Diana truly had not expected Steppenwolf to be so weak, or perhaps she had not realized how much stronger she was now compared to him. Although the punch, delivered with excessive force, injured Steppenwolf, it also gave him an opportunity to escape.
Steppenwolf's biggest advantage at the moment was his ability to open a Boom Tube and escape Earth at any time. Even when being ganged up on, it was difficult to prevent this, unless Ethan intervened.
However, Diana had told him not to interfere, so Ethan honestly stood back, arms crossed, watching the show. He watched Diana chase after Steppenwolf, only for her to fly back later with a look of displeasure.
"He ran?"
"Yeah, with that kind of teleportation, there's nothing I can do." Diana showed him the golden bow in her hand. "I could only leave him a little souvenir."
"It's a pity. The golden arrows from this Gold Cloth aren't powerful enough yet. If they possessed true god-slaying power, it might have been possible to kill Steppenwolf directly."
Although the Gold Cloth Ethan created had various special abilities, his power was limited back then, and the equipment he made was only so-so in quality.
The current him could easily create Gold Cloths that were no less powerful, or even surpassed, the original versions.
In short, Steppenwolf ran away, leaving the Mother Box on Themyscira. This made Hippolyta feel it was ultimately a problem, and she wanted to ask Ethan if there was a definitive solution.
"Of course. Wouldn't destroying the Mother Box solve everything?"
"Huh?"
Hippolyta had never considered destroying the Mother Box because they simply could not do it.
"Can it be destroyed?"
"Of course... but destroying it just like that would be a bit of a waste."
The Amazon warriors had dispersed, leaving only a few elite guards and Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons.
Antiope, meanwhile, had left with the majority of the warriors, also taking the opportunity to reassure the other Amazons and tell them the danger had passed.
She also planned to patrol Themyscira to see if any of Steppenwolf's subordinates were still hiding.
Hippolyta stayed behind to focus on the Mother Box issue. Hearing that Ethan had a way to solve this problem, she felt a huge weight lifted from her heart.
"Do you have any other ideas?"
Back then, Ethan had even asked Hippolyta to let him study the Mother Box. She had not expected that in just a few decades, Ethan would have grown to a point where he could treat the Mother Box as nothing special.
Although she knew that the flow of time for Ethan in other worlds was not equivalent to this one, she lacked an intuitive understanding of this and habitually viewed it through the lens of the time she had experienced.
Ethan turned to look at Diana, then thought for a moment and decided it would be a good idea to simply turn the Mother Box into equipment. This way, he could also upgrade the armor Diana usually liked to wear.
"Can you do that?"
Diana was still very fond of her armor, which looked like a miniskirt. Unfortunately, as her strength increased, that armor had gradually become somewhat ineffective. If it could be made better, she would be very happy.
"It's not difficult at all."
With Ethan's current level and his understanding of the Mother Box, this task was no challenge for him.
Since there was not much else to do, Ethan simply stayed on Themyscira and helped Diana enhance her armor.
The enhancement went smoothly. The evolved armor's appearance did not change. It still looked the same as before, though Diana could actually adjust the armor's shape and color.
When not needed, it would transform into a bracelet and be worn on her wrist.
The significant increase in the armor's defense was a given. It also gained a self-repair function, as did the accompanying long sword and round shield.
Furthermore, the armor itself gained the ability to open Boom Tubes, meaning Diana also acquired the ability for long-distance teleportation.
With Ethan's adjustments, this ability to open Boom Tubes for teleportation was not limited to this universe. Diana could still use this ability to travel to other worlds.
However, she could only teleport within a single universe. If she wanted to travel between different universes like Ethan, this armor could not do that.
Because the Mother Box itself was connected to immense energy, this armor became an almost inexhaustible energy source. Besides using the energy from the armor to fight, Diana could also replenish her divine power through the armor.
Overall, the added "functions" were excellent and powerful. With the enhanced armor and an increasingly strong Diana, even if Darkseid himself came to Earth, he likely would not gain much of an advantage.
Besides the various functions provided by the Mother Box, Ethan also added some extra "private goods," such as various fundamental rule powers. These basic rule powers could not be used directly by Diana, but prolonged exposure, study, and understanding would help Diana gradually grasp the power of rules.
Simply put, the armor Diana was wearing was essentially an enhanced fusion of a Mother Box and an Infinity Stone, and it could be used in any universe.
Just as Ethan was making Diana happier and happier, he felt the ripple of a Boom Tube opening again.
"Steppenwolf is back."
"Where?"
