The place where Supergirl Kara was imprisoned was in Russia, near the Arctic.
From Gotham to Russia, without suitable transportation, it would be somewhat difficult for Kevin and Mera to reach the icy Arctic.
But this wasn't a big problem.
Before leaving, Kevin, using Batman's hacking system, arranged legal identities for them and 'borrowed' some money from Batman for their travel expenses.
Bruce probably wouldn't mind losing a few hundred thousand dollars from his bank.
Leaving Gotham City, Kevin's initial plan was to fly to Russia, and once there, figure out how to get to the secret base mentioned in the archives.
With the plan set, Kevin spent a day preparing visas for them, bought plane tickets, and then waited in a fast-food restaurant near the airport for the plane to Russia to take off.
After two or three days of traveling on land, Mera, finally relaxed, tasted human fast food for the first time.
"...This thing called...a hamburger, is that meat inside? What kind of meat is this?"
"Beef. You probably haven't had it before."
"I've eaten it raw..."
Mera stared at the hamburger in front of her, unsure how to eat it. She tried to take it apart, to dismantle it, and Kevin quickly stopped her:
"That's not how you eat a hamburger."
Kevin said, picking up a hamburger and putting it directly into his mouth: "See? Just eat it directly, no need to tear it into pieces."
"...What's the red stuff inside?"
"Are you referring to the ketchup or the tomato?"
"Tomato?"
"A kind of fruit. I mean, do you Atlanteans not eat fruit?"
"We do, but fruit doesn't look like this."
Mera looked at the hamburger and said hesitantly.
Because Atlantis is located in the deep sea, very little land food can be transported there. Most land food, once it reaches there, is crushed by the ocean pressure and cannot be preserved for long.
Fruits that can be eaten in the deep sea are mostly very hard, requiring special processing to be edible.
And even so, many are only enjoyed by nobles.
Because only the water magic mastered by nobles can create vacuum areas underwater to enjoy delicacies from land or other places.
Although Mera was a princess, King Xebel's education instilled in her a habit of not being extravagant or wasteful. She rarely enjoyed delicacies like other nobles.
Food, to her, was merely something to satisfy the body's needs and sustain life.
This was also the consensus of most underwater people.
Before, when Kevin was leading Mera, they were in a hurry, so most of the time they ate instant food products from trains or planes, like bread and milk.
Those things didn't taste very good. Although Mera found them edible, she was only marveling at how much land people enjoyed themselves.
But now, tasting fast food firsthand, Mera truly opened the door to a new world.
"!!"
The human world's hamburger was eaten, with the sweetness of the bun, the savory taste of the beef, the sourness of the tomato, and the blend of human world's special seasonings.
All the flavors exploded in Mera's mouth, bringing a soul-stirring enjoyment to her, who had only ever eaten monotonous food.
At that moment, Mera's expression became dazed, as if what she had just eaten was not a hamburger, but some kind of food bomb.
"Why...why is this thing so delicious?!"
"You think simple fast food is delicious? Wait until you taste Chinese, French, and Turkish cuisine, then you'll understand the meaning of 'gourmet food'."
Kevin said with a smile.
Fast food like hamburgers was just food created by humans to quickly satisfy their appetite.
While not unpalatable and quite tasty, compared to a proper meal, it still lacked something.
Now, Mera had only eaten a hamburger and looked like she had lost her soul.
If she were to taste all the delicacies from the world's three great culinary nations, she probably wouldn't want to return to the bottom of the sea for the rest of her life.
"Land people...in terms of eating, are truly...incredible..."
Mera, with a mouth full of red, ate and spoke indistinctly.
Kevin just smiled, watching her, then handed Mera a cola, grinning mischievously:
"Hamburger with cola, that's true earthly enjoyment."
"Cola? Is it alcohol?"
Mera picked up the cola, half-believing, half-doubting, and frowned deeply as she looked at the bubbly liquid inside.
She first took a small, hamster-like lick with the tip of her tongue, testing it. Feeling the bubbles explode in her mouth, her frown deepened.
For a moment, Mera suspected Kevin was playing a trick on her.
But seeing Kevin drink the entire iced cola with a look of enjoyment, Mera understood that this suspicious bubbly liquid might indeed be an extraordinary drink.
She then learned from Kevin and drank it all in one gulp.
And then...
"Cough, cough, cough--!"
Naturally, she choked on the cola.
"Hahahahaha!"
Seeing Mera's disheveled appearance, Kevin couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Mera took a tissue to wipe her mouth and glared fiercely at Kevin. Just as she was about to say something, she heard Kevin say:
"How is it? Although it tastes a bit strange, it's not bad, right?"
"This alcohol is too strange. It seems to have...exploded in my mouth..."
"This isn't alcohol, it's cola."
"Alcohol called 'cola'?"
"...Forget it, believe what you want."
Kevin said to Mera with a chuckle, then ordered two more iced colas and looked at the TV next to them.
He was originally only watching TV to pass the time, but when he saw the content on the screen, Kevin's smile immediately faded, becoming serious.
Noticing Kevin's expression, Mera couldn't help but look at the TV, and then her expression became just like Kevin's.
Even more astonished.
A news flash interrupted the broadcast.
