Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 176 Crossing the Lower Ridge Mountains (Bonus Chapter 1, thanks to Alliance Leader Yufazhe)

Iser knew about her mother, Catherine's, visit to the North. As the Empress of the Star Empire, the Cold Mountain Kingdom needed to arrange for someone of equal status to receive and accompany her.

The second princess of the royal family in the north would be a perfect match.

Iser gripped her tightly, but Daphne did not struggle. She used the pain to try to recall the situation, "There were so many enemies...we were scattered...Queen Catherine escaped!"

"When did this happen? Where were you attacked?" Iser gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

The deal between the Church of Light and the Star Empire was far from peaceful on the surface. Internal disputes and infighting raged, even affecting Catherine, who served as the "link."

Her mother arranged for Iser to come to the North, and then, under the guise of supervising the work of the Cold Mountain branch, she took her newborn brother away from the vortex. Since she was essentially sidelined anyway, she deliberately fled the eye of the storm, letting those in power do as they pleased.

"Two days ago, at dusk, at Zouma Slope in the Xialing Mountains!" Daphne replied. After being captured by the enemy, she had been blindfolded and frequently moved, making everything seem hazy and confused, but she still managed to remember the time.

The Watcher Girl jumped onto the sled prepared by Acosta and his group, discarded the excess supplies, and immediately started moving.

"Zeflin, escort the princess to safety!" Jelus handed Daphne over to her companion, then caught up with the sled and nimbly jumped on.

“Okay!” Zeflin agreed.

"Don't panic, Iser. Lady Catherine won't be defeated so easily!" Jelus comforted her.

The watcher girl nodded. "I know, I'll stay calm."

Very few people knew that Iser was Catherine's daughter, and Gerald was one of them.

The sled quickly left the city of Lis, and Isser, just as he had said, began to calm down and plan the route to Zoumapo.

Gerus noticed a button-like object stuck to the girl's cloak, reached out and removed it, asking, "What's this?"

Iser glanced at it, picked it up, and tested it with magic, only to see a wisp of green smoke rising from it.

“Strange alchemical artifacts,” she said, glancing in the direction the alchemist had ridden away on his unicorn. “They’re a gift from Graves in return.”

****
As expected, Su Ming, who was on the back of the unicorn, found another small piece of transparent crystal on its body.

"Iser's doing this way a bit too skillfully, isn't it?" Su Ming complained. He stuffed the crystal into the inside pocket of his forbidden magic cloak, so that whatever its function might be, it would be blocked.

He turned on the walkie-talkie and connected to the Youth Civilization Team. "Purple Violet, I overheard something. Catherine has also come to the Ice Plains."

The scholar was astonished, "She only gave birth a month ago!"

“Kathaline was attacked two days ago at Zouma Slope,” Su Ming continued. “Princess Daphne was with her and we just rescued her. She said Kathaline escaped.”

Zijin's hand tightened, and she immediately reached for the map. "Is there any more information?"

“That’s it,” Su Ming said. “The bugging device was destroyed after that.”

"Su Ming, can we go to Zouma Slope?" Zi Jin asked.

Su Ming chose a mountain crossing point in the more desolate northern region. Zouma Slope, on the other hand, is located on the more prosperous southern side of the ice plains, along the trade route from Moon Bay City to Bubing City. The two are over 500 kilometers apart.

"The Youth Civilization Team can't get through the steep slope of Zoumapo," Su Ming explained to the scholars. "Hurry up and prepare; we must leave immediately when I return!"

"understood."

After the communication ended, Su Ming and the unicorn landed next to the snowmobile, and the two rode back on a motorcycle.

Qiluo suddenly pricked up her ears, looked up at the sky, and carefully sensed it.

Su Ming immediately tensed up, "What's wrong?"

"The weather is about to change; there's a blizzard coming at dawn," the unicorn replied.

Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that no one is chasing us. Don't be so dramatic, it's kind of scary."

****
Standing before the ruins of the exploded city of Ries, Zeflin watched the sled depart, a sigh escaping his lips.

What started as a kidnapping case of a young girl has become increasingly serious as the investigation progresses, and it seems that we won't be able to return to Shafur town anytime soon.

With Alessandro Morton dead, Lord Morton will surely demand an explanation. As a party involved in the incident, the Temple of Light in the North must carefully clarify responsibilities, and Zeflin meticulously considered his response.

Furthermore, Princess Daphne is a hot potato; her safety needs to be protected. Gathering the forces of the nearby Temple of Light for her protection and contacting Bubing City for a handover are all matters that must be done immediately.

Several priests turned over the ruins, moved the body parts from deep within the cellar, and laid them on the ground. They found the parts of their fallen comrades, pieced them together, and prepared them for burial.

