DOTM: Chapter 428/429

Chapter 428: Ethan Said

"God?"

John Keller first glanced at Agent Simmons beside him. The agent had completely set aside what had just happened and was now staring wide-eyed at Ethan.

He was not the only one. Besides John Keller, who was still paying attention to the others around him, the people he had brought, including his bodyguards and the soldiers stationed further back and ready to fight the aliens at any moment, were all looking at Ethan, this young man who appeared to be just over twenty, with various expressions.

Among them were devout believers who felt anger at Ethan's words, thinking this inexplicable man had blasphemed their faith.

"You said you are God?"

"Your understanding is incorrect." Ethan wagged his finger. The glowing bands and mysterious symbols surrounding him slowly dissipated with his movement, and the surroundings returned to their previous calm, as if everything had just been an illusion.

However, Simmons knew it was not an illusion, and so did Secretary of Defense John Keller, who had been closest to him. He had experienced those energies up close; that peculiar feeling was nothing like a holographic projection or any similar trick.

Moreover, Simmons had been lifted into the air by that magical energy. He had not seen any strange equipment above him that could hoist a person into the air.

Just then, Ethan's next words reached his ears. "I merely said that beings like me, possessing special abilities, would have been called gods by humans in the past."

Simmons quietly patted himself down, making sure nothing unusual had happened to him, before pressing the question again. "You say you are a being with god-like power. Can a god only lift people into the air?"

Even if ancient humans were not as knowledgeable as modern people, nor had such developed science and education, they would not worship someone as a god just because they saw a strange ability, would they?

In the end, the abilities Ethan had shown so far were not enough to compare with the gods in their hearts.

Ethan did not waste words on this.

He could tell that it was not only Simmons who doubted him. The Secretary of Defense also could not accept his earlier statement.

"Let there be light!"

Without warning, Ethan suddenly spoke these words. As he extended his left hand, an extremely dazzling light burst from his palm, transforming into a beam that shot straight into the sky.

John Keller was momentarily blinded, but Ethan controlled the brightness expertly, making sure it did not directly blind anyone. If everyone went blind, who would be left to watch? The few Autobots standing beside him? Letting only them witness it would not achieve Ethan's goal.

As everyone's vision gradually recovered, they saw the beam of light shooting from Ethan's hand straight into the sky, finally condensing into a ball of light suspended above.

As the beam faded, the ball of light suddenly contracted and then exploded in brilliance like the sun, instantly turning the entire area into daytime.

All the lighting equipment on the vehicles behind the Secretary of Defense became meaningless. No matter how powerful, they could not compare to this "sun." In the brightness of day, they were completely overwhelmed.

Night had turned into day, all because of the words, "Let there be light"?

Could Ethan truly be a god?

For most, this was still not enough to shake their beliefs. The object hanging in the sky could be explained away as a large flashbang, only bigger and lasting longer. Since they were dealing with aliens, it was normal for them to have more advanced flashbangs.

But would Ethan let them dismiss him so easily?

Of course not. He gave them no time to react before moving on to the second step.

"Let there be water and green grass."

Ethan spread his hands. His magic power was fully mobilized. This was the first time he had used such a large amount of his own magic power, and it could not be released crudely as usual. Every bit had to be applied with precision.

Otherwise, how could he put on a proper display?

The magic power dispersed, covering the area, and transformed into a fine drizzle falling from the sky. Even with a sun hanging above, it could not stop Ethan from summoning this magical rain. Given his own magic level and the many follow-up actions he needed to perform, the rain only covered this area. As for the areas further away, although people could see rain, it was actually just an illusion.

No one noticed this. With Ethan's current strength, even Loki would not be able to tell at a glance that the distant rain was only an illusion.

As the rain fell, moistening the dry land, something even more astonishing occurred.

Blades of green grass broke through the soil, growing from tiny sprouts into lush grass in mere seconds. Even more incredible, several tall trees grew up among the grass.

Although California has a pleasant climate, it is a region with relatively scarce water resources. Many places are as dry as deserts, and the wasteland they were standing in had been undeveloped for a long time for precisely that reason.

Yet this wasteland, similar to a Gobi Desert, had transformed into a green grassland? Witnessing such a change with his own eyes only made it feel more unbelievable.

At that moment, Ethan unleashed another move.

"Let there be vegetables and fruits!"

With that, several vegetables sprouted on the ground in front of the Secretary of Defense, and at the same time, a fruit tree grew beside Simmons, reaching over two meters tall in the blink of an eye and bearing clusters of fruit.

Ethan continued channeling magic power. This display of "whatever Ethan says, becomes" was the result of his diligent training in the previous period.

After gaining an understanding of the world's many things, he had been working on how to use magic power to transform or create them, and to make them last a long time or even become completely real.

The rain, grass, trees, and fruit created through this magic were all real on the smallest level.

However, with such large-scale casting, he could not make them permanent. Maintaining them required his continuous output of magic power.

