Although Ethan looked down on the engineers' bagel-shaped spaceship, his dislike was only for its appearance. He was still very interested in the technology it contained.

After silently watching Weyland rush forward in excitement to negotiate with the engineer, only to be swatted to death, and then seeing the robot David casually dismantled, Ethan lost interest in watching.

The scientists finally realized something. The alien they called the Engineers, their so-called creators, did not value humans at all. Ethan could not understand why they ever thought otherwise.

The security consultants acting as combat personnel raised their weapons and attacked the engineer. Even Elizabeth, a woman, understood in this moment that there was no possibility of peaceful coexistence with this alien.

When the security personnel next to her opened fire, she no longer said foolish things like, "This is just a scientific expedition, we don't need security consultants." She even felt fortunate that she had not said, "Don't bring weapons," before they set off.

Unfortunately, the weapons carried on the Prometheus were not very powerful. The bullets could not even pierce the engineer's protective suit, let alone cause real damage.

So, although the gunfire was constant, it was accompanied by human screams.

But the engineer's performance also ended here. Apart from the initial casualties when the scientists were close to him and the conflict broke out suddenly, once everyone scattered, the engineer could no longer cause rapid losses.

Most importantly, this alien, lacking any judgment, charged straight toward Ethan.

"Show's over."

Under everyone's terrified gaze, Ethan stood still, calmly watching the tall alien rush at him with a fierce expression.

Just when everyone thought Ethan was certainly dead, the security consultant whom Elizabeth thoroughly disliked simply raised his hand slightly. A brilliant light erupted from Ethan's palm, and then the engineer, who had already raised his fist to strike, was blasted backward.

Magic Impact. A very basic attack spell that simply releases magic to "push" the target away.

The power of this spell increases as the mage's strength and control grow.

When Ethan used it with his current ability, the feeling was like being hit head-on by a large truck traveling over a hundred kilometers per hour.

This was just him casting casually. If he had used a serious attack spell, he could easily crush this alien to a pulp.

The scene happened so quickly that when the engineer was thrown back, slammed into the distant wall, and fell to the ground unable to move, no one had time to react.

Even as Ethan slowly walked forward and looked down at the alien lying motionless, they still did not understand what had just happened.

They could only be sure of one thing. Their crisis was over?

"What just happened?"

Fifield had been standing not far from Ethan. Despite his fierce face, he was actually very insecure.

Ever since arriving here, he had felt uneasy and wished he could immediately return to the Prometheus and never come back down. The longer he stayed in this eerie cave, the less safe he felt. That was why he had been hovering around Ethan, feeling relatively safer near him.

From the fact that Ethan had stopped people from foolishly taking off their helmets, this security consultant seemed far more reliable than the others. At least Ethan knew what absolutely should not be done in such a strange place.

So when the alien charged at them, Fifield, standing slightly behind Ethan, felt like it was targeting him. In that instant, he thought he was dead. With his small physique, even a graze from that tall alien would likely be fatal.

But just as he was despairing, something magical happened. Ethan simply raised his hand, and the powerful alien was blasted away.

"Was that some kind of new weapon?"

No one saw clearly what had happened, including those on the Prometheus who were watching through the monitors.

Captain Janek had the same question as Fifield. He turned to ask Meredith, but she was not there.

Looking around, he saw only his two deputies and the Asian woman named Ada.

"What kind of weapon was that?"

"That wasn't a weapon."

Ada had one hand on her hip while her other hand operated the console.

Having the title of security consultant had one advantage. She could openly use the Prometheus's computers and search for whatever she wanted.

"Not a weapon?"

Janek wanted to know more, but he felt that these mysterious security consultants would not answer honestly, so he just kept watching the monitors, trying to judge for himself.

Ada looked up briefly and did not care when Janek stopped asking.

Actually, if he had continued, she would have been happy to tell him. She was not sure if he would believe her, but it did not matter. She enjoyed watching people's strange expressions when they learned the truth. It never got boring, no matter how many times she saw it.

As Janek stared at the screens in shock and the scientists cautiously gathered around, Ethan stood over the engineer, thinking about what to do with him.

Kill him outright? That felt like a waste. Looking at the frightened scientists, Ethan realized this alien might be a useful bargaining chip.

He had also been worried about how to deal with the survivors if he wanted to take the Prometheus. Now, the ship beneath his feet solved that problem perfectly.

He believed these scientists would be eager to bring back an alien spacecraft, something that would directly change their status on Earth.

But before that, he had to deal with the dangerous items inside this ship. Otherwise, they would be bringing back destruction, not hope.

"Sleep."

With that thought, Ethan stopped worrying about how to handle the engineer. He glanced at the weakened alien and cast a sleep spell, putting him into a deep slumber. The effect of this spell depended on the target's condition and mental strength.

For an alien like this, if he were healthy and alert, the spell would have little effect. At most, he would feel sudden drowsiness, immediately notice something was wrong, and shake it off.

Even if he did fall asleep, he would wake easily.

But since he was badly injured and had just woken from deep hibernation, his body was far from its best. Now, not only could he not resist the drowsiness, but he would also sleep deeply. Even if thrown onto a battlefield, he would not wake up.

"What did you do to him?"

This time, everyone was very close and saw Ethan's movements clearly. Ethan had only moved his finger slightly, then a string of glowing points drifted toward the alien's eyes. The alien immediately closed them and fell still.

If not for the faint signs of breathing, they might have thought he was dead.

"I just made him fall asleep."

"He fell asleep just like that? Were those lights some kind of powder?" Fifield glanced between Ethan and the alien. "You can hypnotize aliens?"

"Humans too. Want to try?"

"No, thank you!"

Fifield quickly stepped back. He did not want to fall asleep here, especially in such a terrifying place.

"I'll leave this guy to you. I'm going to check other areas."

There was not much left to see in the control room. Ethan wanted to find the power room and check if important components like the power unit and thrusters could be dismantled.

If they could, he would take a set back. If not, he would scan all the details and bring the data. After all, there was more than one bagel-shaped ship here, so dismantling one would not matter.

Since the ship was right here, it would be foolish not to take something.

Even though he disliked its appearance, he still valued the technology.

As long as the technology was mastered, the design could be changed however they wanted.

Most importantly, such a large "donut" could ascend so easily. Ethan was sure this ship had anti-gravity technology, which was critical for spacecraft, especially large ones.

As he expected, the ship indeed had anti-gravity technology. It allowed the massive craft to land on planets with ease and break free from gravity to rush into space.

Obtaining this technology would eliminate many restrictions on building large spacecraft. Even if they were built on Earth, they could still lift off smoothly into space.

Of course, even without this technology, Ethan could still "carry" them into space. But Tony would never agree to build something that humiliating.

(To be continued.)

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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.

◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)