"Caitlin, absorb and convert Faora's energy!" Thea commanded. In the original timeline, Killer Frost had absorbed Superman's energy and delivered a devastating blow that took out the Justice League. Now she could naturally freeze old Shazam the same way.
The two women had practiced this ability before. Caitlin nodded lightly at Thea, indicating she was ready.
This wasn't a game with friendly-fire protection settings. Before the decisive battle with Darkseid, Thea had no intention of taking a direct hit. She immediately phase-shifted into subspace.
Subspace lacked many colors—everything looked like it had a thin veil over it, blurry and indistinct. But she could still sense the instant energy explosion in the outside world.
CRASH—! A dull impact. Having converted all the stellar energy in Faora's body, Caitlin instantly froze the entire Rock of Eternity. The originally dark gray underground palace transformed into a world of ice and snow.
Facing such an energy explosion head-on, old Shazam couldn't withstand it. He was frozen into a giant ice block, his face still wearing a bewildered expression.
"Beautiful! You two head back and rest. Grodd and the others will handle the follow-up." Thea stepped out of subspace, surveying the results with interest before giving the accomplished warriors a long vacation.
The adjutant's stellar energy was nearly depleted—she needed to reabsorb sunlight. And controlling such massive energy was also a heavy mental burden for Caitlin. Both immediately left to rest.
Thea checked on old Shazam. The old man hadn't realized they had a combination move and was mentally unprepared, knocked out cold.
"Ah, too bad this move can't be used often. Faora's three years of accumulation—gone..." While sighing, Thea carved magic circles to seal old Shazam's divine power and mental world.
She then summoned Grodd. The great ape shivered from the cold environment. Thea could only cajole and threaten him into persevering.
This lazy creature had lived too comfortably—his tolerance kept declining. Thea felt its mind-control abilities had weakened compared to the original timeline. Even with old Shazam knocked unconscious and defenseless, Grodd took a long time to establish control.
"This world is being destroyed by people like you—holding high the banner of justice while doing nothing but stupid things. I'll protect the world. Billy Batson can keep being a brat. Your mission is over. Go find your supremely good or evil person in another world!"
Thea muttered softly to herself, then turned to Grodd. "Erase his will."
Even with his body taken over and mental power severely weakened layer by layer, old Shazam's will remained tenacious. Grodd, at the peak of his mental powers, spent a full day completely erasing his personal consciousness.
Old Shazam's body still existed, as did his soul, but the consciousness that made him "himself" had been wiped clean.
Thea dismissed the exhausted, tongue-lolling Grodd and took the giant ice block to a scorching planet to thaw.
"Remember me?" She waved her hand in front of the awakened old Shazam's eyes. No response.
"What's your name?" This time Thea used soul divine power to ask. Old Shazam remained confused for a long while before woodenly shaking his head.
Excellent results. Thea was thrilled.
She loaded this living divine power source into her necklace space. The thick, continuous divine power was decomposed, transformed, and reorganized into new divine power, slowly flowing into Thea's various divine domains.
With no one around anyway, she couldn't help moaning. Like someone parched for days finding water, this feeling was simply too wonderful.
Divine power fully restored—even if she still couldn't defeat Darkseid's avatar, she was confident she could last thirty to fifty rounds.
"This old man is no simple matter." During the slow absorption, she noticed something unusual.
Old Shazam didn't just possess that Australian storm god's divine power. Inside him existed another source of divine power that even he probably didn't know about.
"Hehe." After careful identification, Thea tapped her forehead and laughed. "A trace of Zeus's source power? The old guy is actually Zeus's Chosen!"
Just seeing that old Shazam was completely unaware of this power made it easy to guess. Like Diana, this was another hidden card Zeus had planted. This was also why old Shazam could wield lightning so freely.
Shazam's power of the six gods included Zeus's divine power, but that was just pure divine power—completely different from source power.
Originally, Thea had planned to drain the old man dry and be done with it. Now she changed her mind. She'd keep old Shazam as a living power source, and through his faint connection to Zeus's true body, she could continuously absorb Zeus's divine power.
The God-King was currently in a deep sleep anyway, enthusiastically playing with his alt account. He surely wouldn't mind.
As for whether taking too much source power would cause Zeus to drop levels—Thea didn't care. The Zeus of years past had been an insurmountable mountain to her. Now she was about to clash head-on with Darkseid. Her confidence had multiplied hundreds of times. With divine power increasing on one side and decreasing on the other—who was afraid of whom?
Returning to the New World, Diana had also brought reinforcements: five hundred Amazon warriors, five hundred Minotaur warriors from Minos, and two hundred undead knights.
Heracles, who'd been uncomfortable staying on Mount Olympus, had also come to the New World and was currently competing in martial arts with the Valkyries.
Hera was busy feuding with Athena and couldn't get away, so she'd sent that good-for-nothing—no, the wine god Dionysus—to assist.
For this combat weakling who was an expert at eating, drinking, and playing, Thea had no good arrangements. Since he'd come to help, she could only honor him and call it done.
"This can't continue. Ordinary people are too nervous. We need to adjust our strategy." Returning to the White House, her mother gave her this news.
She handed over several reports. Ordinary people had all kinds of theories—some said Earth would explode, some predicted World War III, but most said alien invasion.
Thea scratched her head. She realized she'd been too tense lately. The pressure of bearing the world's fate on her shoulders was only part of it. The main factor was the influence of her Soul divine domain.
Souls—ninety-nine percent carried grievances. Controlling this domain, no matter how you looked at it, didn't align with optimism or positivity.
"Announce the truth. The people have a right to know what's happening." Moira sat behind the presidential desk, deeply experiencing her predecessor's difficulties.
"I'll do as you say and make some corresponding adjustments."
Friday evening, White House Oval Office. A bunch of technicians were adjusting equipment. Moira was preparing to make a televised address—not the traditional fireside chat, which required longer preparation time.
"Hmm?" Thea kept a low profile at the White House, finding herself a chair to sit and watch everyone bustle about.
Suddenly she spotted a familiar figure. Supergirl Kara Danvers—how did she get into the White House?