NOVEL WEB Chapter 145: Chapter 145
After cleaning the hull, replacing damaged planks, and fitting new sails, the Goddess of Dawn once again exuded the aura of a brand-new ship.
Ship maintenance was a tedious and time-consuming task, but Ethan had paid for expedited service, allowing the repairs to be completed much faster than usual.
The shipyard had suggested installing magic stone-powered equipment to enhance the ship's performance, but Ethan declined. He hadn't personally experienced the conditions on the route yet, so he had no way to judge whether those modifications would truly be useful—or if the shipyard was simply exaggerating their effectiveness.
To properly determine how to upgrade and strengthen the Goddess of Dawn, he needed to sail the so-called "suicide route" himself.
Back at the docks, the ship's supplies had already been replenished. Unlike the Sea of Calm, where the guild handled everything, the purchase and distribution of supplies here were managed independently by the dock, making the process more troublesome. Though his ship had already returned, it took a long time for the dock workers to sort the supplies and load them onboard.
"The most valuable thing here is time. And the least valuable thing… is also time."
There was nothing he could do. In this sea, Ethan was still just an unknown adventurer. No one would give him special treatment. The dock had simply followed standard procedure, and there was no fault to be found. With so many ships also waiting for supplies, it was clear he wasn't being deliberately delayed—he just had to wait his turn.
Fortunately, the wait wasn't too long. Three days later, it was finally the Goddess of Dawn's turn. The dock workers moved efficiently, loading everything in no time. Eager to leave, Ethan didn't even wait for nightfall—he set sail at dusk, departing from the central island.
By the navigation system of his previous world, after leaving the central island, one could sail in two directions—north or south—before eventually turning east toward the rising sun, where the Sea of Storms stretched like an endless barrier.
This time, Ethan chose to sail south, not through careful planning, but simply because the wind direction was favorable when he left the pier.
In this sea, the key factor determining an adventurer's course was always the wind. To conserve supplies, one needed both speed and efficiency. The two were closely linked, faster sailing meant less time at sea, which in turn reduced resource consumption.
With favorable winds at full speed, Ethan reached the turning point earlier than expected.
"What a sight…"
From a safe distance, the Goddess of Dawn was unaffected by the waves and turbulence of the Sea of Storms. Using his telescope, Ethan carefully observed the massive, dark wall of clouds ahead—a perfect right-angle bend, as if the storm itself had suddenly turned a corner. From a distance, it truly resembled an impenetrable black wall shifting direction.
Reaching this point, Ethan adjusted his course and began sailing east.
The route ahead was vast. While the west-to-east distance was manageable, the north-to-south span was enormous. Sailing from the northern part of the Sea of Storms to the southern end, even with favorable winds could take months.
For this reason, no adventurer traveled directly south from the central island before turning east. That would be an unnecessary waste of time.
Though Ethan had chosen the southern approach this time, he followed a diagonal route, sailing southeast while keeping parallel to the Sea of Storms.
Along the way, he encountered several other ships heading in the same direction—fellow adventurers taking the standard route to the suicide path.
Among adventurers, there was an unspoken rule: even if traveling toward the same destination, no one sailed too close to another ship. They kept a respectful distance to avoid misunderstandings or conflicts.
Fortunately, Philip had warned him about this in advance. Ethan made sure not to approach anyone else's ship and instead maintained his own course, keeping a safe distance from the others.
When he finally reached the turn, the adventurers around him began to scatter. Though they were all heading east, they didn't follow a single fixed route.
It wasn't that they had discovered something specific or had set goals in mind—rather, it was an instinctive understanding. No adventurer wanted to take the exact same path as another. Even Ethan.
And just like that, he found himself alone again.
The vast sea stretched endlessly before him. No more dark walls on the horizon, no scattered ships in sight—just open water in every direction.
Ethan took out the island pointer once more. As expected, it remained unstable, wavering without giving a clear direction. But the space-time pointer gave him an unexpected surprise.
"Huh? Space-time energy?"
