Drift Of The Multiverse: [Marvel] [Resident Evil] [DC] [Bleach] [DB]

The Goddess of Dawn and the Eternal reached a verbal alliance. Cleo promised to do everything in his power to help Ethan obtain whatever he wanted on the island, though the promise was limited to himself. He would not joke around with his own crew.

His statement helped strengthen his crew's loyalty. Several sailors who had been rescued by Ethan also immediately pledged to help Ethan alongside their captain, to repay the kindness of being rescued from the island.

Ethan didn't reject the offer. It was actually a good thing that the other party wanted to repay him in this way. Besides, he wouldn't really treat them as cannon fodder to help clear a path. Right now, all he needed was some labor from the Eternal.

"I don't know exactly what's on the island, but I think it'll be enough for both of our ships."

Before returning to his own ship, Ethan gave a final reminder. "By the way, the water on this island is a little strange. It's best not to use it... especially for drinking, at least not until it's confirmed safe."

Cleo nodded to show he understood. He wasn't planning to let any crew members leave the Eternal anyway. They still had plenty of supplies on board, and for adventurers at their level, drinking water was one of the easiest problems to solve. Slightly larger ships would be equipped with water purification devices that extracted clean water directly from the sea for the crew's use.

After warning Cleo, Ethan flew back to the Goddess of Dawn. He didn't walk back along the coastline because he wasn't sure whether setting foot on the island again would trigger another attack.

So far, he had only been attacked after going deeper into the island. But his previous test had shown that the energy on this island would mobilize and attack a specific target based on certain conditions. He couldn't be sure whether that power had already marked him.

After landing on the deck of the Goddess of Dawn, Ethan repeated Cleo's promise to Logan and Diana.

Diana remained silent, but Logan thought more deeply about it.

"Do you think we can trust what he said?"

"No." Ethan wasn't naive. He wouldn't trust a stranger so easily. "But he has shown goodwill. As long as he doesn't try anything threatening, we can treat him as an ally."

This meant that cooperation was possible, but sufficient caution was necessary. Smiling on the surface while stabbing you in the back wasn't uncommon. In this world, where formal laws and regulations didn't really exist, what determined a person's behavior was their own moral code.

Under such conditions, the world had still maintained a considerable degree of order and hadn't fallen into total chaos, which was quite rare.

"Anyway, let's just take a proper rest tonight. They just arrived and suffered some setbacks, so they probably need time to recover. We'll officially begin exploring the island's interior tomorrow."

Ethan and his group were already prepared, but now that they were cooperating with the Eternal, they had to consider their ally. Moreover, Diana still needed time to study some "basic knowledge," so postponing exploration also suited Ethan's needs.

The rest of the day was spent in various discussions.

Diana gained a more detailed understanding of this world and human nature. These were things Ethan hadn't told her before, because at that time Diana always thought too positively. Telling her then that human nature could be dark wouldn't have worked.

After experiencing many things firsthand, Diana began to accept this perspective. She realized the world wasn't as beautiful as she had imagined. The truth left her a bit shocked, but thanks to Ethan's earlier guidance, she wasn't too emotionally shaken and gradually accepted a more "realistic" worldview.

This was something she needed to understand. Considering that she would eventually return to her own world and live independently, she would encounter worse things, and there would be no one to guide her at that time.

In the original plot, after living in human society for decades, Diana almost lost faith in humanity. She shifted to a neutral stance and began observing everything silently, hiding among humans.

At the root of it was the collapse of her worldview. Now that she could accept the truth more easily, maybe Wonder Woman could stay active for longer.

That might lead to more interesting changes, but Ethan wasn't focused on that now, nor was he focused on the island.

He took out the stealth suit he had acquired from the assassin, laid it out on his test bench, and began introducing its capabilities to Logan and Diana in detail.

"It seems to be made from some sort of special polymer material..."

The suit resembled a tight-fitting uniform with armor parts like a breastplate, armguards, and greaves. It didn't appear very large, and it seemed suited for thinner individuals. But when Logan tried it on, he found that even his body could easily fit into the suit.

"Are you sure you didn't bring this back from some high-tech world?"

Diana couldn't see anything unusual, but Logan thought the suit looked very futuristic. Although this world had magical things like magic stones, this equipment seemed to involve more than just magic.

"The assassin came from the next sea area."

Ethan didn't know much about that region, especially since it was considered a suicide route. Back then, he hadn't noticed anything strange. The boat the assassin used could dive, but aside from that, it wasn't particularly special and was nothing compared to his own ship.

At the time, he hadn't realized anything was off, but thinking back now, it did seem abnormal.

That route was far more dangerous than he had imagined. Even approaching the central island from another direction became more perilous the closer he got. Something wasn't right.

"That guy's boat was too common... Vessels like that are everywhere in this sea. It must've been a disguise to conceal his identity."

Now that Ethan understood, he realized the suit in front of him likely represented the combat strength of the next sea area. He began speculating about the general conditions of that region based on the suit.

"Even if I can't be sure whether this was standard-issue gear, treating it as high-end equipment that some individuals can access still means most adventurers there probably have lower-end variants."

Cleo's equipment supported that theory. Ethan didn't believe Cleo's armor was rare in the next sea area.

"So... what is the next sea area like?"

"Maybe sailboats won't be viable at all."

Ethan believed that a purely wooden sailboat couldn't survive the end of that route. Even if it did make it, the danger would be immense.

At the central island, he had seen ships with metal plating and propellers powered by magic stone technology. Although he hadn't seen a ship built entirely of metal, the trend was clear.

"You need to decide quickly what kind of ship you want to build next."

Logan made a good point. Ethan had planned to design his next ship based on conditions along the current route, but now that plan seemed too conservative. He couldn't keep reacting to the environment and changing ships every time. That wouldn't work.

"Even though there are many problems to solve, this time I need to replace it with a good ship."

A full metal structure was already set in stone. Even if it took a year or two to build, he was willing to wait.

The displacement hadn't been decided yet, and the detailed design was still pending. What was certain was that he needed to integrate all his technology into this new ship.

"What's certain is that the new ship will definitely be a warship."

In this kind of world, you couldn't exactly sail around in a yacht. Considering the potential for sea battles, a warship was basically essential.

"The inside can be whatever we want, but what should the outside look like?"

Everyone present had plenty of energy. Even staying up all night wouldn't affect their activities the next day. After a while, their discussion drifted.

They went from talking about what kind of battleship to build for the next sea area to what kind of design would best suit their tastes.

"A battleship?"

Diana's image of a warship was still stuck in the age of sails, so she didn't have much input. But Logan had a deep connection to the weapons of World War I and II.

"Wouldn't the tonnage be too large?"

"Given the current situation, having more tonnage might not be a bad thing." He had initially thought that a 10,000-ton steel warship would be enough. But now, looking at the suit on the table, bigger and stronger seemed like a better idea.

"How about the Iowa class?"

For survivability and single-ship combat strength, a battleship was the top choice. The Iowa class was likely the last of the battleships, and also the one Logan was most familiar with.

Ethan rubbed his chin and recalled the design of the Iowa class. It fit his aesthetic fairly well, although he personally preferred the USS Hood or the Bismarck-class.

Of course, regardless of which design he chose, it would only resemble them in appearance. The internals would be completely different. Leaving Tony Stark's tech aside, Ethan would definitely incorporate more powerful magic stone technology and his own magic circles.

"A battleship that fires energy beams and has an energy shield... feels like I've seen that somewhere before..."

(To be continued.)

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