Becoming a cephalopod was hardly the extent of Ben's capabilities. If he truly wanted to reshape their current predicament, he could simply transform into Gravattack and alter the planet's gravitational field, reversing tides and ocean currents, or even drawing the entire Dark Sea up into the atmosphere like a space siphon.
Even his Eclipsian Swampfire transformation could ignite the ocean depths with Death Fire, transforming the entire world into a dimension populated by the undead.
At this point, Ben's power had evolved beyond easy comprehension. Even setting aside the reality-warping potential of Alien X, he could resolve most space-level crises with relative ease.
But if he was being honest with himself, Ben didn't particularly enjoy operating at such overwhelming levels.
The Omnitrix had essentially become a space cheat code, providing him with upgraded alien forms of tremendous power, but they lacked the engaging challenge that made conflicts genuinely interesting. It was like playing a video game with invincibility enabled: incredibly effective, but ultimately boring after extended use.
Of course, a small challenge didn't count as true difficulty.
At times like this, Ben actually found himself appreciating the random transformation mode that the watch occasionally employed. The random selection wasn't truly arbitrary, but rather represented choices made by the Omnitrix's AI based on current circumstances. This ensured that crises could be resolved with high probability while still providing meaningful challenges.
Ben decided this was an excellent operational model and resolved to utilize it more frequently in future conflicts.
But first, they needed to navigate the underwater maelstrom blocking their path to Poseidon's Trident.
The roar of the massive whirlpool penetrated through thousands of meters of ocean layers. The enormous current rotated at devastating velocity in the crushing darkness, resembling the eye of some abyssal deity that sought to devour everything within its reach.
Mera stood in the churning water, her expression more solemn than Ben had ever witnessed. The current flowed continuously around her, lifting her rose-colored hair in ethereal spirals that made her appear to be standing in the center of a supernatural hurricane.
The vortex's center resembled a black hole of infinite hunger, greedily consuming everything that approached its event horizon. The corpses of the destroyed Trench dwellers formed a dark mass that drifted with the current like a colony of waterlogged insects, being systematically torn into constituent molecules by the turbulent forces.
The sea itself seemed to be screaming with primal fury.
"Are you absolutely certain the Trident is actually within that vortex?" Mera shouted over the deafening sound of displaced water.
Her voice was nearly drowned out by the acoustic chaos surrounding them.
Before this colossal whirlpool, not only Mera but even Ben, whose transformed body now measured dozens of meters in length, appeared insignificant. They were like tiny humans standing beneath towering mountain peaks, utterly dwarfed by geological forces beyond mortal comprehension.
"This isn't something that can be overcome through human effort," Mera said, her eyes trembling as she studied the phenomenon. "We'll be torn into atomic particles."
Even when facing the endless hordes of Trench monsters, she had never experienced such profound terror. At least during that battle she could still manipulate seawater to fight back, but now even that basic ability was beyond her reach.
The ocean currents were completely beyond her control, as if some higher-dimensional power had isolated everything around them, reducing her to a weak, ordinary person powerless against the terrible natural disaster unfolding before them.
In fact, if it weren't for Ben's massive form blocking the surging currents behind her, she wouldn't even be able to maintain her position. She would have been swept into the vortex and pulverized like the Trench dweller remains.
But even with his protection, she doubted whether Ben could actually withstand the full force of the phenomenon.
Faced with this natural disaster that probably measured hundreds of kilometers in diameter with no visible end, the difference between dozens of meters and a few meters was essentially meaningless. The whirlpool existed in the unknown depths of the Dark Sea, but if it were located where humans could observe it, no ocean vessel, not even the largest aircraft carriers, would survive contact. Anything caught in its grip would become scrap metal within moments.
A sperm whale measuring tens of meters in length would be like a sardine compared to this maelstrom.
However, when Ben's enormous tentacles gently grasped Mera's small form, her previous panic suddenly evaporated.
Her violently beating heart gradually calmed, as if everything threatening them was ultimately insignificant in Ben's presence. There was absolutely no need for concern.
He is the true King of the Sea, she thought with growing conviction. All seven oceans must obey his commands. This is just a whirlpool, nothing worth worrying about.
Mera pressed her body against Ben's powerful tentacle, feeling her trembling fingertips steady as unprecedented peace washed over her. Her red hair bloomed around her like living flames, while her coral earrings chimed with crystalline music in the torrential current.
Ben offered a brief warning before carefully wrapping Mera within a protective chamber formed by his tentacles. She felt as though she had suddenly been transformed into an infant, sleeping soundly within her mother's warm and peaceful embrace.
Through the organic walls, she could hear multiple hearts beating powerfully within Ben's invertebrate body, their rhythm somehow both alien and deeply comforting.
Ben's octopus tentacles carved a ten-meter-deep groove in the seafloor as he launched himself toward the Eye of Hell like a biological ballista bolt.
