Chapter 65: Stepping Stones Part 2

Arias's initial plan for the first day of the gala was to meet with figures he could form connections with. His goal was lofty and for it to be achieved the way he wanted; a lot of resources would be required.

His second reconstruction brought with it benefits that would surely help him in the coming days, but much still had to be done.

Using brute untactile force to get to the top of the world wasn't ideal. The only thing he could accomplish by going that route was making the world and many of its inhabitants his enemies, leading to many annoyances down the line.

His current method was slower but would equate to be better outcome, one where rather than be against him, the world would adore and worship. To get this, an ideal mix of force to break enemies and corruption/manipulation to bring in allies would be needed.

Thanks to having gained Diana at such an unexpected interval, he no longer needed to do what he initially planned for that night.

Countless people in power would reach out to him on there own in attempt to use the Amazonian princess for whatever scheme, image or plan they had in mind.

Because of this, Arias was in a good mood. Thirty minutes into there time at the venue, the duo only tried the various delicacies while sharing stories.

"So, all the women back on your island often train naked?" He asked with a visible grin.

This caused Diana to narrow her eyes at him but laugh in the next moment. "Heh, I myself would have no problem battling in the nude. While you are distracted, I would easily achieve a victory over you. Why are all men obsessed with the flesh?"

Arias could only shrug. "I simply like enjoying the finer things in life. Maybe you could train me to resist the flesh by sparring with me naked. Unless of course, you're worried you'll be distracted by my flesh?"

What was a joke of an offer by Arias was something Diana took quite literally and accepted with a grin on her face. "Hah! I always keep my mind clear in battle. Besides, when I was younger and mischievous, I once looked at old paintings displaying the body of a man, It was nothing special."

"What do you mean when? You're still quite wild and mischievous. If it weren't for me you'd have offended nearly half the room with a smile on your face." Arias mocked while Diana immediately laughed after.

His only goal for the night was to keep his new asset happy. A nice balance of food, liquor and humor was more than enough to get the job done.

Steven had made things especially easy since every time the two had time off, he would be trying to educate her or bringing up some schedule they had. Quite a bore for the rowdy princess.

"I would not! By Hera, is that what you think of me now?" She genuinely enjoyed his company and ability to make her laugh.

He had completely made her forget the foul mood she was in earlier. Though it didn't come without attracting a fair share of attention.

The majority of the people in attendance were formal and kept stiff personas throughout the night. Only ever laughing lightly or just smiling.

Meanwhile both Arias and Diana were unreserved, making them become the target for many stares.

But what did it matter? They would still crawl to Arias to try and get a piece of his asset. Knowing this, he was carefree and continued to entertain Diana until she wanted to greet Martian Manhunter and Aquaman who were both in attendance.

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up after taking a small breather."

Arias also excused himself and went to get some fresh air by the balcony. It was at that time that Apeiro's voice appeared in his mind.

[ It's nice to see you laughing genuinely again Ari, that woman must be special to achieve that.] Apeiro commented in a tone carrying both happiness and sadness.

But Arias shook his head, she was wrong. "It's not that she's special, it's just easier for me to smile knowing I didn't really lose the only person that mattered to me."

Apeiro went silent. She wanted to cry but lacked the body to do so, in the end she would could only use three words to describe how she felt. [ I love you my Ari.]

Arias had missed those three words, but found them hard to accept. "Are you saying that as my mother or as Apeiro?"

[ Can't it be both...]

"I suppose it can."

The internal conversation between the two was brought to an abrupt end when someone called to Arias from behind.

"I seem to have underestimated your resourcefulness Mr.Markovic."

Arias turned his head to find Lex Luthor standing behind him with an arrogant grin on his face. He hadn't planned on meeting him so soon but it was inevitable they would run into each other.

"A common mistake. Humans often tend to overlook the things above them, I'm used to it." He replied back, causing a visible frown to appear on Luthor's face.

"Is that so? Anyway, I can understand the feeling of making your first billion while still young. I can see you making far more should you cooperate with lexcorp."

Even though Luthor was secretly hinting at a cooperation, the way he did it was no better than saying Arias would only be successful if he worked with him, not against.

He found this comical and snickered at lex, however it wasn't time for him to fall yet so he nodded his head lightly after. "I'll keep your words of advice in mind. Though it should be said, money isn't my end goal. Well, if you'll excuse me, I have a wild princess waiting for me."

Arias walked away without letting Luthor reply. He could only frown at the words told to him while wondering what Arias was plotting.

The gala was coming to an end so it didn't take long to find Diana, who was conversing with Aquaman and his plus one. Immediately she saw Arias approach, she made introductions. "There you are. I want you to meet one of my fellow members within the justice league, King Arthur of Atlantis and his wife, Queen Mera. The two are newlywed so I was just giving them my congratulations."

Arias approached and extended his hand first to Arthur, a well-built man with long blonde hair and a stubbly beard of similar color. "A pleasure to meet you and of course, you have my congratulations too."

The hand shake with him was short but firm, while the one with Mera was gentle and slightly longer with a moment of eye contact. Once the contact was made, she broke off the hand shake and said her thanks.

She was about two inches shorter than Diana who was nearly the same height as Arthur. Beautiful sparking blue eyes and bright red natural hair made her stand out even with so many guests present. Her tight green dress also made sure to show off her curvy figure.

Arias liked what he saw. 'A loyal one huh.' Sadly now wasn't the time or place to try his luck at her.

"Diana, it's about time we leave. The media will make it harder to leave if we linger around much longer."

"Damned media, they only know how to spread lies and annoy me. Farewell Arthur and you too Mera, you have congratulations once again."

Arias held the tipsy princess by the waste and turned to walk away but also gave his hood byes first. "Although brief it was nice meeting you both, I'm sure we'll get acquainted properly in future."