DOTM: Chapter 162/164

Chapter 162

Having determined his current actual situation, Ethan began to gradually expand the scope of his investigation.

This required the release of mental power. As long as the mental power was strong enough, this method of exploration would remain undisturbed and bring back accurate information.

But the question was, how strong is strong?

Ethan's current mental power was certainly strong compared to ordinary people, but when compared to many powerful beings, it was insignificant.

What he couldn't be sure of was the strength of this mysterious power. After all, he had no information in his hands.

"As if I have any other choice."

Fight? Or sit back and wait to be slaughtered? It was practically a no-brainer.

Releasing his mental power little by little, Ethan moved with extreme caution. If anything seemed off, he would immediately withdraw his mental power. Yet, no abnormalities occurred.

It was unclear whether the mysterious power hadn't noticed him or simply didn't care. Regardless, Ethan managed to get a grasp on himself and his immediate surroundings without issue.

"It's also possible that this power doesn't have a clear consciousness just some kind of instinct?"

Ethan moved his hand gently, and the grass wrapped around it was immediately torn off. The same applied to the rest of his body. These grasses were just like ordinary weeds, they couldn't forcibly restrain Ethan's movements.

He slowly sat up, careful not to stand straight up. While half-kneeling, he gradually expanded the range of his mental scan.

"There's grass all around... and no sign of Logan or Laura."

Judging by the height of the grass, Ethan could tell that the place where he'd fallen wasn't where they'd found the spring. But he didn't know how he'd gotten separated from Logan and Laura.

"Where exactly was that spring dug up? No, there were charms distributed there. Even if this place can affect all five senses and create the illusion that someone is standing right in front of me, it shouldn't be able to teleport away the amulets that sent me out, right?"

Maybe the charms he gave them had fallen somewhere, and Logan and Laura hadn't picked it up; or maybe they had, and the three of them were gradually separated under the influence of various sensory disturbances after the amulets were distributed. It was all open to interpretation.

Of course, the worst possibility was that they had fallen into a phantom from the very beginning. But in that case, the power would have had to release strong fluctuations from the start—something that would definitely have triggered Ethan's vigilance.

"I'm basically like a blind man right now."

Ethan didn't dare to expand his mental power too far. While doing so would give him a broader field of view, it would also dilute his power. If attacked, he might not be able to resist and would suffer severe damage.

So he carefully controlled the scanning range until he confirmed there was no danger nearby.

Ethan didn't dwell on the confusion for long because a new thought struck him.

"Why am I blindly searching around? No matter how strong the mysterious power of this island is, it must have a limited range. It definitely can't be infinite. As long as I keep a certain distance from the island, I should be able to avoid its influence."

Of course, distancing from the island didn't necessarily mean heading back to sea, rising into the sky could also put enough distance between him and the island.

Ethan could sense that whenever he used his flame wings to soar upward, powerful fluctuations would rush at him from all directions. The force of the blow would definitely interfere with his takeoff.

But with his current mental power range, Ethan could condense it in time to form a strong enough shield, which could protect him from mental attacks long enough for him to reach a high enough altitude.

Flying straight up for a while, Ethan suddenly felt his entire body lighten. The constant mental attacks pressing down on him finally vanished. Ethan knew he had exited the island's sphere of influence, and only then did he reopen his eyes.

The first thing that entered his view was the pair of glasses still resting on his face. The red warning message, Xenogeneic Energy Invasion Warning, continued flashing on the screen.

Ethan didn't have time to complain about the warning he hadn't seen earlier. He immediately switched the search mode on his glasses to locate Logan and Laura.

Then, using the 'Telephoto' function, he checked the current status of the two. Just like before, they were lying there quietly, their hands and feet entangled by long green grass.

"Not too bad."

Ethan used the glasses to calculate a suitable 'rescue route', set a 'route marker' on the display, then took out all the charms he had stockpiled from his space storage and used them all at once to cast a multiple-layer psychic protection spell on himself.

