DOTM: Chapter 331/332

Chapter 331: Resurrection

The following days were peaceful and simple. The Goddess of Dawn cruised near the entrance to the southern sea route, either searching for space-time energy to replenish or looking for floating islands to resupply basic necessities.

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed. Evelyn and the others had adapted to life on the ship and had learned the language and basic knowledge of this world.

They still used the specialized learning device created by Ethan. The device was already quite complete, and Ethan hadn't continued upgrading it, only performing occasional maintenance to check for any issues.

During this time, the only notable event was the rapid loss of life force from Imhotep's body, eventually causing him to revert to a mummy's appearance before everyone's eyes.

Because Ethan had warned him in advance, although Imhotep felt his body growing weaker and weaker, as if he could die at any moment, he wasn't worried at all.

When he felt that he could no longer hold on, Ethan had already prepared a plan. He set up a magic circle in the training room where he had previously sparred with Loki, specifically to preserve and protect Imhotep's soul.

Ethan was unsure of the rules of this world, and even less sure where the deceased of this world went or in what form they departed.

If a soul was immediately transported to its destination after death, unexpected changes could easily occur if he only set up the magic circle after Imhotep died. Therefore, the best method was to prepare in advance. This way, after Imhotep's death, his soul would be retained within the pre-arranged magic circle and wouldn't be taken away by some mysterious force.

With his soul preserved and his body still present, all Ethan needed to do was reunite Imhotep's soul with his body. At the same time, the already prepared Fountain of Life could replenish the lost life force in his body.

After the Holy Light Cross was upgraded, Ethan discovered that using the holy light contained within it to perform this kind of resurrection with all the necessary items was a very simple matter.

Furthermore, the holy light itself contained abundant vitality. As Imhotep's body was bathed in the holy light, it gradually began to recover its human form.

Once Imhotep's soul returned to his body and recombined, he was finally resurrected.

This resurrection was completely different from his previous ones. The current Imhotep was truly resurrected, no longer in that half-dead state. The disadvantage, of course, was the loss of his extremely powerful immortality.

But the advantages were more numerous, especially the disappearance of the many shackles that had bound his soul.

Although Imhotep was now weak, he had infinite possibilities once again.

He could train in magic again, recover his strength, and no longer had to worry about his magic power being suddenly stripped away by his faith or some other deity.

The resurrected Imhotep once again pledged his loyalty to Ethan. This time, even Anck-su-namun joined Imhotep in expressing her willingness to become Ethan's follower.

In Imhotep and Anck-su-namun's view, Ethan was no different from a god. Besides, through their time together, they knew that Ethan indeed possessed divinity. Although he wasn't a powerful god at the moment, he was indeed a demigod.

Offering one's faith to an ordinary person might have some psychological barriers, but offering everything to a god was very normal in the eyes of a former High Priest of Egypt.

Even if Ethan, this god, had a significant gap compared to Anubis, Imhotep was no fool. He knew that not long ago, Ethan had been just an ordinary person, and in less than twenty years, had gone from that to his current level. With a super long lifespan, who could say Ethan wouldn't surpass Anubis in the future?

If he devoutly served this new god, then when Ethan reached the peak, he too would have the opportunity to become a god. At the very least, he could become a divine servant. Presumably, the benevolent and generous Ethan would certainly not hesitate to bestow a long life and a healthy body upon his divine servants.

Imhotep was someone who had experienced death, and he didn't want to taste that feeling again. As it stood, staying with Ethan and becoming his servant was the best option for obtaining near-immortal life.

He had discussed his thoughts with Anck-su-namun, and she also agreed with Imhotep's idea. Having died once, she too didn't want to lose the life she had regained, and she also hoped to live longer.

She also hoped to maintain her current youthful and beautiful appearance. These were things that only Ethan seemed capable of bestowing upon them.

This time, Ethan neither refused nor said he would consider it later. He almost tacitly accepted Imhotep's self-proclaimed status as a "divine servant."

Anyway, he did have a bit of divinity, and strictly speaking, he was a demigod. It was completely reasonable for his servants to call themselves divine servants.

