Why Do You Place Your Hope in Someone Else?

"Damn, it really wasn’t sturdy at all."

Beckett, whose landing’s energy shockwave had directly collapsed the entire Zebel palace, wrapped an arm around Mera’s waist.

Only then did the stunned Mera realize what Beckett had done.

"Be… Beckett…"

Mera had watched with her own eyes as the palace she had lived in since childhood collapsed into ruins in an instant.

"What is it? Didn’t you call me here?"

Mera’s safety concerned the Mother Box that could send him home, so naturally, he had to transform into a Super Saiyan to show his sincerity.

He intended to eliminate every possible accident.

"Mera!!!!!"

Nereus was truly furious beyond reason.

The Zebel palace had been personally built by the first King of Zebel. It was one of the symbols of Zebel’s royal authority!

And now it had been destroyed just like that???

Destroyed right before the eyes of him, the King of Zebel!

And the person who destroyed it had actually been called here by his own daughter!

"Shut up."

A cold, blade-like gaze pierced straight into Nereus’s heart. Overwhelming killing intent suddenly erupted from Beckett, surging toward the enraged Nereus like a tidal wave.

Boom!

The leaking energy blasted Nereus directly into the palace ruins!

"Father!"

Mera’s pupils suddenly contracted as a worried cry slipped from her lips.

Although she opposed Nereus’s plan to conquer humanity, he was still her biological father.

"No!"

"Don’t call me Father!!"

"I don’t have a daughter like you who sides with outsiders against her own family!!!"

Buzz!!!

The pressure of the seawater abruptly intensified. A red-eyed Nereus strode out of the ruins in a rage, covered in dust and looking exceptionally disheveled.

Instead of being a proper Sea Princess, she insisted on standing with humans and defying her own father.

He had thought that if he confined her for a few days and properly explained the history of the sea people and the importance of attacking the surface, she would understand her position and identity.

But what happened?

She had actually called someone over to tear down his palace and beat him!

Beat him, her own father!

What, was she planning to kill her father with her own hands for humanity’s sake?!

If word got out, where would the dignity of the King of Zebel go???

"Enough! Enough, Beckett!"

"Please, take me away from here. Now!"

Mera could not bear to look directly into her father’s eyes, which were filled with anger and questioning.

She knew who she was, but she could not stand by and watch her father become the leader of a war against humanity.

The sea people and humanity could coexist peacefully. Queen Atlanna had personally told her so.

There did not have to be endless war or meaningless slaughter.

The land and the sea depended on each other; neither was the other’s subordinate.

"Looks like you got to keep your life."

Beckett tightened his hold around Mera’s waist and gave the filthy Nereus a sinister smile.

The water waves kicked up by the sonic boom made even the foundations of the Zebel palace tremble!

Splash!

The raging waves could not withstand Beckett’s impact. After landing and dismissing his energy barrier, Beckett’s shoulders had already been soaked by seawater.

Even his sharp, delinquent-looking hairstyle had softened considerably.

"…Thank you, Beckett."

After a long silence, Mera, standing barefoot on the soft beach, thanked Beckett.

"One hundred dollars." Beckett raised his right index finger at Mera.

Mera was stunned.

"I went to that place called London, and I spent all one hundred dollars."

"So don’t overthink it."

Beckett had only meant to keep Mera from associating him with the Mother Box, but…

"Is that so… I understand." Beckett’s sudden mention of one hundred dollars interrupted her thoughts, and much of Mera’s sadness faded away.

Mera took two spare hundred-dollar bills from the pouch at her waist and handed them to Beckett.

"?"

"The extra hundred dollars is your payment for hiring you."

Mera put away her sorrowful expression. Thinking about it carefully, she truly had no time to wallow in grief here.

Without her, her father’s plans might change, but his ultimate goal would not.

"We have to find Arthur Curry as quickly as possible, then help him find the legendary weapon capable of ruling the Seven Seas."

Mera spoke quickly, but the problem she described left Beckett confused.

"Arthur Curry? Why?"

"Arthur Curry is Queen Atlanna’s eldest son. Human and sea people’s blood both flow through his veins. If he can find that weapon and ascend the throne as ruler of the seas, he will surely be able to prevent a war between the sea people and humanity."

