DOTM: Chapter 401/402

Chapter 401: How Many Do You Have?

His mentalscape had been completely covered by the ocean formed by magic power, and the magic ocean that Ethan had been looking forward to had finally taken shape.

"I didn't expect to reach the level I had always dreamed of just like this."

Recalling when he first started training, he thought that being able to train his magic power to the ocean level would be enough, allowing him to do whatever he wanted. He could even use his ability to travel freely through various times and spaces to do the things he had thought about in his previous life but could never achieve.

Only when he truly reached this point did he realize that the appearance of the magic ocean was merely opening a new door.

As he learned more and more knowledge and understood more about the mysteries of magic, he became even more aware that his current self had just stepped onto the path.

"It is just the initial shape of the ocean. According to Merlin's description at the time, a true ocean should have the ability to contain everything, meaning that magic power at this level can accept energy of any attribute without these attributes affecting the nature of the magic itself."

From this perspective, his magic ocean was far from qualified. Ethan had only mastered the fire and water attributes and had a preliminary grasp of lightning, space, Holy Light, and arcane magic. To truly achieve the ability to contain everything, he still had a long way to go.

"In other words, the 'quantity' of magic power has initially reached the expected level, but the 'quality' is still far from enough."

However, reaching a certain height in terms of quantity did have its benefits. Now, even if Ethan absorbed external energy to supplement his own magic power, he would not be easily "contaminated" by a certain type of energy.

As long as he did not exhaust his own magic power in one go and then rely entirely on a certain type of energy to replenish his consumption, there would be no problem.

While maintaining a certain proportion of his own magic power, he could absorb external energy in times of crisis – such as arcane energy – to quickly restore his combat power.

He could also begin to absorb small amounts of energy to increase the upper limit of his magic power. This was also a method many mages chose to enhance their strength. Previously, Ethan did not do this to avoid his spiritual power being contaminated.

As his strength reached its current level, the taboos that he could not do before were lifted one by one.

Opening his eyes again, Ethan stood up and stretched with a big yawn.

Ever since resolving the minor trouble of Beckford, the Prinz Eugen had been sailing straight towards the end of the route. Perhaps due to recent good luck, the Prinz Eugen had not encountered any extremely bad weather during this period. Most of the time, the climate was warm and pleasant, and people on board often went to the deck to bask in the sun.

The most outrageous was Tony. This guy had actually secretly set up a hidden swimming pool on the forward deck of the Prinz Eugen, the open area in front of the No. 1 main gun: it was usually hidden inside the ship's hull and would rise up when the deck opened when needed.

When Tony revealed this swimming pool, Ethan was quite speechless, but seeing that most people on the ship looked very happy, he decisively swallowed back his words of complaint.

It wasn't just the few women who were happy. Even the other men were very pleased. They were becoming more and more satisfied with this new home. Who wouldn't want to live more comfortably?

Leaving his bedroom, Ethan didn't go to the bridge.

With this kind of weather today, plus the relatively calm sea conditions, everyone on the ship, except for Maria Hill who was a workaholic with a mission and desperately using her time to study, must be at the pool on the forward deck. Even if they weren't swimming, they would be there chatting and sunbathing.

So, after leaving his room, he walked towards that area. As he was about to reach the deck, he saw Selene not far ahead, carrying a large box.

Because she was carrying a large box, Selene wasn't walking fast. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that Ethan encountered her here. It wasn't that Selene couldn't lift it, but relatively speaking, Selene's figure was slender and petite, which is why she walked slower.

"What's in the box?"

With Selene's current sensitivity, there was no need for a special greeting. Ethan, without deliberately concealing his presence, should have been discovered before he even saw her.

Thinking about it, maybe Selene deliberately slowed down to wait for him?

"All sorts of drinks."

It was a portable handheld refrigerator. Normally, this thing would require two adult men to lift, but for Selene, this weight was nothing. It was just a bit bulky and inconvenient to carry.

Ethan nodded. His previous guess was correct. They were indeed having a pool party.

What was unexpected was that Selene would actually join in the fun. Looking at her no longer pale, rosy complexion like that of an ordinary person, and her slightly curled long hair that had turned somewhat golden, this female vampire from the Underworld world now looked more and more like the actress who played the character. Her skin and appearance had been optimized.

