The first thing Dr. Thea did after officially taking office was accept an order to form a guard force. To coordinate interests—how do you coordinate? With words alone? The committee needed its own armed power.
After negotiations among all parties, the guard's authorized strength was set at five thousand personnel. This would become the armed force under the committee's direct control.
At last, Thea had some legitimate, above-board military power. After all, a bodyguard detail had its limits—one hundred people was already excessive, and any more would be completely inappropriate.
Now that she had received formal approval, Thea immediately "laundered" over five hundred people from Deathstroke's shadow forces, bringing them into the guard under various identities. These people would serve as the backbone for a long time to come.
She also didn't spare the alien cities. Choosing the most populous one, Thea and Faora atomized themselves and infiltrated it, brainwashing and implanting suggestions into several leaders. They fabricated a story that after Faora left Earth, she crash-landed on another planet and was later captured by Brainiac.
The future Management Committee would have seven seats. The alien cities would elect three representatives to occupy three seats, while Earth would hold four.
Among the Earth representatives, Thea would take one seat, A.R.G.U.S. one seat, the government one seat, and the military one seat.
Thea intended to strengthen her own influence. Publicly, she would win over several representatives; privately, she would sow division among the aliens. She wanted to keep this armed force firmly under her control.
There were plenty of restrictions, but the benefits were equally substantial. With the exception of nuclear weapons, all arms could be issued. To guard against aliens with unusual abilities, A.R.G.U.S. also provided part of its less-than-presentable black technology to support the committee.
Anti-gravity micro-malleable energy nets, electromagnetic signal isolation pods, quantum cages. Whether it was Amanda or Steve Trevor, A.R.G.U.S. was full of crafty operators—they slightly twisted the higher-level resolutions and supplied Thea with nothing but defensive equipment.
Naturally, Thea refused. With the Five Permanent Members backing her, she could walk into the President's office whenever she pleased. She wasn't afraid of A.R.G.U.S. Today she could drag in a senator, tomorrow pull over a general, using both soft and hard pressure. A.R.G.U.S. couldn't win in a fight against the big dogs, so in the end they could only provide a set of blueprints for an advanced laser rifle.
"If you want a finished product, we don't have one either. Develop it yourself."
Thea was still dissatisfied. "If I develop the finished product myself, who does it belong to then? That's a research task—this isn't a concession at all!"
"Then what exactly do you want?" Amanda felt that Thea really was easier to deal with than other superheroes, but that was both an advantage and a drawback. Other superheroes—like Batman—came and went quickly, said what they needed to say, and left. Who else would sit in her office for three straight hours?
"I want to visit the Black Room." Thea stated her condition.
Amanda thought for a moment and shook her head. "No. No metahuman is allowed into the Black Room. That's an iron rule of A.R.G.U.S." Any so-called visit would just be an excuse to conveniently pocket a few items. As an ordinary person, she couldn't keep watch over her. That loophole could not be opened.
Thea snorted in disdain. In the future, when A.R.G.U.S. faced a major threat, Constantine waltzed in, and no one mentioned any iron rule then. These people never learned until it was too late—but she didn't want to push Amanda too far.
Some of the things in the Black Room really were outrageously powerful. From a broader perspective, banning metahumans from entering was a sensible decision.
"How about this," Thea said. "I won't go in. You take it out for me. I only want one item."
"What item? Let me be clear first—those few dangerous artifacts can't be given to you," Amanda said helplessly. A superhero constantly playing administrative games with her, hitting her right where it hurt—this was driving her to misery. A.R.G.U.S. headquarters was right there; even if she wanted to hide, there was nowhere to go.
"Merlin's Sword."
Naturally, Thea wouldn't mention Doctor Fate's helmet, the Heart of Darkness that contained Eclipso, or the tank suffused with the Speed Force. Either she didn't fully understand those items or couldn't control them, making them unsuitable for her current situation.
If she remembered correctly, Merlin's staff was also stored in the Black Room. After weighing the two for a long time, she ultimately followed an indescribable instinct and chose the sword.
"Merlin's Sword?..." Amanda hadn't eaten pork, but she'd seen pigs run. She dealt with these items every day. Though she was only an ordinary human, her insight might surpass that of many metahumans. In her experience, such weapons were useless in the hands of normal people—or even most metahumans—and only displayed their power when wielded by someone with a special bloodline. This allowed her to guess a thing or two about Thea's lineage.
Considering that the sword really wasn't very useful, Amanda hesitated several times before finally nodding and whispering, "This time, it's not A.R.G.U.S. helping you. Remember—it's my personal favor."
Thea smiled without replying. This favor wouldn't be hard to repay. Amanda's talent for courting death was second only to Lois Lane's. Superman wouldn't come to save her; when the time came, Thea could easily step in and pull her out.
Half an hour later, Amanda handed Thea a long, narrow box.
The call from her bloodline couldn't be faked. Thea didn't open the box on the spot, choosing instead to leave alone, which left Amanda somewhat disappointed.
Only after returning to her residence did she open the ancient box. Just from its surface alone—ornate patterns tinged with antiquity—it was clear that it was valuable.
Lifting the lid, a nearly transparent sword lay quietly inside.
Thea grasped the hilt and drew the sword, flicking her wrist lightly to trace two sword flourishes.
Light and fluid, with just the right balance of toughness and hardness. Thea silently praised it. "A fine sword."
She had seen many good swords before—whether it was Diana's Godkiller or her own god-slaying blade, all were top-tier divine or demonic artifacts. In terms of forging materials, this Sword of Merlin was slightly inferior to those, but the sensation of bloodline resonance allowed it to unleash several times its normal power in Thea's hands.
It followed the traditional English longsword design, with a blade length of ninety centimeters, a cruciform hilt, and no unnecessary ornamentation. When swung, the transparent blade emitted a faint blue glow—a natural reaction caused by merging with the ambient magical energy in the air.
Thea channeled her own magic into the sword. The faint blue light instantly deepened, and the blade began to vibrate in a way invisible to the naked eye. If one listened closely, an extremely fine hiss could be heard.
With a light flip of her wrist, she slashed upward through the air. A deep blue arc of sword light flashed, and a metal rack ten meters away was cleanly severed.
Thea examined the cut. It was smooth and flawless, not like something sliced by a blade, but more like the result of modern machining—water-jet cutting or wire cutting. Aligning the two halves and examining them carefully in the sunlight, the cut surface was minuscule. The sword light was as thin as paper, yet it had sliced through the metal effortlessly.
She then fed her various attributes into the sword one by one. Overall, its compatibility was excellent, with only subtle differences between attributes—for example, Light-aspected sword energy was faster, while Dark-aspected energy offered greater concealment, and so on.