Homelander didn't explain it to him. It wasn't because he was trying to be mysterious. He simply wasn't in the mood to build a friendship with Arthur, nor did he care to trade Orm's matter for Arthur's gratitude.
He glanced at Vera, then said in a deep voice, "There's no time to explain."
"Steppenwolf already has two Mother Boxes. If this one falls into his hands too, what do you think will happen?"
Vera flashed in front of the Mother Box and raised the corner of her mouth.
"That won't happen."
"Because I'm here."
Homelander laughed, "You probably don't know that opponent isn't as simple as you think anymore."
Before coming here, Homelander had already spoken with Diana.
From Diana's account, Homelander discovered that Steppenwolf was very different from when they had fought.
He suspected that Steppenwolf had used Atlantis's Mother Box to modify and strengthen himself.
Although Diana wasn't Steppenwolf's match in the movie either, the Steppenwolf in the movie didn't have the ability to fire impact beams from his horns.
If he had possessed that ability, he would have used it during his fight with Homelander on Themyscira.
Furthermore, the Steppenwolf who fought Diana had also changed greatly in appearance.
That made Homelander even more certain that Steppenwolf had enhanced himself.
Now that he had obtained two Mother Boxes, he might have strengthened himself again, and that was not good news.
Vera waved her hand and took out Mjolnir from her inventory, "The one who doesn't know is you. I've already fought that guy once."
"I know exactly what state he's in now."
"He did exceed my expectations, but that's nothing."
"I also have cards I haven't revealed yet."
"So you can leave with peace of mind. The Mother Box is very safe in my hands."
Homelander's face darkened.
Of course, he hadn't come here to protect the Mother Box, nor did he intend to stand on the same side as the Justice League.
He had come for the Mother Box behind Vera.
Homelander didn't know the exact location of Steppenwolf's base. The movie never clearly mentioned it.
In the movie, the Justice League found Steppenwolf's fortress through the connection between Victor and the Mother Box.
Although Homelander had used a Mother Box to strengthen himself, he had never developed a connection with it.
But while he couldn't find Steppenwolf, he could find Batman.
Using his Information Domain ability, he easily located the Justice League within the human world.
Homelander wanted to make this Mother Box his own. Of course, the Justice League with Vera in it wouldn't be easy to break through.
But that didn't matter. Homelander had a backup plan.
If possible, however, he didn't want to use that plan.
It was a pretty bad idea.
"What a shame. I originally thought we could get along," Homelander smiled, "Looks like we can't come to an agreement."
Vera tightened her grip on Mjolnir. Lightning crackled across it.
"You can say that again."
Homelander's feet slowly left the ground as he rose into the air. A faint rumble came from his body.
Power kept pouring out from within him.
His muscles swelled one by one.
A dark red glow began flowing around him.
The pressure from that tremendous power was like a terrifying storm about to arrive, making everyone below feel an enormous burden.
Vera made a decision immediately, "I'll deal with him. You protect the Mother Box!"
Arthur said quietly, "This woman really looks down on people."
Then he shouted and charged at Homelander.
"Idiot!"
"Can't you understand human language?"
Vera immediately started cursing.
Arthur wasn't used to taking orders from others, much less from a woman he had just met, even though he felt a strange fondness toward Vera.
That made him willing to talk with her, but it didn't mean he would obey her commands.
Arthur had his own ideas and acted according to his own will.
That was why he had refused when Batman first approached him.
After Steppenwolf stole the Mother Box, he agreed to join the alliance out of concern for the world.
And now, he preferred to act himself and see just how strong this so-called Conqueror really was.
The trident became a streak of silver light.
Without any tricks, it thrust straight at Homelander.
Buzz!
The blade struck Homelander's chest, sending ripples outward, but stopped there.
Arthur's full-force attack couldn't even make the bio-force field provided by the Justice Cape appear.
At that moment, Homelander's body had already expanded slightly. His muscles bulged.
Without even looking at Arthur, he grabbed the trident and threw it.
Arthur flew away.
Aquaman's cries faded into the distance.
He smashed through the warehouse, crossed an open area, crashed through an abandoned truck, flew into a factory building, burst out the other side, and finally fell into the sea at the distant harbor.
Inside the warehouse, everything went quiet.
Bruce couldn't help swallowing.
He knew Homelander was powerful, but seeing that power again still shocked Batman.
At that moment, Homelander suddenly vanished from midair.
When he appeared again, he pushed both hands forward.
Vera immediately flew away.
First Cosmic Velocity!
80% Divine Power output!
With both stacked together, the result was that Vera, who was also a Homelander, had no time to react before being launched from the other side of the warehouse.
Like Arthur, she smashed a second hole through the warehouse.
Homelander reached for the Mother Box.
A flash of lightning crossed before his eyes.
The Mother Box was gone.
Holding the Mother Box, Flash became a bolt of lightning and sped away from the industrial district into Gotham City.
At that moment, Vera rushed back through the hole in the warehouse.
Raising Mjolnir and dragging trails of blue lightning behind her, she swung it down at Homelander.
The next second, Homelander disappeared into the air.
Vera's attack hit nothing.
She froze briefly, then shouted, "Not good."
BOOM!
She shot upward, blasted through the warehouse roof, and flew into the sky.
After spotting the streak of lightning that was Barry Allen moving through the air, she flew after it at high speed.
As soon as Vera left, Arthur dropped from the sky.
The big man landed on the ground and looked around.
"Where's that guy?"
Bruce hurried into the jet, "Barry took the Mother Box. The Conqueror and Vera both went after him."
"Get in. We'll catch up. Maybe we can help."
"Alfred, take Dr. Silas somewhere safe."
"Yes, Master."
Alfred left with Silas.
The two got into a car and drove away from the warehouse.
Inside the warehouse, Batman's jet flew out, rose into the air, and headed toward Gotham City.
In the car, Alfred turned the steering wheel and said, "Mr. Silas, don't worry. They'll be fine."
Silas wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
"Let's hope so."
At that moment, a silver pillar of light suddenly crashed down ahead of them.
The instant Silas saw the beam, his heart jumped into his throat.
It was a Boom Tube.