Martian Manhunter spoke with uncertainty.
Thea's eyes widened. So your reproduction method really is vastly different from humans! Over three hundred siblings in one generation! No wonder he was dizzy keeping track as an elder.
"Does your niece say where she went?" Thea had already met several Teen Titans members. Whether Damian, Raven, or Beast Boy from a few days ago, they'd all left good impressions. Martian Manhunter's niece should be the teen superhero code-named Miss Martian.
Martian Manhunter cared even more. He reviewed everything twice and shook his head. "She only mentioned searching to the east, but there's no follow-up information recorded. This is too strange. She's young—her abilities aren't sufficient for space travel."
Their task shifted from surveying mineral deposits to finding someone. Thea followed Martian Manhunter searching for five minutes without finding a trace. This planet was too desolate, the climate too harsh.
Earth had the saying "sunrise in the east, rain in the west," but on Mars—a body one-sixth Earth's size—they circled the planet three times. Global sandstorms everywhere.
Too much time had passed. Martian Manhunter's nine senses found nothing after searching extensively. He could only turn to Thea. Knowing her for years, this strange Earthling always had methods he didn't understand.
"Send me your niece's image."
Martian Manhunter didn't understand why but thought hard. After a while, he transmitted a photo through the psychic channel, somewhat embarrassed. "It's been too long. My memory's not clear."
Thea closed her eyes to examine the photo carefully, almost laughing aloud. Martian Manhunter didn't really remember what his niece looked like. After several centuries, trying to match one niece from hundreds of that generation's descendants—the difficulty was considerable. Not knowing Thea's purpose, he anxiously transmitted five photos total!
With a name and rough photos, finding her would be easy. Thea pulled out Croaton's compass—a perfect tool for tracking people and objects. She'd never used it to find an alien before, though, and wasn't entirely certain it would work.
Facts proved magic's superiority. The compass ignored the Earth-alien distinction—it worked!
The needle began turning slowly but surely after Thea input the target. Sometimes it swept past five degrees rapidly, sometimes it reversed one or two degrees. Finally, the needle locked firmly northward.
"Your relative is still on this planet." Thea gave Martian Manhunter reassurance first. They began following the direction.
They flew over thirty thousand li to a very ordinary wasteland. The needle signaled Thea—here! This is the place.
What was special about this spot? Thea looked around seeing nothing unusual. The ground beneath them was common terrain—no meteor craters, no hematite deposits. She couldn't spot any anomalies.
But magical power didn't lie. The compass wouldn't err. There had to be something hidden here.
"What was this place before?" Thea asked.
What place was this? Martian Manhunter stared at the barren land, equally stumped. The previous areas had been part of his activity range and felt familiar. This area was quite remote.
Fortunately, he loved his homeworld deeply. He activated his powerful psychic abilities, digging deep into his own memories, then—like computer modeling—he rebuilt the memories onto the planet's surface to determine their current position.
When the final information confirmed, he couldn't help an "Eh?" Before Thea could ask, he explained. "If I'm not mistaken, this is... in Earth terms, this is the noble district. M'gann's family were nobles, while I was common-born. The nobles possessed naturally powerful psychic manipulation abilities—they were the strongest in our entire species."
Thea's expression was odd. Are you kidding me? If your nobles' mental control was stronger than yours, you Martians would've conquered the universe ages ago!
Without his fatal fire weakness, Thea as a New God wouldn't dare claim she could beat Martian Manhunter easily. His racial talents were too powerful—physical immunity, magic immunity, psychic control, immense strength, unparalleled regeneration. He could regrow his head if it fell off. Flight, space survival—with seven or eight like him, they could steamroll the Green Lantern Corps and manhandle the Guardians.
Martian Manhunter had just been staying on Earth. He didn't realize how powerful he truly was.
No time to educate the old Martian hunter on proper worldview. Thea surveyed the area again, sending mental probes deeper.
When her mental force reached ten thousand meters underground, a powerful barrier repelled it.
Now Thea was truly surprised. She'd sensed something—though somewhat ambiguous, the underlying rhythm was unmistakable. What had bounced her mental probe back seemed to be... divine power.
She'd apparently discovered something quite bizarre. Martians had a god?
When Thea shared her finding with Martian Manhunter, he was equally uncertain. "You mean there's been a deity on our planet all along? Not imagined in artwork but a real, flesh-and-blood god?"
"I'm not entirely sure about the life form, but there's definitely divine power down there. Are you surprised there's a deity? You've met Earth's deity Heracles. Diana is one. So am I." Thea felt this was a good flex, speaking as if discussing something irrelevant, her tone steady.
Especially paired with her current radiant golden Godsmite robe, plus the hood covering most of her face, hands clasped behind her back, hovering in the air—whether appearance or aura, she projected powerful visual impact. The mystery within her stillness truly suited the term "deity."
Martian Manhunter found her words somewhat bewildering but didn't dwell on deific matters. "We commoners never had contact with deity affairs. I always thought it was spiritual faith, never knowing Mars actually had a deity watching us. This..."
"Let's go down. Your niece is likely below." Such a massive hidden threat needed investigation. If this deity popped out later when nations were surveying and excavating, that would be troublesome.
Ten thousand meters didn't challenge them. Martian Manhunter could enter a phased state—a current physics-defying ability. Thea could shift between tangible and intangible states.
They descended rapidly. Upon reaching a colorless transparent barrier, they both stopped.
Thea carefully examined this divine power. The other party wasn't a New God—that much was certain. Judging from the divine power's fluctuation, it should be stronger than Apollo and Hera. Martians had tens of thousands of years of civilization. With so few survivors now, faith-deity probability was low.