The world of Starship Troopers was another new experience for Hermione. Earth in this "parallel world" had already developed to the interstellar age, with various novel things appearing everywhere. However, she always felt that many facilities were not as advanced as those on the Artemis.
Hermione's feeling was not wrong. After all, the Artemis had too much black technology integrated into it, while the Starship Troopers world was limited by some special circumstances, so some equipment appeared less advanced.
However, the appearance of Cherry Military Industry had already brought about many changes to this world. For example, the emergence of personal terminals had caused the equipment style of this world to begin rapidly evolving in a more futuristic direction. As for the impact caused by the Sanctuary, it did not conflict with what was happening here.
"This is..."
After showing Hermione around, Ethan went to find Tony to check on the progress of his design. If things were going smoothly, there should already be a holographic model ready for display.
"You should know that after I shaped a divine body and became a child, I went to a magic academy for a few years, right?"
"And then?"
Tony assumed a "go on, I'm listening" posture, then looked Hermione up and down repeatedly.
"This is my classmate, Hermione."
Hearing Ethan's answer, Tony's expression became particularly strange.
"You said you went to a magic school... was it Hogwarts?"
Ethan spread his hands and shrugged. He had nothing to say about that, and besides, Tony didn't care about such things at all. He was more curious about why Hermione was here.
He didn't believe whatever Ethan said about "classmates." Did he think such words could fool him? You beast.
Hermione, standing nearby, had no idea what was going on. She was just surprised that this man actually knew about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Wasn't she in another world? Or had Hogwarts' great name already spread to other planes? Was Hogwarts really that amazing?
"Tony Stark."
"Hermione Granger. Just call me Hermione."
Ethan waited until the two had introduced themselves before asking Tony about the progress of his work.
"Of course, there are no problems with my design. There are just some minor details that need adjusting. I already have a preliminary plan."
Although Tony didn't have experience designing large space battleships, he had a cheat code. Plus, he had already studied the technical data on space battleships from the Starship Troopers world, so there weren't many issues with his initial design. The real problem was that this ship integrated many new technologies, and how these things should be arranged required some time for testing.
"So... where's the design?"
The design Ethan wanted to see was, of course, not a flat blueprint. He wanted a holographic projection. However, Tony didn't display it and instead said he was waiting for someone.
"Waiting for whom?"
"Modred is also coming over. Since we're all going to look at it anyway, we might as well wait until everyone's here and look at it together."
"Modred?"
Ethan was surprised that Modred seemed to have done quite a bit during this time. It seemed this child, who had always been full of energy, had really grown up a lot, quietly preparing for her own future.
They didn't wait long. In fact, Tony greeting Ethan just now was because Modred was already on her way and might arrive in the time it took to say a couple of sentences.
If it had been a long wait, he wouldn't have made Ethan wait.
"Oh, you guys are here too!"
To everyone's surprise, Modred hadn't come alone. Sheryl Nome was also with her. This made Tony wonder if today was a strange day, since everyone who came to see him brought a young girl along.
Ethan was one thing, but what left him speechless was that Modred was clearly a girl herself. Could it be that she had awakened some strange attribute?
"Hello, I'm Sheryl Nome. I forgot to greet you earlier, I hope you don't mind."
"Hermione Granger. It's alright, I was rude too."
After the two girls exchanged simple greetings, Sheryl learned from Hermione that she wasn't a member of Ethan's ship either, and like her, was just visiting.
Perhaps being fellow guests made Sheryl feel a bit closer, and the two girls started chatting.
At this point, Modred pulled Ethan aside.
"What is it?"
"I think it would be best to take some equipment back this time. I heard you have a few VF fighters in your possession."
After she went to the Macross world, she really liked this type of fighter.
Ethan knew Modred was referring to the few fighters Ada had brought back, which were intended as samples for research. After all, having data alone and having physical objects were two different things.
"You want to take those few fighters back?"
"They could serve as a perfect trump card."
Modred was preparing to recruit a batch of talented individuals to bring back. However, no matter how excellent the talent and how much black technology they possessed, turning these things into reality took time, and she wasn't sure if she had enough time.
