Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 354 Ice Layer Mapping
“But,” Su Ming raised a crucial question, “if we want to try to recreate this magic array in the future, where will we get the enormous amount of materials needed?”

As the partial restoration work progresses, the basic materials and mediums used in the magic circle have been analyzed.

When the Rift Clan set up the magic array, they used materials available locally. However, over the past ten thousand years, many of the materials that were once easy to find in North Iceland have become quite rare due to geological changes and various forms of consumption.

Moreover, these ancient humans were incredibly extravagant in their use of materials. Therefore, while the technical feasibility of analysis is one aspect, the preparation of materials will also be a huge challenge.

"How about we entrust the Feather Clan to handle the mining, and we'll pay for it?" Zi Jin suggested.

“Our Feather Clan is very willing to make such a deal,” Qingling immediately replied from the side. “However… there are not many of these kinds of mineral veins left in North Iceland, especially core minerals.”

Violet was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. "I remember that North Iceland has a fairly good reserve of alchemical materials! Especially rock cores... something that was previously considered to have little use, shouldn't you have a lot of stockpiles of them?"

Qingling explained helplessly, "Over the years, the Sifang Chamber of Commerce has been purchasing rock cores on a large scale in North Iceland. We have sold them almost all the rock core veins that we can dig out and that are easy to mine. What's left are either deep underground veins that are extremely difficult to mine, or low-quality ores of poor quality."

The Four Directions Chamber of Commerce was the same chamber of commerce that Su Ming first encountered when he went to the Central Ocean. Charles, who met them on the Zhiyuan at that time, was the vice president of that chamber of commerce.

Violet initially intended to rip this guy off, planning to sell him teleportation array materials that seemed useless at the time at a high price. However, later, during the negotiations, Charles tried to subtly remind them that Yesia on Ling Island was a trap.

Although this crucial hint was misunderstood and ignored by the two at the time, leading them straight into the trap and killing the still-wounded Yeshia.

However, Charles still owed her a favor. Therefore, Violet naturally wouldn't carry out the plan that had tricked him.

However, it now appears that this decision actually benefited them. Many of the "useless" materials initially planned to be disposed of were precisely what the Rift Clan's ancient teleportation array needed!

****
"Is such a large landmass as North Iceland completely depleted of its mineral resources?" Su Ming asked, puzzled, after all, it was a vast landmass with an area of ​​1.6 million square kilometers.

“It’s not depletion in that sense,” Qingling explained. “Most of the area in North Iceland is covered by thick glaciers, making prospecting for minerals much more difficult than the mining itself.” He unfolded a simple map. “The ice bed terrain is extremely complex and hides many subglacial lakes and underground rivers. Our speed of exploring and finding new veins in this environment cannot keep up with the speed of mining consumption.”

Therefore, what is being depleted is the proven reserves.

Su Ming understood the predicament. He picked up the simple map and examined it carefully, discovering that the glaciers covering North Iceland were generally over 100 meters thick, with some areas even reaching an astonishing 1,000 meters.

“If,” an idea suddenly popped into his head, “could I help you draw a detailed map of the glacier?”

"Do you mean... a topographic map of the surface?" Qingling asked. "That's not very useful. We need to understand what's beneath the ice."

"It refers to the detailed structure inside the glacier," Su Ming said. "Including the layers of ice, internal fissures, the location of subglacial lakes, and most importantly, the actual land topography and geological structure beneath the glacier, all of which can be mapped out."

Upon hearing this, Qingling's eyes lit up immediately. Even Chloe, who was organizing data nearby, looked up at Su Ming in surprise, "Can you really do this level of surveying?"

“Yes, you can,” Su Ming replied confidently.

****
After a simple lunch that day, the crew remaining on the Pansy delivered the materials Su Ming needed, as well as the Rainbow-3 UAV. Su Ming quickly activated the equipment. The Rainbow-3 UAV was then equipped with a P-band low-frequency ice-penetrating radar.

However, the target mining area was not near Dragon Cliff. The group, carrying the equipment, began their journey with the assistance of the Feathered Clan.

That evening, they arrived at the largest settlement of the Winged Tribe in North Iceland—the frozen fortress known as the "Polar City".

"Should we conduct reconnaissance in this area?" Su Ming asked.

“Yes,” Qingling explained, “Our settlement was originally built in an area with relatively abundant mineral veins. However, the shallow mineral deposits that are easy to find and mine on the surface have been basically exhausted, and the remaining mineral veins are buried deep under the ice layer.”

"Alright, let's start here!"

Under Su Ming's skillful operation, Rainbow-3 quickly took off. The weather was exceptionally clear, with not a cloud in the sky and a dense array of stars in the deep night sky, making it an ideal environment for drone operations.

Once the radar was powered on, a large amount of raw echo signals were quickly collected. Initially, the ice signals displayed on the radar screen were extremely chaotic, consisting of strong reflections from the surface and weak echoes from the interfaces between different layers within the ice.

These signals are not only cluttered, but their penetration depth also appears to be very limited.

Zijin looked at Su Ming with some doubt, "This scan result... doesn't seem to make any sense."

"Don't rush," Su Ming replied. "You've seen the power of synthetic aperture radar before."

He switched the radar's operating mode. The Rainbow-3 UAV also entered autopilot mode and began flying on an extremely precise circular trajectory.

During this movement, its radar antenna, through synthetic aperture technology, forms a virtual antenna array with an extremely large physical size.

As the signal was synthesized, the entire radar image became much clearer, and the layered structure of the ice began to appear, but the details were still not rich enough, and the terrain at the bottom of the ice bed remained blurry.

Zijin propped her head up with her hand, watching the screen with great interest, signaling Su Ming to continue his "performance".

Before long, the first mapping flight was completed, and Su Ming collected a massive amount of data covering hundreds of square kilometers in one go. The Rainbow UAV also returned to the starting point of the SAR mapping. Su Ming then piloted it to perform a second, identical circular flight.

"We need to fly it again to obtain the data required for interferometry," Su Ming explained.

“It’s phase difference, right!” Violet smiled, then her expression changed. “I just read the instruction manual. I can only say that I recognize the individual words.”

“...Actually, I’m not much better than you,” Su Ming said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)