Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 148 Beanie's Secret
Su Ming woke up the next morning. Although he still had a headache and felt sore, he had been in bed for four days in a row and was almost moldy from sleeping.

He decided to get up and move around, even if it was a little difficult.

Su Ming's magic power had increased rapidly, far surpassing what it was when he first awakened, but he still kept encountering situations that spiraled out of control. Thinking of the thing that needed to be teleported next in the Holy Mountain plan, he felt he might be drained dry again.

A dignified spatial arcane mage acts like Lin Daiyu every day.

He picked up a book from the room, put it in his pocket, and slowly walked to the workroom. There was a pile of packed luggage there, and on the long table was a sealed lunchbox with an insulation spell. Su Ming opened the lid and found it was a stew that looked like curry; judging from the style, it was probably made by Beianqi.

Su Ming took a bite, and it tasted good.

After lunch, Su Ming felt his strength returning somewhat. He went up to the deck and saw Zi Jin arranging the final loading of cargo. Besides coal, there were also some fresh vegetables and meat.

A small cargo ship was moored alongside the White Triangle from the outside of the dock, and a group of sailors, under the command of Beanie, were transferring the mechs and wreckage from the White Triangle to it.

Incidentally, all the supplies seized from the orcs that the White Triangle couldn't use were given to Beanie to sell. She destroyed two of Yeshia's mechs in the battle on Snail Island; part of the damage was compensation to her, and the remainder was used for subsequent transactions.

She was also given a copy of some of the information from the Bell of Calamity, including details of the sea monster incident and information related to the spy, Gossamer, as well as records of the Bell of Calamity's "conspiracy" against various forces, which she arranged to be handed over.

The matter has been settled. For this "revelation," Violet demanded a total of 20,000 gold coins as an information fee from all parties involved, except for the Star Empire and the Dwarves.

Su Ming nodded to the two of them and greeted them. He didn't see Qi Luo, but there was some commotion on the sea not far away, presumably some beast was fishing for seafood.

A gentle breeze and ocean waves—truly a scene of tranquility and peace.

Su Ming casually called over a dockworker, gave him a few copper coins, and asked him to run an errand to deliver a message to Hanster. Then he returned to his workshop, turned on his laptop, and began checking the materials list.

Among the spoils of war from the battle of Yesia on Snail Island, an unexpected delight was recently discovered: a pile of stones salvaged from the deep sea—manganese nodules. Su Ming had already checked their composition; besides manganese, these stones also contained rare components such as cobalt, titanium, and zirconium.

Although it's unclear whether the Bell of Calamity was collected intentionally or incidentally retrieved from the seabed while training sea monsters, this further unlocks Su Ming's limitations in terms of materials.

Su Ming checked the material composition and confirmed that he had gathered all the summoning materials for the large rolling blade he was planning.

He's obtained the key piece of the Holy Mountain Divine Might Prison Plan!
"I'm on my way to Shenyang," Miao Xin messaged me.

Su Ming shifted his gaze and found Miao Xin nestled among a pile of dried corncobs.

As she became more familiar with the vengeful spirits, her humanoid form after merging with the little troublemaker made it easier for her to maintain emotional stability. Therefore, Miao Xin would choose a leisurely way of traveling when circumstances allowed.

Several books were piled beside her, which she was flipping through as the truck bumped along. Through the gaps in the truck's tarpaulin, she could vaguely see snowflakes falling outside.

What are these books?

"Let's prepare for this mission," Miao Xin replied. "We can't be completely ignorant."

【Thanks for your hard work. 】

"By the way, the order for the new boiler is quite troublesome, so I asked my father for help," Miao Xin said.

Does he have a solution?

Dad said he has some connections and can solve the problem.

【Um. 】

Beside Miao Xin, the faintly visible dark sea was still rippling, but now it was simply a manifestation of power. She had learned to filter out ordinary ripples.

The vengeful girl in the train carriage, compared to her initial bewilderment, is rapidly maturing. This power, dancing on the edge of the abyss, has ironically given her, now that she is dead, a direction to challenge herself with.

However, as she flipped through the pages, Miao Xin put down the book in frustration and lay down on the corncob.

The Dark Sea then expanded considerably.

"I can only grasp the general idea," she lamented. "I can't understand the more complex equipment configurations at all."

Su Ming chuckled, "You've done very well."

Miao Xin stopped attending school after the high school entrance exams, and her grades weren't good, which was indeed a bit difficult for her.

"Miao Xin, what did you do for a living before?" Su Ming suddenly asked.

