Suddenly, One Hand grabbed Arthur's wrist. Diana silently shook her head at him, then said, "No, Arthur. This will trigger a hot war. Don't give them that chance."
Arthur closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Reason told him Diana was right. If he flooded Metropolis now and drowned all those damned politicians, it would directly escalate the current conflict and inevitably start a war.
Under normal circumstances, these factions could put aside their disputes, unite, and attack Atlantis. Though humans would have difficulty attacking an underwater kingdom, Atlantis would not easily flood the land either. Ancient surviving races like the Amazons still lived on land, and acting rashly would bring Atlantis no good outcome. So in the end, after a few rounds of tug-of-war and probing, they would simply enter negotiations.
But things were different now. The election had reached its most critical stage, and everyone was on edge. Both the ruling party and the opposition were close to being driven mad. Stabbing them at a time like this would be no different from throwing a firecracker into a blaze.
Even if they were going to fight a war against outsiders, they would surely "settle internal affairs before confronting external threats." They had the time to slowly drag things out here because no outside force was pressuring them. But once something urgently needed doing, they would have to determine victory and defeat in a short time, and that might force them into extreme measures. It could cause the two parties to split completely and ultimately trigger a hot war.
A hot war breaking out on the American mainland—even if it was not a full-scale war, only a low-intensity conflict—would still kill many people. Those living at the bottom of the cities simply could not survive under such circumstances.