The wait, which felt long, didn't actually last very long.
Deep within Atlantis, Aquaman suddenly felt the ground tremble violently. Then he realized—the ground beneath his feet was rising.
The pressure of the surrounding ocean rapidly dropped. Everyone in the city felt the change and cried out in alarm.
Aquaman ordered the guards to maintain order, then grabbed his trident and rushed outside the city. What he saw made his heart sink—the entire tectonic plate on which Atlantis rested had been uprooted and was rising rapidly toward the surface.
And the one responsible for all of this… was Joey.
He had literally torn the entire city free from the ocean floor.
"Stop!!"
Aquaman roared at Joey, but before he could do anything, Atlantis—buried in the deep sea for nearly ten thousand years—broke through the surface and reappeared in the world above.
But it didn't stop there.
The city continued rising—until it was completely out of the water.
A city weighing hundreds of billions of tons rested on Joey's shoulders, yet he carried it effortlessly. At that moment, Aquaman no longer dared to doubt him in the slightest.
If Joey wished, he could simply let go—sending Atlantis crashing onto the continent, killing most of its population.
Or worse, he could throw it into space and erase the city entirely.
But that wasn't Joey's intention.
He had already calculated the landing point. He placed Atlantis on the North African continental shelf near the coast—only a few dozen kilometers from neighboring land nations.
The once-submerged city had now become an island in the Mediterranean once again.
Using the power of his trident, Aquaman restored part of his injuries and leapt to the edge of the city. Forced into negotiation, he spoke:
"The Atlanteans cannot survive long on land. I'm certain the millions in this city already understand your power. Please… return the city to the ocean!"
Atlanteans were once surface dwellers, living on a great continent in the Mediterranean. Long before humanity understood the cosmos, Atlantis had already achieved peak levels of science and magic.
But their reckless use of magic shattered the continent, sinking it beneath the sea.
Now fully evolved for underwater life, they could no longer survive long on land.
"Take it."
Joey tossed him a Sunstone—a piece of advanced Kryptonian technology.
"Power it. It will generate a barrier that isolates your city from the external environment."
Fortunately, Atlanteans already possessed near-limitless energy technology.
"Welcome back to this world, Aquaman."
Joey said:
"From now on, Atlanteans will share the same sky and land as surface humans. In return, humans will share the same oceans with you."
Joey knew peace wouldn't come easily. Humanity would inevitably retaliate. Conflicts would continue for decades—perhaps centuries.
But at least now… both sides could 'see' each other.
For humans, Atlanteans remained powerful and nearly unstoppable.
For Atlanteans, human weapons were no longer beyond reach.
For Aquaman, this wasn't the best outcome—but it wasn't the worst either.
For Joey, it was good enough.
More than once during the battle, he nearly gave in to his desire for destruction.
He could've killed Aquaman.
He could've burn Atlantis to ashes with his heat vision.
He could've trigger volcanic eruptions and erase the city entirely.
He had every reason to do so.
But in the end, he chose restraint.
Even though he had the power, he chose a more difficult path.
The future remained uncertain—but for now, the storm had cleared.
"Thank you… for your mercy."
Aquaman looked at Joey—this newly born god among men—as he ascended into the sky, cape flowing in the sunlight.
What else could he say?
The proud Amazons now obey Superman's command, the chaotic human world is weak and fragile, and even Atlantis's greatest city can only exist under Superman's restraint and protection.
This conflict, referred to by those on land as the third war, had in effect come to an end.
The world now resembled the empire Arthur had once heard about in stories from his father as a child—an empire that, a thousand years ago, ruled all the lands along the Mediterranean, bringing peace after war.
Through his own power, Superman had established a Pax Romana across the seven seas and five continents.
A peace maintained solely by his existence.
"For now, go take care of your people."
Joey waved his hand, dismissing Aquaman. After everything was done, he felt an unexpected emptiness inside.
This world should be grateful to him.
But perhaps… he should also be grateful to this world?
In the world he came from, everything about 'superhero affairs' had been far too grounded in harsh reality. Sudden blows had dragged an unprepared him into a strange, twisted version of a superhero world.
He couldn't bring himself to go along with it, yet he also couldn't fully separate from it, leaving him trapped in a gray, chaotic mire.
But in this world, Joey had stopped an apocalyptic war between two demigod races, pulling a doomed world back onto the right track.
It proved something to him—
That he could use Superman's power to realize the justice in his heart.
He truly could choose what to do—and what not to do.
Lost in thought, Joey only came back to himself to realize he had unconsciously drifted beyond Earth's atmosphere, nearing Mercury's orbit.
Sometimes, he even wondered if Kryptonians were, in a sense, phototropic beings.
After all, when you can become a god through absorbing sunlight… why not bask in it more?
But when Joey looked back at Earth again, something felt different.
It was a strange feeling with no clear source—but he knew it wasn't baseless.
Like something familiar had changed, yet he couldn't immediately tell what it was.
That subtle sense of dissonance lingered in his mind.
"Yes. Your feeling is correct."
A voice suddenly echoed in Joey's mind.
A golden figure emerged from a tear in space, flying toward the sun. Its words required no medium—they were projected directly into Joey's consciousness:
"You have delayed the fate of this world, which was destined to be destroyed in three days. Because of that, the magic of this planet—once on the verge of depletion—has begun to recover."
A golden cloak concealed its form. Magic obscured its true appearance, making it impossible for Joey to see through.
But the golden helmet on its head, and the Ankh symbol on its chest, revealed its identity—
Doctor Fate.
Its speed surpassed anyone Joey had ever encountered. From deep space beyond the solar system to arriving before him—it took only an instant.
With a simple wave of its hand, space shattered, then reassembled.
In the blink of an eye, time and space shifted, and the two of them were transported from near Mercury's orbit back to Earth.
Doctor Fate spoke to Joey, repeating the very same words Joey had once said to Aquaman and the Atlanteans:
"Kal-El of Krypton… welcome back to this world."