Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 286 The Star Sand Agreement
Catherine leaned back elegantly on the leather sofa, her fingers interlaced on her knees, and began to speak, "I think we should set up an ambush in the Dome Mountains—so many second-generation gods have had their accidents here, we don't have to worry about them not coming. We can wait in ambush and deliver another heavy blow to the Covenant Faction!"

"It's really tempting. If we do this a few times, we can settle the score quickly!" A glint of excitement flashed in Zi Jin's eyes. She turned to look at Su Ming, her long, light brown hair tossing aside. "You don't agree with this?"

“Yes,” Su Ming replied, “Retreating from this development base should be the priority.”

“Defeating the enemy is removing obstacles and hidden dangers for development,” Catherine stated, “and controlling the Temple of Light will be a huge boost to your future plans!”

“Control?” Su Ming shook his head and said, “How can such a huge organization as the Temple of Light be so easy to control?”

“Yes, we can!” Catherine explained her plan. “As long as we can get rid of the Pope, we can win over neutral factions within the Church, such as the Brothers of Ember, as well as some local factions and relatively marginal members of the Divine Covenant. Then, with Star Sand as the leader, we can unite all parties to reorganize the Church.” She calculated for a moment, “If all goes well, this process can be completed within six months!”

“That’s not thorough enough!” Su Ming objected. “At best, it’s a coup, and then it’s still a coalition government—the new church established this way is just a change in name only, and it’s easy to fall apart. It can’t become a real help to us!”

A compromise-oriented approach will only allow the old forces to remain entrenched and control every aspect of society. An incomplete revolution never yields a good outcome.

Any attempt to take shortcuts will ultimately come at a price far heavier than the war itself. Countless such cases are clearly recorded in history books.

Catherine frowned and said, "What do you mean?"

"Crush the enemy with strength, shatter and rebuild, and rise from the ashes." Su Ming said, enunciating each word clearly, "Otherwise, it's better not to do it at all!"

After a long silence, Catherine finally nodded slowly, "If that's the case, then that would be best!"

****
"Wait a moment," Violet interrupted, her brow furrowing. "I don't understand, why can't we cripple the church first—is there some contradiction?"

Su Ming and Catherine exchanged a glance.

“Elisa.” Catherine gently set down her teacup, the porcelain clinking softly. “Imagine there’s a pack of wolves in the room right now, and one of them, we’ve painstakingly wounded.” She drew an arc in the air with her finger. “What would happen if we cut off its leg—”

“The wolves will swarm in and devour us!” Violet understood this time. “We’ll have worked for nothing and end up with nothing but a mouthful of hair.” She understood the core of their discussion: “Catherine’s opinion is to quickly seize the gains by reorganizing the church internally.”

“Yes.” Catherine nodded, “But President Su doesn’t approve of this approach. He’s chosen to strengthen his own abilities, suppress the entire audience, and take a hard line!”

Violet finished the remaining tea in her cup, clapped her hands, and stood up. "I thought you were discussing how to deal with the Church—" she looked around at the two of them, "but it turns out you're talking about how to swallow the spoils?"

"Not entirely," Su Ming said. "From a decision-making perspective, delaying strategic progress in development for the sake of tactical benefits like an ambush would be a losing proposition."

"Stop!" Zi Jin raised her hand in a gesture of disapproval. "So these issues are for you two old foxes to discuss yourselves. I'm not qualified to be your referee." She turned and walked towards the door, clearly displeased. "The purification array in the teaching building is very advanced; I need to dismantle it quickly—"

"Wait!" Su Ming grabbed her hand and pulled her back. The girl's palm was slightly cool. "I've come to you to resolve a crucial issue: Who exactly owns the Star Sand?"

Violet looked at Catherine suspiciously, who simply shrugged gracefully. After a moment's thought, she realized that the issue did need clarification, so she reluctantly sat down again, following Su Ming's lead.

Noticing Catherine's gaze, Violet withdrew her hand.

“I am the real Pale New Words,” she said to Su Ming.

“But so does Catherine,” Su Ming pointed out. “You’ve been the tower spirit of the Bone Fortress for the past twenty-seven years, and this information will spread sooner or later. Then everyone will know that the Pale New Words that has been active all along is actually someone else.”

This was indeed a problem. Violet unconsciously twirled the stray hairs on her forehead with her fingers, the strands of hair entwining between her slender fingers.

“Moreover, the actual control of Xingsha is in the hands of Catherine.” Su Ming continued to analyze, “After she uses us to deal with the Divine Covenant Faction, she only needs to reveal this trump card and declare to the world that she is the real Saintess, so that she can rightfully and completely control Xingsha and the Temple of Light.”

“That’s right.” Violet nodded in agreement.

