Chapter 316: Fighting the Sea People

"Huff..."

Inside the room, Jovian drew deeply on his cigar, filling the air with thick clouds of smoke.

Several visibly uncomfortable American generals sat before him.

"Generals, you're all men with blood on your hands. Stop acting like nervous little schoolboys and say what you came here to say."

"You know I don't have much time. I'm a very busy man..."

Jovian blew smoke into each of their faces, his eyes filled with contempt.

"Please help us."

The generals had never suffered such humiliation before, but standing before Jovian, they could only grit their teeth, exchange glances, and slowly lower their heads as they pleaded with him.

"Help you?"

"Why should I help you?"

"Why should I help the people who tried to kill me?"

"Weren't you the ones who said you didn't need someone flying over your heads in a skintight suit every day, keeping the world safe? Weren't you capable of handling every problem in the world yourselves?"

"You're all so damn capable, so why are you begging me? Use that alliance of yours, or throw your nuclear weapons into the ocean. Drop enough of them, and sooner or later you'll wipe out those Atlanteans."

Jovian raised an eyebrow as he looked at the generals, his voice dripping with mockery.

"The truth is, all of our nuclear submarines have been destroyed."

"Those submarines carried the nuclear missiles reserved for a retaliatory strike."

"We've completely lost our second-strike capability."

"At the same time, for reasons we still don't understand, the cities and bases housing our nuclear weapons were flooded one after another. As a result... our remaining nuclear stockpile has fallen below one thousand warheads."

The general looked extremely tense. Deep inside, he was overwhelmed by fear.

"How many do you actually have left?"

Jovian found it almost laughable that this man could still pretend to be strong after his entire country's defenses had been gutted.

"Fewer than one thousand."

The general gritted his teeth as he answered.

"The actual number."

"I'd prefer for us to be honest with each other. Of course, you're free to lie, but then I don't believe there's any reason for us to cooperate."

Jovian continued staring at him with a faint, knowing smile.

"Fewer than..."

The general appeared determined to stick to that answer.

"Tell him the truth."

The older man sitting beside him interrupted.

"Huff..."

"All right, Mr. Jovian. The truth is that we have three nuclear warheads left."

The general who had been speaking with Jovian immediately sagged after hearing his companion's words and finally revealed their true situation.

The surface world had already been infiltrated by those damned Atlanteans. The moment they began preparing their invasion of the land, they destroyed nearly every nuclear weapon on Earth.

The remaining three had been hastily assembled using the last of their available materials.

They did not exist in any official database.

They were completely unregistered weapons.

"The truth is, I don't believe you respect me. I thought we were friends. I still remember when I first entered the business world, back when the Kent Group had just been founded. We met, struggled together, and built something together. You invested, and I did the work."

"I thought that after you made money from the Kent Group, we became partners. I thought we were on the same side. Yet in the end, you tried to eliminate me."

"And even now, when you've come here begging for my help, you still refuse to get down on your knees, kiss my boots, and call me God. You won't even do that much. I simply don't feel respected."

Jovian looked at the three generals with an expression filled with sorrow and pain.

"We apologize for everything we did."

"The truth is, none of it was truly our decision."

"Someone manipulated us."

"But I promise you, we'll investigate and uncover exactly what happened."

The generals exchanged looks before lowering their heads slightly, offering their apologies and making their promise to Jovian.

"I don't need your promises, gentlemen."

"I don't need anything you can say."

"And I don't need you to do anything for me. There are certain matters I'll handle myself."

"You may leave now. Go fight for your country and shed every last drop of your blood."

After saying that, Jovian turned and walked away without looking back.

The three troubled men remained behind.

"We understand."

After a long silence, the generals rose, bowed slightly in the direction Jovian had gone, then turned and left.

They now knew what they had to do.

"Sigh..."

Once the three generals were gone, Jovian sighed helplessly.

"Why did it have to come to this?"

"We never needed to take things this far."

Jovian appeared deeply regretful as he waited for the coming spectacle to begin.

One week later...

Orm, king of the Atlanteans, stood in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and began broadcasting live before countless cameras.

Dressed in golden armor and holding a golden trident, he roared, "Foolish surface dwellers! Look at what you've done! You murdered the king of our oceans, my great brother, Arthur Curry!"

"He was a hero, yet he was deceived by the foolish superpower known as the United States and ultimately lost his life!"

"Now come! You have enraged the mighty Lord of the Seas! As ruler of the Seven Seas, I hereby declare war upon all you foolish surface dwellers!"

"Tomorrow, we will land upon the shores of the United States!"

After delivering his declaration, Orm entered a massive chariot drawn by countless orcas and disappeared beneath the waves.

The human world erupted into chaos after hearing King Orm's words.

"There are people living under the ocean?"

"And they're declaring war on the surface?"

"We killed their king?"

Countless people online were completely dumbfounded.

Americans were especially terrified, since Orm had specifically declared that the United States would be his first target.

The entire country immediately descended into panic. Some people boarded boats, while others rushed to buy plane tickets. Countless Americans attempted to flee the country.

Unfortunately, only the wealthiest could afford to escape by air. Those with less money were forced to travel by sea, but the moment their ships entered the Pacific, every vessel mysteriously lost power and sank.

The entire world was stunned.

People gradually began to calm down once they realized there was nowhere to run.

At the same time, the United States immediately launched a nationwide mobilization. The government promised to protect every citizen and their property.

Countless soldiers boarded their vehicles, checked their equipment, and prepared for the battle that would begin the following day.

Time passed swiftly.

When noon arrived the next day, the ocean erupted.

Warship after warship emerged from the sea, while countless Atlanteans mounted on marine creatures charged toward the shore.

"Damn it! Open fire!"

