The attempt at communication with Aquaman had devolved into nothing but an exchange of fists in less than three minutes, which did not surprise Joey in the slightest.
Joey swung his fist, knocking aside the tip of the trident thrust toward him. This weapon, blessed by Poseidon, left a shallow but noticeable cut across the back of his hand.
One was a being blessed by the god of the sea, the other a Kryptonian capable of traversing the cosmos with his physical body alone. The resistance and pressure of the ocean meant nothing to either of them—their battle beneath the sea was no different from fighting anywhere else.
With agility that belied his powerful frame, Aquaman darted behind Joey in an instant, thrusting his trident forward to pierce straight through his heart.
Joey spun around just as quickly, deflecting the blade with his elbow. The sheer force of the collision blasted the surrounding seawater apart, creating a temporary vacuum around them.
This time, the magical glow of the trident's tip only broke the skin slightly, barely harming Joey at all.
Atlanteans could breathe freely underwater—but that did not mean they could do the same in a vacuum.
Seizing the moment when Aquaman's breathing faltered, Joey reached out and grabbed the trident's head, locking him in place. No matter how hard Aquaman struggled, his weapon remained completely immovable in Joey's grip.
Suppressing the urge to roast him into dried fish with heat vision, Joey shot upward out of the water with him, then casually flung both man and trident onto a towering frozen wave dozens of meters high.
"Stop this, Arthur."
Joey knew that even if he killed Aquaman on the spot, it would not significantly change the overall situation.
Atlantis was not structured like Themyscira. On Themyscira, the queen's word was nearly absolute—deal with Diana, and you essentially dealt with the Amazons. But Atlantis was far more complex.
Atlanteans was a broad term for all deep-sea inhabitants. The King of Atlantis was nominally the 'Lord of the Seven Seas', ruling over all Atlanteans and other oceanic races. However, in reality, each ocean had its own independent underwater kingdoms, with smaller tribes and city-states beneath them.
Atlantis was merely the strongest among these kingdoms. Its relationship with the others resembled that of the Habsburgs and the states of the Holy Roman Empire—subordinate, but intricate and ever-shifting.
Taking advantage of the war with the Amazons, these underwater forces had been attacking all surface vessels under the pretext of a 'state of war.' Their targets had never been limited to Diana and the Amazons.
Even if Aquaman were gone—or obedient to Joey—the war machine of Atlantis would not simply stop, especially now that they had tasted the benefits of war.
Once they realized how effectively they could blockade the oceans, leaving surface dwellers nearly powerless, the question became inevitable: why not take this opportunity to eliminate the threat entirely?
"Arthur, think carefully. How did this war even begin? Where is your brother? Since you started this attack, have you seen him at all? Has he ever once suggested peace?"
Joey asked this because he had already seen Aquaman's brother, Orm—the defeated claimant to the Atlantean throne—leading an elite squad into the prison amid the chaos.
With Diana's tacit consent, the rescue team broke through multiple layers of defense and freed the traitor Penthesilea and her followers.
"You've been used as a pawn. This war against surface humans was never truly your idea—it was theirs!"
Aquaman's expression began to waver. Though still driven by hatred, he could not completely ignore that Atlantis's war machine was not operating entirely according to his will.
Still, he tightened his grip on the trident. "Don't try to drive a wedge between me and my brother!"
Lies.
Atlanteans might seem like mythical beings, but at their core, they were descendants of ancient humans who had sunk beneath the sea. Joey could read his breathing, heartbeat, and hormone levels—he knew his words had struck home.
A half-blood like Arthur—seen as an outsider by the royal lineage—must have fought hard against his half-brother to claim the throne, and it surely had not been a pleasant process.
The fact that he had not exiled Orm, but instead kept him close as a trusted aide, was not merely due to generosity.
"Go back, Arthur. As long as I'm here, you won't be able to attack the Amazons or the surface world."
As Joey spoke, his attention was already drifting elsewhere, scanning the depths beneath the sea—but he still couldn't find what he was looking for.
"Go back and ask your brother yourself. Ask him what kind of secret is worth personally risking everything to rescue an Amazon your people supposedly despise."
Aquaman looked down at the frozen tidal waves beneath his feet and realized that unless he deployed that ultimate weapon, there was no way he could wipe out the Amazons today.
This enemy's protection of the Amazons angered him—but if Orm truly had colluded with them, then everything would take on a completely different meaning.
His personal hatred for Diana was enough to drive them to mutual destruction—but if everything had been orchestrated, then who was truly responsible?
"Once I uncover the truth, I will return."
This retreat was only temporary. He intended to deal with any traitors at his side before making his next move—not to abandon his vendetta against Diana.
Joey understood that as well. Even if everything had been a scheme by extremists on both sides, one fact remained unchanged: Diana had personally beheaded Mera.
Even if it had been in self-defense after an assassination attempt, it did nothing to ease Aquaman's grief and rage.
In this cold, unforgiving world, every madman seemed to have his own justification.
"I know about the superweapon you've been building—one powerful enough to sink the Earth's continental shelves. I strongly suggest you don't use it."
Joey hated magical constructs—they blocked his ability to fully perceive the world—but that didn't mean he couldn't stop them.
He pointed at the thick layers of ice surrounding the British Isles, all formed by nothing more than his breath.
"Think carefully about your duty as king of Atlantis. Think about the fate of your people."
"Just as you now have the power to wipe out all surface dwellers, I have the power to erase your kind from this planet. Don't force me to prove it."
What Joey spoke of was the shared fate of billions on land and hundreds of millions beneath the sea. In his sense of justice, everyone on this planet deserved a place to exist.