At the same time, Barry, Superman, and Mera's team arrived at the other side of Earth.
Sahara Desert.
"It's around here." Mera pointed at a basin in front of them and said to Superman.
A long time ago, she had come here with Arthur, the ruins of Ancient Atlantis are just hundred kilometers away.
"Why is Aryan's tomb in the desert? Glug."
With half of his face turned into a Fish-Man, Barry raised the question, aren't the Atlanteans supposed to be underwater?
It's actually not the case, Ancient Atlantis was not an underwater kingdom, it became so only after encountering extraterrestrial beings.
And the old tombs, or kingdom ruins, are sparsely distributed under the yellow sand here.
"Arthur asked this kind of question before as well, but I don't have time to answer now." Mera wasn't in a great mood, and time was pressing.
Anyway, it's right under the sand, what's worth asking, the Divine Horn brought them here!
Superman, at this moment, tore a small piece of cloth to cover his blind eye, using the good one to inspect what's beneath the dunes.
A huge temple, or rather a relic, lies beneath the yellow sand.
"There's indeed something down there, Barry."
Superman's superpowers had not recovered; the contaminated water was still flowing around within him, with the energy preserved in his cells now, he's barely stronger than Mera.
He used to be able to blow away the desert in one breath, but not anymore.
Still have to rely on The Flash.
Barry observed the surroundings, determined an approximate range, knowing that now only he could do it.
Although his transformation into Fish-Man would surely accelerate, there was no other choice now.
"Give me a few seconds."
As he spoke, he signaled Superman and Mera to step back and began sprinting around the target at high speed, causing a tornado.
Like a giant vacuum cleaner, sucking the sand directly into the troposphere.
Then he stopped, appearing beside Superman, gasping.
"Barry, are you alright?" Superman noticed the area of fish transformation on Barry's face had increased significantly.
Barry was exhausted, and he could no longer maintain Static Force well.
"I quite like being human, so before I turn into a fish, let's hurry down and take a look."
What appeared before them was a gorge in a cliff, rugged rocks, deathly silence.
Severely weathered ancient relics, the vaguely recognizable Atlantis statues still in their original positions.
Fortunately, this is the world's largest desert, and the seawater hasn't completely filled the underground world here yet, plus there's still the protective array from back then, the tomb is well-preserved.
"Let's go, we'll head down."
Mera was the most anxious, using hard water to carry them down from the cliff to the valley floor.
Though buried for tens of thousands of years, the bricks on the ground were all gold-plated, now shining brightly.
Back then in Atlantis, it was incredibly powerful and prosperous, but now, the building materials in Poseidonis are only coral and stone.
Barry somehow found a piece of dead wood, crafting a crude torch, he and Mera needed illumination to see inside the tomb.
But half of his Fish-Man transformed body was beginning to subtly resist his control.
Barry felt necessary to state something.
"Superman, if I fully turn into a Fish-Man, kill me before that happens."
Divine Speed is too dangerous, and superhero Fish-Men could still use their powers, that'd be the greatest calamity.
Other Speedsters aren't a concern, even though Wally is slightly faster than Barry, there's a fundamental difference.
Wally accelerates using Divine Speed, he's a user of Divine Speed.
But Barry, each step he takes generates Divine Speed, he's a creator of Divine Speed.
If he were completely controlled by the enemy, the consequences would be unimaginable, even another Flashpoint event would be minor.
And it wouldn't take Luthor's effort, the cosmos would immediately reboot through destruction.
If Barry requested something else, Clark could do it for him, but killing...
"No, Barry, don't give up, there's still hope."
Superman appeared troubled, reluctant to look at Barry's face now, the half Fish-Man features revealing the harsh reality.
He chose a kind lie to keep Barry persistent.
But using Divine Speed, or Static Force, are powers originating from Barry himself, he's well aware of his physical situation.
He was doomed.
And if Superman wouldn't agree to this, he couldn't leave them in peace, or else they'd be the culprits of world destruction.
As he held up the torch, planning to argue further with Superman, Mera walking at the front suddenly spoke up.
"Not good, the tomb has been opened, someone came before us."
Superman took a glance; the interior of the structure was invisible due to its magic protection, but indeed seemed as Mera suggested.
The gigantic stone door, towering at seven or eight meters high, opened just a crack, and a series of indistinct footprints seemed engraved on the stone platform, stretching into the tomb.
"This is impossible; I didn't see anyone. I just dug this out from underground," Barry said, his face full of puzzlement, momentarily forgetting about asking Superman to kill him.
The mystery before him was beyond his understanding.
This is the common trait of scientists; when faced with the unknown, they're always compelled to study it.
