Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 299 The Beer Shop

1. A total of 1.2 posts were updated today.
2. The 8200-word chapter in yesterday's "Extra Chapter" (paid) has now been renamed "Chapter 14: Pansies".

3. Once this problem is resolved, normal operation will resume.

4. I'm very sorry for any inconvenience caused. Happy holidays everyone!
-
In the evening, Su Ming sorted out the many problems he had discovered while reading the design plan for "Pansy" during the day.

He shifted his focus to Miao Xin and prepared to contact the engineers in the "distant water fishing" project team to communicate and coordinate these matters.

But when he cut in, he found Miao Xin in a storage room filled with multi-tiered metal shelves. On the long stainless steel table in front of her, a large pile of personal items that clearly belonged to a woman were spread out, including but not limited to clothing, different styles of shoes, backpacks, bedding, and daily necessities.

There are even complete sets of kitchen utensils such as pots, pans, and bowls.

"What are you doing?" Su Ming asked, deeply puzzled.

But the next second, his gaze suddenly locked onto one of the items. He immediately took control of the little troublemaker's body and strode over.

It was a clearly broken hair tie. The flaxen silk satin texture still showed its former exquisiteness, but most of the crystal decorations on the butterfly orchid ornament had fallen off, leaving only a few lonely crystals.

"[This is... Si Ran's thing?]" Su Ming picked up the hair tie with his skeletal fingers.

"Yes," Miao Xin replied somewhat helplessly. "These are Si Ran's belongings collected by the relevant departments. They asked me to examine them to see if there are any residual energy fluctuations, such as resentment marks or curses."

She had originally worried that seeing the object would remind Su Ming of her past and only increase his sadness, so she didn't plan to tell him about it. But unfortunately, he still caught her red-handed.

Su Ming's gaze slowly swept over the scattered items. He had indeed lost touch with Si Ran in the past two years, and he no longer recognized many of the things. But the old cell phone, the keychain with the little doll hanging on it, and the backpack she had used for so long were still so familiar, like solidified marks of time.

However, the vibrant figure who used them back then is no longer there.

A sudden wave of sadness washed over Su Ming.

"Skull Mark - Deep Link!"

With a thought, Su Ming decisively immersed his entire sensory awareness completely in the little troublemaker's presence. The visual, auditory, and tactile sensory signals from his physical body were instantly blocked, as if separated by a thick layer of frosted glass.

Su Ming manipulated the skeleton to raise its head and survey the storage room, as environmental information flooded in. The warm-toned latex-painted walls, the dust particles floating in the air, and even the faint background noise of city traffic outside the window—these elements intertwined to give him an illusion—as if he had truly returned to Earth.

"What's wrong?" Miao Xin asked in surprise.

The ghost girl, who was originally attached to the little prickly boy, was "squeezed out" by Su Ming's mental power and transformed into a semi-transparent girlish light and shadow, drifting to one side.

This "deep link" ability was originally a technique used by necromancers to fully control undead creatures, but Su Ming had never actually used it. By the time he mastered this skill, Miao Xin had already become his proxy on Earth.

"I'll wait a little while." Su Ming didn't hide his feelings, his mood somewhat somber. "If I go back now, I'm afraid... I won't be able to control my tears."

[…] Miao Xin paused for a moment, [“Si Ran wouldn’t happen to be your… lover, would she?”]

"No." Su Ming answered quickly, revealing the answer before Miao Xin could press him further. "I confessed my feelings to her, but she rejected me."

"Wow!" Miao Xin exclaimed. "This lady is amazing!"

Su Ming's gaze returned to the belongings, among which a slightly worn notebook caught his eye. He recognized it as Si Ran's work notebook. Opening the cover, he saw neat and beautiful handwriting inside, the records meticulous and detailed, just like her work ethic.

The notes Si Ran once wrote for him also had this kind of handwriting.

****
Su Ming closed the notebook and gently placed it back in its original place.

If he continued to dwell on the memories, his emotions would only sink deeper and deeper, and Su Ming realized that this was not a good time to mourn his deceased friend.

He simply walked out of the storage room. "Miao Xin, find me somewhere to get some fresh air."

[No problem, follow me!] Miao Xin immediately perked up and floated towards the door. She led "Su Ming" through the corridor, out of the building, and then hovered the spirit body next to a rainwater pipe leading to the roof.

