Chapter 175 The Lord of the Seven Seas and the Overlord of Europe
Diana had a dream.
In her dream, she lay on a throne of black stone, with an abyss rolling like oil below her.
Countless people wrapped in black mud crawled out of the abyss, climbed up the steps of Diana's throne, and left behind black handprints.
They climbed up, reaching out their hands, trying to grab Diana's white ankles, pull her down from the throne, and sink together.
Diana hugged her shoulders and curled herself up helplessly.
Seeing those people getting closer and closer.
slam-la-
Suddenly, a large group of bats flew out from behind the throne. They spread their black wings and formed a black cloud, blocking Diana like the queen's loyal guards.
Diana heard a faint whisper.
"Goddess——"
She turned her head and saw that several people were already kneeling devoutly under the throne.
Some of them wore crowns made of mud on their heads, some wore medals dripping with black oil, and they were all praying to the goddess.
"Great goddess, I make a wish to you!"
The leaders of the mud said together, "I yearn for peace, but war is coming. Please give me great power to win this war and protect our people!"
Diana nodded: "Protecting the people and yearning for peace are very reasonable wishes. So, what kind of power do you want?"
Then she heard the men begin to say—
"My country was founded on the ocean, and I hope to gain more favor from the land!"
"My country is invincible in land warfare. I hope to have the power to conquer the world!"
"My country is just rising, and I hope to have a strong iron fist!"
"My country..."
One wish after another entered Diana's ears, but she didn't think there was anything strange in her dream.
These forces are indeed necessary to protect peace.
Diana said, "I grant your wish!"
There was an immediate roar and those who had been trying to climb onto the throne stopped their actions.
Then Diana woke up from her dream.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the ceiling of the hotel. There was still the rustling whispering in her ears, but it no longer gave her a headache.
"Bruce?"
After Diana got up, she began to look for Batboy.
When she opened the door, she found Bruce sitting in front of her door, sleeping with his head tilted.
Apparently what he said last night, "I'm just outside the door," was not empty talk.
The slight worry in Diana's heart completely disappeared. Bruce kept his promise and proved his character.
"Bruce!"
Diana squatted down and patted Bruce awake.
Batboy opened his eyes dazedly and saw Diana's clear and innocent eyes.
"Are you awake?" Bruce said vaguely, "Does your head still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore."
Diana shook her head and said, "Do you want to go back to your room and get some more sleep?"
"No need! I'll just take a shower!"
After taking a nap while squatting outside, the only thing Bruce felt when he woke up was that he was extremely cold.
Especially in the UK, even in July, the temperature is only around 10 degrees at night.
Bruce went back to his room and took a hot bath. When he came out, Diana had already changed her clothes.
Out of the aesthetic taste of a female warrior, Diana prefers windbreakers and trousers, with black and gray as the main colors.
Bruce thought this was a good choice. The black and gray colors were stain-resistant and would be convenient for attending funerals during wartime.
He and Diana went downstairs to have some breakfast. The pub downstairs also provided breakfast service during the day, and they didn't want to miss out on any money they could make.
English breakfast is usually the classic coffee, toast, bacon and boiled eggs.
What Bruce ate at Hogwarts was already considered very sumptuous.
Diana is not very picky about food, but she has a big appetite. When Bruce just finished a piece of bread, Diana has already eaten the third piece.
"I had a dream last night."
She suddenly said, "I dreamed that a group of strange people were worshiping me, talking about wishes and dreams and so on."
Bruce paused in buttering his bread.
"desire?"
He asked, "Can you tell me more about this?"
Bruce has been observing Diana since morning. His meeting with Ares last night is still vivid in his mind. The power he bestowed on Diana was not fake.
Katum had already explained to him the origin of the yellow crystal.
"Doros Mendachius, the god of trickery, is the one who created this mysterious topaz."
The owl said at the time, "So, maybe Ares got this crystal from another god, just to give Diana a surprise."
Whatever the circumstances, he did it.
Diana has become a universal wish-granting machine.
A wishing machine with a trick, of course.
Now Diana said that someone made a wish to her in her dream, which naturally attracted Bruce's attention.
By the time she told him all the details of her dream, Bruce's heart was finally at peace.
"You granted their wishes..."
Bruce murmured, "Katum really said it..."
Katum said that this desire for power would be fulfilled in a distorted way.
The most likely way is to summon a group of heroes or villains from the DC universe to fight for this war!
There is no need to worry about characters from other universes appearing.
The power of an old god cannot reach this level.
"Those people formed by the black mud should be the incarnations of the leaders of the countries that are about to join the war, or at least the incarnations of the military!"
Bruce wondered, "Does every country summon heroes who are loyal to them? Or villains?"
"what happened to you?"
Diana asked confusedly when she saw Bruce's look.
It's just a dream, why should you be so cautious?