Even so, it was enough to shock ordinary people.

"Would you like to taste some?"

Once the spell was formed, all that was needed was to maintain energy output, so Ethan could spare the attention to speak and sincerely invite them. They had to try it. Otherwise, the magic power he had spent would be wasted.

The Secretary of Defense was still in a daze. When Ethan invited him to taste the fruit, he did not think much and casually picked a peach, taking a bite.

Before reaching for it, he had suspected these were illusions, and that touching them would reveal them to be insubstantial.

For a moment, he even hoped his guess was correct.

But when he bit into it, the fragrance of fruit filled his mouth, and rich juice flowed from the corners of his lips. He knew the result he least wanted had come to pass.

He was not alone. The soldiers reached out to pick fruits or vegetables in front of them, tasting them to see if they were real.

Almost everyone reacted the same way: disbelief, shock, and fear.

"Attack a god? Are you kidding me?"

Ethan slightly spread his hands. A pair of softly glowing wings had formed behind him at some point, and he was already floating in the air.

The gentle drizzle had stopped. The grass swayed in the breeze. He hovered there, enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention.

For a moment, he lost himself in it. Then, scattered energy began to converge toward him. He instinctively absorbed it.

Fortunately, he quickly redirected it into the cross on his chest.

The incident startled him, and he began withdrawing his magic power, reclaiming as much as possible to reduce the cost of this display.

As he pulled back his magic, the fruit withered first, followed by the trees, then the grass, until only the ball of light remained overhead. It was no longer dazzling enough to turn night into day, merely lighting the area like a giant bulb.

"How about it?"

Gulp.

The Secretary of Defense and Simmons both swallowed as Ethan drifted back down in front of them. The sweet taste of fruit still lingered in their mouths, reminding them of what they had just witnessed.

"So… everything you said is true?"

If Ethan's claim was true, that there were many beings like him in the universe with magical abilities, and they had visited Earth long ago, then it was no wonder humans had once worshipped them as gods.

If he had not declared himself an alien earlier, after seeing that scene, they would have taken him for a true deity.

The Secretary of Defense was a little intimidated, which was exactly what Ethan wanted. This way, he could gain the upper hand in the following discussions and secure terms favorable to himself.

It was not only the humans who were shocked. The Transformers, too, were stunned. There were such powerful beings in the universe?

(To be continued.)

Chapter 429: Do You Think You Are Iron Man?

Ethan's act was very successful, extremely successful, perhaps even a bit too successful.

Secretary of Defense John Keller immediately shifted his focus away from the Transformers, making Ethan his top priority, and eagerly invited him to visit the nearby base. He wanted to take Ethan to a more important location, but that was not possible to arrange for now.

First, he had to stabilize this person, then quickly report the situation to the President.

This was a matter far beyond the authority of a single Secretary of Defense. Ethan's appearance not only signified the arrival of aliens but, because of his magical abilities, could also trigger a series of religious issues. How to handle such a situation required careful discussion.

Ethan did not refuse the invitation. He also wanted further contact with the officials of this world, preferably to reach some cooperation agreements.

As for the Transformer issue, that had now become something that could be solved as a side task.

The Autobots transformed back into cars. This time, even hot-tempered warriors like Ironhide and Jazz, if they had any dissatisfaction, dared not show it in front of Ethan.

Compared to ordinary people, who were merely astonished by the miraculous sights, the Autobots felt far more.

That area had been filled with active energy, and the quality of that energy was extremely high.

This meant extremely strong power. At that time, all the Autobots had been enveloped in it, their lives completely in Ethan's hands, with no way to resist.

Ratchet had mentioned before that the energy within Ethan was astonishingly strong. At the time, the Autobots did not take it too seriously, thinking Ethan might be like them, possessing an energy core within his body, equivalent to a human's vital organs, the core of his kind of lifeform.

But even Optimus Prime, who had the strongest core energy among the Autobots, could not use it as he pleased. It was said that only a very few Transformers could develop special abilities to directly wield their own energy, but that existed only in legend, something most Autobots treated as a story.

They had never expected to one day see a cosmic lifeform who could freely use its own energy, and more terrifyingly, this Ethan, who looked no different from an Earthling, could use energy of astonishing intensity.

At this moment, the Autobots finally understood why Ethan had shown so little concern about Megatron earlier. If they had this ability, they would not take Megatron seriously either.

"Were you using abilities you learned from the Reality Stone just now?"

Ethan, sitting quietly in the car, was not as still as he seemed. Tony was using magic to "private chat" with him, perfectly avoiding all surveillance devices. The Autobots could detect energy fluctuations, but right now, they dared not casually intercept or analyze them, fearing they might anger Ethan.

"Sort of, and sort of not."

Ethan explained that the abilities he had just displayed did include some elements learned from the Reality Stone, but it was more a perfect application of his long-accumulated knowledge.

"Let there be light" had used his unique Holy Light.

Making it rain was simply applying his mastered water attribute, perfectly converting magical energy into raindrops and letting them fall from the sky.

