After a wave of fluctuations, the captain's room returned to calm. Except for a few cracks that looked abrupt, as if the surface of the space had been shattered like glass, there was nothing unusual.
Diana, who had been standing by the desk in the captain's room, shook her head. Ripples flashed across her body as she walked, and with a glimmer of light, Diana transformed back into Ethan.
The Ethan who had controlled Loki was actually Diana in disguise.
"Fortunately, I arranged the Mirror Dimension in advance. Otherwise, I would have had to smash a big hole just now."
Even though Diana had controlled her power, Loki was a Frost Giant. Ordinary strength was definitely not enough to subdue him. No matter how much Diana restrained herself, this level of force could easily kill an ordinary person, but to Loki, it was barely a tickle.
Of course, the goal wasn't to hurt him, but to control the God of Mischef. Loki would have been decisive if his sneak attack failed and there was no possibility of escape.
"I take back what I said before. You are stronger than I thought."
Loki's comment was not directed at Diana. He had already expected that Diana's strength would easily overpower him. What surprised him was Ethan's strength. Without him noticing, Ethan had quietly thrown him, the best mage of Asgard's younger generation, into the Mirror Dimension. Loki hadn't even realized when it happened.
"Great illusion and space magic."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Ethan waved his hand lightly. The seemingly ordinary captain's room once again looked like it was covered with a layer of glass. Then the layer of glass shattered and disappeared, restoring the space to its original state.
Loki realized that he had now left the Mirror Dimension. He also noticed an inconspicuous ring on Ethan's right hand.
"A nice spellcasting tool. Does it store the energy of the Cosmic Cube?"
"Yes."
They were both mages, and Loki was one of the best mages in Asgard. In addition, Ethan had studied a lot about Asgard. Even though his spellcasting style was closer to that of the mages of Kamar Taj, the ring clearly emitted the aura of Asgard.
After observing more carefully, Loki discovered that Ethan wasn't just wearing a ring with Asgardian aura. The items on his right wrist and neck also bore traces of Asgardian craftsmanship.
"You know about them?"
Ethan did not hide the equipment on his body. All of his gear had been upgraded recently. The magic suit that used to hang as a pendant was now worn on his right wrist, matching the guild information strap on his left. The cross on his neck was his latest creation, the Holy Light Cross.
Currently, the most convenient piece was the new ring, which stored a large amount of Cosmic Cube energy, allowing Ethan to cast spells freely to a certain extent.
The ring had no other function aside from storing the energy of the Cosmic Cube. Its sole purpose was to use that energy to power spells. Thanks to this new item, Ethan could silently deploy Mirror Dimension and cast illusions capable of deceiving even Loki.
"A few years ago, I was just an ordinary person."
Diana had already released Loki. When Ethan deactivated Mirror Space, she understood that he had judged Loki would not attack again.
Ethan's judgment was correct. Though Loki had stood back up and was no longer restrained, he showed no intention of attacking. Instead, he simply stood there quietly, listening to Ethan.
"But now, I can stand here and discuss with the second prince of Asgard who the real weak one is."
Loki looked a bit displeased. He shifted his gaze to Diana beside him, clearly implying, "You're only this confident because of her."
Ethan wagged his finger. "That's not the point. The point is, can you imagine that just a few years ago, I was an ordinary person you wouldn't even have looked at, and now I'm standing here discussing this with you?"
Loki frowned. He already understood what Ethan was trying to say, but he found the idea a bit ridiculous.
"Are you saying you have a way to make me stronger?"
"You have a good example right in front of you."
"That alone doesn't prove anything."
Ethan waved his hand and pointed at Diana. "I'm talking about her."
"Her?" Loki showed a hint of doubt.
"Yes. You know how strong she is. That should be convincing enough."
Loki fell silent. If Ethan really had a method to make him as strong as Diana, it was indeed tempting.
Seeing that Loki was beginning to consider the possibility, Ethan added fuel to the fire.
"You should understand by now that I can travel across countless planes and universes. There are many beings in those worlds who are far more powerful and terrifying than Thanos. There are also powers capable of standing against such monsters, and many of these powers can be learned."