"It shouldn't be a big problem. I estimate Tony won't need those fighters after researching them for a while longer."
The only issue was whether Tony had completely disassembled those fighters into pieces. Due to not fully understanding the details, some disassembly methods might have been rather rough, meaning some parts might have suffered irreparable damage. In other words, those planes might have been broken.
"They should be repairable, right?"
"With the industrial strength of this world, as long as those technologies are completely digested, building a VF fighter won't take much time at all. You might as well just wait for new fighters, and you can even customize special personal exclusive models based on your own needs."
Modred thought for a moment. Ethan's suggestion was very tempting.
An exclusive personal unit. It sounded so exciting.
"Oh, right."
Ethan glanced at Sheryl, who was chatting with Hermione.
"What's the situation with Sheryl?"
"Huh?" Modred glanced back at Sheryl. "What situation? I just thought she was nice and easy to talk to. Seeing that she was feeling a bit down lately, I brought her here to take her mind off things... Oh, right, she doesn't know she's in another world yet. She thinks the teleportation device is just a means of long-distance travel."
"..."
Ethan glanced toward Sheryl again and noticed that she also happened to look over, giving a natural smile as if the eye contact was just a coincidence.
However, at such close distance, Ethan heard every word of Hermione and Sheryl's conversation, so he knew that Sheryl already understood what Modred hadn't told her: this was not the world she lived in.
Sheryl was not old, only seventeen.
However, compared to Hermione, who was still a student, she had more social and life experience. In just a few sentences, she had extracted enough information. Ethan even detected a momentary flicker of panic in her expression, but her reaction was quick. She maintained a calm expression, perfectly hiding her inner turmoil, as if everything was completely normal.
A girl who was only seventeen years old, brought to another world by someone she had only known for a short time. If it had been anyone else, they would be panicking and at a complete loss.
Just then, Tony projected the holographic image, attracting the attention of those chatting.
Hermione was just watching for fun. Sheryl knew a bit more about spaceships due to the world she lived in, but her interest was limited and she didn't pay too much attention. Like Hermione, she just took a glance and left it at that.
Modred, however, showed strong interest. After asking about some parameters, she stared at Ethan with shining eyes. "I want one too."
If the people present hadn't heard Tony's introduction of the ship, someone who didn't know might have thought Modred was asking for a toy model. Wasn't she asking a bit too casually?
And Ethan's response was even more surprisingly straightforward.
"Okay."
As if he had really agreed to give away a toy model, someone who didn't know the situation would never have imagined that the ownership of a 500-meter-class space battleship had been decided in just these two sentences.
"Remember to equip it with enough fighters."
Modred hadn't forgotten about the fighters she wanted. She believed that the VF fighters, enhanced and optimized by Tony, could give her absolute air superiority for a long time.
"Compared to the issue of fighters, I think you should be more worried about pilots."
Modred was indeed troubled by that. She had originally thought recruiting a few talented individuals would be enough, but now it seemed even recruiting a small team wouldn't be sufficient. Could she possibly need to directly recruit an entire force?
"It seems I'll have to borrow some people from you."
"As long as the individuals themselves agree, I have no objection to that."
The crew members on the ship were quite idle now. If anyone was interested in helping Modred stabilize her kingdom's rule, they could go with her. Anyway, after Modred returned, the time flow in that world would also synchronize with the Artemis, becoming a connected world.
From this perspective, Modred was already in an invincible position, because Ethan stood behind her.
If she truly encountered difficulties, Ethan would definitely step in personally, making it impossible for those people to even remain human, not to mention becoming ghosts.
"Are there any worlds suitable for me to recruit talent?"
"If you just want to recruit soldiers for your trusted troops, the worlds already recorded on the teleportation device meet your requirements."
Ethan wouldn't get involved in the specific recruitment work. After all, this was Modred's business.
Modred nodded. She planned to visit those few worlds first after returning to see if she could find some talented individuals. As for the final test, she planned to do it later.
Just as the two finished their discussion, Selene also arrived.
"I heard you came over. Didn't you just leave not long ago?"
(To be continued.)
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