Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 86 Foodies on the Tip of Their Tongue
"Aren't these people afraid of sea monsters?" Su Ming asked curiously.

“After learning that the sea monster is actually a zombie, the Federation is no longer as helpless as before,” Siwo explained. “Although we lack necromancers to cast anti-zombie spells, other types of mages also have spells that can affect zombies, greatly improving our ability to protect ourselves.”

"They got off too cheaply." Violet regretted selling the sea monster analysis report for 20,000 gold coins.

The price was actually quite high, even bordering on extortion, but the problem was that Su Ming had promised to pay after receiving the goods. Sure enough, once the group of merchants received and verified the research report, they immediately forgot all about payment.

"It's alright, some debts can make the debtor regret it." With the material information of MK71 in hand, Su Ming was full of confidence.

“The weakness of zombies lies in their mental resistance, even after modifications,” Violet said. “They can be countered with mental magic.”

"But the sea monster is so big, what kind of mental magic could work on it?" Siwo asked.

The scholar handed Siwo a piece of paper with a large water-based spell on it. "My new spell, 'Cradle of the Sea'."

The old elf glanced at it, then tried simulating the release. "The threshold is a bit high. It uses the turbulence of the seawater to amplify the effect and hypnotize the sea monster—is this spell modified from your Cradle spell?"

"Cradle technique? Is it to relax and lull the recipient to sleep?" Su Ming asked. "I didn't expect you, Zi Jin, to be researching this."

“I was peeling lychees,” Zijin replied.

"No, wait a minute, aren't we communicating in Common Language?" Su Ming asked, puzzled. "Why do we need a cradle spell to peel lychees? And why do we need magic to peel lychees?"

“The lychee she was talking about is a type of oyster, commonly known as sea lychee because it’s sweet and delicious when eaten raw,” Xiwo explained. “The shell of this thing is indeed very difficult to get rid of; prying it with a knife or roasting it over a fire doesn’t work well, and the more you stimulate it, the tighter it becomes. Before the invention of the cradle technique, everyone used a hammer to smash it.”

"Cradle technique, hatching?"

“We can relax the oysters, and then,” Siwo gestured with a knife, “it’s making me want to eat some now. Should we have them bring some with them next time we resupply?”

“This isn’t the place of origin,” said Zijin. “It won’t taste good if it’s not fresh.”

“If we’re talking about specialties from the Central Ocean,” Siwo thought for a moment, “how about conch sashimi! The meat is sweet and chewy, paired with chilled plum juice…”

"This sounds good!" Su Ming's mouth watered as well. He hadn't tasted any real otherworldly delicacies since he came to this world.

Siwo flipped open a marine map. "This thing likes to live in waters around 100 meters deep—there's a Clear Spring Reef nearby, shall we check it out when we pass by?"

"Row!"

Su Ming adjusted the course of the White Triangle, directing the route toward the islands and reefs.

Siwo deduced the "Cradle of the Sea" and successfully used it to hypnotize several approaching sharks.

“If we could lower the spellcasting threshold of ‘Cradle of the Sea,’ we could sell it to the Federation,” Siwo suggested. “Charging them 10,000 gold coins for research and development at this time wouldn’t be unreasonable.”

“Grandpa Siwo, take a look at the third stage. I’ve used the ocean acoustics knowledge I recently learned from you. The dynamic parameters need to be modified according to the sound speed curves at different depths,” Violet said. “Spellcasters who don’t understand this can’t use it.”

It was only then that Sivor noticed this detail. The calculation of ocean sound speed was ingrained in his instincts, but not for other spellcasters. He assessed the difficulty, "Forget it, spellcasters other than us have no hope of learning it." Although digging for conch shells at Clear Spring Reef was a bit unprofessional, as they approached the reef, the White Triangle's sonar unexpectedly picked up a signal from a sea monster.

Because it is close to a reef, the seabed in this area is rising significantly. The towed sonar has already been pulled up from the deep sea and is currently operating at a depth of about 20 meters.

The target was captured by sonar in active mode because this sea monster was active in the shallow waters near the islands and reefs, where there were no conditions for sound to converge. It also swam very slowly and made very little noise.

“Eighty meters in length, judging from its size, it belongs to the second batch.” Su Ming read the sonar data.

“There’s plenty of food in the island and reef area, so it must have come here to forage. This one is still growing,” Siwo judged.

Su Ming reduced the propeller speed, slowed down, and approached, while simultaneously surveying the surrounding terrain. Most of Qingquan Reef was underwater, with only a small portion exposed at low tide; it had no habitable value. Instead, ships couldn't get too close, lest they run aground.

Su Ming carefully marked the area of ​​the shallow waters that had been discovered on the nautical chart to prevent the White Triangle from running aground.

"What are we going to do about this?" Zi Jin looked at the nautical chart marked by Su Ming. The sea monster was in a bay in the middle of Qingquan Reef, surrounded by a series of shallow shoals with a depth of only five or six meters.

“Let’s leave the boat where it is. Shall I go check it out with Zijin?” Siwo suggested. “The target is in water a hundred meters deep. Is there any way to do that?”

“I’ve already adjusted the Reverse Zombification Technique; it can now penetrate a ten-meter layer of water,” Zijin replied.

“That’s still far from enough.” Siwo continued to consider strategies. “Like before, should we throw livestock into the sea to lure it to the surface?”

The White Triangle was still towing the decoy ship, which contained a number of pigs and half a ship of alchemical explosives.

The two looked at Su Ming.

“The White Triangle can continue to approach,” Su Ming said. “There’s a waterway from Qingquan Reef that leads into the bay.”

“That’s settled then,” Siwo said. “I’ll be in charge of listening. Violet, pay attention to the different parts of the waves; those are reefs.”

“Okay.” Violet picked up the binoculars.

Qingquan Reef is very large, stretching for more than ten kilometers. In the middle of the atoll is a bay with a depth of about 100 meters and an area of ​​about 10 square kilometers, which is rich in flora and fauna. The outer perimeter is surrounded by a shallow shoal that is almost circular.

It was lunchtime, but no one had time to prepare a meal. Violet had White Skull wash some fresh tomatoes, and also brought over some smoked meat, canned beans, and bread. Everyone ate while working, and the food wasn't too bad.

With the help of Violet's lookout, Su Ming maneuvered the White Triangle to penetrate another kilometer deeper into the bay of Qingquan Reef.

The White Triangle is now surrounded by shoals and reefs, with only a narrow channel, a little over ten meters deep, behind it. They are only a kilometer away from the sea monster; any closer and they can use magic to throw the live pig across.

Just as the three were about to begin their operation, the sonar suddenly detected another voiceprint. This target was hidden further inside the bay, also swimming slowly, and its size was similar to the previous one.

(End of this chapter)