Using all his strength to push open the gate, with no time to rest, the old man was immediately blinded by the room's dazzling brilliance. Fortunately, his obsession and rationality reminded him of his purpose. After identifying the direction, he rushed toward the left annex at a speed rivaling Hermes's. Vast quantities of coins beckoned to him.
The two women walked past Cerberus and leisurely strolled through the passage, admiring the sights. Hades's collection was truly abundant.
Compared to Zeus's high standards—ordinary treasures couldn't catch his attention—Hades had a somewhat indiscriminate approach, which explained why he'd built such a massive treasury.
Adamantium, mithril, and orichalcum were piled in heaps. The brilliant radiance of jewels and jade stones made even Diana take notice.
"Take it all!" Diana, who usually regarded money as dirt, now gazed at the treasure-covered ground with hopeful eyes. Thea waved her hand grandly, storing all the jewels in her wealth dimension to sort through later at home. After all, she'd still need to join the battle soon—carrying everything and getting discovered would be awkward.
She also muttered to herself—no wonder Persephone, after being abducted, never mentioned going home again. She was probably won over by these tons of jewels, right?
Walking onward, everywhere they looked were swords and armor from ancient warriors, demigods, and deities, magnificent works of art, plus divine artifacts, semi-divine artifacts, quasi-divine artifacts, and numerous magical items!
They even saw a massive suit of armor that Diana identified as belonging to the second God-King, Cronus.
The two women—or mainly Thea—were as happy as kids in a candy store. Regardless of what it was, everything went into the wealth dimension to be carefully examined later at home.
"Wow, so beautiful!" The long-legged goddess suddenly stopped.
Thea followed her gaze and couldn't help but stare. Four exceptionally robust black warhorses were examining the two women from nearby, with a magnificent chariot behind them.
"Hades's chariot!" Thea was rather impressed.
"Can we take this?" Diana asked somewhat carefully. These were living creatures that obviously couldn't fit in the wealth dimension. Moreover, this was Hades's personal property—if they took it, he'd definitely sense it.
But Diana truly loved these fine horses, looking at Thea with eager eyes.
Honestly, Miss Queen's enthusiasm for horses was just so-so—riding horses couldn't compare to driving cars. These horses weren't the cute type either. However, making Diana happy wasn't that troublesome.
She could take everything else freely, but for this item with high connection to Hades that was also a living thing, she needed a different approach.
Coercion and extortion! That was her solution. She pulled out another stone tablet and tossed it on the ground, essentially forcing a transaction with Hades. One party was naturally the King of the Dead; for the other party, Thea didn't leave her own name but rather a New Genesis personnel code.
Technically, this code could also represent Thea, so it wasn't deception—it just required Hades to personally verify it with the Highfather.
Thea left a single copper coin, essentially forcing through a transaction. Unfortunately, Hades was currently being swarmed by a bunch of gods far away. Such subtle divine power fluctuations—he simply had no time to notice.
The four steeds had been watching the two women warily, but once the transaction completed and ownership transferred, their expressions became intriguing. Two even showed fawning, ingratiating looks.
"I... I want this one!" The warrior woman excitedly selected a mare. To keep her company in her madness, Thea also picked a mare. The remaining two stallions shouldn't go to waste either—into the spatial ring to keep the reindeer company!
Having taken the horses, naturally the chariot wouldn't be spared. Thea felt that after today, Lord Hades wouldn't need a chariot anymore!
Wherever the two women passed, not a blade of grass remained. This opportunity came once in ten thousand years—they nearly pried up the floor tiles.
At this point, Cerberus outside the gate grew restless. You said you were following Lord Hypnos's orders to just get something. Why is it taking so long?
The three heads began arguing again. However, Hades had issued strict orders to this guardian—to prevent self-theft, Hades had repeatedly commanded it not to enter the treasury.
Charon could ignore the King of the Dead in his money-crazed state, but the three-headed hound hadn't reached that level of madness. Worried about what was happening inside yet unable to enter, it grew anxious.
Anxiety, fear of the unknown—these emotions filled the already chaotic consciousness of the three heads. What should they do?
Finally, they came up with a solution that wasn't really a solution. We won't go inside, but we'll watch from the door. That should be okay, right?
Through the gap Charon had opened, the three heads lined up together and peered behind the gate.
Thea and Diana had long since gone deep into the treasury—no matter how hard it looked, it couldn't see them. But it did discover a busy figure in the left annex.
Charon was full of energy, his steps carried by wind, his entire body brimming with strength. Though he loved wealth, he had no wealth dimension and could only use divine power to wrap up the coins, transporting them like an ant hauling crumbs, bit by bit.
Tiring? Running back and forth dozens of times was definitely exhausting. But he was happy! Whether as a human or a god, wasn't happiness the most important thing? As the primordial goddess's son, he just loved money—such a harmless little hobby!
In the past, he'd collected a dead man's coins, a few coppers, with great satisfaction. Now facing Hades's wealth accumulated over tens of thousands of years, he was so excited he wanted to jump for joy.
Under Cerberus's six huge eyes, old Charon made trip after trip carrying money. He planned to transport it all to his boat later, then he could sleep on piles of coins! Beautiful!
What is this guy doing? Cerberus outside the gate had no concept of wealth and didn't initially understand Charon's purpose. It wasn't until this guy, like a cliché villain, muttered all his goals and motivations aloud that the three-headed hound had its revelation. So he's a thief!
But the dutiful Cerberus still couldn't enter. Extremely anxious, it could only relay the information to the King of the Dead. It had slept too long, and given its guard duty, the King of the Dead hadn't conscripted it for battle, so it didn't know its boss was currently being swarmed.
To explain the facts clearly—or perhaps with some thought of shirking responsibility—it also transmitted Hypnos's token.
Hades, being pummeled left and right by Hera, Hercules, and the Sea King's manifestation, suddenly received Cerberus's message. Initially, he truly had no time to look.
Fighting three gods alone, even with his formidable strength, he was struggling.
His left shoulder had a bloody hole from Hera's lightning spear, his right leg had been struck by Hercules's axe. The intense combat, combined with wounds inflicted by divine artifacts, reduced his healing ability by half. The battle situation could only be described as barely maintained.
Seeing him fight three opponents and still hold out this long, Hera and Poseidon became even more determined not to let him go. If they didn't take this golden opportunity to beat him into submission, who could withstand him next time!
The Sea King's manifestation, originally just there to reap some benefits, also began attacking fiercely. The top-tier divine artifact trident danced with tremendous vigor, each strike carrying irresistible weight, driving the injured King of the Dead into constant retreat.
Hades wasn't a fool. He knew very well that he might have a chance against two, but against three he absolutely couldn't win. His goal was to stall for time, waiting for his subordinates to break through and help him.
Out of ten moves, Hades attacked only once—the other nine were defensive. Though somewhat embarrassing, he believed he'd be the ultimate victor.