Deathstroke didn't think someone who still looked like a college student like Pamela could offer much help. In his eyes, Pamela wasn't even as useful as Oliver back on Lian Yu; at least Oliver was an adult male.
"I've been on this lousy island for a day. You said there were two more helpers—where are they?" Deathstroke didn't want to dwell on Pamela; he just wanted to see what exactly this "god" Thea had mentioned was like.
Thea looked to the left, above Deathstroke's head. Boston Brand, wearing a bright red bodysuit, was making funny faces. She felt a bit speechless.
"He's already here. Boston, put on the Lantern Ring. Let them get acquainted," Thea said leisurely. Deadman's construct was a perfectly intact body that could be seen and could speak. Without the Lantern Ring, even if Thea cast a True Sight spell on them, they would only be able to see him but not communicate.
Seeing a person suddenly appear above his head, Deathstroke reflexively drew his swords. "Who goes there!?"
Thea didn't answer immediately. Instead, she called Grodd out from her spatial ring before starting to introduce her subordinates one by one.
"A dead man and a gorilla?" Poison Ivy felt her worldview being shattered into pieces, falling into a daze for a moment.
Deathstroke Slade was much stronger than her mentally. With suspicion in his eyes, he pointed at Deadman and asked, "You say this guy is already dead? Is he in a spirit state right now?"
Thea corrected him. "He's in a spirit-body state. He is a unique life form in the world existing between life and death. Everything else you said is correct."
Slade then pointed at Grodd and asked, "This is a gorilla with superpowers?"
Before Thea could answer, Grodd extended a hand, while his telepathic voice resonated in Slade's mind. "Grodd likes the smell of blood on you."
Slade dazedly shook hands with the gorilla, considering himself introduced to this bizarre teammate.
At this moment, Poison Ivy and Deadman also struck up a conversation. "Are you really Boston Brand? My classmates and I watched your trapeze performance!..."
Boston Brand was an expert at dealing with girls like this. Plus, being back on Earth and meeting a fellow Gothamite like Pamela, he started chatting her up with his slick tongue.
Thea had been observing the group. Overall, Slade and Grodd got along relatively well, while Deadman and Poison Ivy could also chat. This was due to both their shared backgrounds and their personalities. Thea wasn't afraid of them uniting to betray her; she wanted to maintain cohesion among them without them being too united.
"Alright, you're acquainted now. Deathstroke, brief them on the mission intel." Thea spoke up at the right time to interrupt their conversation.
Slade hurriedly pulled his hand back from the gorilla's grip. Shaking hands and chatting with a gorilla—he wouldn't have imagined such a peculiar experience ten minutes ago. Although this gorilla spoke elegantly, had extraordinary insight, and agreed with many of his views, Slade still felt torn between laughing and crying. A gorilla praised him and agreed with him! What expression was he supposed to make?
He cleared his throat. "Everyone, our current location is about eighty nautical miles from the main island of Hawaii. This island isn't even marked on military maps. I suspect there is some kind of strong magnetic field nearby."
"This island isn't uninhabited. On the contrary, there are several villages of primitive people here. They don't know about the changes in the outside world, nor do they know the smallness of the space they inhabit. They believe this island is the entire world. Our target is the deity they worship, the Shark God from local Hawaiian legends. That's all I know."
"Well done." To be able to gather this much information in such a short time was no simple feat. Thea naturally didn't skimp on praise.
"Although this deity holds the title of 'God,' according to my calculations, he should be of the weakest tier. Divine power is directly proportional to faith. You might all know the Greek Pantheon or the Norse Pantheon, but has anyone heard of the Hawaiian Pantheon?" Thea dispelled their doubts beforehand, fearing they might have reservations.
Deathstroke feared nothing in Heaven or on Earth; give him money, and he'd dare to do anything. Grodd didn't take human deities seriously either. Deadman was even less of a concern—he was already dead; who could do anything to him?
Only Poison Ivy was somewhat fearful, but seeing how indifferent the others were, her courage was quietly bolstered.
"Where is the target specifically?" Thea asked Deathstroke.
"There was a language barrier. I couldn't get anything out of them..." Deathstroke was a bit embarrassed.
Thea made no comment. The Lantern Ring could translate languages, but the language of these few dozen or hundred natives was likely too primitive and not recorded in the ring's database. Without understanding the language, Slade's interrogation skills were useless no matter how good they were.
Opening the Eye of Horus, she quickly located a native wearing leaves around his waist. Using the Martian Manhunter's long-range mind-reading technique, she skipped the language barrier and read his thoughts directly.
Two minutes later, Thea cut the connection and pointed to the west side of the island. "This way."
The group followed a winding path deep into the island. It was evident the path had undergone simple repairs, but the natives' tools were too crude, and people rarely walked here, so it still appeared very desolate.
"Are there really gods in this world?" Poison Ivy whispered to the floating Deadman.
"There should be. After all, someone like me who is neither alive nor dead exists, so having a few gods seems reasonable, I guess," Deadman whispered back.
Poison Ivy mumbled something inaudible and kept up with the group.
...
After many stops and starts along the way, Thea dared not use the Eye of Horus to probe directly, so she could only constantly correct their route based on the native's memories.
"This is it. I can already feel traces of divine power, though it's very faint." Thea led the group to the entrance of a massive cave. She wasn't just comforting them; the divine power she sensed was truly negligible. Let alone comparing it to Diana, it was far inferior even to Thea herself.
"Stay alert. The enemy has discovered us." Thea had originally intended to launch a sneak attack, but she forgot that Grodd had a massive frame. His weight of several tons made a loud thump-thump sound as he walked. Unless the guy inside was deaf, it was impossible not to detect them.
Slade immediately drew his twin swords, and a pistol hovered behind his left shoulder.
Poison Ivy was a bit nervous. Reflexively, she summoned a large number of plants. Under her control, the green plants grew extremely fast, covering the entire cave in just a few seconds.
"Who dares disturb the great Shark God Kamo? Have you thought about how you want to die? Kneel now and beg for my forgiveness, and I can grant you a painless death. Kneel! Accept this immense mercy!"
Deep in the cave, a figure sat on a tall stone throne. Static electricity constantly crackled around his body. By the faint light, one could see he was a blue-skinned giant. The giant had a very humanoid head, with several fin-like ridges on top, gills behind his ears, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. He glared aggressively at the intruders.