Though the ten days passed quickly, Thea still made time to handle a major matter.
She convened a meeting in the Batcave, gathering several capable individuals.
Thea and Diana, plus Superman, Martian Manhunter, and Batman—this loose circle already bore the shadow of the Justice League. Call it Justice League version 0.1.
"I've called you all here today for one thing." Thea got straight to the point without preamble.
"Considering realistic pressures and dangers, I plan to enhance Lois Lane."
Her bombshell statement nearly made Superman choke on his water.
"Why would you do that?" Batman naturally knew about Lois, having investigated Superman's entire ancestry. He just wanted to understand Thea's purpose.
What purpose? Lois Lane's death directly triggered the Injustice storyline—Gods Among Us. Her influence on Superman was immense.
Originally, Thea hadn't taken it seriously, but at Mount Olympus, she'd finally realized that resurrection artifacts were extraordinarily rare. Even Hera possessed only one or two. Considering their terrible relationship with Hades, death would now be extremely troublesome.
Who knew how the Court of Owls had managed to resurrect Yao Fei back then. They'd repeated that exact procedure hundreds of times since, but not a single experiment succeeded. Moreover, without the Lazarus Pit now, even if someone became a vegetable, waking them would be nearly impossible.
Yet Lois Lane had a death-seeking personality, frequenting dangerous locations with zero defensive capability. Who knew when God might glance away and she'd be gone.
That was the genesis of Thea's proposal today.
"You're asking me why?" Thea faced Batman's question directly, pointing at Superman without regard for his presence. "I'm worried about him. If Lois dies, the moral boundaries in his heart might no longer restrain him. What then? Do we really want to use Kryptonite against a noble friend?"
Batman's face remained expressionless—this was exactly what he thought! He just saw no need to voice it. Superman's expression also darkened. He didn't know what choice he'd make if that really happened.
"How do you plan to enhance her?" Martian Manhunter naturally also knew Lois Lane, but usually avoided meddling in Superman's private affairs.
"Enhancement comes in several forms—genetics, magic, equipment. But you've misunderstood. I just want Lois to have self-defense capabilities, not to make her a superhero."
What a joke—if Lois became a hero, she'd be in even more danger! She was already this reckless without powers. With abilities, wouldn't she go interview Darkseid?
"Though this involves me, I support it!" Superman ultimately didn't know what choice he'd make, but prevention was always better than cure.
"Lois is a woman full of justice. She should possess self-defense capabilities." Diana also spoke up at the right moment.
Three votes in favor. Martian Manhunter and Batman couldn't think of any reason to oppose. Lois was undoubtedly a righteous person—even Batman, whose suspicion bordered on paranoia, confirmed this.
How to enhance her? Thea looked at Batman, who immediately waved his hands. "My martial arts aren't suitable for her to learn."
"Actually, I meant having Batgirl or Black Canary train her a bit. Not to make her exceptionally strong—just enough to fight back somewhat."
"Also—" Thea tossed Superman a teleportation gem. "This is a teleportation gem I created. The destination is set to Supergirl's apartment. Lois's defense is too weak. I think we could combine our strengths to make her a suit of armor."
Combining everyone's strength to forge armor—this idea naturally came from the Hellbat armor. But Lois didn't need to storm Apokolips, so the functionality didn't need to be that powerful.
Superman was absolutely certain this was an excellent idea. Everyone divided the work.
Measuring her body and forging the outer shell using solar energy was Superman's task. Diana handled the enchantments. Batman installed various electronic components. Martian Manhunter installed the anti-mind-control module in the helmet.
Finally, Thea performed the atomization settings for easy carrying.
To prevent this reporter lady from walking further down the path of recklessness, all five capable individuals—including Superman—quietly agreed not to install any weapon systems. This armor could be said to have zero offensive power while maxing out defense and speed. Assuming Lois wasn't actively seeking death, she should have reasonable safety guarantees.
After some consideration, the training task was assigned to Barbara Gordon. Setting aside Thea as irregular combat power, Batgirl Barbara was exemplary among the younger generation of female heroes—outstanding in both intellect and martial arts, brimming with justice. She would surely find common ground with Lois.
After settling Lois's matter, Thea and Diana returned to Mount Olympus. Naturally, the naive and simple-hearted Supergirl was also brought along. That young lady's battle with Apollo had increased her internal energy by at least thirty percent. Now Thea and Diana couldn't suppress her without going all out.
Returning to Mount Olympus, the environment remained unchanged, but the atmosphere was far livelier than before.
Hippolyta wisely stepped back to the second line, handing all Amazons over to Antiope's leadership.
This stern warrior was dedicated to duty, never showing favoritism, earning Hera's high praise.
Besides the Amazons, Mount Olympus had another force—the elite who'd escaped the Underworld with Thea and Hera. Their structure was loose, but under the Underworld King's tremendous pressure, they'd pledged allegiance to Hera, collectively electing Arachne as their leader.
Controlling these two forces, Hera constantly balanced their relationship. The sweet taste of power consumed Her. Now She wouldn't give up the God King's throne for anything.
Besides the three women, the first to arrive—unsurprisingly—was Eris, Goddess of Discord. This deity appeared and disappeared like smoke, visible wherever conflict existed.
Following the Goddess of Discord was an old friend and acquaintance of Thea and Diana—Ares.
Compared to his refined middle-aged appearance during World War I, the current God of War had aged considerably. His face was covered with age spots, his beard reached his chest, and he dressed in rags. The only improvement was that he'd stopped pretending to be lame.
The elderly war god looked like Hera's grandfather from a distance. In truth, he was Hera and Zeus's biological son. But people habitually categorized good and evil by their own understanding. As the son of the "great villain" and "jealous" Hera, Ares bore considerable infamy—whether deserved or not, everything got dumped on the War God's head.
Among those who'd cursed him were Hippolyta and Diana. Thea sometimes maliciously thought that when Diana's martial skills were still developing, she'd probably badmouthed Ares plenty behind his back.