A Grimace

After the ship was docked, registered, and cleared out, half a day had passed by the time all the procedures were completed.

Next, Yinsen led everyone to find a place to stay. As more and more people joined the ship, he had begun doing what most Adventure Teams did and rented out an entire small building. It offered the best comfort and privacy.

After a good night’s rest, Yinsen had originally planned to take the newcomers to the guild to register as official adventurers.

However, leaving aside Sherry, who was still too young, neither Annette nor Ada intended to register with the guild.

"I’m not used to letting anyone have my information."

That was one of Ada’s habits. After giving it some thought, Yinsen felt that preserving the flexibility of Ada’s identity would be more beneficial to him. Especially after learning about the state of this world, he had more and more doubts about the guild. He could not be sure what kind of relationship he would have with the guild in the future, so handing over all their information was indeed not a good choice.

As for Annette, she simply felt that she was not an adventurer at all. She was just a scientist, and on Yinsen’s ship, she only did some supporting work. She had no plans to venture out into this world on her own, so registering for such an identity was meaningless to her.

"Fine, then. Let’s just buy some things."

The clothes and daily necessities they had brought from the Biohazard World were more comfortable to use, but there were too few of them. Most of the time, they still had to rely on this world’s products.

Especially with the wind and sun at sea, the lifespan of many things was greatly reduced. Everyone needed some sturdier, more durable clothes.

"Although these clothes are troublesome to put on and not very comfortable, they really are durable."

That was Ada’s assessment. Compared with her and Annette, Logan and Selene had both lived through similar eras and worn even worse clothes.

Annette had clearly stated that she would never wear these clothes unless absolutely necessary. She only planned to buy a few simple sets to deal with formal occasions.

"Actually, we don’t spend much time on the islands. Buying two sets to get by is enough."

Yinsen had lived in this world for several years, but he had spent only a small fraction of that time on islands. Most of it had been wasted at sea. If he had not occasionally gone wandering through other worlds, he might have become unaccustomed to life on land.

Even so, he did not plan to stay here for long. This time, he did not even intend to send the Goddess of Dawn into the shipyard for maintenance. He planned to leave directly after replenishing enough supplies.

He had many things to do and did not intend to waste time here.

Although Brent had made it clear that he would report Beckford’s situation to the guild, and the guild would likely react by gathering a large number of adventurers to head to the Southern Sea Route and deal with Beckford.

Yinsen still intended to leave the island rather than quietly wait here for the guild to act.

No matter how quickly the guild moved, gathering powerful adventurers was not an easy matter.

This sea was not particularly large, but it was not small either. From the moment the guild sent out the news, to the adventurers who accepted the summons returning from all over to Central Island, then carrying out targeted ship maintenance and replenishing various weapons, it would take at least more than half a year to finish everything.

He could not just wait around on the island for that long. He could use the time to settle his own affairs first.

Just as Yinsen had said before, he carried several promises on his shoulders. He had failed to fulfill them before because of his lack of strength, but now he wanted to see them through.

The feeling of being in debt was not pleasant, especially when it was a debt of gratitude.

He worried that carrying such debts for too long might cause unhealthy changes in his mindset. To avoid that possibility, it was better to settle them early and put his mind at ease.

Professor Charles’s Mental Power needed to be delivered to another Charles Xavier, and Logan had completed his training. He was now ready to "go on missions."

This was the highest-priority task and the next matter to resolve. Once he fulfilled Charles’s request, Logan would truly become one of his own. As long as Yinsen did not do something insane like trying to wipe out all mutants, Logan would always stand firmly behind him.

After fulfilling Charles’s request, Yinsen would head to Mummy World to search for the two Scriptures and find a way to resurrect the Stark Couple. If he found something, that would be the best outcome. If not, he would need to look for other methods.

After finishing those two matters, he considered returning to Caribbean World. He still had Blackbeard’s Dark Magic that shrank ships on his mind. He reckoned that spell would be easy for him to learn, as long as he understood its most crucial core principles.

After learning that magic and ensuring that he could resurrect Tony’s parents, Yinsen could consider going to Marvel Universe to claim his warship.

"And after that?"

