🎊🎊DOTM: Chapter 403/406

Chapter 403: Issues That Have Been Ignored

Finding Diana was not difficult, especially now that his magical power had grown stronger. A simple message spell would let her know that he had arrived.

All he needed to do now was wait quietly. After receiving the message, Diana would either return directly to Themyscira, or if she could not return due to some matter, she would send a message to Ethan, and he would go find her.

Regardless, Ethan could not just roam around with such a large group, so he needed to arrange accommodations first.

This was not something he needed to worry about at all, nor did he need to build the residences himself. Seeing that Ethan had brought so many people this time, Hippolyta directly allocated an area for them to live. After all, Themyscira lacked nothing, and there were plenty of empty houses just gathering dust, so it was better to let the guests stay there.

Hippolyta noticed the immense changes in Ethan. It was hard not to notice. Ethan's appearance had changed significantly. If not for his familiar casting patterns and a face that, while optimized, still showed his original features, Antiope would have almost surrounded him as an intruder.

"You have changed a lot. I sense the aura of a god on you."

As the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta had had a very close encounter with Zeus, the King of Olympus, and was no stranger to the aura of gods.

However, for a long time, she had only felt this aura on Diana after she had grown up. She had not expected Ethan to possess this aura now. This meant Ethan had stepped onto a new level, and she, the Queen of the Amazon tribe, had been surpassed by him in terms of strength and life level.

"My training during this period has yielded some results."

Hippolyta looked at Ethan. If an ordinary person became a god, they should feel very proud, right? Ethan now looked as if he had only made a slight improvement, still seemingly unsatisfied with his current state.

How far exactly did he intend to go?

The Amazons did not interfere with personal emotional lives, but as a mother, Hippolyta believed Ethan was the only man currently worthy of her daughter.

Setting aside that the Amazons were all women, for ordinary people in the outside world, lifespan was an unavoidable issue. Even if they could live over a hundred years, their youth was only that brief twenty or thirty years. Diana being with an ordinary person would simply not work out.

Ethan clearly would not have this problem, but Ethan's perpetual dissatisfaction with the status quo and his apparent desire to keep moving forward made her slightly anxious: would a person who constantly pursued higher levels of power truly end up with Diana?

However, it seemed she did not need to worry about this matter. What if they did not end up together? If Ethan truly reached a higher level, perhaps Diana could also make further progress?

"Has anything unusual happened with the Mother Box?"

"No... Do you think the Mother Box will have problems?"

He learned from Hippolyta that several years had passed since he last came to this world. However, there were still several decades until the formal appearance of superheroes like Batman and Superman, which meant Steppenwolf would not emerge for the time being.

But this was a real world after all. He did not know if any changes would occur, especially given that he had used the Mother Box's energy. It would not be strange for Steppenwolf to show up early.

With his current strength, he no longer feared Steppenwolf, but he was not sure about the true strength of Darkseid behind him.

"The Mother Box could have problems at any time. If that day truly arrives, I think you should try to avoid direct conflict with the enemy."

Although Steppenwolf was beaten by Superman like a grandson, his power overwhelming the Amazons was a foregone conclusion. He would not even need the Parademons. Just relying on the axe in his hand, he could cleave all the Amazon warriors to death.

In the original plot, only a very small number of Amazon warriors were sacrificed. The fundamental reason was that Steppenwolf did not intend to kill them outright. He was more hopeful of converting all the Amazon warriors into his subordinates after using the Mother Box to destroy this world, which could be inferred from the few words he spoke before leaving.

It was just a pity he boasted too early. Afterward, he was beaten badly and fled Earth in a sorry state.

"The Amazons do not fear any battle."

"But meaningless death should be avoided. You are the Queen of the Amazons. You must consider the survival of the Amazon tribe in a comprehensive manner."

If it were Antiope, Ethan would not say these words at all. That female general would only choose to resist to the very end, even if all the Amazon warriors died.

She believed this was the meaning of the Amazon tribe's existence: if they could not defeat their opponent and were completely annihilated, it meant the Amazons were destined to disappear from this world.

Hippolyta, however, did not think this way. She hoped the Amazon tribe would continue to exist forever.

"But if the enemy truly invades Themyscira, I cannot just take my people and abandon our home to flee, can I?" Even if she were to issue such an order, not a single Amazon would obey.