Mera explained.

Arthur Curry’s background meant that he would not have any designs on the human world after becoming king.

"Then why don’t you become queen yourself?" Beckett shook off Mera’s hand and said disdainfully.

"…What?"

"Don’t you think what you’re doing is ridiculous?" Beckett had no intention of serving as bodyguard to some trash who could not even take one punch from him.

"You don’t want a war between the underwater world and the human world. Simple—become the ruler of the underwater world yourself."

Beckett sneered, stepping closer and closer to the frowning Mera, his tone filled with mockery.

"Can you really be sure Arthur Curry thinks the same way you do? Don’t forget, you said he was an illegitimate child, and his mother was exiled by the King of Atlantis."

"…" Mera wanted to refute Beckett’s mockery, but no words came out.

Thinking about it carefully… that really did make sense.

"No one understands what you want better than you do. Since you are dissatisfied with the current underwater world, then become their ruler and reshape the entire underwater world according to your own ideas."

Did she want to change the world?

Then become queen.

It was such a simple principle. Beckett did not understand why Mera was so obsessed with making Arthur Curry king.

She was clearly born into royalty herself, so why would she abandon that advantage and become Arthur Curry’s dependent?

"No, but Atlantis, no, Queen Atlanna once told me that Arthur was—"

With Beckett’s words throwing her thoughts into disarray, Mera brought up Queen Atlanna, whom she had met as a child.

That gentle woman had once told her that her child, Arthur Curry, was the only person who could change this situation.

"Bullshit."

Beckett dismissed that claim with utter contempt.

His adoptive father Thanos often told him that as long as he was willing, the whole world would stand by his side.

And yet, Odin had still exiled him to this unfamiliar world.

Sometimes, some words were only meant to be heard or said. Taking them seriously was just stupid.

Who knew whether that Atlanna had only said it because Arthur Curry was the son she had with her true love?

"My father once said that placing all hope for changing everything on someone else is an extremely foolish thing to do."

"Believe in your own strength. Coloring this world with your own colors is the mindset a strong person should have."

"…" Mera had no answer, because Beckett made too much sense. She could not find any reason to refute him.

If she obtained the weapon capable of ruling the seas and became queen in truth, would her father not be unable to start a war?

"Perhaps you’re right, Beckett."

Mera, whose mind had been thoroughly swayed by Beckett’s rare speech, looked at the man before her, whose lips still held a mocking curve.

The sunlight behind him was somewhat dazzling, yet Mera did not feel even the slightest bit of heat.

"I really can become a queen who does not rely on anyone. But before that, can you help me one last time?"

"As a friend."

"I don’t need friends." Beckett rejected her, just as she expected.

"I’ll add another hundred dollars." Mera pulled out a bill from her pouch and took the initiative to approach Beckett, who stood as straight as a pine.

"Deal."

Before he figured out the exact locations of the other two Mother Boxes, Beckett naturally would not leave Mera.

"What is it? Why are you staring at me?" Beckett, who had accepted the money on Woz’s advice, frowned at the woman still standing motionless in front of him.

Had she discovered his true purpose?

"No." Mera shook her head. Then she rose onto her toes, placed both hands on his shoulders, and quickly pressed a kiss onto Beckett’s cheek with her red lips.

"You know, I suddenly really hate your love story with Hela."

????

For the first time in his life, a woman had taken the initiative to kiss his cheek. Beckett’s muscles instantly tensed, and the red tail around his waist unconsciously went limp.

No one had ever done that before.

Even Hela, whom he liked, had spent all their time arguing and fighting with him. When had he ever encountered someone as proactive as Mera?

Fortunately, Woz had said she might already be dead.

Mera placed her hands behind her back and smiled brightly. "This is only a ritual our family uses to express gratitude."

"Then, without further delay, let’s go."

Even if Hela was not dead, Mera did not want to let go.

She was going to become the queen who ruled the seas. Who was Hela?

They were both women willing to turn against their fathers for their ideals. You might be the future Queen of Asgard, but I am the future Queen of the Sea.

Besides, Mera was younger and prettier. In a fair competition, who was afraid of whom?

Anyway, Beckett could not go back. If Hela had the ability, she could come and take him!

She was afraid that Hela could not even open the door to come here!