"Let's see if you can still affect me now!"

Fully prepared, Ethan didn't dive straight in. Instead, he maintained flight at a relatively safe altitude, gradually accelerating in the sky before suddenly descending along the route marked on his glasses, heading straight for Logan's location.

The moment he began to descend, Ethan felt his magic shield being attacked. As he dropped lower, the pressure on the shield grew stronger. By the time he reached Logan, the force had nearly gone berserk, relentlessly pounding against him.

At this point, it was no longer just interference, the nearly solidified spiritual force was hammering at his shield like a sledgehammer. If Ethan hadn't activated the shield from the Book of Inheritance, he would have been crushed into pulp.

Before reaching Logan, Ethan released the shield energy from the Book of Inheritance, dispersing the mental assault just long enough to buy himself a few seconds. In that brief window, he grabbed Logan, reactivated the shield, and continued on toward Laura.

A sprint at such speed would normally cause massive bodily harm without protection. Fortunately, Ethan's intent was to rescue Logan and Laura. Their self-healing abilities ensured they wouldn't be seriously harmed by Ethan's rough handling.

Of course, some pain was inevitable.

"Fuck, Ethan! Are you saving me or trying to kill me?!"

The moment Ethan grabbed and dragged him, the mental interference on Logan was lifted—but this brute force approach wasn't suited for others.

"If I could think of a better way, I'd do it. This is all I've got for now." Ethan quickly reached Laura's location according to the marked route on his glasses. "See the chance, grab Laura!"

He was moving so fast that he wasn't sure Logan would be able to seize the critical moment when he dropped the shield to save Laura. But right now, they had no other option. Whether it worked or not depended on Logan.

Fortunately, Logan reacted quickly. He grabbed Laura cleanly and in time, and Ethan immediately flew straight back toward the Goddess of Dawn, carrying one adult and one child.

It felt like a long time had passed, but in reality, Ethan had calculated the optimal rescue and evacuation route using the high-tech glasses. From the moment he dove to the moment he landed on the Goddess of Dawn's deck, only a short period had elapsed. It was just that so much had happened in that short time, the intense focus made it feel much longer.

"I almost took a serious hit this time."

After resting on the deck for a while and gradually recovering, Logan turned to check on Laura. Once he confirmed she was alright, he looked at Ethan. "Thanks for coming back to save me."

"No need." Ethan didn't think he deserved any special thanks. Since Logan had become one of his crew, it was his responsibility as captain to ensure their safety. Rescuing crew members was something that went without saying.

Logan nodded and didn't continue expressing gratitude, it would've felt too forced. They still had time to spend together in the future, and he believed there would be a chance down the line to prove that Ethan's actions today were the right call.

As for how to thank him, Logan understood something important: no matter how bizarre the island was, it couldn't truly trap Ethan. Because Ethan possessed the ability to travel through space-time. In a real crisis, he could activate the space-time circle to travel to another world, create some tools to protect himself, and return afterward.

In that case, who knows what would've become of Logan and Laura—Logan didn't yet realize that when Ethan left and came back, it would be as if no time had passed at all.

After resting a bit, Logan looked toward the island again. It was still just a green grassland. Standing here, it was hard to imagine that such a terrifying 'trap' was hidden on the island.

He was gradually coming to understand that when Ethan had called this the "suicide route," he hadn't been exaggerating. If all the islands along this path were this strange and dangerous, it was no wonder so few people ever made it to the end.

"Are we really going to keep exploring this island?"

Ethan was standing on the poop deck, staring out at the island. Upon hearing Logan's question, he replied without hesitation, "Of course we're going to explore. I'm very curious, what exactly is the essence of the power on this island?"

He had no idea what kind of materials were on this island. The idea that the energy source was magic stones was a possibility, but it was hard to judge their actual properties.

"Could it be pure spiritual power magic stones? I've never heard of such a thing before."