Of course, for now, Imhotep and Anck-su-namun, these two divine servants, were just that in name. Perhaps they could act as escorts when going out in the future.

They couldn't do any of the things that genuine "servants" would do. If Ethan expected them to wash clothes, sweep floors, make beds, or cook for him, he'd probably die of anger.

One was a High Priest who once commanded numerous subordinates—such trivial matters would never have fallen to High Priest Imhotep himself.

As for Anck-su-namun? She had been the Pharaoh's favorite concubine, also with more than enough servants and attendants to wait on her.

So, their only role at the moment was to follow behind and lend some presence. They didn't even have the ability to fight. Imhotep and Anck-su-namun were resurrected as ordinary people. Although they had some combat ability, that level of strength was negligible in Ethan's eyes now.

With Imhotep resurrected and two more servants acquired, life on the Goddess of Dawn returned to its peaceful and leisurely rhythm.

O'Connell and Jonathan also gradually grew fond of life on the ship. For them, this leisurely and comfortable life at sea was much better than Egypt. Here, they had plenty to eat and wear, and even if they needed to contribute some labor by helping to wipe the deck or clean the cabins, it was only right, and they didn't see any problem with it.

Furthermore, the living facilities on the Goddess of Dawn were very convenient. If it weren't for the constant rocking of the ship due to the waves at sea, they felt that living on this ship was even more comfortable than living in a mansion.

"Evelyn made a very correct decision this time."

Jonathan, sitting by the ship's rail, took a fishing rod from the storeroom and casually started fishing. He didn't expect to catch anything, just enjoying the pleasant leisure time.

O'Connell held a bottle of fruit wine in his hand. This wasn't something Ethan brought back from another world, but a native product of this world. Most adventurers would stock up on a lot of alcohol on their ships because, compared to fresh water, alcohol was less likely to spoil.

Although powerful adventurers would install water purification devices on their ships, they would still carry some fresh water and alcohol as reserves just in case.

Ethan's ship also carried some, just less than most adventurers. Previously, only Logan would drink this stuff on the ship. Ethan himself rarely drank alcohol, and when he did, he preferred alcohol brought back from other universes—especially some high-end stuff he got from Tony.

O'Connell obviously couldn't get his hands on Ethan's collection, but the alcohol in the storeroom had a unique flavor. It wasn't strongly alcoholic and had a light fragrance. Drinking a lot didn't cause many side effects, and it was fine to drink it casually like a beverage.

At this moment, he was drinking it like a beverage, standing behind Jonathan and watching him fish, while chatting idly with Logan who was not far away.

Since Logan boarded the Goddess of Dawn, he would usually stand by the helm and control the ship unless there were special circumstances.

But today he didn't have to. Besides the fact that they only needed to sail slowly in a straight line on the sea, and the weather and waves were calm, it was also because Ethan, for a rare change, was personally standing by the helm today.

Although he didn't stay by the helm like Logan, he stood on the poop deck basking in the sun. He had moved his deck chair up and was lying on it, sunbathing while flipping through the Book of Inheritance which contained a great deal of knowledge.

Even while maintaining this posture, if any change occurred along the route that required a response, he could complete all operations without getting up.

He could control the console freely through mental power, and the simple spell Mage Hand allowed him to control the helm without leaving his seat.

Of course, the function of Mage Hand wasn't just for controlling the helm. It could also be used to help people retrieve things.

"Can you help me get a bottle of juice?"

There wasn't just one deck chair on the poop deck. All the women on the ship were gathered here, including Selene, the vampire who disliked the sun, who had been dragged along. Except for Ethan's chair placed in front of the helm and console, the other deck chairs were lined up, and the women were lying on them, comfortably enjoying the sunbath.

They didn't need to get up to retrieve the drinks from the ice-filled box. They just needed to tell Ethan.

Ethan didn't need to get up either. He just moved his fingers slightly, and the juice floated out of the ice box on its own, slowly flying into the women's hands.

"Thank you very much."

"Just saying thank you isn't sincere enough. Where's my tip?"

Ethan didn't move at all, not even shifting his gaze from the book. He just teased them casually, not expecting anyone to actually respond.