During his last trip to the Caribbean, he hadn't completely depleted his stored space-time energy, but there had been so little left that he couldn't even activate a single teleportation spell.
This was the first time Ethan possessed space-time energy but was unable to use it freely. It was also the first time he'd had such a scarce amount in reserve. He had spent what little he had on analyzing and refining his energy control techniques.
The results were now visible on the space-time pointer, the anchor point to Paradise Island had stabilized significantly, and he had also secured a stable anchor point in the Marvel Universe.
Now, Ethan no longer had to worry about decades passing by the time he returned to Paradise Island, nor did he have to fear missing all the "major events" in the Marvel Universe.
Moreover, the space-time orb's tracking function had become more precise. Instead of vague directional arrows, it now provided exact distances.
"Thirty nautical miles?"
One nautical mile was approximately 1,852 meters, and at full speed, the Goddess of Dawn could reach nearly ten knots, meaning ten nautical miles per hour.
Though current conditions wouldn't allow for maximum speed, at an average pace, it would take him a little over half a day to reach the location indicated by the pointer.
The space-time pointer had given him a clear target, and Ethan wasn't about to ignore it. Since he hadn't found an island yet, this was at least something to aim for.
The "short voyage" was smooth. There were no obstacles along the way, and the wind and currents were favorable. Ethan successfully arrived at the destination and collected a fresh mass of space-time energy.
But just as he was about to use it to travel to the Marvel Universe as planned, he realized something was wrong.
"The energy… isn't enough?"
That had never happened before.
Perplexed, Ethan sat on the deck, deep in thought. It took him a while to figure out the issue.
"Using a space-time anchor consumes more energy!"
A space-time anchor precisely locks onto both a specific world and a specific point in time. Launching a teleportation under these conditions required significantly more energy. And the amount of space-time energy gathered each time wasn't always consistent—this time, the amount he had collected was relatively small.
"So I can only do a random jump this time?"
Since obtaining the space-time pointer, Ethan had only made one targeted teleportation, to Paradise Island. Back then, the space-time anchor hadn't been fully stabilized, so the energy consumption wasn't as high.
His second trip, to the Marvel Universe, had been more of a blind jump—he hadn't specifically chosen his destination. And his journey to Arthur's world had relied on Merlin's assistance, so he hadn't noticed this limitation before.
"I didn't expect that stabilizing the space-time anchor would increase the energy cost this much…"
No matter how he looked at it, this situation wasn't surprising. Ethan didn't dwell on it. If he couldn't go this time, he would just go next time.
Now that the space-time anchor had stabilized, he no longer had to worry about accidentally traveling decades into the future.
Besides, he was eager to explore new worlds. His last trip to the Caribbean had been fruitful, perhaps this time, he could gain something valuable as well.
After collecting his thoughts, he double-checked his equipment, picked up his backpack, and activated the teleportation magic circle once more.
This time, the spell activated smoothly. The familiar glow and sensation washed over him, and when everything returned to normal, Ethan found himself standing in an unfamiliar place.
"Where is this?"
Unlike his previous travels, where he could immediately recognize the world he had arrived in, this time, Ethan was at a loss.
It was nighttime. Judging from his surroundings, he appeared to be in a modern city. However, there were no towering skyscrapers in sight, suggesting that he was in a relatively remote area. The signs on the nearby stores indicated that the local language was English, but whether he was in North America or the UK was uncertain.
Ethan guessed that North America was more likely—too many worlds were set there, especially in movies. But beyond that, he had no concrete clues. He decided to follow his usual procedure:
First, establish a local identity. Then, gather information about the world to determine exactly where he was.
But it seemed he wouldn't need to go through all that trouble.
Just as he was about to find a place to access the internet, he noticed a tall man stepping out of a stretched luxury car. The man was limping slightly as he retrieved something from the trunk before heading toward a nearby public restroom.
Ethan recognized him.
The scene unfolding before him matched a memory in his mind, confirming which world he had entered.
(To be continued.)
T/N: Guess the world xD
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