Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 51 Preparations for War Against Sea Monsters

The other party will definitely be wary of this, so you need to be skillful to scam as much as possible.

The other person is a businessman, after all; we should respect their profession.

As Su Ming pondered, he picked up the painting of the sea monster. He realized he was holding it upside down and was about to turn it over when his brow furrowed. He carefully examined the patterns on the tentacles and suddenly stood up.

"Purple Violet, look at this!"

Zijin leaned closer and saw the paintings being flipped up and down. "What's wrong?"

Su Ming pointed to a pattern on one of the tentacles, "This is the number 7!"

The scholar, who already recognized Arabic numerals, looked at them hesitantly. "They look somewhat similar, but with so many lines—"

“Those are interference lines,” Su Ming explained. It's normal that Zi Jin, having never experienced image CAPTCHAs on Earth, couldn't see them. He continued, pointing to another pattern, “This is a 2, this is a 6.”

Violet began to study the patterns on the tentacles, carefully eliminating the interference lines before she could recognize them.

The scholar picked up several other paintings, which came from different survivors and were painted by different artists, but all of them contained hidden Arabic numerals.

One instance could be a coincidence, but so many instances definitely indicate a problem!

"The sea monster's head is hidden in the sea, and its tentacles reach upwards to attack ships." Su Ming laid all the paintings upside down on the table. "Turn the paintings over so that the sea monster is facing the right way."

“I understand the direction of numbers. But why are numbers from Earth appearing on it?” Violet said. “I have studied all languages, and this way of writing does not exist in this world.”

This is strange, Su Ming thought carefully.

He'd taken some time to look through some materials these past few days, but the scholars' libraries didn't have many books on humanities. The ancient legends of other worlds did indeed have many elements of Earth's culture, but they were all extremely ancient.

It is possible that they share a common origin, but this likely occurred more than three thousand years ago.

Therefore, it's normal that there are no Arabic numerals here. They only originated in India in the 5th century AD and were popularized by the Arabs in the 12th century. Any later, and it would be within the scope of modern history.

Su Ming thought for a while, "Since the sea monster is related to Earth, I think we should investigate it. We might find more clues about space."

Information about space is invaluable in any way, the scholar agreed, “Let’s study how to do it.”

The two began to re-examine the materials Charles had brought, but no longer with the attitude of mere spectators.

"What methods does Earth's technology have to deal with sea monsters?" Zijin asked.

“We have the technology to detect underwater targets.” Su Ming replied, while one eye had already switched to Xiao Citou’s side, using his phone to search for sonar-related information, but the results were far from ideal. “But the civilian sonar available for purchase is all for fishing, and its detection range is far from sufficient.”

Through their usual conversations, Zi Jin had already gained some understanding of the social situation on Su Ming's side. "So you need military supplies?"

“Yes, but that would completely change the difficulty of acquiring them,” Su Ming said, his head throbbing. “Then there’s the issue of ship speed. According to combat records, the sea monster has a burst speed exceeding 20 knots—the Zhiyuan can’t handle that.” “That means to track them, our propulsion system must be upgraded,” Zi Jin pondered. “For example, as you mentioned, adding two more steam engines?”

“It’s not just about the power, but also the strength of the ship’s hull,” Su Ming said, then asked her, “If we can find the sea monster and catch up with it, and it wraps its tentacles around us—can we use magic to break free in time?”

Zi Jin tapped her fingertips lightly on the table, simulating the scenario in her mind. "According to the combat records, water magic is ineffective against this sea monster, earth magic is very ineffective, and fire magic is effective, but it is not suitable for the marine environment. The shattering series of light magic is not limited by the battlefield, but it has also been proven to be ineffective."

"That leaves only wind-based cutting and dark-based corrosion," Su Ming said.

"The lack of explosive growth in these two systems will make it difficult to get rid of in a short period of time."

"What about the 'Six-Pointed Star - Divine Decree'?"

“That won’t work either,” Violet explained. “‘Hexagonal Divine Decree’ is a wide-area open spell. When I cast it, I use the power of the Divine Favor Scepter to resonate with the surrounding magical elements to attack—so the target must be outside this area.”

"Does that mean we have problems with both defense and attack against sea monsters?"

“It’s a big problem. Conventional attacks can’t penetrate it, and penetrating damage is hard to hit vitals. Its head is still hidden underwater.” Violet pondered, “Let’s take it one step at a time. Let me think about what solutions we can find with magic.”

"OK, I'll think of a solution to the problem with the ship."

The two men reached out and bumped fists together.

****
When the scout ship Jenny Four-Eyed was destroyed earlier, Violet salvaged its rune tower.

She has now re-erected the tower behind the bridge of the Zhiyuan and begun connecting the magic circuits. Besides the amplification array for detecting spells, it also contains a complete communication crystal and control circuits, which can be reset to function.

Su Ming also started working, trying to contact other secondhand ship dealers, but he couldn't find a suitable target.

The businessman who sold the secondhand ship had also contacted them. He vehemently denied that it was a wrecked ship, insisting there was absolutely no problem, and told Su Ming to come and see for himself in a few days if he didn't believe him.

Miao Xin remained at the shipyard, lingering there. She watched as the businessman hired people to refurbish the ship, intending to make it appear as if it were in near-new condition for personal use. From their conversation, Miao Xin learned that the businessman was a middleman who had already bought the ship at scrap metal prices.

"The drive shaft is bent, the gearbox is severely worn, the steam engine cylinders are almost falling apart, and the boiler is leaking all sorts of things," Su Ming lamented. "This is a completely battle-damaged version!"

He lost the desire to communicate with the other party and decided to turn the ship into a complete wreck to prevent unscrupulous merchants from ripping him off.

If two steam turbines are summoned directly, there will be a significant shortage of materials on the Zhiyuan. The large truck that traveled with Su Ming and the scrap metal it towed have already used up nearly half of them.

Zi Jin took some time to study the spell of "Summoning All Things". As a titled scholar, she quickly provided Su Ming with several transformation directions.

One method, called segmented processing, replaces the synchronous material reconstruction with a virtual process, generating item concepts within a magic crystal. When sufficient materials are available, the concept of "material order" sealed within the magic crystal is then expanded and reconstructed.

Su Ming practiced several times and found that the difficulty was only in dual casting, which was within his control.

(End of this chapter)