Inside a busy restaurant near Mercy Reef Harbor, the owner raised her voice toward the kitchen.
"Cindy, the clams for table five still aren't out. Hurry up."
She wiped her hands on her apron and glanced at the growing crowd of customers.
"Move faster, we're getting more and more people coming in."
"Okay, boss!"
Cindy, dressed in her waitress uniform, hurried toward the kitchen while scribbling seafood orders into her small notebook. The lunch rush had already begun, and the narrow restaurant was filling quickly with the smell of salt air and cooked seafood.
Just as she reached the kitchen door, the front door of the restaurant creaked open.
An older regular customer stepped inside and called out loudly.
"Hey everyone, you'll never guess who's here."
The lively chatter in the restaurant immediately quieted. Customers lifted their heads in surprise and turned toward the entrance.
A tall young man with golden hair stepped through the doorway.
He had the kind of physique most men envied, broad shoulders and powerful arms shaped by years of physical labor. His handsome face looked calm at first glance, yet there was a certain pressure in his expression that made people uneasy.
The moment he walked in, the atmosphere of the restaurant changed.
Several customers exchanged nervous glances.
"Why is he here? This is a seafood restaurant."
"I suddenly feel like I'm committing a terrible sin."
"What do we do?"
Whispers spread quietly across the tables.
Everyone in this coastal area knew the young man who had just entered.
Arthur Curry.
He was someone people preferred not to provoke.
Arthur walked calmly to a seat near the window and sat down. His expression remained gloomy as he stared out at the ocean beyond the harbor.
At the table beside him, a young man swallowed nervously.
The restaurant owner leaned close to Cindy and whispered.
"You go see what he wants."
Cindy hesitated. She was slightly afraid of this strange young man, but she still gathered her courage and walked toward him.
Arthur ignored the curious looks around him. After watching the waves outside for a moment, he pulled a book from his coat pocket and began reading.
When Cindy approached, she glanced at the cover.
The title read Cthulhu.
She took a quiet breath.
"Mr. Curry, hello."
Her voice was cautious.
"I'm sorry if I look a bit messy today. I've been working three shifts in a row. I have two kids I need to put through college, so things have been hectic. Sorry, I shouldn't be telling you all this."
Despite her nervousness, Cindy actually liked Arthur Curry.
Arthur worked as the lighthouse keeper nearby. With his strong build and striking appearance, he was fairly well known along the coast.
But his reputation came from more than his looks.
Arthur possessed abilities that many people considered unbelievable.
He could easily defeat several troublemakers in a fight. In the ocean he moved like a creature born to the water. People had even claimed they saw him directing schools of fish as if he were commanding them.
Some locals swore they had seen him talking to fish.
Others insisted they once watched him staring at a lobster in a supermarket tank as if having a conversation with it.
Someone even joked that he once tried to convince an octopus to perform tricks.
Because of stories like these, the locals had given him a nickname.
Aquaman.
The rumors were wild, and not all of them were kind, but Cindy was certain of one thing.
Arthur Curry had a deep connection with marine life.
That was exactly why the customers were so uneasy about his presence in a seafood restaurant.
What if he suddenly looked at the menu and realized all his so called friends were being grilled, boiled, and fried in the kitchen?
If he became angry enough to tear the restaurant apart, everyone inside might end up caught in the chaos.
Fortunately, Arthur behaved completely normally.
Although he seemed somewhat troubled, he still gave Cindy a faint smile.
"It's fine. You look alright," he said calmly. "I'll have fish and chips."
Cindy froze.
"Uh..."
Before she could respond, an older man with a thick beard sitting behind Arthur leaned forward.
"You can't order fish and chips."
Arthur turned to him in confusion.
"Why not?"
The bearded man answered seriously.
"Because you can talk to fish."
Arthur's expression darkened slightly.
"I can't talk to fish."
"Come on, everyone around here knows you control them."
Arthur rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"Fish can't talk. Their brains are too simple for conversation."
Even though he felt irritated, Arthur was still patient enough to explain.
"I can influence them. That's different."
"Influence them how?"
The man seemed determined to keep questioning him.
Arthur sighed.
"I can guide them. Squid, sharks, eels, it doesn't matter."
He paused briefly before adding,
"But dolphins are different."
Before the conversation could continue, another person suddenly sat across from him.
