Ethan had previously wanted to negotiate with the Guardians because he didn't want them causing trouble while he was trying to resurrect Imhotep, wasting both time and energy.
Now that Imhotep was resurrected, what was there left to negotiate?
Make friends with the Guardians? Ethan wasn't interested, and the Guardians wouldn't really consider someone like him—an outsider who had brought Imhotep back to life—as a friend anyway. The only reason they were showing up now was that they'd realized they couldn't defeat him head-on and were trying to find another way.
Ethan couldn't be bothered with them anymore. He was about to start learning necromancy and resurrection magic from Imhotep and had no time to waste.
If they were smart and left him alone, there'd be no problem. If they wanted to die and insisted on showing up, Ethan wouldn't mind sending them off.
Ignoring Ardeth Bay, Ethan moved his fingers slightly. A blue portal appeared beside him.
He didn't want to stay in the desert. Hamunaptra might be several thousand years old, but at least it had a roof and wasn't filled with endless sand.
The desert wind carried fine grains of sand that could seep into nearly every crevice. Just standing still, it was hard to avoid the tiny grains working their way into your clothes and especially your shoes. Staying there for a long time was extremely uncomfortable.
Actually, Ethan wanted to leave this place altogether, but if he wanted to resurrect Anck-su-namun, Imhotep needed to prepare in advance. The necessary altar was already in Hamunaptra, and the resurrection also required her body and the internal organs that had been removed, which were still inside the pyramid.
Logan and the others stepped through the portal one by one. Ethan was the last to enter, but before he left, he gave Ardeth Bay a final message that could be considered a last bit of advice: "I have no interest in destroying the world or letting Imhotep cause any disasters. That is my true intention. Whether you believe me or not is up to you."
With Imhotep in tow, Ethan stepped into the portal. The blue light vanished immediately. Ardeth Bay had no idea where they had gone or what he should do next, so he could only return to his team and discuss the next steps with the higher-ups in the Guardians.
Ethan, who had returned to Hamunaptra, didn't care about the Guardians' reaction. He had his own priorities.
As for the group of explorers, most had been killed by the Guardians. A few who escaped had fled into the desert. Whether they survived depended entirely on their own luck.
Hamunaptra fell silent once more. Just a few people like Ethan wandering the massive pyramid weren't enough to bring much life to the ancient ruins.
No matter how much noise they made inside, from the outside Hamunaptra still looked like a lifeless ancient pyramid. That's why Ardeth Bay didn't realize they had returned.
"My lord, are you really willing to help me resurrect Anck-su-namun?"
Imhotep asked the question that weighed on his heart. He couldn't understand why Ethan was willing to help him. After their recent conflict, he didn't think someone like Ethan would be so generous as to forgive his past actions and even help him bring his lover back to life.
He suspected Ethan had an ulterior motive, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
"As long as you can solve my problem."
Ethan repeated this condition. Imhotep had to fully answer all of Ethan's questions about souls and resurrection before he would assist with bringing Anck-su-namun back.
If possible, Ethan also wanted Imhotep to swear an oath. Once Anck-su-namun was resurrected, the two of them should live their lives peacefully and not try to destroy the world with their powers.
Ethan felt Imhotep didn't have such ambitions. In the second movie, the desire to defeat the Scorpion King and control the Army of Anubis came more from the reincarnated Anck-su-namun. If she hadn't suggested it, Imhotep might never have considered conquering the world.
As for that reincarnated Anck-su-namun…
In his previous life, some believed the woman just resembled Anck-su-namun and wasn't her true reincarnation. Ethan didn't care either way. Whether she was real or fake made no difference now.
He was going to summon the soul of the original Anck-su-namun from the underworld of this world and resurrect her using her original body. Even if that reincarnated version was the real Anck-su-namun, Imhotep would definitely prefer the original.
But if Anck-su-namun had been reincarnated, was her soul still in the underworld? Or did reincarnation in this world not involve the entire soul, leaving behind her memories and part of her soul in the underworld, while only a fragment with residual imprints had been reborn?
