January 21, 2004 — 11:40 a.m.
Seated upon his throne and gripping the Trident of Poseidon, Orm suddenly opened his eyes.
The deep sapphire blue of his pupils instantly shifted to a brilliant gold, as the trident erupted with blinding golden light.
The radiance was so dense it resembled liquid, wrapping around Orm's entire body.
The Atlanteans standing by immediately dropped to one knee in unison, kneeling toward their king.
The golden glow persisted for a full ten minutes before slowly fading away, revealing Orm clad in golden scale armor across his torso, with his arms and legs encased in green bio-armor.
Orm closed his eyes, feeling the surging power coursing through his body, then drew in a deep breath.
Clang!
The trident struck against the deck behind him. Orm raised it forward and shouted:
"Full-scale assault!"
The Atlantean soldiers rose to their feet, saluted in perfect synchronization, and advanced toward the ruins of Gotham.
This moment was instantly captured by satellites and military drones. Humanity now knew—the sea-dwellers had begun their final offensive.
More than one hundred thousand troops surged into Gotham.
Orm stood atop a manta craft, slowly advancing from the air.
Three super sea-snails followed close at his sides, their energy beams effortlessly slicing through and leveling the ruined city ahead.
---
As the vanguard crossed into a new sector, sudden explosions erupted beneath their feet.
Though weaker than missile strikes, the blasts rivaled high-explosive grenades.
More importantly, they detonated in rapid succession—like firecrackers—completely disrupting a formation of several hundred Atlantean soldiers.
The damage was limited, but their formation was utterly shattered.
"Now!"
A black-haired woman shouted into her microphone from atop nearby ruins.
At once, objects flew out from the rubble on both sides of the road.
High-density metal javelins.
Razor-sharp boomerangs.
And the deafening crack of gunfire.
Armor that normal bullets couldn't even scratch was effortlessly pierced by javelins vibrating at extreme frequencies—some strikes skewering two Atlantean soldiers at once.
The spinning boomerangs glowed red-hot mid-flight, slicing through bodies like tofu and severing soldiers clean in half.
More javelins and boomerangs followed.
The bullets were no ordinary rounds either—they were magnetically enhanced alloy projectiles, targeting armor joints and visor weak points with deadly precision.
Once their faceplates shattered, Atlantean soldiers struggled to breathe, their combat effectiveness plummeting instantly.
---
Moments later, more than a dozen figures burst out from the shadows of the ruins.
At the front, several figures radiated ferocious momentum—like a charging army.
A muscular man wearing a lifelike tiger mask let out a thunderous roar and plunged into the chaos.
With a single step, Bronze Tiger drove his fist into an Atlantean's visor. Four razor-sharp superalloy claws shot out from his knuckles, plunging straight through the helmet.
As he withdrew his hand, blood sprayed everywhere.
Whenever an Atlantean tried to counterattack, Bronze Tiger ducked low, weaving and dodging with simian agility.
His palms struck like industrial cutters, crippling arms and legs and further eroding their combat strength.
---
On the other side, a behemoth nearly 2.3 meters tall and weighing close to 300 kilograms—Groundbreaker—charged forward like a human tank.
Atlanteans flew backward like bowling pins upon impact.
Weapons fired at him, but plasma cannon blasts were absorbed by the semi-transparent, plastic-like armor covering his body.
Red energy lines lit up across his armor.
The next instant, he roared and slammed both fists into the ground.
A massive shockwave erupted.
The earth trembled violently, spiderweb cracks spreading outward as nearby Atlantean soldiers were lifted half a meter into the air.
Grabbing two enemies by their legs, Groundbreaker swung them like weapons, smashing others aside.
Each impact fed more stored energy back into his armor.
With Bronze Tiger and Groundbreaker leading the charge, the remaining squad surged forward like wolves among sheep.
Within moments, the several-hundred-man Atlantean formation was utterly annihilated.
Fewer than one in ten remained standing.
---
"Retreat—now!" the woman shouted urgently.
But intoxicated by slaughter after years of imprisonment, Bronze Tiger, Groundbreaker, and others failed to heed the warning.
Humm—!
Plasma beams descended from the sky, instantly striking five humans and seven Atlanteans.
The five humans were pierced clean through and vaporized before they could even scream.
Cold fear surged through the remaining squad members.
Without hesitation, they scattered in all directions.
The next wave of plasma beams obliterated the area they had occupied moments earlier, melting the ground into smoldering craters.
Two more humans failed to escape in time and were erased from existence.
At that point, every surviving member ran with everything they had.
---
As the jellyfish turrets locked onto their movement paths and prepared to fire—
Missiles streaked down from the sky, trailing flames.
The turrets fired energy beams to intercept, but the missiles detonated midair, releasing vast clouds of white smoke.
A massive white barrier filled the sky.
When energy beams struck the smoke, severe interference disrupted targeting systems.
That brief delay allowed the remaining squad members to escape.
Then—
A red-and-gold armored figure burst through the smoke.
Panels on the armor unfolded as thousands of finger-sized micro-missiles launched in a single volley.
Trailing brilliant exhaust, they rained down toward the Atlantean forces below.
_____
T/N:
For readers who would like early access, my Patreon is available for just $4 per month. You'll unlock 80+ advance chapters and help support ongoing works.
🔗 patreon.com/user?u=79514336
You may also search Translator-Sama directly on Patreon.
Your support is sincerely appreciated