For 30+ Advance/Early chapters :p
atreon.com/ScoldeyJod
After the female guard left, Leo lay alone on the surprisingly clean bed in the small, dark room, clutching his aunt's starlight crown. He couldn't give it back; that would be a slap in the face to her. But the crown was too heavy. In every respect, it was the most precious thing in the world, something whose value could not be measured.
"Can I bear this?"
He lay on the bed for a long time, and then, with a sigh, he placed the crown back on his head and got up. It was too stuffy in here. He needed some air. But as he walked toward the door, he remembered the female general, Antiope, and her orders not to let him wander around.
He now fully understood why she had been so hostile toward him. If someone were to try and make a move on his aunt, he would be a hundred times worse. And if he had known what the crown signified, he would have never let her put it on his head.
He knew that if he insisted on going out, the female guard probably wouldn't dare to stop him, but he didn't want to cause any trouble for her. So, he turned and walked back into the tunnel.
He stopped abruptly and looked into the depths of the ancient building. There was a faint light at the end of the dark corridor, and a subtle breeze was blowing through.
If I can't go outside, I can at least walk around inside, right? he thought with a shrug. The guard had said that as long as he didn't take anything out, it would be fine.
He continued deeper into the building.
"This wall is really thick," he thought, surprised. The ancient round building had no other rooms, just solid brick walls and a single, not-so-wide corridor leading to the center. It was like a closed pokéball. If the tunnel were to be sealed, no one could get out.
Perhaps, only in my three-in-one state could I break out of here, he thought, and then, for a moment, he remembered Ginger. His aunt had said it would be difficult to bring her to Paradise Island, so she had entrusted her to a friend with experience in raising pets, a man named "Barry Allen."
He soon reached the deepest part of the building. The moment he stepped out of the tunnel, the scene in front of him was bright and cheerful. It was a spacious, retro hall, the walls of which were carved with strange stone murals and ancient Greek characters, seemingly recording a long, unknown history of the old gods. The star-shaped metal bars on the ceiling let in a cool breeze and faint beams of light, which fell on a stone altar in the middle of the hall.
On the two-meter-high altar, there was a mysterious cube-shaped object, like a rusty metal box. It had been sitting there for who knows how long, a silent witness to the passage of time.
"This is what they've been guarding for over a thousand years?" he stared, dumbfounded. He finally understood why no one had touched it. Who would want this broken old box?
Of course, it could be a hidden artifact. He had no intention of finding out. He stood in front of the altar and began to do some simple exercises.
He took a deep breath. The air in the hall was fresh, and he felt much more comfortable. But then, he saw something out of the corner of his eye.
He stopped and looked at the iron box on the altar.
Did that thing just move?
In the Amazon Palace, a magnificent and majestic building, Diana walked in and knelt before the golden throne.
On the throne sat a dignified woman with a golden crown, her face and body somewhat similar to Diana's. It was the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta. A true, excited smile spread across her face.
"My child," she said, reaching out and lightly touching Diana's face. "You have suffered out there, all alone."
"No," Diana said, shaking her head and clutching her mother's hand. "I'm fine, Mother. I can take care of myself."
"Of course, you can. You are the daughter of the Amazon Queen, after all," Hippolyta smiled. Then she paused, her eyes falling on Diana's forehead. "Diana, your starlight crown?"
"Mother, I was about to tell you. I didn't come back alone." A happy smile on her face, Diana said, very seriously and proudly, "I gave it to a man. A human."
Back in the ancient building, Leo was staring at the iron box. The guard had said it hadn't moved in thousands of years. But he had just seen it shake.
Was he dizzy? Was he seeing things? It was possible.
He stepped closer to the altar. From three meters away, he could see the strange patterns on the box, like stars and suns, and the thick layer of dust that covered its surface.
He subconsciously reached out, intending to wipe off the dust. His fingers drew closer and closer, but just before he touched the box, he pulled his hand back. It's not a good habit to touch other people's things.
But seeing the undisturbed dust on the box, he was convinced that he had been mistaken. If the box had really shaken, the dust would have been disturbed.
"Forget it. I'm going back," he said, and turned to leave.
He didn't see that as soon as he had entered the corridor, the iron box on the altar trembled several times, shaking off a lot of dust. The dust disappeared into the air before it could even hit the ground. The box, as if it had a life of its own, seemed to be trembling with fear, as if afraid of something behind it. And then, it was still again, returning to the calm it had maintained for thousands of years, dormant, waiting.