Thea watched with her own eyes as her brother, who had been missing for five years, skillfully organized a basement into a secret base, constantly moving in items whose purpose she did not understand.
When watching the show back then, this part of the plot was conveyed in just a few shots that summarized Oliver's process of building the secret base.
But in the real world, building a secret base was not something that could be done in half a day.
Just gathering the various tools and equipment could not be done in half a day. After Oliver finished organizing the basement, he began spending time moving in equipment he had secretly purchased, then installed and tested it. By the time all of this was complete, an entire week had passed.
For a full week, Ethan went to Thea's school every day and gave her a live broadcast of how her brother was building a secret base.
After watching Oliver do nothing but build the secret base for an entire week, Thea's wariness toward Ethan lessened slightly.
"Do you know where this is?"
She had watched her brother establish a secret base and store many weapons there. Because Oliver had been training there and showing off his impressive archery skills, Thea did not believe those arrows were just for show.
"Yes. Do you want to see it with your own eyes?"
Today happened to be the weekend, and Thea did not have school tomorrow. She wanted to take the opportunity to go see the place and ask her brother face to face why he was building such a secret base.
If it was just for physical training, there was no need to find such a secluded place. The Queen family had plenty of money and space in their mansion. If Oliver wanted to, he could have built a gym or even an underground archery range. It would not have been difficult at all.
But Oliver did not do that. Instead, he chose to create this place himself, which filled Thea's head with questions.
"Yes," Thea said, standing up and brushing the dust off her skirt. "I also want to know what exactly you are trying to do."
She felt more and more that this person was strange. She had already confirmed that the boy in front of her was not a student at her school. Thea had some status and influence at school, so confirming this was not difficult.
He was not a student, yet he showed her Oliver's secret activities every day. Anyone with a normal amount of intelligence could see that this person had come for her.
Did Oliver get into trouble during the five years he went missing? Considering that Oliver built such a place as soon as he returned, stockpiled weapons, and acquired strange skills, this possibility was not small.
"Me?"
Ethan put away the projection. What he wanted to do was actually very simple. He just wanted Oliver's secret to be exposed. But if he explained this to others, no normal person would believe him.
"You will know when you see Oliver."
Thea checked the time. Most of today had been spent watching Oliver organize that secret location. It had been the same these past few days. Once her viewing time was up, she would pack up and go home.
She had not left yet, hesitating about whether to go with this person to Oliver's secret base. After thinking for a moment, she decided to go see for herself.
After watching for many days, she had already figured out where Oliver's secret base was located.
She knew the place. It was an abandoned factory owned by her family. However, that neighborhood was not safe. Maybe she should confront Oliver first. Tell him she knew his secret and then have Oliver take her. That would certainly be safer than going with a stranger.
With that thought, Thea said nothing more to Ethan and left school to go home.
Ethan was not surprised that Thea did not choose to expose Oliver's secret with him. However, Thea could never imagine how cautious and careful her brother was. If given a choice, he would absolutely not admit to having a secret.
The next day, Thea waited until Oliver went out, then quietly followed behind him, preparing to directly confront him.
The neighborhood around the abandoned factory was not safe. No matter how bold she was, Thea was still a young girl. Walking through such a neighborhood made her nervous.
Just as she was hesitating whether to continue forward, she suddenly saw the boy she had been seeing these days waving at her from up ahead.
"What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you."
"..."
Thea tightened her grip on the pepper spray in her hand. She was just about to turn around and leave when she saw Ethan already walking forward. After a few steps, he stopped again and gestured for her to hurry and follow.
"It is not far ahead. Your brother went in fifteen minutes ago."
Thea hesitated, but curiosity won in the end. She took a step and followed him. Even if this guy had some ulterior motive, she would be safe once she saw Oliver.
After watching Oliver train these past few days, she already knew that her brother was no longer the playboy who only knew how to drink and chase girls.
Ethan's appearance was also very deceptive. Thea even thought she could take him down if necessary, not to mention that she had a powerful weapon in her hand.
Before long, the two of them arrived outside the gate of the abandoned factory.
Thea looked at the two meter high iron fence and began warming up. She wanted to demonstrate her flexibility, which was not much worse than Oliver's. Although she could not flip over the fence as easily as he did, with this height and a few things to step on, it certainly could not stop her.
Just as she took a few steps back to prepare for a sprint, she saw Ethan casually push the iron gate open, then look at her as if asking what she was doing.
"..."
Thea walked over awkwardly and saw that the chain and lock were both undone. It did not look like the lock had been broken at all.
"How did you open it?"
"Just like that."
A small unlocking charm was enough. Ethan did not even need to chant a spell. The moment his hand touched the lock, the magic was already released.
Because his body blocked her view, Thea did not see the lock open by itself. She assumed Ethan knew how to pick locks.
After walking inside, Ethan casually wrapped the chain around the door again and locked it. The two of them then entered the abandoned factory and quickly found the entrance to the basement that Oliver had concealed.
Looking at the entrance that required using a single rope to descend, Thea immediately felt a headache coming.
"How do we get down?"
Oliver had only built his secret base a few days ago and did not have time to完善 the infrastructure. He also did not have companions, so a single rope was enough for him.
Thea, however, was just a high school student with no training or experience in difficult maneuvers. Sliding down a rope from that height was not something she could do.
While Thea was stressing over it, someone suddenly grabbed her waist. Before she could react, her body felt light and then she was falling downward rapidly.
The distance was short, so she did not even have time to scream. By the time she regained her senses, she was already standing in the basement.
"This..."
Ethan had already let go of her. Almost at the same time, an arrow struck the ground in front of them.
"Ollie, it is me!"
Thea was startled by the sudden arrow. She was terrified that Oliver might mistake her for an intruder and kill her, so she quickly shouted out to warn him of her identity.
Oliver was also shocked. He turned the lights back on and walked out from a dark corner, looking stunned at his sister and a strange boy standing beside her.
"Thea? How did you get here?"
Thea looked at Oliver holding a bow and shook her head helplessly. "I told you yesterday, I already know your secret."
"Cough, this is just a place I use for physical training."
"I also know you have stored a lot of things there, including weapons."
Facing her brother, Thea did not hold back. She directly exposed Oliver, who was stubbornly trying to hide everything, then walked over and pointed at the large pile of weapons and equipment nearby.
"These are just some of my personal hobbies, you do not need to worry too much."
Oliver frowned, trying to figure out how to explain this, when he noticed the strange young man looking around as well.
Suddenly, Oliver realized he had not noticed the boy's movements at all. He did not even know when the boy had walked over.
Having undergone rigorous training, Oliver immediately knew something was wrong. He ignored the fact that Ethan had walked over to the box containing the hood and instead focused entirely on observing the boy.
The next second, he made his move.
Drawing, nocking, and firing the arrow happened in an instant. By the time ordinary people realized what had happened, the arrow would have already pierced a vital point.
But this time was different. The young man did not even turn his head. He acted as though he had not noticed anything, yet his hand firmly caught the high speed arrow.
"You should have aimed a little higher."
This arrow was aimed at the shoulder, intended to cause severe pain and immobilize the target without killing them.
But it made no difference to Ethan. He was not going to be hit anyway.
Oliver grabbed Thea and pulled her behind him. He drew another arrow onto his bowstring. "Who are you?"
"Nice to meet you, Oliver Queen. I am Ethan." Ethan paused and added, "The new shareholder of Queen Consolidated."
(To be continued.)
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