Back on the Artemis, Hermione no longer followed Ethan around. Instead, she went off to play with her friends.
After Illya stayed at Hogwarts to continue her studies, she gradually became familiar with Hermione, and it was Illya's suggestion to invite Hermione over this time.
Ethan could guess why Illya did this. After all, this girl wasn't some kind and innocent young lady. Even if Ethan had straightened her out a bit, if you were to cut her open and examine her, you'd find that half of her core was still dark.
"It's probably hard to change."
After all, Illya wasn't a real child. Her personality was already set, so making major changes was difficult.
Time passed especially quickly when he wasn't dwelling on these matters. When he was free, Ethan found that doing a little of this and that, relaxing appropriately, and occasionally checking in on everyone scattered across different places, several months passed in the blink of an eye.
Illya and the other girls returned to Hogwarts to report back, and Hermione naturally left as well. After staying here for such a long time without figuring anything out, it seemed she would remain conflicted for a while longer.
Ethan felt it would be difficult for them to meet again. At most, Hermione might see him again when school was on break. If, under those circumstances, she still couldn't forget about him, then there would be no need for sentimentality. He'd just take care of it.
After the most lively group of children left, Ethan returned to a calm and steady rhythm of life.
In the Marvel universe, because of his interference, Thanos was still hiding in the shadows, planning something big. So nothing major would happen for now.
Even if something did, Thor might just resolve it.
In the DC universe, Lex Luthor might have already started stirring up conflict between Batman and Superman. However, with Diana now much stronger than in the original plot, the outcome Luthor wanted was never going to happen. Whether a fight would even occur was doubtful. Once Diana discovered the situation, she would certainly step in to stop it.
She was no longer the disillusioned, hands-off Wonder Woman she had once been. And once she acted... whether that troublemaker Luthor could survive was a question in itself.
As for Steppenwolf's later arrival, with a stronger Diana and an intact Superman, was that still a problem?
Even without Aquaman and with the Flash still being a rookie, Superman and the enhanced Diana would be enough to make Steppenwolf kneel. Batman? He could just provide background music.
In other words, the two worlds most likely to face crises had gone in completely different directions, all because Ethan, the little butterfly, had flapped his wings a few times. Even if he no longer returned to those two worlds, the people there could now easily handle potential disasters.
As for the other worlds? In the Starship Troopers universe, the war between humans and bugs was still locked in a stalemate. Although the bugs had sent more powerful elite units, humanity's combat strength was also continuously rising due to the emergence of Chery Military Industry and the special religious organization, the Temple. The result of both sides evolving at the same time was that the overall battlefield situation remained unchanged.
This was a good thing for Ethan and the others. The Federation had discovered that the bugs' combat power far exceeded their previous estimations. Especially now, with more and more special types of bugs appearing, they finally realized that the bugs they had encountered before were merely cannon fodder. Now, they were facing the true elite forces of the bugs.
Fortunately, the newly deployed weapons were playing their roles well, and the Temple Knights cultivated by the Temple demonstrated combat power far superior to regular soldiers. They could also launch focused attacks on the elite bugs, which continued to raise the prestige of both Chery Military Industry and the Temple.
Especially after learning that Chery Military Industry had begun constructing a new type of space warship, the Federation granted certain privileges and began considering fully adopting the exoskeleton power armor produced by Chery Military Industry. As the war deepened, human soldier casualties became unbearable for the Federation. They started to value their soldiers' lives, and the best way to protect them was to enhance individual combat capabilities. In this regard, exoskeleton power armor was undoubtedly the optimal solution.
Another piece of equipment was sold across the entire military, and Chery Military Industry scored another win. At this point, they began to strategically share a portion of the profits with other companies. For example, the exoskeleton suits needed to be equipped with weapons and various devices, which Chery Military Industry didn't manufacture themselves. These were outsourced to other companies to avoid the appearance of monopolizing everything and triggering suppression from other arms manufacturers.
Then, Chery Military Industry focused its full attention on the production of space warships.
On the surface, Chery Military Industry was building a new type of space warship, and it wasn't even the largest class. According to the Federation's classification system, what Chery Military Industry was constructing only qualified as a frigate.
However, the vessel shown publicly was merely a test platform. Tony was conducting various experiments on it, while behind the scenes, two other warships were being built simultaneously: one was Ethan's new ship, the Startide. The other was Tony's own industrial ship, the Stark, intended to serve as his Mercury Base.
