After stepping into a new realm and creating a complete divine kingdom, Ethan understood why Merlin had wanted to help him.
It was similar to why the Ancient One had been willing to help him back then. In both cases, Ethan's existence had brought them a "new future."
Without Ethan's appearance, Merlin's life would essentially have been "confined" to this world. His strength had reached a bottleneck, and he was certain he would not be able to break through that barrier and enter a higher realm before his life came to an end.
Originally, this was not a big deal. Even if his strength never increased again, Merlin was already powerful enough at the time. His lifespan was very long, giving him plenty of time to do what he wanted and live without regrets.
It was even possible that he might grow tired of living before his lifespan ran out.
However, when he saw a better opportunity, one that would allow him to reach a higher realm, he decisively reached out.
No matter how many chances he had to start over, he would make the same choice. Missing such an opportunity would probably leave him spending the rest of his life in endless regret.
"But if you want to truly become the one and only being in the endless universe, there are still quite a few problems to solve."
"That's fine. Without you, I would never have gotten this opportunity."
Ethan spread his hands. He did not mind Merlin asking for his help, because Merlin had helped him a great deal as well. They were simply helping each other.
"In that case, you'll be settling down in my divine kingdom."
"That's a good thing."
Ethan had established his divine kingdom "above" countless universes, and it had inseparable ties with them. As long as one knew the correct method, they could go to any world they wanted. Living in the divine kingdom made traveling to those worlds even more convenient.
More importantly, moving to the divine kingdom was a tremendous benefit in itself, since the energy there was far denser.
"So, it's time to pack your bags, right?"
"That's simple. I can leave immediately."
"Isn't that a bit too hasty? I don't remember you being this eager before."
Ethan had never seen Merlin show such a wide range of expressions before, nor had he seen him look this impatient. If Merlin had been this eager back then, Ethan would have noticed his thoughts long ago. He would not have only realized it now.
"A little, yes. I originally thought it would take a long time to reach this point, so I was still able to be patient back then."
"How about I send you over first?"
"That would be wonderful, of course."
Merlin gently waved the wand in his hand, and countless daily necessities immediately flew out of the wooden house. As they flew, they neatly sorted themselves into various boxes, cases, and cabinets. Those boxes, cases, and cabinets then packed themselves into a single suitcase, which finally landed at Merlin's feet.
As for the wooden house, with Merlin's movement, it gradually twisted and transformed into several ordinary large trees, as if this place had always been nothing more than a normal forest, leaving no trace of the previous structure behind.
"Although that world has only just formed, it has everything it should. You don't need to worry about food or anything like that."
"I'm not worried about such things. I can survive even without eating."
"As for accommodation, you probably don't need to decide right away."
"After I get there, I plan to walk around and explore. Maybe by the time you're done with everything, I'll still be traveling through your divine kingdom."
From Merlin's tone, it sounded like he wanted to walk through the entire divine kingdom on foot. But considering that beings with such long lifespans usually had nothing to do when idle, doing something like this was not strange at all.
Perhaps Ethan could try it as well when he had time. Walking over every inch of land would definitely feel different from quickly flying over it, and it would allow him to see many landscapes he might otherwise overlook.
As he thought this, he opened a special portal. Unlike the blue light gates he usually opened, this portal consisted of two very special, ornate golden magic circles, one on the ground and the other suspended three meters above it.
The space between the two magic circles was filled with golden light. When Merlin stepped into it, the light became even denser and more solid, until the figure standing inside the magic circle could no longer be seen. Then, the entire portal suddenly condensed into a point of light and vanished.
After sending Merlin to his divine kingdom, Ethan and Selene left the hidden valley.
In reality, even if Ethan had not come, Merlin would not have been able to keep living here for much longer.
With the rapid development of various technologies under the reigns of King Arthur and Emperor Mordred, the valley where he lived was no longer remote or hidden.
Unless he was willing to move into the palace as the court mage, it would become increasingly difficult for Merlin to find such a place to live in seclusion in the future.
Now, Merlin no longer had to worry about finding a new home. He had a new place he could slowly explore.
"Let's go. Next, we'll find Mordred."
Finding Mordred naturally meant finding Ada and Scáthach. Since Ethan was also rather curious about the country under Mordred's rule, he chose not to use teleportation magic to appear instantly before her.
