Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 189 Route (Updated in Advance)
"Is Elisa trying to blast a hole in the sky?" the unicorn asked, puzzled.

The light was suddenly blocked by something, stopping in mid-air, and then began to brighten. Qiluo was initially puzzled, until the light became blinding—was it heading straight for them?!
Before the unicorn could react, six beams of light grazed her side, straightening her mane. The three archmages pursuing her were instantly torn apart, the residual force penetrating the pursuing mage ranks, raising crimson fragments. Finally, she landed on the ground, ploughing through the densest part of the cavalry, leaving long, scorched ruts and a large number of scattered limbs.

The once smooth snowfield was instantly transformed into a devastated wasteland!

The entire audience was stunned!

A few seconds later, people reacted. The irresistible power and incomprehensible range of the Violet spell plunged everyone into terror. The White Scattering Cavalry's orderly ranks crumbled, and all the soldiers frantically searched for cover. The mages who had survived the attack also immediately flew away in all directions.

Qi Luo turned around stiffly, looking at the fragments of the mage's robe still falling from the air, and the six deep, dark marks on the snowfield. "Su Ming, Chestnut Owl, couldn't you have avoided me a little bit with your projectiles?!" she said indignantly. "My feathers are all singed!"

"I'm sorry, the avoidance distance was set too low," Su Ming apologized. "I'll pay attention next time."

Qi Luo was furious, "Next time?! You scum, I'm not finished with you!"

****
Despite its sharp tongue, the unicorn circled back and began to snatch anything from the three archmages that emitted magical energy.

Catherine unwrapped the thick blanket covering the little bundle, tucked the baby into her arms, and packed away three magic staffs and a pile of broken ornaments and props along the way into the blanket.

Her hands moved swiftly, but her gaze darted back and forth between the ground and the sky. High in the sky, where the spell's trajectory twisted, hovered a strangely shaped octagonal flying machine, its colorful mirrored base shimmering eerily in the sunlight.

Catherine realized that it was this flight device, controlled by mirrors, that completed the final calibration for this ultra-long-range attack.

"Reflection?" she murmured to herself, "But what kind of material could reflect such powerful magic?"

Catherine used her Eagle Eye technique and quickly identified the material of the mirror—a magic crystal core, and a top-grade one at that!

A mouthful of blood choked Catherine.

Each small piece of this rare crystal core should have been carefully designed and meticulously polished by a skilled crystal craftsman. Instead, it has been crudely ground into a smooth surface, cut into uniform angles, and pieced together to form a mirror.

They are grouped together in the same category, with each element occupying a corner, piecing together a hexagonal snowflake pattern that is almost eerily beautiful.

Even though she was the one who had just been rescued, Catherine still felt that this was a terrible waste of her talents!

However, magic could still seep into the tiny gaps between the crystal cores, which would tear and damage the mirror. Upon closer inspection, Catherine indeed saw that the mirror's backing material was entirely made of cinnabar!

Catherine was at a loss for words.

Also, I hope Elisa won't charge her the entire exorbitant cost of the materials for this mirror!

After the unicorn finished scavenging, it smacked the archmage on the head with its hooves, shouting, "Bad guy!"

"Let's go!" she called to Catherine, and the two then ran towards the train.

They quickly flew to where the violet was. The tea-haired girl was kneeling quietly on the snow, holding a thermos and sipping steaming strawberry-flavored milk.

Zijin raised her hand and greeted the two, "Greetings, people of the moon and Your Majesty the Empress whom I have just parted from!"

"Hmph, you're exhausted, aren't you!" Qi Luo flew forward, her two hooves ruthlessly pressing Zi Jin down onto the snow. Then, she grabbed Zi Jin by the collar, lifted her into the air like a kitten, and continued flying towards the train.

****
When the unicorn returned, the Youth Civilization had already slowly started moving. With a clanging sound, the tracks of the steam locomotive turned, pressing deep grooves into the snow and revealing the ice surface of Lake Noxia below.

"Full speed ahead!" Hansster said to the Gospel.

The steam locomotive's valves were opened to their maximum, and its speed steadily increased. Large plumes of snow were swirled up and flung to the sides and rear, scattering like comet tails in the wind. The long train began to speed away from the battlefield.

In the workshop carriage, Su Ming sat at a long table, holding a cup of refreshing tea, while rubbing his forehead with his other hand.

Zijin sat down next to him, and Su Ming handed her a few mints, which he had bought at the market earlier.

"How are you?" he asked.

"The magical energy I just unleashed exceeded this body's capacity." Violet peeled a piece of candy and popped it into her mouth. "It needs some time to recover." Suddenly, she spat out the candy. "What a weird taste!"

"Ten kilometers is still too far," Su Ming reflected. "It was my misjudgment."

At this distance, the violet had to use its maximum output to compensate for the energy loss over the long distance.

