The same phenomenon would produce different interpretations when seen by different people. To Thea, it was a struggle between good and evil, a choice between alignments. In the same illusion, what the Demon's Head saw were the children who had left before him during his eight hundred years.
In his first hundred years, using his vast knowledge and wealth, he had left behind a large family. Unfortunately, his descendants had chosen the wrong side and were slaughtered by the reigning monarch. Even though he eventually took revenge, it was all for nothing.
After that, he intermittently formed families several times. His children and grandchildren might still have shown some affection, but by the later generations, not to mention others' alienation toward him, he himself felt those descendants were no longer his family.
Some even coveted his secret of immortality. Being hung up and tortured by descendants he didn't know how many generations removed—that terrifying experience truly left him at a loss.
It wasn't until modern times that he finally had two daughters again. Unfortunately, his eldest daughter Talia was still wildly ambitious. The Demon's Head could only conclude that his bloodline contained a demon's curse, cursing him to suffer these torments forever.
"Hey, old man, are you alright?" Thea had slightly released her suppression, then saw the Demon's Head's eyes go blank. She asked somewhat uncertainly. After all, this was Batman's father-in-law and Damian's grandfather. Dying at her hands would really be troublesome.
The Demon's Head regained his composure slightly and recovered his calm, saying with some emotion, "Indeed terrifying. This is your predicament?"
Thea was too embarrassed to say this was only ten percent of the power, so she just nodded.
The Demon's Head thought for a moment. "Have you tried meditation?"
"I know over a hundred meditation methods." This wasn't an empty boast from Thea. The League of Assassins' meditation pursued cultivation of the heart, somewhat like the Japanese idea of unity between person and sword. It had miraculous effects on ordinary people, but for her, the effect was... well.
"Have you tried traveling?" the Demon's Head asked again.
Thea shook her head, rejecting this suggestion. Diana walking from east to west, while she walked from west to east? The two starting from America and meeting somewhere in the middle—if filmed as a TV series it would be very romantic, but in reality, it would be awkward. She put traveling as the last option.
"Then try living an ordinary life. Normal study, work, rest without using superpowers. Just treat yourself as an ordinary person." The Demon's Head, unaware of her concerns about traveling, proposed another method.
Thea's eyes lit up. This was a good idea. She gestured for the Demon's Head to continue.
"You're too young. Your heart has lost its restraints due to suddenly acquired power. You need to return to the starting point, think about your original intentions, and rediscover your initial motivation."
Thea seemed to gain some understanding. Many heroes, when trapped in desperate situations, remembered how they started at critical moments, then overcame their inner demons and ultimately snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
It was somewhat different from her situation, but there was still much to learn. Thea felt talking with this old man indeed had rewards. For the sake of his advice, she wouldn't notify Batman and the others.
"By the way, what brings you all the way to Star City?"
The old man's expression changed slightly. "I'm looking for a successor for the League."
"You're not looking for...?" Thea had some guesses and tentatively asked.
"That's right. The Queen family bloodline is truly enviable." The old man smiled like a weasel who'd stolen a chicken.
Oh my God, he had his eye on Oliver! With Batman, his most satisfactory son-in-law, now impossible to catch, he'd activated his backup plan. Heaven knows how Oliver entered his sight, but Thea felt it definitely had much to do with her.
Having just received a favor from the old man, turning against him immediately would be inappropriate. Besides, he had no ill will toward Oliver. In the original timeline, he not only freely gave away a daughter but also wanted to give away the entire League.
Now the League couldn't be given away, but the daughter was still available.
Thea thought of Nyssa's square face. Her looks were really quite average, but after establishing a relationship with Oliver, she was incredibly obedient. She'd call him husband at every turn, summoned and dismissed by Oliver at will, never asking who the enemy was, only where the enemy was.
In this timeline, Oliver didn't have Talia's teaching. Even though his overall quality had been enhanced by Thea, his pure combat skills were still somewhat weak. Accepting the Demon's Head's training would be good for him too.
"You won't hurt him, will you?"
"Of course not."
Thea felt satisfied enough. She protected her family but didn't oppose them suffering a bit to become stronger. She nodded slightly to the Demon's Head and turned to leave the alley.
Since she was going to live a few days as an ordinary person, Thea could only call her secretary, Miss Mercy, to pick her up.
Two hours later, she returned to Metropolis and signaled the secretary to close the door, indicating they had private matters to discuss.
"What are you trying to do? I'm not that kind of person." The secretary stood by the door, far away from her.
Thea didn't know that Poison Ivy had done something to the secretary, and this blame had somehow landed on her head. With her high intelligence, she still couldn't figure out the mystery here.
A bit confused, but she didn't take it seriously. She reached out and took out a cyan lantern ring and tossed it to her.
Seeing a ring thrown at her, the secretary retreated two more steps in fright.
Thea didn't know she'd imagined many unhealthy scenarios and could only explain.
When she learned this ring could grant superpowers, the secretary put on the ring like she was going to the execution ground. The revealing outfit that followed made her even more convinced of Thea's intentions.
Facts proved Thea's initial guess wasn't wrong. The secretary indeed had compassionate emotions, and the brilliant light on the ring proved this.
Thea didn't know about the messy thoughts in her mind—otherwise she'd definitely kill her!
Flight, manifestation, teleportation—she explained several functions. Seeing her showing no unusual expression, the secretary belatedly realized she might have misunderstood, then happily studied the ring's abilities.
Miss Mercy's skills were decent, and having always worked at a high-tech group, she'd been exposed to people like Luthor and Thea who were full of bleeding-edge tech. If her imagination was poor, she'd have been fired long ago.
She quickly mastered several functions, flew around the office once, and confirmed the abilities were real and effective. Thea's lecherous image in her heart faded somewhat before she asked about her doubts regarding the cyan outfit. "This outfit? Will I automatically turn into this whenever I put on the ring?"
Thea was also distressed. Blame that damned Abin Sur. No wait, he was already dead!
"I have no solution either. The outfit was the original design, and your compassionate emotion seems different from mine." As Thea spoke, she took out her own compassionate emotion. Her color leaned toward sky blue, while the secretary's compassion was a bit deep, vaguely tinged with purple.
You should know the emotional spectrum was very sensitive. Purple was love, which wasn't the same as compassion at all.
"I feel compassion for Mr. Luthor. He... he's not living happily." The secretary said a couple sentences then closed her mouth, clearly not liking this topic.