"If one day the Mother Box shows unusual activity, it only means the enemy is coming for the Mother Box. Just let them take it..." Steppenwolf would withdraw once he obtained the Mother Box.

"In that case, it will not just be our Amazon tribe facing a crisis."

The Amazons knew very well what the Mother Box was, and they were equally clear about what enemies who would steal the Mother Box intended to do with it.

"He will not succeed."

Hippolyta heard strong confidence in this sentence. Looking at the greatly changed mage beside her, Hippolyta understood the meaning of his words: if such a situation truly occurred, he would resolve this trouble.

"You might not fully understand the strength of those guys."

"No, I understand Steppenwolf's strength very well. Unless Darkseid himself comes to Earth, Steppenwolf alone cannot threaten Earth."

Even if he did not make a move himself, the current Diana could handle Steppenwolf. It was just that Diana spent most of her time living outside and would not always stay on Themyscira, which gave Steppenwolf an opportunity to take advantage of the vulnerability.

Even if the plot underwent some changes and Steppenwolf brought some powerful helpers, Ethan was not afraid. Oh, only you can find people? When the time comes, I will gather a bunch of overpowered individuals to beat you up!

From any perspective, Steppenwolf had no chance of winning. As a result, he even less wanted the Amazon tribe to suffer huge, inexplicable casualties. After all, they had hosted him warmly multiple times. He truly could not just watch them die in vain.

"Alright... if an enemy we cannot handle truly appears, I will not let the Amazon warriors die in vain."

Hippolyta nodded. Being able to avoid casualties was naturally a good thing. The number of Amazon warriors was limited, and even the population of the entire Themyscira was not large, especially with almost no population growth in recent decades. Going back a while, Diana was the only child on the entire island...

They casually chatted about some other things, mostly about how long Ethan would stay this time, and whether his connection with this world had become closer.

Ethan had not decided how long he would stay, but regarding his connection with this world, he had already left a brand new space-time anchor. His link with the DC world had become very close, so he did not need to worry about receiving a message at a critical moment and then finding out that several years had passed since the message was sent by the time he arrived.

"That is good news."

"In the future, I might come over and visit frequently. I hope Your Majesty will not find it bothersome."

Hippolyta did not say whether she welcomed him or not, but her expression, which seemed to say, "Anyway, you did not come to this world for Themyscira, so how often you come has nothing to do with me," seemed to indicate everything.

Saying nothing further, Hippolyta still had her own matters to attend to. Ethan returned to the residence arranged for himself and his group on Themyscira.

This place was located halfway up the island, in a corner of Themyscira's town area, not far from the center of the entire residential zone. It was similar to a separate small community, with a stone path leading to the main road, from which one could then travel to any area of the island.

It was evident that Hippolyta's arrangements were thoughtful, providing Ethan and his group with a certain degree of privacy while also allowing them to live conveniently on the island.

At the same time, several warriors were assigned as "service personnel" to prevent anyone from getting lost due to unfamiliarity with Themyscira. After all, there were large undeveloped areas on the island, even inhabited by fierce beasts. Hippolyta was not sure about the strength of Ethan's companions, so she arranged some protective personnel.

Of course, these warriors also had another duty: to prevent these individuals from entering some relatively sensitive and important areas.

The leading female warrior was Menalippe, Antiope's lieutenant. This person was originally just an ordinary Amazon warrior in Ethan's eyes, but now with his increasingly improved memory, he recalled that this female warrior had appeared multiple times in the movies, and she had the most lines among the Amazon warriors in the Justice League film.

This was not particularly surprising. What truly surprised Ethan was that this female lieutenant seemed very familiar with Logan. Anyone whose eyes were not blind could see that these two had something going on. If they were not in broad daylight, under everyone's watchful eyes, everyone knew what these two would be getting up to.

Seeing this scene, Ethan suddenly had an epiphany. No wonder Logan, who currently lacked interest in most things, was willing to come to Themyscira. So, this was the reason?

"When did these two get together?"

They had only arrived on Themyscira today. Even if Logan was full of masculine charm, he would not have captured an Amazon warrior so quickly, right? Although Amazon female warriors did seek partners, their standards were very picky, and they were not easily won over.

