The Lonely Journey Back

"This lucky?"

Ethan spent half a day studying the White Magic Stone, turning it over and over, but still couldn't figure out if it was the type he suspected. If it was, considering his experiences recently, he could barely believe his own luck.

"Even though I know good luck doesn't last forever… I still hope this kind of luck can continue forever."

It was a shame his Golden Finger didn't have a status panel or anything like that, so he couldn't see how much luck he had or what level it was.

He carefully stored the Magic Stone close to his body. His gains this time were much greater than he had anticipated, plus a bigger and better Caravel – because its appearance was so similar, Ethan just considered it a Caravel.

He believed these things could be exchanged for quite a bit, allowing him to improve his strength.

"I still know too little about this world. I have no idea how to improve my strength in this world."

A bigger and better ship? He didn't need to worry about that for now after getting the new ship. If the ship were any bigger, it would be too difficult for him to sail alone. Unless he could find reliable companions, he wasn't planning on switching to a larger ship.

The Goddess of Dawn he just acquired might have to be sold back to the guild, though he would keep the name.

A ship full of Ore might be able to be crafted into something? He just didn't know what kind of Ore he found? Or what could be crafted? Or should he just exchange it directly for finished products?

"I wonder if this world has cannons or steam engines or anything like that?"

From what he had seen so far, the ships in this world were still in the age of sail. Ship power primarily relied on wind and manpower. He hadn't seen steam-powered or any other power systems he didn't recognize.

"Maybe there are. After all, things like Magic Stones exist. Maybe Magic Stone cannons or something will be developed."

Thinking of his furnace that used Magic Stones as fuel, Ethan felt his guess was very likely the reality.

"If that's the case, not only do I need to collect various resources in the future, but I even need to research Magic Stone technology?"

While contemplating his future, he used several thick ropes to tie his original small boat and the new Goddess of Dawn together, letting the large ship tow the small one forward.

With the cargo hold filled with Ore, the Caravel-type sailboat, which was supposed to be known for its speed, was moving slower than his original small boat.

"Fortunately, I have enough food, and I can make fresh water myself. It's okay to go a little slower."

He could also take this opportunity to consolidate what he had learned recently.

Just like that, Ethan resumed his regular life at sea.

He would wake up in the morning, wash up simply, and make breakfast. After eating, he would rest for a short while, then proceed with sword practice. When the sun was strong at noon, he would read – Ethan had brought back many books that he hadn't finished reading, but as his Mental Power gradually increased, his reading speed also accelerated.

For example, the thick pile of 'English textbooks' that the Ancient One had given him before had already been learned. Now he could converse and write in English fluently. At most, his spoken English was a little rusty because no one practiced conversation with him – but this problem was easy to solve. As long as he found a plane where English was used, it wouldn't take him more than three days to use English like his native language.

"There's even this advantage to choosing the Sorcerer path. This is a pleasant surprise."

He possessed the Space-Time Pointer, which could find Space-Time Energy and travel between planes. Based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe he first went to, he could determine that he would definitely encounter similar movie worlds. In many movie worlds, English could be used for communication. Coupled with the Chinese Language heritage he inherited from his previous life, he shouldn't be completely lost due to language barriers when entering movie worlds again.

All of this stemmed from his choice of the Sorcerer's Mental Power cultivation path. If he had initially chosen the Warrior Path's method of improvement, prioritizing the enhancement of his physical fitness, then just communication would have caused him countless troubles.

"Moreover, I remember there are spells that can quickly master the other party's language. In the future, when I go to worlds with non-Earth languages like Diablo or Warcraft, I won't be tormented by language problems."

The prerequisite was that Ethan's strength improved further, at least enough to become a formal Sorcerer.

Now, he was working towards this goal step by step, but there was a lot he needed to learn before that.

After the reading and learning time at noon ended, he would eat some fruit to replenish his energy. In the afternoon, Ethan would do some basic exercises, which served as a consolidation of his morning practice. Then, he would decide whether to catch some seafood from the sea to serve as dinner and breakfast for the next day, depending on the situation.

After enjoying dinner, the sun had basically set below the horizon. Ethan wouldn't sail at night because he was the only one on the ship, and there was no one to take turns with him.

So, before making dinner, he would drop anchor and stop the ship before getting busy with dinner.

After eating his last meal of the day, Ethan would begin his Mental Power cultivation, which would last until late at night. At this point, he could go to sleep and rest.

