DOTM: Chapter 300/301

Chapter 300: Face

Stopping the ship, registering, and clearing customs, a series of procedures that took up half the day.

Afterward, Ethan led everyone to find accommodation. As the number of people on the ship increased, he, like most adventuring parties, chose to rent an entire small building. It offered the best comfort and privacy.

After a good night's rest, Ethan originally planned to take the newcomers to the guild to register and become official adventurers.

However, putting aside Sherry, who was still too young, neither Annette nor Ada planned to register with the guild.

"I'm not used to anyone having my information."

That was one of Ada's quirks. After thinking about it, Ethan felt that maintaining Ada's flexibility in identity seemed more beneficial to him. Especially after learning more about the situation in this world, his doubts about the guild only grew. He couldn't guarantee what kind of relationship he would have with them in the future, so sending over everyone's information didn't seem like a good idea.

As for Annette, she simply felt she wasn't an adventurer at all. She was just a scientist. Right now, she was only doing auxiliary work on Ethan's ship and had no intention of setting out into the world on her own. Registering this identity was meaningless to her.

"That's fine. Then let's just go buy some things."

The clothes and supplies brought over from the Resident Evil world were more comfortable to use, but the quantity was too small. Most of the time, they had to rely on products from this world to get by.

Especially when exposed to wind and sun at sea, the lifespan of many items was significantly reduced. Everyone needed some relatively sturdy and durable clothes.

"Although these clothes are troublesome to wear and not very comfortable, they are indeed very durable."

That was Ada's evaluation. Compared to her and Annette, Logan and Selene, who had lived through similar eras, had worn much worse clothing.

Annette had clearly stated that unless absolutely necessary, she would never wear those clothes. She only planned to buy a few simple pieces for appearances.

"Actually, we don't spend much time on the island. Buying one or two pieces for appearances is enough."

Ethan had lived in this world for several years, but the time he actually spent staying on islands was only a small part. Most of it was wasted at sea. If he hadn't occasionally gone to other worlds for a break, he might not even be used to living on land anymore.

Even so, he didn't plan to stay here long. This time, he didn't even intend to send the Goddess of Dawn into the shipyard for maintenance. He planned to leave directly after replenishing sufficient supplies.

He had too much to do and didn't want to waste time here.

Although Brent had clearly said he would report Beckford's situation to the guild and that the guild would likely respond by summoning a large number of adventurers to the Southern Route to deal with Beckford,

Ethan still needed to leave the island instead of waiting around for the guild to react.

No matter how fast the guild moved, gathering powerful adventurers wasn't easy.

This sea area wasn't particularly large, but it wasn't small either. For the guild to send out the notice, for the summoned adventurers to return from various locations to the Central Island, and then for ship maintenance, weapon replenishment, and so on—it would take at least half a year to complete everything.

He couldn't wait on the island for that long. He could handle his own affairs first.

As Ethan had said before, he was carrying several promises. He hadn't fulfilled them before due to limitations in strength, but now he wanted to complete them.

The feeling of being in debt wasn't pleasant, especially when it came to favors.

He was worried that carrying such favor debts for too long might cause some negative psychological changes. To avoid that, it was better to take care of them early and put his mind at ease.

Professor Charles's mental power needed to be delivered to another Charles Xavier. Logan had also completed his training and was now ready for "missions."

This was the top-priority task and the next issue to resolve. After completing Charles's request, Logan would officially become one of them. As long as Ethan didn't go overboard and try to destroy all mutants or something similar, Logan would always stand firmly behind him.

After finishing Charles's request, Ethan planned to head to the Mummy world to find two scriptures and search for a way to resurrect the Starks. The best outcome would be finding something. If not, he'd have to look for alternative methods.

After handling those two things, he planned to return to the Caribbean world for a visit. He was still interested in Blackbeard's dark magic that could shrink ships. He figured that if he could understand the core principle, learning that magic wouldn't be too difficult.

Once he mastered that magic and had a guaranteed way to resurrect Tony's parents, Ethan would consider heading to the Marvel Universe to claim his warship.

"And then?"

"And then, we can turn our sights to the other side of the Sea of Storms."

"The Sea of Miracles?"

"Yes, the Sea of Miracles."

This was just a normal dinner, and Ethan simply introduced his upcoming goals to give everyone a general understanding.

Hearing that Ethan was considering returning to the Marvel Universe (of course, he wouldn't call it that openly), Loki suddenly became very excited. He really wanted to know who was stronger now, him or Thor?

Based on what Ethan had told him before, he was sure that Thor would have grown much stronger under Odin's careful guidance, but he absolutely couldn't imagine how powerful he himself had become.

"I really wish you'd move that plan up a bit."

"That won't work. After all, there are still a few things I need to resolve before taking you home."

The key was finding a way to resurrect Tony's parents. Loki had no particular opinion on this, while Logan was pleased with Ethan's determination to fulfill his promises, especially since he would soon be able to see those familiar faces again.

As for Annette and Ada, they were completely bewildered. Hearing it before already sounded fantastical enough, but now during dinner, they were hearing about resurrecting the dead? Was that even possible? Would it just be reviving a shell like the T-virus?