"Climb up this path, and you'll easily reach the roof." Miao Xin gestured for them to proceed, her tone tinged with a hint of smugness. "The view from there is expansive and the scenery is exceptional!"

Su Ming shook the skull head helplessly and resignedly began to climb. The little rascal was light and agile, and even though Su Ming was a bit clumsy in controlling it, he easily climbed to the roof.

He stepped onto the uneven, heat-insulating bricks and found a relatively gentle slope to lie down. The city's night sky was tinged with a dark red by light pollution, and the sparse starlight was almost invisible.

"Alright, let me have some peace and quiet." Su Ming said to Miao Xin, "I'll go back by myself once I've calmed down."

"How could I possibly leave you here alone, just standing there spacing out!" Miao Xin floated up, her voice righteous and indignant. "This is the perfect opportunity to snoop out some gossip!"

"It's just a story of a failed confession, what's so interesting about it?" Su Ming replied irritably. "Have you never been in a relationship before?"

[When I was in junior high, I had a crush on a tall boy in the next class who played basketball. I finally mustered up the courage to give him a love letter, but he rejected me without even reading it. Later, two other boys confessed to me, but I didn't feel anything for them and rejected them all. Then, a Meituan delivery guy showed interest in me while I was working as a food delivery driver, and I told him directly, "Ele.me and Meituan have no future!"] Miao Xin finished recounting her "love history" in one breath, her tone light and cheerful. [Okay, I'm done. Now it's your turn to tell me in detail!]

[...] Su Ming was completely defeated by the ghostly lady's persistence. After a moment of silence, he helplessly spoke, "Si Ran and I have always had a good relationship. She is truly a very dazzling girl."

[Dazzling?] Miao Xin recalled what she had just seen in the storage room—simple clothes and ordinary household items—her tone clearly puzzled. [But the things Sister Si Ran left behind… it seems she didn't particularly care about dressing up like that?]

"What I meant by 'dazzling' was the feeling she gives off," Su Ming corrected, his voice tinged with nostalgia. "She possesses incredible drive and charisma. No matter how complicated the task, she always manages to organize it perfectly. More importantly, she naturally inspires those around her. Few people around her aren't captivated by her enthusiasm and resilience. So, after spending time with her, I naturally... fell for her." "The goddess in everyone's eyes, huh? No wonder—Si Ran didn't fall for you!" Miao Xin said with a grin, deliberately picking at Su Ming's sore spots and relentlessly rubbing salt in the wound.

[Actually…] Su Ming sighed, [Si Ran treats me quite specially. She has many friends, but I'm the closest to her. We share our secrets, stay up all night together to finish final assignments, take care of each other… and there have been quite a few ambiguous moments—I genuinely believed that she had special feelings for me too.]

[Pfft... Hahaha!] Miao Xin burst into laughter, her ghostly, semi-transparent figure trembling violently in the air. [The number one of the three great illusions of life: She likes me! Hahahaha, Su Ming, I never thought you'd make such a blunder!]

"I've learned a lot from Si Ran." Su Ming's voice calmed down. "I learned how she handles things, how to adjust and improve. Everything else is fine, except for being rejected. I really don't want to learn that from her."

Miao Xin stopped laughing. "You told me to go find Sister Si Ran's soul back then, you didn't mean you wanted to ask her why things turned out this way, did you?"

"It's not that bad," Su Ming said. "This matter bothered me for a long time, but I later realized that her kindness towards me was a gesture of goodwill she was willing to give, but her dislike for me was also her true feeling and her freedom. What I need to learn is to accept this reality. And then... we went back to being ordinary friends, and everything returned to normal."

Miao Xin calmed down as well. "At least... Si Ran is still good to you. That boy who gave me the love letter back then didn't even give me a second glance."

"Maybe this is actually a good thing," Su Ming interjected. "The other person's kindness towards you might just be wishful thinking."

【…Wait!】 Miao Xin's gossip radar went off like crazy. She keenly caught a certain word: 【Who are you referring to as 'the other party'?】

[...] Su Ming paused for a moment, then asked in return, "Why do you think that the 'other party' I'm referring to isn't Si Ran?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?!" Miao Xin jumped as if her tail had been stepped on. "You just used the word 'again'! Clearly, there's a second person causing you this illusion!"

