The Sea of Storms had arrived... Well, it was here! For the current Prinz Eugen, was there anything about the Sea of Storms that still warranted everyone's attention?
Other than the ship rocking more intensely, no one felt any difference compared to the previous voyage.
Although this Sea of Storms was filled with tornadoes, whirlpools, and occasional lightning strikes in addition to strong winds and waves, the Prinz Eugen could still navigate freely through this perilous area. The harsh sea conditions were no longer enough to capture anyone's attention.
Only Betty initially ran to the bridge and paid attention for a while. After realizing that the Prinz Eugen was even more powerful and sturdy than she had imagined, she stopped staying on the bridge every day.
After spending time together, although Ethan had not specifically introduced the Prinz Eugen to Betty, she was, after all, a reserve military talent who had received systematic education in a military academy of an advanced civilization. As long as she abandoned her initial idea of "viewing lower civilization lifeforms," she quickly realized how excellent a warship the Prinz Eugen was.
Such a ship was even more advanced and powerful than the vessels she had taken when preparing to challenge the Sea of Storms back then. In Betty's opinion, this ship was no worse than some of the spacecraft used by the Empire.
"How large is this Sea of Storms?"
Betty was the only one on the ship who knew these details, so Hill could only ask Betty.
"At the ship's current speed, we'll actually be through in no time."
The Sea of Storms was a test, but it was not considered very difficult. As long as you had a decent ship, you could cross this sea within a week.
At the Prinz Eugen's speed, it would likely pass through the Sea of Storms and reach the outermost Ring Sea – the Sea of Miracles – within three days.
Furthermore, unlike those wooden sailing ships, when crossing the Sea of Storms, the crew on wooden vessels had to be constantly vigilant, constantly fighting against the storm, carefully ensuring that the ship would not suffer damage, and promptly handling any damage that occurred.
But the Prinz Eugen was too sturdy. The steel warship with astonishing defense did not need to worry about this bit of storm causing damage to the hull at all. Everyone could go about their own business, and there was no need to nervously stay at their posts to prevent various potential situations.
Even if a problem did occur, the damage control equipment would deploy promptly. Nanobots could perfectly repair any damage, and there was no need for the crew to operate them. The Prinz Eugen's intelligent system could make the correct judgment immediately and dispatch repair robots in time.
Betty had known for a long time that this ship was equipped with artificial intelligence. She was no longer surprised by it and had even gradually gotten used to life on this ship.
What she was most curious about now was still the peculiar abilities Ethan and the others possessed.
Magic? Holy Light?
Could humans actually possess such miraculous power? How did he do it? Had all the people on this training ground undergone such a miraculous evolution?
She had many questions in her head, but most of them had not been answered yet. She believed she would figure out the "truth" sooner or later.
Unfortunately, she had not been able to see Ethan often recently. The captain had been hiding in that strange space lately, and she did not know what he was researching. He said he was studying some changes in magic attributes, words she could not understand the meaning of at all.
It was not strange that Betty could not understand. In fact, most people on the ship could not truly understand what Ethan was doing.
In everyone's eyes, he was just staring blankly at that increasingly large piece of land.
The island seed, after this period of cultivation, had successfully turned into a piece of land.
From its initial size of just one square meter, it had now become a piece of land about the size of the island they had previously landed on. Ethan had been sitting there all this time, without moving from his spot.
When people came here to "water" it, they could all see their captain, occasionally greeting him, chatting, or asking for guidance on training matters.
Ethan answered all sorts of questions normally, and there was nothing special about him other than sitting still in his original spot.
Even if asked what he was doing, he would directly reply, "I'm observing the composition of the earth!"
Everyone replied one after another: "Can't understand!" "Don't get it!" "Speak in plain language!"
Then Ethan stopped talking.
There was no way to explain it. If Tony were here, he might understand more. As for the people in front of him, they were just bored and came over to chat a bit. If Ethan were to explain a lot about what elements were contained within the earth, what substances it was composed of, how he should use magic power to construct such a structure, and what benefits mastering the earth's composition would have for his path in magic... they would probably run away before he even finished the first point.
So Ethan did not delve too deeply into these topics and continued his training, observing how this island seed transformed energy into land brimming with vigorous life.