"Ugh!"
Bruce sighed heavily, "Diana, don't be afraid of what I'm about to tell you!"
"Afraid?" Diana shook her head and said, "Amazons have many weaknesses, but fear is definitely not one of them."
"That's good."
Bruce nodded, and then he told Diana the power of the mysterious topaz.
Diana was still eating and listening, until she heard that she had the ability to fulfill anyone's wish. She finally forgot to close her open mouth and put the toast next to her mouth, but she was reluctant to take a bite.
"Bruce, I, I don't know what to say, your story is ridiculous!"
Diana didn't believe it at all. She thought that fulfilling wishes was just another conspiracy of Ares.
To prove her point, she simply grabbed a waiter who passed by her.
The waiter, who looked smaller than Bruce, was suddenly grabbed by someone and looked terrified.
"Don't be afraid, kid!"
Diana calmed him down first, then said, "Tell me, what is your wish?"
"Wish?"
"Yes, or you can call it a dream!" Diana said, "Let me try to help you realize it."
The waiter immediately looked as if he had seen a ghost.
He felt like he had met a lunatic today and just wanted to get rid of Diana as soon as possible.
"As for my wish, I just want a bigger tip, ten pounds would be best!" the waiter stammered.
This was the greatest wealth he could imagine himself having.
"Okay, I grant your wish!"
Diana nodded immediately and released her grip on the waiter's arm.
The other party immediately ran away.
"You scared him." Bruce said beside him.
"He doesn't have the courage of a warrior." Diana said, "Didn't you say that I can fulfill other people's wishes? Then we will see what happens next."
Ten pounds was not a small sum of money before Germany started frantically counterfeiting pounds during World War I.
The purchasing power is equivalent to 500 US dollars in the 21st century.
For an ordinary waiter, this is a huge sum of money.
Diana did this experiment essentially to prove that she had no ability to fulfill her wishes.
But what happened next became complete evidence to the contrary.
After escaping from Diana's clutches, the waiter continued to devote himself to his work.
Suddenly, a well-dressed gentleman entered the tavern, followed by a beautiful lady.
The gentleman looked around and saw the waiter, and his eyes immediately lit up.
"Finally found you, boy!"
A gentleman came forward and approached the waiter.
This situation made the waiter recall the bad things he had done in his life and start to repent.
But the gentleman's words dispelled his worries. "I don't know if you still remember me. One day ago, you found my wallet and returned it to me. There was not a penny left in it!"
The waiter's frightened expression suddenly disappeared as he remembered this incident.
"Integrity and honesty are extremely valuable qualities." The gentleman said, "You found the wallet but didn't steal it. This behavior deserves praise!"
After that, he took out a ten-pound note and stuffed it into the waiter's hand.
The seated statue of the goddess Britannia on the banknote looks particularly dazzling at this time.
The lady following the gentleman couldn't help but smile and said, "You are such a generous gentleman."
"Always like this!"
The gentleman immediately held his head high and said, "If you get to know me better, you will find that I have many more valuable qualities. Come on, let's go to the Savoy Theatre and I will tell you my story!"
The two walked away arm in arm.
The people in the pub saw all this happening, and the waiter was ecstatic with ten pounds in his hand!
Diana was also stunned.
She had just been discussing with the waiter the wish for ten pounds.
But in the blink of an eye, the wish became reality!
"Bruce, I..."
Diana was trembling all over. If she could really fulfill everyone's wishes, one can imagine what a wonderful world she could create!
Then, Bruce interrupted her.
"Don't be impatient." Batboy said, "Let's see what happens next."
Fulfilling wishes has a price.
Now that the waiter has got the ten pounds he had dreamed of, the next thing he is going to lose is the most important thing.
Sure enough, not long after the waiter received the ten-pound tip, the owner of the hotel appeared in the lobby with a smile on his face.
"Congratulations, Charlie."
The boss said, "It's great to get such a big tip. The hotel will not forget your contribution!"
"Contribution?" Charlie, the waiter, was dumbfounded. He kept explaining, "No, this is not, this is a reward given to me by that gentleman!"
“But this is not a small amount.”
The boss's eyes turned cold and hard, "Charlie, I gave you the opportunity to work, and all your income during your work was determined beforehand!"
Two shillings a week was already a very good salary.
"No, you can't!"
The waiter kept begging, but the boss didn't leave any room for negotiation.
"Either you hand over the money or get out of here. Think about it carefully!"
After hearing this, Diana could no longer bear it.
She wanted to stand up and seek justice for the poor waiter, but Bruce grabbed her hand.
"Don't be in a hurry, wait and see what happens next!"
Ten pounds was just a small amount of money that slipped through Bruce's fingers.
He only needed to make a slight move to solve the waiter's current predicament.
But now that the experiment has begun, don't interfere.