Unexpectedly, a whooshing sound came, and his heightened senses told him something was flying toward him. Ethan reached out with his left hand and caught the object—it was a small piece of gold, brought back from Hamunaptra.

"Quite generous."

Ethan sat up slightly. He felt that constantly reading the book seemed a bit unnatural. The scenery beside him was clearly much more beautiful than the book, so why was he so immersed in the sea of books, not even glancing to the side?

(To be continued.)

Chapter 332: Continue to Enjoy Your Leisure Time

Relaxed and leisurely days always passed especially quickly. Occasionally, Ethan felt a bit reluctant to rush around anymore and thought about just living a comfortable life right where he was.

With his current strength and the ability to travel between worlds to gather necessary resources, he could live very well in this world.

Even on this route known as the "Suicide Route," he could live without any pressure, especially after replacing the ship with a new one. The improved resistance to wind and waves meant there was little difference from living on land.

However, Ethan wasn't willing to be trapped in this sea. He already knew that this ocean world was not a real planet. The various strange phenomena, many of which seemed deliberately unnatural, prevented him from truly letting down his guard. He hoped to escape this place as quickly as possible.

Although he wasn't sure what awaited him in the vast expanse of space, perhaps life after entering the cosmos wouldn't be as easy as it was on this ocean.

But as someone unwilling to lose his freedom and possessing a certain level of strength, no one would willingly be trapped in a cage.

In Ethan's eyes, this ocean world was a cage, even if it was incredibly vast.

He flexed his right hand. He hadn't actively tried to make it heal faster, but instead relied on his strong natural recovery ability to let it heal slowly.

Doing this didn't offer any particular benefit. Ethan simply didn't want to waste his magic power.

"No mutation occurred?"

Ethan had considered the possibility of gaining some benefit from a severe injury caused by a powerful being. He even wondered if his right hand, after being in contact with Anubis's death power, might mutate and give rise to a Hand of the Death God or something similar.

However, the reality was that his right hand was no different from before, not even in skin color.

"You were actually expecting something like that?"

Ada looked at him with an expression that said, "You really have such childish thoughts?" She had been curious earlier why Ethan wasn't in a hurry to let his right hand recover and was now genuinely surprised to hear the reason.

Ethan waved his hand and casually explained that he had just been letting his mind wander and hadn't really expected any special change.

"If something really had changed, I'd have chopped off the entire right arm and had Annette do a thorough examination."

It was precisely because nothing happened that he had the leisure to let his mind drift.

A mutation caused by the invasion of Anubis's death power would only make him worry about his physical condition. He didn't believe such a mutation would come without lasting consequences, and with his personality, he would definitely eradicate it completely.

"You've rested for so long. Are you ready to go out and move around?"

What Ada meant by "move around" was not just simple exercise on the deck or on an island, but rather Ethan's act of traveling to other worlds.

"Once we leave this island, I plan to head to the world I've already targeted to get something I've always wanted."

At this moment, the Goddess of Dawn was anchored beside an island. Their current location was in the southern part of the initial section of the Southern Route, roughly mid to southern latitude. The waves in this area were relatively large because it was very close to the Sea of Storms that formed a continuous, wall-like barrier.

Standing on the sterncastle, one could clearly see lightning flashing in the distant storm. However, Ethan and Ada were not standing on the sterncastle watching the storm, but rather on the deck, observing several people who had just landed on the island and looked very happy.

"Speaking of which, this is your first time seeing a Floating Island, right?"

Compared to Evelyn and O'Connell's various curiosities and desire to explore this magical island that would suddenly rise from the seabed and quickly become covered in plants, Ada, who was also seeing this type of island for the first time, seemed very calm, as if she wasn't interested in this magical place at all.

"I've been observing. According to my past habits, I would never step into an unfamiliar area lightly." Ada gently brushed aside the hair blown by the wind. "Based on the information you told us earlier, this island isn't safe."

Floating islands in regular sea areas might not be dangerous. Even if there were creatures, they were ones ordinary people could handle. Slightly more troublesome ones could be dealt with using weapons.

The situation on islands along the route, however, was a bit special. There were all kinds of creatures on these islands, and they posed a much greater threat to adventurers.