I work as a shipping clerk in the warehouse, delivering food during mealtimes.

"Why are you working so hard?" Su Ming was surprised; neither of these jobs was easy.

"After the car accident, my family accumulated a lot of debt," Miao Xin explained. "I want to take responsibility, but there are only so many jobs I can handle."

The girl spoke calmly, but the dark sea surrounding her still rippled.

She could only say helplessly, "This thing is kind of like an emotion indicator."

Su Ming chuckled again, "According to that Seneca guy—"

As he said this, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen this necromancer who worked like a slave on the ship for a long time—it seemed to have started when Qiluo arrived.

"What did he say?" Miao Xin urged.

[It means that everything you're venturing into now is uncharted territory.]

No one has ever used a vengeful spirit like this, and no vengeful spirit has ever set foot in such a realm!

"It seems we are all special beings," Miao Xin said, then painfully picked up the book again.

Su Ming also had some books in his hands, and he took one out. The book was titled "In Tranquility," and it was the book of spirits and the dead that he had seized from the Bell of Calamity.

"Miao Xin, solving problems might not necessarily require knowledge of mechanics." Su Ming turned to a page. "How about we learn something else?"
-
After ending her contact with Miao Xin, Zi Jin walked in, looking unhappy.

"what's wrong?"

"Three days of hard work have been wasted, and a bunch of materials have been wasted too." Zi Jin slammed her hand on the table, full of frustration she couldn't vent. "If you wanted to steal our Dawn and Dusk Bracelet, you should have done it sooner! You had to wait until we were almost finished!"

"Zijin, here's your manuscript." Su Ming took out the book "Principles of Economics" from his pocket and handed it to the girl.

Zijin shook her head. "Never mind, you can read it. Just put it back in the library when you're done."

Su Ming was somewhat surprised by her change of mind, but didn't ask any further questions. "Thank you."

Zijin glanced at Su Ming's wrist. "Where's that damned bracelet?"

Su Ming rolled up his sleeves, focused his spiritual energy, and the Dawn and Dusk Bracelet materialized. After yesterday's absorption, one section of the bracelet had solidified, radiating a gentle yet profound starlight. However, the remaining eleven sections remained in a state of nothingness.

“It will need more materials to complete,” Su Ming said.

Zi Jin stared at the bracelet, sensing that it was definitely not low-level. "I wonder if it needs materials such as the remains of any Saint-level expert or a specific target."

“A specific target?” Su thought for a moment. “That doesn’t make sense.”

This means that the dawn and dusk bracelet was made from Yeshia's body, but Yeshia was killed by them.

However, since the individual characteristics of the soul and the corpse are extremely prominent, unlike common materials like steel, the latter possibility is actually greater.

"Neither possibility is easily satisfied," Zi Jin sighed. "Su Ming, is it necessary for us to complete this bracelet?"

Collecting so many Saint-level remains and souls is less useful than chopping yourself into twelve pieces; that would be more direct.

"Let's just do our own thing step by step for now," Su Ming said helplessly. This bracelet was definitely no ordinary object, but his life was more important.

"It could have taken away Yeshia's corpse and soul, fine," Violet still couldn't hide her resentment, "but why did it take away the materials for the horrific skeleton I prepared as well?"

A thought suddenly popped into Su Ming's mind. He took out the bracelet again and tried to penetrate it with his senses, but he stopped because his mental strength was insufficient.

"what happened?"

“I have a guess about how to use the bracelet,” Su Ming said, “but my strength isn’t enough.”

"Wait until you've recovered a bit before trying again?" Zijin became interested.

“It’s not enough in terms of intensity or quantity,” Su Ming said. “It probably needs some more growth.”

Zi Jin pulled Su Ming's hand and sensed the pulse of his magic power as if taking his pulse.

"Indeed, your magical power has increased significantly," she judged. "You've reached the level of a genuine intermediate arcanist."

"It seems the elemental resonance is quite effective. A few more times and it will be fine." Su Xiang thought of what had happened at the bottom of the mine and said somewhat unsatisfactorily.

"No!" Violet warned solemnly, "In just three months, you've already reached a level that 90% of the combat professionals in this world can't achieve in their entire lives."

She paused, then added, "I was already pushing the original pace too hard. Don't try to accelerate a car that's already going at breakneck speed."

"Tsk, when we first met, you even tried to manipulate me by saying I was bad at things!" Su Ming brought up the old story again.