At this point, the waiter had made his decision. He clenched the pounds in his hand and chose to give up the job.
"Thank you for your care during this time," Charlie said, "but I can't hand over the money."
Ten pounds was equivalent to his salary for two years.
"Then get out of here!" the boss said angrily.
Bruce saw this scene and he knew very well that if the boss really wanted to get the money, there were plenty of ways.
But he used none of them.
“It doesn’t seem like an equal exchange.”
Bruce thought, "If the price of losing a job is to gain two years' income on the spot, it won't be so unacceptable."
"You can't say that."
Katoom appeared on Bruce's shoulder like magic, and no one knew where he had been before.
"There will be a war soon, the pound will start to depreciate, and supplies will be in short supply. In this situation, a stable job will be much more valuable.
"Besides, I have to say that this kid named Charlie may not be able to keep the money."
Maybe it will be snatched away cleanly in a short time.
"Too."
Bruce stood up and started doing what he was supposed to do.
No matter what, it was Diana who started the experiment, and Bruce didn't want any tragedy to happen because of it.
He called the waiter back, paid the boss ten pounds out of his own pocket, and told him to pretend nothing had happened.
"It's no use," said Katum. "Even if you give him the ten pounds, the boss won't give up the money in Charlie's hand."
No one thinks too much money.
The best way to deal with it is to give the boss ten pounds and then have someone else snatch Charlie's money in front of the boss.
Then find a deserted corner and return the money to Charlie without letting anyone know.
In this way, the boss vented his anger, Charlie made money, and the conflict was not so intense.
Using this method, it seems like going in a big circle, but it does not change the facts at all. The money in the hands of the two people has not increased or decreased.
But it eliminates potential contradictions and conflicts.
Often the shortest shortcut is to take a detour.
"I know what you mean." Bruce said, "But I'm a good person and I don't steal money. Stealing money should be the job of a certain owl."
What's more, he gave the ten pounds to Diana to see.
At this moment, Miss Wonder Woman has fallen into great confusion.
She couldn't understand why the waiter lost his job even though he was rewarded for his character, since all human beings are kind.
And she also knew that Bruce was paying out of his own pocket to help her solve bigger problems that might arise in the future.
"Thank you Bruce..."
Diana whispered. With her little brain, she couldn't figure out what would happen next, but she knew it was definitely not a good thing.
“These are all small matters.”
Bruce did not hide anything and told her what he was going to do next.
Diana didn't understand why it was so troublesome.
"We are all just passers-by after all, but they still have to live here. You can only try your best to make things satisfy everyone."
Bruce shook his head and said, "As for the ten pounds I paid, that's just small change, don't worry about it."
"Bruce..."
Diana really felt guilty at this time, "I spent so much money on you... Don't worry, I will work hard to pay you back in the future!"
"Really!" Bruce waved his hands to refuse.
But Diana was very persistent. She held Bruce's hand tightly and promised him solemnly.
I will definitely pay back what I owe him!
At this moment, Bruce had only one thought.
It was ten pounds well spent.
"Okay, let's talk about this later."
Bruce pulled his hand back and said, "The biggest problem now is you. You really have the ability to make wishes come true!"
And in Diana's dream, even more terrible wishes were promised.
She promised a bunch of unidentified people the power to win the war!
"In fact, it is not that difficult to know the identities of these people."
Bruce began to analyze, "If I'm not mistaken, those people should be the emperors or leaders of a certain country. After receiving guidance from the God of War, they came to make a wish to you.
"Now, we just need to pay attention to the changes in the armaments of various countries, maybe..."
Before he could finish his words, the cries of a newsboy suddenly rang out outside the inn.
"Extra number! Extra number!"
Newsboys holding newspapers shouted on the roadside, "France has discovered underwater people and has reached a military alliance with them!"
what! ?
Even Bruce was a little confused now.
They didn't even hide such important news?
He quickly went out and bought a newspaper. When he opened it, a headline jumped directly into his eyes.
"The Atlantis civilization emerges, the Lord of the Seven Seas forms an alliance with the Overlord of Europe!"
Lord of the Seven Seas?
Before Bruce could read the rest of the story, Katoom jumped onto his shoulders.
"Oh, that's good!"
The owl said, "I've let you insult the Sea King every day, and now the real culprit is here!"
"Shut up!"
Bruce interrupted Katum's sarcasm and began to read the news.
"Atlantis civilization... Queen of the Sea... France's plan to dominate the world..."
At this moment, there was only one sentence left in Bruce's mind.
That was what Diana had told him, a wish made to her by a leader.
"My country is invincible in land warfare. I hope to have the power to conquer the world!"
“Is this how it’s done?”
Bruce muttered, and then he felt a little confused.
Who is the Queen of the Sea?
Isn't it Aquaman?
(End of this chapter)