"It seems you are very adaptable to your new physique."

Taking the box Selene was carrying, Ethan could feel Selene's heartfelt joy. It seemed that Selene had always been very quiet before, and the root cause was her vampire identity, which made it difficult for her to integrate well into the lives of ordinary people.

Activities like sunbathing, even though they no longer caused her physical harm, still had a bit of resistance in her heart, which is why she was more accustomed to being active at night.

Now that her physique had completely changed, Selene was naturally happy to integrate into ordinary life. She would happily join and even enjoy activities like swimming, sunbathing, eating, and drinking together.

"My body is more agile and stronger, so of course I feel better."

After all, it was an all-round enhancement. Her physical fitness improved, and her spirit was also more energetic. Even if she didn't rest for a few days, she wouldn't feel tired. Some things that were originally very difficult could be done easily, and even her skin and figure were better than before. What could she be dissatisfied with?

As for the vampire characteristics? That stuff wasn't anything good. It is better without it.

She had long wanted to get rid of the state of maintaining life by drinking blood. Now she could eat and drink like everyone else without any adverse reactions, and she could get the energy she needed from food without needing to drink blood. It didn't matter if she lost her fangs.

As for the change in hair color, was it a side effect? But it didn't have any essential impact.

Selene had specifically tested it. When she fully activated her shadow energy and entered a state of being enveloped in "darkness," her hair would turn black again, and her eyes would change to the pupil color of her vampire state.

"Oh, and one more thing, it's pretty much as you guessed before. I can still read memories from blood, but I don't need to drink the blood. I can do it just by touching it."

This ability seemed to have become an innate spell. It was certainly a good thing that Selene could retain this ability.

As for other changes, she doesn't understand them very well yet, because the transformation and enhancement of Selene's physique have only completed the initial stage. Even though her enhancement was more troublesome than others, it didn't become a one-step enhancement because of this. It also requires a period of time to be completely finished.

Everyone's situation is similar, which is why Ethan has avoided letting them participate in battles during this time, allowing them to train and relax in a more stable and safe environment.

"Oh, look, our captain has finally appeared."

Tony's presence is always indispensable on such occasions. The continuous parties on the Prinz Eugen are basically all organized by him.

In his previous life, Ethan didn't have that much enthusiasm for various parties.
Fortunately, even when these people on the ship have parties, they are relatively calm ones. It's nothing more than drinking, chatting, and having fun in a pool, which is already the limit. This is completely within Ethan's acceptable range.

Besides... appropriately purifying his eyes, he felt there was nothing wrong with it.

He placed the box containing various drinks by the side of the pool, casually took out a bottle, and opened it without even looking at what it was, taking a big gulp.

The cold liquid flowed down his throat into his stomach. Drinking a big gulp of "cold water" on this slightly hot day was a very refreshing thing.

"Hey, aren't you going to have some alcohol on an occasion like this?"

Looking at the pure water that was already half-drunk, Ethan felt there was nothing wrong with drinking water. In fact, even if he drank alcohol, with his current physique, it would be unlikely for him to get drunk, and alcohol would no longer cause any harm to his body.

"It makes no difference to me now." He took another big gulp, finishing the remaining water. "After a while, you'll be like this too."

Drinking alcohol is just drinking water with some special taste? Tony suddenly realized that becoming physically stronger seemed to reduce a lot of fun.

"In that case, I'll ask Thor for some Asgardian specialties."

When attending Thor's coronation ceremony, Tony knew that Asgard had a lot of special wines, especially suitable for gods with strong physiques like Thor. At worst, he could ask for some to keep at home.

Ethan almost forgot about this, and then realized that he had actually forgotten to bring back some specialties from Asgard. Even if he wasn't fond of drinking, he could store some. Even if there was no special purpose, he could satisfy his craving when he wanted to drink someday.

Maybe when sending Tony back to the Marvel universe, he could stop by and ask for some to bring back?

"Speaking of which... which one is your girlfriend?"

Standing by the pool, Tony looked at the women sunbathing and suddenly became curious about Ethan's love life. After all, there were quite a few women around Ethan this time.

"Please don't tell me, all of them are!"

After getting a negative answer from the embarrassed Ethan, Tony severely looked down on Ethan. "What about Diana? I haven't heard you mention her recently. Did you two fall out?"