A priest suddenly cried out in alarm. Zeflin walked over and, following his gaze, looked at a relatively intact corpse at his feet.

The body was crushed beyond recognition, but Alessandro could be identified by his clothing. The priest picked up a severed hand, shook it, and a large string of alchemical parts fell out.

"A puppet?" Zeflin asked incredulously, as he hadn't noticed anything unusual.

He stepped forward to examine it; it was an exquisitely crafted puppet. He peeled back the outer skin and discovered that the internal structure was even more complex.

“It has a spirit storage structure, and is a puppet controlled by a puppeteer who divides a part of his soul and possesses it,” said a priest who had some knowledge of puppets. “That’s why it can act like a real person.”

Zeflin felt a headache coming on, but at least he no longer had to worry about how to explain things to Lord Morton.

On the contrary, the fact that the puppet deliberately blocked Su Ming's trajectory just now is quite intriguing.

"Now that we've dealt with Princess Daphne, Lord Morton and this mysterious Alexandro puppet should be thoroughly investigated!" Zeflin pondered.

****
Su Ming returned to the Youth Civilization Train and immediately began checking the train's readiness.

Zi Jin had something to say, but Su Ming gestured for her to wait. "We must set off immediately," he said to the scholar. "First, we must cross the Xialing Mountains."

Given the magnitude of the attack at Zouma Slope, it's unlikely that Iser was the only one heading there. Search and rescue teams arriving from all directions will inevitably radiate outwards from the scene, and the area to their north will certainly not be spared.

This would significantly increase the risk of the Youth Civilization rover being exposed, and with a blizzard approaching, it is definitely the right thing to do to quickly cross the mountains and enter the first step of the ice field.

All the labor force, including idols, skeletons, and zombies, worked diligently to complete the final touches on the train's preparations. The boilers were powered up to maximum capacity, and the steam pressure rose rapidly.

Violet completed the terrain magic, creating a smooth ramp on the bank of the Sang River. The Youth Civilization slowly started up amidst the crunching sound of ice being crushed, then accelerated, rushing out of the river channel along the ramp and heading towards the designated mountain crossing point.

Su Ming released two newly acquired hexacopter drones, which sped forward. The drones' onboard terrain radars activated, rapidly transmitting terrain data of the hilly area. The navigation software calculated a suitable route and synchronized it to the display screen in the cockpit. This was software that Su Ming had customized from Ji Su Studio.

"Turn left 15 degrees ahead, slope 0.4%, cylinder cutoff ratio 60%," Hans-St. directed.

“I think 62.5% is more appropriate,” the Gospel Statue objected. “Also, please have people shovel the coal.”

Although there is an automatic coal feeder, manual labor is still more advantageous than animal labor in preparing the fire bed. Qi Luo reluctantly picked up the large shovel and spread a layer of coal around the edges of the fire bed. The girl's small figure looked particularly pitiful in the firelight from the opening and closing of the furnace.

"Qiluo, put in more effort!" Zijin warned. "Last time when you were suspended, you accumulated 105 hours of punishment."

"But you didn't say the punishment would be shoveling coal!" the unicorn protested.

"Hanging them up like before is fine," Su Ming said. "Tonight we'll fry lotus root slices in oil."

Qi Luo immediately swung her shovel and threw coal, shouting, "I want to eat two hundred!"

Yunier, in coordination with Qiluo, operated the automatic coal feeder, using steam to blow pulverized coal into the furnace for combined combustion.

The steam locomotive's power comes from the furnace firebox; proper coal burning techniques are equivalent to increasing the throttle. Su Ming glanced at it and saw that the Youth Civilization Locomotive's speed was actually maintaining a stable rate of about 13 kilometers per hour.

It must be said that the "Boycott of Experienced Drivers" was indeed well-deserved, as the extensive experience they provided compensated for the shortcomings of the industrial control software, fully leveraging the capabilities of the "Youth Civilization Train."

Otherwise, with newbies like Su Ming, they would be in as bad a state as possible.

****
"We're about to enter the alluvial sector, a 60/1000 slope!" Su Ming warned, based on drone data.

Su Ming chose the old riverbed of the Sang River from thousands of years ago, where there is a relatively gentle fan-shaped slope at the entrance. The front of the vehicle lifted, and Fuyin quickly pulled the cylinder cutoff ratio to its maximum, opening the valves to their fullest extent.

Violet also activated the condensation array installed in the cylinder. Under normal circumstances, when steam is charged into one side of the cylinder, steam is released from the other side, thereby driving the piston to reciprocate.