Of course, Logan getting involved with an Amazon woman was not a big deal. Ethan just thought of a problem he had been neglecting: it seemed he had been too neglectful of his companions' personal lives.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 404: Amazon Customs

Ethan himself had always been single, and coupled with his deep immersion in training, he had somewhat overlooked this issue.

Speaking of which, his companions were growing in number, and besides Shirley and Laura, they were all adults. So far, there had not been any dissatisfaction in this regard, mainly because everyone currently had things to do that consumed their excess energy, and there were sufficiently appealing goals for them to strive for.

If things continued this way, once everyone's strength reached a bottleneck and they had nothing to do all day after eating, they would definitely start thinking about such matters. If he, as the captain, still did not consider this at that time, it would likely cause some dissatisfaction, and it would not be impossible for the team to fall apart as a result.

For example, Logan's speed of strength improvement had already started to slow down. And frankly, while Wolverine was not a playboy like Tony, he was never without female companions, only becoming lonely after his health deteriorated badly and mutants were on the verge of extinction, spending those years alone with the elderly, senile Professor Charles.

Now that his health had recovered but he still had not made a move on the women on the ship, it could only be said that Logan was giving Ethan a lot of face. If it were the Wolverine of the past, he would not care if his target had a boyfriend or not, he would just grab his "hoe" and go for it, the biggest victim being Cyclops.

However, from this point, it could also be seen that Logan had classified women like Ada and Selene under Ethan's "protection range".

During the leisure time after dinner, Ethan and Logan walked to a slightly secluded spot to chat.

"I saw you and Menaalippe..."

"Mutually beneficial." Logan knew what Ethan was going to ask and readily explained his relationship with Menaalippe. "She wants a child and feels that I meet her requirements, and I also think she's not bad."

"That's it?"

"Of course..." Logan took out a cigar and then showed a very smug smile. "The world of adults, it seems you have not truly experienced it yet."

Ethan covered his face. Of course, he had considered this possibility. He was just asking Logan to confirm if he was serious this time. If so, he could consider bringing Menaalippe onto the ship as well.

Fortunately, they had a new ship with enough space, so bringing a few more family members was not an issue.

"She will not agree."

Logan had not actually asked Menaalippe this question, but it was not his first time on Paradise Island, and he had a very detailed understanding of Amazonian customs.

The Amazonian tribe is all women, so how do they reproduce? The movie universe did not explain it, but the comic universe did: by directly grabbing a man they found appealing from outside and having a pleasant time together.

This relationship would end after pregnancy, and once the child was born, their gender would determine whether they stayed on the island to be trained as new Amazonian warriors or were sent to Hephaestus as slaves.

However, this setting in the comic universe seemed to have been overturned again, and Ethan could only remain silent about it.

As for the Amazons in this world, because they are all long-lived beings, almost immortal and ageless, they are not keen on reproduction, and a new life only occasionally appears. Girls are naturally kept on the island to be raised, while the arrangement for boys is decided based on the circumstances at the time. They definitely will not stay on the island.

However, when they encounter excellent men, the female warriors still like to compete for them, purely as a diversion in life.

Ethan did not encounter trouble in this regard back then for one reason: at that time, he did not fit the Amazonian aesthetic. He was thin, had an ordinary appearance, and was a mage who liked to play tricks, which really did not attract the strong Amazonian female warriors.

Arthur's strength was considerable, and he was handsome enough, but at that time, Arthur was still a child, and the Amazonian warriors were not so crazy as to make a move on him then.

Later, when Ethan showed his formidable strength, the Amazonian warriors' impression of him began to change, and just as they started to show a little interest, Diana had already grown up. They realized that he had already been targeted by Diana, and they would not dare to compete with the future Queen for a man.

This led to Ethan visiting Paradise Island several times without a single Amazonian warrior hooking up with him.

At the same time, they did not notice the Logan he brought, who, being very much in line with the Amazonian aesthetic, caused internal conflict among the Amazonian warriors the first time he came.

Finally, Menaalippe, Antiope's deputy, won with her formidable strength, so in a sense, Logan was actually Menaalippe's trophy.

Fortunately, Wolverine never cared about such things. As long as he did not lose out, that was enough.

Their subsequent interactions were also pleasant, but the attempt last time was unsuccessful. Menaalippe came over again this time to continue trying and see if she could have a child.

"If it is purely for a child... I think it will be difficult for you to achieve any results."

"Huh?"

