DOTM: Chapter 466/469

Chapter 466: The Leading Party

The holographic projection displayed the last twenty navigation routes of the fleet dispatched by the guild. These routes looked like tangled lines sprawling across the Sea of Miracles, appearing as nothing more than random voyages circling the sea.

However, the situation changed completely in the area specifically marked by Ada. No matter how chaotic or twisted the routes appeared, once the fleet reached this region, it always entered the same area with precision.

"Betty mentioned before that after their cadets arrive at the Sea of Miracles, they must go to this area to complete the assessment. In other words, the so-called destination is here."

It was no coincidence that the guild's fleet frequently traveled to this sea area.

"Is the guild still in contact with the Empire?"

No one could be certain. Although the intelligence Ada uncovered showed that the guild had not been in touch with the Empire for a long time, it was possible they had been searching for something.

For example, the legacy the Empire left behind in this world.

"If this place is actually a training ground, a facility... then is the guild looking for the control room?"

Hill's words made a lot of sense. Everyone had overlooked this possibility. Ethan had been treating this place as a world, and his perspective had not yet shifted, so he missed this point.

Logan and the others were in the same situation, while Mordred hadn't considered it at all. Their worldviews hadn't changed much either.

Ada might have thought of it, but she didn't say anything. If Hill hadn't mentioned it, she would have brought it up herself.

"If anyone in this world knows the truth, it must be the guild. After losing contact with the Empire for so long, it's not surprising they would covet control of this place."

With that, things became clearer.

The Empire seemed to have abandoned this training ground without explanation. Perhaps some urgent event occurred, leaving Betty, who sent a distress signal, waiting for rescue that never came.

"Judging from the information we have now, this situation is clearly in our favor."

If the Empire had abandoned this place, then Ethan's actions would not be restrained by them. The guild alone posed no real threat to their group.

The meeting ended there. Ethan then had Ada talk to Betty for a while, revealing some of the information they had collected.

As Ethan expected, when he went out to the deck under the pretense of getting some air, Betty came to find him.

Her expression was awkward. Although she was still young and inexperienced, she was not a fool.

On the contrary, being admitted into the Imperial Military Academy was proof of her excellence, since not just anyone could enter that academy.

After Ada revealed a little information to her, she realized she had unknowingly revealed much more to the so-called locals on the ship. They had pieced together what she leaked, summarizing and analyzing it until they uncovered even more intelligence about the guild.

From this perspective, Betty was still only at the level of a cadet and not yet a true military professional.

Once she realized this, she understood that hiding the truth was pointless. Since these people had saved her and treated her kindly, she finally decided to tell Ethan everything she knew.

"You made the right choice."

"I don't know if it's right or not, but I feel more at ease this way."

She had been struggling over whether to speak or not. Now that she had decided, the weight in her heart lifted.

"Before we set out, some senior students gave us advice: in moments of crisis, we could rely on help from 'locals' to get out of danger, and even use their strength to complete the assessment."

Betty paused, then clarified, "I didn't want to use you. I only wanted you to take me to the island. After that, I planned to get a boat myself and head to the destination."

Ethan nodded. He had already guessed this, and he also suspected that the final outcome for any locals who helped cadets was grim.

Betty's next words confirmed this. Even if some locals showed noble character, they never received kindness or gratitude, nor were they granted freedom as promised. Instead, they were purged without hesitation.

To the managers of the training ground, these locals were tools. If a tool discovered things it should not or tried to break free, destruction was its only fate.

From Betty's words, it was clear that many cadets over the years had used locals in similar ways. Unlike them, Betty's conscience had made her struggle. She had repeatedly mentioned to Ada that she would leave and go on alone, subtly hinting that they should not take her all the way to the destination. This revealed her kind nature.

"These are no longer the issues... The real problem is that your country seems to have abandoned this training ground. That is why your distress signal has gone unanswered for more than eight hundred years, during which this place slowly developed its own technology."

Ethan pointed to a ship in the distance, a vessel somewhere between an ironclad and a sailing ship. It likely belonged to a weak adventurer in this sea area.

