Life on the island was relaxing yet boring.
This floating island had a more complex terrain compared to the ones Ethan had found before, with mountains, a lake, and even a swamp.
Ethan and the others found many miscellaneous items on the island, but nothing truly useful. It was possible that valuable things were buried deeper, but Ethan wasn't in the mood to dig up the whole place just to check.
The only things worth collecting were some fruit and replenishing fresh water. Although the island had decent wood that could be harvested, it no longer held much significance for Ethan.
He no longer needed to collect large amounts of wood to build or buy a ship, and the spare timber on the Goddess of Dawn was enough to last until the ship's retirement.
Collecting wood was especially laborious and took up too much space, so Ethan and the others spared the trees and didn't cut down the small forest.
After gathering enough supplies and enjoying some leisurely days, Ethan didn't wait until the island was on the verge of collapse to leave. Instead, as soon as the island experienced its first tremor, he led everyone away from the area.
"What a pity. I thought we'd get to see the spectacular sight of the island collapsing and sinking into the sea."
Jonathan's lament resonated with several others. Quite a few, like Annette, Ada, and Evelyn—those who had joined the crew later—were hoping to witness such a scene.
Even Imhotep,who usually maintained a calm and aloof demeanor, held some curiosity about it deep down.
"As long as we continue to live in this sea region, there'll be plenty of opportunities to see a scene like that again."
What Ethan said was true. Watching a floating island sink wasn't hard. As long as he continued to live in this ocean world, he would inevitably need to search for various islands.
Even though he no longer depended on islands to survive, no one wanted to drift at sea endlessly. Even if just for a place to rest temporarily, searching for floating islands was unavoidable.
Besides, he couldn't be sure how long he would stay in the Sea of Miracles. Was he really worried about not encountering floating islands?
The Goddess of Dawn moved away from the storm-affected area. With her tonnage, sailing on calm seas meant the rocking motion could be kept to a minimum. For Ethan, an experienced sailor, it felt little different from being on land.
However, some of the new passengers still hadn't adjusted. For people like Evelyn, even slight swaying was noticeable, and they felt uncomfortable when the waves got stronger.
This was also why Ethan tried to sail the Goddess of Dawn in relatively calm waters—to give everyone time to adapt.
But the sea along this route changed quickly. He thought things would improve after leaving the turbulent storm zone, but unexpectedly, after only a short period of calm, they encountered a sudden storm.
Worse still, the storm lasted for three days and three nights. During this time, the Goddess of Dawn was constantly being tossed between waves, rising and falling again and again.
The constant up-and-down motion was anything but pleasant. Evelyn and the others, who had once thought this ocean world was fun and fascinating, were thoroughly worn down.
As a result, Evelyn, who had been eager to follow Ethan on his next trip to another world, decisively chose to stay behind when she learned the next destination also involved sailing.
Ethan didn't bother explaining that the sea conditions in the Caribbean were relatively calmer. The ocean was inherently unpredictable—even the Caribbean could have storms, and no one could guarantee what weather they'd encounter.
"So, is anyone else coming this time?"
Logan shook his head. This trip was to a world Ethan had already visited, one without any particularly dangerous beings and still in the era of sailing ships. He really couldn't find the motivation to go.
Evelyn and the others, who had initially shown interest, had been thoroughly shaken by the recent storm. Now that things had finally calmed down, they didn't want to arrive in a new world only to run into another tempest.
"Looks like it's just you, then."
Imhotep and Anck-su-namun were currently focused on improving their strength. At present, they were just two ordinary people who couldn't even protect themselves, so bringing them along would be meaningless. Since the other ordinary members weren't going, there was no need to bring Imhotep either.
His top priority now was to grow stronger. With so many resources available on the Goddess of Dawn, he needed to carefully consider what path to take.
Annette had no interest in anything outside of research. So in the end, only Ada was left.
"I'm not planning to go with you this time either."
"Huh?"