Logan did not want children. One Laura was enough to give him headaches. Furthermore, the Amazonian rules were there. If they had a boy, he could take him away, but the child would lose his mother. If it was a girl, she would stay on the island and become a new Amazonian warrior, with no further connection to him, essentially losing her father. This situation was a bit unacceptable to him.

"You have been reinforced several times. On the surface, there does not seem to be any change, but in reality, you are very different from ordinary people!"

"Are you saying... reproductive isolation?"

Having been a professor, he knew such simple theories.

"Not that completely, but after evolving into a higher life form, reproductive efficiency does significantly decrease."

Ethan spread his hands. This problem was not easy to solve, as if a strange rule was in place. The higher the life form, the more difficult it was to have offspring.

Just look at Odin, who lived for tens of thousands of years and struggled to have only two children (Loki was adopted). Logan had not reached that level yet, but it was not a situation where just messing around would yield results.

"I do not know why I suddenly feel relieved."

"Such words coming from you? Is that the kind of person you are?"

Tony had also approached at some point and heard the remark about how difficult it was for higher life forms to have offspring. He suddenly wondered if he should have a child before he evolved too much.

As if guessing Tony's thoughts, Ethan directly advised against it. "You had better think carefully. It is true that it is difficult for higher life forms to have offspring, but the offspring will perfectly inherit the advantages of both parents and have great potential. You should understand by looking at Odin's son, Thor."

This example was too perfect. Tony had witnessed Thor's journey from being useless without his hammer to becoming the King of Asgard. In his eyes as an ordinary human, Thor did not spend much time achieving such a significant leap in power. The fundamental reason was that this guy's potential was astonishingly large. All he had to do was unleash that potential.

And he himself had long since squeezed out all his potential. Now, to continue improving, he first needed to build a new step before he could climb further.

"It seems the matter of having children can be postponed for who knows how many years. I wonder if Pepper will be happy about this."

"Speaking of which, why did you suddenly come over? I saw you talking quite happily with that Amazonian female warrior."

While Ethan was talking to Logan, he noticed Tony was chatting very happily with a blonde Amazonian female warrior. The two were getting closer and closer, and he even thought Tony was going back to his old ways.

He did not expect this guy to run away. This was truly surprising. He was really quite devoted to Pepper.

"I was just chatting with someone casually, and I did not expect her to want to have a child with me."

Tony was just habitually showing off, displaying himself in every way, but he chose the wrong place. In Amazon, the subtext of you telling these female warriors that you are an excellent real man is "come and have a child with me quickly."

Moreover, Tony's appearance and physique were excellent, and after being strengthened, his body was even more robust, perfectly fitting the Amazonian warriors' aesthetic.

If he had not confirmed his relationship with Pepper, Tony would have been happy to spend a wonderful night with an Amazonian female warrior. However, now he held onto his integrity and escaped the entanglement of the female warrior, and then incurred the resentment of that blonde girl. Any woman, even if she is a tomboy, will not be in a good mood when rejected at such a moment.

"You had better fend for yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Amazonian warriors are not so easily deterred. If they say they want to have a child with you, they will achieve their goal even if they have to tie you up."

Tony's face was full of black lines. This was the first time he had heard of such a situation. According to Ethan's description, this female warrior named Venelia might call for help and tie him up and carry him directly into the room.

What made him even more collapse was that Logan was actually nodding in agreement. What are you nodding for? Did you personally experience it?

"Ahem, as a gentleman, it is very inappropriate for me to stay in a place full of ladies. Perhaps I can reside in a nearby country? This is the Aegean Sea, right? I can book a hotel in Greece."

Ethan had not answered yet when he suddenly sensed something and raised his hand. A ball of blue light appeared in his hand, and then a small amulet appeared in the center of the light ball.

This was Diana's communication amulet. She used this to show that she had received his message, and since she could not return to Paradise Island, she used this to send him a message.

"Figure it out yourself, I have some things to deal with."

The message from Diana was not much, summarizing into just one sentence: for Ethan to go find her.

Using the location information carried by this message, Ethan could directly use teleportation magic to go to Diana's side. He just did not expect that after rushing over, before he could even see the surroundings clearly, he was bound by a rope and pulled into Diana's arms.

(To be continued.)

