Drift Of The Multiverse: [Marvel] [Resident Evil] [DC] [Bleach] [DB]

Ethan turned and sized up the person in front of him. This was a tall and slender young man, who looked only a few years older than Ethan, and whose appearance was definitely impressive.

Perhaps it was just a feeling, but Ethan always sensed that although this person was courteous and left a good first impression, there was a subtle sense of detachment about him.

"Sorry, we're not planning to resell it."

"That's a shame. I really like small animals." The man extended his hand and shook Ethan's. "I'm Brad, captain of the Ripper."

"Ethan, captain of the Goddess of Dawn."

After shaking hands, Brad turned and returned to his crew. Ethan noticed that after he went back, his eyes occasionally glanced over at their group.

"What's wrong with this guy?"

Brad's behavior was too strange. To suddenly want to buy a pet in this kind of environment? Anyone with a normal IQ could tell how odd the situation was.

"Does he have some ulterior motive?"

But they had never met before, had no conflicts, and Ethan hadn't even heard his name.

After thinking about it, Ethan finally focused his gaze on Auriel. The only plausible explanation was that Brad had his eye on Auriel, and it definitely wasn't because he liked small animals.

"Auriel?"

Auriel, who looked like a kitten, had lived on the ship for so long but never seemed to grow. She always appeared to be a tiny kitten. Yet the number of magic stones she consumed would be enough to render a magic stone cannon useless if used as ammunition.

Given the massive amount of energy consumed, Ethan certainly didn't believe she was just a harmless kitten. Not to mention, Auriel had already displayed many anomalies even before being brought aboard.

"Collecting magic stones? Or... that special magic stone that can restore its own magic power?"

Ethan recalled the assassin whose name he never learned. That man had tried to kill him because of Auriel. He came from the next sea region. What was Brad's background?

"We need to be cautious with this guy from now on."

Having sailed for years and experienced multiple worlds, Ethan was no rookie. There was no way he would let his guard down just because Brad was now his so-called "teammate."

Whenever Ethan discovered someone had ulterior motives and their target was already in his possession, he would always assume the worst and treat the person as a potential threat who could attack at any time.

"I know what to do."

Logan, with his extensive experience, saw it too. He nodded to Ethan and adjusted his position in the group, always staying between their group and Brad's. If something happened, Logan would be the first line of defense.

It was a sound decision. Logan could slow the enemy's advance, alert the others, and he wouldn't die even if ambushed, making him the best choice for this role.

Although Laura was also immortal, she was still a child and remained under everyone's protection.

That said, it had been a while since Laura boarded the Goddess of Dawn. She was nearly thirteen now, and since girls matured earlier, she had already grown taller. Anyone treating her as a weakling would suffer for it.

At that moment, Brent began gathering everyone who had come ashore. Once everyone was assembled, they began exploring the land.

Because of the strangeness of the environment, no one suggested splitting up. Although the landmass was vast and searching together would take more time, no one brought up the idea of separating.

Compared to the other captains, Ethan's group was unusually small. From the beginning, they were surrounded. Standing next to them were Brad and his subordinates.

"Captain Ethan, didn't you recruit more crew members?"

Brad had looked around more than once and had already figured out who belonged to Ethan's ship. Even though everyone was moving together, the divisions between crews were obvious, making it easy to tell who came from which vessel.

"I prefer to adventure with like-minded people." Ignoring Loki's gaze, Ethan casually made up a line without hesitation. "I think companions like that can truly unite and overcome all kinds of difficulties when a crisis arises."

Just as Ethan was speaking, screams suddenly rang out from the outer edge of the group, followed by shouts and the sound of clashing steel.

"An enemy attack?"

Brent had called together several captains this time. While not all responded, a few joined, bringing a fleet composed of several warships.

Each ship carried hundreds at most and dozens at the least. Even the smallest ships, besides Ethan's had landed with dozens of people.

Altogether, there were at least several hundred people. It may not have been thousands, but with several hundred moving together, Ethan, standing in the middle, couldn't immediately see what was happening at the perimeter.

Soon, though, he didn't need to. Enemies emerged from all directions. Ethan and his group, standing behind Brent, quickly saw the attackers in front of them.

"Where did these guys come from?"

Even Ethan's detection goggles, which he never removed, gave no warning. These enemies seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"They're coming from underground."

"Underground?"

Loki, who had been bored and aimlessly wandering, actually knew more about the surroundings than anyone else. He had the highest overall awareness among them all.

"Your goggles are being interfered with by the energy here, so they couldn't detect them."

Ethan realized it too. He had already determined the enemies were undead. The land was saturated with negative energy, and his detection goggles worked by sensing energy to locate enemies. In this environment, it was like searching for water in the ocean—no wonder there was no alert.

"Engage the enemy!"

Brent had already assumed a battle stance. Ethan noticed he was wearing a full suit of battle armor, each piece releasing magical energy. Clearly, this was a complete set of magic stone equipment.

It was the first time Ethan had seen Brent fully geared up, and he was very curious about how strong Brent actually was. He also noted that Brent's weapon was a two-handed greatsword. If stood upright, it would nearly match Ethan's height.

Brent didn't wait for the enemies to reach him. After shouting to engage, he raised his greatsword and charged. With a wide horizontal slash, he cleaved the first few undead in half.

Where the greatsword passed, fierce flames erupted, burning the bisected undead as if they were firewood, continuing to burn until nothing was left.

"As expected, he's very powerful."

Ethan also drew his Battle Cross. Considering their enemies were undead, he activated the weakened Holy Light power within the Battle Cross again. While it wasn't as powerful as the Holy Light he now controlled, it was sufficient for enemies of this level.

Brent's charge did little to slow the undead. More surged into the crowd. These adventurers weren't an army. They weren't good at forming tight formations or holding a line, so the fight quickly devolved into chaotic melee—everyone tangled together, unable to tell whether the creature next to them was enemy or ally.

But this kind of chaos was familiar to adventurers. They were long used to fighting like this.

Even Logan, who came from a military background, preferred this type of battle. He ignored the undead's attacks and used raw power to rip the creatures in front of him to pieces.

While fighting, Ethan continued observing the battlefield. He noticed the forms of the undead varied widely. Some looked like beasts, others like humans, and others still like strange monsters.

The only thing they had in common was that they were undead. Besides being hard to kill, they gave off an unbearable stench. Ethan suspected that the smell itself was a form of psychological attack meant to demoralize the living.

"Captain Ethan's skills are impressive."

While Ethan was analyzing the situation, Brad was analyzing him. He had long noticed that this young captain moved freely through the undead horde. Few monsters could get close, and any that did were immediately cut down. Ethan's strength was far beyond what Brad had expected.

What shocked him more was that, after watching for so long, he realized Ethan didn't seem to be wearing any magic stone gear. The only thing that resembled equipment was the weapon in his hand that could release energy blades. But that wouldn't enhance physical strength or speed. This meant Ethan was fending off these monsters using nothing but his own power.

The discovery made Brad reevaluate him.

Ethan, meanwhile, was keeping an eye on Brad out of the corner of his eye. The man had been circling near him for some time. Ethan could tell Brad was skilled. Every attack he made took down an undead in a single blow.

These were undead creatures. While not particularly powerful, there was a big difference between defeating one and actually killing it.

Their biggest trait was their resistance to death. But for Brad, that didn't seem to be a problem.

"This guy injects energy into the target at the moment of impact, causing an internal explosion that disperses the death energy, effectively eliminating the undead."

(To be continued.)

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