Ada had agreed to join his team not only because the reward he offered was attractive enough, but also because she wanted to see various worlds.
"There's not much worth seeing in that time period."
As a seasoned spy, she was highly knowledgeable, including in history.
The Caribbean of that era... there really wasn't much.
All you could observe were the customs and conditions of that time, but what was the point? Besides, Ethan had already said that this time, he was going to seek out someone.
The infamous Blackbeard, Edward Teach.
It was said that Blackbeard knew dark magic, and Ethan wanted to find him to learn a particular spell.
At first, Ada thought it was a relatively magical world, but she soon realized she had overestimated it. Once she learned that Blackbeard's so-called dark magic was just a little strange and not even comparable to what Ethan or Imhotep could do, she completely lost interest.
"All right then."
Ethan spread his hands. Since that was the case, there was no need to waste time preparing. He didn't even go back to his captain's cabin to avoid being seen. Instead, he activated the space-time circle directly in front of everyone, stepped inside, waved goodbye, and headed to the Caribbean world.
He always kept his most frequently used items in his storage space. As his mastery over spatial energy grew, his storage space had expanded, allowing him to carry much more. The only downside was that time couldn't be frozen inside it, so food and water would still spoil if stored for too long.
So he didn't keep those items in storage long-term, only grabbing them shortly before departure.
When his vision returned, Ethan first looked around and felt a strange sense of familiarity. With his current memory, he wouldn't forget something so easily. In just a moment, he knew where he was.
"I didn't expect to land here again."
Thinking back to his first time in the Caribbean, he had also appeared in this location and had to walk for a bit before reaching Port Royal.
"Looks like the landing spot hasn't changed at all."
He already knew that each world he traveled to was influenced by his subjective consciousness, but he hadn't studied how the specific landing point was determined. He wasn't sure if it was based on a previously recorded location or something buried in his subconscious.
Heading in a familiar direction, Ethan stood once more atop that hill and looked toward Port Royal in the distance.
He didn't know how much time had passed in this world since his last visit.
Although his mastery of the space-time orb had improved and he could easily lock onto previously visited worlds, unless it was a world like the Marvel Universe where he had left an anchor point, he couldn't precisely select the time.
In a completely "free-range" world like the Caribbean, he had no way to determine when he'd arrive. For all he knew, he might have landed in an era where Jack Sparrow had already died of old age.
Standing on the hill, he carefully observed the layout of Port Royal and found it wasn't much different from the last time he was here. It seemed not much time had passed.
That brought Ethan some relief. He wasn't concerned about whether Jack was dead, but if Blackbeard had already died, where would he find someone to teach him the ship-in-a-bottle dark magic?
He was fairly certain that this type of magic wasn't unique to Blackbeard. However, the movie never mentioned anyone else who knew it, nor did it explain where Blackbeard learned it.
So Ethan had no choice but to go seek him out. And to find Blackbeard, the easiest route was to track down Jack Sparrow.
"What a pity I didn't land directly on Jack Sparrow's ship… Speaking of him, I wonder if he's already been tossed onto a deserted island by his crew."
Jack Sparrow's methods were completely different from most pirates in this world. In Ethan's opinion, Jack was only suited to gather a few like-minded companions to travel the seas, exploring magical treasures and living out a life of adventure.
If he surrounded himself with pirates whose only goal was to plunder and grow rich, conflict was bound to arise. In the end, Jack would inevitably be thrown off the Black Pearl by a mutinous crew.
"I hope poor Jack isn't that unlucky."
If Jack had already lost the Black Pearl, Ethan would have to help him find it again. After all, if he wanted to track Blackbeard across the vast sea, he'd need a ship fast enough to get the job done.
(To be continued.)
Junkdog's Note: This is a thank you for your support with PS last week. We actually broke through T50; hopefully, we can keep it up this week. Thank you once again.
Also check out my new book and add it to library xD: Building a Monster Nation From Zero in Another World.
Thanks : )