Special thanks to random_debuff for sponsoring this extra chapter 🎉🎉🎉

Chapter 405: Hollowed Out

Ethan lay on a beach chair, sunbathing while reflecting on everything that had happened the day he first arrived. He belatedly realized how many flags he had raised for himself. Honestly, it was no surprise things had escalated the way they did.

"It's a bit embarrassing," he muttered, "but at least I wasn't completely taken advantage of."

He was currently on an uninhabited small island. The island was tiny, about the size of a football field, and there were no creatures on it, only some trees and a very small lake. Ethan wondered how Diana had found this place.

After sending messages to Tony and Hippolyta respectively, he had been staying here with Diana for the past few days, living a very "primitive" life.

"You don't look so good right now. Do you want to take a day off?"

While Ethan was lost in thought, Diana had somehow already sat down on the lounge chair next to him, looking at him with her eyes full of laughter.

"Don't you know my physical condition?"

Rolling his eyes, Ethan didn't say anything about wanting a day off. If he did, it would sound like he was incapable, which would be utterly lame.

He absolutely couldn't admit that he was that guy who was about to be worked to death!

"I know how many hairs you have all over your body. I watched you 'grow up' with my own eyes."

Ethan wanted to roll his eyes again. Diana was completely letting loose this time. He really hadn't expected the dignified Wonder Woman to have this side to her.

However, thinking about it, it didn't seem strange. After all, she came from the Amazon tribe and grew up on Themyscira. He had long known what Amazon women were like, and the customs on that island were crystal clear. Diana was actually quite well-behaved.

Diana had lived in the ordinary world for most of these years, adopting many secular concepts. She had now integrated well into normal human society, living a relatively ordinary life, and better understood what kind of group humans were, as well as their various living habits.

These things couldn't be learned from Ethan and his crew, because there were no ordinary people on Ethan's ship anymore. Their lives were not ordinary at all. They usually sailed around in a world full of oceans, with magical islands popping up from time to time; when they got bored, they would go on adventures in various other strange worlds. This kind of life was far from ordinary.

"When did you find this island?"

The island was not far from Themyscira, an awkwardly located deserted island in the Mediterranean Sea. It was far from the coast, with average scenery. Although it had fresh water, it lacked other resources. If it were to be transformed into a resort island, the cost would be too high, which was why no one was interested in it.

Perhaps seeing these issues, Diana chose this place and even built a wooden house here, setting up quite a few things.

"Three years ago."

"So you planned to do this three years ago?"

She immediately brought out the Lasso of Truth. Although this item's effect on Ethan was far less effective than on others, given his magic resistance far exceeding that of ordinary people and even mages of the same level, he could completely resist the Lasso's ability to compel people to speak the truth.

As for the binding force that could trap people, Diana didn't use the full power of the Lasso of Truth, and Ethan could easily break free.

"If you're talking about the idea, it's been more than three years..." Diana pointed to Ethan's now very strong body. "If I hadn't been worried about accidentally not controlling my strength and hurting you back then..."

"..."

Ethan really wanted to retort that he wasn't that fragile, but thinking about the strength in Diana's legs and his own ordinary physical fitness back then, if Diana had really done anything at the time, it was genuinely possible for a joyous occasion to turn into a funeral due to excitement.

From this point, it could be seen that men and women with too great a disparity in physical fitness could not be together for long, because they would not be happy.

Although it was the truth, Ethan still felt unhappy, especially as that strange feeling grew stronger: other transmigrators collected girls, so why did he end up being collected by a girl?

"Tell me about what happened after I came back."

Diana also lay down, not on the one she had been sitting on, but on the one Ethan was lying on. Two people squeezed onto such a narrow lounge chair was definitely not comfortable, but at this moment, only a fool would say, "Aren't there empty lounge chairs over there?"

Ethan's intelligence hadn't dropped offline, so he moved over a little and offered his arm as a pillow for Diana. While sunbathing, he recounted his experiences after Diana left.

He didn't tell it in great detail, but by the time he was almost finished, the sky had already darkened.

The two of them had already sat up and built a bonfire, preparing dinner while discussing Ethan's experiences during this period.

According to Ethan's ability to summarize things, he could have finished talking about what happened during this time in a very short time, but Diana wouldn't just sit there and listen quietly. Whenever Ethan mentioned something that interested her, she would ask detailed questions about various specifics, which made the narrative grow longer and longer, leading to it being almost completely finished by this time.

