Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 212 A Memorial Ceremony?

"No need to guess, this contains Newman's soul!" Dimit laughed maniacally, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "His soul was originally kept as evidence for the 'Suspended River' project." His voice trembled hysterically. "How about my terms! This gem is fragile; if you don't agree—I'll crush it!"

Looking at Dimit's contorted face, Su Ming shook his head. "Sorry, you can't threaten us."

"Don't treat me like a fool!" Dimit roared. "You care about Newman! I don't expect you to let me go." He reiterated the terms of the deal, "I'll leave with this crystal, just let my family leave!"

Su Ming gestured for him to look at what he was holding again. Dimit lowered his hand to his eyes and was shocked to find that what he was holding in his palm was just an ordinary stone!

"How is this possible!" Dimit exclaimed in disbelief.

The sound of shattering glass rang out, the illusion receded like the tide, and the surrounding scenery abruptly changed. To Dimitri's horror, he discovered that Su Ming and Zi Jin had actually been standing dozens of meters away the whole time, never having taken a single step closer.

It turned out that from the very beginning, he had been silently pulled into an illusion by Zi Jin! The stone in his hand was fake, but the burning whip marks on his body were real, only they were caused by Zi Jin casting a spell from dozens of meters away!

****
On Su Ming's side, a skeletal dove landed in Zi Jin's palm, setting down the deep, dark cocoon it had been carrying. The gem felt cold and heavy in her hand. Zi Jin held it carefully, sensing its weight, a hint of joy appearing on her face. "It really is Newman!"

"You...you're too cunning!" Having lost his last bargaining chip, Dimit collapsed helplessly onto the snow like a deflated sack.

"Likewise," Su Ming said indifferently.

Faced with this cunning old fox, he and Violet didn't really get close. Who knew what traps Dimitri might have laid, or even explosives in those carriages that could suddenly detonate and kill them all?

This cautious move unexpectedly brought a pleasant surprise.

"Oh, right, I have a little gift for you." Su Ming raised his hand and waved it, and several white bone spears fell from the sky, accurately piercing the "laborer corpses" buried in the snow.

A piercing scream suddenly rang out, then abruptly stopped.

"My son!" Dimit cried out in heart-wrenching grief, two streams of tears rolling down his cheeks.

It was a double trap, with another layer of disguise beneath the disguise. But Su Ming no longer cared how many tricks Dimit had played.

In any case, no one, including the body, will be left at the scene; there's absolutely no chance of making a mistake!

****
Inside the governor's residence in Bubing, Princess Daphne picked up her crystal glass again and took a large sip of water.

“Professor Newman… doesn’t know about this.” She told Catherine, “I was in charge of surveying this part of the water system. I discovered that the water systems that flowed into the underground river did not flow south as expected, but instead turned north and became the source of the Sang River.” Her fingers unconsciously stroked the side of the cup. “I… hid this discovery from my professor.”

"So it's an underground river, no wonder." Catherine suddenly realized.

"But later, the teacher noticed the suspicious points and suspected that the scope of the project had affected the source of the Sang River." Daphne's voice was somber. "That's why he suddenly went to the northern side to conduct an on-site investigation."

"And that's when they were ambushed by Dimitri and his men." Having learned the whole story, Catherine's tone was filled with regret. "Such an outstanding master..."

“Ironically,” Daphne gripped her water glass tighter, “if Professor Newman hadn’t been killed, Project Suspended would have been canceled. He would have found out the truth and brought it to light, using his influence to stop the project—and I wouldn’t have gone against him.”

Catherine glanced at the wall clock; she had an important New Year's Eve party to attend that evening.

“I have asked all the questions I wanted to know,” Catherine said, rising to straighten her dress. “I will relay this information to Su Ming and Elisa, and they will decide how to proceed. Princess Daphne, farewell.” She nodded slightly in farewell.

"Your Majesty, please take care." Daphne rose and returned the greeting.

****
early morning.

The first rays of sunlight pierced the biting cold, casting a pale glow across the snow-covered plain. The distant mountain silhouettes, like jagged spines, reflected a cold, hard sheen in the morning light.

A figure riding a lion-like beast burst into the area. The rider reined in the horse, pulled a delicate magical compass from his robes, carefully adjusted his bearings, and continued onward. The dust kicked up by the mount traced transparent paths through the air, quickly dispersed by the cold wind.

