Her actual combat power hadn't increased much from becoming a god, but she still felt like she'd upgraded from a shotgun to a cannon. During the ascension process, her vast magical power naturally upgraded to divine power—divine power that now belonged uniquely to Thea.
"Goddess of Trade and Wealth?" Thea carefully sensed her connection to the world, understanding her new divine position. The Source shared much information that helped her quickly grasp the new role.
This divine position wasn't particularly strong. Compared to domains like Light or Death, its direct combat capabilities were almost negligible.
But to call it weak wouldn't be right either. It depended on interpretation. U.S. dollars were wealth, but so was knowledge. Special skills and unwavering convictions were also wealth. The definition of wealth was extremely broad.
As for Trade, it was like a get-out-of-death-free card for Thea. As long as the universe hadn't returned to chaos, as long as trade existed—even just exchanging a shell for a leaf—that counted as trade. This meant she couldn't easily die. And even if she died, a surge in trade volume could quickly resurrect her.
These were two related divine positions. Even if neither was strong individually, she was quite satisfied. The volume of trade and accumulation of wealth didn't refer to her personally, but expanded to the entire universe. Every bit of trade growth and wealth accumulation would strengthen the Source within her body, consequently strengthening her.
Her leveling up wouldn't be difficult at all. Her divine position was practical, visible and tangible—much easier than Superman and others' future ascension to gods of strength.
Moreover, divine positions weren't static. This was the difference between New Gods and Old Gods. Darkseid, for instance, held several unrelated divine positions simultaneously, and his counterpart Highfather presumably did the same.
By expanding trade and wealth volume, Thea's divine power would grow accordingly. Or she could directly absorb Shazam's divine power, or derive new meanings from existing positions. Trade naturally required language, and the language domain was very advanced. Language contained magical runes, from which magic could be derived—meaning the position of Goddess of Magic wasn't far from her reach with just a couple of turns.
Old Gods needed faith from intelligent beings; New Gods needed real, effective actions. The New God position didn't conflict with what she'd been doing—rather, it was a huge complement to it. Earth's importance in the entire universe was undeniable. Vigorously developing Earth would make her divine power rise steadily.
After making a simple plan, just as Thea was about to teleport away, a voice stopped her.
"I truly didn't expect new gods could still be born, yet you're so young. Could you be this universe's lucky child? Miss Thea Queen from Earth, Goddess of Trade and Wealth."
Wearing an indigo bodysuit covered in mysterious silver-white patterns, with short black hair, the man sat in a high-backed chair, looking at Thea with some curiosity.
Holy crap, the Mobius Chair! Thea automatically looked at this chair, said to contain all knowledge. The entirely black giant seat, covered in intricate yet rhythmic mysterious patterns—Thea only glanced casually and felt her thoughts clearing, many previous difficulties resolving.
Truly a remarkable artifact. Thea didn't dare look further. Her usual equanimity training hadn't been in vain—she quickly calmed down. The knowledge this chair contained was too heavy even for deities. She didn't want to engage with these extraordinary matters so early.
She couldn't stare at the chair, but she could look at the person on it. Since he didn't immediately pick a fight, he definitely wasn't the chair's original creator, the Anti-Monitor.
At this point in time, Batman was still fighting street thugs, so the man on the chair's identity was obvious.
Metron, the New Gods' God of Knowledge. Thea only glanced briefly and noticed something wrong with his state. Rather than calling him the God of Knowledge, the chair itself seemed to be the God of Knowledge. This guy's credentials were questionable.
He seemed very interested in asking Thea questions, but the compassion emotion didn't lie—his demeanor and essence were deeply exhausted. Thea could sense he needed compassion.
His body was essentially no different from Thea's—divine flesh, divine blood, none of it fake.
Yet he was extremely weak. Though he concealed it well, Thea could still sense his struggle through emotional energy.
Was it because the Knowledge domain was too powerful, making him unable to bear it? Or had he not actually obtained the divine position and was merely the chair's slave? Thea didn't know, nor did she care whether Metron sat on the chair or the chair ruled him. She only knew he seemed to have something to say to her.
"You're Metron, right? I saw your image in the Source." Thea's answer was proper and measured. She had indeed seen him in the Source.
"Correct, I am Metron. I've come to welcome you on Highfather's orders." If not for seeing through his inner state, Thea would truly be fooled by his gleaming eyes.
But now she felt a bit apprehensive. She hadn't expected to be noticed by the big players so early. Refusing to go would be fine—Highfather represented justice, after all, and aside from occasional stubbornness, was quite reasonable most of the time. The worry was that the next visitor would be someone from Darkseid's side. When you're in the game, you eventually have to choose sides. To neither be on this shore nor that shore, walking only the middle path—her power was still insufficient for that.
Since she'd eventually have to pick a side, and they'd directly sent Metron, she had to give face.
Putting on her merchant's smile and saying what he wanted to hear, Thea smiled very Superman-like, very sunny. "It's my honor. I've long wanted an audience with His Majesty Highfather."
Metron was very satisfied. Originally he'd worried this young Earthling, domineering in her own world, might have a "heaven first, me second" attitude. Now that Thea was so sensible, it made his task much smoother. As the keeper of many secrets, he knew how much importance Highfather placed on this mission. Self-ascending New Gods were simply too precious.
One could say one position per person. One more here meant one less for Darkseid. In the eons-long war between New Genesis and Apokolips, gaining one more New God could trigger a chain of consequences.
To avoid complications, Metron prepared to depart immediately. "New Genesis exists in a place that cannot be reached or touched. We need to use a Boom Tube to get there."
Metron assumed Thea didn't know and explained carefully.
Thea considered the Source's memories. She indeed shouldn't know, so she nodded, indicating she understood.
Metron was increasingly satisfied with her attitude. A New God without urgency or hostility—this perfectly matched Highfather's standards.
Without further words, he lightly tapped the chair's armrest. A "BOOM" sounded, and an orange-red tunnel appeared before them. Metron flew in first, Thea following close behind.
The passage was very stable, showing New Genesis's mastery of this technology. In just ten seconds, a world rich with concentrated energy appeared before her eyes.