"Is that so? So much time has passed already."

She knew that Ethan had no way to control the exact time he arrived in this world. Even if the two of them parted ways one second and Ethan wanted to come over the next, they might not actually meet for many years.

Of course, she also knew that Ethan wouldn't just come back right after leaving her. This had nothing to do with whether her charm was great or not, because Ethan still had his own things to do.

Among other things, Ethan had to continue working hard to train and improve himself. If they truly wanted to be together, she should support him in improving his strength even more.

"Now you can establish a closer connection with this world?"

Upon learning that Ethan could now better pinpoint the time he arrived, Diana nodded with satisfaction. Ethan's strength was improving faster than she had imagined, which was a good thing. Otherwise, only being able to meet every few years would not be a pleasant experience.

"Although I can't control it very precisely yet, I won't accidentally end up decades in the future."

"Speaking of which, if you came this time and found that decades had passed in this world and I already had a boyfriend, how would you feel?"

Ethan held a grilled fish. He really hadn't thought about this question. Did he instinctively feel that Diana was his and would definitely not run away?

Seeing his reaction, Diana knew that this guy hadn't thought in that direction at all, which made her a little unhappy.

Although she didn't directly show her dissatisfaction, Ethan suddenly felt the surrounding air pressure drop, the temperature turn cold, and at the same time, he kept breaking out in cold sweat all over, with a strange soreness in his lower back.

Over the next three days, as these symptoms significantly worsened, Ethan and Diana finally left this nameless island and returned to Themyscira.

They didn't leave for any other special reason, but because their dwelling had been completely messed up by the two of them, and their pre-stored food was almost consumed. If they didn't go back soon, they would have to live an even more primitive life. For Ethan, who preferred to enjoy life, this was unacceptable.

After completely destroying the dwelling and cleaning up the garbage they had created, they directly teleported back to Themyscira using magic.

"Your expression looks strangely familiar to me. It's like I see it often somewhere."

Seeing Tony again after several days, this guy hadn't moved out of Themyscira as he had said before, but he was no longer being harassed by the Amazon warriors.

After all, he was Queen Hippolyta's guest. The Amazon warriors also chose who they snatched men from. Ordinary men could be snatched, but they didn't dare to do anything too outrageous in Tony's situation.

Moreover, Tony himself was very smart. He had led the trouble onto others. There wasn't just him as a man in the team. Even if Logan couldn't help him, there were still O'Connell and Jonathan. Imhotep, that bald guy, also couldn't help him. That guy and Anck-su-namun were so glued together they were inseparable, and even on Themyscira, which was full of women, Imhotep hadn't paid attention to any woman other than Anck-su-namun.

As for the remaining Jonathan, he didn't fit the Amazon warriors' aesthetic. O'Connell, however, was very much to their liking. So, Venelia, who had been pestering Tony, went to find O'Connell.

It was clear that O'Connell, who would have originally ended up with Evelyn, couldn't resist the enthusiastic offensive of the Amazon warrior. He had been having a very happy time during this period, so happy that he swayed when he walked, and his complexion wasn't looking too good either.

"I thought you often saw a similar expression in the mirror," Logan casually retorted to Tony. Currently, the main people who could often joke with Tony were him and Jonathan.

One was because they met more often and were relatively familiar, the other was because of his outgoing personality, able to chat with anyone for a long time.

"I haven't been like this for a long time," Tony said with a serious face, emphasizing that he was no longer the old Tony Stark. However, he couldn't stay serious for three seconds and suddenly put on a smug smile, constantly sizing up Ethan. "Congratulations, after so many years, you've finally grown up."

Logan suddenly pulled out a cigar and handed it to Ethan. "It's worth celebrating."

Ethan looked at these two guys and really wanted to blast them both away with a fireball. Besides, a cigar wasn't meant to celebrate this kind of thing, okay? It wasn't like he had a son or won some competition or battle!

Just as Ethan was about to say something, Tony, who had long since maxed out the skill "Transfer Enemy's Attention," suddenly pointed at a few women not far away.

"I think you're going to have trouble."

Following the direction Tony was pointing, Diana was chatting with Selene, Ada, and Hill, among others. The women were having a very happy conversation, and the bursts of laughter made Ethan feel a strange soreness in his lower back.