A young man wearing glasses adjusted his bag nervously.
"Mr. Curry, I run a blog. Would you mind if I interviewed you?"
Arthur looked at him blankly.
"I'm about to eat."
"It's only a few questions," the blogger insisted. "Why did you choose this restaurant? Is it because of the decor? Or another reason?"
Arthur thought for a moment.
"My father used to bring me here."
The memory softened his expression slightly.
When he was younger, his father Thomas Curry often brought him to this very restaurant after long days at the lighthouse.
But Thomas Curry had passed away a year earlier.
The blogger continued quickly.
"Are you really Atlantean?"
Arthur shrugged.
"I don't know. My father always told me that was something I needed to figure out for myself."
"Then if Atlantis really exists, what role do you think you would have there?"
Arthur finally grew impatient.
"Buddy, I came here to eat."
He tapped the book beside him as if to emphasize the point.
The blogger sighed and stood up.
"Alright, that's enough questions."
He walked away looking disappointed.
Arthur exhaled slowly as silence returned to his table.
This was the problem he had lived with for years.
He could never clearly define who he was.
Human, or Atlantean.
Before his death, his father had told him to search the ocean himself, to find Atlantis and discover the truth about his mother.
But Arthur had never truly wanted to go looking.
His thoughts drifted as he held the book in his hands.
Suddenly, the television mounted in the corner of the restaurant caught his attention.
A news broadcast was playing.
The screen showed the United States Air Force battling a mysterious alien threat.
A black armored alien streaked through the sky like a missile, tearing fighter jets apart with his bare hands.
Arthur frowned.
"Aliens?"
He muttered the word quietly as Cindy returned with his food.
After thanking her, he began eating while watching the broadcast.
The images stirred a memory.
Years ago, his father had told him a strange family story.
Arthur's great grandfather had also worked as a lighthouse keeper. One night near San Francisco, he claimed to witness a battle unlike anything imaginable.
Massive monsters dozens of meters tall fought against humanoid figures. The conflict triggered earthquakes, set buildings on fire, and unleashed a tsunami that swallowed entire docks.
During the chaos, his great grandfather claimed he heard a name shouted repeatedly.
Homelander.
As Arthur watched the news, the screen showed a man wearing a dark uniform standing outside the Pentagon.
Homelander.
Arthur felt a shock run through him.
Could the figure in his family's old story really be the same person appearing on television now?
It seemed impossible.
That event had supposedly happened nearly a hundred years ago.
No one could remain so young after that much time.
Yet the face on the television looked youthful and unchanged.
Arthur stared at the screen, stunned.
He barely noticed the sashimi sitting untouched beside him.
Without another word, he stood up and walked out of the restaurant.
Outside, the ocean wind blew strongly across the harbor.
Arthur reached into his coat and pulled out the book he always carried.
He stared at the author's name printed on the cover.
Adrian Kent.
For years he had believed the San Francisco story was just a strange family legend.
But now, seeing Homelander appear again in the modern world, he realized it might not have been a legend at all.
His great grandfather had once mentioned hearing a demon shout the name Adrian Kent during that ancient battle.
At first Arthur thought the author of this Cthulhu book simply happened to share the same name.
Now he wasn't so sure.
The man who fought in the San Francisco disaster might have been Homelander.
The alien currently appearing on the news might also be Adrian Kent.
And the writer of this strange book was Adrian Kent as well.
Arthur slowly opened the book.
The first illustration showed a terrifying merman with cracked, slimy skin and monstrous features.
The second page depicted a gigantic creature sleeping in the deep ocean darkness.
In the corner of the page was a single word.
Atlantis.
Arthur stared at it for several seconds.
Then his mind settled on a decision.
He would fulfill his father's final wish.
He would search for Atlantis.
And the biggest clue in this mystery might be the man currently drawing the attention of the entire country.
Homelander, Adrian Kent.
Arthur closed the book and slipped it into his coat.
Then he began walking toward the highway.
His destination was clear.
Metropolis.
Despite the ongoing alien crisis, Arthur felt no fear. His abilities were far beyond those of ordinary people.
At this moment, he had completely forgotten the warning his father once gave him.
Never reveal your abilities unless absolutely necessary.
The curiosity burning inside Arthur had already taken control.
The unknown mysteries of this world were calling to him.
And he had finally decided to answer.
___
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