The following days were peaceful and simple. The Goddess of Dawn cruised near the entrance to the southern sea route, either searching for space-time energy to replenish or looking for floating islands to resupply basic necessities.
In the blink of an eye, two months had passed. Evelyn and the others had adapted to life on the ship and had learned the language and basic knowledge of this world.
They still used the specialized learning device created by Ethan. The device was already quite complete, and Ethan hadn't continued upgrading it, only performing occasional maintenance to check for any issues.
During this time, the only notable event was the rapid loss of life force from Imhotep's body, eventually causing him to revert to a mummy's appearance before everyone's eyes.
Because Ethan had warned him in advance, although Imhotep felt his body growing weaker and weaker, as if he could die at any moment, he wasn't worried at all.
When he felt that he could no longer hold on, Ethan had already prepared a plan. He set up a magic circle in the training room where he had previously sparred with Loki, specifically to preserve and protect Imhotep's soul.
Ethan was unsure of the rules of this world, and even less sure where the deceased of this world went or in what form they departed.
If a soul was immediately transported to its destination after death, unexpected changes could easily occur if he only set up the magic circle after Imhotep died. Therefore, the best method was to prepare in advance. This way, after Imhotep's death, his soul would be retained within the pre-arranged magic circle and wouldn't be taken away by some mysterious force.
With his soul preserved and his body still present, all Ethan needed to do was reunite Imhotep's soul with his body. At the same time, the already prepared Fountain of Life could replenish the lost life force in his body.
After the Holy Light Cross was upgraded, Ethan discovered that using the holy light contained within it to perform this kind of resurrection with all the necessary items was a very simple matter.
Furthermore, the holy light itself contained abundant vitality. As Imhotep's body was bathed in the holy light, it gradually began to recover its human form.
Once Imhotep's soul returned to his body and recombined, he was finally resurrected.
This resurrection was completely different from his previous ones. The current Imhotep was truly resurrected, no longer in that half-dead state. The disadvantage, of course, was the loss of his extremely powerful immortality.
But the advantages were more numerous, especially the disappearance of the many shackles that had bound his soul.
Although Imhotep was now weak, he had infinite possibilities once again.
He could train in magic again, recover his strength, and no longer had to worry about his magic power being suddenly stripped away by his faith or some other deity.
The resurrected Imhotep once again pledged his loyalty to Ethan. This time, even Anck-su-namun joined Imhotep in expressing her willingness to become Ethan's follower.
In Imhotep and Anck-su-namun's view, Ethan was no different from a god. Besides, through their time together, they knew that Ethan indeed possessed divinity. Although he wasn't a powerful god at the moment, he was indeed a demigod.
Offering one's faith to an ordinary person might have some psychological barriers, but offering everything to a god was very normal in the eyes of a former High Priest of Egypt.
Even if Ethan, this god, had a significant gap compared to Anubis, Imhotep was no fool. He knew that not long ago, Ethan had been just an ordinary person, and in less than twenty years, had gone from that to his current level. With a super long lifespan, who could say Ethan wouldn't surpass Anubis in the future?
If he devoutly served this new god, then when Ethan reached the peak, he too would have the opportunity to become a god. At the very least, he could become a divine servant. Presumably, the benevolent and generous Ethan would certainly not hesitate to bestow a long life and a healthy body upon his divine servants.
Imhotep was someone who had experienced death, and he didn't want to taste that feeling again. As it stood, staying with Ethan and becoming his servant was the best option for obtaining near-immortal life.
He had discussed his thoughts with Anck-su-namun, and she also agreed with Imhotep's idea. Having died once, she too didn't want to lose the life she had regained, and she also hoped to live longer.
She also hoped to maintain her current youthful and beautiful appearance. These were things that only Ethan seemed capable of bestowing upon them.
This time, Ethan neither refused nor said he would consider it later. He almost tacitly accepted Imhotep's self-proclaimed status as a "divine servant."
Anyway, he did have a bit of divinity, and strictly speaking, he was a demigod. It was completely reasonable for his servants to call themselves divine servants.
Of course, for now, Imhotep and Anck-su-namun, these two divine servants, were just that in name. Perhaps they could act as escorts when going out in the future.
They couldn't do any of the things that genuine "servants" would do. If Ethan expected them to wash clothes, sweep floors, make beds, or cook for him, he'd probably die of anger.
