Thea wanted to learn, but Oliver did not want to teach her.
In Oliver's opinion, it was better for Thea to be protected. He also believed Thea could not endure the necessary training. If she only learned some superficial moves, then it would be better for her not to learn anything at all. At least that way, she would know she had no combat ability and would not try to do anything reckless.
Even though Thea came to Oliver's secret base every day afterward, Oliver never changed his mind.
However, Thea did learn that Ethan really was a new shareholder of Queen Consolidated and also their new neighbor.
After that day, Oliver and Thea carefully investigated Ethan. The publicly available information was easy to find.
Both of them knew that Ethan's background was not simple. How could an ordinary person possess such skill?
What concerned Oliver more was that the dagger he had thrust with full force had not injured Ethan at all. He was very curious how Ethan had managed that. Perhaps he had used some special item that gave him a special ability.
Oliver had seen too many strange things in the past few years, so even if Ethan had some unusual power, he would not be surprised. What troubled him was how he should stop Ethan if Ethan did have ulterior motives for approaching him.
Oliver still did not fully trust Ethan. At this point, he could not even fully trust his own family. How could Ethan, who suddenly appeared and exposed his secret immediately, become a trustworthy friend?
Not only did Oliver maintain caution toward Ethan, but Thea also remained alert.
But since they were still young, they sometimes did things they thought were clever.
Just like now. When Thea discovered Oliver refused to teach her self-defense, she turned her attention to Ethan.
She believed this plan was perfect. Not only could she learn something, but she could also gather more information from Ethan and perhaps even discover his true background.
"You want to learn something from me?"
"Yes."
Thea watched Ethan curiously as he occasionally pulled out what looked like candy snacks from who knew where. She noticed he often tossed these unknown things into his mouth and chewed them like beans.
Ethan looked Thea up and down. He knew Thea would later join the Green Arrow team and learn combat and archery from the League of Assassins under her biological father, Malcolm Merlyn, meaning she would eventually gain some combat ability.
However, in Ethan's eyes, Thea's combat ability was not all that impressive. Her most threatening offensive ability was archery. Her most suitable role would be hiding in the dark and providing medium and long-range support.
Limited by her physique and gender, Thea did not have great strength, which put her at a disadvantage in close combat.
Her talent was not bad, but she was not top-tier either. Combined with a lack of true life-and-death combat experience, Thea had no remarkable achievements and later completely withdrew from the front-line combat role.
Putting other things aside, her physique alone told him everything.
"So thin..."
Ethan popped another magic stone into his mouth. After swallowing it, he gave his conclusion.
"What?"
Thea looked down at herself. She was quite satisfied with her figure, but Ethan's comment was definitely not praise. Looking up again, she saw him pointing at a dumbbell next to them.
"Pick that up. Let me see."
They had come to Oliver's secret base again today, which made Oliver extremely frustrated. He did not even know who this secret base belonged to anymore. These two would show up whenever they wanted, wandering around and preventing him from quietly handling his business.
Now, Oliver was standing there sorting through his equipment with an expression of helplessness, while Ethan and Thea acted like onlookers. After hearing Ethan's words, Oliver paused slightly and looked at his sister.
Thea looked at the dumbbell. It was a solid chunk of metal. She had seen Oliver lift it several times for training, and it never looked difficult. Compared to Oliver's other exercises, this seemed the simplest.
She bent down and reached out. She almost failed to lift it the first time.
"Whoa. This thing is much heavier than I thought."
After trying harder, she finally lifted the dumbbell with both hands, holding it in front of her chest, then looked at Ethan as if asking, What now?
"Alright, put it back. Be careful not to hurt yourself."
Thea placed the dumbbell back. At that moment, she finally understood why Oliver refused to teach her.
"I can train to get stronger. Ollie wasn't like this back then."
When he disappeared years ago, Oliver had been a soft young man, nothing like his current muscular build.
"That is not something you can build in a short time."
Oliver's ability to train like this had a lot to do with his relatively decent foundation back then. Even if Oliver had not been so muscular, he was nowhere near as frail and thin as Thea, who practically looked like a stick.
"And instead of training specifically for close combat, you might as well learn to use a gun."
Compared to close combat, firearms required far less physical strength. Small-caliber pistols were tiny, with low recoil. Though their firepower was not great, they were enough for self-defense.
"Thea will not learn those things."
Oliver froze when he heard Ethan suggest that Thea learn firearms. Before Thea could answer, Oliver rejected the idea.
He did not want his sister walking down the same path he did. This was not a good road.
"I am only giving advice. Whether you take it is up to you."
Ethan checked the time on the nearby computer.
"It is about time."
"What?"
Thea had not yet processed what Ethan meant, but Oliver had already grabbed his bow.
Because of Ethan and Thea, Oliver realized his secret base was not secret at all. Now, he kept his weapons within reach at all times until he could reinforce the area with better concealment.
"Relax. It is one of us."
Oliver wanted to ask, One of whose us?
Even so, he slowed down slightly. He did not pull the bowstring, only rested an arrow against it.
A crisp sound of high heels echoed from above. The next moment, someone jumped directly down from above, not using the ladder at all. The ladder had been brought by Thea. She could not enter or exit with only a rope like Oliver.
The basement ceiling was not low, which was why Thea needed the ladder.
But the woman who appeared simply jumped down effortlessly. If Thea had not witnessed it herself, she would not have believed it.
What made it even more unbelievable was that the woman was wearing a suit dress and high heels, yet she landed gracefully, as if she had only stepped down from a twenty-centimeter step.
Everyone recognized her. Ada Wong, the woman who had recently invested heavily in Queen Consolidated. Oliver had seen her photo during his investigation.
He also knew she was Ethan's representative, and that her funds came from Ethan and another man named Tony Stark.
Oliver had also discovered that Tony Stark had bought a manor near his home and seemed to plan to stay in Star City long-term. These people, including Ethan, all lived in that manor. Oliver still had no idea what the relationships among these people were.
The next second, he found out at least one of them.
After Ada placed what she was carrying onto the table, Ethan immediately put an arm around her and kissed her.
Seeing Ada's calm and familiar reaction, their relationship was unmistakably clear.
"Hello, Mr. Queen, I'm Ada Wong."
"I know you."
Oliver put the bow and arrow back.
"I just did not expect our meeting to be under these circumstances."
Ada smiled politely, then looked around.
Oliver did not realize that Ada had already memorized the entire layout with a glance and had mentally simulated around a hundred invasion and counter-invasion plans.
Then she tilted her head slightly toward Thea, who was staring at her with wide eyes, and whispered to Ethan.
"Another young girl, hmm?"
"What?"
"I heard you sweet-talked a girl back at the Magic Academy. And you found a new target this quickly?"
Ethan looked at Ada helplessly, clearly exasperated by her misunderstanding.
"In your eyes, do I go after every pretty girl I see?"
"Aren't you?"
"..."
Ethan waved his hand, irritated, emphasizing again.
"I'm not. I didn't."
Although Ada did not make a disbelieving expression or pinch him or anything like that, Ethan could tell she was not taking his answer seriously at all.
Annoyed, Ethan directly explained, "I just think she has some talent and I am considering whether to teach her a little. Maybe train her into a... uh... warrior?"
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)