Ethan was completely bewildered at this moment. How had he become Steppenwolf's lackey? He even found Steppenwolf too weak to be his lackey, and the guy would significantly lower the average attractiveness of his side.
However, he had no chance to explain. After receiving the queen's command, the Amazon warriors immediately launched an attack on him. Dense arrows shot toward him from all directions, leaving no gaps and forcing him to endure the onslaught head-on.
This was just the beginning. The fierce Amazon warriors, armed with spears and swords, had already charged forward, ready to deliver a heavy blow while the enemy dealt with the arrows!
They did not believe the enemy would be killed by the arrow volley. Each warrior poured all her strength into the attack, striving to severely wound or even defeat the enemy with this single strike.
"..."
Ethan sighed helplessly, a faint blue light flashing across his body, and then the dense arrows passed right through him.
The most magical thing was that under normal circumstances, even if these arrows did not hit Ethan, they should have collided with each other. However, upon entering the area around Ethan, it was as if these arrows had become phantoms, completely unable to touch each other. This miraculous sight of them passing through one another appeared before everyone.
It was not until these arrows solidly embedded themselves in the ground that everyone was reminded that these were not illusions, but real weapons capable of taking a life.
The attacks that followed closely behind also failed to harm Ethan. Now, people no longer felt their weapons were phantoms. Instead, they felt that the enemy in front of them might just be a projection or something similar.
Just as Hippolyta was thinking this, Ethan reached out toward the Mother Box not far away, and the Mother Box, as if attracted by something, flew directly into his hand.
Crack!
The crisp sound made when his palm touched the Mother Box reminded Hippolyta that this person was not an illusion, but a real enemy.
"Put down the Mother Box!"
Hippolyta drew her sword and lunged forward. She could not just watch the Mother Box be stolen by Steppenwolf's lackey. Countless forces had united back then to defeat Steppenwolf and his army, seizing the Mother Box and preventing Earth's destruction. If Steppenwolf were to reclaim the Mother Box, Earth would once again face a great crisis.
Moreover, there were not as many powerful forces on Earth now that could unite against Steppenwolf.
Ethan looked at Hippolyta, who had already reached him, and simply made a gentle clenching motion with his right hand. A ripple emanated from Ethan, pushing all the surrounding Amazon warriors, including Hippolyta, several steps back.
But that was all. Ethan did not intend to kill them, and pushing them back was merely so he could use spatial transfer to leave this place.
So, by the time the Amazon warriors regained their footing and prepared to attack again, a blue light flashed, and the enemy had vanished from sight.
"Queen... what should we do now?"
Hippolyta looked at the empty space in front of her and the stone platform where the Mother Box should have been placed, then finally let out a helpless sigh.
She could think of few options, and judging from the strength the opponent displayed just now, even if all the warriors of Themyscira attacked together, they likely would not be able to harm him.
At this moment, the only person she could rely on was her daughter.
Hippolyta prepared to send a message to her daughter, while Ethan, with the Mother Box, found a random place to stop.
This was a deserted island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. There were no resources, and it was not on any major shipping lanes, so he did not have to worry about being seen by ordinary people.
He came here with the Mother Box simply to find a place where he would not be disturbed and to think about some things.
His mission this time was similar to the last, with the target being a key. And this time, the key was Earth's three Mother Boxes.
The one in his hand was the one guarded by Themyscira. He remembered that another was guarded by the Atlanteans. In the original plot, Steppenwolf had snatched it from Mera.
As for the other one, it had fallen into the hands of Cyborg's father.
It could be said that none of these Mother Boxes were difficult to obtain. With his current strength, even if he just took them by force, no one could stop him.
"What is the purpose of this kind of mission?"
Without even needing to think hard, he came up with several possibilities. Considering his previous discoveries, he felt he had already found the truth.
"A boring trick!"
He glanced at the Mother Box in his hand. This thing truly was not of much use to him, but to leave the Tower of Babel, he had to collect the three Mother Boxes. Unlike in the Death God world and the Dragon Ball world, he could not pass the "trial" using his own methods. This was a mandatory task.
Fortunately, he had seen through many things and would not get bogged down in certain issues. At this moment, the Mother Box in his hand suddenly underwent some peculiar changes, emitting a completely different kind of fluctuation than before.
