Chapter 190: Prinz Eugen

Tony's Stark Building in New York didn't belong to the Stark Group. It was entirely his personal property. For this reason, he could do whatever he wanted inside it, including testing new clean energy sources to power the entire building.

The building was still in its final stages of commissioning. When Ethan arrived, Tony was standing in front of his workbench, monitoring the building's electrical systems.

When he learned that Ethan was here, Tony put down his work and walked directly toward Ethan... and Diana, arms outstretched.

"Oh, beautiful lady, welcome to the Stark Building. I'm Tony Stark, the owner of this place. May I have the honor of knowing your name?"

Classic Stark. Even though his relationship with Pepper Potts was stable now, and he wasn't actively flirting anymore, he still couldn't change his habit of speaking like that.

"Hello, I'm Diana from Paradise Island."

Tony had been hoping for a hug, but Ethan blocked him before he could get past.

"I'm thinking about your safety. Seriously," Ethan said, and his tone didn't seem like he was joking. Tony wasn't sure whether Ethan was just trying to scare him. He looked back at Diana. She looked stronger than the average woman, but surely she wouldn't do anything...

Diana casually picked up a small item and accidentally crushed it.

Tony was quite certain that part had been made of solid metal, something ordinary people couldn't even scratch, let alone break.

Wiping off non-existent cold sweat, Tony shifted his attention to the other tall man.

"Uh... what's this guy's name?"

"Logan."

After waiting a moment and seeing that Logan had no intention of elaborating, Tony could only nod silently. "Okay, Logan... seems like you've got a lot of character. I like people with character."

Tony greeted Laura next. Though Laura had become a bit more cheerful than before, she was still cold toward strangers. She reluctantly gave Tony a smile in response.

After striking out a few times, Tony turned back to Ethan, spreading his arms as if to hug him. It was just a gesture, of course—he didn't actually hug Ethan.

Ethan knew Tony's personality and wasn't surprised. After letting Diana and Logan look around, he walked with Tony to the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.

"New companions? What happened to His Majesty, the King of Britain?"

"Arthur went back to his country to inherit the throne and fulfill his duties."

"Looks like the next time I see him, I'll have to call him Your Majesty." Tony glanced at Diana and Logan, not bothering to hide his curiosity. He asked bluntly, "So what's the story with these two?"

"Princess of the Amazons from Paradise Island... Where's that? It was created by the Olympian gods... Don't look at me like that, I mean that Olympus. Diana is the daughter of Zeus and the Queen of the Amazons."

"God race?"

"More like a demigod... Although the Amazons are ruled by the Olympian gods and live long lives, they're not gods themselves."

With Thor, the son of Odin, as a precedent, Tony wasn't too shocked by a daughter of Zeus. But such a person traveling with Ethan? If that one-eyed Director finds out, he'll definitely be even more wary of Ethan. That image alone made Tony want to call Coulson immediately.

"What about the other one?"

"Logan and Laura are both mutants. They have special abilities, but aside from that, they're not much different from normal humans."

According to Professor Charles' theory, mutants were humans with awakened X-genes. Of course, the X-gene only existed in their world. For instance, the Marvel Cinematic Universe they were in now didn't have an X-gene.

But as soon as he thought that, Ethan wasn't so sure anymore. He remembered that Disney had acquired Fox and the X-Men rights had returned to Marvel. Even if he hadn't seen it unfold in his previous life, there was no guarantee the MCU wouldn't introduce mutants in the future.

So he could only vaguely explain that, in some world, a portion of humans evolved, giving rise to a group of mutants.

"Interesting..."

"You'd better stop right there. Mutants don't have an easy time in that world. Any ideas you're having now might offend them."

Ethan briefly told Tony about Logan and Laura's experiences. Even though Tony had done plenty of questionable things himself, the sense of justice buried in his heart still flared up when he heard their tragic past. He promised Ethan that he wouldn't do anything to make them uncomfortable.

"You didn't come just to introduce your new friends, did you?"

"Of course not."