A few minutes later, the magic pointer suddenly trembled violently. The figure nimbly leaped off the mount, lingered in the snow for a moment, and finally stopped in front of an inconspicuous snowdrift.

A wind spell was cast, blowing away the thick snow covering an area of ​​several meters. A section of bluish-green stone tip first appeared on the snowdrift, gradually revealing itself to be a tombstone. Soon, a meticulously constructed stone mausoleum was fully revealed.

The tombstone reads: The Tomb of Norbert Newman.

The visitor lifted her cloak, and a pair of slender hands took out a bunch of bright winter chrysanthemums from her bosom and gently placed them in front of the tombstone.

"It's red, actually." Not far away, Violet remarked via mental link.

"What does red represent?" Su Ming asked.

In your world, aren't red flowers also associated with love?

Zijin stepped forward and greeted, "Good morning, Your Highness the Second Princess!"

Daphne was startled by the sudden appearance of Violet—not every scholar possesses great strength, especially when facing a powerful figure like Violet.

She suppressed her inner turmoil and returned the greeting as gracefully as possible, "Good morning! Lord Chestnut Owl!" Then she saw Su Ming behind Violet, "Good morning, Lord Bone King! Why... are you here?"

“We found a special gift last night and decided to bring it to visit Newman,” Violet replied.

Su Ming stepped forward, threw down the Dimitri he was carrying, and slammed it onto the snow.

After the interrogation that gave him a headache last night, the two of them were too lazy to deal with Dimitri anymore. They took him back to the Youth Civilization train and left him hanging outside the carriage overnight.

Surprisingly, this guy was still alive.

Daphne looked at Dimit, who was lying on the ground. Suddenly, Dimit reached out a trembling hand and began to peel off his clothes, looking very hot.

This is a phenomenon where physiological functions are completely disrupted, causing blood to suddenly rush to the body surface, creating a sensation of heat.

Daphne suddenly bowed deeply, "Thank you!"

Newman had been severely injured and then frozen to death in the water. She seemed to want to say something, but her voice choked with emotion. Daphne quickly turned to face the tombstone, not wanting the two of them to see her outburst. It took her a while to regain her composure.

“My apologies for my rudeness.” The second princess of the Cold Mountain Kingdom turned around again, regaining her usual composure. “Mr. Su Ming, Scholar Chestnut Owl, thank you for rescuing me in Lis City, and thank you both for your kindness during this time.” She continued, “The Cold Mountain royal family has received many favors, and we will do our utmost to repay them.”

These words were clearly setting the stage for the upcoming negotiations, indicating that Su Ming and Zi Jin could now state their conditions.

Daphne knew very well that the Qingqiao deal could be discussed separately, but the things that had happened before had to be settled with the two of them.

In terms of sentiment: she herself was saved by them, the conspiracy of the northern nobles was thwarted by them, and nearly half of the lord alliance's forces were annihilated by them.

More importantly, it makes sense: if Su Ming and Zi Jin could wipe out the elite of the Lords' Alliance, they could also deal with the army of the Cold Mountain Kingdom; if they could take the heads of Dimit and Brunrev, they would have the ability to kill members of the royal family.

Faced with such a powerful figure, the situation of losing both emotion and reason is dangerous, and the Hanshan royal family chose to take the initiative to "pay the price" for these events.

“We want the Eternal Night Territory,” Violet stated bluntly.

Upon hearing this, Daphne secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After careful consideration, she found that the request was actually within an acceptable range.

Eternal Night Territory is located in a remote area in the northeastern corner of the Northern Continent, even further north than the Jishou mudflats where Su Ming and his group landed. Its core, Eternal Night Port, is a deep-water port with excellent terrain, but it is frozen over for more than a third of the year. Coupled with the frequent harassment by the Fish-Men in recent years, the port's shipping function has been essentially abandoned.

As a territory, Eternal Night encompasses sixteen small towns, covering a considerable area but with a sparse population. Due to geological reasons, this land is severely eroded by seawater salinity, rendering it almost unusable for agriculture. Frequent attacks by the Fish-Men have further devastated the local fishing industry, resulting in a very bleak living situation for the people.

