DOTM: Chapter 490/492

Chapter 490: The So-called Landing Battle

Looking at the few remaining fiery wrecks, Betty felt that this wasn't a war at all, but a one-sided slaughter.

Ethan simply stood there calmly from beginning to end. The Prinz Eugen was not tested at all in this battle. The closest enemy attack landed only fifty meters away on the sea surface.

Such a distance didn't even trigger the outermost magical protective shield.

"Isn't this too cruel?"

Although Betty was a military academy student, she had never experienced the baptism of war. Regardless of what knowledge she had learned, she was essentially still a young girl, she had just slept for a long time.

Looking at the sailors struggling in the water, Betty began to feel sorry for them.

"Don't pity these people, because when you fall into their hands, they won't pity you."

These people, as the Guild's thugs, guarded this sea area and had killed countless adventurers. It could be said that none of them were innocent.

Ethan's action against them this time wasn't for the sake of justice, but acting against bad people is always more acceptable than acting against good, kind people.

The Prinz Eugen patrolled in the distance for a while longer. New warships were sent out from the circular building, but these warships still couldn't threaten the Prinz Eugen. As soon as one appeared, it would be sunk.

In the end, apart from a few ships rescuing their companions which Ethan didn't sink, any warship that showed aggressive intent was mercilessly targeted by the Prinz Eugen.

Having fought to this extent, the battle could be considered to be entering its final stage. When the enemy realized they couldn't do anything about Ethan's warship, they even gave up on further rescue efforts. The remaining two rescue ships also turned around and retreated. Subsequently, the docks surrounding the massive circular building began to close, as if they were preparing to escape.

"Have you found the enemy's energy core or propulsion system?"

With the various black technologies equipped on the Prinz Eugen, it wasn't difficult to find the location with the strongest energy reaction within the enemy's building. In fact, during the battle just now, Maria Hill had sent small reconnaissance drones to infiltrate the enemy building while their attention was focused on the Prinz Eugen.

"Not yet, but it shouldn't take much longer."

Just as they were talking, someone suddenly connected to the Prinz Eugen's communication channel.

It wasn't the magic stone communication facility that Ethan had added later, but the communication equipment that the Prinz Eugen originally came with. Currently, only their own people on the Prinz Eugen could connect to this signal.

Looking around, Ethan noticed that Ada had disappeared at some point and immediately guessed where this woman had gone.

"You found the target?"

"You know me so well."

Ada's voice came through the loudspeaker. The people in the bridge looked at each other, all wondering when this woman had left and even infiltrated the enemy's interior.

As for how Ada moved from the Prinz Eugen to the opposite building, it wasn't hard to guess. Naval battles often take a long time. Just turning and maneuvering to find the next firing opportunity could take several hours.

The battle between the Prinz Eugen and the Guild fleet was considered a relatively quick naval battle, but it still took a considerable amount of time.

This much time was enough for Ada to get from here to the other side. There was plenty of equipment on the ship, like small underwater propulsion devices in the warehouse.

Furthermore, with the battle raging fiercely, it was even easier for Ada to carry out her infiltration work, as the enemy's attention was drawn to the Prinz Eugen, making their internal defenses more lax.

Just like that, Ada successfully found the building's power room and easily destroyed the power facilities.

The circular building, having lost its power source, activated its backup energy. However, although the docks closed, it didn't submerge. It seemed that submerging underwater required the main power source, and the backup energy wasn't sufficient to drive such a large building underwater.

It could also be for other reasons, such as problems with underwater life support systems, but since he didn't know the exact reason, Ethan couldn't be sure.

"Let's go over."

Originally, Ethan wanted to destroy this facility, just like the warships that were destroyed, blowing them all into pieces. Later, he thought that there might be some secret information hidden inside, and there was a high probability of finding information about the control room of this training ground world, so he resisted the urge to destroy it directly.

The Prinz Eugen began to approach the enemy rapidly, and the distance between the two sides was quickly decreasing.

Even with its main propulsion system destroyed, the massive circular building, like a small island, wasn't completely defenseless. Numerous turrets extended from around the island, and as the Prinz Eugen approached within a certain distance, these cannons furiously unleashed their firepower on Ethan's warship.

Dense energy projectiles rained down from the sky. The power of these energy projectiles was stronger than any shell fired from any main gun on the previous fleet.

