Himon explained in detail how to use the Mother Box and the robe. Afterward, he politely asked if Thea had any other business.
Having gotten very good at reading the room, she knew he was showing her the door. She immediately expressed her thanks and left his forge within ten seconds.
Clutching her new work uniform and access pass, Thea felt rather pleased.
Judging by the benefits package, New Genesis far surpassed Apokolips.
If she'd applied to Apokolips, they'd probably give her a square, primitive version of a Mother Box. Want a custom version? Dream on! What, you want a suit of armor too? Are you sick? We Apokolips folks have no tradition of handing out armor—if you want it, go steal it yourself!
Thea briefly studied this Mother Box. Its functions were actually quite powerful. Using New Genesis as the starting coordinate, it could transport between parallel universes—this boundary-breaking capability was excellent. If she wanted to visit those parallel timelines in the future, it was no longer a dream.
For transportation within the same universe, this function wasn't very useful to Thea. The main issue was the commotion—always going "BOOM," afraid people wouldn't notice. Her own teleportation spell was far more efficient than this tech device.
Unlike the Mother Boxes that ordinary soldiers carried, the New Gods' Mother Boxes had completely different functions and unique characteristics. Like Orion's electric motorcycle was Mother Box tech, mainly enhancing his impact force. Lightray's knee guards enhanced his speed. Thea's Mother Box gave her something like a multi-casting capability—roughly equivalent to casting three to five spells while the Mother Box would technologically simulate one of them and automatically release it.
The Mother Box's effects weren't too surprising. The robe from her benefits package, however, was a pleasant surprise—a high-tier divine artifact. Despite looking lightweight, its defensive power was genuinely formidable. Even with Thea's current strength, she couldn't tear it.
Its magical conductivity was even more excellent. Wearing this robe, except for the highest-tier spells, all other magic could be cast instantly.
If this garment had one flaw—it was too eye-catching. By Thea's nature, she disliked such high-profile attire. In the midst of thousands of troops, she'd prefer wearing a common soldier's uniform to blend in.
However, she knew that wasn't realistic. The divine power of gods was like a sun in the night—deities of the same rank could spot her at a glance. Hiding underground wouldn't help.
Donning the robe represented official employment. Earth had no major issues for now. Thea directly used divine power to create an avatar to handle Earth affairs. Completing the big boss's task and opening up opportunities on New Genesis was currently the top priority.
Thea modestly called herself a newcomer, but that was only relative to the Council of Nine. To these ordinary New Gods, she was thoroughly a big shot.
The three legion commanders quickly returned to their respective stations—whether for training or other matters, Thea didn't know. The remaining gods all busied themselves with their own affairs. Everyone was a deity—no one would hold her hand and guide her to recruit subordinates. She had to handle everything herself.
If this had been a tender-faced new god, they really couldn't manage this. But Thea had a thick skin. She calmly stood in the central plaza, raised her banner, and began recruitment.
Magic legions couldn't be organized on Earth because the ambient magical energy was too low. Here, that problem didn't exist at all. Even dragging a pig here, given billions of years, it could become a divine pig through sheer endurance!
The New Gods' ordinary members had very high quality, generally possessing elite-tier strength. This was the main reason they could resist Darkseid's endless Parademons.
Thea set up a large sign in the plaza, writing that by Highfather's command, she called upon aspiring individuals to join her magic squad and contribute to resisting the evil Darkseid.
No appointment letter needed, no written authorization required. In this strength-supremacist world, no one dared falsely transmit orders. Thea wasn't lying either—everyone believed without question.
No one told her the squad's size limit. Thea referenced the three main battle legions' million-strong scale and decided to recruit twenty thousand first.
If she tested aptitude one by one, she'd be busy for two months. Thea didn't have that kind of time.
Borrowing from stories she'd read, she set up a crystal ball as tall as a person in the plaza. Fifty people at a time came up to test aptitude. Those with good results could serve Highfather and justice with a sense of honor, staying behind. Those with poor results each received some money and were sent away—as in, lower the standards next time and you can try again.
For a moment, crowds surged. Everyone generally felt testing wouldn't take much time. Pass and you could serve Highfather loyally; fail and you still got paid. Word spread rapidly, and the plaza was soon packed solid.
Thea found several stronger, imposing-looking individuals to help maintain order, then transmitted all successful candidates to an empty training ground.
Just from a brief look, New Genesis had over a dozen similar training grounds. Except for three with the marks of the three great legions at their entrances, the rest were vast and empty. She unceremoniously claimed one, hanging a symbol of coins and stars at the entrance—this was her territory from now on.
When recruitment reached twenty-five thousand, she announced a halt. She had to say, these people's magical aptitude was truly excellent. In Thea's assessment, setting aside intelligence and wisdom factors, their magical affinity individually matched Mister E's.
She scattered money again on site, earning plenty of goodwill before leaving the plaza for her squad's base.
"You may or may not recognize me—it doesn't matter. I am Thea, Goddess of Trade and Wealth, organizing a magic squad by Highfather's command. You are the elite I've selected. From now on, you'll fight Darkseid alongside me. Are you afraid?"
Thea first introduced herself and delivered a rousing speech.
Having spent long periods in this positive-energy-filled environment, these people didn't know the meaning of fear. Some were so excited about fighting for Highfather they couldn't contain themselves. Tears were common here.
"You are the elite of the elite. Long years have passed, and perhaps you know some small tricks. But I want you to forget those things starting today. I will teach you magic—a systematic discipline requiring you to prepare for hardship!"
Mere kindness wouldn't suffice. When authority was needed, Thea was very authoritative. Her divine power aura covered the entire field—no one dared say half a word in protest.
"Very good. Now I'll teach you the most basic magical energy application..."
Magic being a systematic discipline was correct, but Thea didn't plan to teach them theoretical knowledge. Teaching like she'd taught Damian—breaking it down piece by piece—wasn't realistic. Highfather's requirement for them was battlefield capability, using magical energy for large-scale Parademon destruction. As long as they qualified for that, Thea understanding the profound theories herself was enough. They just needed to be fierce artillery platforms.
Moreover, mages—at least Earth's mages—were all scattered individuals. This was because they knew too much and thought too much, which was extremely unsuitable for legion warfare.
Thea's goal was teaching them the simplest, fastest way to release magical energy.
She screened out members of all six attributes—light and fire were most numerous, earth, wind, and water roughly equal, darkness had none.
Thea naturally couldn't teach like a traditional teacher with a textbook. She directly used divine power to create five stone pillars, categorically recording various large-scale destructive spells. Low-level ones were freely learnable; mid-to-high level ones required certain battle achievements to unlock.