Three black lines appeared on Thea's forehead. This kid really wasn't cute at all! "Your portal shakes too much, and the landing point is unstable..."
She was now an old hand at dealing with brats. She rattled off a litany of complaints—this was wrong, that wouldn't do—targeting Raven's weakness of having almost no foundational knowledge. After picking out four or five flaws, she completely extinguished Raven's arrogant flare.
However, she didn't just suppress her; she also offered appropriate praise. This made the girl's face pout at first, only to perk up right after.
"You have good taste!" The haughty Raven pulled back her hood, revealing a somewhat pale face, and constantly sized up the crowds on the street.
"I estimate your father still needs some time to rest. He should recover in about two months." No matter how you looked at it, Shado and Yao Fei were much closer to each other than either was to Jason. Before leaving, Thea checked on Old Yao one last time before taking Raven back to her own home.
She found Damian practicing with his sword and introduced him to Raven. "Here, I'm giving you a mission! Teach this older sister everything I taught you back then!"
Thea generously threw the two kids together, then went to her room to shower and get ready for bed.
Even from far away, she could still hear the two brats arguing.
"You little pipsqueak, you know magic too?" Only Raven would be so dismissive.
"Who are you calling a pipsqueak?! Wanna fight?!" Accompanied by the sound of a sword being drawn, this was definitely Damian, who cultivated both magic and martial arts.
Thea couldn't be bothered to listen to the two brats bickering. Raven and Damian both had a sense of propriety and wouldn't let things get out of hand. She was confident about that.
...
Time passed in a blur, and another two months went by. Jason Todd was young after all, and his will to survive was tenacious. He woke up earlier than Yao Fei. Upon learning that Batman still adhered to his no-kill rule and hadn't avenged him, he left Gotham alone with a depressed expression.
Old Yao was quite a bit worse off. In terms of age, experience, and potential, he couldn't compare to Jason. Thea treated him one more time midway through before he finally woke up within the two months.
Father and daughter wept in each other's arms. When he learned of Thea's abilities, he was shocked enough—his reaction was similar to Slade's back then. He hadn't expected Oliver's sister to be this formidable.
Although in Raven's eyes, Thea's magic level was merely "passable," in the eyes of ordinary people, she was already incredibly powerful.
Father and daughter reunited for a few days. Knowing that his daughter now had a job and life goals, Yao Fei was very happy for her. One early morning, he left a letter and departed Star City alone.
The anticipated appearance of Oliver did not happen. She couldn't ask Amanda, so Thea had to pretend she didn't know he was still alive. Who knew where Oliver had run off to fool around? She had too many things to worry about, and her energy was quickly diverted by other matters.
Thea had already been in Metropolis for a week straight. As an outstanding entrepreneur of Metropolis and even the entire US, the number of social engagements she had was simply unimaginable. Many times she could use a clone to attend meetings while her main body slept at home, but sometimes the main body had to be present.
For instance, this current venue. This was an internal meeting; the full title was the Committee on National Security and Superman Affairs! This wasn't a tea party where they invited Superman to chat; this was a targeted, small-scale meeting where a bunch of people locked the doors to figure out how to deal with Superman.
Whether as a government-sanctioned hero or an outstanding entrepreneur, Thea had to attend this meeting.
Outside, the sun was shining brightly, but here deep underground—fearful of being heard by Superman, the walls were lined with lead—Thea groggily listened to some general speaking on stage.
"What if Superman flies into this room and snatches one of us away?"
"Will he abide by the Constitution?"
"Does he understand our democratic system? Do we have the means to protect ourselves?"
This impassioned general didn't expect anyone to answer him. His speech was extremely long, but the summary was: they must develop weapons capable of dealing with Superman, otherwise, having fought for the country for half his life, he wouldn't be able to sleep!
Thea had no impression of this man, but seeing his calves cramping from fear, he certainly wasn't a good person normally and had likely done plenty of wicked things. She wouldn't even spare a glance if such a person died right in front of her.
Just as she was pondering whether to eat Chinese or Western food after the meeting, she felt a strange ray sweep across her body.
Someone's targeting me! Thea's lazy expression immediately turned vigilant, but two seconds later, she found the meeting proceeding as usual. The people around her hadn't noticed anything abnormal.
There weren't many people in the conference room who knew her true strength, but there were a few. Among them was Thea's old acquaintance, the anti-Superman vanguard, General Lane.
Seeing her suddenly become vigilant, the old man also panicked a bit. Not knowing what had happened, he shot her a questioning look.
Thea was confused. She definitely hadn't been mistaken about that strange energy just now, but she wasn't clear on what kind of energy it was.
She wanted to check the outside world, but the lead within these walls blocked her vision.
Helpless, she took out her phone, intending to ask Diggle, her bodyguard guarding outside.
"No signal?" Thea let out a soft sound of surprise.
Including General Lane, several people who had been watching her also took out their phones. Raising their heads to look at each other, they found the meaning in everyone's eyes was the same: "Why is there suddenly no signal?"
For these few people, who were just as paranoid as Thea, only one thought crossed their minds: Superman knows we're meeting to discuss him, and he's come to kill us!
The looks exchanged by several heavyweights made the atmosphere in the venue freeze. The consortium businessman currently on stage, talking big about Superman's dangers, quickly shut his mouth and looked cautiously at the crowd below.
A few slow-witted guys also discovered their phones had no signal. A wave of panic spread among this group of elites.
"Everyone shut up and come with me to see what happened!" The speaker was Thea's old acquaintance, Lex Luthor.
But before he could put words into action, the conference room doors were violently slammed open. A large crowd of bodyguards in suits, soldiers in uniform, and secretaries in business attire rushed in.
Luthor's secretary and Thea's bodyguard Diggle were among them.
The crowd didn't dare delay; pushing and shoving, they ran towards the exit.
"What on earth is happening outside? Is it that guy in the red cape?" some restless fellow asked his bodyguard. Everyone else, including Thea, listened with rapt attention.
This bodyguard realized that countless big shots he only saw on TV were staring at him. Stuttering, he explained the situation outside.
"A giant glass dome has covered the entire city from the sky. No one's communication equipment can receive a signal. You'll know the specific situation as soon as you look..."