Although she was happy spending time with Ethan every day, Diana, having just received new equipment, was like a big kid with a new toy. She particularly wanted to show it off, and Steppenwolf was undoubtedly a suitable target.
She immediately put on her armor. Now, putting it on was just a matter of thought, which was much more convenient.
Diana, now in her armor, also felt the ripple of the Boom Tube and turned her head to look into the distance.
"That location... seems to be in Atlantis?"
There were a total of three Mother Boxes on Earth. One was here on Themyscira, one was in Atlantis, and the last one was entrusted to humans for safekeeping, though currently no one knew where that Mother Box was.
Ethan knew the human Mother Box was in Cyborg's father's hands. He estimated that Steppenwolf would only turn his attention to the one held by humans after obtaining the Atlantean Mother Box, then figure out how to take the last Mother Box from Diana, an Old God. He probably would not imagine that this Mother Box had been "disassembled" by Ethan and turned into enhancement material.
Just as the two of them were preparing to go help, Ethan suddenly felt the energy fluctuation of another acquaintance.
He stood rooted to the spot and suddenly burst out laughing. Steppenwolf was truly unlucky.
"Looks like we don't need to go help."
"Why?"
"That guy is truly extraordinarily unlucky. Logan happens to be in Atlantis."
An increase in strength also meant an increase in perception. Ethan's current perception could easily cover the entire Earth. In other words, if he wanted to, he could instantly know anything happening in any corner of the planet.
Of course, he was not constantly monitoring the entire Earth. So, it was only after Steppenwolf opened the Boom Tube that he shifted his attention to Atlantis and discovered that Logan was there.
A demigod with healing abilities, who was unkillable and proficient in Druidic nature magic. If it were the Steppenwolf from the comic universe, perhaps it would not be much, but for the one in this universe...
What was more, Logan was not facing Steppenwolf alone. There were two other powerful individuals beside him. Ethan recognized one of them as Mera, the Atlantean warrior he had seen in the Main God Universe, the former Queen of the Sea. However, her energy fluctuation was slightly different from what he had seen.
The other one should be Atlanna, the Queen of Atlantis.
Through his perception, Ethan could clearly "see" the battle unfolding underwater. The unlucky Steppenwolf was getting beaten up again. Although Logan had not truly fought for a long time, his strength had been steadily increasing, and this time, he had a satisfying fight.
Moreover, Logan's fighting style had always been offense-only and incredibly ferocious. After being injured again, Steppenwolf fled Atlantis in a panic.
"How was it?"
Diana was a little annoyed now, feeling like Ethan was hogging the fun. This sparked her competitive spirit. In the past, her strength had always surpassed Ethan's. Although Ethan's progress later on was astonishingly fast, she had always held the upper hand in some aspects.
She had not expected that upon meeting again this time, Ethan could already suppress her in every aspect. This display of watching the commotion in Atlantis from Themyscira made her feel the difference in their realms. It seemed she needed to work harder, otherwise she would be left further and further behind by Ethan.
"Steppenwolf ran away."
"How did he run away again?"
"With mastery over a teleportation skill like the Boom Tube, if he's determined to escape, it's indeed difficult to kill him directly."
Whether in movies or novels, teleportation ability was a divine skill. If someone mastered this ability and did not deliberately seek death, it was hard for them to die.
"Is there no way?"
"There are many ways. In fact, you can do it."
"How?"
"Leave a mark on him! No matter where he teleports, you can just follow him by teleporting there!"
At this point, it was a test of endurance and sustainability. Diana, with her specially made armor allowing her to teleport freely, had a huge advantage in this regard.
Diana nodded. As for how to leave a mark on Steppenwolf? That was not difficult. She had been learning energy control with Ethan for so many years, so of course she knew such basic introductory techniques.
"Will Steppenwolf come back?"
"Well..."
Steppenwolf had been beaten up twice in a row. Ethan thought that anyone with a normal brain would not come back looking for more punishment. But Steppenwolf was just Darkseid's subordinate. If Darkseid was determined to attack Earth, Steppenwolf would probably have to grit his teeth and come anyway.
After thinking about it, he could not give a definite answer either, only stating that it depended on the thoughts of Darkseid, the Dark Lord.
"If you feel it's too frustrating to be passively beaten like this, we could also just go straight to Apokolips."
He also really wanted to see Darkseid and the like. After all, his past self had never had the chance to see this character appear on the big screen.
"That sounds like a good idea. I'd prefer to rely solely on my own strength to go to Apokolips and eliminate this guy."
Ethan immediately understood and quickly extended his hand to make an OK gesture.
"No problem, I won't steal your kill."
(To be continued.)