If Loki had still been hesitant before, thinking that Diana's strength might come purely from her bloodline and was not replicable, Ethan's words now truly caught his attention.
"How does this compare to the power of the Cosmic Cube?"
"The Cosmic Cube?"
Ethan glanced at the ring on his hand. Since leaving the Marvel Universe, although the Cosmic Cube still maintained a sufficient energy state, its energy could not be drawn upon indefinitely and needed time to recover.
As for its mastery over the laws of space, those abilities were almost completely useless outside the Marvel Universe. The free teleportation function no longer worked.
At present, the Cube's greatest use was as a source of magic energy. The spatial properties of its energy were helpful for Ethan to further understand the laws of space.
"It's not even comparable. The Cosmic Cube only grants you temporary authority over the laws of the universe," Ethan shook his head. "The worlds I know of could even give you true mastery over a certain rule."
He wasn't exaggerating. Such universes did exist. Both the DC and Marvel worlds contained power systems at that level. Whether or not he could reach those places remained uncertain.
Even if he couldn't access that kind of law-level power system, there were still plenty of abilities and methods in other worlds suitable for Loki to learn. As long as Loki was willing, traveling through multiple worlds with Ethan, even by simply accumulating energy, would make him unimaginably powerful before returning to Asgard.
This was the foundation of Ethan's confidence that he could reach a consensus with Loki.
"Sounds good."
Loki admitted that Ethan's offer was tempting. If weakness was his original sin, then the lure of power was irresistible.
"I think it's a good idea to stay on your ship for now."
Ethan pointed to the door behind Loki. "There are a few well-located rooms. You can pick one. Diana will tell you which ones belong to Logan and Laura. You'll have enough time to consider whether to stay on my ship as my companion, or whether I should just find some interesting world and throw you into it."
Loki frowned. Ethan's firm attitude made him uncomfortable. But he quickly realized Ethan was making his position clear: "I'm not asking you to join me. You're the passive one here."
Indeed, if Ethan were determined, it wouldn't be hard to find a world to dump Loki into if he found him troublesome.
If they cooperated, Loki could become stronger and return to Asgard in glory.
If Loki caused trouble, he would be completely exiled to an unknown world and left to fend for himself. Although Loki wasn't too worried about survival, he didn't want to spend his days wandering aimlessly in a strange universe.
Even if he wanted to stir up trouble, Loki preferred to do it on a bigger stage, one worthy of his audience. As the God of Mischef, Loki had his principles.
After watching Loki leave the captain's room, Ethan returned to his desk and waited for Diana to come back.
The space aboard the Goddess of Dawn was not too large, nor too small. It took only a few minutes for Loki to find a room. Diana soon returned, closing the door behind her.
At the same moment the door closed, Ethan cast an isolation spell, ensuring the room would not be subject to any monitoring or eavesdropping.
"I don't trust him. He's so different from Thor. I can't believe they were brothers who grew up together."
"Human character is complicated. Even though Asgardians call themselves gods, they aren't entirely beyond the level of 'human.'"
Ethan himself couldn't say what true gods were like. The personalities of the Olympian gods didn't seem any better. In fact, they might even be worse.
"So, what are you planning? You know I won't stay on this ship forever." Diana crossed her arms, giving him a look that clearly said, "Come on, beg me."
Unfortunately for her, Ethan didn't even look up. He pressed his fingers against his eye sockets, then stood up and walked around to the front of the desk, facing Diana.
"I never expected him to be completely honest. The safest approach is for me to grow stronger."
Ethan closed his eyes and checked how much space-time energy he had left.
"I need you to stay here for a while."
"What are you planning to do?"
"I want to confirm a guess."
Before Diana could ask for details, she saw Ethan activate the plane shuttle magic circle. As a burst of light filled the captain's room, Ethan disappeared from her sight.
Less than a second later, the light flashed again and Ethan reappeared, as if he had never left.
The strange plant in Ethan's hand was proof that he had indeed been somewhere else.
"What is that?"
Ethan frowned, clearly dissatisfied.
"Blood Orchid."
(To be continued.)
***
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