Everyone immediately understood what Ethan meant: he could have a world entirely of his own in the future. A world created by Ethan himself would be far superior to one painstakingly occupied.
"But that should be in the future, right?"
Ada tilted her head slightly. She thought this didn't conflict with occupying a world now, since occupying one was to solve current needs, and who knew how long it would take to create a world.
"Occupying a world can provide a lot of urgently needed resources, but for us, it's not necessary to occupy a world to get resources."
They could simply choose a suitable world, take what they needed, then leave. There was no need to waste time and energy occupying and developing it.
With Ethan's teleportation magic growing stronger, even large objects could be teleported across planes, like the Kryptonian spaceship. If things continued this way, transporting an entire planet between universes wouldn't be impossible.
"That's definitely a lot more convenient."
To put it plainly, they could just take what they wanted and leave, and no one would be able to stop them.
Moreover, considering the scale of Ethan's future needs, they might end up moving entire planets. And before doing so, they'd make sure the planet had no intelligent life. Some primitive civilizations probably wouldn't even know what Ethan had done.
If Ethan wanted, entire solar systems and galaxies across multiple universes could become his resource reserves.
With that, the matter of whether or not to occupy a world from the Transformers universe and its derivatives was settled. The Artemis would continue developing at its current pace.
"I originally wanted to suggest developing another faction in my world, but now it seems unnecessary."
Annette lightly spun the cup in front of her. After things in the Starship Troopers universe stabilized, Cherry Military Industries completed its initial phase of rapid growth and entered a relatively steady development stage.
The next generation of exoskeleton armor would remain the company's main product for the foreseeable future. Over time, Cherry Military Industries would expand into the field of large-scale space battleships, but that wasn't something achievable overnight. It required long-term research, experimentation, and testing, and it would be a while before they saw results.
With the future development plan already in place, and as the company's manager, Annette had fewer responsibilities. Daily management no longer required her attention, as she could hire experienced local executives to handle everything.
In this situation, she naturally began thinking about other things. Especially after Ethan improved the teleportation equipment, allowing her to return home at any time, she began considering the "possibility of going home."
Annette didn't want to leave the team. Her thoughts were more along the lines of: "I've become so powerful now. If I don't go back and show off, it feels like something's missing in life."
However, she felt that her position in the team wasn't that high, so she didn't bring it up directly with Ethan. Instead, she spoke with Ada, who came from the same world, to see whether her idea was even feasible.
While they were discussing whether to occupy a planet for development, Annette had actually considered suggesting they occupy her own world.
As for whether that would make her a traitor? She didn't think so. For most ordinary people, it might even be a good thing if Ethan took over and ruled.
Ethan had a wealth of advanced technology. If he occupied that world, he could elevate the entire human civilization to a higher level, moving it from a primitive surface-based civilization to an interstellar one.
Even without talking about such lofty goals, there were still plenty of benefits for everyday people.
More advanced medical care and education. The creation of countless new products would lead to countless new jobs. All the things ordinary people cared about could be improved. Wasn't that a good thing?
Unfortunately, Ethan didn't seem interested in that. So, it looked like she had no chance to go home and show off.
"You want to go back?"
Annette hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to speak honestly.
"Yes."
The reason she left that world in the first place had nothing to do with lofty ideals like eternal life or godhood. She simply didn't want to get arrested.
Sure, she wanted to live forever too, but her original wish wasn't all that big. If Ethan had just sent her to a peaceful world where no one knew her, that would have been good enough.
It was impossible not to bear any resentment after being hunted by the government for months. So, her desire to return home was stronger than most.
"Actually, you can do whatever you want."
Ethan took a moment to organize his words and gave his suggestion.
"As long as it doesn't harm the team or your companions, you can do anything you want."
"Really?"
"Why not? What do you want to do?"
"I'm not sure. I want to go back and take a look first before deciding."
"Alright."
Ethan nodded. At the same time, he remembered some things he had set in motion casually.
"After you return, if you don't know what to do yet, why not find Leon and Claire and check in on them?"
He then told Annette about the power seeds he had left in the two of them. No one in the room found anything strange about Ethan's casual arrangements, because Ethan often did things like that on a whim.
What Annette was more curious about was whether Ethan's placement of power seeds meant that Leon and Claire were "on his radar."
"You planning to recruit them?"
"That's up to you."
Leon and Claire were certainly talented, but Ethan didn't need more people right now, so there was no urgency to add them to the team.
Besides, recruiting them might mean bringing their entire group along.
In the future, if Ethan created a new world of his own and wanted to populate it with more people, he wouldn't mind recruiting a large number of talented individuals.
Or if he planned to form a dedicated combat unit, he could also bring them in.
But for now... at least not until the Artemis was replaced with a larger space battleship, there was no need.
Annette had thought of this too and came to her own conclusion.
"Then I'll just build a good relationship with them first. If we ever need to recruit talent in the future, I can prioritize familiar people I have good ties with."
"That's a good plan."
He didn't know what the future would look like, but having options was always a good thing.
"That's settled then. Handle the specifics however you see fit... do you need help?"
Annette turned her head to look at Ada. Aside from wanting to bring Sherry back, she was also considering whether Ada would go with her.
However, Ethan immediately waved that off.
"I have something I need Ada to do. She might not be able to go back with you right away."
"Is that so? Then I'll think about it."
Since Ada couldn't accompany her, it didn't really matter who did. Annette planned to ask around and see who wanted to join her.
"Let's move on to the next topic."
Ethan turned his gaze to Mordred. She had been on the ship for several years, and her appearance hadn't changed much. Because of the special potion she had taken, she still looked like that wild and unruly child.
Mordred herself didn't care much about her appearance. She was used to how she looked now. Especially since most of the people around her hadn't changed much either (except Ethan), she didn't want to change either.
Galahad, on the other hand, had grown a lot more handsome. From a delicate-looking boy, he had matured into a handsome young man. Coupled with his constant pursuit of knowledge, Galahad now looked more like a quiet scholar than a knight with powerful combat ability.
"Mordred, you've been here for several years now. You've learned a lot of basic knowledge. You've also gone through most of the fundamental combat and magic applications. It's time to move on to more advanced training."
Mordred had originally assumed this meeting had nothing to do with her. Her legs, which weren't long but looked quite slender due to their proportions, were resting on the table in front of her. She leaned back in her chair, daydreaming.
She hadn't expected the conversation to turn to her.
"More advanced training?"
Mordred perked up immediately. She pulled her legs off the table and sat up straight, eyes shining with interest as she waited for Ethan to explain what kind of training he had in mind.
"You've learned a lot, but now it's time to learn how to apply what you've learned. If you don't know how to use it properly, then all that knowledge is meaningless."
Ethan had already chosen a world that was perfect for her next phase of training.
"This time, there won't be any assistance from the Artemis. Your communicator will have only one function: a distress signal. But remember, once you call for help from the Artemis, it means your trial has failed."
"I understand, I get it!"
Mordred nodded without hesitation. She had no objections to any of Ethan's proposed restrictions. A trial should be difficult. She liked challenges.
"Galahad will go with you. The scope of the mission is broad. You can choose to build your own faction and unify the continent, or choose a monarch you like and help them rise to power."
Ethan hoped that through this mission, Mordred would learn to apply all the knowledge she had gained.
"As for the world you're going to, it's a place called Westeros."
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)