One was a High Priest who once commanded numerous subordinates—such trivial matters would never have fallen to High Priest Imhotep himself.
As for Anck-su-namun? She had been the Pharaoh's favorite concubine, also with more than enough servants and attendants to wait on her.
So, their only role at the moment was to follow behind and lend some presence. They didn't even have the ability to fight. Imhotep and Anck-su-namun were resurrected as ordinary people. Although they had some combat ability, that level of strength was negligible in Ethan's eyes now.
With Imhotep resurrected and two more servants acquired, life on the Goddess of Dawn returned to its peaceful and leisurely rhythm.
O'Connell and Jonathan also gradually grew fond of life on the ship. For them, this leisurely and comfortable life at sea was much better than Egypt. Here, they had plenty to eat and wear, and even if they needed to contribute some labor by helping to wipe the deck or clean the cabins, it was only right, and they didn't see any problem with it.
Furthermore, the living facilities on the Goddess of Dawn were very convenient. If it weren't for the constant rocking of the ship due to the waves at sea, they felt that living on this ship was even more comfortable than living in a mansion.
"Evelyn made a very correct decision this time."
Jonathan, sitting by the ship's rail, took a fishing rod from the storeroom and casually started fishing. He didn't expect to catch anything, just enjoying the pleasant leisure time.
O'Connell held a bottle of fruit wine in his hand. This wasn't something Ethan brought back from another world, but a native product of this world. Most adventurers would stock up on a lot of alcohol on their ships because, compared to fresh water, alcohol was less likely to spoil.
Although powerful adventurers would install water purification devices on their ships, they would still carry some fresh water and alcohol as reserves just in case.
Ethan's ship also carried some, just less than most adventurers. Previously, only Logan would drink this stuff on the ship. Ethan himself rarely drank alcohol, and when he did, he preferred alcohol brought back from other universes—especially some high-end stuff he got from Tony.
O'Connell obviously couldn't get his hands on Ethan's collection, but the alcohol in the storeroom had a unique flavor. It wasn't strongly alcoholic and had a light fragrance. Drinking a lot didn't cause many side effects, and it was fine to drink it casually like a beverage.
At this moment, he was drinking it like a beverage, standing behind Jonathan and watching him fish, while chatting idly with Logan who was not far away.
Since Logan boarded the Goddess of Dawn, he would usually stand by the helm and control the ship unless there were special circumstances.
But today he didn't have to. Besides the fact that they only needed to sail slowly in a straight line on the sea, and the weather and waves were calm, it was also because Ethan, for a rare change, was personally standing by the helm today.
Although he didn't stay by the helm like Logan, he stood on the poop deck basking in the sun. He had moved his deck chair up and was lying on it, sunbathing while flipping through the Book of Inheritance which contained a great deal of knowledge.
Even while maintaining this posture, if any change occurred along the route that required a response, he could complete all operations without getting up.
He could control the console freely through mental power, and the simple spell Mage Hand allowed him to control the helm without leaving his seat.
Of course, the function of Mage Hand wasn't just for controlling the helm. It could also be used to help people retrieve things.
"Can you help me get a bottle of juice?"
There wasn't just one deck chair on the poop deck. All the women on the ship were gathered here, including Selene, the vampire who disliked the sun, who had been dragged along. Except for Ethan's chair placed in front of the helm and console, the other deck chairs were lined up, and the women were lying on them, comfortably enjoying the sunbath.
They didn't need to get up to retrieve the drinks from the ice-filled box. They just needed to tell Ethan.
Ethan didn't need to get up either. He just moved his fingers slightly, and the juice floated out of the ice box on its own, slowly flying into the women's hands.
"Thank you very much."
"Just saying thank you isn't sincere enough. Where's my tip?"
Ethan didn't move at all, not even shifting his gaze from the book. He just teased them casually, not expecting anyone to actually respond.
Unexpectedly, a whooshing sound came, and his heightened senses told him something was flying toward him. Ethan reached out with his left hand and caught the object—it was a small piece of gold, brought back from Hamunaptra.
"Quite generous."
Ethan sat up slightly. He felt that constantly reading the book seemed a bit unnatural. The scenery beside him was clearly much more beautiful than the book, so why was he so immersed in the sea of books, not even glancing to the side?
(To be continued.)