Catherine handed the baby to Yunier, used magic to stabilize her injuries, and then sat down across the table. "Thank you. I really thought I was going to die."

"Just think about how you're going to pay me back," Violet said. "I don't owe you anything anymore. I don't need to tell you how precious the material of that mirror is; just be considerate."

“…No rush, there’s still a 27-year payment period.” Catherine poured herself some hot tea and took a sip.

Violet paused upon hearing this. She was asking for an exorbitant price, but Catherine adopted a deadbeat attitude.

Su Ming couldn't help but laugh. This time, the cutting of the magic crystal core was designed using specialized software, significantly reducing material waste; half of the core remained. However, judging from the recent battle, they hadn't considered the possibility of long-distance dispersion. They should have added a slight concave angle to the mirror to create a focusing effect.

“You didn’t make a mistake just now.” Catherine turned to Su Ming and pointed to the clear sky behind the Youth Civilization Ship. “The enemy has been terrified and will not dare to make any rash moves for a while.”

In close-quarters combat, the weakness of insufficient numbers will be exposed. If the enemy swarms in, they can be overwhelmed by a series of attacks.

Therefore, from a safety perspective, Su Ming chose to keep the enemy at a distance.

Catherine saw through his plan, and Su Ming no longer hid it. "We have the advantage in mobility. Buying some time is enough to escape. There's no need to fight to the death."

“Indeed. And the results this time were quite good,” Catherine said. “Those three archmages were completely wronged.”

The drone footage showed that the three archmages, who achieved the greatest victory, were completely unprepared for the sudden attack and simply maintained a normal defensive posture.

Although they sensed the energy fluctuations of the Violet Saint-level, they never expected to encounter such a precise attack from ten kilometers away, nor did they anticipate the beam spell would suddenly deflect at the last moment. If the Violet had launched a normal surprise attack, this outcome would have been different. With the three archmages adopting a mobile fighting stance, the battle could easily devolve into a war of attrition.

However, other results were unremarkable. The otherworldly army was also composed of extraordinary beings, and since the energy dissipated after hitting the archmage, half of the mages hit were able to withstand the attack thanks to their shields. On the ground, most of the warriors, except those directly hit and those within the blast radius, also survived.

The scene was horrifying, but the actual number of kills was not very high.

****
The skeleton servant took the map and intended to spread it out on the long table, but was stopped by Catherine.

She took the magic book "Qingjian Yunzhi" from her belt, hovered it in mid-air, and casually manipulated it, projecting a high-precision military map onto the table.

Catherine glanced out the window. "We're heading northeast. How fast are we going?"

Su Ming picked up the microphone and asked Hanster in the driver's seat, "Twenty degrees east of north, speed thirty-three kilometers per hour."

As coal consumption decreased, the locomotive's weight lightened, resulting in an improved travel speed compared to its initial state. The area is now a flat, frozen lake surface, the perfect terrain for the Youth Civilization Train to perform optimally.

Catherine breathed a sigh of relief. "That's definitely enough. Even if the enemy had two legs, they couldn't catch up at this speed." "What's next?" Su Ming asked. "Let's make it clear first, I don't know anything about land warfare. Just treat me like an idiot."

“Don’t be modest. Here’s a military common sense handbook; you can easily crush over 90% of the commanders in this world,” Catherine replied. She looked at the map and asked, “Once we leave the area around Lake Norsya, where there’s no smooth ice, won’t the train’s speed decrease?”

"Yes, reduce it to about 20 kilometers per hour."

“Further northwest, the terrain becomes even more rugged.” Catherine’s finger slid across the map, pointing to a spot 900 kilometers ahead of the train. “So, we’ll have to cross the Zhongling Mountains at Hongguopo?”

Hongguopo is the smoothest part of the Zhongling Mountains. Su Ming nodded, "This was the route I originally planned to take to the second step."

Although it was a short time, Catherine had already perceived the performance range and limitations of the Youth Civilization spacecraft through various details she observed.

Catherine continued marking the map with her magic cursor. "After crossing the mountain, what's your planned route?"

“Follow the river.” Starting from the crossing point, Su Ming followed Catherine’s example and used magic to draw a path to continue north.

Catherine's face darkened. "Are we going to pass through the vicinity of Bubing City?"

“Yes, otherwise why would I say I'd take you to that area?” Su Ming replied.

This is no coincidence. Areas with abundant water resources are more likely to attract populations, and Bubing City is located on the banks of the San River. This also happens to be the requirement of the Youth Civilization Project for roads, which has determined the current situation.

“No. The Kingdom’s City Guard is stationed in Bubing City; they are more numerous and equipped with a much stronger mage force,” Catherine said. “Charging into it like this is suicide!”

"Can we go around it?" Violet asked.

“There’s an old riverbed to the north that we can utilize; I need to plan it out,” Su Ming replied, turning on his computer to begin calculations.

