"Rosemary, Ai, these are for you."
Aboard the Hyperion.
Elias took two objects from his coat and handed them to the two girls.
The former was a purple lantern with ghostly flames flickering inside it, while the latter was a lush green cabbage of exceptionally high quality.
"Huh? Isn't this my lantern?"
"Uh, why did I get a cabbage..."
The two girls stared in surprise at the lantern and cabbage in their hands, sensing an astonishing power within them. Although it could not compare to a Herrscher Core, it still exceeded the level of a pseudo-core.
And as its former "owner," Rosemary immediately recognized them. The lantern and cabbage were the Cores of bubble worlds!
Ether Anchors!!
"I thought about it carefully, and traveling through the Sea of Quanta is still far too dangerous. This dungeon's difficulty is simply too high. Even someone like Ai, who possesses the strength of an S-rank Valkyrie, isn't strong enough, so you need something powerful to protect yourselves."
"So... Captain, you just gave us two incomparably precious Ether Anchors? You're that generous?"
Looking at the cabbage in her hands, Ai could not help swallowing. This is probably the most expensive cabbage in the entire world, she thought as she felt the world-altering power contained within it.
An Ether Anchor truly deserved its reputation as a treasure equal in value to an entire bubble world!
But seriously... why did hers have to be a cabbage?!
Elias coughed. "Ahem. Just make do with it. An Ether Anchor can take the form of anything, so there's nothing strange about a cabbage being an Ether Anchor. Besides... doesn't this thing match your whole vibe perfectly, Ai?"
Ai: "...I can't shake the feeling that you did this on purpose, Captain. But forget it. More importantly, are you really sure about this?"
Elias: "Why wouldn't I be? With two Ether Anchors in your hands, even if I'm not beside you and Rosemary, the two of you should be able to deal with the vast majority of dangers."
After all, Ether Anchors possessed the power to establish the rules of a bubble world. Even if one merely used one to buff oneself, it could temporarily grant a person Herrscher-level strength.
In Elias' eyes, Ether Anchors were indeed considerably inferior to Herrscher Cores. However, due to their unique nature, they also possessed certain abilities that Herrscher Cores lacked.
The strength of a Herrscher Core lay in the fact that, as long as someone was compatible enough to become a Herrscher, they would undergo an explosive improvement in every aspect. Ordinary Herrschers had virtually no weaknesses apart from their relatively fragile bodies.
The greatest drawback of an Ether Anchor was that it was a consumable that could not be recharged. Once its energy was depleted, it became little different from scrap.
However, it was far more versatile, and its ability to alter the rules of a bubble world was also extraordinarily powerful.
"Lord Captain, then this lantern is...?"
"Oh, it's an Ether Anchor I obtained from another bubble world. I changed it into the shape of a lantern. After all, this form should be easier for you to use, Rosemary, right?"
"Eh? But did you not say that a bubble world without an Ether Anchor would quickly be eroded by the Sea of Quanta?"
"Don't worry, don't worry. There's nothing for either of you to be concerned about, because these two Ether Anchors came from two bubble worlds that I've already absorbed into my body."
Elias patted his chest as he spoke.
A bubble world without an Ether Anchor would indeed rapidly be annihilated within the Sea of Quanta, but there was no such danger inside his body. In the end, it still came down to the same thing.
Every bubble world Elias absorbed into his body had already become anchored to him. Therefore, as long as this "Ark of Civilization" remained undying and indestructible, the bubble worlds he carried would never face the risk of destruction.
The greatest function of an Ether Anchor was stabilizing a bubble world, but inside Elias' body, any bubble world could obtain eternal peace. There was no need for any stabilizing device whatsoever.
Thus, these precious objects that should have been vitally important were instead unnecessary to the bubble worlds inside Elias.
And if they were already unnecessary, then what was wrong with Elias casually taking two out and giving them to his girls for self-defense?
"Ai, Rosemary, feel free to use them as much as you like. I've still got several thousand bubble worlds inside me anyway. Once these two run out of energy, I'll just replace them with new ones."
Elias planted his hands on his hips and spoke with the extravagant confidence of someone absurdly wealthy.
There was practically nothing he lacked. In fact, if he gathered together the thousands upon thousands of Ether Anchors inside his body...
He could even create an ultra-massive bubble world capable of resisting the erosion of the Sea of Quanta, one that would remain virtually eternal and indestructible!!
"V-Very well. Thank you, Lord Captain."
"Yay! Captain is the best!"
The two girls happily accepted the Ether Anchors.
Ai: (Hmm... Could I use this Ether Anchor to create a world with infinite Crystals?)
Rosemary: (Though rather than a lantern, I would actually prefer an Ether Anchor shaped like a ring.)
Elias: "Come to think of it, I clearly came to the Sea of Quanta to relax, travel, and hide from my dates, yet somehow I still run into a minor problem every three days and a major one every five."