"...I considered that a form of encouragement!"
Putting away the bracelet, Su Ming returned "Principles of Economics" to his pocket. Although Zi Jin had allowed him to read it, it would be too hurtful to gossip about someone's dark past in front of them.

"You seem to be interested in humanities?" Zijin asked. She had chosen this name to avoid attracting attention.

“No,” Su Ming replied. “I just wanted to browse through it a bit, so I wouldn’t be completely ignorant of this world.”

The library in Zijin's room was almost entirely devoid of anything related to humanities. She pulled out a book from her pile of books, which was Catherine's "Qingjian Yunzhi," which she had captured during the Battle of Agate.

“This is a marvelous artifact made through alchemy, containing many history books,” said Zijin.

"Ah, I thought it was just a magic book!" Su Ming said.

Catherine is a mage proficient in both water and light magic, so it's normal for her to use a spellbook as a weapon.

"It is indeed a high-level magic book; the library function is just a side effect. I took some time these past few days to unlock Catherine's rune lock."

Su Ming inquired about how to use it. He activated the magic book, searched the catalog, selected the book title, and then opened it like a regular book. Sure enough, the contents of the corresponding book were displayed.

This spellbook is much thicker than a normal book, with remarkably durable, pale gold pages that feel wonderful to the touch. Aside from requiring a constant supply of magic and being expensive, it has virtually no drawbacks.

Su Ming browsed through it and found that it contained nearly a thousand books, including not only humanities and history, but also climate and geography of other worlds.

He nodded in satisfaction. "It's quite useful."

"Take your time to look at it."

Besides these, Su Ming also saw several missionary sermons at the very end of the catalog.

He had never seen anything like this before. Su Ming opened one of the articles, "The First Sands of Stars."

"...Countless stars, scattered like sand, each shining with its own light in the darkness. This vast starry sky is a revelation bestowed upon us by the gods: every person is an equal being, and all should have the right to pursue the light... Yet, those in power attempt to obscure this sacred light. They set shackles, wanting to imprison us forever in darkness... Even trampled to the ground, we still cherish the sacred flame..."

"...Dear brothers and sisters, let us join hands and work together...We may be small, but we are never alone..."

The author is signed at the end of the article, Pale New Words.

He couldn't help but look up at the scholar sitting opposite him. Wasn't this her title of saint?

It's not surprising that Violet studied at the nunnery for eleven years and wrote something like this. What's interesting is that Catherine would specifically include it in her magic book.

Zijin also looked up at Su Ming, "What's wrong?"

"How did you get that title of Saintess?" Su Ming asked. "Pale New Words, it sounds weird."

"Why did you suddenly think of this?" Violet asked, somewhat puzzled, but she still replied, "I'm also baffled. I only learned I had this title when Yesia called me that."

"You don't know your own title?" Su Ming was very surprised.

"It is what it is."

This was strange, Su Ming began to ponder. "Pale" was easy to explain; Elisa's health had been poor in the later stages of her time at the nunnery, so her complexion was understandable. But this inexplicable "new language"?
"If you don't understand, just ask." Su Ming directly handed over "The Green Bamboo Slips," pointing to the speech draft, "You wrote this?"

Zijin frowned and glanced at it a few times. "No, I could never write such sentimental words." She looked at it more closely and narrowed her eyes. "Interesting. These speeches don't seem to be seriously promoting the Church of Light."

"So, this is Catherine stirring up trouble," Su Ming pondered. "Should we have Stanton investigate this?"

"Okay, I'll send him a message."

****
Bei Anqi and Qi Luo entered the workshop and picked up their luggage from the floor.

“Gentlemen, I must go now. The problems Yeshia has brought me need to be resolved as soon as possible,” Beanche said to them. “I will recover as quickly as possible.”

Su Ming put away the magic book and stood up with Zi Jin. The group walked to the deck and went down the gangway.

"I've had a very pleasant time, thank you both for taking care of me," said Angie Beilke, bowing slightly.

“You are a great friend, and it’s a pleasure to be with you,” Zijin said, and the two girls hugged each other.

Zi Jin whispered something in Bei Anqi's ear, and the latter trembled slightly, but was hugged tightly by Zi Jin, which made Su Ming glance sideways.

When they parted, Violet placed a set of jewelry in Beaujo's hand: a magic bracelet and a crystal crown.

Beianqi immediately refused.

“I’ve fixed it. You just need to modify the appearance and it will be ready to use,” Violet said to her. “Consider it a trophy assigned to you.”

She did not allow the other party to refuse, forcing Beau Angie to accept it, and then gave her a letter before leaving.

