Poseidon shook his head in refusal. What if you "freely" picked and chose the best one? This old man would lose big!
Thea realized his concern. She sighed internally. Opportunities to pick up bargains were too rare. Chances to forcefully plunder were once-in-a-millennium. She'd be proper this time.
She summoned a trade slate again, clearly writing that she'd exchange the Dead King's staff for one treasure from Poseidon's vault. She specifically noted an exchange of equal value, with any difference made up by her side.
"Oh, so you're a goddess of wealth. Really couldn't tell." With that one display, Poseidon saw through her. The Sea King had always thought she was a combat-oriented deity.
"You can't take my personal artifacts." He added one condition. Thea nodded and added it to the slate.
"Alright, follow me!" After repeated consideration, the Dead King's staff was very important to him. This trade could work.
He led her toward his vault.
Having seen two divine emperors' treasuries, it must be said, Poseidon's vault was very different from the other two.
Zeus's vault was all premium items. He looked down on anything mediocre.
Hades' was a mixed bag, all sorts of things. Too much stuff. It had kept Thea and Diana, the two little thieves, quite busy. The categorization work still wasn't finished.
Poseidon's vault was like the man himself—wantonly flamboyant. He looked down on ordinary items, and he also disdained things that didn't suit his taste. In short, very willful.
His treasures were all related to his divine authority. Water-element items were the most numerous. Fire and light elements—not a single one. Power-venerating items were abundant. Things that brought peace of mind were almost nonexistent.
A very extreme, very willful collection style. Time was limited. Thea couldn't look carefully. She directly activated her wealth divine power to observe the most valuable items in the room.
After scanning around, she found that heaven-defying treasures like the threads of fate from before were truly once-in-a-lifetime encounters. Neither Hades nor Poseidon had collections of that caliber.
After circling halfway around, she finally found something good—a cluster of deep blue flames quietly and peacefully nestled in a corner.
This cluster of flames wasn't the most valuable thing in the room, but it was relatively suitable for her.
Honestly, Poseidon's vault was a bit disappointing. This guy could neither match Hades in comprehensive content nor Zeus in consistently premium items. No wonder he'd maintained the position of eternal second place for so many years.
Several treasures were good, just not useful for Thea. But this cluster of flames was different. Whether she absorbed it and added it to her silver flames, or used it to forge something for Diana, it was extremely valuable material.
Stretching her neck to search more, she finally confirmed this cluster of flames.
"Flames collected by Amphitrite?..." Poseidon saw the treasure she'd taken, and his expression held a trace of reminiscence.
Oh? Thea really hadn't expected these flames came from a famous figure. This Amphitrite, if she remembered correctly, was Poseidon's wife. Like his elder brother Hades' style, his wife was also abducted...
This sea goddess had probably been sleeping in the divine realm for a long time now. Thea had never met her in person.
Poseidon's sentimentality lasted at most half a second. Seeing Thea hadn't taken one of his favorite treasures, the two happily completed the transaction.
The Dead King's staff had relatively lower value. After all, it was crafted by a demigod Dead King. But it was extremely useful to Poseidon now. The two considered it an equal exchange.
Holding the golden Dead King's staff, Poseidon secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then carefully chose his words. "Goddess of Wealth, may I ask where you obtained this staff?"
If Thea still didn't realize the Dead King was connected to him, she'd be too foolish.
She described in detail the location and circumstances of obtaining the staff, just omitting Aquaman Arthur and company.
Poseidon didn't hear the answer he wanted. "Dead King? Is that what people call him now?"
"What's his relationship to you?" Thea's gossipy curiosity surfaced as she asked casually.
Poseidon thought about it and decided to share some truth. This was mainly because he saw Thea's outstanding strength, plus her connection to the Greek gods wasn't that close.
"Atlan was once my chosen one. But while I slept, he stole part of my power. That bastard!" Poseidon forcibly suppressed his temper, speaking in a cold tone.
Oh! Thea suddenly understood. That explained everything.
Atlan was, of course, the Dead King. Like when Thea became the Moon Goddess's chosen one, his level was higher—he became Poseidon's chosen one.
This explained how he could survive to this day. Ordinary Atlanteans lived longer than surface dwellers, but couldn't possibly live ten thousand years.
The Dead King himself was Poseidon's chosen one, so his lifespan was long enough. According to Poseidon's meaning, he'd also stolen part of Poseidon's origin. That was formidable!
"You rule the seven seas. Haven't you found him? He's not a deity, right?" Thea was somewhat puzzled. The comics didn't describe it clearly enough, leaving her unable to figure out the Dead King's true strength.
"That thief is definitely not a god. He's just not in the seawater—I'm certain of that."
Looking at Poseidon's indignant expression, Thea felt somewhat tempted. Of course, she wasn't righteously indignant about seeking justice for Poseidon, but wanted to proactively defuse the Dead King, this ticking time bomb.
This guy was once the first king of Atlantis—ever-victorious hero, great ruler—all those titles referred to him. Unfortunately, betrayed by his own kin, he vowed revenge and sank the continent of Atlantis. The more serious problem was that this guy had gone insane.
It was hard to say whether he'd jump out and cause trouble. Thea, pushed to the forefront by fate, had to eliminate him.
Moreover, she wanted to see how the Dead King had stolen Poseidon's origin.
After ascending to godhood, her strength growth had slowed a thousand-fold. According to Thea's estimate, she was currently just a lesser deity, while Darkseid and Highfather were definitely greater deities. She was two levels below those big shots, possibly even more.
At her current level, taking even one step forward was incredibly difficult.
Shazam's gift package was still waiting for her to claim, but directly absorbing divine power like during her demigod phase was no longer viable. The divine powers were completely incompatible. Even if forcibly absorbed, they'd quickly dissipate.
During the mortal phase, she only pursued quantity. When quantity reached a certain point, it could cause qualitative change. Now that she'd completed the qualitative change, simply accumulating quantity was no longer appropriate.
To put it broadly, different deities' divine powers could mix during the mortal phase. However, at the deity stage, the differences became enormous. Wealth divine power and earth divine power or lightning divine power were completely incompatible. This problem still troubled Thea.
If she could see how the Dead King intercepted Poseidon's origin, perhaps it would help her absorb Shazam's divine power in the future?
She chatted with Poseidon for a few more moments, stating she had no leads but would notify him if she saw the Dead King, then left his divine realm.