Betty, who suspected she might have become a guide, did not fall back into indecision. She no longer had the energy to care about such things.
All she wanted now was to go home, though she suspected she might never be able to return in this lifetime.
In fact, if she had pressed further, Ethan would have definitely told her some things that would make her realize she still had a chance to go back.
If she did not ask, Ethan would not deliberately bring it up. Anyway, as Betty spent more time on the ship, she would eventually discover some things on her own, even without being taken to other worlds. For example, she would notice that only about a second passed in this world whenever Ethan and the others left.
However, Ethan would still occasionally bring people onto the Prinz Eugen.
With strangers suddenly appearing, this secret would definitely not remain hidden. Even if they used the excuse of "special teleportation equipment on the ship," it would not fool anyone for long.
But if combined with a hidden identity such as "forward reconnaissance personnel from an advanced civilization, here to investigate the Empire," perhaps it could mislead them for a while.
The following days passed uneventfully, until the Prinz Eugen sailed to the outermost edge of the ring-shaped sea. At that moment, the ship seemed to come alive again.
This time, everyone, including Hill, gathered on the deck, standing by the railing and looking into the distance.
"It really is outer space."
The feeling was surreal. Standing on the open deck, they could clearly see the dark void not far away with their naked eyes, yet they felt no discomfort. With seawater below and blue sky above, the cosmic void looked like a scene projected onto a massive screen.
"This feeling is really a bit strange."
The more they understood, the stranger it felt. People like Annette and Hill, who were more knowledgeable about space, felt uneasy looking at the sight before them.
"You can think of it this way." Ethan, who had experienced too many strange things, felt no discomfort at all. Not only could he stand here and watch the void nearby, even if he were thrown directly into the void without protective gear, it would not bother him: "We are actually on a giant spaceship, and right now we are looking at the scenery of space through its floor-to-ceiling windows."
Listening to Ethan's explanation, everyone found the analogy very fitting. Wasn't this training ground essentially a super-large spaceship? The energy field could be thought of as a special kind of window.
With this thought, everyone stopped finding it strange.
Ethan floated slowly into the air, then flew into the distance.
No one was surprised. If anything, it would have been strange if Ethan had not gone to investigate.
Only Betty, as always, kept searching for a scientific explanation, her eyes constantly scanning him as if refusing to give up until she found the equipment he used to fly.
Ethan ignored her. If she really figured it out, he might have had to ask her for guidance. Even though he had learned to fly this way, if asked to explain the principle behind it... he truly could not. It was more like a talent than a technique.
Looking down at the sea, Ethan quickly reached the true edge of the Sea of Miracles.
He did not rush forward. Instead, he descended and came to the outermost edge to observe the "bottom" of this world.
Probably no one else could do this, since no one here had the ability to fly freely.
Hovering outside the true boundary of the training ground, Ethan slowly descended. He watched as endless seawater poured down like a waterfall. At first, it fell vertically, but soon it curved into an arc and eventually converged toward the center.
The sight was indescribable. Ethan estimated that the seawater still returned to the ocean, since the unsinkable islands had never changed in size. This meant the sea level had always remained stable, with no increase or decrease.
So the seawater that appeared to fall into the void was actually recycled by some mechanism and returned to the ocean, forming a perfect cycle.
From outside, all Ethan could see was a vast stream of seawater flowing toward a fixed point. Given the size of this training ground, he could not see much more from here. Beyond that, there was only endless void.
Looking down, he saw many scattered meteorites. They seemed to form a natural shield for the training ground, blocking or deflecting meteors to prevent impacts.
"Was this deliberately built inside an asteroid belt?"
That question had no answer for now. Ethan rose back up to sea level, then turned and flew into the distance.
The people on the Prinz Eugen had been waiting for him. When he descended, they could not see what he was observing. Now that he was back in sight, they could see what he was doing.
He continued flying further, until he stopped at a great distance and extended his hand, as if pressing against an invisible wall.
At that range, his actions were no longer visible to the naked eye. Logan and Laura used the Eagle Eye spell to watch him and described what they saw to the others.
"That must be the energy field."
"It should be."
"What is Ethan doing?"
"It looks like... a teleportation spell?"
Indeed, Ethan was attempting a teleportation spell. With a wave of his hand, a circular blue portal opened on the energy layer. On the other side lay the cosmic void. Instead of entering himself, Ethan conjured a small blue bird from magic and let it fly through.
"Tsk!"
The moment the bird entered, the portal destabilized. It twisted violently, the turbulence shredding the magic bird and collapsing the portal.
"As expected, it's not that simple."
The energy layer was not a single barrier but composed of many layers, with hidden mechanisms embedded within. Ethan was not surprised.
As a military facility, the Empire naturally had technology to manipulate energy. If they dared use an energy barrier as the outer wall of the training ground, there would surely be safeguards and countermeasures.
Since magic itself was an application of energy and rules, it was only natural that spells would be disrupted by certain energy interference.
But this did not trouble Ethan. He still had countless ways to bypass or disable such defenses. When he cast the spell again, the magic bird this time passed through, flying into the vacuum by expelling energy as thrust, until its power ran out and it dissipated far away.
Having confirmed that he could take everyone out if necessary, Ethan lost interest in the barrier.
Its principles were similar to the energy shields he and Tony had developed using magic stone technology. It seemed likely that magic stones themselves were either a technological foundation of the Empire or a crystallization of its science. Ethan leaned toward the latter.
Either way, with his knowledge, he could bypass the wall with ease.
Returning to the Prinz Eugen, Ethan was met with everyone waiting for his report, while Betty circled him once again.
"Stop staring. Next time I'll fly in nothing but shorts for you to see, then you'll believe I can really fly!"
"Humans cannot fly!" Betty said firmly, treating it as an unshakable truth. "There must be special equipment. Could it be micro devices implanted in your body?"
Suddenly, her eyes lit up with realization. "Or maybe... you're not human!"
Ethan's face darkened. Too lazy to argue, he turned to the others and explained what he had found.
He only briefly mentioned what lay below, focusing instead on the energy layer.
"The outer energy layer isn't just one barrier. Starting from the ocean's edge, there are multiple layers. They don't stop people or creatures from entering or leaving, but they do affect airflow."
Which meant that near the barrier, the environment was almost like the vacuum of space.
"Low temperature, no oxygen, no gravity."
However, none of this mattered. No one would foolishly try to fly out there, and aside from Ethan, no one could fly anyway.
"The outermost wall is also multilayered, and some hidden mechanisms activate when disturbed by energy."
"So your first teleportation failed?" At first, they had not clearly seen his actions, only that he cast the spell twice. From that, it was easy to guess the first attempt had gone wrong.
"Yes."
Ethan did not feel embarrassed. Experiments often came with unexpected failures. As long as the goal was achieved and no major problems arose, that was enough.
"Speaking of problems, maybe we should leave this area."
"Did you trigger an alarm?"
"I don't know if I did, but that possibility can't be ruled out." Ethan rubbed his chin. "Of course, we could also stay here and see if anyone from the Empire or the Guild comes to investigate."
That idea sounded good. The Prinz Eugen could remain invisible, so the Guild would never find them.
If it were the Empire... they might even capture a few people and question them.
(To be continued.)