Chapter 314: The Debate Part 4

The announcement of the deaths of the children of numerous government officials belonging to the Senate and Congress changed everything. Mere moments after the initial report, news stations both local and global began to report on the matter, some twisting facts and information to get more views or by instruction of those who owned the station. Even in such dire circumstances, there were always people looking out for their own benefits.

Following the news of the deaths of the children, most of the biggest news stations were reporting that Markovia was responsible, as it was already believed they were the ones who had kidnapped the children. At this time, Arias was exiting the briefing area with Diana, totally unconcerned.

"We should do this more often, Arias. It was incredibly relaxing," Diana pointed out with a smile on her face as they both walked to retrieve their clothes.

"We should, but for now, I must head out. I have a feeling my presence will be needed fairly soon," Arias replied, prompting Diana to narrow her brows in wonder. He was always so busy. On the surface, though, she acknowledged his words and replied with a smile, "Of course, Arias. Feel free to visit my chamber whenever the moment allows you."

Arias nodded, "I'll be sure to take you up on that offer." Having said that, Arias quickly dressed and left the bathing area first, heading back toward his own personal quarters. Before even reaching there, he saw an angry Mercy storming across the hall with aggressive strides.

Arias, on the other hand, was walking casually with his hands in his pockets, as if he had not a care in the world. By the time the two got close, Mercy's visibly angry face became clearer.

"What's got you so riled up?" he questioned, which only seemed to agitate her more. She shoved a data pad into his arms.

Arias casually received it before looking at the contents of the screen. He could see countless social media pages buzzing with the news implicating Markovia in the killings of the children kidnapped from the United States.

"Just what the hell did you do?" Mercy asked, incredibly surprised by the news. Although she knew Arias was unpredictable, she didn't expect it to this extent.

Arias, however, played it off, "I did nothing. This is nothing more than an accusation without evidence."

"Evidence or not, the entire world is convinced Markovia is responsible."

"The entire world is a bit of a stretch," Arias replied, his tone charming despite the seemingly tense situation, which irritated Mercy even more. It always felt like everything was within his calculation, which was fine if he told her. However, more often than not, she found out in such ways and simply couldn't help but get angry, as it would give her more unexpected work.

"Accusations or not, the consequences are already showing. Many missions are being sanctioned because of ties to you. Insiders are saying the President might issue a state of emergency, and if that happens, they may seize assets belonging to Leviathan and close all operations under us or related to us."

Arias chuckled as Mercy finished listing the many negatives the situation would bring about. "You worry too much, Mercy. If they could seize the assets belonging to Leviathan and close down its operations, they would've done so the first time they declared war on Markovia. As it stands, the US government believes they do not have the power to stop us. Keep in mind, they suffered the biggest military loss in their history not too long ago, with many of their soldiers, weapons, and resources worth trillions gone in the blink of an eye."

" The people are upset, yes. Government officials are upset, yes. But at the end of the day, they are not the ones in charge. The people back in Belmar are the ones I have left a very clear impression on. Whether they like it or not, they have no way of answering back. They can throw around their sanctions; at the end of the day, it won't affect much. Just watch. Talks of a peace summit will not end. Just have Tara put out a statement saying we are not responsible for the killing and that we welcome any and all investigations into the matter that the US may want to carry out."

Judging from the way Arias replied to Mercy, she immediately reached the conclusion that he was very much prepared for such a turn of events. So instead of continuously arguing, she let out a sigh and resigned herself while shaking her head. "And you didn't think it would have been a good idea to tell me in advance so that I'm also prepared? Whether we put out a statement now or later, Leviathan is still going to lose a lot of money over this."

Arias shrugged, "I don't care about losing some sheets of paper. The US has pointed out many times how other nations have committed war crimes and other inhumane acts, only for history to forget as the winners rewrote it to their favor. Markovia will be the winner, that I guarantee. So just do as I say."

Mercy wasn't 100% satisfied with this, but she always found it hard arguing with Arias whenever he was serious. "Fine, I'll get it done," Mercy quickly replied, maintaining her frown and turning to leave. As she was doing so, a resounding smack echoed in the hall as Arias took the liberty of smacking her ass.

"Hey!" Mercy glared at Arias but said nothing in response and simply walked away, making sure to sway her hips side to side as she did so.

At the same time, back at Mount Justice, the entire Justice League had convened, both senior team and junior team, in the main meeting hall. Heading the meeting were Batman and Superman, who sat on opposite ends of the large oval table. Everyone sat in silence, their attention on the center of the table where a large set of holographic screens were being projected for everyone to see. What was being shown were the last images Batman's drone managed to collect before it was destroyed in the strange blast that took the children's lives and the island with it.

The images and video showed children screaming, panicking, begging, some calling for Superman to help. It was an incredibly hard video to watch and even harder to see through as the end showed a bright light engulfing everything, accompanied by shrill screams resounding loudly before silence fell and darkness took over.

As the clip ended, the projected screens faded in the dimly lit room, breaking the silence and slightly revealing the varying expressions of all the members of the Justice League. Of all the expressions, Superman's was the most serious, his hands clenched tightly together with his head lowered against them for support.

While in this position, he asked, "Batman, did you manage to retrieve any information that could help us know who did this?"

Batman maintained the most neutral of expressions, looking the same as he always did as he shook his head. "No, it's a dead-end."