Tony kept talking about wanting to meet Oliver Queen. Although Ethan agreed, he never gave a definite answer about when they would go.
At this moment, Ethan suddenly said he wanted to go to that world, which pleased Tony, but also made him wonder. "Is there anything particularly special about that world?"
"Huh?"
"You are so eager to go there, it is obvious you have taken a liking to something, right?"
Ethan smiled and did not deny it. There were indeed a few things in that world that he wanted.
"Isn't that great? We can both get what we want."
"Of course, I did not say it is not good, but I need to go back first and say hello to Pepper."
Although only an instant would pass here when Ethan traveled, Tony had previously promised Pepper that he would never go to another world to play without telling her. Plus, to go to another world, he had to return home and get some equipment. It would not do to be underestimated by his competitors.
Green Arrow, in the neighboring world, became a famous superhero as an ordinary human. His status among countless superheroes was not low. After excluding the giants of the Justice League, Green Arrow came next.
"I also promised Pepper that I would ask her to come along next time we went out to play. Ask Pepper if she is interested."
Tony thought about it. The Green Arrow world was not much different from his own, both being major North American cities. Pepper would probably not find it very interesting.
"The world with VF is more worth visiting."
"You can decide that yourselves."
Tony got up, preparing to go back and call Pepper, believing it would not take much time.
Since Howard's return, Pepper had also put down her work. Now she was even more idle than Tony, able to enjoy life every day, shopping and doing whatever she wanted. Because she had undergone enhancement, she no longer needed frequent beauty treatments and maintenance, leaving her with even fewer things to pass the time.
Pepper had even become bored enough to learn how to operate the Iron Man armor from Tony. This was so he could take her out to play in the future. She did not need to participate in combat, but she at least needed the ability to protect herself or escape.
After Tony left, Ethan looked at Ada, who was the only one remaining.
He had spent nearly ten years with Diana, a full decade of just the two of them, which made their relationship more stable and even gave them the feeling of an old married couple.
His relationships were not limited to Diana. He should also take time to spend with others.
He had thought about this before, but he had not figured out the specifics. For example, what kind of world would be suitable for a honeymoon? Maybe he should ask for their opinions.
When he voiced his thoughts and asked Ada if there was any world she wanted to go to, he was surprised to find that Ada was not very interested.
"When I joined your team, besides you offering me a longer lifespan and youth, it was to see all sorts of novel worlds."
Ada walked behind Ethan and reached out to gently stroke his cheek.
"And I can also showcase the abilities I possess. I am very satisfied with my life right now."
As for their relationship, and not being able to be together often, Ada did not mind at all. Compared to always being stuck together, she valued spiritual connection more. What she cared about was her place in his heart.
Just the fact that Ethan thought about this was enough to confirm she still held a certain place in his heart, which made her very satisfied.
Ethan initially wondered if Ada was saying this deliberately to test him. However, she then mentioned that she would accompany him on the upcoming missions and they would not lack time together. From this perspective, she genuinely did not seem to be pushing for a private two person world.
"You really are quite special..."
"Don't you just like women like this?"
Ethan gave a wry smile. The women he fell for were all very individualistic and not easy to fool. Even Selene, who was quiet most of the time and had little presence, was not someone who could be fooled easily. Anyone who thought a six hundred year old elite vampire warrior was easy to fool was the real fool.
He reached out to hug Ada, but she stepped back slightly, easily avoiding Ethan's wolf paw.
"Grow up quickly. I am not interested in little kids."
Ethan was speechless as he watched Ada disappear from the conference room. He then checked the time.
The meeting was over. Modred, Annette and the others had gone to make preparations. Shirou was preparing dinner. Ethan estimated it would be at least another hour before dinner was ready.
How to pass the time? He could go find Selene, but she was also not interested in his current overly youthful appearance and had been avoiding him.
Go see Auriel and grab some snacks? That might work.
He strolled to the island, found Auriel happily admiring the abundant results of his hard work these past few days, and then, under Auriel's depressed gaze, took away some newly produced magic stones again.
Ethan did not take all of them. He left Auriel a considerable amount of food. Since he wanted Auriel to work hard, he had to give him compensation and motivation. It would be terrible if he got angry and went on strike.
Unexpectedly, he met Shiro here. This polar bear's body had been magically modified, and it usually looked like a small bear cub.
Ethan did not know what extra modifications Illya had made, but he found that this white bear named Shiro had significant energy fluctuations and seemed to have improved intelligence. He wondered how strong it would become.
"Another Auriel?"
There was nothing wrong with that. Illya's body never grew, and close combat was her biggest weakness. If Shiro became strong enough, it could significantly compensate for this.
Leaving the island, Ethan found himself not knowing what to do again. There was still some time before dinner. Should he find a place to zone out?
"Or go collect some special samples..."
For Ethan, making a growth acceleration potion was not difficult and was much simpler than making the potion to break through limits back then.
The potions he made in the past were used to turn his body into a larger and sturdier vessel. Now, what he needed to do was pour water into an already perfected vessel, but it required a lot of water and the quality had certain requirements.
Ethan checked his inventory. There were still some raw materials left from when he made potions, plus the Kryptonian samples he had collected before. Even with the existing materials, he could make a potion to accelerate body growth.
"At least I can reach adulthood..."
But Ethan felt that just reaching adulthood was not enough. He hoped to at least return to his early twenties. Even if he could not reach the around twenty four he considered most perfect, he had to be over twenty.
In that case, the existing materials might not be enough. Collecting more samples could ensure a stronger effect.
He decided to use this time to visit a few more worlds. Going and returning was just an instant, and with his current mastery of teleportation magic, he could travel frequently without issue.
For a while, Ethan continuously disappeared and reappeared. If he had not occasionally paused to think about which world had what he needed, outsiders would think he had been standing still the entire time.
After flashing around for half an hour, Ethan stopped and began sorting out the gains from these trips.
The first stop was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles world. The strength of the four turtles was not extremely high, but for Ethan, the diversity of samples and their focus on physical enhancement mattered more than the degree of improvement.
The four turtles did not trust him much, and Ethan spent a lot of time gaining their trust. Finally, he exchanged a special potion for their blood samples.
This potion allowed the turtles and the rat to freely transform between human and turtle or rat forms. However, when they turned into humans, their strength, agility, and stamina would decrease significantly, becoming only slightly stronger than ordinary people.
He did not think the turtles would give up being superheroes, but having a human form at least gave them an option and a chance to blend in with ordinary people.
Of course, no longer being unique might cause the close brothers to split apart, but that was not something Ethan could control. How to maintain their small group was something they needed to consider. Compared to only living in the shadows, now they could walk freely in the sunlight without strange looks.
Besides these samples, he also specifically acquired the potion from the second movie and brought it back.
The second stop was the world of Hancock. Ethan obtained both Hancock's blood sample and Mary's. He carefully observed their differences and why their powers disappeared when they were near each other.
After that, Ethan visited several miscellaneous worlds, such as Species, Mad Max, Legion, I, Frankenstein, Twilight, Godzilla and other worlds with mysterious powers and special lifeforms.
Looking at the large pile of miscellaneous samples, plus the ones he collected before like Aliens, Evil Gods, Basilisks and so on, he suddenly thought about using a potion made by mixing all these things on himself.
Although he was no longer considered human, using all these strange things did not feel like something a righteous deity should do.
"If I add the monster from Deep Rising, can I also give out candy?"
(To be continued.)