Only the subsequent growth of grass and trees involved some knowledge learned from the Reality Stone, combined with the Druidic nature magic he had obtained from Azeroth.

"What about those vegetables and fruits?"

"Arcane mages are very good at using magic to create various foods. I just slightly modified those abilities and combined them with Druidic nature magic."

No matter how much those fruits and vegetables looked like real ones, they were essentially just condensed magical energy. Based on his understanding of "real objects," Ethan combined magic power according to the basic structure of each fruit.

In some sense, they were indeed those fruits, but they could not exist for long and required Ethan to maintain them with magic power. Once the magic stopped, they would revert to pure magic power.

Of course, with some Arcane magic techniques, they could last a little longer and would not immediately vanish when the magic output ended.

"Does that mean eating these foods is the same as not eating them?"

This was what Tony was most curious about. Since those foods were composed of magic power, once eaten, and without Ethan maintaining them, their composition would revert to pure magic power that ordinary people could not absorb. Even if the appearance remained, could humans truly absorb this food and convert it into usable energy?

"No, there's still a difference."

Beginner Arcane mages could only create food that filled the stomach. It could not be absorbed, meaning it could not be converted into energy for the body. Being full was simply being full, with no other effect. Even if a mage ate such food, they could not recycle the magic used.

Some might ask, what was the point of that?

In fact, this spell was developed to avoid physical discomfort from hunger during continuous battles. As long as you ate something, even without nutrition, your body would feel more comfortable, allowing you to keep fighting in good condition.

As understanding of Arcane magic deepened, skilled mages could create real food, identical in structure to the genuine article, which the body could absorb and convert.

At that stage, the value of the spell greatly increased, allowing mages to travel long distances without carrying supplies and without worrying about starvation.

In other words, they could replenish physical strength or other energy deficiencies by consuming magic power.

Normally, mages would not continue researching food creation once they reached this level.

Ethan was different. He was pushing further, aiming to use his magic to "create" real objects that would not disappear or revert to magic power once he stopped maintaining them.

After explaining this to Tony, Tony understood that the fruits and vegetables Ethan had created fell into the category of being edible and filling, but not absorbable.

After all, it was a large-scale spell. If Ethan specifically "created a fruit tree," the fruits on it might truly fill the stomach and replenish energy.

In any case, each person had eaten only one, and Ethan had not given them the chance to eat more. It was normal for them not to feel full, and there was no risk of anyone noticing something strange.

The convoy soon arrived at a military base. Soldiers who had received the news immediately cleared out a large warehouse for the Autobots to drive into directly.

Whether for the upcoming discussions or as a resting place for the Autobots, the warehouse was a good choice.

Comfortable living quarters were also set up inside the warehouse for Ethan and his group.

As for Secretary of Defense John Keller, he immediately left for Washington D.C. to personally report the situation to the President.

This was fine. The Decepticons still did not know Megatron's location and could only wander like headless flies, so Ethan and the others had time to spare.

Optimus Prime also did not urge the humans to speed up negotiations. He had realized that as long as Ethan had an interest in the Allspark, he would eventually retrieve the treasure vital to the Transformers.

The Secretary of Defense left quickly with a group of assistants, advisors, and several generals. Sector 7 agent Simmons did not go with them but stayed behind to "host" these friends from outer space.

Simmons had not wanted the job, but the Secretary of Defense's words gave him no room to argue: Your Sector 7 is the department most familiar with them, so I can only entrust this to you.

Simmons had no choice but to accept with a bitter face. So, after the large group left the warehouse, besides the Autobots and the soldiers on guard acting as "waiters," only Simmons remained.

"You don't doubt my identity now, do you?"

Simmons found Ethan's smile particularly irritating, but he could not do anything about it, so he helplessly changed the subject.

"Maybe you are indeed an alien… but those few over there shouldn't be, right?"

The Secretary of Defense and the generals had not paid much attention to minor figures like Sam and Mikaela, focusing entirely on Optimus Prime and Ethan.

Simmons was different. His training as an agent meant he would not overlook any suspicious person.

Ethan's identity was confirmed, but what about the others? These people looked like Earthlings, and the time from meeting them to arriving here had been enough to collect more data.

Except for the one named Tony, whose identity appeared out of thin air like Ethan's, the other two were definitely native Earthlings with complete records.

Simmons looked at Mikaela and Sam, wondering how these two ordinary young people had gotten involved with multiple aliens.

Sam was somewhat special, as his grandfather had been among the earliest explorers to discover Megatron and the Allspark (though he had not called it that).

As for Mikaela? She was the daughter of a car thief, with a criminal record. Aside from her looks, there was nothing remarkable about her.

"Is it just because she's pretty?"

He shifted his gaze to the middle-aged man at the end, recalling his identity information.

"Tony Stark? Couldn't you put a little more effort into choosing a fake name? Do you think you're Iron Man?"

(To be continued.)