"Let's go in quickly; inside is said to be Atlantis's most powerful weapon." Mera hastily squeezed through the gap in the door, which was wide enough for three people to walk side by side.
In the cold and dry tomb, the murals on the walls were well-preserved, depicting the history of Aryan from that era.
But this history was entirely different from what Mera knew.
Aryan was not a hero; he and Poseidon initiated the war on their own.
When the alien sea gods came to Earth with goodwill, Earth's aquatic race ambushed them with a black liquid.
Poseidon had given this liquid to Aryan, who then placed it in a seashell and blew it towards the alien sea gods.
The sea gods didn't die but were imprisoned by Poseidon.
Meanwhile, Aryan was poisoned and died like a fool.
The murals faithfully recorded these events, but later Poseidon, to cover up the history, shattered Atlantis with a tsunami and submerged it.
Most fragments fell beneath the sea, while some scattered pieces landed in the desert.
Almost all the insiders perished, and as history evolved, Aryan's story transformed into various versions of fairy tales.
But the true version did not remind people to revere the unknown sea domains but to be wary of the gods' betrayal.
Pandoubtedly, Poseidon used divine power to control Aryan, which led him to act so madly.
Mera looked at the murals on the walls and the ancient Atlantis writings, speechless for a long time.
As the princess of Zebel and later a queen, she had received a very thorough royal education.
Yes, Atlantis was one of the kingdoms that split, a place of exile, the X seas, Zebel.
Her ancestors were all criminals; Zebel was a place of banishment, though the crime committed was unknown. But the number of criminals kept growing.
They even formed a nation, amassed military strength, and rivaled Poseidonis.
The seas of Zebel were very barren, resources scarce, and their customs were fiercer than those of Poseidonis.
Yet they did not partake in battles for hegemony; they couldn't even fill their bellies, so how could they aspire to be the King of the Seven Seas?
When Arthur and Om contested for the throne, Mera's father, the then King of Zebel, bet on both sides, successfully preserving the country almost unharmed.
The other five nations were embroiled in the battle, but at that time, the Zebel "The Expendables," one of the most formidable underwater forces in the DC world, did not even appear on the battlefield.
Arthur's army was pretty much the steadfast allies provided by Idilist.
From Zebel, only two seahorses, some sea creatures, and Mera and her father sided with Arthur.
You can't say they didn't contribute...but how much they contributed, really wasn't much.
In fact, Mera's sister, the current queen of Zebel, Siren, sided with Om...
Otherwise, how would it be called betting on both sides? The old King of Zebel was so astute that no matter if Arthur or Om took the throne, he would always be the Sea King's father-in-law...
However, after Om's defeat and imprisonment, his affair with Siren came to no resolution; Mera married Arthur and became the Sea Queen, later handing Zebel's rule to Siren.
But Siren's feelings towards her sister were envy, jealousy, and resentment. She was the one supposed to marry Arthur, so when she became queen, she immediately declared Mera a traitor of Zebel, wanted nationwide.
'Mera is indulging in wine and delicacies in Poseidonis, leaving Zebel's people to starve on the northwest current!' This notion was popular in Zebel.
So now Mera was effectively barred from returning home, the people of Zebel hated her, and Atlantis's laws forbid aiding Zebel's criminals, so what could be done?
No one wanted to debate with Atlantis's grand judge about the reasonableness of the law, that old man would drown any debater in a stream of verbosity.
However, the writings and glory of Ancient Atlantis still resided in the hearts of those criminals, allowing Mera to understand these texts.
It completely overturned one's worldview.
If the great hero wasn't a hero, then could these criminals of Zebel really be not criminals?
It seems they guessed correctly; their ancestors' crime was 'possibly maybe defying Poseidon'...
.................
Actually, Mera didn't need to explain much; Barry and Superman weren't stupid. Although they couldn't read the text on the mural, who couldn't follow a picture story?
It turned out Poseidon was the root of everything; he sowed the seeds for today's disaster on Earth.
Superman now understood why Diana always looked disgusted at the mention of Olympus, claiming they were more evil and revolting than any villain.
This plan to summon all cosmic aquatic races for a conference and then poison them was too dark.
Superman instinctively loathed such schemes, having naturally no good feelings for the one behind them, and although he used to believe in freedom of religion, supporting anyone's belief in Olympus or other gods...
But when the gods threatened Earth and even the cosmos, Superman had to side with humanity.
As for Olympus, forget it; should Batman ever assign Diana to deal with Olympus troubles again, Clark decided he would stand by Diana's side and support her.
If there would still be a 'next time' for everyone....