Ethan went in high spirits, full of confidence.
Then he came back with a sore back and weak legs. He finally understood that unless there was a significant gap in physical fitness, and he had the advantage, as long as the difference wasn't too large, he would always end up on the losing side.
After returning from the DC Universe, Ethan rested for a few days, then decisively went to find Selene. After regaining some confidence from her, he began to think about what he should do next.
Most of the important matters had been handled. Only Modred's situation needed a glance, which did not require much effort. Now, all he had to do was wait.
The "children" like Illya were still studying at Hogwarts, and Shirou was busy preparing for graduation. Even if Ethan wanted to arrange trials for him, he would have to wait until after graduation.
"Should I go to the Resident Evil world and take a look?"
Since Annette returned to the Resident Evil world, he had not paid much attention to it. He felt the world had become uninteresting, just like how he was once excited about the Macross world. At one point, he even considered hiding his strength and making a cameo as a pilot there, playing aerial combat with bugs.
Even without using magic, relying on his superhuman physical fitness alone, he could push fighter jets far beyond their normal performance. After all, what limited a jet's combat potential wasn't the machine, but the pilot.
For example, the most advanced VF-27 series used by the Macross Galaxy fleet has a Gamma type variant, known for its insane maneuverability. Human pilots cannot withstand the physical strain caused by this extreme performance. Only humans who have undergone enhancement and modification (cyborgs) are capable of piloting it.
But if Ethan were to pilot it, even pushing it to its performance limit, he would feel no discomfort at all. Based on this alone, he would easily outperform all ace pilots in that world.
The two sides weren't even on the same level. It was like an adult bullying a child. And that was only because the fighter jet had an upper limit. Otherwise, the gap would be even more absurd.
But now that he had the ability to go, he suddenly didn't want to anymore. He even began to suspect that he had developed some strange tastes. Could it be that he only found things interesting when he had close fights with enemies, or even when he was the one getting beaten?
"That's strange. I used to hate that the most."
Based on Ethan's previous preferences, if he read novels about tech tree building or territory development, he would always root for the protagonist's side to use top-tier battleships from World War II to crush wooden sailing ships. That kind of overwhelming victory was his favorite.
"Maybe I've crushed too many times and gotten bored? Do I need to change my taste a bit?"
Thinking about it, he had no idea where he should go if he wanted a change of pace. After all, he didn't want to take risks, so he wouldn't casually visit a world that might threaten his life. But if he avoided such worlds, then he would still be the one doing the crushing.
While Ethan was pondering, Maria Hill and Nebula had completed their preliminary survey of the planet in front of them and reached a conclusion:
They could land. The planet had abundant water, diverse flora and fauna, and its air composition was suitable for humans to breathe. They had also detected signs of civilization, though the level of that civilization was not high.
Ethan stood in front of the holographic projection table at the rear of the cockpit, reviewing the various images and data. It made it easier to understand the planet's conditions.
"Should we land and make contact?"
From the visuals, the life forms on the planet appeared to be human, or at least they looked no different in appearance.
The planet's gravity was also very close to Earth's, only slightly higher. Except for the vast green bodies of water that looked emerald from space, it was basically another Earth.
"Let's land first. As for contact, we'll decide based on the situation."
From what they observed, this civilization was still in the cold weapon era. It was unclear what materials their weapons were made from, but regardless, a civilization at this level would likely not be of much help to Ethan and his group. Direct contact might even cause unnecessary trouble.
They weren't afraid of trouble, but they didn't like it either. After confirming the situation, Ethan turned to Betty.
"Do you recognize this planet?"
Betty shook her head helplessly. Both Maria Hill and Logan had asked the same question earlier. If Betty could recognize the planet, it would help them pinpoint their current location, and from there, chart a path back to Betty's home planet.
Unfortunately, Betty had no idea where this was, nor any understanding of the civilization on it.
"The planets ruled by the Empire don't have such low-level civilizations."
The Empire's territory was vast, with countless planets under its rule, but habitable planets made up only a small percentage. Over the years, all of them had been thoroughly developed by the Empire. No planet would still maintain such a primitive state.
Although the Empire's public propaganda claimed it helped local populations integrate into a new life, as a military academy student, Betty had access to more realistic information. Most low-level civilizations were wiped out by the Empire's forces.
"So this planet is not under the Empire's control?"
Did the training ground get blown a little too far? The more he thought about it, the more things seemed off.
"Unless a space wormhole was created during the explosion, and the training ground happened to enter it and was thrown into a different star system, this shouldn't be possible."
Even if the training ground had drifted for hundreds of years, it would still be difficult to escape a star system entirely. Let alone the fact that it hadn't even drifted that long. Records showed that it was quickly captured by the purple star's gravity and became one of its satellites.
"So... a wormhole appeared during the explosion?"
If that were true, then things had become complicated. For Ethan and his group, traveling from one star system to another within the same galaxy was not too difficult. It only required a long journey.
As the ship continued to be upgraded, the time needed would also decrease.
But if they had ended up in an entirely different galaxy composed of countless stars, and had to travel to another such galaxy, that would not be so simple.
To understand the difficulty, just consider a few examples.
In many Hollywood sci-fi movies, the scope of the story is usually limited to the Milky Way, including the famous Star Trek series.
The Starship Troopers world Ethan was using as a logistics base also does not go beyond the Milky Way.
Even many interstellar-themed games do not exceed that range. For example, the setting of Mass Effect remains within the Milky Way.
Macross is the same. Even with its black-tech Fold travel, the emigrant fleets have been traveling for decades and still haven't left the Milky Way. The so-called Macross Frontier is named that because it is the fleet closest to the outer edge of the galaxy.
From these examples, it becomes clear how vast a galaxy like the Milky Way really is, and how difficult it is to leave one and reach another.
Originally, Ethan had considered the possibility that they had been thrown into another large galaxy. But after calculating, he felt the odds were low. After all, the training ground hadn't drifted long enough to escape the Empire's home galaxy, let alone travel across intergalactic space to reach another one.
So, the star system they were currently in should still be within the Empire's territory. According to Betty, the Empire controlled more than half the galaxy, and the training ground was originally in that region, even if it was near the edge. An explosion shouldn't have blasted it that far away.
That was why Ethan originally thought it would not be difficult to help Betty find her family or a clue. As long as they found a habitable planet, they would likely encounter people from the Empire, which would lead them to more information they could follow.
But now?
"The best-case scenario is that we were thrown farther than expected and just happened to land in a star field the Empire has not yet explored."
Betty looked at Ethan. She didn't need to ask what the worst-case scenario was. It was that they had been pulled into a wormhole and dropped somewhere unknown.
They might still be in the same galaxy, or they might be in an entirely different one.
If it was the latter, the worst part wasn't just that. It was that they had no idea how far they were from the Empire. Even with Ethan's magic to help guide them, that kind of distance was enough to make anyone feel hopeless.
"Maybe... it's not that bad."
Noticing Betty's worsening mood, Ethan tried to cheer her up.
"For example, this planet could have originally been under the Empire's control, but something happened and the civilization collapsed..."
Thanks to all the movies, novels, and anime he had consumed in his previous life, Ethan could easily come up with these kinds of examples to comfort her.
"It's not impossible. Things like that aren't uncommon in the universe."
Having been with them for a long time, Nebula, an experienced spacefarer, also joined in to help.
Thanks to everyone's encouragement, Betty's expression began to lighten.
"Thank you."
"It's good you're feeling better. Next, we'll land and explore this planet to see if there are any traces of higher civilization. If we can find something, then the situation might not be so bad."
(To be continued.)