Lex Luthor’s Backup Plan

A few minutes later, Shimizu successfully got in touch with the British military commander.

The two sides agreed to a ceasefire.

This let the British Prime Minister, whose term was about to end and who was rumored to live each day like a pig, breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh, it’s her. That face… So someone really can stay young forever."

The Queen looked at the broadcast image and sighed.

She was one of the few elderly people still alive who had lived through World War II. She was also the head of a nation—albeit only symbolically—and had seen plenty of classified files.

Wonder Woman had been active on the battlefields of World War I, which was not all that far removed from her own era. Information had been difficult to spread at the time, and anything concerning extraordinary powers had been sealed away, so few people knew about it.

"Could I… invite this lady, as well as that War Warrior who defended Britain alongside her, to visit? I’d like to award them medals at Buckingham Palace. Knighthoods would be possible too."

The Queen set down the photograph and spoke to the Prime Minister.

"I’m afraid not, Your Majesty. They have already left Britain. One has gone to Asia, while the other has gone to America to provide support. What we need to do now is meet with the two kings of the Atlanteans, sign a ceasefire agreement, and hold talks. During the battle just now, they still had half their forces held in reserve. According to them, it was a warning to the land dwellers who had damaged the ocean."

"Oh, very well. I have no objection to environmental protection. I’ll leave the details to you, Prime Minister. What I want to know more is, how are things in America? Will their new president rejoin the Paris environmental agreement?"

"Your Majesty, I would also love to see that man make a fool of himself, but it seems the situation has changed again."

The Prime Minister put away the documents in his hand and looked toward the television in the distance alongside the Queen.

"Hello, fellow humans of the world. I am Luthor."

A gleaming bald head appeared on the television screen.

It was Lex Luthor, who had vanished from public view for a long time.

He wore a heavy suit of armor that emitted a faint green glow. He looked somewhat bedraggled, and several strands of seaweed were even wrapped around his head.

Yet it did not seem ridiculous.

Because green light shone from his palm as it was aimed at a handsome man clad in silver scale armor.

That man was Orm.

But he was severely wounded and unconscious, unable to speak.

"I deeply regret that my good intentions once led to bad results, forcing me to disappear from the public eye for a time. But I hope to earn everyone’s forgiveness—by handing over him, the leader of these Atlanteans."

With an incomparably sincere expression, Luthor addressed the entire world through wireless signals.

There was no helping it. These Atlanteans had disappointed Luthor.

Through his own methods and intellect, he had secretly infiltrated Atlantis. Before Orm, he had fashioned himself into the image of a scholar ostracized by human society for his environmentalism. Thus, he won Orm’s trust and became his secret adviser.

This war had ostensibly been planned by Orm, but in truth, it had been driven by Luthor. His goal was to use Atlantean technology and power to eliminate Superman. Their raw strength alone might not have posed much threat to Superman, but that changed with Luthor, a specialist in dealing with Superman, involved.

Relying on his knowledge, Luthor quickly mastered a great deal of Atlantean technology. He created the first generation of Artificial Kryptonite and an armor suit powered by Kryptonite and high-energy batteries, then incorporated part of that technology into Atlantean weaponry as a crucial means of fighting Superman in this war.

He had almost succeeded!

At the time, Luthor had been sitting inside Atlantis’s flagship, watching Superman lie on the verge of death after being struck by the modified Kryptonite hydro-cannon. He had nearly burst out laughing with delight.

Unfortunately, the next Kryptonite hydro-cannon blast was blocked by a bearded man wearing golden scale armor and wielding a golden trident.

Then The Flash and Batman suddenly appeared and rescued Superman. Luthor decisively activated his backup plan.

If things dragged on any longer, Orm might lose his throne immediately.

He might as well squeeze every last bit of value out of Orm in exchange for a chance to clear his name and return to human society.

Luthor had already dealt with everyone else who knew his identity.

He had not killed them. Like Orm, they had merely been severely wounded and knocked unconscious.

If he killed them outright, it would become a true fight to the death. The war between humanity and the sea would never end, and he would become Atlantis’s mortal enemy.

Luthor only needed to make sure they could not expose him immediately.

The American government would help him handle what came next.

They would turn him into a hero who had prevented a war between land and sea.

No ruler would permit an uncontrolled force beneath them that could threaten their power.

Even if you were superheroes, even if you were saints, it made no difference.

If such a force existed, they would do everything possible to bring it under their control.

But if they still could not effectively resolve it in the short term, they would support another force to counterbalance it.

It did not matter if that force was weaker, because they would tilt the scales in its favor.

So, who now seemed relatively controllable while still capable of standing toe-to-toe with these superheroes?

More than one person saw this immediately.

"Uh… I don’t get it."

The fisherman’s son holding the Trident of Poseidon looked at Batman with clear yet foolish eyes.

"Our plan needs to change. Originally, Arthur was supposed to use the Trident of Poseidon to defeat Orm, seize the throne, and end the war. Now that this has happened, Arthur would have no legitimacy if he took the throne. No one would accept him."

Mera sighed softly.

"There’s no need to change it. We only need to postpone it."

Batman said in a deep voice.

"A king who lost a war—especially a monarch who lost a war after joining forces with multiple nations—can no longer sit securely on his throne, regardless of the circumstances. Once he recovers, Arthur can challenge him for the throne then…"

"Uh… Do I really have to do this? The war is already over, isn’t it? There’s no need anymore, right?"

The burly man in golden scale armor scratched his head of flowing long hair.

Mera stared at Arthur with dead-fish eyes.

"No. I know Orm. Once he recovers, he will definitely do more terrible things to secure his throne again. Besides… you have already appeared before everyone. Orm will see you, his brother, as the greatest threat to his throne. Even if you have no intention of competing for it, he will still come after you and the people you care about."

"Then… all right."

Arthur looked around.

The eyes across the battlefield had all turned toward them.

Batman, Superman, The Flash, and Green Arrow were known to many on the land side.

Mera was the princess of the Kingdom of Xebel and Orm’s fiancée. Everyone on the Atlantean side knew her as well.