Whatever it was, Ethan needed to be fully prepared before he could get his hands on it. His current equipment was enough to handle the immediate situation, but he needed to craft more targeted tools.

"More time is needed."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 163

How to buy time? That problem was easy to solve. It was at this moment that Logan realized that when Ethan traveled to other worlds, time in this one was almost at a standstill. Or rather, Ethan's space-time circle locked the exact moment he left as a time marker, then sent him back to that location upon his return.

"So even if you couldn't break free from that island's entanglement just now, you could've just used teleportation to another world to resolve the sensory interference, and then come back to rescue us?"

"That's right."

Considering the special physiques of himself and Laura, even if there was a slight delay, they wouldn't be in danger, so what had seemed like a life-threatening crisis wasn't actually much of a threat at all.

"It was just some trouble."

This was the fundamental reason Ethan had decided to keep exploring the island—at most, it was troublesome, but it posed no real danger to them.

"All right. So you're going to another world to buy some time and make a few special tools?"

Logan asked a few more questions and gained a clearer understanding of Ethan's travels. He now knew that Ethan could lock and freely travel between two worlds; and one semi-locked world, that was Arthur's world. Although Ethan's space-time circle wasn't linked directly there, he could still contact Merlin through a special method. Merlin could then set up a coordinate from afar, and Ethan could travel there.

"That's the plan."

"Where are you going?"

If he wanted to craft tools and do prep work, random teleportation wouldn't cut it. He needed a familiar and stable environment to get things done.

In terms of raw materials, the Marvel world seemed more suitable. Tony was now a good friend, and they had a cooperative relationship. Tony could also provide a wide range of materials.

However, after thinking it through, Ethan realized he didn't need to prepare any extra materials for now. Any small gaps could be filled on Paradise Island. Plus, he'd already promised to visit Paradise Island, so he decided to go there.

"If my calculations are right, the Wonder Woman plot should be starting soon."

According to the comic setting, Diana of Themyscira—Wonder Woman—was a thousand-year-old being. When she left Paradise Island, she was already mature in both body and mind. The movie version chose a different route, portraying her growing up like an ordinary person, like the demi-gods in Greek mythology, leaving the island at adulthood and maturing gradually in the outside world.

Now that Ethan had pointed Diana toward a new path, she was much stronger than in the original plot. He was very curious, what kind of story would Diana create now?

"Even if it's just for the fun of it, I've got to make the trip."

The seeds he planted were about to bear fruit. No matter what, he couldn't miss it. Even without the situation with this island, he had already been planning a visit to Paradise Island. The space-time energy he'd collected still hadn't been used, that was another reason for going.

Looking at Logan, who was still waiting for an answer, Ethan told him that this time, his destination was one of the two locked worlds, and he'd stop by to visit some friends.

"Paradise Island? Sounds like a great place."

"It really is a nice place."

After explaining Paradise Island to Logan, the man who considered himself well-informed was a bit dazed.

Amazons created by the Greek gods? Zeus? Ares, the God of War? Was that place a mythical world?

"Don't be surprised. There are many so-called gods. Some just possess higher-level civilizations, or they've evolved their lifeforms to levels above humanity."

Ethan pointed at Logan and Laura. "In a way, you and Laura are on the same path. Think about your fellow mutants, don't the strongest ones seem a lot like gods?"

If nothing else, it wouldn't be hard for Magneto or Storm to pass as deities. In the comics, once Magneto fully developed his powers, even his lifeform evolved to a new realm. As long as magnetism existed in the universe, his life wouldn't end. With a wave of his hand, he could cause volcanic eruptions or shift tectonic plates. In that state, Magneto was no different from a god to ordinary people.

"The way you put it makes me feel a lot better."

That said, Ethan could still sense a bit of awkwardness in Logan. After all, he might meet a real god this time, and even if he wasn't nervous, he still didn't know how to face such an existence.

Ethan wasn't worried. With Logan's personality, that awkwardness would soon be gone.

