Obviously, Namor is not as confident as he appears. If he were truly a managerial talent, he wouldn't be left without a hero title, and his manpower isn't as abundant as Arthur's, likely leaving many management loopholes.
He hadn't been down for long before coming up cursing, then said, "In a farm deep in the Atlantic, we tested a batch of new feed. This feed makes the fish grow faster and better, and when I was preparing tonight's seafood, I just asked for the largest and best, so they brought those fish from that farm."
"Do you know the composition of the feed?"
Namor shook his head and said, "I have so many farms, how can I keep an eye on them all? Many farms also change feed composition for experiments. If that farm has any special feature, it's that their new feed works really well, the fish grow faster, and the yield is higher."
"Won't they become more aggressive?" Carter asked.
"Come on, they're just fish," Namor said, "Are there really any fish that can resist us?"
Carter couldn't help but smack his forehead, no wonder these Sea Clan didn't notice. For humans, being chased by a two or three meter long fish is quite memorable, but for the Sea Clan, it's no big deal. Their ability is water control, and water is the essence of fish survival. No fish can bare its teeth at them.
"I'm having that feed brought over," Namor said, "You need to investigate properly. I suspect that bastard Aquaman is engaging in unfair competition, poisoning my farm on purpose to ruin my name..."
"We will investigate," Carter said, "Also, we will take tonight's seafood for testing. If we really detect that special compound, you'd best abandon that farm."
"The key is, is this thing truly harmful to humans?" Namor asked, "If there are no side effects, and it makes the fish big and good, what's wrong with using it?"
"A mutant got an upset stomach," Iceman raised his hand to say, "but it was just that one, everyone else is fine, and physical exams found nothing unusual."
"Just because no one's stomach got upset doesn't mean there's no problem," Shiller said, "As a rule, is the fish from that farm usually supplied to New York?"
Namor was stunned, then said, "No, that farm is closer to Europe, generally shipped to Europe, then..."
"So, someone secretly changed the feed on you? After cultivating such fish, they specifically shipped it to New York, not only put in the restaurant kitchen aquariums, but even threw a few into the coastal area, clearly trying to draw the attention of the Rebirth Alliance."
"Damn it," Namor said through gritted teeth, "They are trying to kill me!"
"Yes, think about it, even superheroes who went night fishing almost got attacked by fish. What would happen if ordinary people playing on the sea encountered these aggressive fish? How would the Rebirth Alliance react?"
When encountered that rampaging striped bass on the yacht, Shiller was suspicious. Though Gotham is known for producing oversized aggressive creatures, that should only happen in normal Gotham. Zero Earth's Gotham wasn't supposed to have such fish after merging and pollution control.
Clearly, this wasn't local fish, but likely introduced deliberately.
Selling such fish secretly into restaurant kitchens for profit might make sense, but dumping it into the sea is pure chaos, a complete act of harming others without benefiting oneself. The purpose is likely just to incite unrest.
"It must be that Arthur!" Namor shouted angrily, "He wants to ruin my reputation and make the Rebirth Alliance cause trouble for me! I'm going to find him right now..."
"Hold on," Shiller said, "Although Arthur has sufficient motive and ability, there's one major issue: how will he extract himself when things go wrong?"
"You all trust him," Namor said, "He used to be a superhero and is the leader of Atlantis, the Rebirth Alliance would naturally be more inclined to believe him..."
"What I mean is, how will he prove his fish are problem-free?" Shiller looked at Namor, "In a way, you are all intertwined in success and failure, because you are all Sea Clan, living in Earth's oceans. Humans won't separate you from one another."
"If your fish have a problem, whether due to poisoning or ocean pollution, people won't lean towards distinguishing which brand of Sea Clan fish has a problem. They are more likely to give up all Sea Clan fish, turning back to human farmed ones. By then, even the Atlantis brand won't sell."
Namor's lips moved, but he knew too well, theoretically speaking, this is indeed the case.
Just like when people hear 'genetically modified,' they don't differentiate which kind, they simply won't buy any.
Once these large, good fish nurtured by the Sea Clan are considered to possibly have been induced using harmful compounds, most people won't just avoid the Seven Oceans Brand, but also steer clear of the Atlantis brand. After all, you're all the same kind of people from the same sea, farming similarly, so who's to say all aren't problematic? People would tend to avoid them all.