(To be continued.)

Special thanks to random_debuff for sponsoring this extra chapter 🎉🎉🎉

Chapter 406: What Do You Want?

Ethan thought too much. That night, Diana did not rest with Ethan. Instead, she "gave him a break." With his current physical condition, he could recover with just a little rest.

When he woke up the next day, Diana still had not appeared.

She had not returned to Paradise Island for a long time either. She needed to spend some time with Hippolyta and Antiope. It did not necessarily need to take a lot of time, but she could not always be with Ethan.

As for his companions...

Tony had been diligently training arcane magic recently. Although he could use special meditation techniques to replace sleep, he was still used to separating training and rest. At this time, he had probably just rested for a short while and would get up later. He was not used to getting up too early.

Logan and O'Connell were both immersed in their romantic relationships and would not come out this early. Imhotep and Anck-su-namun were inseparable every day. Having decided to become Ethan's divine servants, although Ethan had not established any rituals or doctrines, they frequently performed routine prayers. Even if they were up, they would not appear immediately.

Ethan felt that these two had established a strange connection with him, but there had not been any other obvious changes besides that.

"Up so early?"

Seeing Ethan come out for a walk near his residence, Selene, who was chatting with Annette, took the initiative to greet him.

"Aren't you up early too?"

"Actually, I haven't gotten used to resting at night yet. My sleep schedule is a bit messed up."

Selene was used to being active at night and resting during the day. Even after boarding the Dawn, her rest schedule was different from most people's. She would take time to rest during the day.

After undergoing enhancements, the requirement for sleep time continuously decreased. Even without resting, it had little impact. Selene only needed to rest for a while during the day to ensure she had enough energy, so she naturally did not deliberately adjust her schedule.

It was not until this physical transformation was complete that she began trying to revert to "normal human sleep habits."

However, habits formed over hundreds of years were not that easy to change. Her sleep schedule was still very chaotic. From her words, one could tell she had not slept at all last night and simply came out to get some fresh air when it got light.

"So... you didn't rest either?"

Ever since she managed to join Ethan's team, Annette had been very low-key, becoming the most inconspicuous presence in the team along with Selene. Coupled with Annette often hiding in the lab, sometimes even Ethan, the captain, would overlook the fact that there was such a person on board.

If he did not often see Shirley and frequently teach her some magic knowledge, he would have forgotten that Annette was still on the ship.

"I've rested. After undergoing two enhancements, I don't need that much sleep time."

Although Ethan rarely paid attention to her, Annette did not think there was anything wrong with that at all.

When she first joined Ethan's team, her goal was to gain a longer lifespan. Now, not only had she obtained a longer life and eternal, perfect youthful appearance, but she even had the opportunity to go further – she was truly on the path to evolving into a higher life form.

She was not just taking advantage of Ethan's benefits for free. She had always diligently researched potions. However, Ethan's method of making potions was not from the same system as the knowledge she had learned previously. She needed to carefully study the various potions Ethan had made before and try to reproduce them using scientific methods.

In addition, she had also seriously studied the potion making provided by Ethan. Although she had not mastered any magic, as the level of enhancement increased, her mental power grew significantly. Aside from not possessing magic power, she could now use some of the techniques Ethan had used back then.

Now she was beginning to use magic stone technology to assist herself in making various potions. Currently, she was working on the final project: how to perfectly integrate the knowledge she currently possessed and then replicate most of the potions Ethan had made.

If successful, she would become the true quartermaster of Ethan's team and could also allow Ethan to completely set aside the relatively low-level potion making work and focus on researching higher-level enhancement potions.

Annette could also help Ethan in this regard. She could use a different mindset to research new potions. If she could truly create more powerful potions, it would be considered sufficient repayment.

Leaving everything else aside, the strongest enhancement potion Ethan currently made was the one using Ares' divine blood. Currently, only he himself had used it in the entire team.

Theoretically, divine blood also flowed within Ethan's body, although there was still a certain gap compared to Ares' divine blood.

Thor and Diana could also provide divine blood, but Ethan had never considered drawing blood from them. Annette had also never proposed to Ethan that she needed divine blood as a material for experiments.

Because Annette believed that so-called divine blood was not necessarily the best enhancement material. If one mastered the correct method to upgrade life levels, it would allow for better evolution than potions made directly using divine blood as the main ingredient.