Just thinking for a moment made it clear that wasn't the case. If it were merely resurrecting a shell, Ethan probably wouldn't bother treating it as an important mission.

"The reason I'm bringing up these goals is to ask if any of you have additional ideas or personal thoughts."

Although they weren't as "familiar with multiple universes" as Ethan, they would still have personal needs. Like when they asked Ethan to help buy certain things before—that was one example.

At the same time, Ethan also needed to know if they were interested in his upcoming plans. This would determine who he would take with him.

"I'm interested in every world."

That was Ada's reason for joining, so of course she'd participate in everything.

Annette, however, shook her head. She was interested in some of the things Ethan described, but that didn't mean she wanted to personally go to unfamiliar worlds to retrieve those things.

For her, she preferred staying hidden in the lab, doing the work she was familiar with.

"So, Ada and Logan will travel with me... Selene, what about you?"

"This time you're going to a parallel timeline in Logan's world?"

"More or less."

"Then I won't go."

Selene felt that this trip didn't seem dangerous, and the world setting was also Earth, with nothing particularly worth "visiting." According to Ethan's description, they might even go to some relatively "backward" eras, which made her even less interested.

As for danger? Selene didn't think Ethan would face any real threats now. This guy was basically a walking nuclear weapon who could wipe out a city at any time. Who would be dumb enough to provoke him? And she didn't believe Ethan would purposely hide his power and let someone misjudge him.

"I had a little bit of interest."

Loki raised his thumb and index finger slightly, showing just how little.

"But now I'm more eager to return home sooner."

If he followed Ethan around, it would add several extra years. Although Loki didn't care much about that time, he still hoped to return sooner.

"Understood."

So in the end, only Logan and Ada would be traveling with him. Ethan finally asked Laura if she wanted to come along.

At the start, even though Logan and Ethan hadn't said it out loud, there was an unspoken understanding: at the right time, they would leave Laura in a world with many mutants that Ethan had selected.

In that world, there were plenty of her kind, and with the care of an enhanced Professor Charles who possessed "future memories," Laura could have a relatively stable life.

After all, at that time, both men felt that raising a child on a ship long-term would inevitably be inconvenient.

However, the situation gradually changed. The ship was no longer just the two of them. Laura had adapted to life on the ship and had even made friends her age. So staying on the ship was no longer a problem.

Ultimately, Ethan left the decision to Laura herself. After all, this concerned her future, and she had the right to choose the life she wanted.

Laura barely hesitated. She chose to stay on the ship and was unwilling to go to a "strange" world and start a "stable" life.

To show how firm her choice was, she even refused to go with Logan on this trip.

"Actually, there's no harm in taking a look."

Ethan shrugged. If Laura didn't want to go, he wouldn't force her. But clearly unhappy with the idea of being sent away, Laura shot Ethan a big scowl.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 301: Young Professor Charles

After a brief rest on the island and replenishing sufficient supplies, Ethan and the others set sail once again. Considering the possible events that might occur next, Ethan steered the Goddess of Dawn toward the southern route.

No matter when the Guild launched its attack on Beckford, Ethan, being nearby, could join in at any time.

If everything went smoothly, this might be the last time the Goddess of Dawn served as his ride. Once all the "preparatory work" was complete, he planned to travel to the Marvel Universe to retrieve his heavily modified Prinz Eugen.

However, Ethan wouldn't sell the Goddess of Dawn. Previously, he had no way to store it, but after another trip to the Caribbean world, he could shrink it and store it in a specially made glass container as a keepsake.

Looking back, Ethan realized that not many of his pieces of equipment had met a good end. Most were scrapped before they could be retired. He sincerely hoped that wouldn't happen to the Goddess of Dawn.

After leaving the Central Island, Ethan's course wasn't fixed. He generally headed south, continuously using the space-time orb to search for space-time energy. If one were to look down on the entire sea from a high enough altitude and connect Ethan's sailing route with a line, it would look like the captain had gone mad.

However, Ethan was still steadily approaching the southern route. He didn't plan to go deep into the latter half of the route but instead circled around the beginning section, continuously collecting enough space-time energy.

As he used space-time energy more frequently and continued to study it himself, he had a feeling he would soon break through his current limitations—such as the restriction of only being able to stay in a target world for one year. He would break that soon.

He wasn't in a rush to do it yet. After collecting energy along the way and finally reaching the entrance of the route, at the turning point, Ethan turned the Goddess of Dawn in a wide arc, entering the route from the "outer path."

This route was rarely used by adventurers. Only a few passed by this area due to the presence of floating islands.

Ethan had tested with the orb and confirmed that there were no floating islands nearby during this time, so the area was completely secluded, perfect for doing their own thing in peace.

"Are you really not going?"

Laura was silent for a moment, then firmly shook her head, even though Ethan had explained that he was only going to take a look and might meet some new companions.

This led Laura to ask, "What if we become friends? Can they come onto the ship too?"

To this, Ethan simply replied, "If you can convince them, why not?"

But Laura ultimately decided not to participate in this traversal.