"...Could you be a little more tactful when you say these things to my face?" Catherine gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Elisa, you don't have the energy to manage church affairs, do you?"

“But I won’t allow us to fight against the church so hard, only to have it all go to your benefit in the end,” Violet said bluntly.

“We can divide the spoils clearly.” Catherine sat up. “I have two goals I must achieve.” She looked at the two of them, a resolute glint in her eyes. “First, to avenge myself against the Pope; second, to protect Xing Sha’s followers.” Her voice suddenly lowered. “But I can’t do either of them. My talent is limited; it will be at least several decades before I can break through to the Saint rank—if I’m lucky enough.” “Even so, that’s already better than 99.99% of the combatants in this world,” Su Ming retorted, mocking her Versailles.

"...But distant water can't quench an immediate fire. Without your help, I will soon be crushed to pieces by the Covenant!"

Catherine looked up as sunlight streamed in through the window. Countless dust particles danced in the path of light.

"As for Xing Sha, they are too inexperienced. If things proceed normally, this group will definitely be purged by the Divine Covenant and end up like the necromancers."

Although Catherine sowed the seeds of hope, she was powerless to stop the reshuffling of emerging forces in this process of power transition, paying a bloody price.

"So," Su Ming asked, "in what form should we build deep mutual trust?"

As for the Kingdom of Cold Mountain, represented by Daphne, we should proceed with normal diplomatic logic. The moment they participated in the attack for the mining in the Dome Mountains and the North-South Tunnel, it was determined that the alliance between the two sides would be strong until the Temple of Light was dealt with.

But Xing Sha is different; their group is already intertwined. In particular, in the future, they will not only need to fight against the powerful Temple of Light, but also navigate among the various surrounding forces.

Only by establishing close internal relationships can they ensure that their respective goals are achieved in this competition.

Unfortunately, both Su Ming and Catherine are calculating types. Like hedgehogs, they instinctively stay alert to each other.

****
Catherine's gaze inadvertently drifted out the window, and suddenly a sly smile curved her lips. She deliberately raised her voice, "Mr. Su, how about we arrange a marriage? My daughter, Iser, is about the same age—"

Before the words were even finished, a loud "bang" rang out, and a large sword burst through the window, its blade whistling past the coffee table before embedding itself deeply into the wall with a resounding clang. Glass shards scattered like raindrops, and a biting mountain wind instantly rushed into the warm office.

The three of them had already swiftly caught the tea set on the coffee table, leaving the teacups and teapot unharmed. Catherine calmly turned her head and, sure enough, saw her daughter Iser hovering outside the window, her pretty face filled with exasperation.

When she met the mischievous smile in her mother's eyes, Iser immediately realized she had been tricked. She gave a heavy "humph" and glared angrily at Catherine.

The moment she caught sight of Su Ming, the girl's cheeks flushed crimson. Without a word, she turned and flew away, her skirt tracing a graceful arc in the wind.

"Snapped!"

The bone china teacup in Catherine's hand shattered with a crack, scalding tea dripping from her slender fingers onto the floor. Su Ming watched in bewilderment as she continued to grind the shards of the teacup—did she have some deep-seated grudge against this tea set?
"So, what is your formal proposal?" Su Ming steered the conversation back on track, casually picking up a linen towel from the coffee table and handing it over.

Catherine tossed the crumpled porcelain shards into the trash can, wiped her hands with a cloth, took a deep breath to calm herself, and said, "Let's have a fight!"

"With me?" Zi Jin's eyebrows twitched, her tone clearly showing surprise. "You're being so proactive?"

“No, with Su Ming.” Catherine stared at Su Ming, her eyes filled with hostility. “A one-on-one fight!”

"Wait a minute, this is no way to bully someone!" Su Ming immediately protested.

Catherine is a rank higher than him, and he witnessed her performance on the battlefield yesterday—her unpredictable and ever-changing tactical style made him prefer to fight two Jhin rather than face her.

Ignoring his protests, Catherine turned to Violet and said, “I can formally honor you as the Saintess of Star Sand, establish you as the supreme leader of the organization, and lead all Star Sand members in swearing allegiance to you.” She paused, then added, “regardless of the outcome of the battle against Su Ming.”

“No.” Zi Jin sat up straight, her light brown hair swaying in the breeze streaming in through the window. “The ones in front are fine, but Su Ming isn’t—he can only be beaten by me!”

"Hey, this won't work either!" Su Ming muttered, his face full of helplessness.

“Trying out different opponents won’t hurt Su Ming,” Catherine insisted.

"It just won't work!" Violet's voice rose as well.

Violet and Catherine locked eyes, and an invisible spark seemed to fly through the air. Finally, Catherine sighed softly, "Alright, I'll change my request..."

(End of this chapter)