In the end, Star-Lord still chose not to return to Earth. Not only did Earth hold few fond memories for him, but he had also left at a very young age and was far more accustomed to life in the universe.
He also felt that going back to Earth was unwise. If Yondu couldn't find him, he might go to Earth to search for information. Returning there would be like exposing his whereabouts.
"In that case, I wish you smooth sailing in your future."
Since Star-Lord wasn't coming with them, they no longer needed his spaceship to return to Earth. This was actually a relief for Logan and the others.
While the Milano was quite comfortable and Star-Lord's piloting skills were excellent, the ship's biggest problem was its size.
Cramming so many people into such a small space was far from ideal. Everyone preferred to teleport directly back to Earth.
After watching Star-Lord board the Milano and disappear into the vastness of space, Ethan looked around at the people beside him.
Only those who had come to Nidavellir with him were present. Eitri didn't come to see them off. After all, Nidavellir and Asgard had close ties, and they would have many chances to meet again. There was no need to act like they were parting forever.
To this point, Eitri still believed that Ethan and the others were Asgardians.
"Well then, it's time for us to return to Earth."
Tony was eager to go back and check on his parents. After being away for so long, the initial training should have been completed. Returning now would be just in time to welcome his resurrected parents.
As Ethan cast the teleportation spell, everyone vanished from the dwarf realm of Nidavellir in the blink of an eye, reappearing directly in the manor on Earth.
Speaking of which, Ethan—the owner of the manor—was often elusive. Even the staff didn't know when he left or returned. Although Ethan wasn't afraid of revealing his powers, to avoid unnecessary trouble, he had designated several restricted zones within the manor that regular workers weren't allowed to enter.
These were also the places he frequently used as landing points for teleportation.
Of course, the safest location was always the underground laboratory. The space there was large enough, and the surface staff had no idea it even existed.
As for cleanliness and other concerns, Ethan didn't need to worry. This place was far more important to Tony than it was to him. Tony took care of every minor detail and ensured that no secrets would leak out.
Especially the secret regarding Howard and Maria Stark... Ethan suddenly realized that Tony's gesture of building this manor for him might have also factored in Howard's need for a concealed identity after resurrection.
If Howard didn't mind revealing his identity, that would be fine. But until the hidden threats were eliminated and their strength was sufficient to face any complications, it was better for Howard to remain hidden.
Arranging for them to stay here—whether as "temporary managers" or "partners" left by Ethan to manage the property—would provide Howard with a relatively "legal" identity, allowing him to resume normal life.
Ethan had Logan and the others take everyone upstairs to rest. Although no one was physically exhausted after their journey, their spirits needed time to recover. Only in this place, which could barely be called "home," could they truly relax.
"Oh, right. Selene, stay for a moment."
Selene didn't know why Ethan wanted her to stay, but she had no objection. Just like on the ship, she quietly followed orders and rarely offered opinions or voiced dissent.
Ethan knew why she was like this. It ultimately stemmed from her identity as a vampire, which gave her a natural sense of being an outsider among the others. After all, everyone else on Ethan's ship was human (Auriel: ???). Mutants only had special abilities, and even Imhotep, who had once been a mummy, had regained his human form after resurrection.
Even Loki, who had only stayed with them for a while, was an Asgardian god but resembled humans closely in appearance and habits.
Only Selene stood out—not because of her appearance, but because of the vast difference in dietary needs, which made her feel alien.
Ethan had long promised to resolve Selene's physical issue and hadn't forgotten. However, completely solving it wasn't a simple matter.
Until he obtained the Reality Stone.
While training with the Reality Stone, Ethan had also used it to help resolve some lingering problems. He could use the Stone to simulate various experiments and predict whether the results would succeed.
This method didn't save time, but it did save materials. It could even perfectly simulate substances he didn't currently have access to but understood well enough to replicate, allowing him to test more combinations.
The final result exceeded his expectations. With only the materials currently on hand, he could completely alter Selene's physiology without causing any negative side effects.
The formula for the potion bore some resemblance to the one Loki had used to fully transform into an Asgardian god, though the effect was less dramatic.
Given that Selene's physical attributes were far inferior to Loki's, she clearly couldn't just drink a potion and complete the transformation without issue.
"So if I want to become 'human,' I'll have to go through a more complicated process?"
"Yes. It's similar to the special potion method I used before, but Tony has a lot of advanced equipment here. I can ask him to build a dedicated chamber to carry out the transformation within a relatively short time."
After explaining the situation, Ethan reassured Selene that the transformation wouldn't reduce her strength. On the contrary, it would raise her potential ceiling. As long as she continued training, she would become even stronger than she was now.
At the same time, the traits she had inherited from her vampire identity—such as her affinity for shadow—would not disappear. Instead, thanks to adjustments to her constitution, her Holy Light abilities, which had previously been difficult to improve, might now make progress.
However, from Selene's perspective, these were just bonuses. What she truly wanted was to live like a normal person, able to enjoy regular food and drink with everyone. That way, during meals or group chats, she wouldn't have to sit silently by. She wouldn't have to worry about her blood-based survival needs repelling her companions.
"Is there anything I need to do?"
"You don't need to do anything. Just sleep in the chamber for a while, and when you wake up, you'll be a brand new Selene."
It sounded a little strange, but Selene didn't mind. Her only concern was that once she regained a human body, she might lose her ability to read memories by drinking blood. That meant if Ethan needed information in the future, her greatest utility might be gone.
Ethan told her not to worry. After studying magic for so many years, he had gained some insight into this kind of mystical ability.
"In my opinion, your vampire powers may just change form slightly."
"That would be best."
After resolving Selene's issue, Ethan went to find Tony.
As soon as Tony returned, he had rushed to the "delivery room" to check on his parents' condition. Ethan hadn't followed him right away. He had stayed to talk to Selene and only went over after Tony had made some arrangements.
When he arrived, he saw Tony speaking to two children who looked about ten years old. They were dressed in clothes similar to hospital gowns.
Ethan knew these two children were Howard Stark and his wife, Maria Stark.
They had already completed the first stage of resurrection: perfect fusion of their souls with new embryonic bodies, followed by natural development.
They were now in the second stage: accelerated growth using equipment, allowing their newborn bodies to reach adult form in a short time.
During this stage, they could leave the equipment periodically to adapt to their bodies and begin learning modern knowledge, avoiding any sense of unfamiliarity after their physical maturation.
Using their new bodies also promoted deeper soul-body fusion. Even if they had wanted to remain in the cultivation chamber until adulthood, Jarvis would still recommend that they move around to encourage full integration.
Fortunately, both Howard and Maria were mature adults, unlike Tony in the past. They understood the necessity of these procedures and participated in each activity accordingly.
While Tony and the others had been away, Howard had already pieced together most of what had happened after his death. He had also self-studied recent developments in science and theory, once again becoming a top-tier scientist on par with Tony.
He just looked a bit too young on the outside.
Ethan briefly checked their soul-body fusion status and confirmed that everything was as expected. They were essentially reborn, their bodies and souls fused perfectly, making them impossible to mistake for soul-possessed bodies by any special means.
"At this rate, you'll be able to leave this place in six months at most."
That meant it was time to start thinking about identity. Preparing ahead was always better than making something up on the spot.
"I can't go around using the name Howard Stark right now! What should I call myself?"
Tony and Howard were both thinking hard about an alias. Ethan casually offered a suggestion.
"How about Ryan Wrynn..."
(To be continued.)