Ethan was startled, then held the Mother Box with both hands, immediately feeling a massive amount of pure energy continuously flowing into his body, along with many rules and powers that he could not immediately understand or grasp.
By the time he came back to his senses, several days had passed, and the Mother Box in his hand had disappeared.
"Time to find the next one."
He did not know the exact locations of the other two Mother Boxes, but it was not troublesome. The Mother Boxes themselves emitted a unique energy fluctuation, and Ethan only needed to specifically search for this fluctuation. With his current strength, covering the entire globe with his perception was not difficult.
Moreover, one of the inherent functions of the Mother Box was to open Boom Tubes, meaning the Mother Box itself had teleportation capabilities. Having "absorbed" one Mother Box, Ethan had already understood the principle of the Boom Tube. He could directly open a channel and teleport himself next to another Mother Box.
After thinking about it, he chose not to use the Boom Tube for teleportation. That thing made too much noise and was not as convenient as the spatial teleportation he used more often.
Since absorbing the power and rules of six enhanced Infinity Stones and one Mother Box, Ethan felt he had stepped into a new, higher realm. He felt that even if he wanted to destroy this world now, it would just be a matter of a thought.
Such immense power gave him a feeling of looking down on everything. He could do whatever he wanted, and there was no being that could stop him from doing anything.
He took a step forward, and with that single stride, he went from the deserted island in the Atlantic to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis.
Ethan's body had now evolved into a considerably higher divine body. The fusion of massive energy and various rule powers meant his divine body was now much stronger than before. He could survive and move freely in any environment, so the depths of Earth's ocean naturally would not affect him.
Because he appeared silently, the few guards around the Mother Box did not even notice his arrival. Only Mera sensed something vaguely through the abnormality of the water flow, suddenly turned back, and discovered Ethan floating next to the Mother Box.
Mera did not know who Ethan was, but from his attire, she could tell this guy was not an Atlantean. Besides, even if he were an Atlantean, he would not be allowed into this place without permission.
So the answer was clear. This was an intruder coveting the Mother Box!
She did not know how this guy got here, but what she had to do was simple: eliminate this intruder!
Besides possessing strength far exceeding that of ordinary humans and a robust physique like most Atlanteans, Mera also had the ability to control water. In the ocean, this ability could be fully utilized.
With her hands spread, the form and density of the surrounding seawater changed dramatically, and then these high-density currents surged toward Ethan.
In Mera's view, anyone caught in this terrifying current would have no other outcome than being torn to shreds.
Facing Mera's attack, Ethan was not as polite as he had been with Hippolyta. Although the Queen Hippolyta of this world was not the one he was familiar with, there was still some influence.
Mera, however, was different. He had absolutely no connection with Mera. They had never even met. His only impression of her came from the memories of his past life, and that was all.
Purple energy surged out, directly shattering the water currents released by Mera, turning them back into ordinary seawater and blending them with the surroundings.
Mera did not expect her ability to be dispelled so easily by the opponent, but this did not make her choose to retreat. Instead, she charged toward Ethan.
Because Ethan had placed his hand on the Mother Box, and Mera's duty was to guard the Mother Box, she could not just watch it be stolen.
The surrounding soldiers also charged forward together. Ethan casually waved his empty hand, and the quiet seawater around them suddenly became extremely violent. Currents far stronger than those released by Mera swept up all the Atlantean soldiers. In such violent currents, let alone continuing to attack, they were lucky to even survive.
Mera's ability saved her. At the critical moment, she repelled all the water around her, creating a waterless space and escaping the currents' grasp.
However, by the time she escaped the predicament and was ready to continue engaging Ethan to buy some time, she found that Ethan, who should have been in front of her, had disappeared.
"Damn it!"
She had no idea of the opponent's identity, nor had she figured out his true strength, only that he was very strong. After thinking it over, the only solution she could come up with was to find help. This enemy was not someone she could handle...
Having obtained another Mother Box, Ethan did not look for a deserted island this time but came to North America.
He did not care which city he was in, found a random coffee shop and sat down, then looked at the Mother Box he had "shrunk" to the size of a Rubik's Cube in front of him. In the eyes of ordinary people, he was just sitting there playing with a normal Rubik's Cube.
(To be continued.)