His schedule was basically like this, very fixed, with only occasional trivial matters interspersed, such as taking out books to dry on the deck to prevent them from getting damp, moldy, and damaged. He would maintain and repair his weapons and armor. Every time he did this, he couldn't stop complaining about the novels he had read in his previous life.

"The weapons the protagonists in those novels got were never seen being maintained or repaired. A gun could fire thousands of rounds after being acquired and still look like new. Forget maintenance, they weren't even wiped down."

"Melee weapons were even more so. If not divine artifacts, they were magical artifacts. At the very least, they were divine weapons crafted by famous masters. There was no concept of maintenance or repair. They could be left in a corner to gather dust for several years, and when taken out and wiped casually, they would still shine brightly and cut through iron like mud."

"I have quite a few pieces of equipment, and they're all quite useful, but cleaning and maintaining them one by one is really troublesome."

Every time this happened, Ethan wished he could get the legendary divine weapons that were never damaged, or a spatial storage item that could freeze time.

Complaining was just complaining. After all, this equipment was the foundation of his existence, and a large part of his life depended on it. So, although Ethan kept muttering, his hands were careful and meticulous, afraid that his maintenance and repair work was not thorough enough, causing damage to the equipment.

His constant muttering was actually forced out by the lonely life on the ship. Being without someone to talk to for a long time, he was afraid his language function would degenerate over time, so he could only find opportunities to keep talking.

Often, he also realized that if this continued, he would either go crazy or become foolish, and he had to find a companion as soon as possible.

"But… where is it so easy to find a companion?"

Not to mention being trustworthy, could he share his secrets? Take companions to other planes? He wasn't completely against it, but what would these people do after learning about it? He didn't want to speculate about others with too much malice, but there was a clear example not long ago reminding him.

"How about… finding companions from the worlds I travel to?"

Because he would be bringing people out, the secret wouldn't be a secret from the start. Moreover, this option had an advantage: he could 'trick' familiar people from familiar planes.

At least he knew which people had noble character and wouldn't stab him in the back even if they didn't agree.

He suddenly thought of many Plane Travel novels he had read in his previous life. Finding companions from other worlds seemed to be one of the uses of this kind of Golden Finger. When he was reading, he had also fantasized about getting such a Golden Finger and then 'tricking' a few 'characters' he liked to 'hang out' with him.

"I wonder if this thing can bring people out?"

He remembered that he had to pick something up before it counted as bringing it. Could it be that he had to hold someone to bring them out?

With a wave of his hand, Ethan summoned the Space-Time Pointer, immersing his Mental Power into it, wanting to explore more of its secrets.

The first time he used it, the moment the Space-Time Pointer activated the Magic Array, the burst of Space-Time Energy also injected some information into his mind. The basic usage and general function of the Space-Time Pointer were learned at that time. At that time, his Mental Power was very ordinary, perhaps only able to carry a small amount of information. He wondered if he could obtain more information after becoming stronger?

Unfortunately, no matter what 'posture' he sent his Mental Power into the Pointer with, besides making the Pointer's form more stable, there was no information feedback returning to his mind.

"Do I have to figure it out on my own?"

While feeling depressed, he suddenly noticed that the Space-Time Pointer was displaying an arrow.

"Is there Space-Time Energy?"

He had been lost in thought just now and hadn't noticed that the Space-Time Pointer wasn't showing 'searching'... but an arrow, pointing to the left side of his ship.

As the ship continued to move forward, the direction the Pointer was indicating also changed subtly.

"It's not far?"

Ethan immediately jumped up, changed course as quickly as possible, and sailed in the direction the Pointer indicated.

"Right! I forgot something."

There was one problem he had never solved: when he traveled to another world, was the time in this world parallel to that world? Or did they have completely different flow rates?

It wasn't that he hadn't thought of this before, but there was no way to test it. This time, thanks to stealing a ship and scavenging a lot of small odds and ends, he happened to find a hourglass. He had tested it before, and when all the sand flowed to the bottom, it was exactly one day.

"Only one day is a bit short... but at least I can know if it's stagnant or flowing."

After putting on all his equipment properly, Ethan even put a few 'Healing Potions' in the small pouch on his belt. After checking repeatedly, he started timing with the hourglass, then stepped back a few paces and activated the Plane Travel Magic Array.

"I wonder what kind of world I'll go to this time."