American comics: What kind of evil intentions could Batman have?

Chapter 435 Damn, Aquaman turned into a fish-headed man!

Chapter 435 Damn, Aquaman turned into a fish-headed man!

"How's the situation on Aquaman's side?"

Chen Tao walked briskly down the corridor, with Martian Hunter beside him. Strictly speaking, although he was walking briskly, it was actually a way of stalling for time, because if he were really in a hurry, he would have already flown directly from the window to his opponent.

He was about to see Mera, Aquaman Arthur's wife. He didn't dare tell her that he had been busy with the Green Lantern Corps and knew nothing about her husband Arthur's disappearance, so he could only stall for time and have Martian Manhunter urgently explain the current situation to him.

"Diana organized a team," Martian Manhunter said. "During your absence, based on our dozens of hours of tracking, we finally discovered that Aquaman, who had directly abandoned the battlefield, had been running all the way to the coastline."

"How could he possibly find his way in that condition?"

"He smashed through buildings with his superhuman physique, physically breaking through walls with his iron head, even creating human-shaped holes in load-bearing walls. He single-handedly turned hundreds of houses along the way into dangerous structures. The bill has already been included in the Justice League's last quarterly accounting, and we paid approximately..."

"Get to the point," Chen Tao interrupted him. "Money is not a problem. I remember Lucius told me last time that Wayne Group and Lex Group are recently entering the real estate market together."

"Anyway, he eventually reached the shore and jumped into the Pacific Ocean. After entering the water, we lost track of Arthur. Diana found the tracking system you left behind in the Justice League's computer during the emergency, which allowed you to track every member of our league. You gave her access to it—"

"Ahem, I put a tracker on each of you just in case of an emergency."

"...I didn't say anything."

"...Alright, pretend I didn't say anything. Please continue."

"We eventually discovered that he had swum into the Mariana Trench."

"That's the world's largest ocean trench."

"That's right, northeast of the Philippines, near the Mariana Islands, the marine environment there is extreme, with high water pressure, complete darkness, and low temperatures, making it one of the harshest environments on Earth," Martian Hunter continued. "Then Aquaman dove in, a forbidden zone that even the Atlanteans couldn't enter."

"The Justice League organized several exploration missions, but to avoid any misunderstanding from the Atlanteans, we didn't join them. Instead, we cooperated with Mera. You know her..."

"Aquaman's lover, are they married now?"

"The wedding hasn't happened yet, but it'll be soon. Anyway, with Mera's water magic, we dived to the bottom of the trench, only to encounter a large group of Trench Clan. They're a frog-like race with sharp fangs capable of tearing through steel. The submarine was attacked, and Mera used her water magic to kill some, but it was a drop in the ocean. We had to give up."

"We organized several more dives, but still couldn't find any trace of Aquaman. That place was just too dark and too big. What I mean is, if Aquaman doesn't want us to find him, then we'll never find him in our lifetime."

The Martian hunter said, then added:

"Of course, this might seem a bit unfair to Mera, and I wouldn't say it to her. She's a good woman, and she's been working tirelessly for Arthur. Even though Arthur is temporarily missing, she's still pushing for the establishment of diplomatic relations between Atlantis and the government. She always felt that Arthur was only temporarily absent, and she couldn't let the work he had half-finished be interrupted..."

"But if I may be frank, without Arthur, no matter how much propaganda Mera does, how many land dwellers she changes their perception of the Atlanteans, even if we help her get the government under control... the Atlanteans will not obey her orders. Although Arthur Curry is not the King of Atlantis, he is still the son of the previous King of Atlantis, and he has royal blood flowing through his veins."

Although he hadn't formally inherited the throne, he had been in a regent role until now. Commander Muke and Regent Tura, these powerful figures among the Atlanteans, were staunch supporters of Arthur; they were staunch royalists who, even if they didn't approve, would support all of Arthur's decisions. But if you disregard Arthur's influence on them, these people were a group of thorough conservatives, stuck in their ways, stubborn and inflexible. "I'm afraid I must tell you, Batman…"

Martian Manhunter said in a deep voice, "I bear the heavy responsibility of communicating between the Justice League and the US government. But right now, the relationship between Atlantis and the government is extremely tense, and even the Justice League can't mediate. Those Atlanteans don't listen to the Justice League at all. Arthur's disappearance has a profound and significant impact on us. We need Arthur; even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we have to find him."

Martian Manhunter said, "Before you returned, due to repeated failed dives into the trench, I had the Flash and Lucius help me build a submarine that could accelerate using the Speed ​​Force, on the condition that the Flash act as a hamster generating electricity while running inside. Now that you're back, and you've brought Hal back with you, perfect! With you two building a protective shield outside the submarine using Green Lantern energy, we won't have to worry about the Trench Clan's attacks anymore."

Then Martian Hunter paused, and then said with certainty:

"Although the tracking methods Diana found in the Justice League's computer system have become ineffective due to the immense water pressure at a depth of tens of thousands of meters underwater, I think you must have hidden your own methods to track him, right?"

Chen Tao turned his head to the side: "I would never use such tracking methods on my teammates."

Martian Manhunter gave him a Batman-esque look of disapproval.

Chen Tao remained silent.

As they walked, they were almost at the Justice League's reception hall.

"...Okay, that's right." Chen Tao finally raised his hands and admitted it.

Having grasped the general situation, Chen Tao bypassed Martian Hunter and headed straight for the hall. With his back to Martian Hunter, Chen Tao frowned, a thoughtful expression on his face.

The problem Martian Manhunter raised is indeed quite serious. Many people think that Aquaman Arthur Curry is the least valued character in the Justice League, even giving him nicknames like "Talking Fish Man." But many people have forgotten that in one timeline, the war between Atlantis and Themyscira nearly destroyed the world.