Combined with the astonishing number, theoretically, any warship approaching them would be torn to pieces by this terrifying attack.

Unfortunately, these warships did not include the Prinz Eugen.

As the Prinz Eugen, equipped with countless black technologies and specializing in astonishing defensive power, it could fully withstand the bombardment of the rain-like energy projectiles with its magical shield activated, moving forward resolutely.

"Their firepower is so intense, why didn't they use it before?"

"Too slow, too short range."

Ethan saw the biggest problem with these defensive turrets at a glance, without needing the Prinz Eugen's intelligent system to analyze it.

In the area where the Prinz Eugen had been operating previously, even if these turrets locked onto the target and calculated a certain lead before firing, by the time the energy projectiles flew near the Prinz Eugen, the Prinz Eugen would have already sailed far away.

Of course, they could continue to increase the lead, but the Prinz Eugen wasn't moving on a fixed route, so it was impossible to determine the Prinz Eugen's movement path over such a long distance.

In addition, it's not that energy weapons have no concept of range. After flying a certain distance, these energies would lose power due to decreased cohesion and energy loss during flight. Once the energy intensity of pure energy weapons drops, their killing power at the extreme range might not even be as effective as a little girl's casually swung small fists.

Without special technical means, for the same level of energy consumption, solid ammunition weapons are more powerful. However, because this world's mineral resources are too scarce and there is the peculiar product of magic stones, this world focused on developing energy weapons.

Ethan also considered the difficulty of resupply, which is why the Prinz Eugen's main guns are energy weapons.

But the Prinz Eugen's main guns can fire solid ammunition.

"Use armor-piercing rounds!"

Armor-piercing rounds are much more suitable than pure energy projectiles for dealing with fortress-like structures like this. With the automatic loading system running, the Prinz Eugen's front main guns were already loaded with solid ammunition and locked onto the target while sailing.

"Fire!"

The roar of the ship's cannons sounded continuously. At this moment, it felt more like a warship. Compared to firing energy projectiles, the shock generated by firing solid ammunition was much greater.

People like Laura and Betty, who had absolutely no concept of solid ship cannons firing, were startled by the loud noise. Betty was even almost scared into falling, thanks to Jonathan catching her.

Compared to these inexperienced young girls, Jonathan and O'Connell were not unfamiliar with ship cannons firing due to the era they came from. They were from Britain, which had the world's strongest navy at the time.

Due to the large number of enemy turrets, the Prinz Eugen adjusted its direction again after advancing a certain distance, turning one side toward the circular building and fully unleashing the firepower from that side.

The power of the armor-piercing rounds was very strong. Almost every shot could destroy a defensive turret. Compared to the circular building that could only float on the sea surface and couldn't move, the Prinz Eugen could move to avoid the enemy's concentrated fire zones and focus on clearing the most threatening defensive positions.

The enemy, on the other hand, could only passively unleash firepower. After a few exchanges like this, the side of the circular building facing the Prinz Eugen had almost no intact turrets visible, and fires were burning everywhere. This was also caused by the incendiary shells fired by the Prinz Eugen. Because the enemy was using energy weapons, there was almost no chance of secondary explosions, and there were no ammunition depots or other facilities for the Prinz Eugen to perform one-hit kills.

"Should we continue firing?" Hill looked at the situation on the other side. The enemy had basically lost the ability to resist. If she were in S.H.I.E.L.D., she would now consider sending in Marines for a landing operation to directly occupy this building.

Unfortunately, the Prinz Eugen didn't have a Marine configuration. Similar landing and boarding operations were the responsibility of the ship's crew, and the highest commander on the ship often undertook such tasks.

"I'll go over and take a look."

Ethan indeed decided to take action himself. No one tried to dissuade him. As the strongest combatant on this warship, if Ethan were to encounter danger, then no one else could perform this task.

Unexpectedly, everyone was very enthusiastic. Not only did Logan, as always, decide to act with Ethan, but O'Connell also expressed his desire to participate, and Sherry wanted to test her current strength.

Not to mention Mordred, who would join in any excitement.

Except for Annette and Evelyn, the two women who would definitely not participate in combat, even Jonathan was willing to join in. In the end, only Selene would stay behind to protect the logistics and command personnel remaining on the ship, while the rest would follow Ethan and charge into that massive building on the other side.