His massive form plunged into the whirlpool with tremendous force, shattering the water barrier with the impact of a living torpedo.
The vortex that possessed enough power to stir all seven seas and literally turn the world upside down struck Ben's transformed body, and failed to move even a single tentacle.
The genetic of his current form derived from chimera sui generis, creatures capable of surviving the vacuum of outer space. Although their individual abilities were far inferior to those of certain space-level entities, they were still considered to possess exceptional physical resilience among galactic civilizations.
After being enhanced with Atlantean genetic material, his cephalopod transformation had become stronger and evolved into a true apex aquatic predator.
At this moment, he was riding the vortex itself.
Ben shot forward like a organic missile, his body stretched and undulating with the tough flexibility of living seaweed as he plunged directly into the whirlpool's center.
This was where water flowed at maximum velocity, where even the strongest steel would be reduced to molecular components like material fed into an industrial shredder.
The wailing of displaced water filled his auditory organs, sounding like muffled thunder echoing from vast distances, as if some sleeping titan were turning over in the abyssal depths.
Within the vortex, countless fragments of Trench dweller corpses had been pulverized into organic debris. The maelstrom carried the remnants of entire ocean currents, transforming them into a blood-red galaxy that rushed toward Ben's position. The rapids struck his form with tremendous force, creating bursting waves that resembled azure fire.
The rotating edge of the supernatural vortex generated what appeared to be countless cyclonic water blades, creating thousand-meter-tall foam mountains wherever they passed and carving the underwater mountain ranges into networks of ravines and chasms.
The abyss was finally revealing its true fangs.
Ben drifted through the empty waters, but the current itself had become part of his strength rather than an obstacle.
A thunderous sound echoed through the depths.
His eight tentacles struck the water barrier with devastating force, and his transformed head released a roar that resembled the legendary Yamata no Orochi awakening from slumber.
The ocean current was instantly severed by this tremendous power, creating a vacuum zone directly in front of Ben's advance.
"Water Blade!" he declared, channeling his abilities through his tentacles.
The tentacles carved through the water, which gathered around them to form spiraling liquid blades. The flow direction of his technique was precisely opposite to that of the massive whirlpool, creating competing forces of tremendous magnitude.
BOOM!!!
The moment his water blade technique made contact, it seemed as though heaven and earth were being split apart. A scene from ancient mythology manifested in reality as the hundred-kilometer whirlpool was forcibly cleaved open by Ben's attack, literally parting the seas like a divine miracle.
"This would be the perfect moment for some epic background music," Ben muttered with dry humor, though his movements never paused.
He propelled himself forward with his eight tentacles, taking advantage of the brief moment when the vortex had been separated to fly toward its center like a living arrow.
The split ocean currents began converging again, falling like a suspended waterfall within the sea as they pursued Ben's advance. Billions of tons of crashing seawater carried enough terrifying force to sink entire continents!
Ben's body twisted with fluid grace.
His eight tentacles struck the undercurrent, creating another vortex within the center of the original maelstrom. Two opposing forces competed against each other, turning the entire Dark Sea upside down and inside out!
But Mera remained unaware of the space battle raging around her.
She was safely wrapped within Ben's protective embrace, where all the terrible sounds were muted to silence. The only sensations she could perceive were the soft interior of his transformed body and the reassuring rhythm of multiple hearts beating in synchronized harmony.
Atlanna felt that today's Dark Sea was unlike anything she had experienced in all her years of exile.
She stood dressed like a primitive tribal survivor on what passed for a shoreline in this realm of perpetual darkness, her heart heavy with accumulated sorrow and the constant vigilance required for survival.
If you can't beat them, join them.
For so many years, she had avoided being hunted by the monsters through the desperate strategy of disguising herself as one of the Trench dwellers, adopting their appearance and mannerisms to blend into their degraded society.
But today, the corpses of those same creatures that had seemed so terrifyingly invincible were surfacing one after another, rolling in the boiling seawater like dumplings in a massive pot, covering the entire ocean surface with organic debris.
"Who in the world could have killed every single Trench dweller?" Atlanna whispered to herself in bewilderment.
She couldn't conceive of anyone possessing such devastating power. Even if all the military forces of Atlantis were deployed simultaneously, it would be impossible to completely eradicate the entire Trench population.
But this represented an unprecedented opportunity for her to finally escape from the Dark Sea after decades of imprisonment.
However, before she could investigate what had caused this miraculous devastation, the ocean, which should have been returning to calm, erupted into massive waves that awakened the sleeping leviathan Karathen and caused it to roar with the sound of geological catastrophe.
Atlanna quickly took cover, her survival instincts honed by years of avoiding death. Karathen was a terrifying sea monster that had made the Dark Sea its home for millennia. The creature was enormous beyond description, resembling a living mountain with a ferocious and cruel temperament. It represented such a formidable threat that even the Trench dwellers dared not provoke it.