This seemed to involve some of the world's laws, and just thinking about it gave Ethan a headache.
The best-case scenario was that she was a fake and the real Anck-su-namun's soul was still in the underworld.
A slightly worse outcome was that only a partial Anck-su-namun could be resurrected. In that case, Ethan might need to find the reincarnated body and help her merge with her full soul—only by resolving all these issues could he fully understand the resurrection process.
"Maybe this is why Imhotep is bound by the Book of the Living? Is his soul actually incomplete?"
Since becoming a mage, Ethan's thoughts had grown increasingly scattered. He jumped from considering Anck-su-namun's situation to thinking about Imhotep's restraints.
But it wasn't just random speculation. If he didn't figure out these issues, he wouldn't know where to start. He needed to eliminate all hidden dangers before heading to Tony Stark. He wasn't the type to offer a half-baked solution.
Hamunaptra was massive, and Imhotep knew his way around well. Everyone quickly found a clean and relatively intact room to settle down in.
Evelyn was delighted. She could finally study everything in depth. To her, everything inside Hamunaptra was a major archaeological discovery.
O'Connell was bored. He had no interest in archaeology, but after finding countless treasures, he and Jonathan found something to do—collecting valuable, easily portable gold and jewelry, leaving behind the heavier containers.
Even if they only took a small portion, it would be enough for them to live comfortably and never worry about money again. They felt the trip was well worth it.
Following Ethan's suggestion, Logan also packed up some gold to bring back. Ethan and the others needed to travel between different worlds. The gold he'd been using before was left by Arthur. While it hadn't been used up yet, there wasn't much left to begin with. This time, they could replenish their supply and avoid shortages later.
Ada didn't have anything specific to do. She wandered around Hamunaptra every day and occasionally went outside to check on the situation. It counted as a basic recon mission and a chance to experience the unique culture of this world.
Only Ethan was busy. He spent every day discussing various mystical topics with Imhotep.
Starting from the basics of ancient Egyptian magic, they covered the specific spell mechanisms in the Book of the Dead and the Book of the Living. As a high priest, Imhotep lived up to his title. His understanding of ancient Egyptian magic exceeded Ethan's expectations.
For example, Imhotep had long since figured out the principles behind the divine spells recorded in the two books. This meant that as long as he had enough magic power, even without faith, he could still cast the spells by following the correct steps.
The problem was that Imhotep's magic as a high priest came from his devout faith and the painful curse he suffered after death. The magic power he'd cultivated in life had been wiped out when he died. At certain specific moments, his magic power would be completely stripped away without leaving a trace.
However, that didn't affect Ethan's learning of ancient Egyptian magic. He was finally able to study these spells in detail, especially the parts related to death, the underworld, and souls in the Book of the Dead.
"Even with my understanding of death and soul magic, I still can't cast these spells using my own power. I must rely on the Book of the Dead and the power attached to it to resurrect Anck-su-namun."
Through systematic learning and study, Ethan finally realized how difficult resurrection truly was. Imhotep admitted that despite understanding the principles of the spells in the Book of the Dead, he simply couldn't perform them.
It wasn't just about whether he had enough magic power—it also involved the deeper issue of "authority and responsibility."
In this world of The Mummy, where gods really existed, did you think you could just steal something from the underworld they ruled? The gods could easily destroy you and drag your soul back for eternal punishment.
Ethan thought about it for a while. The Marvel Cinematic Universe also seemed to have a hell. There was a scene depicting it in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Although the show didn't provide much explanation and didn't mention whether powerful beings governed heaven or hell, Ethan understood one thing—even a sub-plane that operated solely on rules wouldn't allow people to freely take whatever they wanted from it.
"Even if the god of death allows you to summon a soul back to the human world, they will pay close attention to the process."
This was the fundamental reason Imhotep had been subject to so many restrictions after his resurrection. That's why it was incredibly difficult to extract a soul without attracting the attention of powerful beings or universal laws and without leaving any shackles behind.
(To be continued.)