Ethan gave everyone some time to prepare. In the blink of an eye, everyone had changed into their combat gear. This was the convenience of space items.

And for Ethan and the others, there was something even more convenient. The so-called landing operation was actually just opening a portal in the enemy's core area.

"Ada, help with the positioning."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 491: Go to the Control Room

With Ada's pinpointing, Ethan could open a portal directly into the enemy's internal area, allowing the elite forces to easily reach the core zone and attack in any direction they wished.

In such a situation, let alone the people from the Guild, even an imperial military base wouldn't be able to hold out. This was Betty's assessment. Although she hadn't experienced real combat, she had systematically studied many things, and no matter how the defense lines were set up, it would be difficult to defend against this kind of attack.

More importantly, Ethan and the others, who possessed teleportation abilities, could come and go as they pleased. Whether to fight or flee was entirely within Ethan's control. The defenders not only had no way to stop them but also had to constantly worry about the enemy suddenly returning.

Besides the freedom to come and go and the ability to strike directly into the enemy's heartland, the vast disparity in individual strength between the two sides was also insurmountable.

The combat suits worn by the Guild's guards were definitely the most advanced in this world. Their appearance was very similar to those worn by Ethan and his group. At first glance, they might be mistaken for contemporary products from two different manufacturers.

However, there was still a significant difference in specific functions. Although the combat suits used by the Guild had decent defensive energy and some ability-boosting effects, these effects were essentially useless in the face of the already vast difference in fundamental capabilities.

As for other functions, the difference was simply too great.

Therefore, after operating together for a period, Ethan and his group quickly dispersed, forming several appropriate small teams and searching in different directions.

Ethan, meanwhile, followed Ada to a more central area, such as the control room.

"You've figured out the entire layout here?"

"More or less."

After infiltrating, Ada didn't rush into destruction or searching. Instead, she first clarified the environment, all entry and exit passages, especially the routes convenient for retreat, before beginning deeper infiltration and sabotage operations. At the same time, she didn't neglect intelligence gathering.

Relying on the combat suit's stealth function and her own excellent personal abilities, she could easily lie in wait anywhere she wanted without being detected by anyone. She could even do this in buildings with complete surveillance facilities, let alone this massive facility where the defense methods were still primitive, relying solely on soldiers standing guard and patrolling. Even encountering a hidden sentry was considered somewhat difficult.

"While you were fighting the Guild's fleet, I found some material transfer lists and heard some things from certain people."

When Ethan and his group appeared and engaged in a naval battle with the Guild, the soldiers on the Guild's side didn't seem to take it too seriously.

In their eyes, this was just another audacious adventurer attempting to uncover the secrets of this lost sea area.

Such adventurers appeared constantly, and they would eliminate a number of them every so often.

This time was a little different. The warship Ethan and his group were on was quite large, surprisingly even bigger than the Guild's strongest warship. They had no idea where this adventurer had built such a vessel.

From the mouths of these people, Ada deduced that the Guild had collected all the information on all adventurers, including the warships they were using and their commonly used weapons and equipment. This also made it convenient for them to choose the correct combat plan when engaging in targeted battles.

It could be said that there was a reason why countless adventurers had died at the hands of the Guild in the past.

Besides being suppressed by the Guild in terms of equipment, they were also at an absolute disadvantage in terms of intelligence. What could ordinary adventurers use to achieve victory?

Only someone like Ethan, who had completely escaped the Guild's surveillance and whose weapons and equipment were all obtained from other places, with the Guild knowing absolutely nothing about Ethan's information, could achieve an equal footing in terms of intelligence.

Neither side knew the other's true capabilities. At this point, it was a contest of raw strength.

In this regard, Ethan held the absolute advantage, which allowed him to utterly crush the Guild's fleet and strike directly into the enemy's heartland, taking everything he wanted.

They quickly arrived at the control room. The Guild had long since discovered the intruders, but their carefully trained warriors were completely unable to stop this group. Not to mention Ethan, the enemies encountered along the way were all dealt with by the younger members like Sherry and Laura.