However, the scholars designed a magical auxiliary system that allowed the side that should have been venting to directly condense steam into water inside the cylinder and recycle it, thereby causing a sudden drop in pressure, which in turn worked in conjunction with the high-pressure steam on the other side to push and pull the piston.

This significantly increases the vehicle's power, but it consumes some magic crystals and can only be used for short periods.

With the help of the magic-assisted system, the train's speed remained stable at about 8 kilometers per hour. The Youth Civilization Train was like a tenacious stick insect, clinging to the edge of the Xialing Mountain Range and climbing upwards steadily, arch by arch.

After a full half hour, the train ventured deeper into the mountains from their edge. With continuous energy expenditure, the boiler's water level and pressure were nearing critical levels. Meanwhile, the slope ahead grew increasingly narrow and steeper.

"Stop the car," Su Ming said.

Fuyin quickly closed the valve and retracted the handle, bringing the already struggling train to a stop.

Violet flew out of the train, summoned the Divine Scepter, and cast a spell. Countless rock pillars burst forth from the ground, breaking through the snow and surrounding the Youth Civilization Train, firmly locking each carriage to prevent it from sliding down.

After the last rollover incident, the scholars also rewrote new spells to prevent the car from rolling away.

Next, everyone inspected the locomotive, organized the water and coal reserves, cleaned the ash from the grate, replenished the water inside the boiler, and reheated and pressurized it.

Unlike internal combustion engines, steam equipment continuously consumes steam pressure when operating under high load, causing the system temperature to drop. This also means it has energy storage capabilities, allowing it to unleash above-average power in a short time. However, on such a long slope, Su Ming had to arrange for a stop midway to restart steam production and water storage for pressurization.

Su Ming also retrieved the drone and replaced its battery.

It took a full half hour for the temperature and pressure of the two locomotives to rise back to their maximum levels.

Violet flew out of the cockpit and continuously used low-intensity terrain magic to clear a smooth path several kilometers ahead. Finally, she erected a solid rock wall behind the Youth Civilization before removing the rock pillars securing the carriages.

The train slid backward as a whole, with the last carriage pressing against the rock wall and the front carriage pressing against the front carriage, closing all the gaps.

Once the train had come to a complete stop, everyone checked the overall condition of the train again.

"Alright, get ready to start uphill," Su Ming said. He had failed his driving test once because of this, and it had left him with a lingering fear of it.

“God says, ‘Go up!’” Fuyin’s eyes lit up. He immediately pulled the valve to its maximum, then steadily controlled the handle and steering, tightening the rear compartments one by one and pulling them out.

Everyone was startled by the violent start. "Gospel, be gentle!" Su Ming said angrily.

“God said, ‘Stand firm!’” The Gospel immediately responded.

"God never said that, so you better drive carefully!"

As Lu Xun said, "Let the storm rage on!"

"..."

"Don't argue with it, it's famous for its gossip," Violet interjected. "I've never been able to win an argument with it before."

Although the train's initial movement was suspected of being forceful, the Youth Civilization train continued smoothly forward. However, when the thirtieth carriage was also pulled, the speed could no longer be increased.

Violet slammed her staff on the carriage floor. "Levitation!"

The weight of the entire train immediately decreased by almost half, and the speed began to increase again. However, as the speed increased, the pressure on Zijin increased significantly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

"Keep the speed down, Alyssa can't handle it if it's too fast!" Su Ming reminded Fuyin, who immediately limited the speed to maintain traction.

Once the train had successfully started and left the temporary parking area, Violet withdrew her spell.

The vehicle suddenly lurched, but this time it stabilized, and the Youth Civilization Train resumed its journey to climb the mountain.

Zijin collapsed onto the floor. Su Ming went over to check on her and found that although she was tired, she was not completely exhausted.

He took Violet back to the workshop to rest, asking, "When you increase your speed, your magic power can't keep up?"

"Yes, the consumption is much greater than expected."

As expected, magic involves the concept of energy. Violet reduced the weight of the vehicle, but she had to expend her own magic power to compensate for the increase in gravitational potential energy.

****
With its boiler fully charged, the train faced the rugged mountain road with much more resilience. It climbed steadily, traversing the bumpy, fan-shaped peaks, and entered the passageway between the mountain valleys.

The road at the bottom of the canyon was much smoother due to years of water erosion, and the boiler's condition stabilized. Fuyin brought the speed back up to over 13 kilometers per hour, and the industrial control system began to restore the boiler's steam pressure and water level.

　Thank you to the Law Master for the generous donation, making you the first Alliance Master of this book!
　　Thank you to all the readers who have supported us. We'll be adding three extra chapters; there will be double chapters tomorrow and the day after!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)