"All right? That's it?"
Steve looked at Ethan, who had only worked on it for a few moments before declaring it finished, and found it hard to believe.
Although Ethan was incredibly powerful, this was creating a new timeline, which was practically the same as creating a new world. Could it really be that simple?
"Of course it's simple. With an existing world as the base, I only need to extract it, copy it, and let it develop naturally. I don't need to do much at all."
Compared to creating a world from nothing, this task truly was not difficult, especially for Ethan, who had spent who knew how many years in seclusion in the Main God's universe and had learned a great deal of relevant knowledge.
"All right."
Steve shook his head helplessly. He should not have thought of this guy as human. Besides, Ethan was originally from a race of gods. With the power he displayed, he deserved to be called a god far more than Thor did.
"What should I do?"
"Simple."
Ethan first tapped the thin barrier protecting Steve, then pointed toward the newly formed ball of light. A long path appeared between Steve and the mass of light.
"Just follow this path and walk over."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
Steve did not ask anything else, nor did he question whether the path Ethan had "created" was dangerous. He had gradually accepted one fact: this guy was basically omnipotent.
"Then this is goodbye. Thank you for everything you've done for me."
"It's nothing. I did it for myself as well."
Ethan's greatest reason for doing all this was to make himself happy and satisfy his own wishes.
Steve did not argue with Ethan. He smiled and nodded, said goodbye to Tony, then resolutely stepped onto the path formed from energy.
Although the path looked long, Steve did not walk for very long. After only about ten meters, his figure gradually disappeared.
The long path slowly faded away. Ethan closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment. Only after confirming that everything was fine did he open a portal and return with Tony to the timeline they lived in.
"We came straight back to your place? I thought we'd go to Asgard."
Tony looked around. They were on the lawn in the backyard of Ethan's manor, where Ethan usually liked to sunbathe. There was no one here at the moment. Selene and Pepper were not around.
"I still have some things to do next, and I don't plan to delay them any longer."
"Oh, right." Tony remembered that Ethan had not come this time to relax or have fun. He was here to tell everyone about the "new home." "Who are you going to find next?"
"Probably Mordred."
Ada, Scáthach, and Arthur still had not been informed. Emiya Shirou, Sherry, and Laura did not seem to require Ethan to seek them out specifically, since they often returned to the Venus. He might even run into them as soon as he went back.
As for Illya and the others, they could wait until their vacation.
So, it seemed Ethan only needed to make one more trip to Mordred's world.
"What? Do you want to come and take a look?"
"I'm only interested in your new divine kingdom, but seeing how Mordred's country is doing sounds pretty interesting too."
Mordred had "customized" quite a few things from him, and Tony was curious to see whether that equipment had been put to good use. Mass production was handled by Cherry Military Industries.
"Then let's go together."
"No thanks."
Tony waved his hand.
"I don't want to disturb your time alone with Selene."
No one needed to point it out to Tony. He had already noticed that Ethan had specifically brought Selene along this time, clearly intending to spend some time alone with her. He had no intention of being a third wheel.
Although he was very curious to see what interesting things would happen when Ethan went to Mordred's place and met Ada, after thinking it over, he decided against it.
"When you've finished notifying everyone and are ready to take them to see the divine kingdom, remember to send me a message."
"No problem."
Tony waved and left directly. He chose to go straight home to rest. More importantly, after returning from another world, seeing another version of his own future, and learning about another path his life could have taken, he began thinking about something. Perhaps he should consider getting married.
He needed to think carefully about the details, and maybe discuss it with Pepper. Once he had a plan, he would tell everyone.
Not long after, Selene returned. Ethan looked at her carrying several bags and did not ask, "Why didn't you put them in your storage space?" Selene was simply enjoying the fun of shopping, including carrying a large pile of bags herself.
"Finished with your business?"
"Yes."
"Any plans next?"
"Hmm..." Ethan rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "I need to make a trip to Mordred's place."
"Then let's go."
"Hm? You're not going to rest for a bit?"
Selene spread her hands. Even without all sorts of enhancements, she already had a physique far beyond that of ordinary people. How could shopping make her tired? Even if she did not sleep, she would not feel any discomfort.
"All right, then let's set off now."