Galahad had also adapted to the large shield Ethan had made. Not only could he wield it freely to attack enemies in spacious areas, but in confined spaces, he also made full use of the shield for defense, then suddenly smashed it down to knock the enemy prone while they were surprised.

Mordred's fighting style hadn't changed much, but her movements had become more concise and powerful. Compared to her previous open-style approach, which seemed like a wanton waste of her ample magic power, she now finally understood that her current magic power was insignificant and worked hard to achieve greater results with less expenditure.

Charging straight through like this, when Ethan and the others arrived at the control room, the elderly man in the center opposite them opened his mouth as if to say something.

His expression clearly indicated he was about to utter threats, but Ethan didn't give him the chance.

They had been beaten like dogs, and they still wanted to act tough?

So, before the old man could even utter a single syllable, he was sent flying backward by a magic blast from Ethan, who had just appeared, crashing heavily against the wall and passing out.

Everyone in the control room dared not move, nor did anyone attempt to resist. So many elite warriors couldn't stop this group, what effect could their resistance possibly have?

They served the Guild because it was the most powerful force in this world. Here, they could enjoy higher status and better treatment, not worry about their livelihoods, and freely mock and despise ordinary people struggling to survive.

Although they enjoyed so many benefits, it didn't mean they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the Guild. As long as Ethan didn't kill them ruthlessly, these people were very cooperative, basically answering whatever was asked.

This saved Ethan a lot of trouble.

The people in the control room were the core figures in this base named Lost. They knew the most about the base's situation.

Why was the base located here? And why did the Guild eliminate all adventurers who entered this sea area?

These two questions could be considered one, and it was similar to Ethan's previous guess. The Guild had indeed found the training ground's control room, and they were guarding this place precisely because they didn't want other adventurers to discover it.

"Underwater?"

"Yes."

After several rounds of questioning and confirming that these guys weren't lying, Ethan continued to ask about other miscellaneous matters, essentially clarifying the doubts he had accumulated over the years.

The Guild had basically taken control of this world, but they wanted more, especially the core group within the Guild. They already knew the truth about this world and wanted to leave here for a broader world.

Unfortunately, the energy layer surrounding the training ground prevented them from moving forward. The Guild's biggest goal in finding the control room was to find a way to open a passage through the energy layer.

The base Ethan was currently in, called Lost, was actually an experimental spaceship built by the Guild. The Guild had applied some of the technology obtained from the control room to this base. As long as the Guild mastered the correct way to open the gate, they would begin building a real spaceship and then use the new spaceship as the locomotive to take this world and explore in space.

Although the Guild members wanted to go to a broader world, they never thought of abandoning this place. After all, the world of this training ground was equivalent to an asteroid, capable of producing various resources internally, essentially like carrying a mobile logistics base with them.

Countless adventurers also continuously provided various resources to the Guild. Before finding suitable alternatives, they naturally wouldn't give up easily.

"Not a bad idea."

If Ethan didn't have endless planes that could serve as logistics bases, he would also choose to use this training ground as his own supply ship.

The biggest problem with space travel was that supplies were difficult to resolve. It was very possible to travel for countless years without encountering a planet with sufficient survival resources.

If it couldn't be solved externally, the best method was to build a large enough spacecraft, perhaps even a mobile city, allowing a complete ecological cycle system to form within the ship, just like this training ground. Only this way could supply problems be guaranteed not to occur during long-term space travel.

The Guild's plan was well-formulated, but a crucial problem remained unresolved, they couldn't obtain full functional authorization in the control room.

This was quite awkward.

With the technology the Guild currently possessed, they could barely enter the control room and ensure the training ground continued to operate normally, but they couldn't obtain full control permissions because Guild members didn't have the qualification for use and lacked sufficient technology to crack it.

When Ethan heard this, he turned his head to look at Betty beside him. Betty seemed to understand something and whispered to Ethan, "I don't know if I have the authorization to use it either. After all, I'm just a cadet."

"That doesn't matter. What I want to know is, can you find the black box?"

"It's usually hidden near the central control console. If the console isn't damaged, the contents can be directly accessed through it."

Betty was certain about this. This information had been taught in detail at the academy, making it convenient for them to access the black box to understand the situation when necessary.

"This doesn't require authorization, right?"

"No, it just requires some special passwords."