(To be continued.)

Chapter 402: Tests Completed

"Diana? Had a falling out?"

Ethan rolled his eyes. He had actually been planning to visit Diana for a while now, and it was scheduled for the near future.

"You're overthinking it. I'm actually preparing to go visit her."

The original plan was to visit Diana and Arthur. Before the final push into the Sea of Storms and encountering new problems in the Sea of Miracles, he wanted to handle all necessary matters.

"Oh? Can I come along?"

Tony unexpectedly showed interest. Ethan had no idea why this guy was so interested in Diana's world. Could it be that he had his eyes on the Amazonian female warriors on Paradise Island? If that was truly what he was thinking, Ethan could only scoff... wait, this guy had been enhanced.

"Don't look at me with such a suspicious gaze. Didn't you say before that Diana's homeland has beautiful scenery and is suitable for vacation?"

"Oh, oh, I see!"

"Or what did you think it was?"

Ethan wasn't the least bit ashamed of misunderstanding Tony's pure thoughts. He even stated his own thoughts directly.

"Paradise Island is inhabited only by the Amazons. The entire Amazon race is composed of women, with no men."

"..."

There was no need to be too explicit. Tony naturally understood what Ethan meant.

"Pepper and I have a very stable relationship."

If you were to point out the biggest difference between Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Tony in the comic universe, it wouldn't be scientific knowledge, development and hands-on ability, or whether he possessed superpowers. It would be that the MCU Tony's romantic life is terrifyingly stable. Aside from his initial playboy demeanor, after settling down with Pepper, Tony's emotional life is enough to shame countless men who claim to be devoted.

You have to know, Tony in the comic universe had slept with almost every female character who appeared. Correspondingly, Black Widow Natasha Romanoff had slept with almost every male character who appeared. And among the mutants, the most formidable was Mystique, who was bisexual...

He was incredibly grateful that he hadn't gone to the comic universe. It was simply too chaotic. There were many things he couldn't sort out, and his understanding wasn't detailed enough. The relatively simpler movie universe was much better.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about when we should go."

The initial plan was to visit Arthur first, then Diana. Going to Diana first wasn't a problem either. Moreover, his connection with the DC movie universe wasn't as tight as with Marvel. Who knew how much time had passed since he last saw Diana when he returned this time.

Compared to that, Arthur had the super great magician Merlin. Even if he accidentally pinpointed the wrong time, this great magician could help him make corrections from the other side, ensuring he could appear at the correct time to meet Arthur smoothly, without worrying about the awkward situation of only being able to visit his former companion's grave.

There was no need to worry about only being able to visit a grave when going to Diana. As a demigoddess, and a powerful one whose strength far surpassed her original plot counterpart due to his careful guidance, her lifespan was very long. Even if Ethan made an operational error and jumped directly to the era when the Justice League was first formed, Diana would maintain her youthful and beautiful appearance, not aging at all.

Of course, that wasn't the main point... the main point was that if he really only appeared after nearly a hundred years, he would have to seriously consider whether his body, which had been enhanced multiple times, could withstand Diana's "little fists".

If she got emotional and added some divine power when punching his chest, bringing sparks and lightning, it was estimated that just vomiting tens of liters of blood wouldn't be enough to make her stop.

"Why do I feel like you're thinking about what excuse to use to deal with your girlfriend?"

"Diana and I aren't that kind of relationship."

Tony completely ignored Ethan's denial and shot back directly.

"Then what kind of relationship do you have?"

What kind of relationship? Ethan almost blurted out "We're friends!" But ultimately, the words just wouldn't come out. He felt that once he said that sentence, he would truly be beyond saving.

Then how else could he put it? Comrades-in-arms? Teacher and student?

It seemed like none of these satisfied him, so he simply kept quiet. Tony saw his uncomfortable expression, looking like he had something to say but couldn't, and with the air of someone who had been there before, he patted Ethan's shoulder.

"When you should seize the opportunity, seize it. Don't regret it after you've missed it."

Ethan still didn't speak. His eyes were fixed on the clear swimming pool in front of him, but his thoughts had drifted elsewhere.

There weren't many activities after that. Few of Ethan's companions were the type to go wild and crazy. Jonathan and O'Connell were the wildest, but with only two of them, they couldn't really go crazy. In the end, this party was still about eating, drinking, and chatting, followed by hitting the gym to burn off excess energy and sparring to gain some practical combat experience.