"Pack up. Time to move."

He needed to head to his workshop to pick up a few things. After all, the main purpose of this trip was to craft some props, so the prep work for the departure took a little time. There were lots of things he wasn't sure whether to bring, so in the end, he packed two extra bags and had Logan carry one for him.

"What if you bring too much stuff and can't bring it back?"

"No, if everything goes well, most of this will be used up or even scrapped while making props. It's unlikely we'll bring much back, unless we find some new treasures over there."

This time, Auriel didn't stay behind. When Ethan traveled before, Auriel didn't always go with him and often slept. But now that Laura played with her all day, she was brought along this time.

After confirming everything, the group nodded that they were ready. Ethan activated the space-time circle, and when the scene in front of them cleared, the beautiful view of Paradise Island immediately caught Laura and Logan's attention.

Ethan brought everything to his room first. Yes, he returned to his wooden cabin on Paradise Island. It was clear that the cabin hadn't just been well-cleaned, but had also been reinforced and upgraded to some extent. The structures had all been strengthened, even remodeled.

"Is this your residence?"

"It's my foothold on Paradise Island." Ethan pointed toward the center of the island. The Amazons lived on the mountain at the island's center, with various buildings scattered along the mountainside and up to the peak. "That's the city of the Amazons. I rarely go there."

"Why?"

Ethan had only given Logan a brief introduction to the world earlier, so he knew the setting was roughly the early 20th century, and that the gods of Olympus existed. The Amazons were a race created by the Olympian gods. With long lifespans and isolated on a paradise island, Logan didn't know what kind of people the Amazons were.

"Because the Amazons don't have men."

Wolverine was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood why Ethan lived so far from the city. If it were him, he probably wouldn't be able to stay in a city full of women either.

"So that's why." Whether man or woman, being surrounded constantly by others wasn't exactly comfortable. Logan directly asked another question: "Should we go greet the people in charge now?"

"No need. I'm sure someone has already informed Her Majesty the Queen of our arrival. We'll just wait here." He knew there were Amazon warriors keeping watch over his residence at all times. The moment he showed up, Hippolyta would be notified.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before a group of people appeared at the far end of the path, a stone-paved road that stretched from the front of the hut all the way into the distance, connecting to the road that led to the Amazon city.

"I didn't even notice earlier. They built a small road."

The group on the other side gradually approached, and one tall, slender figure suddenly rushed forward and gave Ethan a firm hug.

If not for the obvious joy on her face, Logan might have suspected that Ethan had done something wrong in the past and the woman was trying to beat him to death on sight.

"Diana, if you keep hitting me like that, I'm either going to be beaten to death by you, or die from serious injuries due to lack of timely rescue."

Diana smiled and let go of him, then pinched Ethan's shoulders and upper arms. "I just wanted to see if you've gotten any stronger... Tsk tsk, why is there still so little muscle? Looks like you still haven't solved that problem."

She had an extremely precise sense of her own strength. Ever since Ethan had trained her, she'd paid special attention to controlling her power. In fact, everything just now had been perfectly within the limits of what Ethan could withstand. The two had sparred daily, and she knew exactly how much force he could take.

"This problem isn't so easy to solve." Diana's gaze made Ethan feel a bit uncomfortable, and the way she pinched him made him feel like a piece of meat on a chopping block, waiting to be selected. After brushing off her hand, Ethan greeted Hippolyta and Antiope, who had just arrived, and introduced Logan and Laura to them.

After exchanging greetings, catching up, and explaining the reason for Ethan's visit, Hippolyta and Antiope soon took their leave.

Diana stayed, of course, and proudly showed off her progress in training—pulling out the Battle Cross and slashing it toward Ethan.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 164

Hum~

A white magic shield steadily blocked Diana's attack. The moment the invisible energy blade collided with the shield, a faint golden glow briefly revealed its 'true form' before it returned to its invisible state.