After clarifying the situation, there was no longer any need to stay here. Ethan and his group prepared to head to the control console. Conveniently, this Lost base could transport them there, as long as the power that Ada had damaged was restored.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 492: The Aging Training Ground

They entered the control room, found the black box, and watched its contents.

Everything went smoothly. The people from the Guild didn't, and didn't dare to, cause Ethan and the others any trouble. This was a lesson learned with countless lives. Anyone who tried to do anything was swiftly and decisively killed.

The power gap was so vast it was despair-inducing, offering not the slightest glimmer of hope for victory. Apart from begging Ethan not to wipe them all out, they could do absolutely nothing.

Fortunately, for the Guild members, Ethan had no intention of killing them all.

After getting what he wanted, and after trying and confirming that Betty also didn't have authorization for the control room, Ethan led everyone away.

Everyone who returned to the Prinz Eugen was quite silent, which puzzled Selene until Ada roughly described the situation to her and Hill. Only then did they understand why.

"The good news is, we don't have to worry about being surrounded and ambushed by the Empire anymore."

According to the information recorded in the black box, the Empire had encountered major trouble. It had split internally, and war had broken out.

If a powerful empire is breached externally and falls into decline, there is still a possibility for it to turn defeat into victory and rebuild its glory.

However, if it dies from internal strife, then the lifespan of that empire has truly reached its end, and it can never return to its peak.

The situation of this training ground was rather complex. The most intense areas of the war happened to be the star systems surrounding this training ground.

After the war broke out, this training ground was inevitably affected. The Imperial personnel in the training ground began emergency evacuation. Those who didn't evacuate in time were all considered dead. According to the recorded time, the emergency evacuation occurred precisely during the period when Betty entered hibernation, which is also why her distress signal received no response.

Subsequently, in a great battle in this starfield, the military used weapons of mass destruction, almost completely destroying the area where the training ground was located. Fortunately, the training ground's position was relatively remote and did not face the attack directly.

However, it was still pushed away from its original position by the shockwave released by the explosion, flying farther and farther, directly lost in the vast universe.

Flying in one direction in space, without other influences, it would continue moving forward and not stop on its own.

According to the flight path at the time, this training ground would have crashed into a red giant star, in which case the entire training ground would have been completely reduced to ashes, leaving nothing behind.

Especially fortunately, along with the training ground, countless planetary fragments were also pushed and flew into the distance. As the training ground flew, it was constantly hit by meteorites, causing its flight path to deviate. It was finally captured by the gravity of a planet near the red giant, and along with countless meteorites, it remained in orbit around this planet, moving with it.

Even more fortunately, the energy emitted by the nearby red giant ensured that the training ground always had enough energy to absorb, allowing it to operate continuously for so many years without stopping due to energy depletion.

Unfortunately, however, the planet that captured the training ground naturally emitted various interferences, preventing the various communication and signal transmission equipment within the training ground from functioning normally. The interior of the training ground was unaffected due to the protection of the energy layer, but unfortunately, signals could not be transmitted outwards.

So, as far as the Empire was concerned, this training ground had been annihilated in that great explosion, and Betty had long been officially recorded as deceased by the Empire.

"This should be a good thing, right?"

Hill looked around. Although, apart from Ethan, none of them were native inhabitants of the training ground, it would be difficult for them to explain their origins, making it more likely that the Imperials would treat them as natives.

Based on what they learned from Betty, the Empire was not friendly towards the native inhabitants of the training ground, merely using them as consumables. If they wanted to escape the Empire's control, they would inevitably clash with this vast power.

But now this worry was gone. The Empire was finished, and no one cared about their identities. Wasn't this a good thing?

Everyone here, except perhaps Betty, should be happy, so why the silence?

"Nobody said it's a bad thing. I'm just thinking about what we should do next."

Everyone gathered on the bridge, discussing the next plan around the raised round table.

According to the collected information, a holographic star map was displayed on the round table. If the data recorded in the black box was correct, there was a huge planet right next to the training ground where Ethan and the others were located.

It was certain that there were absolutely no Imperial forces on this planet, otherwise they couldn't possibly have failed to discover this training ground, which had practically become a satellite of the planet.

"You want to go check out that planet?"

"Yes."

Ethan did indeed want to see what kind of planet it was. At the same time, he felt there was no point in staying here any longer.

