After staying in Ethan's captain's quarters for a while, everyone gradually left.
Even newcomers like Evelyn and the others had spent considerable time with Ethan, gotten familiar with each other, and adapted to life aboard the ship. Besides, Ethan's travel to other worlds was instantaneous for them, so they didn't have thoughts like, "It's been so long, let's talk all night!"
So, after asking about a few interesting things, everyone went back to their own business.
For instance, Evelyn had recently noticed that the woman named Anck-su-namun often looked at her strangely. She had been trying to figure out why, so she took the initiative to get closer to Anck-su-namun.
Incidentally, she also learned some ancient Egyptian martial arts from her. Though Logan evaluated them as flashy and impractical, Evelyn was still happy to learn.
O'Connell, on the other hand, was very interested in various types of weapons. The Aurora held a collection of all kinds of cold and hot weapons, along with some magic-tech hybrids. While exploring how to use and maintain these weapons, O'Connell also learned about "what happened on Earth after his own time."
The person he consulted was none other than Logan, who acted as both a "history professor" and an "art professor." Logan also shared with him his knowledge of the "history of warfare" without holding back.
As for Imhotep, he was diligently studying all kinds of knowledge. His mentor was Selene, who had lived for over six hundred years.
Compared to Logan, Selene's knowledge was broader and more comprehensive, making her better suited to tutor these newcomers. Except for O'Connell, the others were all learning "Earth history" and related modern knowledge from Selene.
The six hundred years Selene had lived through just happened to be the period of Earth's most rapid technological development. She had personally witnessed the transformation and knew how to help these "antiques" understand and adapt to "modern knowledge."
Among them, there was one particularly unique case—Jonathan. Evelyn's brother was, surprisingly, the fastest to grasp "modern knowledge."
His method of acquiring it left Ethan speechless: he tagged along with Laura and Sherry and absorbed all sorts of new knowledge through video games. However, his learning was quite chaotic, and he picked up a lot of strange and quirky things.
Ethan had been keeping an eye on their "learning" progress. This trip to the Marvel world would definitely be a group operation, and he planned to stay there for quite a while. He didn't want that time to be wasted.
Although Evelyn and the others joining the ship had been an accident, they should still learn and improve. If they were truly so weak that they couldn't even protect themselves, it would only become a burden for Ethan.
Now, all members aboard the ship—even the youngest Sherry and the science-focused Annette—engaged in daily exercise.
Sherry exercised to help stimulate her body's development. The medicine Ethan gave her was a mild-acting potion with a fixed upper limit, but individual actions still affected its final outcome. For example, accelerating her growth so she could use more advanced potions sooner.
Even for Annette, who used a higher-grade potion, consistent training helped her better harness her strength, control her body, and even stimulate absorption of latent energies still lingering within her, further enhancing her physique.
So maintaining an exercise routine was essential. Even Ethan still stuck to his own.
However, Ethan wasn't the most diligent person training on the ship. The most dedicated were Imhotep—who had reunited with his lover and enjoyed enough peace and gentleness—and Ada, who never allowed herself to relax.
"Still up? It's so late."
"You're not resting either."
Ada was wearing a dark green tank top and loose training pants. A towel hung around her neck. She held a drink in one hand and used the towel to wipe sweat from her face with the other.
Judging from her appearance, like she had just come out of the sea, it was clear she had just completed a high-intensity workout.
"Want to go up on deck and feel the sea breeze?"
Ada took a sip, narrowed her eyes, and gave Ethan "that look~." It made him feel slightly awkward, wondering if there was something wrong with him, before Ada finally nodded and agreed.
"Though it's the middle of the night and all you get is cold wind and pitch darkness, since the Captain personally invited me, I suppose I can reluctantly accept."
Ethan was speechless. Only then did he realize why Ada had looked at him that way. Honestly, he had just invited her casually, without thinking much about it.
"If you don't want to, forget it."
"Oh?" Ada suddenly looked intrigued. "Tsundere?"
