"Do you think the death of your lover is painful? Painful enough to justify destroying hundreds of millions of innocent lives?"
With the final punch crashing down, Aquaman's entire body was already battered beyond recognition. If not for the protection of the trident in his hand, he might have been killed on the spot.
Joey would not kill him directly. Aquaman's death would mean the fragmentation of Atlantis, and those splintered nations would be far harder to control.
Besides, what Joey was about to do required an audience.
The deep-sea fleets rushing in to reinforce were still arriving from afar, but with their king restrained in Joey's grasp, they dared not fire.
The routes of these fleets through the ocean were all traceable. Thousands of trajectories were more than enough for Joey to deduce the location of Atlantis's main city.
Grabbing Aquaman by the collar of his golden scale armor, Joey leapt across the seabed. His speed stirred deadly turbulence in the deep ocean, scattering countless warships that had aimed their guns at him. In an instant, he arrived in the depths of the Mediterranean.
"What are you doing?!"
Only now, upon seeing the familiar capital of Atlantis, did Aquaman snap back to reality and begin struggling in Joey's grip.
After their clashes, Aquaman fully understood the terrifying power of his opponent. Even the Trident of Poseidon could no longer harm him. Against such a being, the nearly undefended capital city would face utter destruction.
"What am I doing?"
Joey flung Aquaman aside. Regaining his freedom, Aquaman ignored his injuries, seized his trident, and lunged at Joey with all his strength—but now his attacks could not harm Joey in the slightest.
"I'm just going to do to the Atlanteans exactly what you were planning to do to others."
Aquaman was already at the end of his strength. No matter how desperate he was to defend his homeland, he could no longer pose any threat.
Joey casually grabbed the trident again and hurled both it and Aquaman deep into the city.
Following Aquaman's trajectory, Joey charged forward, smashing through the protective barrier covering Atlantis and setting off alarms throughout the entire city.
Aquaman crashed into a civilian home on the outskirts, smashing through half the stone roof. The Atlantean mother and daughter inside screamed in terror.
"Run!" Aquaman shouted. Though Atlanteans were stronger than surface humans, they were nowhere near strong enough to survive a battle of this scale.
Even the shockwaves from a single swing of Aquaman's trident could kill them instantly.
But the red-caped figure had already appeared behind them.
Under Aquaman's nearly despairing gaze, Joey placed a hand on the shoulders of the mother and daughter and spoke in fluent Atlantean:
"Why are you in such a hurry to run?"
The Atlantean language closely resembled ancient Greek. By listening to the murmurs of soldiers across the seas, Joey had easily learned it.
But that did nothing to comfort the pair. The injuries on their king and the terror on his face told them everything they needed to know.
All they could do was cling to each other and sob.
"Don't be afraid… Mommy's here…"
The mother cried. Atlantean tears were rarely visible—they dissolved instantly into the surrounding seawater.
"Look, this is what I wanted to do. I originally planned to finish it all at once, but now I have a better idea."
Standing beside them, Joey looked at Aquaman, whose eyes burned with fury, a trace of anticipation on his own face.
"I could snap their necks right now, and then repeat that in front of you 173 million times. What do you think?"
The number struck Aquaman like a blade. Forcing himself upright with his trident, he roared:
"You lunatic! They're innocent—leave them out of this!"
"Why are you so angry? I'm only doing what you were prepared to do! You were willing to accept the deaths of 500 million people to vent your hatred, yet you can't let go of the lives of two Atlanteans?"
Joey moved the mother and daughter in front of him so Aquaman could see their faces clearly.
"You were willing to treat hundreds of millions of surface dwellers as expendable 'collateral damage' just to hurt the Amazons. So naturally, I can treat Atlanteans the same way to hurt you."
If looks could kill, Aquaman would have slaughtered Joey thousands of times over. To him, these were his people—not collateral damage.
The tension overwhelmed the little girl. She broke free from Joey's grip, turned, and struck him with her tiny fists, crying out:
"Let go of mommy!"
Her blows did nothing to Joey. But watching his unmoving expression, Aquaman finally understood the meaning behind Joey's words.
As a child, his father, Thomas Curry, had taken him to church.
But after claiming the throne of Atlantis, as a demigod, he had long since abandoned such beliefs.
To beings like him, the opinions of mortals did not matter. These 'ants' existed only to highlight his superiority.
Yet now, a passage his long-deceased father once recited surfaced in his mind:
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
Aquaman lowered himself, pleading alongside the mother:
"Please… I was wrong. They're innocent. Do whatever you want with me!"
"Wrong answer."
Joey's expression remained cold.
"We are at war, Aquaman. War has no right or wrong—only sides."
Finally, Aquaman stopped resisting. He released his trident, letting the symbol of Atlantis's kingship fall to the ground.
"Yes… we are at war…"
With Atlantis's destruction looming, he finally understood.
"...I… I surrender."
He collapsed to the ground. Joey immediately released the mother and daughter.
At that moment, the city's defense forces finally arrived. Their global deployments had stretched their forces thin, leaving the capital dangerously vulnerable.
"Stand down!"
Aquaman raised his voice, dismissing the guards, then lowered his head to Joey.
"I will recall all Atlantean fleets deployed across the world's oceans. Atlantis will never again attack the surface."
"No. That's not enough."
Joey wanted more than that—he wanted control over Atlantis.
"Your actions have already proven that your will cannot fully command all Atlanteans. So I've prepared an additional solution."
"What solution?!"
As the defeated party, Aquaman knew he had to concede—but there were limits. Nothing could threaten the survival of Atlantis.
"You don't have a choice. Just prepare your city's shield."
With that, Joey leapt into the air and left the ground of Atlantis's capital.
Aquaman tried to follow despite the agony in his broken body, but failed.
All he could do was order the city's shields to reactivate at maximum power… and wait anxiously for whatever judgment was about to come.