The soldiers stationed on land stared wide-eyed at the scene before them, momentarily frozen in shock. It was not until their commander's furious roar reached their ears that they remembered they were supposed to fight.

"Kill them! Avenge our king!"

Countless Atlanteans burst from the ocean, shouting battle cries as they brandished advanced weapons and charged toward the armies waiting on land.

The human soldiers believed their artillery would suppress the advancing Atlanteans, but the invaders responded by deploying rows of laser cannons.

The advanced weapons required only a small amount of water to fire.

"Vmmmm!"

Endless beams of light streaked toward the surface forces.

"Aaagh!"

Soldiers were instantly burned to ash.

"Kill them!"

The battle showed no signs of stopping.

The war raged on.

Soon, an entire day had passed.

The first battle finally ended.

It did not end because night had fallen. It ended because every soldier defending the coast was dead.

The Atlanteans had successfully begun their invasion of the mainland.

"I now make another declaration to the entire world!"

"We have fulfilled our promise to land upon your shores!"

"Now we will spend one month conquering the entire United States!"

"Let us watch and see what happens next..."

Holding his golden trident, King Orm delivered another proclamation to the world.

He was ecstatic.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

Every single event had unfolded exactly as he had intended.

He would continue advancing.

He would conquer the entire world.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Is the American military completely useless?"

"They were actually defeated by a bunch of people from the ocean? How humiliating!"

"No, look at it another way. Even a military as terrifyingly powerful as the United States was wiped out."

"Is there anyone left in this world who can stop the Atlanteans?"

Countless voices spread across the internet.

"There's no need to panic."

"We still haven't used our strongest weapon!"

"We have nuclear weapons. We can simply wipe all that trash off the map!"

People online began demanding the use of nuclear weapons.

The fighting continued for another three days.

The Atlantean army advanced without resistance. No one was capable of stopping them. Every Atlantean possessed physical abilities far beyond those of an ordinary human, and each one had combat power that would place them among the stronger superheroes.

With advanced weapons in their hands as well, humanity had almost no means of resisting them.

"Where are the nukes?"

"What happened to our nuclear weapons?"

That became the only question being asked online.

Why weren't nuclear weapons being used against the Atlanteans?

Then a post appeared.

"My uncle's friend's daughter's boyfriend's ex-girlfriend's godfather works inside the military, so I'm going to tell everyone the truth! Every nuclear weapon humanity possessed was destroyed by the Atlanteans. There are traitors among us, and we no longer have the power to stop them!"

The moment the post appeared, it exploded in popularity.

Countless people stared at it with wide eyes, unable to believe what they were reading.

"The world really is finished..."

"This is the apocalypse!"

"The oceans are going to swallow the entire world!"

Claims that the end of the world had arrived began spreading across the internet.

Some people asked why the great Jovian had not intervened, but most internet users had little hope in that possibility. Jovian had never involved himself in wars, and every Atlantean seemed almost as powerful as Superman.

Even Jovian might not be able to gain the upper hand against them.

In reality...

Those discussions continued until half a month later, when the Atlantean army finally reached the outskirts of Metropolis.

Countless Atlantean soldiers arrived outside the city in perfect formation, marching proudly with their heads held high.

Then a figure descended from the sky.

"Who are you?"

Orm, who had now been fully recognized as the king of the Atlanteans, stared at Jovian as an ominous feeling rose within him.

"I am the owner of this city."

Jovian smiled faintly as he answered Orm.

"The owner of this city? This city is about to have a new owner!"

Orm picked up the weapon beside him and fired at Jovian.

"Boom!"

A red laser struck Jovian directly.

"Disappear, you piece of trash!"

Orm cheered loudly after seeing that his shot had connected.

"My king, your aim is truly magnificent!"

One of Orm's underlings immediately began flattering him.

"Of course it is..."

Orm smiled at his subordinate, feeling rather impressed with his own accuracy.

"Zzzzt..."

Before he could finish speaking, however, two red beams erupted from Jovian's eyes.

They pierced straight through the underling's skull.

"What?"

Orm froze as he looked at the corpse beside him.

This was the first Atlantean to die during their entire campaign.

"It seems you didn't kill me."

Jovian smiled faintly at Orm.

"You!"

Orm appeared furious and prepared to crush Jovian himself.

"Boom!"

Before Orm could attack, Jovian dove toward the assembled army.

"BOOM!"

Jovian's high-speed descent created an enormous blast of compressed air. The Atlanteans before him were hurled into the sky, while those with weaker bodies were crushed into flattened piles of flesh by the pressure wave.

"What?"

Orm's eyes widened as thousands of Atlanteans died in an instant.

"Zzzzt!"

Before Orm could process what had happened, Jovian unleashed an endless torrent of heat vision from the sky.

The terrifying beams swept across the ground, tearing countless Atlanteans into bloody pieces.

"What...?"

Orm no longer thought about how he might defeat Jovian.

Only terror remained in his eyes.

"Is this really all the strength you have?"

Jovian smiled as he looked at the panic-stricken Orm and his forces.

"Run!"

As king of the Atlanteans, Orm was the first to flee.

"Run!"

"Get to the water!"

The Atlanteans turned and desperately fled toward the ocean.

Unfortunately, they had already advanced deep into the continent. The nearest coastline was hundreds of miles away.

"Zzzzt!"

From that moment onward, it was no longer a battle.

It was a brutal massacre.

Just as the Atlanteans had effortlessly slaughtered the human armies, Jovian now crushed the Atlantean forces with equal ease.

There was only one difference.

Human weapons could at least injure the Atlanteans.

The Atlanteans' weapons could not injure Jovian.

They possessed absolutely nothing capable of harming him.

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