With his sharp vision, he saw that the ship was not entirely metal and still relied on sails, which meant the owner could not afford a pure magic stone propulsion system. It also implied the absence of a core-grade magic stone as a permanent power source.

Back when they were near Miracle Island, Ethan had seen many ships like these. Most looked like hybrids between the age of sail and the early ironclad era. Occasionally, there were warships resembling pre-dreadnought designs, belonging to stronger adventurers.

In comparison, the Prinz Eugen was a colossal behemoth. Even without knowing its firepower or defenses, its massive size alone deterred others. To power such a huge steel battleship required a powerful magic core, which also meant devastating firepower.

In this sea, that was common sense.

Ethan had kept the Prinz Eugen's radar scanning to avoid detection. Apart from using stealth frequently near Miracle Island, they now simply changed course to avoid adventurers.

After sailing further, Ethan and the others prepared to head into the outer waters of the Ring Sea. He believed this area was less frequented and would give him a chance to observe the world's edge.

Betty also glanced at the distant ship. During this time, she had seen many vessels. Even without boarding them, she could tell the Prinz Eugen was from a completely different era.

The Prinz Eugen was at least a hundred years more advanced. It would take several technological revolutions for the locals to catch up. If they had gone from sailing ships to ironclad-level ships in eight hundred years, they might need another eight hundred to build a warship like this.

This left Betty curious. Why was Ethan's group so different? Were they scouts from another advanced civilization?

With such doubts, she and Ethan casually discussed the Empire and the training ground. Ethan learned that the Empire spanned vast territories, with similar training grounds scattered throughout. While some were indeed abandoned, it was rare for one to be left behind so suddenly and carelessly.

According to Betty, such training grounds held advanced technology. Even if abandoned, the Empire would normally remove or destroy those technologies, not simply leave them behind.

This led to a simple conclusion: something had happened to the Empire.

That was good news for Ethan. If something had indeed occurred, no one would be monitoring them.

Ethan was pleased, but Betty felt uneasy.

Her future was uncertain. What would happen if she reached the destination only to find no teachers, no examiners, nothing?

"Don't worry. I can send you back then."

Betty gave him a forced smile, taking his words as mere comfort.

"Even if your technology far surpasses what's here, interstellar travel... is not that simple."

She had wanted to explain the countless difficulties of interstellar travel, but in the end, she could only summarize it in that one sentence. She wasn't sure he would understand if she said too much.

Unless Ethan truly was a scout from another civilization, here to investigate and collect intelligence about the Empire.

If that were the case, then he would surely possess interstellar capabilities. But then, would she become a guide for these invaders? A traitor to the Empire?

(To be continued.)

Chapter 467: Waiting for the Rabbit

Betty, who suspected she might have become a guide, did not fall back into indecision. She no longer had the energy to care about such things.

All she wanted now was to go home, though she suspected she might never be able to return in this lifetime.

In fact, if she had pressed further, Ethan would have definitely told her some things that would make her realize she still had a chance to go back.

If she did not ask, Ethan would not deliberately bring it up. Anyway, as Betty spent more time on the ship, she would eventually discover some things on her own, even without being taken to other worlds. For example, she would notice that only about a second passed in this world whenever Ethan and the others left.

However, Ethan would still occasionally bring people onto the Prinz Eugen.

With strangers suddenly appearing, this secret would definitely not remain hidden. Even if they used the excuse of "special teleportation equipment on the ship," it would not fool anyone for long.

But if combined with a hidden identity such as "forward reconnaissance personnel from an advanced civilization, here to investigate the Empire," perhaps it could mislead them for a while.

The following days passed uneventfully, until the Prinz Eugen sailed to the outermost edge of the ring-shaped sea. At that moment, the ship seemed to come alive again.

This time, everyone, including Hill, gathered on the deck, standing by the railing and looking into the distance.

"It really is outer space."

The feeling was surreal. Standing on the open deck, they could clearly see the dark void not far away with their naked eyes, yet they felt no discomfort. With seawater below and blue sky above, the cosmic void looked like a scene projected onto a massive screen.