“Although Eternal Night Territory is within the territory of the Cold Mountain Kingdom, it is not currently under our actual control,” Daphne replied. “Are you sure you have the ability to control that area?”

“This is something we need to consider ourselves,” Violet replied. “What we are asking for is the kingdom’s nominal recognition and granting of rights, full autonomy over our territory, and permission to trade with the Kingdom of Free Passage. We can abide by the system and pay taxes to the royal family annually at the basic tax rate.”

"Please allow me to report to the King and then reply," Daphne replied. While her assessment was acceptable, such a significant matter could not be decided by her alone.

“Of course!” Violet replied.

"What do you want to do?" Su Ming asked. "We can't manage such a large area as Eternal Night Territory, can we?"

According to his original plan, after completing the prison break operation in the Dome Mountains, they should move to an area that was more defensible and had better industrial conditions for development. The geographical location of Eternal Night Territory was far from ideal.

"Not for us, it's for the Feathered Clan," Violet replied, a sly glint in her eyes. "They're trapped in their polar city inside the Arctic Circle; they'd definitely want to leave that ice cap. We can trade the Eternal Night Territory with them—a sure win!"

"Are you trying to trade a paperclip for a villa?" Su Ming thought to himself.

"But we must not let the Cold Mountain Kingdom know about this beforehand! Let's wait until it's a fait accompli!" Violet instructed.

"Should we also consider getting rid of the murlocs?" Su Ming asked.

"Of course!" Violet replied matter-of-factly. "You have to wash the mud off the radishes before you sell them, right?"

Su Ming was speechless.

****
Seeing that the atmosphere had cooled down, Daphne turned around and faced Newman's tomb again.

"Gentlemen, how did you know about this place?" she asked, her voice tinged with confusion. Only a very few people knew that Newman was buried here.

“Someone told us,” Su Ming replied. Newman himself was also “someone.”

“However, if we hadn’t seen Her Highness the Princess, we really wouldn’t have been able to find her exact location,” he continued.

Although they knew the area was within, finding a grave buried under thick snow in the vast snowfield was an almost impossible task. Su Ming and Zi Jin had been wandering around the vicinity for more than half an hour, but they couldn't find the exact location no matter what they tried.

Newman's soul was constantly berated by the two men along the way.

“I placed a magical beacon under the tombstone,” Daphne explained.

Su Ming took out a piece of fish cake, a seasonal food for the winter solstice, from his pocket and placed it in front of Master Newman's grave, next to the winter chrysanthemums that Daphne had brought.

In the cold wind, both things quickly froze and were covered in frost. But the red flower, a symbol of love, remained exceptionally eye-catching, inevitably drawing attention against the backdrop of a vast, desolate snowfield.

Daphne blushed slightly and decided to explain.

"Please excuse my rudeness," she said to Su Ming and Zi Jin. "I only admire my teacher unilaterally; there is nothing between us."

“It doesn’t matter if it’s substantial,” Violet said. “You’re both single, so this won’t affect Newman’s reputation.”

But they're different races, Su Ming thought to himself. Halflings are the native race of the Teya plane, and they have no biological compatibility with the invasive species, humans.

But he's used to it by now. This is the third interracial couple he's encountered on this journey: Atiyah and Myrcella, Sharico and Chloe, plus the princess and Newman. From now on, when he gossips about these things, his opening line will have to change from "I have one friend" to "I have four friends."

“But the truth is there’s nothing between us,” Daphne insisted. “I have to make that clear.”

“Understood. Since I’ve run into you, I’ll take care of something while I’m at it,” Violet said, her expression turning serious. “Daflin, after deliberation by the two titled scholars, it has been unanimously decided to revoke your scholar status. I will send the official document to the High Knowledge Association by letter!”

She held out her hand to Daphne, her cashmere glove spread out. "Please return the scholar's badge!"

Daphne turned her face away, but tears still streamed down her cheeks. She had come alone, leaving her personal guard several kilometers away. But even if they were by her side, it would probably be of no use.

Daphne knew perfectly well that the owl scholar in front of her wouldn't speak to her politely, and she also had the power to speak politely.

“This badge was awarded to me personally by Professor Newman. The qualification can be revoked, but the badge… please let me keep it,” Daphne pleaded.

Zijin raised her hand to snatch it, but Su Ming gave her a look.

(End of this chapter)