The news reported that a tsunami had suddenly struck a coastal area of San Francisco, causing countless deaths and injuries. An underwater kingdom claiming to be Atlantis came forward, warning human governments to hand over Princess Mera of Xebel as soon as possible.
Otherwise, they would unleash tsunamis on coastal cities periodically.
Upon hearing this news, Kevin was immediately stunned.
Even Mera turned to stare at the TV for a long time, lost in thought.
Neither of them had expected Arthur to actually dare to declare war on the human world.
"Oh no, Arthur is really angry."
Mera, having learned what was happening outside through the news, looked at the broadcast on TV and the photo of her image next to it, and couldn't help but murmur.
"How did he know you were on land?"
Compared to Mera, Kevin was more curious about this.
Things were different now than in the movie. In the movie, Mera had Arthur's help on land, and she also had a tracking device, so it was understandable that the underwater kingdom could find Mera.
But now, in others' eyes, Mera had suddenly used water magic to escape. She had no help, had never been to land, and had no tracking device on her. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to live so peacefully these past few days.
So how could Arthur possibly believe Mera was on land?
"The seabed is Arthur's territory. If I can't be found anywhere in the seabed, then I can only have gone to land."
Mera explained.
Although the seabed is vast, for Atlanteans, the active areas are limited.
Arthur only needed to conduct a carpet search in the areas where the underwater people frequently move to know if Mera remained at the bottom of the sea.
Kevin frowned:
"Even so, Atlantis shouldn't have unified all the underwater kingdoms yet, right? How dare Arthur do this?"
If they hadn't united all the existing underwater nations, Atlantis declaring war on the human world like this could lead to them being attacked from behind.
Especially the most volatile Salty Kingdom, which might launch a war against Atlantis during its conflict with the human kingdoms.
At that point, Atlantis would be fighting on two fronts!
Kevin didn't think Arthur was such an imprudent person.
"What if...Arthur has already unified all the underwater kingdoms?"
Mera suggested.
It had been three days since she left the water and came to the surface.
Three days wasn't a long time, but it was enough for Arthur to do many things.
Moreover, after Mera offered to guard the mother box, she had stopped paying attention to the politics between Atlantis and other nations, and had no idea what Arthur had been doing.
Perhaps he had already made all the preparations, which was why he formally proposed a marriage contract for Princess Mera to the Kingdom of Xebel.
It was just that Mera wasn't aware of it.
If that were truly the case, then Mera's unauthorized escape to land would be a bad thing.
Because she had given Arthur an excuse to attack the land.
Mera stared blankly at the TV, while Kevin, after a long silence, looked at his skill tree.
Seeing the sudden increase in skill points in his skill tree, Kevin was convinced that the reason Arthur launched this war against the surface world was indeed because of him.
It was his taking Mera away that caused Arthur to attack the land so much earlier.
In the movie, Aquaman Arthur did not attack the land. There were many reasons for this, perhaps because he had already married Mera and, under her advice, decided to be cautious for a while.
It was also possible that, having just unified the Seven Seas, he had to deal with internal affairs and didn't have time to launch an attack on the land.
But in any case, it was definitely related to Mera.
Kevin taking Mera away caused a butterfly effect, leading to the Kingdom of Atlantis attacking human coastal cities. Strictly speaking, this was Kevin's fault.
"It seems the plan needs to change..."
When he realized that his arrival had completely altered the Flashpoint World, Kevin no longer intended to proceed slowly according to the original plan.
Yes, even without Kevin, the humans of this world would probably have died under Zod's invasion, or under Arthur's future war against the land.
But Kevin's premature intervention led to the deaths of many people who shouldn't have died at this time, which was something Kevin found somewhat unacceptable.
So, before saving Supergirl, Kevin needed to get the trident first.
Kevin decided to change the plan.
And Mera also decided to change her plan.
She watched the disaster scene reported on TV and stood up, saying to Kevin:
"Sorry, I might not be able to go with you to find the trident anymore."
"Are you planning to go back already?"
"Arthur is looking for me. He probably thinks I'm just hiding on land and doesn't know about your existence, so if I go back, he should..."
"Foolish. You should know very well that you are just an excuse for him to declare war on the human world. Even if you go back, it won't change anything at all."
"..."
How could Mera not understand what Kevin was saying?
She just really didn't want to see a war break out between the human world and Atlantis.
War was a very cruel thing; many, many people would die, both humans and Atlanteans.
Furthermore, once the war developed to an irreversible point, even the high-ranking officials on both sides would not be spared.
Mera's father, King Nereus of Xebel, although a king, given Arthur's disposition, might one day make Mera's father a vanguard general.
If something were to happen to Nereus then...Mera would never forgive herself.
"...I should go back."
Finally, Mera decided to go back.
Kevin narrowed his eyes and watched her for a moment, then said:
"You can go back, but you at least have to take me to the Trench. I don't know the way."
Actually, whether Mera went back or not had nothing to do with Kevin.
Although they had spent two or three days together, they were still wary of each other and had never trusted each other.
But perhaps to prevent Kevin from abandoning her, Mera had never told Kevin the exact location of the Trench.
Without a specific address, Kevin couldn't possibly conduct a carpet search in the ocean.
Using such a clumsy method, even with the help of marine creatures, by the time he found the Trench's address, it would probably be too late.