The more Hera listened, the brighter her eyes became. If she didn't have to maintain her dignified divine consort image, she'd be pounding her fist into her palm in excitement, shouting how brilliant this was.
She hadn't thought of it before, but now, listening to Thea's analysis with her own small ambitions stirring, Hera suddenly realized—this vacant God King throne might be her only choice to win back her husband and restore her prestige.
"You truly have great wisdom, perhaps no less than Athena. What is your name?" Hera asked solemnly.
In modern social interaction, you'd certainly give your own name first, then chat. However, after dealing with these deities for a while, Thea had learned some inside information. Mortal lives were too brief. Even demigods, in the eyes of immortal gods, just lived a bit longer—not worth the effort to remember their names.
Leaving one's name proved a special mark in their immortal existence. According to divine convention, this was a big deal for them.
Thea stood straight, very much in accordance with Greek etiquette, and gave her name. "Thea. Thea Queen."
Hera nodded silently. Her wisdom was equally high—or rather, no deity who'd lived that long was truly stupid. Connecting the dots, she could guess Thea intended to use her as a shield against Hades.
Cronus's era had already passed. No matter how glorious he was in life, he was already dead. As long as Hades spent some time, he could still pacify the Underworld's chaos. Given the King of the Underworld's vengeful nature, his next step definitely wouldn't be coming to apologize.
However, Hera wasn't afraid of the King of the Underworld. Especially with the other party viewing her as war spoils—that made Hera even more displeased. If she could teach this brother a lesson, the goddess didn't mind being used a little by Thea.
Since they were opposing the King of the Underworld, these resurrected people became her loyal pawns. Only Mount Olympus, only the God King, would shelter them—even after death!
Hera knew once she took this step, there'd be no turning back. Thea didn't continue speaking, instead waiting for her to firm her resolve.
Finally, Hera walked out, standing before the crowd still cheering. With full authority and divine presence, she presented her bearing as a goddess. The crowd gradually quieted.
The following process was unremarkable. These escapees could all be called elites of their respective eras, and they weren't stupid. Realizing Hades would launch crazed retaliation, everyone instantly clung to Hera's coattails, declaring they'd live and die with Mount Olympus.
She had muscle now. However, many of these people were built like tanks—not quite in line with Hera's aesthetics.
Plus, to have the gods come witness her assumption of the God King throne, she needed some ceremonial troops. These people were a bit... lacking.
At the critical moment, Thea jumped out to solve her problem—namely, recruiting the Amazons.
"Oh—so you worked so hard and went in such a big circle all for this!" Hera drew out the sound, finally understanding Thea's true purpose in scheming for her.
Thea just smiled awkwardly without much explanation.
"Fine. As long as the Amazons surrender to me, I can accept them!" This wasn't because Hera was particularly generous. The key was Zeus had too many mistresses—way too many. If the goddess got angry at each one, she'd have died of rage long ago. Her original policy was to beat them one by one. As for her results? Two words: ha ha.
Among the hundred-plus mistresses, making an exception for Hippolyta alone wasn't a big deal. Hera thought clearly—as long as the other party submitted and let her vent, this matter was settled!
Thea equally worried the two realms' time flow rates differed. On one hand, she feared Diana would worry. On the other hand, Paradise Island being exposed to the world would cause considerable trouble. She asked for the coordinates of the so-called "mortal realm" and hurriedly bid Hera farewell to rush back to Paradise Island.
As for Hermes, the chief culprit? Neither woman even mentioned him. Everything went without saying—next time, whoever saw that bastard should just kill him without bothering with talk!
A flash of white light, and Thea looked around. She was back at Paradise Island. With the island's anti-magic field gone, finding people was much more convenient. Hastily, she saw Diana flying rapidly toward her.
"Thea, you're okay!" Diana had sensed her the moment she arrived. The two women embraced warmly. Diana checked her from head to toe before finally relaxing.
"Where's that awful woman Hera?" Diana asked indignantly.
Thea smiled bitterly, avoiding the "awful woman" topic. "How long was I gone? Where are Hermes and Apollo? What's the situation outside? Where's Queen Hippolyta?"
"You were gone about ten minutes. The enemies all ran away, though Eris was just here. I don't have contact methods for the outside. Did something happen out there?"
Thea had to say Diana's thought process had never adjusted to normal frequency. Paradise Island's existence being known to the outside world—such a serious problem, and she hadn't even realized it.
She immediately stopped hesitating and activated her Moon Goddess Chosen talent "Eternal Night." This time, she needed it to block sight, especially satellite detection from various countries.
"Quick, let's go see the Queen." Thea had no time to explain. She grabbed Diana's hand and went to see Hippolyta.
After spending a bit more time healing Hippolyta, once the Queen regained consciousness, Thea described Paradise Island's current situation and the solution she'd discussed with Hera.
Events developed exactly as she'd predicted. Politicians had frighteningly low integrity. Hippolyta had absolutely no problem bowing to Hera. She agreed very readily.
"We have to bow to Hera?" Diana was somewhat dissatisfied.
However, both Hippolyta and Thea thought it was a good idea. This was equivalent to the Amazons returning to the Greek pantheon's big family. Under this premise, no matter how much personal objection she had, it was useless. The valiant warrior goddess could only pout in displeasure...
"Don't heal me. Teleport me over now, and I'll surrender and apologize." Hippolyta thought one step deeper. To let Hera vent, she lowered her own position very much. Going to surrender with a weak body—surely that would make the other party happier?
Thea also supported her awareness and directly teleported Hippolyta to Mount Olympus.
What the two women said, she didn't know. Thea began constructing a passage between the two realms. Teleporting several thousand Amazon warriors required high standards. A temporary portal wasn't very stable.
Under Eternal Night's cover, all the female warriors' recovery rates began increasing. Many had slowly awakened. Diana, Antiope, and Supergirl, who'd returned from unsuccessfully pursuing Apollo, began helping treat the wounded.
Soon after, Hippolyta returned in high spirits. You could see she'd made Hera quite happy. The goddess had not only healed her injuries but also given her one of three leaves remaining from the tree that supposedly bore golden apples.
This single leaf could heal all the Amazons.