"Yo, a half-finished product with quite a temper,"
Holding the trident in his hand, Bai Qi could clearly feel it rejecting him, with streaks of blue electricity flickering across its surface.
"Behave yourself."
Bai Qi exerted his strength, and a surge of black energy coursed through him into the trident.
The originally golden trident rapidly changed under the influence of Bai Qi's black energy. Its golden glow was replaced by darkness, and the blue electricity turned dark red.
After being modified by the black energy, the trident became much more compliant. Bai Qi examined it, feeling that something was missing.
"Ah, right, I forgot the finishing touch."
With that, Bai Qi took out a round, red gem and set it at the junction of the trident's three prongs.
Once embedded, the gem seemed to come alive, fusing with the trident to form a fiery red eye.
"That's more like it."
Bai Qi played with the trident for a moment before signaling Afu to bring in the old king.
Bai Qi snapped his fingers lightly, and the crystal encasing the old king shattered. The old king, who had been in a state of suspended animation, awoke.
Seeing the familiar surroundings and the trident in Bai Qi's hand, he flew into a rage. "Damn demon! What have you done to my Golden Trident!?"
Bai Qi toyed with the trident. "You mean this? You must have seen, I completed your unfinished product. But you don't need to thank me, because you're about to become a part of it."
Bai Qi tossed the trident to Afu. "Use this trident to end this feudal kingdom."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Afu's loyalty to Bai Qi was now at 120%. If Bai Qi ordered him to capture and beat his own father, Afu would do so without hesitation, let alone eliminate an old king who had nothing to do with him.
The old king, having just woken from a death-like state, was extremely weak and could barely stand, let alone resist.
The trident pierced the old king's body. The eye-shaped gem embedded in it activated, greedily absorbing his flesh, blood, and what little life energy remained.
Under the trident's absorption, the old king's body shriveled and withered like a sponge losing water, eventually turning into a pile of dust.
"Afu, how does this weapon feel?"
In response to Bai Qi's question, Afu swung it a few times before frowning. "This trident is indeed powerful, but it's too wicked. And I'm not skilled in using tridents. Please take it back, Your Majesty, and find a more suitable owner for it."
Saying that, he presented the trident to Bai Qi with both hands raised above his head.
Since Afu had said so, Bai Qi didn't press the issue. He took the trident back.
Leaving the secret chamber, Bai Qi, trident in hand, ascended above Zebel. He gripped it in one hand, raised it high, and began to chant an incantation.
As Bai Qi chanted, black energy gathered in the trident's eye. When it reached a certain point, it exploded with a *bang!*
Hair-thin tendrils of black energy shot out from the eye, raining down on Zebel and seeping into the corpses of its deceased inhabitants.
Once inside the bodies, the black energy caused them to wither and shrink visibly, turning into dust before the black energy emerged again, returning to the eye.
This was the final contribution of the Zebel people, their remaining flesh and life energy used to complete the trident's transformation.
After absorbing the flesh and energy of all of Zebel, the trident officially became a powerful malevolent artifact.
Bai Qi named it "Sea Fury."
The old king's original design for the trident was based on the Golden Trident of ancient Atlantis, intended to possess great magical power, be indestructible, command sea creatures, and enhance water magic.
The current Sea Fury perfectly inherited all these effects. The difference was that instead of commanding sea creatures, it now controlled them, forcefully subjugating them through black energy and power. Under the enhancement of this black energy, these controlled sea creatures could unleash power far beyond their natural capabilities.
In addition to these inherited abilities, Sea Fury possessed another, even more formidable and heaven-defying power: absorbing flesh and blood to convert it into energy. The majority of this converted energy was stored within Sea Fury, making it more powerful, while a smaller portion was fed back to the wielder, making them stronger.
This meant that as long as the wielder of Sea Fury continuously killed and absorbed large amounts of flesh and energy, they would grow stronger through Sea Fury's feedback, potentially even achieving a monstrous form of immortality.
Just as Bai Qi was holding Sea Fury and contemplating who to entrust it to for maximum benefit, a phone call came in.
"What is it?"
Savage's voice came from the other end of the line.
"Holy Lord, my subordinates have detected a collective movement of the Trench Dweller tribe in a specific direction. While we don't know their exact destination, their heading is towards Zebel. Is this all part of your plan?"
"More or less. The Water Demon, Basra, has been released by me. Her goal is to exact revenge on the Seven Kingdoms of Atlantis. The Trench Dweller tribe is the only force she can currently command. I imagine the Justice League and Atlantis are also making moves. You need to expedite your progress over there."
"Don't worry, Black Manta is in position. As soon as Atlantis's army leaves, he'll take action."
"Right, why didn't I think of that."
Savage's words instantly gave Bai Qi the perfect candidate to wield Sea Fury.
"What did you think of?"
"Nothing much." Bai Qi continued, "Tell Black Manta not to rush. It's best if he waits until Basra and Atlantis's army are engaged in battle before making his move. I don't think it will be long."
"Uh... Alright, as you say."
After hanging up the phone, Bai Qi looked at Sea Fury in his hand and burst into laughter.
The ideal candidate Bai Qi had chosen was none other than Black Manta, who had been locked in a long-standing struggle with Atlantis.
Black Manta's original name was David Hyde. His entanglement with Atlantis began when Arthur Curry, after coming of age, had his abilities discovered and publicized by oceanographic scholar Dr. Shen, making him a public figure. When Arthur refused to provide a blood sample, Dr. Shen hired Black Manta to obtain it, which tragically led to the death of Arthur Curry's father, Tom Curry. Driven by revenge, Arthur Curry attacked Black Manta, accidentally killing Black Manta's father, and from that moment on, they became bitter enemies. During one battle, Black Manta even severed one of Aquaman's hands.