Wotan looked at the demon. He wasn't stupid. Anything valued by a mage at Thea's level must be extraordinary.
However, he also knew he was too far from that level. Worrying about things beyond his reach was completely useless.
He wanted to continue asking Thea a few questions about himself, but seeing her impenetrable attitude, did he have any other bargaining chips to move her?
He struggled to recall information about this mage tower from his knowledge. Which sections mentioned the Beast this master valued?
Suddenly he slapped his forehead. "Master, according to records, this tower initially had a room that imprisoned this Beast. Most likely it escaped from there!"
Wotan deliberately raised his voice to emphasize this was important intelligence. Actually, he didn't think this news was particularly important—he just said it on a whim, trying his luck.
However, when Thea heard these words, they automatically extended into new meanings.
The room that birthed this creature might still have some shadow remnants? Even if nothing remains, observing the traces of its former presence would greatly benefit me.
When deities walk the earth, they leave divine miracles. Something like the Great Beast—even just a trace of its shadow—would leave heavy marks in the material realm.
"What do you want?" The young heiress struck the demon beast unconscious with a backhand blow, her gaze calm as she asked the effeminate man. Her words carried a hint of threat that made Wotan's heart race.
Asking an outrageous price would have severe consequences. After slight hesitation, he stated his purpose: "The memory continuation magic from back then isn't reversible. Can you solve my physical problems? I don't want to sink deeper into this cycle lifetime after lifetime."
Thea looked at him coldly. Wotan feared both that she'd turn hostile and that she'd say she couldn't do it.
Time seemed to pass for ages before Thea gave a slight nod. "Your magic isn't particularly difficult. I can help you dispel it. Additionally, this lifetime I'll split your soul, letting you choose what memories to carry into the next life. If you have no problems with that, lead the way."
For those who know, it's not difficult. Cutting souls was just a matter of a few sword strikes for her, but to Wotan it was like being granted a new lease on life.
He eagerly took the lead. Thea thought for a moment—best to keep this demon. She shook the chain and dragged the demon beast along like a dead dog.
The two walked intermittently. Wotan was under tremendous pressure, repeatedly checking landmarks according to book descriptions, terrified of walking into a dead end and having this master tie him together with the demon beast in anger.
When he pushed open a stone door, Wotan was mentally unstable and didn't clearly see what was beyond. He stepped forward—his vision became void. Just as he tried to save himself, Thea pulled him back.
He was about to thank the big shot when he saw Thea first cover her mouth, then burst into unbridled laughter. "Hahaha!—" Her voice was bright and resonant, as if she'd discovered some rare treasure.
The young heiress's laughter made Wotan nervous. Please, laughing after discovering treasure before silencing witnesses is a villain move. You're a hero, right? How dare you steal our villain trademark?
Thea had no time to care about his petty thoughts. She'd searched everywhere without results, been somewhat disappointed, but now this outcome exceeded her expectations.
The self-awareness from the Great Beast's shadow had become the demon beast—meaning this void before her that absorbed all light had no consciousness.
Though she couldn't directly absorb it, simulating and learning posed no problem.
This whole "God is righteous, Great Beast is evil" thing—she didn't see it that way.
Beings at that level had long transcended the definitions of righteousness and evil. Justice and evil were appropriate for describing Highfather and Darkseid, but describing those two big shots was complete nonsense.
This void before her—even just looking at it, she felt herself gaining much knowledge. This knowledge surpassed what language could express, representing the power to create worlds.
Suppressing her temptation to look further, there were too many idle people in the tower right now. It wasn't suitable for enlightenment.
This tower hiding such an incomparable treasure—she wasn't planning to be polite. After all, she'd mediated the conflict between Nabu and Khalid. Surely changing the tower owner's name to her own, he wouldn't mind!
Thea was enveloped in ineffable joy. The anxious Wotan couldn't help but look a few more times.
What benefit did this master gain? Why so happy? Looking back at that void, he gained nothing.
However, he knew this thing had no connection with him. Better to seize what he deserved.
He looked at Thea pitifully. You won't go back on your word, right?
The Goddess of Commerce naturally wouldn't take advantage of him. She pulled him directly outside the tower.
She reached into the depths of his soul and extracted a light blue substance—the memory continuation magic he'd cast on himself in his first life. Her five fingers closed and gently crushed it. Then she drew her holy sword—clang clang, several strikes. Before Wotan understood what happened, she'd already finished.
"I've split off two souls for you. You can store necessary knowledge in one soul. The remaining two souls will automatically dissipate in three days."
Soul splitting was no more difficult for her than partitioning a hard drive. After explaining the memory transfer method again, Thea thought about it. The benefit she'd gained this time was enormous—this guide contributed greatly. She'd only swung her sword a few times, which seemed perfunctory.
Her psychic power swept through the tower, searching for a moment before a small cluster of psychic power flew back.
"Since you desire Nabu's knowledge, I'll fulfill that wish too. After Khalid's natural death, you'll become the new bearer of Nabu's helmet. I'll be staying in this universe a few more days. I might need you later, or might not. That's it!" After speaking, she handed over the cluster representing Nabu's psychic power to Wotan, then directly opened a door and tossed him out of this subspace.
Having driven away the idle people, she began claiming the mage tower.
Although the tower owner was Nabu, so what? The Goddess of Wealth wanted to give him benefits—he couldn't refuse!
She'd done strong-arm sales more than once or twice, without any psychological burden. However, this time she didn't use a single copper to buy the mage tower.
Nabu values his successor? I'll give him a few spells as equivalent exchange. After all, knowledge is priceless!
She transmitted several powerful spells from her Earth's Egyptian pantheon into the mage tower. The tower had no use for these spells, so they naturally transferred into Nabu's helmet.
A simple transaction complete!
Ownership changed. She didn't plan to move the mage tower. After all, it still bore half of Earth-2's order power. Whether to suppress that trace of shadow or maintain stability, moving it wasn't appropriate.
When Thea wanted to gain enlightenment in the future, she'd just return to this space.
What? Doctor Fate has no Tower of Fate? How will he manage? She didn't care about such matters. Moreover, she felt Khalid Ben-Hassin might not even realize this tower should have originally belonged to him.
The facts matched her expectations. Khalid put on the fully enclosed helmet. When he emerged again, he had no idea the tower should have been included with it.
The three reunited with Thea. At that moment, the young heiress was outside with closed eyes, contemplating the knowledge from that earlier glimpse. The mysterious knowledge was intoxicating. Only when old Robert called her twice did she regain consciousness.
There were too many miscellaneous matters in the outside world—really not a good time for pondering. She teleported them back to New Orleans.
She briefly sparred with Khalid, who now called himself Doctor Fate, using magic. This kind of forced empowerment had many hidden problems.
Unstable state of mind, arrogant and conceited, extremely crude magic power usage, thinking he was second only to God himself. Thea thoroughly beat him down before this man realized he was still mortal, not a deity.
"Nabu provides you only with magic power and experience. You still have a long way to go before you can freely apply his knowledge, Mr. Khalid."
Wearing the metal helmet, Khalid kept demanding everyone call him Doctor Fate—separating the two identities, so to speak. Thea wouldn't indulge his bad habits. You've even forgotten your own surname? I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your Allah!
After a thorough beating, Khalid Ben-Hassin finally remembered his name and stopped stubbornly insisting people call him Doctor Fate.
Leaving Hawkgirl to accompany Khalid in familiarizing himself with his new abilities, Thea took old Robert back to the Batcave.
Seeing Cisco and Caitlin's strange expressions, after detailed questioning, she learned that while Barry was installing speed dampening nodes, he'd picked up a handsome guy.