“Don’t look at me.”
Kathoom perched on Bruce’s shoulder, shrugging. “Too many Queens of the Sea out there. I’ve got no idea which one this is.”
Of the ones he knew, there were at least four.
Mera from Earth-2, the unnamed Queen of the Sea from Earth-11, Lorena Marquez of Tomorrow Titans…
And the Queen of the Sea from Earth Minus-11, who had been slain by the vengeful specter of Brucie after drowning.
Who knew which one it was?
“We need more clues!”
After skimming the newspaper, Bruce crumpled it in frustration. “The reports are too vague—there’s no way to determine anything!”
On the brink of war, the alliance between France and Atlantis was bad news, to say the least.
Worse still, there were other nations, possibly gaining extraordinary powers in secret.
World War I was a war of imperialistic competition, devoid of justice, and Bruce had no desire to see its intensity escalate, leading to greater civilian casualties.
“We could’ve stopped this from happening in the first place.”
Bruce spoke up. “If we’d explained things to Diana earlier—even in a dream—not to agree to anyone’s wish so easily…”
“It wouldn’t have worked.”
Kathoom interrupted. “Never mind whether Diana back then would’ve listened to you. Besides, if you’d tried, I would’ve stopped you.”
“Why?” Bruce frowned in confusion.
“Because stopping World War I isn’t our goal. It’s inevitable.”
Kathoom said with conviction. “Our goal is to win Diana’s heart!”
If the war got bloodier, the shadow of its devastation might embed itself so deeply in people’s hearts that it could even prevent World War II from happening.
“You know Diana’s personality—headstrong, impulsive. She won’t stop until she hits the wall. You lecturing her won’t work.”
Kathoom continued, “Someone once said, when working with the masses, if they don’t understand or follow you, then you follow them.”
“When they fall into a ditch, you jump in with them. Once they realize their mistake, they’ll naturally be willing to follow you again.”
“It’s the same with winning Diana’s heart. If she makes mistakes, let her. Stop acting like a nagging father, constantly lecturing her. Stay by her side and make the mistakes with her.”
“When she realizes her errors, you correct them together. That’s the proper way to win her over.”
“Of course, Bruce, I know your inexplicable moral compass won’t let you do that.”
“That’s why, from the start, I’ve decided to play the bad guy myself.”
Bruce struggled to comprehend Kathoom’s barrage of reasoning.
Finally, he couldn’t help but ask, “Who told you all this?”
“I’m not telling.” Kathoom shook his head. “Anyway, right now, you and Diana have more pressing matters to handle.”
There was too much to figure out.
Who was the Queen of the Sea that allied with France?
Which remaining nations had made wishes, and what kind of powers would they gain?
For instance—
Kathoom remembered Diana describing a wish someone had made in a dream:
“My country’s power lies in the sea. I wish for more favor from the earth!”
From that description, it sounded a lot like Britain.
Though it could also be Spain or Venice, Italy.
But regardless, “favor from the earth”? What kind of power did that entail?
—
Bruce returned to their lodging and handed the newspaper to Diana. After reading it, she immediately grasped the severity of the situation.
“Atlantis has joined the war? Why?”
Her voice trembled with disbelief. “Is it because of me…?”
Diana was no stranger to the underwater kingdom.
The Amazons and Atlanteans were both hidden races that had lived on Earth for thousands of years.
They had clashed and cooperated, but without exception, they kept their distance from humanity.
Now, because of humanity’s war, Atlantis had revealed itself. It made no sense.
The only explanation was the wish Diana had granted!
“They told me it was to safeguard peace and protect civilians!”
Diana was stunned. “But this newspaper says…”
It said France and Atlantis would form an alliance to destroy the evil nations threatening peace.
Destroy…
The declaration was framed as a call for peace, but Diana detected an unmistakable tone of flaunting power.
She might be idealistic, but she wasn’t naïve. In her five thousand years of life, she had seen humanity’s history of war.
At first, Diana had thought humanity’s corruption stemmed from Ares’ influence.
But now, it was Diana herself who had fulfilled their desires.
“Am I the root cause of their deeper corruption?” The realization struck her with overwhelming terror.
“It’s not your fault, Diana!”
Bruce quickly reassured her. “This ability was forced upon you by Ares—it’s not your doing!”
Everything was Ares’ fault!
“But—”
Diana tried to argue, but Bruce cut her off, saying firmly, “And even if mistakes were made, so what? We’ll fix them!”
So there were more superpowered heroes or villains now.
At the end of the day, they were created or summoned by the mysterious yellow crystal—a relic of the Trickster God.
Its power couldn’t possibly exceed that of the Old Gods.
As Kathoom had previously assured them, the yellow crystal couldn’t summon beings like Darkseid.
That was well beyond its scope.
Given that, Bruce was confident he and Diana could take on whoever these new beings were.
“Diana, listen to me. Making mistakes isn’t scary!”
Bruce locked eyes with Wonder Woman, speaking with unshakable resolve. “I’ll stand by your side and undo every one of these misguided wishes.”
“This isn’t a wish—I’m showing you the future!”
They could do this.
Diana stared at Bruce in a daze, unable to fathom how a boy not yet fourteen could exude such confidence.
As if nothing could ever defeat him.
“Bruce…”
She asked, “What have you been through to become so fearless?”
Bruce chuckled lightly. “You’ll understand when you reach my age!”
—
Diana’s unease gradually subsided.
There was no time to waste—they had to act swiftly.
“We’ll start by investigating the Queen of the Sea!”
Bruce declared. “We need intelligence on France’s upper echelons—how they came into contact with Atlantis, and who the Queen really is!”
“How do we get high-level intelligence?” Diana asked skeptically.
“We’ll have to pull some strings.”
Bruce explained, “Luckily, I know someone in the British government who might help us.”
“You know someone in the British government?”
Diana looked dubious. “Who? We’ve barely been apart since leaving the island.”
Bruce wasn’t British, so if he knew someone, Diana ought to as well.
“Sir Patrick Morgan.”
Bruce didn’t keep her guessing, stating the name outright.
Seeing Diana’s confusion, he elaborated, “Of course, you know him too. He’s Ares.”
Ares?!
Diana was on the verge of losing it. What kind of harebrained idea was this?
Ares was the one who had put them in this mess, and now they were going to him for help?
“Relax.”
Bruce shook his head. “Ares cares about you, which means we can turn that to our advantage.”
“Trust me, nothing unsettles a villain more than a hero asking for their help!”
—
Half a day later, two unexpected visitors arrived at Morgan Manor on the outskirts of London.
Sir Patrick Morgan—or rather, Ares—stood at the doorway, perplexed by the sight of his visitors.
Diana looked disheveled, leaning on Bruce for support as they approached the manor.
Bruce’s face bore an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry.”
His voice was weak. “But at this moment, we couldn’t think of anyone else to turn to.”
As he spoke, Bruce sighed inwardly.
What a shame.
This move was meant for Gotham, to deal with the Joker.
—
This is a fan translation of 蝙蝠侠的猫头鹰教父 by 巴巴罗萨光年. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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