After defeating Hermes, Supergirl and the Flash split up. The Flash went to help the Amazons while Supergirl aided her "old friend" Apollo.
Seeing a red cape fly to his side out of the corner of his eye, Apollo—who'd already gained the upper hand—nearly jumped in fright. Supergirl had truly traumatized him.
Only when he realized she'd come to help him fight Thanatos did he grunt in extreme displeasure.
Though not a deity, Supergirl's attacks naturally contained stellar energy, which strongly countered Thanatos, the god of death. Facing two overwhelming humanoid suns, the death god's defeat was only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, deep in the Underworld, Thea's robin-hood squad had arrived at the entrance to the King of the Dead's treasury.
Seeing the two women step onto the shore, the boatman Charon finally breathed a sigh of relief. The transaction was complete, and the divine binding dissolved. Yet he felt no joy!
He'd spent tens of thousands of years never setting foot on land, but thinking of the King of the Dead's treasure, his heart burned with wicked fire. After brief hesitation, he too jumped ashore.
The pitch-black gate was so massive it seemed to slow the very air. Hades's treasury wasn't just large—it was built on an extraordinarily vast scale. A rough estimate suggested it covered an area equivalent to an entire Star City block.
Even Diana, who had no particular greed for wealth, couldn't help marveling. How much treasure would require such an enormous complex of buildings as a warehouse?
"I want thirty percent of the treasure!" Charon's triangular eyes were now completely dazzled by gold, nearly forgetting his own name.
Thea was thoroughly displeased. You dare discuss money with me, the Goddess of Wealth? Though the holy sword was with her clone, the short sword of justice gifted by the Highfather was right here. Want to test whether my blade is sharp, you money-grubbing old man?
Annoyed as she was, she didn't voice it. Instead, she countered, "Organizing the gods to attack the Underworld was our doing. What value do you bring to demand thirty percent of the treasure?"
The old man grinned sinisterly. "I naturally have no value, but my brothers do. Look at this." He produced a token bearing Hypnos's unique mark: a pair of feathered wings.
This token had quite a history. Hypnos had once believed Charon was their half-brother through their mother and they should stay in touch, so he'd given him this token. But later they discovered this brother was too worthless, single-mindedly focused on money—incomprehensible to the divine. Money meant nothing to gods! After several failed attempts at reform, knowing Charon's only interest was counting coins, Hypnos had given up on his maternal half-brother. Just spend your days on the River Styx counting money.
So much time had passed that both parties had forgotten about it. Now, pushed to the cliff's edge by both Thea and Hades, Charon finally remembered his family connection.
However, he wasn't some virtuous soul. His thought wasn't to seek his brothers' help or ask them to speak well of him—he wanted to use them as scapegoats.
Make Hypnos the scapegoat? This idea sounded absurd at first, but in practical execution it actually wasn't difficult. It could even trigger a chain reaction on that battlefield.
Thea silently calculated. Her original plan was to forcibly trade with Hades, leaving him with a single copper coin.
Now, with Charon's enthusiastic assistance, things could develop more harmoniously. She immediately revised her original plan.
Hypnos and Thanatos were twin brothers. If Hades had a falling out with his right and left hands, that would be quite a spectacle!
She'd gain the treasure while someone else took the blame—this was definitely a deal worth making.
"How about this—we draft a new agreement. All the King of the Dead's coins go to you. What do you say?" Thea pulled another stone tablet from the void, preparing to make a second deal with Charon.
Charon now trembled at the sight of these tablets, but greed suppressed fear. With a pounding heart, he read through the content. "All the coins are mine? You want none of them?"
"We want weapons, artifacts—anything that increases our strength." Thea spoke honestly.
Charon pursed his lips, indicating he didn't quite understand. Coins were the world's greatest treasure—why would these two women want weapons and treasures? What use were those? Something was wrong with them!
Thea likewise couldn't comprehend this guy's money obsession. Had he suffered some childhood psychological trauma?
After a moment of mutual disdain, Charon verified multiple times that Thea wouldn't add any additional clauses, then finally agreed to this transaction.
Having completed the new agreement, Thea indicated it was Charon's turn to demonstrate his value.
Their hesitation at the treasury's entrance had finally roused the guardian from its slumber.
Cerberus, the three-headed hound of Hades—all three-headed dogs were its direct descendants. Its current duty was guarding the King of the Dead's treasury. However, after millions of years with this area as a forbidden zone, it had grown complacent and hadn't initially noticed the living intruders.
Thea and the others had been discussing things for a while before the three-headed hound realized its responsibility. It wobbled to its feet, wanting to see what people dared disturb its sleep.
This thing isn't cute at all! Thea squinted at it. Three massive, ugly heads, six eyes glowing with fierce light, and its tail wasn't an adorable dog tail but rather like a snake's.
In short, it looked very villainous—very much like it needed cutting down... Restraining Diana, who was about to draw her sword, Thea indicated for Charon to negotiate.
The trembling boatman Charon approached the three-headed hound.
Cerberus sniffed him in turn with its three enormous noses. This guy had a strong Underworld aura—seemed like one of their own?
The three ugly heads looked at each other, waiting for Charon to speak.
Charon lived up to his reputation as a treacherous villain, showing no regard for brotherly affection. Obsequiously, he produced Hypnos's token.
"Lord Hypnos commands that we visit the treasury. Let us through!" Actually, Charon had briefly entertained the idea of abandoning Thea and claiming the treasure for himself. He quickly dismissed the thought—Hades already wanted him dead. If he offended Hera and Poseidon too, could he even survive?
Even if his primordial goddess mother appeared, she probably couldn't save him.
As it turned out, Hypnos's name carried weight. The three-headed hound's three minds tangled with each other, its consciousness rather chaotic. It normally needed Sleep God Hypnos's help even to sleep properly—to some extent, it had to show him respect.
After the three heads conducted a messy discussion, Charon tossed the token to one of them. After careful verification confirming it was indeed Sleep God Hypnos's token, it slowly moved aside.
Having ferried souls on the River Styx for tens of thousands of years, Charon had considerable strength. In his anxious urgency, he pressed both hands against the gate. The stone door, weighing tens of thousands of tons, groaned and creaked as he gradually pushed it open.