On Themyscira, Liu A'dou was explaining Microcosmos to the elite female warriors. As soon as he got back to New York, he was immediately cornered by Diana and Ada. Diana came to check on her future disciple, and Ada came to scold Liu A'dou for being irresponsible.
Ever since Liu A'dou left, Ada had been stewing over how he was always off doing his own thing, clearly forgetting the task Zeus had given him. Truthfully, Ada was worried she'd end up alone. That's why she blocked the door the moment he returned. The issue about the Saints was just an excuse.
Same old issue. Liu A'dou thought finding the right person one by one wasn't going to work. Since Diana was already here, why not go to Themyscira and train a whole batch of Saints? The matter with Harry Osborn would have to wait again.
Amazon warriors paired with Microcosmos—pure perfection. After just 7 days of Liu A'dou's teaching, some warriors had already awakened their Microcosmos. They were still weak, but the progress was shockingly fast. Amazon warriors were already used to brutal training, with strong physiques, so once they grasped the concept, activating Microcosmos came easily. The only problem—they didn't have any Gold Cloths to wear.
But as time passed, Liu A'dou realized that although the Amazons could grasp Microcosmos fast, reaching the Seventh Sense was hard. That level of mysterious perception was something they struggled to understand. Still, with such a large group, someone was bound to reach it eventually.
Diana adored Nono just as much as Ada did—couldn't put her down. She even vowed to teach Nono everything she knew. Seemed like being the youngest warrior on the island had left Diana too repressed. She'd always been the student—now she finally had a chance to teach someone else.
"Nono, I'm going to train you into the strongest Amazon warrior!" Diana lifted Nono high into the air, making the baby laugh like a silver bell.
Ada didn't object. She didn't want their daughter to be bullied. A strong woman like Diana would definitely be a good teacher. Only Liu A'dou felt a bit shaky inside. He was afraid his daughter would grow up to be a muscle-bound tomboy. But since Ada had already agreed, he had nothing left to say.
Just as Diana was playing with Nono, a blur zipped past and snatched the baby from her hands.
No one panicked—it was Kara, Superman's cousin. She had finally come to Themyscira for training and had blended in well with the Amazons.
"Hey! Don't drop my disciple!" Diana shouted. "I've still got tons to teach her!"
"I can teach her a lot too," Kara said, squeezing Nono's chubby cheeks. "Right, Nono?"
Liu A'dou felt huge pressure on this all-women island. He was already married, but still struggled to keep his thoughts pure. He couldn't openly flirt, but sneaking a glance was fine. Honestly, it didn't even count as sneaking—the Amazons wore such revealing clothes. Bare arms and legs—white skin everywhere, right in front of him.
"Kara, put my daughter down," Liu A'dou said, worried that wild girl might drop her.
"Hehehe, let me fly her around a bit."
"Still as crazy as ever." This Kara hadn't inherited any of Superman's steadiness—just pure chaos. A superpowered wild child.
Flying around Themyscira in circles with a baby, "Nono loves it, haha!" Kara laughed joyfully, matching Nono's happy face.
"A'dou, come here. I need to talk to you." After staying on Earth Number One for a while, Ada wanted to return to work—but she couldn't take their daughter with her.
The couple walked along the beach together.
"I think I can go back to work now," Ada said. "My old team reached out. On the surface, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been disbanded, and Director Nick is in hiding. But there are still plenty of people who want to rebuild it. Right now, Norman Osborn, CEO of Oscorp, is pushing hard for it. They want me to take the lead."
"Norman Osborn? That guy's suddenly playing nice? I don't buy it."
"Doesn't matter—it's happening. I want to go back and lead S.H.I.E.L.D. again," Ada said firmly.
"Ada-jie, of course I support you. Don't worry, I'll take care of Nono," Liu A'dou said, patting his chest in assurance.
But Ada clearly didn't trust her husband's ability to take care of a child. She gave him a whole list of instructions, and Liu A'dou's head was spinning. He thought, 'As long as she's fed and not sick, isn't that enough? Why do we need all this stuff?'
Still, Liu A'dou didn't dare slack off. He just kept nodding, memorizing everything—what brand of formula, which clothes to wear, feeding times, nap times, playtime... practically the whole day was scheduled out. Cold sweat poured down his back. For the first time, Liu A'dou doubted whether he could really handle raising a kid.
'I can do this,' Liu A'dou told himself. 'I can steal anything in the world—how could I not be able to take care of my own daughter? I've got this.'
After giving her long list of instructions, Ada went back to the group of women and stood beside Diana, watching Kara fly around with Nono.
At some point, Hippolyta had walked over and stood next to Liu A'dou. "It's been a long time since we had a baby on Themyscira."
"Didn't the goddess Hera give you the power to breathe life into clay figures?" Liu A'dou asked. "I've always wondered—Diana is the last child born on Themyscira, right? And that was a long time ago."
"To be precise, it's been over 100 years. Diana has divine blood, so she grows very slowly."
"Right, but why didn't you keep making more kids during those 100 years?" Liu A'dou asked.
Hippolyta suddenly looked a bit sorrowful and sighed. "Do you really think the gods of Mount Olympus are that generous?"
"Hera seems a lot more kind than Zeus," Liu A'dou said. He hadn't met Hera, but judging from how calculating Zeus and Athena were, it was clear that gods weren't exactly selfless.
"Letting us stay on Themyscira was already a blessing from Goddess Hera. She did grant me Diana… but we failed to fulfill her command. After Diana was born, she never gave us another chance."
So there really is no free lunch in the world.
"What did Goddess Hera ask you to do?"
"To protect the Pandora Gem."
In Greek myth, Pandora was the first woman shaped from clay. The gods gave her beauty, figure, charm—everything but wisdom. Pandora acted without thinking. Zeus gave her a box and told her not to open it. But driven by intense curiosity, she opened it anyway, releasing disaster and plague. When she finally closed it, she accidentally locked hope inside.
In this universe, Athena eventually reclaimed that hope, mixed it with Pandora's tears, and forged the perfect Pandora Gem, which she gave to Hera. Hera loved the gem deeply—under moonlight, its refraction granted immense blessings to the gods. Hera entrusted the Amazons to guard it. But now, the gem had vanished, and no one knew where it had gone.
Liu A'dou was stunned. After marrying Ada, he had pretty much given up on chasing the Pandora Gem. He never imagined the clue had been right beside him the whole time.