Ethan didn't bother with pleasantries. He directly stated his purpose.

"Shipbuilding?"

Tony had already guessed that the world Ethan lived in was mostly water, so it wasn't surprising that he needed a ship. But after hearing some of Ethan's requirements, Tony realized that world didn't seem very peaceful.

"It shouldn't be a big problem, but building a warship with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons right away isn't realistic."

Tony didn't question whether it was appropriate or not. He simply thought about the technical difficulties.

"Based on your requirements, this ship would need to use a lot of new technologies, some of which I don't even fully understand yet. Considering how many issues need to be solved, you can't expect me to spend years researching everything first. So I recommend starting with something smaller as a transitional phase. It'll also serve as a platform for testing new tech."

On this issue, Tony's suggestion was very reasonable, and Ethan agreed. It was unrealistic to build a finished product in one go for something so complex.

Even with a small magic item, he had to start simple, solve problems one by one, then build more advanced gear.

Shipbuilding was far more complicated, especially when it involved integrating technology, magic, and magic stone tech that Tony wasn't familiar with. He was just getting started. Creating a perfect final product in one go only happened in dreams. Even a genius like Tony needed time for research.

But what Tony said next made Ethan realize he'd still underestimated him.

"So, let's start with something smaller—about 10,000 tons of displacement. That makes things much easier and gives us the opportunity to gain experience for building something larger later."

"..."

"What's wrong?"

"A displacement of more than 10,000 tons counts as small?"

"Compared to the 40,000 or 50,000-ton warship you were talking about earlier, this is small. If it's any smaller, it won't offer much value as a reference for constructing a ship that large. This size is just right. It lets us develop the tech and sort out the gear for testing and experimentation."

When the topic shifted to shipbuilding, Tony left the windows and moved over to his workbench, already thinking about how the ship should be designed.

"What kind of appearance do you want the ship to have?"

Ethan had originally considered several designs, but those were all based on warships with displacements of tens of thousands of tons. Now that the tonnage was reduced, those were no longer suitable, and he couldn't immediately think of a better alternative.

"Let's start with the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer."

Tony was about to have Jarvis pull up the schematics when Ethan raised a hand to stop him. "A warship that uses missiles as its primary weapon isn't a good fit."

Ethan explained that he would provide information on magic stone cannons. His new battleship would use energy shells or beams for long-range attacks. A design more focused on naval guns, like those from WWII, was more suited to his needs.

The Arleigh Burke class only had one small-caliber main gun, relying mostly on vertical launch systems. If he went with that design, the logistics alone would give Ethan a massive headache.

Unless his idea of opening up a huge interior space inside the ship and including its own weapons factory could be realized, then the type of weapons wouldn't matter.

"Then I'll use a World War II-era cruiser as the base."

Given the tonnage and emphasis on gunfire, a WWII cruiser was the most appropriate. After Jarvis pulled up a series of classic WWII warships, Ethan pointed to one without hesitation.

"Let's go with this."

"Prinz Eugen?" Tony glanced at Ethan. "You like this one?"

"I just remember it being really lucky." And the whole "auspicious prince" thing... Ethan hadn't thought of it before, but once he saw the ship, he decided immediately. "Let's go with the Prinz Eugen."

"As you wish. It's your ship, after all."

Tony shrugged. He didn't think much of these outdated classic ships. In his view, their appearance, structure, and details were all obsolete junk. Even though Ethan had picked the basic shape, Tony couldn't resist the urge to start modifying the structure and layout.

"This outdated hull needs a full redesign... superstructure overhaul... chimney? What a waste of space... hangar? Seaplane? What, for a joyride?"

As he watched Tony alter the projected Prinz Eugen beyond recognition, Ethan didn't feel anything was wrong. It was impossible to recreate a WWII-era ship exactly.

What he wanted was a better warship. As long as it retained a similar silhouette, he didn't care if Tony rebuilt it from scratch. As long as it met his requirements, even if Tony made a giant sea turtle... well, that might be too much.

(To be continued.)