"..." Ethan nearly choked on his own breath. "Where did you learn that word?"
"Laura has a lot of games, anime, and stuff like that." Ada shrugged, acting as if she had picked it up unintentionally. "There's not much entertainment on the ship, so sometimes I play games too."
What kind of games was Laura letting Ada play?
Internally grumbling, Ethan felt like checking all of Laura's games and anime one by one. With a frustrated expression, he walked toward the deck.
Ada followed behind Ethan, her slippers softly tapping the floor. When Ethan looked back, he noticed that she had changed into a pair of slippers at some point. Her loose pant legs were rolled up slightly, revealing her slender, pale ankles and part of her shapely calves.
Ethan didn't stare for long. He glanced once, then looked away and walked all the way to the bow of the ship to gaze into the distance.
There really wasn't much to see out at sea at night. It was pitch black, and nothing was visible at all.
On nights with starlight or moonlight, the sea's surface might reflect some light. But tonight, the starlight was dim, and everything beyond the ship was pure darkness.
If not for the lights on the mast used for visibility and signaling "a ship is here," wandering the deck on a night like this could easily result in someone falling into the sea due to poor visibility.
Even so, visibility was pitifully low. Ethan was fine due to his exceptional physical condition, but Ada lagged behind him and took a bit longer to reach the bow.
"You really just invited me up here to feel the sea breeze?"
Ethan stood quietly for a while, letting the wind brush against him. Although there was nothing to see, the sea breeze felt quite comfortable. When Ada asked, he nodded instinctively. "What else did you think I invited you for?"
"I thought the Captain was going to make a move!"
Ethan turned to look at Ada, speechless, unsure how to respond. Should he say she was overthinking it? But to say he had no such thoughts at all… Unless Ethan wasn't a man or happened to share Ada's preferences.
In the end, he could only respond with a helpless look and continue staring into the sea, occasionally tossing out a question or two.
"You've been living on the ship for a while now. We've traveled through different worlds together. How do you feel about this kind of life?"
"Very good."
Ada's answer was short and to the point.
It wasn't because she was humoring Ethan. She truly felt that way.
This life was far more relaxing than her previous one. It was safe and stable, but also filled with excitement and interesting experiences. It satisfied the part of her that hated monotony.
Moreover, the benefits Ethan offered were excellent. She could clearly feel her physical condition improving. Training late at night wasn't about being overly driven. It was that, with the comprehensive strengthening of her body and mind, her need for rest had drastically decreased. A short break each day was enough to restore her to peak energy, and even staying awake for several days wouldn't negatively affect her performance.
That visible improvement became her motivation to train harder. She was eager to see what the next level of enhancement would bring her.
Becoming a god? Based on Ethan's background, it didn't seem impossible. And this wasn't the delusion of some mad scientist, but actual evolution into a higher life form akin to a deity.
Aside from her anticipation for the future, Ada had initially assumed she'd be forced to pay some sort of price. After all, Ethan's gaze wasn't exactly pure, and even just now, she had sensed his lingering glance.
Ada knew exactly how attractive she was. During her spy career, she had lost count of how many people had lusted after her. If Ethan had truly made a move, she wouldn't have been surprised.
What truly surprised her was that even though Ethan showed interest, he never acted on it. He had impressive self-control.
If someone who had nothing resisted their desires, it meant little.
But someone like Ethan, who had overwhelming power and could use force or charm to get what he wanted, yet still chose to restrain himself—that was truly rare.
That made Ada feel respected. Which was why she said "very good"—because she truly thought it was very good.
"That's great then."
Ethan could tell that Ada's answer was sincere, and it gave him a small sense of relief.
He wasn't a child. He understood that pleasing everyone was difficult, even unrealistic. But he still hoped that everyone on the ship was satisfied with their lives.
Especially those he had personally invited to join the team. Seeing them happy gave him a sense of achievement, a confirmation that his efforts weren't in vain.
It was a small dream of Ethan's, but as more and more people joined, achieving it would only become harder.
(To be continued.)