Diana didn't launch another attack but instead backed away from Ethan. She switched the Battle Cross to her left hand, and it instantly shifted into bow-and-arrow mode. From the handle, golden energy extended upward and downward, condensing into a longbow of pure energy.

The moment her fingers touched the slender bowstring, a golden energy arrow appeared. She aimed it directly at Ethan.

Diana was using her actions to display the results of her training, and Ethan didn't intend to disappoint her. Although he was now the target of Diana's attacks, the fact that everything she'd learned came from him made him feel... a bit proud.

The energy arrow struck the magic shield, triggering a violent explosion. The impact pushed Ethan back several meters, he nearly crashed into the wooden cabin. That part wasn't quite so pleasant.

Diana then switched to the 'whip' mode, repeatedly lashing the magic shield while looking at him smugly, making Ethan, still inside the shield completely speechless.

"Not bad."

Despite the onslaught, Ethan wasn't actually angry. Diana had perfectly controlled the output of the Battle Cross's energy, ensuring no real damage was done to his magic shield.

Diana lifted her chin slightly with a proud smile, like a graceful swan. Now that she had fully matured, Ethan wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but it felt like she had become even more beautiful than he remembered.

After a few careful glances, he could tell that her facial features hadn't changed, yet everything felt more harmonious and pleasant to the eye. He quickly realized this was due to her divine power surpassing what had originally been depicted in the story. In the film, she had only just begun to awaken that power. Now, having fully developed it, her divine energy had reshaped her body at a higher level—unlike a mere actress bound by makeup and post-production. The power had genuinely transformed her.

"Is something wrong?"

Seeing Ethan staring at her in silence, Diana wondered if something had happened. Even though her strength now surpassed his, she still trusted Ethan deeply and regarded him as a teacher who seemed to know everything.

"I'm just observing your condition. Your control over your divine power is beyond what I expected." At the same time, Ethan was convinced that Ares was in for a rough time. In the original plot, Diana had barely come into her power and could already beat Ares down. Now, after years of focused training, Diana was able to fully unleash her combat potential—Ethan honestly didn't know how strong she was now.

Being praised made Diana smile even more brightly. With that, the group finally sat down and began to talk about more casual things.

Compared to the first few times they had met, Diana had become a little calmer, just a little...

"Are these your new companions?"

After chatting for a while, Diana became curious about Logan and Laura. She had met Arthur before and knew that Ethan traveled through multiple worlds, so she wasn't surprised he had new companions.

In comparison, Logan's appearance and demeanor clearly marked him as a warrior. But Laura, a young girl barely past ten, why was she with Ethan?

"They're different from Arthur. Arthur only traveled with me temporarily to gain some experience before returning to inherit his throne. But these two will always be my companions."

He briefly told Diana about what happened in the Logan world. Diana, with her strong sense of justice, was stunned that humans could actually do such things. The world she knew had already progressed far beyond that kind of ignorance. She had never imagined humanity could commit such atrocities.

Diana's mood became visibly somber. Though she didn't believe Ares was the root of all evil in the world, she now began to question—was it because Ares existed that war broke out? Or was it that war was inevitable among humans, and thus a god of war like Ares naturally emerged?

"You don't need to overthink it. Just do what you believe is right."

Ethan reached out, intending to pat Diana, but seeing how mature and beautiful she had become, that kind of gesture suddenly felt inappropriate. So he awkwardly changed direction mid-reach and patted Logan instead. Logan rolled his eyes in response.

"What if what I think is right... turns out to be wrong?"

"Then I'll make it right."

Diana turned to look at Ethan and saw that he was staring at her seriously. That didn't sound like a casual joke. She believed that if such a day ever came, Ethan would definitely stand by her side.

That was enough. She firmly believed she would never do such a thing, but little did she know that Ethan was silently thinking to himself: "Did I accidentally create a Flashpoint Diana?"