Instead, he chose the "Merlin" style of travel. After arriving at a nearby town with Selene, he prepared to travel to Camelot like an ordinary person.
As soon as he entered the town, Ethan felt a strange sense of dissonance.
Most of the buildings in this world had an architectural style similar to Earth's European Renaissance period. However, mixed in among those buildings were many "advanced" facilities.
Add in the "future" vehicles coming and going on the streets, along with the pedestrians' "retro" clothing, and Ethan was a little confused about what era this was supposed to be.
Only a world that had been "afflicted" by two generations of transmigrator rulers, Arthur and Mordred, would end up like this.
"It looks a little chaotic."
Selene was just as confused, but she quickly adapted after walking around for a while. Just as they were getting used to the contrast, they saw a concert promotion playing on the electronic billboard in the town center.
"The Queen of Britain's first grand concert will be held in Camelot!"
Pfft!
Ethan, who had been tasting a drink from this world, spat it straight out, then looked at Selene beside him with an uncertain expression.
"That person on the screen is Sheryl Nome, right?"
"Uh..."
Selene did not know Sheryl Nome at all. She only knew of her existence. She had never paid attention to this young star from another world, nor had she even looked at her detailed information.
"Probably..."
As they spoke, Sheryl Nome's name appeared on the screen, confirming it beyond doubt. It really was Sheryl Nome.
But that was not the main point. The main point was the title: Queen!
"Did Mordred die?"
The Mordred Ethan knew was definitely a girl. If she got married, she should marry a man, right? Back then, he had even thought Galahad was likely to become Britain's "queen."
"I don't know. Maybe we should go to Camelot and take a look."
"Let's go."
Something was clearly off, and Ethan was no longer in the mood to wander around. He directly used spatial teleportation to arrive at the royal palace in Camelot.
He could now lock onto and observe any location at will, but he wanted to see with his own eyes whether the person sitting on the throne was Mordred. If it was not, he might conveniently kill that person. No, he should interrogate them first, figure out the situation, and then kill them.
Ethan and Selene appeared very suddenly, startling the group of people around them.
"Guards!"
The ministers' first reaction was to call for the guards. The palace was a heavily guarded area, with fully armed royal guards almost everywhere. Even during discussions with ministers, the king was protected by knights, not to mention that the king herself was also a powerful individual.
However, His Majesty the King waved a hand, ordering the rushing royal guards to withdraw.
"Everyone, leave."
Mordred, who had been sitting on the throne looking bored as she listened to various reports, smiled and stood up, walking down from the throne to stand in front of Ethan.
"Why did you arrive so suddenly? You didn't even give any advance notice."
Although the ministers were bewildered, they could not question the king's decision since she did not explain it. After all, the current king was not as easy to talk to as the previous one, and those who liked opposing the king were not doing very well now.
So when His Majesty the King told them to leave as well and return to continue their reports when she was free, not one of them raised an objection. They obediently left the great hall.
Seeing how obedient and well-behaved these people were, Ethan knew that things were going smoothly for Mordred and that there was no major trouble.
"I originally planned to travel around your country and only inform you when I arrived in Camelot, but I saw some news and thought something might have happened to you."
"You thought something happened to me?" Mordred was puzzled. "What news did you see?"
"What the hell is 'Queen Sheryl Nome'?"
Ethan did not bother beating around the bush and asked directly.
Upon hearing this question, Mordred still looked confused. "Isn't it normal for a king to have a queen? What's wrong with that?"
It seemed like there was nothing wrong with that. But two girls?
"Didn't your ministers object?"
This concerned the continuation of the royal bloodline. Surely the ministers would not ignore it, right?
"Of course they objected, but why should I listen to those guys?" Mordred snorted. "This is my private matter. I'll do whatever I want."
Ethan glanced at Galahad beside her, who was the only one who had not left. Galahad's face was full of helplessness. Ethan could guess that things were not as simple as Mordred made them sound. Perhaps she had used this as an excuse to deal with the disobedient ones?
"All right... I'm relieved to know nothing happened."
Mordred was sitting safely on the throne, and she even had the leisure to find herself a queen. It seemed Ethan did not need to worry about her, so he directly asked what Ada and Scáthach were doing.
"Oh, some people weren't behaving, so I asked them to help me clean up that trash."
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)