More importantly, Ethan discovered that this piece of land actually possessed gravity itself, which could be considered a pleasant surprise.
If Ethan could glimpse the mysteries of gravity from this, even if he could not truly apply it, even if he could only integrate it into his sea of magic power, it would still have great benefits.
Perhaps it was because his previous training using the Reality Stone had already laid a very solid foundation for Ethan. This time, observing the birth of the island, he actually truly mastered the earth element.
Additionally, he also grasped a small part of the mysteries of energies like gravity and life. He could now condense magic power into a piece of land as he wished, and even freely transform this "land" into the form he desired.
That was not all. He discovered that he had not just comprehended the "earth element," because when this island grew, it did not just condense into a piece of land. It also contained various ores, could form volcanoes, and so on. Therefore, Ethan gained a lot this time. Unconsciously, the magical power he had mastered could already roughly piece together a diversified world.
"This small world can also be further improved."
Initially, Ethan had not completely figured out how this world should be built.
Apart from the central island, this world actually had no sky or ground, but this space had boundaries, so they could be used as sky and ground with some effort.
After incorporating the two elements of Holy Light and Shadow, day and night were barely simulated in this small world. According to the magic Ethan had designed beforehand, there would also be the sun, moonlight, and stars in the sky. However, these were not real suns, moons, and stars. They were essentially energy displayed in the desired form to produce similar effects, fundamentally similar to illusions, or rather, holographic images with a more realistic experience.
But Ethan had never figured out how to deal with the ocean and the seabed. Now, he had a way.
He began to adjust the island beneath him, causing its bottom to extend outwards until it filled the entire lower part of the space.
At the same time, the central area began to rise. In any case, the height of this space was sufficient, the rising terrain of this island would not pierce the sky.
This way, Ethan only needed to fill the surrounding area with enough water to form an ocean, encircling the central island.
But this alone would not work. If it were just like this, it would only be stagnant water. Ethan had to make this ocean "alive." Coincidentally, he had gained a little insight into the mystery of "life" from this island, which he could use here. This created a peculiar "symbiotic" relationship between the seawater and the island, and at the same time, the surrounding seawater was no longer stagnant but full of "vitality."
"I just don't know if life will be born in this ocean after a long time..."
While experiencing his newly mastered power, Ethan made some detailed adjustments to the island: he significantly raised the originally not-so-tall mountain peaks, causing snow to accumulate at the top. This way, some of the snow would melt, forming streams flowing down from the mountain and converging into rivers that eventually flowed into the sea. This was also creating "living water" and could also bring natural rain and snow weather to this space.
Ethan also conveniently created several hot springs on the mountain and even modified one of the spring outlets. At the cost of destroying an Arcane Spring, he connected this spring outlet to a space filled with arcane energy, making this space possess rich magical energy. This way, in addition to being suitable for relaxation, it could also serve as a good magic training ground. In the long run, this room could become another power source for the Prinz Eugen. Even if the arc reactor had problems, the entire warship could be propelled by pure magical energy.
Coupled with the island itself being full of vigorous life, it was suitable for Laura and Logan to practice Druid spells. It also contained the power of Holy Light and Shadow, so Selene and Hill could also cultivate here.
Looking at the island, which was bare but had undergone a great transformation, Ethan nodded in satisfaction. Coupled with the gains from his training during this period, he felt that staying any longer was meaningless.
He should also go out and take a look. Incidentally, he should let Logan and Laura start using their Druid abilities to stimulate the accelerated growth of plants on the island. Otherwise, a bare rocky island would not be a perfect vacation spot.
Ethan, who headed straight for the bridge, found that there was no one there except Hill. Ethan stood by the window and looked out, only to realize that everyone had gone to the deck to sunbathe.
Turning back to look at Hill, who was checking data, Ethan's head was full of question marks. "Didn't we enter the Sea of Storms?" How did this clear blue sea and sky look like the Sea of Storms? It seemed even more comfortable than the route they had been on.
Hill sighed and answered the captain's question helplessly. "We've already broken out of the Sea of Storms. If you go to the stern now, Captain, you should still be able to see the Sea of Storms one last time."
(To be continued.)
***
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