Chương 33: Someone's Stirring Up Trouble

Malcolm quickly came up with an explanation, "It was a dark night, and I was discovered by a woman. She was wearing a long trench coat, had black long hair, and was holding a long knife, and then..."

Thea listened with a strange expression on her face. The first half of the story sounded like it was about Lady Shiva, right? Dad, you're quite the storyteller. When Tommy wasn't paying attention, Thea gave Malcolm a thumbs up from the side, indicating that he was doing a great job.

Unable to reveal the truth, Malcolm had to tough it out, fearing they would ask more awkward questions. He used the excuse of feeling dizzy to dismiss both of them.

Since he wasn't willing to tell the actual truth, they had to let it be. Thea and Tommy said their goodbyes and went on to contact several media outlets.

Everything went smoothly. The backgrounds of Thea and Tommy played a crucial role, and the invited media expressed eagerness to participate in the upcoming event.

Three days later, Starling City Police Department and Queen Consolidated officially held a signing and donation event. Naturally, Thea wasn't the main focus of the meeting, as Moira was still the CEO.

Previously, Thea had only briefly mentioned the Police Officers Fund to her mother, and neither of them had paid much attention to it. Compared to the gained good reputation, the expenditure was negligible.

Watching her mother speak confidently on stage about the contributions and sacrifices of the police department to Star City, painting a beautiful picture of the future, it had to be said that Moira was truly gifted in politics. Her eloquent words made people feel as if they were basking in a spring breeze, unwittingly infected with belief. If she were to enter politics in the future, today's events would be a good start.

To avoid stealing her mother's limelight, Thea dressed very casually today, ditching the cursed professional attire for a T-shirt, jeans, and canvas shoes, portraying the image of a girl-next-door with her long hair tied into a beautiful ponytail.

Seated beside Thea was Felicity, who detested such political theatrics but had come along out of boredom. The two exchanged a few words in hushed tones from time to time.

From a distance, it seemed like two girls chatting intimately, a warm and gentle scene. However, if one carefully listened to their whispers, they'd be utterly shocked.

"Have you solved the missile issue? Without weapons, speed alone won't help."

"I'm anxious too, but it's really difficult. Getting the weapons out requires signatures from three people and a password lock that changes every day. It's not easy to manage."

"I can hack into the password lock, change the protocol, and as a side note, your family's software is really lousy. Don't glare at me, I'm just telling the truth. As for the signatures, only you can solve that."

"How about this plan: let's assemble the Glider first, and then I'll go rob some gangs. They should have heavy weapons. But I'm not so sure about the missile." This was Thea's best plan after careful consideration.

"That could work, but how will you deal with those gang members?" Felicity made a punching motion. "They won't just let you take their weapons."

"I can use my bow and arrow. Trust me, handguns only have an effective range of fifty meters, while my arrows can reach about a hundred meters, and they're completely silent."

"The flying female Robin Hood? Sounds pretty cool!" Felicity's eyes lit up at the thought of adventure, eager to return and assemble.

Meanwhile, the meeting on the stage was still ongoing. Moira also had thoughts of expanding her influence. Almost all the prominent figures in the city were invited, and to ensure their safety, the police chief recalled all the police forces back to the headquarters, despite some objections from Lance, but he eventually agreed.

Just as Moira was about to conclude her final speech and proceed to the evening banquet, the main lights in the venue suddenly went out with a "pop," followed by the surrounding lights, plunging the bustling hall into darkness.

"What's going on? John, come protect me!"

"Darling, come to my side quickly."

"Police, help! Someone's trying to steal my purse!"

Chaos erupted all around. The scene was all too familiar, appearing countless times in movies and TV shows. This was definitely intentional. However, Thea didn't expect someone to be so bold as to commit a crime right under the noses of 1,500 police officers. She and Felicity had been sitting in a corner all along, and she assumed no one would target her. Instructing Felicity to be careful, Thea closed her eyes and sensed Moira's location, then quickly ran towards her.

"Follow me." Thea didn't waste any time and immediately grabbed her mother, trying to run towards the back. However, Moira was currently in the midst of the crowd, and with darkness and chaos surrounding them, it wasn't easy to navigate. Struggling for a while, they barely made it two meters

Just as Thea was about to resort to violence to clear a path, a figure swiftly approached her within her senses, seemingly targeting Moira's handbag?

'How audacious, trying to snatch my mom's stuff right in front of me! You really don't know your place!'

Thea held Moira behind with her left hand, "Stay back."

"Be careful." Moira refrained from calling out her daughter's name out of fear of retaliation from the assailants. She remained remarkably composed, showing her experience in facing adversity.

With the surroundings too chaotic to determine the number of enemies, Thea decided to act swiftly and decisively. She charged towards the approaching figure.

As she got closer, Thea noticed that despite the pitch-black surroundings, the person's face had two faint red lights flickering. Hmm? Thea paused for a moment, then immediately understood. This person was wearing infrared equipment, which explained how they quickly found their target. This wasn't an ordinary thief; it was a high-tech burglar.

Filled with anger at this person disrupting her carefully planned event, Thea threw a punch towards their chest.

Although the intruder had infrared equipment, they couldn't distinguish who was who. Feeling that the person in front of them didn't match the woman they had seen earlier, they grabbed her fist and pushed it to the left.

However, the intruder didn't expect Thea's move to be a feint. Taking advantage of the push, Thea swiftly sidestepped and delivered a side kick.

"Hmm?" They hadn't expected there to be someone with decent skills among the dignitaries, but after many years of navigating through various circles, she had never paid much attention to Thea. Utilizing her rapid footwork, she attempted to bypass Thea to grab the target woman's belongings first.

But that was impossible. After several days of training under Lady Shiva's guidance, it was hard to gauge how much Thea's combat skills had improved. However, Thea's self-perception had become very proficient, automatically filtering out the chaotic crowd around her and focusing solely on the dark figure.

Unable to utilize her full range of skills due to the crowded surroundings, Thea had to rely on close-quarters combat, utilizing various martial arts and boxing techniques. She wasn't aiming to kill the enemy, only to entangle them. Soon, when the lights came back on, there would be 1,500 angry officers waiting for them.

The intruder understood Thea's intention and realized that their plan for the day wouldn't go smoothly. Nevertheless, they wanted to make an effort. With that in mind they stopped holding back and prepared to unleash their full firepower to deal with this obstacle.