While Su Ming was calculating, Zi Jin turned to Catherine and questioned her, "What exactly did you do? You forced the Cold Mountain Kingdom to risk a national war, involve Princess Daphne, and use special forces to kill you?"

"You're not bad at being a scholar either," Su Ming thought to himself.

Catherine looked uncharacteristically bewildered. "I don't understand any of this. Killing me would do me no good, and I've always had a pretty good relationship with the Cold Mountain royal family."

"You actually believe a politician's honeyed words and treacherous heart?" Zijin scoffed without any politeness. "Are you stupid?"

Catherine rubbed her face, unsure how to answer.

Su Ming asked Catherine another question, "How did you and Qi Luo escape?"

That's a full-scale field regiment, plus a mage squad!

“Oh, after I rejoined the search team, they said they would take me to the camp,” Catherine explained. “The officer in charge very warmly invited Kira to have a meal at the camp, and she gladly accepted.”

Upon hearing this, Su Ming turned to Qi Luo, who was tending to her wounds, and said, "Didn't you just finish eating?"

The unicorn twisted its head and said, "It's afternoon tea time!"

"You actually find the army's food acceptable?"

"Can't I try it out?" Qi Luo remained defiant.

“But I realized we were going the wrong way,” Katharine continued. “They led us to a nearby valley. But the camp you told me was in Turkmenistan, and we shouldn’t be going this way.”

Su Ming and Zi Jin had already scouted the White Scatter Cavalry's camp and knew its actual location.

"I was still wondering what I'd get to eat later." After tending to her wounds, Qi Luo downed the tea bowl prepared by the skeleton on the long table. "Her Majesty the Empress suddenly overturned the sled and pulled me away. I was completely baffled when I saw a large group of people rushing out of the valley and chasing after us."

"We almost got surrounded." Catherine was also a little scared; she never expected to be confronted by the White Scatter Cavalry.

"Don't worry, if something really happens, I'll find a way to collect your body," Zijin said.

"I want lisianthus flowers for the funeral. If the body is intact, I'll dress it in a light yellow evening gown for the entrance. Otherwise, keep it simple," Catherine replied quickly.

"Hey, you've really gone too far," Violet said irritably. "Even if I take your body, I'll freeze it into an ice block and go ask Charlotte for payment."

"No need to be so considerate in helping me return to my roots, just bury me where I am!" Catherine chuckled.

****
After completing the calculations, Su Ming drew a new route: "After crossing the mountain at Hongguopo, we will take the ancient riverbed and bypass Gui Niao Bay. The road conditions are a bit worse, but it will allow us to pass through the area more than 200 kilometers away from Bubing City."

Catherine did the calculations. "This distance is enough to avoid the Bubing City Guard. They're not a field force, and their mobility isn't as good as the White Shot Cavalry."

She estimated the distance using the map, "900 kilometers, which means two days. We won't arrive at Hongguopo until the 21st." She thought for a moment, "Does the train need maintenance before crossing the mountain?"

Su Ming was used to her keen observation skills. "Yes, it will take two hours."

After the Bone Mark was upgraded, the speed of magic recovery was no longer an issue. However, the mechanical parts of the Youth Civilization still required maintenance, only the required docking time was shortened.

“If we don’t stop, after crossing the mountains and another two days, that is, on the 23rd, we will pass through Returning Bird Bay.” Catherine calculated along the way, “This time is more than enough to shake off the pursuers. The White Slash Cavalry has just suffered a setback and needs to regroup before they can resume their operations. The mages we just encountered were a mage corps of the northern nobles. Their morale and tactical discipline are only worse, and they have no chance of catching up with us.”

"What about the other enemies?" Su Ming asked.

Now that the White Scatter Cavalry has arrived, we cannot ignore other forces in the North, such as the Ice City Mage Corps of the Cold Mountain Royal Family, as well as the main force of the noble army.

“This is such a bizarre and inexplicable trap,” Catherine complained. She got up and walked towards the crying baby. “Let me catch my breath and think this over—I need to feed the little one.”

Catherine stumbled after taking only a few steps, but fortunately, Qiluo caught her quickly. "Please lie down on the bed, Your Majesty, let me treat your wounds again," she said warmly.

Su Ming gave the eager unicorn a strange look. He stood up to get the formula and bottle, "Let's feed the little dumpling milk instead."

Catherine rubbed her chest, somewhat helplessly, "Given my condition, he has to be weaned at such a young age."

“Don’t worry, I was fed only formula when I was little,” Violet said. “Atiya never fed me once.”

Catherine glanced at Violet's chest, swallowing back the words she was about to use to criticize the mother and daughter for being so similar. "Elisa, according to my intelligence, Atia is in Dragon Valley."

"She's in Mysella?" Violet was surprised to hear this. "Atiya hasn't been back for almost twenty years."

"If you have time, you might as well go and visit her there."

"Of course."

Catherine turned her head and let out a barely audible sigh.

(End of this chapter)