"I already said it's just an illusion, what's there to study?" Su Ming said irritably.

"You can't be like this! Once bitten, twice shy!" Miao Xin immediately adopted a self-righteous, "I'm doing this for your own good" attitude. "You should be fearless in the face of illusions and become more resilient with each setback! Maybe the next illusion won't be an illusion at all!"

[So you can enjoy the gossip to your heart's content, right?]

"Of course!" Miao Xin said without any hesitation, "Watching familiar faces make for double the fun!"

"Alright." Su Ming manipulated the little rascal to sit up, the skull's joints making a slight grinding sound. "Let's deal with this later. 007's gotta stay busy with this."

Ahead lies the city's dazzling night view and countless lights.

Miao Xin calmed down. "Then I'll let you off the hook today. Good luck!"

Same to you!

****
On the morning of the sixth day after departing from the typhoon shelter valley, the long "Youth Civilization" train finally arrived at the Jishou mudflat landing point on the east side of the Giant Horn Peninsula.

During the straightest section of the river at the end of the journey, the train even reached an astonishing speed of 65 km/h. This sustained, high-speed experience left the unfamiliar passengers in the carriages in awe, with cheers erupting one after another.

Su Ming's memory of the terrain details of this area was indeed vague. Fortunately, the magical beacon he had buried here was successfully activated and emitted a stable guiding signal, pointing him to the location of the landing point.

As soon as the train came to a stop, Su Ming was the first to leap off the carriage. Behind him, the trainees from various training camps and the official members of the Bone-Bone Mad Machine disembarked in an orderly manner, quickly lining up under the command of the managers at all levels, and began to assign various tasks in an orderly fashion.

One group of people was responsible for unloading the cargo from the truck; the other group put on their gear and prepared to dive into the icy water to salvage the skeletal components and a large amount of supplies that had sunk there.

Later, they will dismantle the massive "Youth Civilization" train in groups and use all the bone reserves of the Bone Fortress to assemble the bone hull of the "Pansy" in this bay.

Su Ming distributed a thick stack of ship structure blueprints to the heads of each work group. Afterward, he took Qi Luo and began searching for people in the surrounding area.

That's right, Beanie, who had agreed in the communications to wait here with the supply ship to meet up, was nowhere to be found!

Fortunately, it wasn't an accident; it was simply because this coastline lacked significant landmarks. Beanie led the dwarf cargo ship "Ale" to another bay with a similar shape, about ten kilometers away.

With the aerial vision provided by Qiluo, they quickly locked onto their target. A person and a unicorn glided across the sky and landed lightly on the weathered wooden deck of the cargo ship.

"Sister!" Bei Anqi skipped over and hugged Qi Luo's long neck, burying her face in Qi Luo's soft, smooth mane and rubbing against her. Her voice was full of pleading anticipation, "Did you bring any fresh cucumbers? I miss that taste so much!"

A few hairs were plucked off, and Beianqi discreetly stuffed them into the small bag at her waist.

"...You little brat, all you ever think about is eating!" Qi Luo raised her head, trying to project an air of elder sister authority as she scolded, "Isn't it just because we've been at sea for so long and haven't had any fresh vegetables!"

"But I haven't had a single fresh bite in months!" Beianqi looked up and complained, then plucked a handful of feathers. "The ship serves bean sprouts for every meal! I feel like I'm turning into a wilted bean sprout myself!"

****
The "McBeer" set sail and began to slowly head towards the correct bay where the Youth Civilization Team landed.

A detailed list of supplies was quickly handed to Su Ming.

“This supply totals three thousand tons,” Beanie explained, pointing to the items on the list. “The bulk is high-quality coal, followed by high explosives specially made by the alchemy workshop, as well as some selected metal ingots and rare ores.”

Su Ming quickly scanned the items on the list, "What about the food supplies?"

“The food is mainly on the 'Bronzebeard' transport ship behind,” Beanie explained. “It’s slower, and it’ll probably take another week to get here.”

"Yes, our current reserves are more than sufficient, so there shouldn't be any problem with the timeframe." Su Ming nodded and put the list away.

(End of this chapter)