"After that, we can set our sights on the other side of the Stormy Seas."

"The Sea of Miracles?"

"Yes, the Sea of Miracles."

It was an ordinary dinner. Yinsen was simply introducing his next objectives, giving his companions a general understanding of what lay ahead.

When Loki heard that Yinsen was considering returning to Marvel Universe—though Yinsen would not call it that openly—he suddenly looked forward to it. He wanted to know who was stronger now, himself or Thor.

Based on what Yinsen had told him before, he was certain Thor would have grown much stronger under Odin’s careful guidance. But Thor could never imagine how powerful Loki had become now.

"I really wish you would move that plan up."

"That won’t do. I still have some things to resolve before taking you home."

The key was finding the means to resurrect Tony’s parents. Loki neither agreed nor disagreed with that. Logan, meanwhile, was gratified by Yinsen’s determination to fulfill his promises, especially since he would soon be able to see those familiar faces again.

Annette and Ada, on the other hand, were completely bewildered. What they had heard before was already fantastical enough, but now they were discussing resurrecting the dead over dinner? That was possible? It could not be like the T-Virus, reviving only an empty shell, could it?

With a little thought, they knew that was impossible. If it only meant reviving an empty shell, Yinsen would not be going to such lengths and treating it as a mission objective that had to be completed.

"The reason I’m telling you these goals is that I want to ask whether you have anything to add, or any thoughts of your own?"

They might not be like Yinsen, familiar with multiple Cosmic Planes, but they would still have personal requests. For example, asking Yinsen to help buy things before counted as one.

At the same time, Yinsen needed to know whether they were interested in any of his upcoming plans. That would determine whom he brought along.

"I’m interested in every world."

That was why Ada had agreed to join, so she would definitely take part in all of them.

Annette shook her head. She was interested in some of the things Yinsen had described, but that did not mean she wanted to personally travel to unfamiliar worlds to retrieve them.

For her, she preferred hiding in a laboratory and doing work she was familiar with.

"So, Ada and Logan will travel with me… Selene, what about you?"

"This time, you’re going to some parallel timeline of the world Logan lived in?"

"More or less."

"Then I won’t be going."

Selene felt that this trip did not seem dangerous, and the setting was Earth as well. There was nothing worth "sightseeing." Based on Yinsen’s previous introduction, they might even be going to relatively "backward" eras, which interested her even less.

As for danger? Selene did not think Yinsen would encounter any danger now. The man was a walking nuclear weapon, capable of erasing an entire major city from Earth at any time. Who would be stupid enough to provoke him? Besides, she did not believe Yinsen would deliberately conceal his abilities and let idiots fail to see his true strength.

"I was a little interested at first."

Loki held up his index finger and thumb, indicating that his interest had truly been very small.

"But now, I’m more eager to return to my homeland sooner."

If he followed Yinsen around everywhere, it would mean several additional years. Loki did not care much about the passage of that little time, but he still hoped to return sooner.

"Understood."

So in the end, only Logan and Ada would travel with him. Yinsen made a point of asking Laura whether she wanted to go too.

At the beginning, although Logan and Yinsen had never said it outright, they had shared an understanding: at an appropriate time, they would let Laura remain in the world Yinsen had chosen, one that had a large number of mutants.

That world had enough of her own kind, and with the care of an enhanced Professor Charles who possessed "memories of the future," Laura could have a relatively stable living environment.

After all, at the time, both men had felt that raising a child on a ship would inevitably become inconvenient after a while.

But later, the situation gradually became what it was now. The ship was no longer home to just the two men. Laura had not only adapted better and better to life aboard, she now also had friends around her age. There was no problem with her staying on the ship.

In the end, Yinsen left the choice to Laura herself. This concerned Laura’s future, and she had the right to decide what sort of future she should have.

Laura barely hesitated. She chose to remain on the ship, unwilling to go to a "strange" world and begin a "stable" life.

To show just how firm she was in that decision, she was even unwilling to go to that world with Logan.

"Actually, there’s no harm in going to take a look."

Yinsen spread his hands. If Laura did not want to leave, he would not force her to go. But Laura was clearly displeased by this attempt to send her away, and she pulled a huge grimace at Yinsen.