"Queen Consolidated's... new shareholder?"
Oliver had considered many possibilities, but he never expected Ethan to give such an answer.
"Excuse me, may I ask how old you are?"
Everything else could be explained, but Ethan's appearance was far too young. Based on age alone, it was impossible for him to be a shareholder of the corporation.
"You should know my representative, Ada Wong."
Hearing that name, Oliver's brow twitched slightly. Although he had not yet returned to his family's company and did not even hold a nominal position, he had already begun secretly gathering intelligence on Queen Consolidated.
Recently, an Asian woman named Ada Wong had been acquiring shares on behalf of someone. It was difficult not to notice.
"Ada Wong is your representative?"
Oliver still did not put down his bow. None of this felt related to the current situation.
"That doesn't explain why you're here."
Ethan placed the arrow he was holding aside, then brushed his hand over the box.
Almost at the same second, Oliver attacked again. This time, Ethan did not try to catch the arrow. He tilted his head slightly to avoid it, and at the same time shifted his body, dodging Oliver's follow-up strike.
At this time, Oliver had just returned to civilization and was still in his peak fighting condition.
Later, Green Arrow's equipment would be upgraded repeatedly, but his mindset would change. He would take on burdens, lose his original decisiveness, and even have trouble finishing off enemies.
The current Oliver was different. Every attack aimed to kill. An ordinary person would be severely injured if not dead from a single blow. And once someone was gravely injured, Oliver would not hesitate to finish them off. The Oliver of this time knew how to end a life.
"Good strength."
Ethan "played" with Oliver for a while. Once he had a clear grasp of Green Arrow's ability, he casually reached out and grabbed the bow in Oliver's hand.
Oliver reacted instantly. He drew a dagger and stabbed toward Ethan's ribs.
Because of the close distance and the assumption that the opponent's attention was on the bow, even a trained fighter would have trouble reacting in time. The proper reaction was to immediately let go of the bow and retreat to avoid the stab. Oliver had already prepared his next move. The moment the opponent let go, he would fire an arrow at point-blank range.
At such a distance, the opponent would not be able to dodge or catch it.
What happened next surprised him again.
Ethan did not dodge at all. He let the dagger strike his side. The sharp blade only pierced his clothes, achieving nothing else.
"A stab-proof vest?"
Oliver assumed Ethan was wearing protective gear under his clothing. Although the feeling transmitted through the dagger was unusual, he had no time to think about it. He decisively released the bow and retreated to grab other weapons.
Whoosh.
Thump.
Just as he reached for the weapons, Oliver saw an arrow embedded in the ground in front of him.
He did not need to check. From the sound alone, he could tell the arrow came from his own bow. He also did not believe the opponent had missed. Ethan simply had no intention of hitting him.
"Are you from the League of Assassins?"
Ethan pursed his lips, tossed the bow back to Oliver, then looked down at his clothes. There was a small cut where the dagger had poked through. Not very noticeable. After checking it again, he ignored it.
But Ethan's actions made Oliver realize there was nothing under his clothes. That meant the dagger had stabbed Ethan's flesh and still failed to pierce his skin.
"I said I'm a new shareholder of Queen Consolidated, here to meet the heir of Queen Consolidated."
Oliver did not believe a word of that. He only believed that Ethan did not intend to kill him. If Ethan wanted him dead, that arrow earlier would not have missed.
"Does it have to be here... and involve my sister?"
"Involve?"
Ethan understood immediately why Oliver looked unhappy. Oliver seemed unconcerned that Ethan had found him. After all, Ethan was clearly not an ordinary person and could even be someone from a force Oliver encountered before.
What angered him was that the secret he was desperately protecting had been exposed to his sister so easily. To Oliver, this meant great danger for her.
Regarding that idea, Ethan could only think of one word: naive.
"You might be misunderstanding something."
"What?"
"It was not me who involved her. It was you."
Oliver spread his hands. "Didn't you bring her here and tell her everything?"
Oliver was no longer the clueless rich boy he used to be. After years of training, his skills surpassed even elite agents. His talent was remarkable. Even if an ordinary person had endured his experiences, their abilities would not reach Oliver's level.
His intelligence had also increased. In a short time, Oliver had already deduced part of the situation.
"No. Bringing her here and involving her are not the same thing. What you call involving her... she was already involved the moment you started building this secret base and preparing to do what you plan to do."
Oliver understood. As his sister, Thea was naturally part of it, unless he abandoned everything and obediently became the heir of Queen Consolidated.
"It seems you know a lot."
"I know more than you think."
Ethan had already opened Oliver's wooden box and taken out the green hood, examining it carefully.
It was just a simple, old hood, crudely made, but clearly cherished. It was clean and well-kept.
"I know you want to keep your secret hidden, thinking that the less Thea knows, the safer she is..." Ethan showed instinctive disdain. "I have never understood how you came to that conclusion."
Countless superheroes concealed their identities for this reason, as if ignorance was some form of protection.
But reality repeatedly proved that ignorance was the most dangerous state. Whether family or lovers, they had no idea what dangerous life the person led or what type of lunatics they would provoke.
Until danger arrived, they had no idea why they were suddenly targeted.
And the most terrifying part was...
"Because your family does not know anything, they have zero sense of danger. Just like Thea, who was so easily brought here by me. If I were your enemy, what situation would she be in right now?"
"..."
"If she knew what you were doing and who you were targeting, at least she would not be easily fooled or kidnapped, becoming a hostage used to threaten you."
Oliver had to admit Ethan had a point. If his family knew nothing, then the situations Ethan described were indeed possible. And the example before him was extremely clear.
He did not know that in the future, his enemies would indeed do exactly what Ethan mentioned. More than once. His mother even died because of these situations.
"So... you specifically brought Thea here to let her know, just to remind me of this?"
Ethan put the hood back in the box.
"Pretty much."
Thea also had good talent and quick thinking. She had already pieced together much of the situation from their conversation.
Oliver realized there was no point hiding it now and stopped dodging the issue.
"Who exactly are you?"
Oliver frowned deeply. He was becoming increasingly confused about Ethan's identity.
He had once suspected the boy belonged to the League of Assassins, but why would someone from that organization go out of their way to remind him of such things? Besides, Ethan's fighting style was nothing like theirs.
"Didn't I say? A new shareholder of Queen Consolidated."
"That is not funny at all."
"Because I'm not joking."
Oliver frowned again. At that moment, Ethan shifted to another topic that gave Oliver a headache.
"Instead of dwelling on my identity, you should think about how to explain your situation to your sister."
Thea had heard much of their conversation. She understood that her brother's past years must have been extremely complicated. She also understood he was preparing to do something dangerous, something that would bring him many enemies. Everything in the base was preparation for that.
From the weapons alone, she could tell this path was definitely not safe.
"Ollie."
"Thea, I just didn't want you to be caught up in trouble..."
"Like he said, I am already caught up in it."
She turned to look at Ethan. Although he had "brought her here" and revealed secrets she should not have known, she did not feel he had done wrong.
Ethan clearly had no ill intentions toward her this time. But what if next time it was Oliver's enemy instead? And she knew nothing? Just imagining it made her stomach sink.
Thinking about that, Thea suddenly felt she should learn some self-defense skills.
(To be continued.)