Elias rubbed his forehead as he thought back over everything that had happened.
Since entering the Sea of Quanta, he had already dealt with three Planet-class Quantum Shadows, driven away Sa, who had been parasitizing the sea, and devoured more than three thousand bubble worlds.
The Sea of Quanta contained all manner of bizarre things. Although he had not encountered many good ones, dangers had appeared one after another.
Just two days ago, the three of them had even encountered a "quantum tsunami."
It was a massive disaster created when an extraordinarily intense energy rampage erupted somewhere within the Sea of Quanta. In terms of the intrinsic world, it was equivalent to a magnitude-ten tsunami occurring across the Sea of Quanta.
Hundreds of thousands of bubble worlds were annihilated in an instant.
And that was merely the destruction inflicted in the first instant. As the quantum tsunami continued to spread, the devastation ultimately reached a scale comparable to the destruction of an entire galaxy containing hundreds of billions of star systems.
If Elias had not been a Quantum Pseudo God and used his Authority to slow the quantum tsunami's impact, buying the Hyperion enough time to initiate a jump, no one dared imagine how horrifying the outcome would have been!
"Seriously, I really am ridiculously strong now. Terrifyingly strong. But compared to the Sea of Quanta and the Imaginary Tree, I'm still nowhere close. More importantly... this is completely different from the vacation I imagined! Why is there so much adventuring involved?!"
Elias flipped the imaginary table inside his heart.
A little danger was certainly an excellent seasoning for a journey, but who could possibly endure it happening this frequently?!
(No! This can't go on! At this rate, I might as well go back to the dorm and lie in bed. Please, just don't let anything troublesome happen in the next bubble world. Even saviors deserve vacations!)
"Ai, prepare for a jump."
"Hm? Where do you want to go, Captain?"
"Anywhere is fine! Find me a peaceful bubble world so I can properly relax and take a vacation."
Elias' eyes were hollow with exhaustion. He waved his hand, thinking that surely this request was not asking too much.
The world was battered and broken, and he kept patching it back together, but even he occasionally needed to lie flat and do absolutely nothing. That was good for both physical and mental health.
If anyone asked him to go save the world right now, Elias swore he would blast them in the face with Shamash! Save my ass!
Seeing Elias' resentment become so intense it was practically visible to the naked eye, Ai immediately realized that his stress had probably accumulated to its absolute limit. If they did not let their captain vent soon...
Lord Demon might descend once again.
At the thought, the AI girl glanced at the elegant witch and felt that Rosemary was truly not pulling her weight.
Those women in the Valkyrie dormitory might be weaklings, but at least every one of them could last more than twenty minutes.
Rosemary, meanwhile, was finished after three minutes every time, like some kind of timer-bound superhero... Don't ask how Ai knew.
As the shipboard AI, Ai declared that nothing happening aboard the Hyperion could escape her eyes, including the fact that a certain witch had recently been secretly practicing kissing!!
Rosemary: (...Miss Ai, Rita is only an ordinary person. Lord Captain may look human, but internally he's an outright monster, all right? Surviving those three minutes already takes everything I have!)
Ai: (Bronya said it best. If you're bad at something, practice more. If you really can't handle it... I could take your place.)
Rosemary: (I appreciate the offer, but that will absolutely not be necessary!)
Elias: "...I get the feeling that if I activated the Authority of Transcendent Sentience and read your minds right now, I'd hear something very interesting. But Ai, you're supposed to be piloting the ship~!"
Ai: "Ahem. Yes, Captain. I've already located the nearby bubble world with the highest stability coefficient. Jump commencing immediately."
Elias: "Ahhh, hopefully nothing happens this time... And even if something does happen, please don't let it be something as huge as saving the world. Praise Ely."
Elias clasped his hands together and prayed devoutly.
But at this moment, he still had no idea.
A fateful encounter was waiting for him ahead.
A certain Miss Pink Elf and a certain cook were about to encounter a formidable opponent evenly matched with them!
...
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the Sea of Quanta.
A white battleship covered in obvious signs of wear, clearly having sailed through the Sea of Quanta for many years, hovered above the Hel bubble world. Although its size was different...
If Elias were here, he would undoubtedly recognize it at a glance.
It was a Hyperion.
But it was not his Hyperion.
Naturally, then, the ferryman of this Hyperion was not Elias either, but someone else entirely.
"So I've finally arrived. Hopefully this won't take too much effort this time. After all... I don't have much time left."
On the battleship's bridge.
A man whose entire body was concealed beneath a black cloak, leaving only half his face exposed, spoke in a low voice as both his hands clenched tightly.
"To create an eternally indestructible bubble world that will never be eroded by the Sea of Quanta, an ideal land where everyone can survive, I must gather even more Ether Anchors."