Ethan didn't force her. Before leaving, he checked one last time, and after confirming that no one had changed their mind, he took Logan and Ada to their destination.

A certain X-Men world.

As they traversed, he continuously infused his will into the orb in his hand. With the input of strong willpower, the glowing ball of light from the orb, which had been emitting a blue glow, began to change slightly. Blue was now mixed with golden-red light, and then as the golden light surged, when Ethan and the others opened their eyes again, they had arrived in another world.

"Uh... where is this?"

Ada looked around. The pedestrians' clothing and the cars on the street provided fairly accurate reference points. As a spy, she had a sharp sense for such things.

"Looks like it's the United States in the 1950s or 60s."

Most of the cars on the street were muscle cars from that era. This was almost the golden age of American muscle cars, with many famous models from later generations born between the 1950s and 70s.

"Suddenly regretting coming here."

Logan was scanning the surroundings. He wasn't a mage like Ethan, capable of recalling everything from memory, nor was he an elite spy like Ada who had received extensive training.

Although he had special abilities, he usually acted like an ordinary person. He was careless in daily life, and his memory faded over time.

If Ethan had brought him to around the year 2000, maybe he could have remembered some things. But this time period was a bit too far back. His memory was blurry, and more importantly, he wasn't sure of the exact timeline.

While he was thinking about what he might have been doing during this period, he glanced over at Ada after hearing her comment. Seeing Ada's distinctly Asian appearance, he instantly understood what she meant.

"Your appearance at this time will indeed attract some unpleasant attention."

This country in North America shouted all kinds of slogans, but most of them were just that—slogans. Many things, though not openly stated, still existed.

In the era they were currently in, many of those things weren't even hidden. They were blatantly displayed.

"Do you remember where this is?"

"I don't remember the location, but I just saw two familiar faces."

Following Logan's finger, two men walked out of a bar. Ethan immediately laughed when he saw them. He already had a rough idea of which timeline they had arrived in.

After all, that guy still had hair and could walk, so the timeline was fairly early.

Logan then added more useful information.

"I think I remember now. If I'm not wrong, they should have just met me. This might be our first encounter." Logan grinned. "It wasn't exactly a friendly meeting."

"They just got in the car. Let's follow them."

They weren't far away, so before the two men could start the car, they found the back door opened and three people squeezing in.

Especially the man they had clearly just met—once he sat down, the whole car sank, making one wonder if it could still move.

Two men and one woman, none of them small. Fortunately, the cars of that era had spacious interiors, so they could barely fit. For Ethan, this even seemed like a bonus?

"Hello, Charles, Erik."

The two men in the front seat were indeed the young Professor X, Charles Xavier, and Magneto, Erik Lehnsherr. At this moment, they looked at the three uninvited passengers with surprise. They only recognized the mutant who had greeted them as someone they had just met, but something felt different?

As for the other man and woman, they didn't recognize them at all. Erik even glanced at Charles, as if asking if he knew the other two.

Charles certainly didn't. Given the current situation, he was concerned that the two strangers who had suddenly shown up might be enemies, so he quietly activated his psychic power, intending to probe their thoughts and understand the situation.

But his psychic power was blocked the moment it extended outward. Not only could he not read any of the trio's thoughts, he couldn't even get close.

He could feel his psychic power being intercepted, and the young man didn't hide it at all. He even waved at him.

"Charles, you really need to break that habit. No one likes having their thoughts invaded."

"I'm very sorry. I just wanted to make sure you weren't enemies."

"We're not enemies." Logan emphasized the point seriously. "Charles, we need to talk, but we'd better find a suitable... and spacious place first."

Charles nodded, then started the car and headed toward their current residence.

At the moment, the two were "cooperating" with the CIA, and their residence was also a CIA base. If these three were hostile, it would be easier to deal with them there with the support of numerous agents.

So Charles and Erik didn't refuse to take them along, but Charles still quietly used a psychic link to inform Erik that the three people in the back seat were likely not easy to deal with.

"Don't worry, we really aren't your enemies. In fact, we might even be considered friends."

Charles was still inexperienced at this point. His supposedly silent psychic link had already been tapped by Ethan, who heard the entire conversation. Charles himself hadn't even noticed.

When psychic power was projected outward, this kind of thing could happen. The protection of one's own psychic power wouldn't be as secure as when it was confined within. This was also why mages didn't like exposing their psychic power directly. Even though it was simpler and consumed less energy than using magic power, they still preferred to use magic instead.

If this had been the future Professor Charles, who had studied psychic power for countless years, Ethan wouldn't have been able to do it so silently. But now…

"Friends?" Erik looked back at Ethan. "I don't think I know you."

"I wasn't talking about you, Erik." Ethan really didn't know Magneto—at least, not any version of him. The only X-Men world he had entered was Logan's, where the mutants were already dead. So even if he wanted to, there weren't many to meet.

"So you're saying you and I are friends? Sorry, I don't remember meeting you."

Ethan didn't explain. He just said, "I'll explain when we get there. But for now, could you drive a little faster?"

"I'd like to drive faster too, but I don't know if something's wrong with the car. It feels unusually heavy."

(To be continued.)