Whether it would succeed or not, no one could make a conclusion. However, having a direction to work towards was always a good thing, as long as they were careful not to concoct any monsters.

It seemed okay to just let her do her own thing and not bother her, but to become a team, sufficient communication was still very necessary.

"Speaking of which, ever since you joined my team, although we often chat, I've always forgotten to ask you this question."

Seeing the two women stop together and both look at him, Ethan carefully considered his words before asking the question.

"Do you have any hopes for the future?"

"The future?"

Overlooking Logan's romantic life earlier had given Ethan a wake-up call. Not only did he need to pay attention to his companions' personal lives, but it was also best to care more about everyone's needs.

When he originally put this team together, he did not think too much. Either he suddenly thought of someone or found someone appealing and persuaded them to come aboard, or they joined by accident.

Initially, Logan and Laura were brought on because he had nothing better to do, was too lonely and wanted a friend, and because Logan's situation at the time was not great. He did not want to see Logan head towards his demise according to the original timeline, so he persuaded him to come aboard and incidentally changed Logan's future. Of course, bringing Laura along was unexpected, but there was nothing wrong with it.

Logan's idea was very simple. As long as Ethan could help him fulfill those few wishes, then as long as he was provided with a decent place to stay, there was nothing wrong with "hanging out" with him.

Subsequently, Ethan fulfilled his promises very well, so Logan was now enjoying every day of his life and contributing his strength when Ethan encountered trouble and needed his help.

Later, both Diana and Loki only lived on the ship temporarily for a period, leaving after they achieved their goals.

Selene's situation was more special. She "followed" onto the ship by accident. Her fundamental idea was simply not to stay in her original world.

From the beginning, she was not aiming for Ethan's team and had not thought about getting any benefits. It was only after living there for a while that she felt Ethan's place was quite good. She lived happily and resolved many of her own troubles. She felt there was nothing wrong with continuing like this. As a vampire who had lived for hundreds of years, she did not find such a life boring or monotonous.

Therefore, she also had not thought about any goals for the future. It was similar to Logan's current situation: living one day at a time and contributing her strength when Ethan needed help.

O'Connell, Evelyn, and Jonathan, who came later, also boarded the ship by accident. They were currently still enjoying this novel and exciting life. Perhaps when they got tired of it later, they would ask to live in a relatively peaceful world. After Ethan no longer feared Anubis, they could consider returning to their original world.

However, currently, this possibility did not seem likely.

After enjoying modern life, very few people could endure the backward lifestyle of a less advanced era. Moreover, these few did not have anyone they particularly missed in their original world, so living in a different world was completely stress-free.

Imhotep and Anck-su-namun, on the other hand, had already found their goal. They were wholeheartedly aiming to become Ethan's divine servants, or rather, they also wanted to use Ethan's influence to become deities themselves.

Ethan was not against this ambition. As long as they continued to serve him, what was helping them become gods? Having aspirations showed that they had sufficient motivation to move forward. These two were often more trustworthy than O'Connor and the others, who were more like "tourists."

Annette's situation was similar to Imhotep's. She had her own pursuit: using the knowledge she possessed to find a method that could truly make people evolve. Before achieving her goal, she definitely would not leave voluntarily.

Hill, needless to say, was just a temporary member and would leave soon.

Therefore, Imhotep and Annette were the most willing to stay on the ship. Unless they completed their goals or found that they could not achieve their objectives on Ethan's ship, they would naturally leave at that time, and they would also take Shirley and Anck-su-namun with them.

Logan stayed simply based on their "relationship." If one day that relationship ran out, Logan would choose to leave without hesitation, and Laura, as his daughter, would also go with her father.

Selene was similar. She currently had no specific demands, so she was just living casually like this. When she eventually got tired of this life, or found a world she particularly liked, she would also choose to leave. Even if she were forced to stay based on the years of friendship, it would ultimately create distance, which would not be a good thing. It would be better to be generous and let her leave.

Ada was "hired" by him, and there was also the possibility of her "resigning." In the absolute sense, the only one who would definitely stay on the ship was surprisingly Little O.

After understanding these things, Ethan felt it would be better to at least find a goal for Selene and Logan first. Even saying they wanted to find a suitable planet to be its ruler would be better than just drifting along day by day like they were now.

(To be continued.)