwellers to understand the ocean's demands, not to pursue pointless war. I will order my army to stand down. We'll wait here until they've decided the victor, then we can negotiate. How about that?"
"You are..."
"There are four kingdoms in the deep sea. I am King Nereus of Xebel, and the one fighting that Amazon warrior is King Riva of the Saltwater Kingdom."
Nereus tugged on his reins, taking two steps forward.
"You say not to escalate the war, so can this battle stop now?"
Qingshui used Transparent World to scan the battlefield, which stretched for thousands of meters.
The British army's combat effectiveness was hard to describe.
Although their power had waned in recent years, no longer possessing the glory of the former British Empire, their strength was still worthy of the name of a permanent member of the Security Council. Their comprehensive combat power genuinely ranked among the top few nations on the planet.
But this was never a nation renowned for its army's combat strength.
Most of their navy was in ruins. While there were still some elite units, the situation on the ground wasn't pretty. If Qingshui hadn't used a large number of Ice Bombs to transform the coastal battlefield, turning vast areas of the sea into icy plains less suitable for the Atlanteans, and if Diana hadn't slain numerous sea monsters, the British forces wouldn't have been able to fight until now.
But now, the Atlanteans had only deployed the seafood from the Saltwater Kingdom.
The soldiers of the Xebel Kingdom, equipped with high-tech weapons, would still be far more adaptable to land combat than these crabs and lobsters, even if their combat effectiveness on land was somewhat reduced.
At that point, the Atlanteans' combat power would more than double, and these British forces would absolutely be no match.
"Aside from those sea monsters, my soldiers haven't all been deployed. As for the Saltwater Kingdom soldiers still fighting, only Riva, as the King of the Saltwater Kingdom, can make them stop."
Nereus shook his head.
"Alright then."
Qingshui shrugged.
At any rate, the British troops could hold out for a while.
But why did you Atlanteans come for Britain, of all places?
What about France? Spain? The other European coastal countries?
Wouldn't the Netherlands and Belgium be harder to invade?
Thinking this, Qingshui also questioned Nereus.
"It's simple. We want to use this island nation on land as a springboard to attack the continent, and it's also a test—a test of your land-dwellers' strength."
Nereus stated bluntly.
Alright.
So, this time, Britain is just unlucky due to its geographical location.
But not too unlucky.
Because besides himself, there's also Wonder Woman, a formidable figure who ranks among the top in terms of superhuman combat power.
While Qingshui and Nereus exchanged a few words, Diana and the King of the Saltwater Kingdom had already decided their victor.
Kaldan, the giant crab that served as the latter's mount, was indeed very powerful.
Just as Qingshui had previously speculated, such a Titan Beast didn't rely solely on oxygen respiration for its energy supply.
Perhaps because the Saltwater Kingdom was perpetually located at the bottom of the ocean, some of its lifeforms had evolved geothermal systems, and Kaldan was no exception. It had even further evolved, capable of storing high-temperature magma within its body to power itself and use the magma for attacks during combat.
However, half of this Titan Beast's eight claws had been severed, leaving it sprawled motionless on the ground.
And King Riva of the Saltwater Kingdom was now half-kneeling, Diana's Sword of Hephaestus held horizontally at his throat, his two pincers firmly bound by the Lasso of Truth.
"Stop now, Riva, and you too, Amazonian warrior. It's time to end this war."
Nereus shouted.
"I'll only give the order if you make the land-dwellers stop first."
Riva was unyielding, but he did admit defeat to Diana, a powerhouse who had defeated him in direct combat. He wouldn't agree to stop otherwise.
Cough, cough, it's the end of the month, so I'm shamelessly asking for some monthly votes. I'll accumulate some words these next two days. If we can reach a thousand votes this month, I'll add extra chapters in a few days.
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