"This feeling is really a bit strange."

The more they understood, the stranger it felt. People like Annette and Hill, who were more knowledgeable about space, felt uneasy looking at the sight before them.

"You can think of it this way." Ethan, who had experienced too many strange things, felt no discomfort at all. Not only could he stand here and watch the void nearby, even if he were thrown directly into the void without protective gear, it would not bother him: "We are actually on a giant spaceship, and right now we are looking at the scenery of space through its floor-to-ceiling windows."

Listening to Ethan's explanation, everyone found the analogy very fitting. Wasn't this training ground essentially a super-large spaceship? The energy field could be thought of as a special kind of window.

With this thought, everyone stopped finding it strange.

Ethan floated slowly into the air, then flew into the distance.

No one was surprised. If anything, it would have been strange if Ethan had not gone to investigate.

Only Betty, as always, kept searching for a scientific explanation, her eyes constantly scanning him as if refusing to give up until she found the equipment he used to fly.

Ethan ignored her. If she really figured it out, he might have had to ask her for guidance. Even though he had learned to fly this way, if asked to explain the principle behind it... he truly could not. It was more like a talent than a technique.

Looking down at the sea, Ethan quickly reached the true edge of the Sea of Miracles.

He did not rush forward. Instead, he descended and came to the outermost edge to observe the "bottom" of this world.

Probably no one else could do this, since no one here had the ability to fly freely.

Hovering outside the true boundary of the training ground, Ethan slowly descended. He watched as endless seawater poured down like a waterfall. At first, it fell vertically, but soon it curved into an arc and eventually converged toward the center.

The sight was indescribable. Ethan estimated that the seawater still returned to the ocean, since the unsinkable islands had never changed in size. This meant the sea level had always remained stable, with no increase or decrease.

So the seawater that appeared to fall into the void was actually recycled by some mechanism and returned to the ocean, forming a perfect cycle.

From outside, all Ethan could see was a vast stream of seawater flowing toward a fixed point. Given the size of this training ground, he could not see much more from here. Beyond that, there was only endless void.

Looking down, he saw many scattered meteorites. They seemed to form a natural shield for the training ground, blocking or deflecting meteors to prevent impacts.

"Was this deliberately built inside an asteroid belt?"

That question had no answer for now. Ethan rose back up to sea level, then turned and flew into the distance.

The people on the Prinz Eugen had been waiting for him. When he descended, they could not see what he was observing. Now that he was back in sight, they could see what he was doing.

He continued flying further, until he stopped at a great distance and extended his hand, as if pressing against an invisible wall.

At that range, his actions were no longer visible to the naked eye. Logan and Laura used the Eagle Eye spell to watch him and described what they saw to the others.

"That must be the energy field."

"It should be."

"What is Ethan doing?"

"It looks like... a teleportation spell?"

Indeed, Ethan was attempting a teleportation spell. With a wave of his hand, a circular blue portal opened on the energy layer. On the other side lay the cosmic void. Instead of entering himself, Ethan conjured a small blue bird from magic and let it fly through.

"Tsk!"

The moment the bird entered, the portal destabilized. It twisted violently, the turbulence shredding the magic bird and collapsing the portal.

"As expected, it's not that simple."

The energy layer was not a single barrier but composed of many layers, with hidden mechanisms embedded within. Ethan was not surprised.

As a military facility, the Empire naturally had technology to manipulate energy. If they dared use an energy barrier as the outer wall of the training ground, there would surely be safeguards and countermeasures.

Since magic itself was an application of energy and rules, it was only natural that spells would be disrupted by certain energy interference.

But this did not trouble Ethan. He still had countless ways to bypass or disable such defenses. When he cast the spell again, the magic bird this time passed through, flying into the vacuum by expelling energy as thrust, until its power ran out and it dissipated far away.

Having confirmed that he could take everyone out if necessary, Ethan lost interest in the barrier.

