Ethan pondered where to go for a long time. Even when Shirley and the others found him, he still had not come up with a clear idea.
It was not that he did not know which world would be interesting, but rather that there were too many choices, leaving him in a state of indecision.
In contrast, the young people's ideas were much simpler.
"A place where we can fully demonstrate our strength."
Laura had improved the most, and she was eager to show off in front of her companions, especially since her mutant abilities had been optimized. She wanted everyone to see her new self.
"A place where I can fight to my heart's content."
Mordred's request was straightforward. She did not care what kind of world it was, as long as it had plenty of enemies for her to unleash her excess energy on.
"Somewhere a little interesting, I guess..."
Shirley had no specific demand, but since the others had spoken, she felt it would be strange not to say anything. In truth, she just wanted to have fun. She believed that any world chosen according to the other two's requests would not disappoint her.
"I see..."
Ethan glanced at Galahad. This young Knight of the Round Table had no requests. His duty, or rather his mission, was to accompany Mordred. Wherever she went, he would follow.
"I do know of a world with plenty of enemies where you can fight as much as you like."
There was more than one such world. Judging by the strength of the young ones, those worlds would not truly threaten them. That made them perfect for entertainment.
"What kind of enemies?" Mordred only cared about whether the enemies were strong or not.
Ethan gave her a look that seemed to say, "You want strong opponents? Talk about that when you're older." Then he asked, "Do you know what zombies are?"
"Zombies?"
This word brought back unpleasant memories for Shirley. As a child in Raccoon City, she had seen those disgusting monsters everywhere.
Although she was far stronger now and no longer afraid of those slow-moving creatures, the memory still made her uncomfortable.
But she also knew she had to overcome it, so she felt that going to a world full of zombies might be a good choice.
For Mordred, though, the word was unfamiliar. "What are those things?"
Laura quietly explained a bit to her. Only then did Mordred remember that she had seen such monsters before. "Are they those slow, ugly, rotting corpses?"
There was a small cinema on the ship, and Laura had collected many films. In her free time, Mordred had watched a few zombie movies.
She had not thought much of them. But Ethan's next words caught her attention.
"I know a world where the zombies are very fast, with many mutations and strange abilities. It's quite suitable for some fun."
Most importantly, there were countless of them. Even with the girls' strength, facing such numbers would be troublesome.
"This is an excellent chance for practical training."
"Tch, what training? You could wipe them all out with a single spell."
Others might not know, but Laura had personally seen Ethan's devastating offensive magic. With his strength, one spell could flatten a city.
To her surprise, Ethan said he would not intervene this time and would let the young ones play to their heart's content.
"That actually sounds interesting. Let's go there!"
Ethan nodded and took them to the teleportation room. Along the way, they ran into Logan, who was heading to the deck. When he heard the young people were going to another world to have fun, he joined them and asked a few questions.
"Sending them to play?"
He quickly grasped the point.
"What about you?"
"I also want to find a world to have some fun in."
"..."
Logan realized Ethan did not intend to go with Laura and the others.
Following them into the teleportation room, Ethan gestured for Logan to close the door. Then he had the Prinz Eugen's AI activate maximum-level monitoring for the room.
"The world we're going to this time has a particularly vicious virus, so we need to take precautions. Does everyone have the antidotes, hemostatics, and other medicines I distributed?"
Since Ethan had given everyone new space storage equipment, they no longer needed to prepare gear each time. They carried it all constantly, ready to depart at any moment.
Even Mordred and Galahad, who had joined most recently, had their own storage items, making it easy to carry their weapons and basic supplies.
So, although they looked casual, as if heading to a corner shop, within seconds they could be fully armed.
Seeing everyone ready, Ethan activated the teleportation spell. When their vision cleared, they found themselves in an alley in a modern city.
The place was desolate, as if struck by disaster. The gloomy sky and dim light made the atmosphere oppressive.
"The situation here is this. Because of a peculiar virus, most people have gone mad. The infected will attack normal humans on sight."
The young people turned to look at him, and Ethan continued.
"Among the infected, there are special mutants, the monsters with strange abilities I mentioned earlier."
"So basically, any living thing we meet is an enemy?" Laura asked. As a druid, she was more attuned to nature than Logan, and this place's aura made her uncomfortable.
"Pretty much."
After explaining, Ethan waved them goodbye. "I won't be staying this time. When you've had enough, just use the communication rune to contact me, and I'll come get you."
"You're leaving?"
"I plan to go to another world to look around."
"He must have thought of somewhere more fun and just dumped us here."
Laura said this aloud without hesitation, and everyone heard. Ethan resisted the urge to smack her and instead forced a smile. "If you encounter real danger, Galahad has emergency measures. Enjoy this 'Road to Survival'."
With that, before they could react, he took Logan and left.
He did not see their stunned expressions. Back on the Prinz Eugen, he and Logan stayed in the teleportation room for testing to ensure no virus had followed them back.
"Will those young ones be fine?"
"No problem." Ethan was certain this world posed no real threat. With their gear, or even with simple baseball bats or steel pipes, they could sweep through the city.
The mutants might be a bit of a challenge, but nothing beyond their capability.
Besides, they lacked real, continuous combat experience. This was a good chance for training.
"Galahad is calm. If something goes wrong, he knows what to do."
Ethan had not abandoned them. Galahad's shield had another function. In an emergency, it could be set on the ground as a teleportation circle, directly connecting back to the Prinz Eugen's teleportation room.
With Galahad present, they could return at any time without Ethan.
After explaining this to Logan, Ethan relaxed completely.
"So you didn't stay because you want to use this to train them?"
"No, I really plan to find another world for some fun." Ethan glanced at him. "Want to come? I think it will be interesting."
Logan had intended to decline, but it had been boring lately, so he agreed.
"I'll ask the others."
Betty was excluded, as she was still a temporary passenger and not allowed to travel between worlds.
Hill and Selene had little interest in this sort of thing. Evelyn, Jonathan, and the others lost their brief curiosity once they learned it involved countless monsters. Evelyn shook her head vigorously, refusing outright.
In the end, only Ada joined them. She had always been fascinated by strange worlds and saw it as the greatest joy of joining Ethan's group. She would not miss the chance.
"What kind of world this time?"
The three of them entered the teleportation room together, still in casual clothes. After all, they could change as needed.
"It's a world with lots and lots of monsters."
Ada was not afraid. Instead, her curiosity grew. "Lots of monsters? Do we need to travel around? Should we bring the Quinjet?"
"No need, because all the monsters are gathered in one place..." Ethan recalled the details. "They're all sealed beneath an ordinary-looking wooden cabin."
(To be continued.)
***
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