Therefore, Arthur generating dirty rumors about the Seven Oceans Brand with this method also harms himself without gaining benefits. He can't perfectly remove himself, especially as Namor's biggest competitor, once the Seven Oceans Brand gets into trouble, he is bound to be suspected, with significant suspicion, unable to wholly extricate himself.
"Now, about the compound issue," Shiller said, "a compound that can make fish grow quickly and well, without significant mutations, and won't excessively harm the human body when consumed, requires very professional formulation. Do you think Arthur is capable of this?"
"Maybe he could hire a chemist." Namor was still somewhat skeptical. "Humans have many capable chemists who can do it, and besides him, who else can access the deep-sea farms? It's a place humans can't reach at all..."
"Ordinary people might not be able to, but superpower users might." Shiller said.
"Do you have a suspect?" Namor noticed.
"I think you should investigate how the fish actually get from the farms to the East Coast of the United States. If it's transported by the Sea Clan, there should be some traces, right?"
Namor showed a pensive expression and said, "The ocean isn't as simple as it appears to humans. In the eyes of the Sea Clan, there are paths in the sea, which you might call ocean currents or something else. We use the flow of seawater to travel, which is time-saving and labor-efficient."
"From the farm to the East Coast of the United States, there's no existing sea route. If it's the Sea Clan, they would likely opt to open a path themselves so that the fish can swim quickly. Opening a sea route would leave magic traces in the water... I'll go check now."
After saying this, Namor left with his subordinates, and the seafood was taken away by Carter for inspection.
This small episode did not affect the atmosphere of the party, but it did bring about some special discussions.
Sif sat in her seat holding a wine glass, looking at Shiller and asked, "Who do you suspect?"
Shiller smiled but said nothing, taking a sip from his glass.
Then they went to the bonfire to tell ghost stories, with the young people shouting and making noise until midnight. They were not supposed to drink, but that didn't stop The Flash and Quicksilver. The two sneaked to the bar several times, mixing juice with wine, and wine with juice, until no one knew what was in whose hand. Even Shark Dog Jeff ended up blowing bubbles, and almost everyone was out of commission.
Agents of the Rebirth Alliance carried them back one by one, and the Divine King couple drank a bit too but weren't affected much, helping to carry them back to their rooms as well.
In their hotel room, Thor looked at Sif and said, "Won't you change clothes?"
"There's still an event tonight." Sif sighed and said, "Your brother in this cosmos is especially unreliable. For the sake of your reputation, I'm afraid I must do something."
Thor stretched out his hand, and Mjölnir flew into it. He handed the hammer to Sif and said, "Take this. It'll make him remember to give you more respect."
"I'm not going to deal with him," Sif said, but still took the hammer and flew out the window.
Sif received a string of addresses from Shiller, which was Jane Foster's house. Sif wasn't entirely sure about her image compared to this universe's, but she certainly knew all that Sif should know, so it shouldn't be a problem.
To avoid scaring anyone, Sif put away her weapons first, including her sword and Mjölnir, tidied her hair to look amiable, and then went to the front door.
It was already very late, and the Foster family was asleep. Sif circled the house, intending to find Jane Foster's bedroom and wake her up quietly to chat without alerting anyone.
Sadly, plans often don't keep pace with changes. Just as she found Foster's bedroom, she saw a man walking out of the house. This man clearly wasn't a stranger, more likely the man of the house.
He answered a phone call, seemingly discussing work issues. Sif listened for a while but couldn't make anything out. However, she noticed someone sneaking over the yard wall, entering the house through the door the man had left open.
Sif swiftly followed them in, only to find the group rushing into Foster's bedroom, holding something and about to stab it into Foster's chest.
Sif, quick on her feet, kicked the person away. The scream they let out awakened Foster, who was in bed, shocked and confused by everything.
Although the person was kicked away by Sif, the item he was holding fell onto Foster's chest. She emitted a painful moan as she sat up, then fell back down, clutching her head.
Sif quickly rushed to hold her, noticing the crystal on Foster's chest emitting an unknown radiation. Instinctively, she wanted to remove it, but a light beam struck her away.
As Sif turned her head, she saw Loki emerging from the shadows.
The black-haired young man twirled his magic wand and said, "What a coincidence, my brother's esteemed wife. Have you finally decided to leave my foolish brother and fly off with his ex-girlfriend?"