Its principles were similar to the energy shields he and Tony had developed using magic stone technology. It seemed likely that magic stones themselves were either a technological foundation of the Empire or a crystallization of its science. Ethan leaned toward the latter.

Either way, with his knowledge, he could bypass the wall with ease.

Returning to the Prinz Eugen, Ethan was met with everyone waiting for his report, while Betty circled him once again.

"Stop staring. Next time I'll fly in nothing but shorts for you to see, then you'll believe I can really fly!"

"Humans cannot fly!" Betty said firmly, treating it as an unshakable truth. "There must be special equipment. Could it be micro devices implanted in your body?"

Suddenly, her eyes lit up with realization. "Or maybe... you're not human!"

Ethan's face darkened. Too lazy to argue, he turned to the others and explained what he had found.

He only briefly mentioned what lay below, focusing instead on the energy layer.

"The outer energy layer isn't just one barrier. Starting from the ocean's edge, there are multiple layers. They don't stop people or creatures from entering or leaving, but they do affect airflow."

Which meant that near the barrier, the environment was almost like the vacuum of space.

"Low temperature, no oxygen, no gravity."

However, none of this mattered. No one would foolishly try to fly out there, and aside from Ethan, no one could fly anyway.

"The outermost wall is also multilayered, and some hidden mechanisms activate when disturbed by energy."

"So your first teleportation failed?" At first, they had not clearly seen his actions, only that he cast the spell twice. From that, it was easy to guess the first attempt had gone wrong.

"Yes."

Ethan did not feel embarrassed. Experiments often came with unexpected failures. As long as the goal was achieved and no major problems arose, that was enough.

"Speaking of problems, maybe we should leave this area."

"Did you trigger an alarm?"

"I don't know if I did, but that possibility can't be ruled out." Ethan rubbed his chin. "Of course, we could also stay here and see if anyone from the Empire or the Guild comes to investigate."

That idea sounded good. The Prinz Eugen could remain invisible, so the Guild would never find them.

If it were the Empire... they might even capture a few people and question them.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 468: Young People

The Prinz Eugen hid in a corner and activated its detection equipment to monitor the entire area, leaving no blind spots.

With the equipment installed on the ship, not a single suspicious trace could escape its notice.

Forget ships or aircraft, even miniature probes disguised as insects would be detected by the Prinz Eugen when the detection systems were operating at full capacity.

Yet, under such strict surveillance, Ethan and the others, who had stayed here for half a month, found nothing.

"If it were the Guild investigating, it would make sense if they hadn't arrived yet. But the Guild has already confirmed there's nothing useful here. Even if we captured a few of them, it would be hard to extract any valuable information."

"So, we're leaving?"

Ethan nodded.

"There's no need to stay any longer. It seems the Empire has indeed abandoned this training ground."

Since they couldn't capture anyone from the Empire, remaining here was pointless. The Prinz Eugen powered down its maximum-level detection, returning to normal surveillance, and switched off optical stealth.

The ship's detection capabilities allowed it to spot others in the sea before adventurers could see them with the naked eye. With only minor course adjustments, they avoided being seen.

This optical stealth worked well on aircraft, but on the sea it couldn't hide water traces, so it was only useful when the ship was stationary.

At a crucial moment, Ethan had another option: "physical stealth."

The method was simple: eliminate any adventurers who discovered them. If everyone who saw them was dead, it meant no one had seen them. They would remain in stealth, completely unknown to the Guild or adventurers.

However, this approach was too extreme, and Ethan preferred not to use it unless absolutely necessary.

Fortunately, their luck was decent. The Prinz Eugen sailed quietly without provoking anyone, avoiding unnecessary conflict.

The only unexpected problem was Ethan's assumption that sailing along the outermost edge would mean less trouble, since adventurers usually searched for resources and rarely ventured into the "empty" outer sea.

But he underestimated human curiosity. Countless adventurers, just like him, wanted to see what the edge of the world looked like, especially near Miracle Island. Many often sailed their ships out just to "enjoy the view."

