Even as a child, King Shark had nothing to do with the word 'cute'—or 'good-looking', for that matter. Thea couldn't exactly bring him back to Queen Manor to raise. After Deathstroke finished cleaning up the traces on the island, she handed both the tasks of training Poison Ivy and raising King Shark over to him.
Having witnessed Poison Ivy's power, Deathstroke wasn't too resistant to this assignment.
Thea softly chanted a spell, casting a small dust spell over the cave. From the outside, it now looked just like a desolate, uninhabited cave. Only then did she nod, open a portal, and leave the small island.
Poison Ivy and Deathstroke went off to train; Deadman was let loose to play wherever he wanted; and Grodd was responsible for returning to the Sinestro Corps to keep abreast of Sinestro's progress at all times. Thea's requirement for him was to watch more, learn more, and just slack off during battles.
Thea returned to Star City alone. She needed to absorb that mass of divine power to increase the water-attribute magic power in her body.
The process of creating something from nothing required consuming a massive amount of divine power. Thea absorbed it slowly without rest for three days before finally forming a faint trace of water-attribute magic power in her body.
"That wasn't easy!" Not resting for three consecutive days and feeling damp all over, Thea took a refreshing shower and was now drying her hair with a towel.
This Shark God was too much of a weakling. After transforming her body with his divine power, there was almost nothing left. Thea barely managed to replenish a bit of water attribute before the entire mass of divine power energy was exhausted.
To achieve attribute balance, Thea converted a small portion of the other four attribute magic powers into water attribute.
The water attribute didn't have high attack power, nor was its healing effect great, but it possessed excellent compatibility. The Hybrid Magic Thea had been researching since the very early days could finally be cast.
The lightning breath from her Diablo construct could be considered her strongest attack right now.
But constructing, controlling, mixing energies, all the way to breathing it out—this process took too long. Few brainless villains would just wait there, watching the whole process without attacking in advance. Moreover, that demon image really had nothing to do with justice. Thea had been pondering if there was a substitute method.
Referencing Zeus's Lightning Bolt and combining it with the constructed lightning breath, Thea finally found her future development direction: Lightning magic mixed with fire, wind, and water attributes.
High attack power, fast speed, and it looked very righteous! Thea's magic level had already exceeded the limitations of the Constantine family's magic books; she was walking her own path.
...
"Thea, let me introduce you. This is John Diggle. He's extremely skilled and fully capable of handling your bodyguard work. He served in Afghanistan the same year I did, and he's also my..." Lyla Michaels, wearing a black suit, introduced the large black man beside her to Thea.
Also your husband, right... Thea felt a bit speechless at this mature woman who didn't shy away from nepotism.
As her affairs grew more numerous, especially with the entry into the medical industry causing countless people to lose their jobs, two small-scale kidnapping and assassination attempts had already occurred this month. Although these people's movements were as slow as snails in her eyes, and bullets couldn't even break her defense, it was annoying! Having to act every time, using various coincidences to take out opponents, was truly troublesome.
She had only temporarily decided to ask A.R.G.U.S. to provide some retired agents or something to help maintain appearances.
She never expected Lyla would drag out her husband, who was idling at home as a househusband. Lyla knew Thea's strength; if this job really encountered danger, it was unclear who would be protecting whom!
Of course, objectively speaking, John Diggle's skills were good. Being part of the Team Arrow iron triangle in the future had historically validated him.
Actually, Lyla had also undergone an internal struggle. Her husband staying at home every day, doing laundry and cooking, could easily affect a man's mental state. Her A.R.G.U.S. work wasn't suitable for the straightforward Diggle. It just so happened that Thea mentioned this to Amanda Waller. Lyla very forcefully took on the task. Amanda wouldn't refute her deputy over such a small matter and agreed without much thought.
But Lyla didn't tell her husband about Thea's strength. Diggle had strong self-esteem. If he knew he was just a freeloader and that it didn't matter if he was there or not, he would definitely resign.
A bodyguard job with such high wages and that was this safe was rare in the world.
At least with Lyla's knowledge, she hadn't found many people on Earth more powerful than Thea. As for her husband having an affair or something, there was even less need to worry. Although Thea and Diana were elusive, A.R.G.U.S. still possessed some intelligence; it wasn't hard to analyze the relationship between the two. Her own husband was as dark as coal—very safe.
"Welcome, Mr. Diggle. If you have no other matters, from today on, my personal security work will be your responsibility." Thea could roughly guess Lyla's intention, but there was no need to point it out. She herself wanted to hide, and A.R.G.U.S. didn't want any large-scale supernatural phenomena occurring. Keeping all those clowns stuck at the level of ordinary humans was the best approach.
"I'll start work today!" The big guy had been idle at home for over a year. He didn't know Thea's strength; he only felt the time was tight and the task heavy. He immediately gathered the few bodyguards of the Queen family to assign tasks.
"This is your husband, right?..." Only when Diggle was out of sight did Thea whisper to Lyla.
"Haha... yes, yes..." Lyla laughed dryly a few times. Coming so blatantly to get a free paycheck made her a bit embarrassed too.
Thea didn't mind. She just felt her butterfly wings were fanning harder and harder. John Diggle had actually come to the Queen family as a bodyguard ahead of time; what a marvelous fate.
In the following days, Diggle performed his duties seriously. He recruited a few more bodyguards and arranged a meticulous protection plan. And wouldn't you know it, he actually caught an attacker. Having realized his personal value, the big guy became even more high-spirited.
Unlike protecting Oliver in the original timeline, Thea was a woman after all; he couldn't protect her closely twenty-four hours a day.
But Thea didn't run all over the city like Oliver either. Overall, it could be said that both host and guest were happy.
...
Thea's Secret Base.
"THIS IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE!!!" The one issuing such an exclamation was naturally Miss Felicity Smoak, who had returned from her business trip to the "Red Room" in Detroit.
Initially, she thought Thea was joking. AI? Are you kidding me! How could such sci-fi stuff exist in reality...
But when the 3D projection of Gideon greeted her, the former hacker lady was completely stunned.
Fortunately, the secret base was deep underground and well-soundproofed, so her scream didn't attract anyone's attention.
"Is this really artificial intelligence?" After getting Thea's affirmative answer, Felicity's eyes widened. Fearing her eyes were playing tricks on her, she waved her hand back and forth through Gideon's 3D image before finally confirming she wasn't seeing things or hallucinating. Something from the movie world had come alive right in front of her eyes.