The secrets of this world full of oceans had been made clear to him.

Eliminate the Guild? He didn't think eliminating the Guild was a good option. With the Guild maintaining it, this place barely had a semblance of order. If the Guild were eliminated, plunging this world into chaos and disorder, no one could be sure of the outcome.

After all, this was just a training ground, which could barely be considered a spacecraft with a complete ecological circulation system.

Although it could be viewed as an asteroid, its ability to withstand risks was incomparable to that of a real planet.

After so many years of use, and relying on the Guild's half-hearted maintenance, many systems were on the verge of collapse, especially some severely aged equipment, which was only barely being maintained.

No one could say when this training ground would collapse. Ethan felt he should find a way out for the people here.

That planet was the option right before them.

Ethan wasn't a saint, but letting disaster happen and countless innocents die right before his eyes was something he truly couldn't accept.

If he had no ability, that would be one thing. He didn't like or want to do things like shouting slogans hoping others would step in to save people. If he had the ability and was willing, he would help. If he didn't have the ability, he wouldn't hope for others' help. After all, no one owed anyone anything, and he had no right to dictate others' actions.

In fact, most of the companions he had found shared this kind of personality. They weren't like bleeding hearts who wanted to interfere and help in every situation, but when they encountered something they couldn't stand to see and had the ability, they didn't mind lending a hand.

"I'm not against it, but how should we do it?"

The Prinz Eugen was just a surface vessel. Currently, none of them had entered space.

Even if they already had the ability for space travel, how would they transfer so many people from the training ground? Especially since many of them didn't even know the truth of this world.

"These are all solvable, but no matter what, we must first go and see if that planet is suitable for habitation."

If it was a planet unsuitable for habitation, none of the subsequent matters could proceed. Instead of considering transferring people there, it would be better to consider giving the training ground a major overhaul to ensure it could operate stably for another thousand years.

"So the only problem to solve is needing a spaceship?"

Hill summarized that whether other things could be done, or how they could be done, could be considered later. The only problem to solve currently was the spaceship. With a ship, they could leave here and go to the nearby planet for a preliminary inspection.

"Yes."

Ethan stroked his chin. He began thinking about whether he should go back to the Marvel world to get a spaceship, or just find Star-Lord and ask him for help.

Star-Lord Peter Quill's Milano had the ability to freely enter and exit planets. At the same time, Star-Lord had rich exploration experience and could help him better determine if this planet was a suitable habitable planet.

Of course, Star-Lord wasn't the only one with a suitable spaceship and these abilities, but Ethan wasn't familiar with those people. He had some sort of connection with Star-Lord Peter Quill, and even without a connection, he could invite him for help by hiring him.

From the perspective of efficiency and possibility, getting Peter Quill to come was undoubtedly the most correct choice.

After Ethan explained his idea, everyone also felt that this method was quite reliable. Compared to other complete strangers they knew nothing about, Star-Lord was at least an acquaintance.

"Do you want to go back and see?"

This time he was just going to call someone for help, and Ethan didn't need to take everyone with him. However, he still asked Maria Hill, as this was going to the world where she lived. Perhaps she wanted to go back and see?

Maria Hill hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to go back and see, and also report the situation to Fury.

Most importantly, she could give some training methods to Fury, allowing him to try and see if he could train a group of law enforcement officers with extraordinary powers to curb the increasingly rampant crimes committed by superpowered individuals and the growing number of superheroes. This was, of course, with Ethan's permission, and was actually part of the deal between Ethan and Fury.

Apart from Maria Hill, there was no need for the others to go along. Anyway, for them, Ethan would reappear before them the second after he left.

Everyone didn't even have the interest to say goodbye to Ethan. They just urged him to quickly bring back the spaceship, not Star-Lord.

It wasn't just Ethan who didn't want to stay in this training ground anymore. After understanding everything, no one wanted to continue staying here.

Knowing that the Empire wouldn't pose a threat to them, they didn't necessarily need a fully built space battleship to depart. A regular spaceship would suffice.

As for the energy layer, that thing couldn't stop Ethan.

Only Betty was completely bewildered, not understanding what these people were talking about. Why did these people think a spaceship was something you could just have if you wanted one? And where was Ethan going when he said he was going out for a trip? How was he planning to get there?

(To be continued.)