The massive island that had almost completely blocked the entire shipping lane... or rather, a piece of land, had simply vanished.

The dark clouds in the sky had also dispersed. They had already thinned out considerably when the thunderstorm subsided, and now not a single cloud could be seen. The clear, azure sky was a soothing sight.

However, the surviving adventurers on this small island could not feel at ease. The power displayed by the young man who had suddenly appeared was terrifying. They had no idea how to approach him now.

Logically, they should have expressed their gratitude, as Ethan's appearance had saved their lives. He had even used that strange light rain to cleanse the death energy from their bodies, preventing them from facing the tragic fate of becoming undead.

Ethan had also completely destroyed Beckford, restoring "peace" to this sea area. They no longer had to worry about a madman suddenly appearing, wanting to turn everyone into undead, or even uniting the entire sea.

But no one "dared" to walk up and thank Ethan. The gap in strength was too immense, leaving them helpless. An enemy they had fought with all their might but could not truly harm was simply dealt with by a casual wave of his hand. The vast difference in power created an enormous chasm between them, leading to the thought that Ethan was simply not the same kind of being as them.

Ethan glanced back at these adventurers, unsurprised by their thoughts.

Similar things happened repeatedly in countless universes. If he had defeated Beckford by fighting with all his strength, suffering severe injuries, and using his last ounce of energy, they would have seen him as a hero, even praising him wildly, perhaps even as the greatest adventurer in this sea area.

But now... probably no one would boast loudly. Perhaps they would discuss it privately, but that would be the extent of it.

However, Ethan did not care about this situation at all. His reason for coming here to kill Beckford, in the end, was because Beckford was blocking his path. He was not trying to save the world or anything.

Moreover, he was heading to the Sea of Miracles next and would not have any further interaction with most of the people here. Ethan truly did not care at all how they viewed him.

Brent, the only one who remained composed, was silently using the Holy Light energy he had just mastered to examine some of the more seriously injured adventurers.

Only after confirming that everyone had no fatal injuries and no rampant death energy in their bodies did he return to Ethan's side and inquire about Ethan's situation.

It was then that Brent learned why Ethan had missed the guild's summons and the attack.

There had been a problem with the communication device, preventing Ethan from confirming the exact date, causing him to be delayed on his journey. By the time he arrived, the battle had reached its most intense moment.

"Anyway, at least you made it in time."

Brent could not ask for too much. The guild's summons were not a mandatory order, and there would have been nothing to criticize even if Ethan had not come.

Besides, Ethan had come and saved the lives of most adventurers, and had even allowed him to master the miraculous power of the Holy Light. All the adventurers, including himself, owed him this favor.

Ethan did not tell Brent the truth. He did not plan to mention the Prinz Eugen. He had not even brought his companions, leaving the Prinz Eugen docked in a relatively remote location and using magic to get here himself.

He did not want these people to see his ship. Ultimately, he did not want the guild to know his situation.

Looking at the reactions of most of the adventurers here, he felt his arrangements were correct.

There were indeed some good-natured people among the adventurers, but in this world with almost no legal constraints, most people's character... He did not know what kind of trouble his warship, which was far beyond the capabilities of this world, would attract, nor could he expect these people to suddenly become moral paragons. Therefore, the best option was to hide it and not let it be seen.

"Are you going back to the central island together next?"

"No, I'll head directly to the Sea of Miracles."

Ethan did not lower his voice when he answered, and all the adventurers heard his words. Most of them secretly sighed with relief in their hearts.

Ethan observed their subtle reactions from the corner of his eye, silently lamenting the so-called "great kindness turns into enmity" that was often discussed in his previous life. He was truly experiencing it now.

He had saved all the adventurers, and everyone owed him a huge debt of gratitude. In this world where strength was paramount, Ethan's immense power left most adventurers with no idea how to repay this favor.

This made many people feel awkward. Small matters were not enough to repay him. Should they keep working for Ethan? Were they willing to be Ethan's subordinates? If Ethan needed their help for something big, would it be an easy matter to resolve? Considering that Ethan's strength required help, it was likely that such a situation would be their death sentence.

No one wanted to die, especially survivors who had just overcome a great catastrophe. They all wished they could live forever.