Fortunately, the Prinz Eugen was several levels above these ships. Ethan and the others remained perfectly hidden. So far, no one in the sea knew of their presence. Even the most informed Guild had no idea the Prinz Eugen existed. They had concealed themselves flawlessly.

But living this way too long was boring. Before, there had been an island where they could train while also strengthening their abilities. Now that the island's development was stable, everyone only needed to follow routine maintenance, with nothing extra to do.

More importantly, the people on the ship had passed their period of rapid strength growth over the past few months and had entered a consolidation stage.

This was a frustrating phase. Almost no progress could be seen, no matter how hard they trained. Their strength seemed stagnant, with no visible change.

Those like Selene and Logan, who had the age and experience, were unsurprised and kept a steady mindset.

But younger people like Laura and Mordred, who lacked patience and had just enjoyed rapid progress, found it difficult to endure.

"It's so boring!"

Laura, now clearly a young woman, lay slumped like a child, her increasingly beautiful face resting on the table, looking completely listless.

Beside her sat Mordred and Shirley. The youngest, Shirley, was no longer a little girl but a golden-haired young beauty.

Shirley held a handheld console, playing for a while before tossing it aside as well.

"It's really boring. We haven't done anything lately, and my magic hasn't improved for a long time." After saying this, Shirley glanced at the more mature Laura and suddenly felt envious.

Young children always wanted to grow up quickly. Laura, only a few years older, hadn't looked so mature before. Since using the enhancement potion, her changes had become more and more obvious. No further changes had appeared recently, so it seemed the process was complete.

"Sigh... I want to be enhanced too."

She was already satisfied with her height and figure. Standing at 1.65 meters with a well-developed body, Shirley didn't care if her growth stopped. She only hoped to look more mature, not like a child at first glance.

"Do you have to wait until you're older to be enhanced?"

Mordred had lived on the ship long enough to know the essentials, and she had personally seen Laura transform from an ordinary-looking girl into a tall, beautiful woman.

At first, Mordred hadn't cared much about enhancement. With her magic, training alone gave her considerable strength.

But then she noticed a cruel reality: on the entire Prinz Eugen, she was the shortest, aside from Auriel.

Mordred, the daughter of King Arthur and heir to Britain's throne, was actually the shortest? That was unacceptable!

Worse, she wasn't even sure if her magic had stunted her growth. There was no sign she was getting taller at all, even though both her parents had tall, model-like figures.

"It seems so... After all, we're the only young people on the ship..."

Galahad, who stood silently behind Mordred like a statue, suddenly spoke.

"I asked about it. Actually, you don't necessarily have to be older to be enhanced. The reason we aren't allowed is because our potential isn't fully developed yet. Mr. Ethan believes we should first exhaust the potential we already have. Then, once it's nearly gone, we can use enhancement potions to push it further."

"Ah? Is that how it works?"

Mordred had only known the basics, not the details. Now she felt like her potential was nearly tapped out. Maybe it was time to ask for an enhancement potion.

"Galahad, what are you carrying on your back?"

Only then did the girls notice the massive object on his back, shaped like a cross or a circle, and nearly bigger than he was.

"It's a shield Mr. Ethan gave me. He said with this, I can protect Her Highness better."

"I don't need protection."

Hearing it was a shield, Mordred immediately lost interest.

But Shirley and Laura, hearing Ethan's name, jumped up. Their laziness disappeared instantly.

"Ethan gave it to you?"

Laura circled around Galahad, then stood behind him and studied the huge shield carefully.

Shirley did the same, but with her magic she could sense more.

"This is a magic item."

The shield, shaped like a giant cross embedded in a circle, pulsed with strong magical energy. Just from that alone, it was clear it was a powerful artifact.

"Strange, it's been a long time since Ethan made a unique item just for someone."

Usually, everyone had a standard set. The only difference was in appearance, not function.

For example, Ada preferred accessories like earrings, bracelets, necklaces, or anklets. Logan chose an ordinary-looking watch.

That was the extent of variation, but Galahad had received a custom-made shield.

"I think our Captain must be indulging his twisted sense of humor again."

"That's right, it must be."