"What kind of entity could have alarmed even Karathen?" she wondered, holding her breath and remaining perfectly motionless.
Her tiny form before the massive sea beast was like a mouse confronting an elephant, she wouldn't even provide enough meat to get stuck between its teeth.
Based on her past observations, once Karathen awakened from its slumber, it would hunt down whatever Trench dwellers remained to fill its perpetually hungry stomach. If she was fortunate, the creature would return to sleep after feeding. If luck abandoned her, its awakening could trigger a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions that would place her in mortal danger.
Karathen moved its mountain-sized body and looked around with angry confusion, but failed to locate whatever entity had disturbed its rest. This left the beast with no outlet for its mounting fury.
Fine, the creature seemed to decide. Food first, investigation later.
Karathen extended its ridge-like tentacles toward the Dark Sea, scooping up dozens of floating corpses and depositing them into its cavernous mouth. Its eight tentacles spread out to either side as it fed with the casual efficiency of a person enjoying a meal.
After Karathen had consumed its fill, it shifted its massive body and prepared to return to its slumber.
Atlanna released a sigh of relief and was about to emerge from hiding when she witnessed a huge splash of water erupting from the sea. Another coiled tentacle stretched out like a massive python, extending directly toward her position.
These new tentacles were covered with sharp suction cups that resembled Cthulhu's eyes. Each sucker was larger than her face, equipped with razor-sharp teeth that could tear skin and flesh into bloody fragments instantly.
Just as Atlanna had forgotten to breathe due to the terror of imminent death, a gorgeous rose-colored figure pierced through the murky haze.
Mera emerged from the protection of Ben's tentacles with the grace of an oceanic elf, her movements fluid and otherworldly.
"Are you from... the Kingdom of Xebel?" Atlanna recognized Mera's heritage immediately.
The people of Xebel bore similarities to Atlanteans, but their distinctive red hair and more passionate, unrestrained personalities made them easily identifiable.
Could she be another exile? Perhaps the corpses of the Trench dwellers are connected to her presence?
Atlanna's mind raced through thousands of possibilities, and she even suspected she might be experiencing hallucinations after so many years of isolation. But after these thoughts flashed through her consciousness, she immediately lunged toward Mera, tackling her and rolling both of them away from the threatening tentacle.
"It's dangerous! Get away from that monster!" Atlanna shouted urgently.
Mera almost mistook her for an enemy until Atlanna spoke clearly. Only then did she notice that the figure before her wasn't a Trench dweller at all, but rather someone disguised beneath a covering of blackened bones and organic camouflage.
"Who are you?" Mera frowned slightly, observing the fear on Atlanna's face. She quickly explained, "That's not a monster."
As soon as she finished speaking, Atlanna watched in amazement as the enormous tentacles began to contract and shrink.
Like a tailed beast being absorbed back into its host, the massive body rapidly collapsed and condensed into the form of a tall, slender figure standing upright.
"This is..." Atlanna stared in complete shock.
How is it possible that cephalopods can transform into humanoid shapes? What's happening here? I've only been trapped in this place for twenty years, but has the entire underwater civilization undergone collective genetic mutation?
Did they drink too much radioactive waste water? Or has evolution simply left me behind?
"Atlanna, former Queen of the Kingdom of Atlantis," Ben announced casually as he approached, immediately identifying her despite her disguise.
Mera raised an eyebrow with interest. "So she's Orm's mother, the former queen who had an affair with a surface dweller?"
Hearing Mera's characterization, Atlanna's expression immediately shifted to indignation. She had numerous questions burning in her mind, but before she could voice them, she found herself confronting what felt like deliberate provocation.
"What do you mean by 'affair with a surface dweller'?" she demanded hotly.
"Thomas and I are true lovers! The one who wasn't loved was the real outsider in that situation!"
"It was just a political engagement, a marriage of convenience where they treated me like a tool for diplomatic purposes! I'm tired of this narrative. When will the women of Atlantis finally stand up for themselves?"
She delivered this passionate speech with considerable animation, and Mera nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
This response caused Atlanna's expression to soften considerably, and she began viewing the younger woman more favorably.
"You're quite perceptive, young lady. By the way, I don't believe I caught your names?"
"Like you, I'm a fugitive princess from Atlantis," Mera replied with a casual shrug.
"Coincidentally, I was also engaged to King Orm and then eloped. Now I'm on my honeymoon with my new boyfriend." Mera wrapped her arms around Ben's with obvious happiness, smiling like a blooming rose.
"But I assume you won't mind, considering it was just a political marriage, and the one who isn't loved is always the real outsider."
Atlanna found herself speechless at the irony.
"I'm not some naive country girl," she finally managed, realizing she genuinely didn't mind the situation. However, hearing her son's name so suddenly left her feeling somewhat disoriented.
"My son, Orm... how is he? And... Arthur..." Her voice trailed off with the weight of maternal concern that had been suppressed for decades.