The best outcome was for Ethan to go to the next sea area, where it was very likely they would never meet again. For most people, this was truly the best situation.

At this point, many adventurers finally began to thank Ethan, saying that if he needed any help, they should feel free to ask. At this time, it was nothing more than asking for supplies like food and water. It would take a considerable amount of time to sail from here to the next sea area.

Ethan did not ask for anything. These people were just being polite, and Ethan disdained to take advantage of such a small matter.

So, although the atmosphere was awkward for a while, it eventually ended on a relatively friendly and cheerful note.

Brent wanted to say something, but was ultimately stopped by Ethan's gaze.

After the adventurers dispersed one after another and returned to their ships to sail back to the central island, Ethan spoke a few more words to Brent, who was the only one who remained.

"Having been recognized by the Holy Light, you can no longer be considered an ordinary human. I hope you use this power wisely."

Ethan did not have much to say about this. What he wanted to talk about was actually something else.

"You can also spread the Holy Light. Perhaps it can be of more help to the adventurers."

Ethan was curious whether the power of the Holy Light could spread in this world. This was not Azeroth. For the Holy Light to reach here, the planar barrier had to be opened. In this situation, even if the concept of the Holy Light was spread, how many people could truly gain the Holy Light's recognition?

This question was difficult to answer, but what if he suddenly wanted to come back and take a look one day? Anyway, it was just a casual remark, and he did not care about wasting a little bit of saliva.

"Hope to see you again, Brent!"

Brent nodded and watched as Ethan cast a teleportation spell and disappeared before his eyes.

Ethan, who had cast the teleportation magic, returned to the bridge of the Prinz Eugen. All his companions were gathered there, watching Ethan's performance through the "Round Table"—the Prinz Eugen's observation capabilities were very powerful. After releasing the detectors, they could observe all the details through the equipment.

"What a perfect performance."

Tony benefited the most. He suspected that Ethan had deliberately used arcane magic for casting, precisely to allow him to feel the operation and changes of arcane energy more.

As Tony's own magic level improved, he began to have his own ideas about magic, and at the same time, he took the first step on the path of combining magic and technology.

With his current strength, he was not yet able to observe all the details of the magic Ethan had cast before, but the special detection devices released from the Prinz Eugen could record all the energy fluctuations, allowing him to carefully examine and study this data, and then turn it into knowledge he truly mastered.

"Thanks for the compliment. Are there any adventurers around?"

The first half of the sentence was directed at Tony, and the second half was asking Hill.

Ethan's delay this time was because he was busy with various tests on the Prinz Eugen.

At the same time, everyone was also learning how to manually pilot the Prinz Eugen. Although there was assistance from artificial intelligence, Ethan wanted everyone to master the ability to manually operate this warship.

After this period of adjustment and practice, even if the Prinz Eugen's artificial intelligence system was shut down, everyone on the ship could still operate this huge steel warship well and navigate, avoiding the embarrassing situation of not knowing how to operate their own ship without the auxiliary system.

"There are no ships within visual range," Hill also answered another question incidentally, "and that only remaining island is also collapsing and sinking."

Ethan's magic had completely destroyed the entire island. The reason the island did not disappear immediately was that Ethan had maintained it with his magical power. As soon as he left, the island, which had lost its energy support, naturally began to collapse and sink.

By this time, even Brent had already left by ship, and there was no one left on the island. The sinking of an island in this sea area was not uncommon, and no one paid any attention to it.

As for Beckford? Ethan's magical attack had destroyed both his body and soul, leaving not a single trace behind.

"Deactivate stealth mode."

The reason the Prinz Eugen had not been discovered was due to the stealth equipment it was equipped with, but this only worked when completely stationary.

"You just eliminated an enemy, aren't you going to rest for a while?"

"Enemy?" Ethan shook his head. "Beckford was once my enemy, but now he's just a small obstacle on my path forward. Now that the obstacle has been removed, of course I should continue moving forward."

The twenty-thousand-ton steel warship began to move, heading straight towards the Sea of Miracles. Thanks to Beckford, he did not have to worry about encountering other adventurers on this journey during this time.

(To be continued.)