After living together for so many years, both young women understood Ethan's personality well.

He wasn't the type to worry about Mordred's safety and make her a guardian. Normally, he would thoroughly train Mordred, enhance and guide her, strengthen her in various ways, and only after she had sufficient strength, equip her with a full set of gear. Diana was a perfect example.

Strengthening the guard's power was not Ethan's style.

But they didn't dwell on it for long, instead thinking of something else.

"Ethan can travel to other worlds whenever he wants. If we're bored, couldn't we go to another world to have some fun?"

Their impression was that Ethan always had a specific goal whenever he traveled to another world.

It was either to collect treasures or recruit crew members. But what the young ones wanted now was to find an interesting world just to have fun.

"Such amazing magic... shouldn't it be used for playing?"

Galahad stood there seriously, but no one paid him any attention. The girls continued their discussion and decided to ask Ethan to take them out.

Although the island had been developed nicely, that kind of quiet comfort wasn't for energetic youth. They wanted something livelier.

In fact, even if they hadn't asked, Ethan himself had been feeling bored lately.

He had thought making a piece of equipment fitting for Galahad would take a lot of time. But with his forging skills now greatly improved, he finished it in just a few days.

So, feeling idle, Ethan also began considering whether to visit an interesting world purely for fun.

"Where should we go?"

(To be continued.)

Chapter 469: Enjoy the Journey

Ethan pondered where to go for a long time. Even when Shirley and the others found him, he still had not come up with a clear idea.

It was not that he did not know which world would be interesting, but rather that there were too many choices, leaving him in a state of indecision.

In contrast, the young people's ideas were much simpler.

"A place where we can fully demonstrate our strength."

Laura had improved the most, and she was eager to show off in front of her companions, especially since her mutant abilities had been optimized. She wanted everyone to see her new self.

"A place where I can fight to my heart's content."

Mordred's request was straightforward. She did not care what kind of world it was, as long as it had plenty of enemies for her to unleash her excess energy on.

"Somewhere a little interesting, I guess..."

Shirley had no specific demand, but since the others had spoken, she felt it would be strange not to say anything. In truth, she just wanted to have fun. She believed that any world chosen according to the other two's requests would not disappoint her.

"I see..."

Ethan glanced at Galahad. This young Knight of the Round Table had no requests. His duty, or rather his mission, was to accompany Mordred. Wherever she went, he would follow.

"I do know of a world with plenty of enemies where you can fight as much as you like."

There was more than one such world. Judging by the strength of the young ones, those worlds would not truly threaten them. That made them perfect for entertainment.

"What kind of enemies?" Mordred only cared about whether the enemies were strong or not.

Ethan gave her a look that seemed to say, "You want strong opponents? Talk about that when you're older." Then he asked, "Do you know what zombies are?"

"Zombies?"

This word brought back unpleasant memories for Shirley. As a child in Raccoon City, she had seen those disgusting monsters everywhere.

Although she was far stronger now and no longer afraid of those slow-moving creatures, the memory still made her uncomfortable.

But she also knew she had to overcome it, so she felt that going to a world full of zombies might be a good choice.

For Mordred, though, the word was unfamiliar. "What are those things?"

Laura quietly explained a bit to her. Only then did Mordred remember that she had seen such monsters before. "Are they those slow, ugly, rotting corpses?"

There was a small cinema on the ship, and Laura had collected many films. In her free time, Mordred had watched a few zombie movies.

She had not thought much of them. But Ethan's next words caught her attention.

"I know a world where the zombies are very fast, with many mutations and strange abilities. It's quite suitable for some fun."

Most importantly, there were countless of them. Even with the girls' strength, facing such numbers would be troublesome.

"This is an excellent chance for practical training."

"Tch, what training? You could wipe them all out with a single spell."

Others might not know, but Laura had personally seen Ethan's devastating offensive magic. With his strength, one spell could flatten a city.

To her surprise, Ethan said he would not intervene this time and would let the young ones play to their heart's content.

"That actually sounds interesting. Let's go there!"