As for the one Mordred wanted? That could wait until these two were completed before starting construction.
Moreover, the test platform warship on the surface wasn't weakened in any way. It also integrated multiple new technologies mastered only by Chery Military Industry. Once the Federation witnessed this ship's power, it would create a new advantage for Chery Military Industry. If they didn't build space warships powerful enough for the Federation to buy in bulk, how could they offset the cost of building their own ships?
To open up sales channels, they naturally had to show some real capability.
As for whether their hard-earned technology would benefit the Federation for free? Ethan and the others didn't care about that at all.
First, the Federation would pay a price they were satisfied with. Second, these technologies weren't something that had to be kept absolutely secret. In the almost infinite multiverse, this level of technology was far from top-tier. Ethan could always acquire more advanced technologies in the future for upgrades and replacements.
Instead of letting these current technologies become obsolete, it was better to squeeze out every bit of value while they were still useful.
In addition, Chery Military Industry's operations were broad. Relying on the Starship Troopers world's advanced industrial strength, they not only developed space warships but also pushed VF fighters onto the right track. In just over half a year, the first prototype designed and organized by Tony had already been built.
For this variable multipurpose fighter, they chose the external frame of the VF-25. Not because Tony preferred it, but because, due to time constraints, all the equipment modules he had developed were tailored for that model. To simplify things, he just went with the VF-25's exterior.
However, although it looked like a VF-25 on the outside, the performance of this fighter was on a completely different level.
It could be said that if someone with a superhuman physique like Ethan piloted this fighter, it could achieve maneuvers even more terrifying than unmanned drones and perform all kinds of scientifically impossible tricks (in the vacuum of space), such as sudden lateral shifts, vertical leaps, or sharp ninety-degree turns while maintaining high speed.
Additionally, the control system and cockpit of the fighter leaned toward the VF-27 design, supporting both mental and manual control modes.
Of course, these two modes were not mutually exclusive. In combat, both would be active. During regular flight or long-distance travel, mental control alone could be used.
The cockpit interior was designed with a panoramic display, allowing the pilot to observe their surroundings in full visual range.
As for the weapon systems, in addition to modular external packs that could be selected based on mission requirements, the fighter itself was equipped with missile bays and multiple autocannons.
Among them, behind and to the side of the cockpit, there were two retractable autocannons, which in humanoid mode were located at the shoulders.
On both sides of the fuselage, in humanoid form positioned on the arms' outer sides, were two more autocannons. These could transform into heavy particle weapons. The technology for these came from the VF-27's main weapon system.
At this stage, the fighter could already be finalized and mass-produced, but Tony wasn't in a rush. After several test flights, he was still making ongoing adjustments. Several more months passed, and even the Startide was completed, but the fighter still hadn't been officially finalized.
By this time, over a year had passed since Ethan had begun traveling frequently between the Marvel universe and the Starship Troopers world. During this period, since he was often working in the Starship Troopers world, Tony's girlfriend, Pepper Potts, had gotten used to traveling across universes.
In her words: after experiencing it enough times, the novelty wore off, and it felt no different than going out for a walk.
Even Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, got used to it. Because Tony often stayed in the Starship Troopers world, Wanda also needed to travel frequently between worlds.
Sometimes to deliver Avengers-related news, other times to consult her mentor. In doing so, she also became familiar with the crew of the Artemis.
Moreover, since Wanda was Tony's apprentice, she was issued a standard personal terminal from the Artemis to facilitate her travel.
Even without mentioning Wanda and Pepper, the ship had gradually become livelier over the past year as Mordred kept bringing people back.
Some of them Ethan didn't know, which wasn't surprising. After all, that was an entire world. And unlike Ethan, who actively pursued the original plot, Mordred might not encounter any "plot characters" if she didn't seek them out deliberately.
There were also some Ethan recognized, such as Duke and Ana from the G.I. Joe world. Even Storm Shadow had been brought back by Mordred.
After asking about it, he learned these individuals owed her a favor. As for Storm Shadow, beyond being indebted, he also had nowhere else to go, which was why he accepted her invitation and boarded the Artemis.
Besides them, there was also Krauser from the Resident Evil world, surprisingly also recruited by Mordred.
(To be continued.)
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