The peaceful days passed by just like that.

Perhaps the previous days had used up all the accumulated good luck, as the SMS Prinz Eugen finally faced tests in various extreme environments, which was also the final test Ethan had been waiting for:

The conditions of sailing in various extreme environments, testing the Prinz Eugen's adaptability and resistance to different conditions, and observing whether the frequent changes in extreme weather would affect the Prinz Eugen's various facilities.

This was also Ethan's final reason for not setting off to visit Diana yet. He was waiting to complete this test before departing.

The Prinz Eugen's resistance to wind and waves was excellent. Even in a storm, the degree of shaking wasn't too unbearable. Although the over 20,000-ton steel battleship couldn't sail as smoothly as before, it could still suppress the strong wind and waves, steadily moving forward.

"After several days of blizzards, storms, high temperatures, and no wind, the Prinz Eugen has completed all tests. She can fully adapt to the complex sea conditions in this area."

Hill had also been eye-opening during this period, seeing such extreme and frequent temperature changes. While she initially suspected Ethan had some ulterior motive for building such a powerful warship, she now completely believed Ethan's reason was simply to live more comfortably.

In such a terrible environment, if a ship wasn't strong enough, let alone living comfortably, you couldn't even keep your life.

Just like three days ago, the temperature suddenly dropped to minus thirty-five degrees Celsius, and large chunks of ice even appeared on the sea surface. If it were the sailing ship she first boarded, it would be impossible to navigate in such an environment. The huge ice blocks hidden beneath the water would cause irreparable fatal damage to the hull.

Only this kind of powerful and sturdy steel monster could continue to advance in such an environment.

"Well done, Commander Hill."

Maria Hill, in order to better test the Prinz Eugen's various conditions, after thoroughly understanding and mastering how to operate the battleship, chose to manually control it for the most part, except when necessary to use AI for assistance. She believed this was the best way to understand all the details of the ship.

Having sailed in various extreme environments, Maria Hill had absolute authority on the condition of the Prinz Eugen. Even the designer, Tony, couldn't refute this point.

"Excellent, as expected of the warship I designed. It seems I have completed my mission."

He had come along to ensure the Prinz Eugen wouldn't have any problems. Completing all the tests allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief. Now, this trip had truly become a vacation.

He could also scout out a few honeymoon locations along the way. He now felt that honeymooning on Earth was lame. Honeymooning in different cosmic planes with Ethan was interesting. This was a unique experience that could be remembered for a lifetime. Only such a sufficiently special trip was worthy of him, Tony Stark.

"There's no need for further testing now. We'll wait for calm seas to conduct a thorough cleaning and inspection of the entire ship."

He planned to visit Diana around that time, but he didn't know how many people would go with him this time.

Ethan thought no one would go, perhaps only Tony would have some interest in Diana's homeland, Paradise Island. To his surprise, everyone wanted to go together.

They had already seen what Asgard was like, and they were also interested in the Greek gods, who similarly existed in myths and legends, wanting to see what the differences were. Even though Ethan had said that the Greek gods in that world had basically fallen, and even Diana was only a demigoddess, they still wanted to see the island and the people created by the Greek gods.

Even Logan, who had been to Paradise Island, had no intention of staying on the ship alone. So this time, it would still be a group activity.

Hill, on the other hand, was less enthusiastic about this kind of action, but she had a mission, and at the same time, she was a little curious about what kind of place Diana, this demigoddess, was born and raised in.

"Everyone, bring some extra clothes. We might stay for a considerable amount of time."

Not only did he want to go to the DC movie universe, but he also wanted to strengthen the connection between the Space-time Anchor and the DC universe, preferably leaving a more stable spatiotemporal anchor point for his next visit.

However, despite making a lot of preparations, even considering how to solve the housing problem for so many people, he didn't expect Diana to not be home.

Looking at Queen Hippolyta, who had come specifically to welcome him with a smile on her face, and learning that Diana was currently wandering somewhere in Europe and was not on Paradise Island, Ethan covered his face.

Fortunately, he had a way to find Diana. Otherwise, after arranging so much, not even seeing the person would be too embarrassing.

(To be continued.)