In his previous life, Ethan had enjoyed reading all kinds of strange content, so he'd absorbed quite a bit of obscure knowledge. And now, with the training of spiritual power, a lot of wild thoughts would pop into his head. For example, in some universes, Diana was powerful, domineering, and irrational. Unlike the Diana of the main storyline, who bore the responsibility of protecting humanity, this other Diana wanted to destroy the world.

Fortunately, this wasn't one of those worlds. Although Ethan's influence had altered Diana's personality somewhat, she was still the kind-hearted Diana at her core, just no longer as naïve as she appeared in the early part of the movie.

Ethan asked Diana about her current condition again and learned that she had now gained full control over the divine power within her. In addition to using it effectively in combat, she had discovered that her divine power could be transformed into something resembling lightning, possessing extremely high lethality.

Looking at the faint silver-white energy condensed in Diana's palm, Ethan guessed that it likely originated from Zeus' blood. At the same time, he noticed that the lightning formed from divine power wasn't actual lightning—it only resembled it in appearance.

As for its strength, he didn't ask Diana to demonstrate it directly. He could only gauge its power through intuition. He also remembered that when Diana used this energy in the original storyline, Ares was immediately overwhelmed and unable to fight back. Perhaps this energy was the so-called decisive weapon against the God of War.

Ethan wasn't sure whether this energy was a higher form of divine power or a type specifically effective against Ares, since the movie never offered a clear explanation.

In the later battles, Wonder Woman was never shown using this energy again. Perhaps it had already been integrated into her own power, or maybe it wasn't easily summoned under normal conditions.

Regardless of its origin, the energy now belonged to Diana and had become her trump card. Though her usage of it was still simple and direct, mainly as explosive attacks, it was undeniably powerful, even if it lacked more refined or specific applications.

In addition to this energy, Diana had learned how to condense divine power into a shield for defense and could also launch energy blasts similar to Ethan's techniques. She had also mastered the ability to fly.

"You can fly already?"

He already knew Diana could fly, with top speeds close to the speed of light. But unlike the original film, where the ability was only explored at the very end, Diana had now mastered it thoroughly. She floated freely in the air, effortlessly performing all kinds of aerial maneuvers.

Logan and Laura, who were nearby, watched Diana with surprise. Ethan had introduced her as the princess of Paradise Island, the only daughter of Queen Hippolyta. If Hippolyta ever died or abdicated, Diana would become the new queen of Paradise Island. However, Ethan hadn't told Logan that Diana was a demigod.

"Can all Amazons on Paradise Island fly?"

"No, only Diana can."

Logan, with his wealth of experience, immediately sensed that Diana was different from the average Amazon. But he didn't ask further. If Ethan wanted to explain, he would. If he didn't, then it probably wasn't something that should be discussed here.

After that, Ethan shared some of the things he had experienced recently. Diana asked questions whenever something piqued her interest. When she got hungry, she casually enjoyed food specially delivered by the Amazons.

After dinner, they continued sitting around the fire, chatting away. Just like that, the first day on Paradise Island passed pleasantly.

When they woke up the next morning, there wasn't as much to talk about as before, and Ethan began to focus on his work. He was still trying to create a few tools to resist that kind of perceptual interference, so for the next few days, he stayed hidden away in the workshop that Diana had specially repaired for him.

The constant sound of hammering and the occasional explosion made Logan nervous at first, but eventually, he got used to it—just like Diana had. Laura and Logan gradually adapted to the relaxed and cheerful life on Paradise Island.

Compared to the world of endless seas, there was more freedom to roam here. Diana often played with Laura, and the quiet little girl who rarely smiled now even smiled in her sleep. Watching Laura slowly change brought warmth to Logan's heart, and he found his own mood improving as well.

For a moment, he even wanted to stay here with Laura forever. But when Ethan finally walked out of the workshop one day, carrying a few small gadgets, Logan instantly set that thought aside. He realized an exciting life still suited him better.

(To be continued.)