Chen Tao had been supporting Aquaman Arthur's plan to establish genuine diplomatic relations between Atlantis and humanity. At the very beginning of the Justice League's formation, he even went out of his way to recruit Aquaman Arthur Curry, all for this purpose.

He planned to help Aquaman subdue the Atlanteans, then continuously increase their favorability, with the ultimate goal of bringing all the Atlanteans over to use as batteries.

Um... this might sound like something a villain would say, but the Atlanteans are a group of real superhumans. Even the most ordinary Atlanteans have physical abilities and strength that can completely overwhelm the strongest athletes among humans. Of course, this does not include villains who are former Olympic gold medalists, such as sports masters or javelin captains.

Not only when he knew he was going to face the counter-surveillancers, but ever since he discovered that someone could help him share the burden through a rope-like method, Chen Tao had been consciously looking for targets to help him share the burden. Aquaman and the Atlanteans were potential living battery targets that he had been planning and preparing for long ago.

Chen Tao had considered using ordinary people as batteries, but he quickly concluded that it was impossible. The time they could withstand the attack was too short. Killer Crocs could help pull people down on the spot, but if there were too many people, such an operation would be impossible to manage simultaneously.

Chen Tao could not possibly cause any casualties, as that would change the nature of the search for living batteries. Using ordinary people as batteries isn't something villains haven't done before, but they don't care about your life or death; they use you to recharge and achieve their own goals, and your fate is irrelevant in the end. In the DC universe, ordinary people are like leeks—they're all resurrected when the timeline is restarted. But Chen Tao would never do such a thing.

The Atlanteans were different. With millions of Atlanteans helping to share the burden, it was an enormous help. Chen Tao couldn't possibly let the fruits he had prepared beforehand become unusable due to an accident or some other reason.

"Your preparations were excellent, Rong En," Chen Tao said. "Arthur's matter can't be delayed any longer. Now that I finally have some free time, I must deal with this matter urgently. Go and prepare; we're going to the trench to find Arthur, alive or dead."

The Martian Hunter nodded, and Chen Tao took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Next, he would face Mera, the Queen of the Sea, who had lost her boyfriend. Chen Tao frowned as he planned to message the rest of the Justice League, asking them all to come to the meeting hall so they could brainstorm a rescue plan. Martian Manhunter had already gone to use the Speed ​​Force submarine he and Barry had built. Chen Tao contacted Hal, and then they set off…

Chen Tao opened the door.

He saw Mera, the Queen of the Sea, sitting on the sofa in the living room, with an anxious look on her face.

Mera was a young woman in her early twenties with wine-red hair and dressed in a blue, scale-patterned outfit. Her face had a somewhat sharp look, making her seem like a woman not to be trifled with, but at this moment, her face was filled with sorrow and confusion, which swept away that sharpness, making her appear pitiful.

Chen Tao paused for a moment before speaking, "I think you are Mera. Don't worry, the Justice League has made thorough preparations to save Arthur. I'm back now, and I'll be there soon..."

But he was quickly interrupted by Merazo, the Queen of the Sea.

Chen Tao heard Mera's somewhat strange voice: "Batman, I'm not here to urge the Justice League to find Arthur. It may be difficult to say, but I have to tell you... Arthur has been found."

Chen Tao: "?"

"Isn't that a good thing?" he said. "Is there a problem?" Then he asked, "Um... wait, if he comes back, why are you still the one coming to the Alliance headquarters? Is there a problem?"

“He went home by himself,” Mera said, “but his situation is complicated now. Arthur is sick, very sick. Can you come see him by yourself?”

Twenty minutes later, at Aquaman Arthur's home in Harbor of Grace.

"I don't quite understand why the Justice League can't be with you." Chen Tao followed Mera, casually closing the door behind him. He said, "If Arthur really comes back, shouldn't that be a good thing? Ron is still preparing to search for Arthur's submarine. I just told him to stop looking for it, and now..."

Chen Tao stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

He saw a strong human body with a fish head sitting on the sofa in the room. The fish-headed monster was naked, and its mouth was full of fangs.

It was a real fish head, looking like a carp or something. Chen Tao didn't know much about fish, but this was too outrageous. What kind of monster was this? Chen Tao had seen the Shark King before. Although it was also a monster with a fish head, it at least looked more like a shark with arms and legs.

But the thing in front of him, while still possessing a human body, had suddenly transformed into a fish head—it seemed incredibly bizarre. Chen Tao nearly jumped up: "What?! Where's Arthur?"

He stared at the grotesque creature that looked as if it had been sliced ​​off a live fish's head by some being, enlarged, and then suddenly grafted onto a human body. A flash of silvery-white particles appeared on his body, and high-speed bullets were already synchronized with him, almost launching an attack on the live fish-headed monster: "And what are you?"

"Pop pop pop pop pop..." The fish-headed monster jumped up from the sofa, gesturing frantically at Chen Tao, but Chen Tao couldn't understand a word it said. Seeing that Chen Tao didn't understand, the fish-headed monster became even more anxious. It kept opening and closing its mouth, as if vomiting, spitting out a string of bubbles that dripped onto the living room floor. Then the fish-headed monster realized this and hurriedly tried to close its mouth, but failed. Chen Tao then wanted to attack it, grab the monster first, and then figure out what was going on, so everything immediately became chaotic.

It wasn't until Mera stood in front of him that Chen Tao finally understood the situation... This guy was Arthur, and his current situation seemed to be somewhat different from what Chen Tao had imagined.

His head had completely transformed into the shape of a fish. Chen Tao meant that he now possessed a fish's head and had truly become the Fish Hero!

(End of this chapter)