Dust-Sealed History, the False King and the True King

Mera was speechless.

She truly had nothing to say.

Because what Beckett had said formed an entirely logical chain of reasoning. It was by no means groundless speculation.

To be honest, Mera had also been curious when she studied the history of the sea clans in the royal palace as a child.

She had wondered why the first King of Atlantis, who held the Golden Trident, had suddenly vanished without a trace along with that divine artifact capable of suppressing the seven seas.

The vast Atlantean Empire had consequently fragmented, becoming the seven undersea kingdoms, each watching and opposing the others.

Since ancient times, apart from the Trench Kingdom, which had already degenerated into a race of beasts, the other six kingdoms had all considered unifying the undersea world and restoring Atlantis’s former glory. Yet they had been forced to abandon those ambitions due to insufficient strength.

But if she followed Beckett’s line of reasoning backward, Mera suddenly realized that the Trench Kingdom’s citizens had completely degenerated into beasts shortly after the first King of Atlantis disappeared…

The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

Mera could not help but feel a chill run down her spine.

That had been an entire nation of lives! An entire nation!

Because of some so-called divine trident, the first King of Atlantis had actually joined forces with his mount to erase the minds of every resident of the Trench Kingdom???!!!

He had even gone so far as to alter the Trench Kingdom’s geographical environment, turning that race entirely into a place where the other six undersea kingdoms exiled their prisoners???!!!

Mera suddenly felt like she could barely breathe.

No, that was impossible…

The history she had learned since childhood told her that the first King of Atlantis had been a saint.

He had possessed exceptional diplomatic skills and, through alliances and maneuvering, single-handedly brought about the birth of Atlantis and witnessed its glory.

That was what Mera had learned from history textbooks as a child.

The slogan of striving for Atlantis’s rise, which she had embraced since childhood, had also been passed down through generations and still remained in the history textbooks of the sea clan world.

However, as she grew older and broadened her knowledge, certain things that could not be concealed no matter how hard one tried began to shake the fixed beliefs she had developed throughout her life.

For example, the first King of Atlantis, revered as a Holy Fish, had once tacitly accepted that the lives of Atlantean citizens were worth less than a neighboring nation’s ambassador.

And even more absurdly… the second King of Atlantis, who succeeded him, had used a series of ridiculous maneuvers to split the vast Atlantis apart. What was laughable was that the second King of Atlantis was actually called the Child of Atlantis in the undersea world’s historical records.

Mera knew the undersea world was not as simple as the human world, but if she followed Beckett’s reasoning backward now…

Then those rumors…

"Lady Mera, your understanding may actually be mistaken."

"Based on the available information, the first King of Atlantis you know may not be the true first King of Atlantis."

Mera, whose worldview had been severely shaken, encountered Woz, who laid out facts and evidence.

"This was hidden information from a laboratory that Woz just decrypted."

"It records that the true first King of Atlantis was a genuine king, a man who stood tall beneath the heavens."

"He rose from humble beginnings. Though his path was full of hardships, he always believed his people would prevail. In the end, after reaching the pinnacle of the sea clans, he personally founded the new nation of Atlantis."

"He led the people of Atlantis in resisting the invasion of terrifying species from the cosmos. He reset the broken spines of the Atlantean people."

"He was the undisputed king of your undersea world, a born leader, and an incomparable guide for your world."

"According to the laboratory records, the humans on land at the time called that true first leader of Atlantis the Saint King."

Woz the robotic cat placed the newly decrypted information before Mera, leaving her dumbfounded.

Mera: ????

Two first kings???

"To be precise, the true first king never intended to make himself king." Woz pushed up his glasses and took the opportunity to further overturn Mera’s worldview.

"The records show that after founding Atlantis, the true first king only regarded himself as its leader. The false first king had initially merely been a companion at the true leader’s side."

"In the year 2233 of the Atlantean calendar, Apokolips forces led by Darkseid descended upon Earth. They sought to conquer Earth through military force."

"The true first king joined forces with humanity, the Amazon tribe, and the gods led by Zeus to defeat the Apokolips invaders led by Darkseid. But it was also because of that earth-shattering war that the true first king was gravely wounded."

"And the companion who had always remained by his side—the false first king—began his journey to seize power from that point onward."

An ancient Atlantean palace intrigue unfolded slowly before them through the records Woz had provided.

"How could that be…" Mera murmured. She was certain she had never learned any of that information from the royal palace history books as a child.

Yet the sources of the information Woz had provided… if she went back to investigate, she should be able to find them all.

For example, after the true first king was gravely injured, even his orders in his later years could no longer leave the Atlantean royal capital. Everything about him had been hollowed out by the companion who had once understood him best.

Mera had once heard her father, Nereus, sigh about this in private, though Nereus had called the true king a leader.

If the true first king had not still had a group of followers loyal to their faith and ideals, Atlantis might have long since ceased to exist.

"Impossible. If that were true, there couldn’t possibly still be traces of the true king in the history books."

Mera kept shaking her head, forcing herself not to accept the truth Woz had uncovered.

She had never imagined that merely searching for a Golden Trident would reveal so many "inside stories."

"That is because the true king was the foundation upon which Atlantis was first established. He was someone who could not be bypassed no matter what."

"If you don’t believe it, think carefully again. Didn’t the history books you learned from childhood, and the standardized information you received, all try their hardest to diminish that true king? Didn’t they even vigorously publicize everything strange about his later years, claiming that his merits and faults canceled each other out?"

Mera was momentarily speechless…

"So the one who sacrificed the entire Trench race and turned them into beasts was not the king who truly unified the seven seas?"

Beckett narrowed his eyes and followed Woz’s reasoning.

"Yes, His Highness Beckett. While organizing the database, Woz discovered something was wrong. There is an information archive that Woz cannot forcefully decrypt."

"After a long period of simulated learning, Woz has successfully obtained part of the data. It contains detailed records of what happened after Atlantis was truly established."

"According to the records, the Golden Trident should have been brought into the Trench Kingdom by the false first king."

"Because he was a false king and could not properly wield the Golden Trident’s power, he was ambushed by a successor seeking to seize power, forcing him to flee into the Trench Kingdom."

Woz spoke solemnly while Beckett and Mera listened intently.

Beside them, the miserable writer Montgomery looked as though he wanted to cry but had no tears. He felt that after hearing all this, he might very well be silenced forever…

"Beckett, can you take me to the Trench Kingdom?" Still unconvinced, Mera fell silent for a long while before lifting her eyes to ask.

She wanted to verify it with her own eyes, to verify everything Woz and Beckett had inferred.

"You just need to lead the way."

Beckett wrapped an arm around Mera’s waist, instantly burst through Montgomery’s shabby roof, and flew into the distance!

Gotham, the Batcave.

Diana emerged from Paradise Island carrying a Mother Box, her expression grave as she appeared before Bruce Wayne.

"Bruce, we’re in serious trouble."

The contents of this chapter are entirely fictional. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

Please do not try to match them to real people. (^o^)

I’m writing about Atlantis! ((^_^)/)

Also, no deliveries. The water and electric meters are in the hallway, and the pipes in the apartment are clear and do not need repairs.

Don’t even think about mailing me razor blades!

Bonus chapter progress: 1/9