Ethan nodded and took them to the teleportation room. Along the way, they ran into Logan, who was heading to the deck. When he heard the young people were going to another world to have fun, he joined them and asked a few questions.

"Sending them to play?"

He quickly grasped the point.

"What about you?"

"I also want to find a world to have some fun in."

"..."

Logan realized Ethan did not intend to go with Laura and the others.

Following them into the teleportation room, Ethan gestured for Logan to close the door. Then he had the Prinz Eugen's AI activate maximum-level monitoring for the room.

"The world we're going to this time has a particularly vicious virus, so we need to take precautions. Does everyone have the antidotes, hemostatics, and other medicines I distributed?"

Since Ethan had given everyone new space storage equipment, they no longer needed to prepare gear each time. They carried it all constantly, ready to depart at any moment.

Even Mordred and Galahad, who had joined most recently, had their own storage items, making it easy to carry their weapons and basic supplies.

So, although they looked casual, as if heading to a corner shop, within seconds they could be fully armed.

Seeing everyone ready, Ethan activated the teleportation spell. When their vision cleared, they found themselves in an alley in a modern city.

The place was desolate, as if struck by disaster. The gloomy sky and dim light made the atmosphere oppressive.

"The situation here is this. Because of a peculiar virus, most people have gone mad. The infected will attack normal humans on sight."

The young people turned to look at him, and Ethan continued.

"Among the infected, there are special mutants, the monsters with strange abilities I mentioned earlier."

"So basically, any living thing we meet is an enemy?" Laura asked. As a druid, she was more attuned to nature than Logan, and this place's aura made her uncomfortable.

"Pretty much."

After explaining, Ethan waved them goodbye. "I won't be staying this time. When you've had enough, just use the communication rune to contact me, and I'll come get you."

"You're leaving?"

"I plan to go to another world to look around."

"He must have thought of somewhere more fun and just dumped us here."

Laura said this aloud without hesitation, and everyone heard. Ethan resisted the urge to smack her and instead forced a smile. "If you encounter real danger, Galahad has emergency measures. Enjoy this 'Road to Survival'."

With that, before they could react, he took Logan and left.

He did not see their stunned expressions. Back on the Prinz Eugen, he and Logan stayed in the teleportation room for testing to ensure no virus had followed them back.

"Will those young ones be fine?"

"No problem." Ethan was certain this world posed no real threat. With their gear, or even with simple baseball bats or steel pipes, they could sweep through the city.

The mutants might be a bit of a challenge, but nothing beyond their capability.

Besides, they lacked real, continuous combat experience. This was a good chance for training.

"Galahad is calm. If something goes wrong, he knows what to do."

Ethan had not abandoned them. Galahad's shield had another function. In an emergency, it could be set on the ground as a teleportation circle, directly connecting back to the Prinz Eugen's teleportation room.

With Galahad present, they could return at any time without Ethan.

After explaining this to Logan, Ethan relaxed completely.

"So you didn't stay because you want to use this to train them?"

"No, I really plan to find another world for some fun." Ethan glanced at him. "Want to come? I think it will be interesting."

Logan had intended to decline, but it had been boring lately, so he agreed.

"I'll ask the others."

Betty was excluded, as she was still a temporary passenger and not allowed to travel between worlds.

Hill and Selene had little interest in this sort of thing. Evelyn, Jonathan, and the others lost their brief curiosity once they learned it involved countless monsters. Evelyn shook her head vigorously, refusing outright.

In the end, only Ada joined them. She had always been fascinated by strange worlds and saw it as the greatest joy of joining Ethan's group. She would not miss the chance.

"What kind of world this time?"

The three of them entered the teleportation room together, still in casual clothes. After all, they could change as needed.

"It's a world with lots and lots of monsters."

Ada was not afraid. Instead, her curiosity grew. "Lots of monsters? Do we need to travel around? Should we bring the Quinjet?"

"No need, because all the monsters are gathered in one place..." Ethan recalled the details. "They're all sealed beneath an ordinary-looking wooden cabin."

(To be continued.)