Su Ming pulled out a booklet and handed it to the mechanic girl. She was still in a daze, and Su Ming called her name before she looked up again.

Bea Angie quickly reached out and took it, discovering it was a design booklet for a sailboat.

"The clipper high-speed sailboat sacrifices cargo capacity but increases speed by 30% compared to existing sailboats," Su Ming explained. "However, we shouldn't build too many of these; after all, the future belongs to machinery."

Bei Anqi clutched the handbook, bit her lip, and reached out to hug him. Su Ming hesitated for a moment, but didn't push her away.

He patted the girl on the back.

Bei Anqi released Su Ming and let out a breath. "Alright, everyone, I'm leaving now!"

She waved to the group, turned, and disembarked onto the small cargo ship. Qi Luo followed, carrying a wet bag that dripped water and smelled faintly of the sea.

The small cargo ship set sail and left. Beianchi jumped up and waved goodbye to them before turning and going into the cabin.

"What you gave Beianqi was the Saint-rank item 'Zuyi's Blessing' from Yesia?" Su Ming asked Zi Jin only after watching the girl's figure disappear.

"Well, that's it."

From a combat perspective, "Zu's Blessing" isn't particularly powerful, but its continuous healing effect with minimal side effects justifies its Saint-level rating. Yesia's body seems to suffer from a stubborn injury, hence the choice of this equipment.

If fully activated, it can also unleash considerable recovery capabilities in a short period of time.

"Why give it to Bei Anqi?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

Beanie is not a defensive character, which does not align with Su Ming's understanding of equipment setups.

Violet wouldn't be able to use it; she couldn't withstand light-based healing magic, and wearing it would only reduce her health. Su Ming wasn't very interested either; currently, he couldn't use spells other than dark magic and had to compensate with functional items. The continuous effect of "Zuyi's Blessing" would interfere with the use of other items.

However, keeping this set of equipment as a backup provides more options.

“Beanie really needs this.” Violet hesitated for a moment before speaking, “Her mentor is Holder, and Holder is involved in human alchemy.”

Su Ming didn't react at first. Holder was the titled alchemist who participated in the birth of Violet and the separation of her bloodline, and he had died in an accident a year ago.

But he quickly understood what Violet was implying. "So, Angie, human alchemy?" He thought of how the girl wouldn't let anyone see her back. "What's implanted in her back?"

“A powerful alchemical connector structure that can freely transform, achieving magical synchronization and direct mind control,” Violet said. “Theoretically, it could allow her to fight alongside a puppet, achieving a qualitative leap in mobility and reaction speed. But Holder did not complete it before his death.”

Su Ming instantly and unconsciously imagined how this system would work. After all, there were too many games on Earth with this theme—the combination of human and machine. Especially the otherworldly magic crystals, which far surpassed Earth devices of the same size and weight in terms of energy freedom and efficiency, combined with Earth's weaponry technology—

He pulled his wandering thoughts back. "So, the problem lies with this unfinished product?"

Violet nodded in confirmation, "Having been severely injured twice by Yesia, Beianchi's alchemical body is showing signs of going out of control, and this is gradually worsening. 'Zuyi's Blessing' can help offset the physical damage and maintain the current state."

So, when she barged into the bathroom and acted in the ward, was Violet checking these things?

Even earlier, on the Iron Mountain Range, the phrase "smelling a mysterious scent on her" was actually literal.

Su Ming gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Zijin looked at Su Ming's actions strangely, "What are you laughing at?"

"Did I laugh?" Su Ming shook his head, suppressing a smile. "Anyway," he steered the conversation back on track, "Is Bei Anqi here to find an expert in alchemy to solve a problem?"

“In the letter I wrote to her, I mentioned some of my ideas about this unfinished product,” Violet said. “But the required technology is too advanced, and it’s uncertain whether the dwarves still have enough master-level figures.”

"I see. I hope she does well."

Zijin took out several high-end crystal items and tossed them around. "These were also seized from Yesia. I plan to modify them into Burning Stars for you to use."

The Burning Star series are one-time consumable items that can significantly increase the user's spell power for a short period of time.

Su Ming quickly grasped Zi Jin's intention after a moment's thought. Although his tactical skills were improving, and his spell penetration ability would play a greater role as his repertoire of methods expanded, his spell power still seemed insufficient when facing superior enemies.

This incident should be blamed more on a teammate who was too prone to causing trouble, rather than on Su Ming himself. But in situations like this, corpses have no rights.

(End of this chapter)