Ethan was ready to teleport directly to Mordred's world. Before he left, he suddenly received a notification from Luna. Emiya Shirou and the others had returned to the Venus, and Arthur also happened to be back at this time.
"Wait. Looks like we need to go back to the spaceship first."
Selene did not mind. She was only following him, so it made no difference where they went.
After returning to the Venus, Ethan and Selene "landed" in the teleportation room like everyone else. Ethan's appearance surprised the few people present.
"Ethan, you're back?"
"Yeah."
After greeting everyone, Ethan mainly checked Arthur's condition.
After Arthur officially joined the team, his physical fitness and personal strength had been the weakest. During this time, he had been working hard to improve his strength. He had already used the latest basic enhancement potions on the ship, and going to the world of Diablo had also been for training. At the same time, he could experience different worlds, killing two birds with one stone.
"Your strength is improving very quickly."
With the latest enhancement potions, his innate extraordinary talent, sufficient combat experience, and nearly inexhaustible logistical resources, Arthur's rate of improvement was quite astonishing.
More importantly, the teleportation room on the current spaceship was connected to enough worlds that Arthur could choose one suitable for his training based on the situation.
"I hope to become strong quickly so I won't hold everyone back."
Arthur had originally wanted to help, but he found that with his level of strength, he could not help anyone. If he went to the worlds Shirou and the others visited, he would only become a burden.
Even the world where Illya and the others went to school was quite dangerous, so Arthur felt he should improve his strength first.
"It's good that you're back. I have something to tell you."
"Can we talk in the cafeteria? We haven't eaten since we got back."
Laura's shoulders slumped, and she covered her stomach with both hands, looking as if she were about to die. Combined with her current appearance as a long-legged mature woman, it felt incredibly out of place. She was already used to acting this way in front of Ethan.
Sherry was the same and strongly insisted on going to the cafeteria first.
Of course, Ethan would not object, and the group quickly arrived at the cafeteria. Shirou originally wanted to cook himself, but this time they had something to discuss. Besides, what he made took more time, and Laura was already unwilling to wait.
In any case, the Venus had plenty of food made by automated equipment, enough for them to eat their fill. The problem of some fast food being unhealthy for ordinary people was no longer an issue for this group of non-humans.
As they ate, they listened to Ethan recount his experiences "over the years." In the end, the focus was still on the brand-new divine kingdom.
"The divine kingdom is complete?"
Everyone was surprised. Ethan had mentioned this before, but no one had expected it to happen so soon.
"Can we go see it?"
"In a while. This divine kingdom isn't as small as the island from before. It's roughly the size of Earth, and I haven't built teleportation channels yet, so traveling around isn't very convenient."
That was why he planned to notify everyone first, then have them set aside some time to go together.
"Next, I'm going to Mordred's place. Do you want to come along?"
Arthur did not hesitate at all and shook his head directly.
"I only came back to rest. I plan to keep looking for a world to train in. Besides the world I just visited, are there any other suitable worlds you recommend?"
"Uh... that..."
Ethan thought carefully for a while, recalling some worlds from his memory that were barely suitable for Arthur to train in. He also went to the teleportation room and entered the coordinates of those worlds, allowing Arthur to travel there himself through the teleportation device.
He was not interested in those worlds and did not plan to go there unless there was a special reason. Things like xenomorphs, terminators, fire dragons, zombies so wild they could flood over city walls, and so on, could be left for Arthur to deal with.
"If you want to go to a relatively relaxed world where you can face different enemies while also having a fairly easy daily life, you can consider the Arrowverse. That's a modern urban setting."
Arthur nodded. After spending some time adventuring in the Diablo world, he missed "modern life" a great deal, even though the world he originally lived in was not exactly advanced.
After finishing his instructions, Ethan took Selene to Mordred's world, which was also Arthur's original world.
He did not go directly to the capital, Camelot, nor did he greet Mordred.
Besides informing Ada and the others about the divine kingdom, he also needed to meet someone else in this world.
"I truly didn't expect you to reach this realm so quickly."
Merlin was still wearing that long robe, looking the same as he had when they first met countless years ago. The only difference was the surprised expression on his face.
"I thought it would take at least several hundred or even a thousand years at the fastest."
"This only proves that the choice you made back then was very correct."
(To be continued.)