Although it was customary that overly dangerous creatures didn't appear in the initial section of the route, that wasn't absolute. The island full of green grass that Ethan encountered had also appeared early on, but its danger level wasn't much lower than those in the middle or later sections.

"Logan and Selene have already thoroughly scouted the area, and at least the landing zone is safe enough."

Logan had an immortal body, and Selene could quickly recover even from serious injuries as long as she had blood. In addition, they carried recovery potions provided by Ethan, amulets to defend against mind-control attacks, and warning spells that would automatically alert Ethan in case of danger. With all these safety measures, they were very suitable for scouting.

Ethan, on the other hand, stayed on the ship. If anything happened, he had more than enough ability to respond.

"It might take me some time to adapt."

She had always done everything herself, developing a habit of trusting only herself. That wasn't something that could be changed in a short time.

"Let's go ashore first. After rocking on the boat for so long, you must miss the feeling of solid ground, right?"

Because they were close to the Sea of Storms, the waves were quite large, causing the ship to rock significantly. Although they were used to life on the ship and light rocking didn't bother them, this level of rocking became uncomfortable over time.

As Ethan stepped onto the island, Logan and Selene happened to return.

Selene's hands were empty, but Logan was carrying a beast on his shoulder. Its face resembled a wild boar, but its body shape was more like an elk.

The creatures that appeared on the Floating Islands in this world had no fixed appearance. They were bizarre and diverse. Even the few species that had been captured and bred by the residents were hard for Ethan to categorize.

He simply classified them roughly by taste—either as chicken or beef. The one Logan brought back this time was tender and had no strong flavor, somewhat similar to rabbit meat.

They quickly set up a camp, and the main dish for dinner was this strange animal Logan had brought back.

"Is this animal aggressive?"

Logan casually tossed the cleaned bone onto the ground, also serving as a reminder to be cautious since there were many of them on the island.

"If it hadn't attacked me, I wouldn't have bothered with it."

While eating the roasted meat, they chatted about what to do on the island.

The only person they could turn to for information was the experienced captain, Ethan, who also understood how the residents of this world lived. O'Connell and Evelyn were most interested in this aspect, while Jonathan was more concerned about whether there were gold mines or anything of value on the island.

"There's not much to do. First, collect food and fresh water. As for resources…"

If it had been before, Ethan would have carefully searched for magic stone mines or similar resources, but now he felt that their value to him had declined significantly. He might ask Auriel to help search, but it didn't matter whether they found anything or not.

"We're not collecting resources this time."

Evelyn curiously asked what kind of resources he meant. Ethan took the opportunity to roughly explain to them how adventurers lived in this world.

The learning device he had provided only let them understand the language and general knowledge of this world. It didn't cover these "detailed" aspects.

"Collecting resources is for exchanging supplies needed for the next voyage, or for maintaining or replacing the ship." Ethan simply explained why they didn't need to gather much this time. "My goal for this voyage isn't to 'make money.' I need to travel to several worlds soon to deal with a few problems. After that, I'll head deeper into this route to deal with an enemy."

Beckford himself was on this route. Although Ethan had been drifting comfortably at sea during this time, he could still receive updates from the guild from time to time.

At present, the guild had clearly announced that the Southern Route was about to become a battlefield.

Recently, there had been far fewer adventurers on this route than usual. Even adventurers without communication equipment had received word and were moving away.

Those with strong capabilities returned to the central island, preparing to join the guild's fleet.

Those with weaker capabilities went elsewhere to continue their lives, while keeping a close eye on the guild's announcements, because this matter directly affected everyone in this sea region.

In this situation, the adventurers Ethan encountered near the entrance were all leaving the route. He barely saw anyone heading inward.

Someone like him, wandering aimlessly, even received reminders from enthusiastic adventurers warning him of the great danger on this route. They advised that if he wanted to take the risk of looking for resources, he should switch to the Northern Route instead.

From this, it could be inferred that the great battle between the guild and Beckford's joint fleet was about to break out. As for this battle or what would follow, Ethan had already made up his mind:

Retrieve the Prinz Eugen, deal with Beckford, and then head directly to the Sea of Miracles.

(To be continued.)