The Robbery of the Ignorant

The chaotic rescue operation continued, with people constantly being rescued and brought to the surface.

Before long, night fell, and Su Ming lit a lamp to illuminate his path. He noticed the book the unicorn had left on the table; its cover was dirty, and the spine bore the title "Colorful Words."

Su Ming took the book and found that the corners were badly worn, and the pages were frayed from frequent use. He opened the book; it was a novel.

Su Ming hadn't read any fantasy novels yet, and since he was getting a bit tired of studying, he started reading.

He soon regretted it. The novel's writing was beautiful, even overly ornate, but the plot was utterly boring. It told the story of a farmer in a mountain village who dug up light green stones, orange-brown earthenware pots, and pearl-white knives from the soil. Biting crimson mosquitoes flew in the grass, and pale yellow fish swam in the river. The novel's world was vibrant and colorful.

Su Ming skipped to the next chapter, which was the next day, and the farmers were still tilling the land. The text was still filled with extensive descriptions of scenery.

The author seems to want to cram every color into the reader's eyes.

Su Ming frowned, flipping through more than a dozen pages, only to find the content almost identical—a farmer tilling the land, digging things up, followed by lengthy descriptions of color. Su Ming finally couldn't resist and turned directly to the last page. The farmer had grown seven different colored fruits and vegetables, piled up in the shape of Rainbow, and the story ended there.

What the hell is this?!

Su Ming closed the book. He'd rather do ten rounds of reading comprehension exercises from Earth than read this.

Fletcher came over and informed him that the search and rescue operation was over, three people had died, and the rest of the miners had been rescued.

Su Ming nodded and began planning the dismantling of the water pumps, but this would require the use of zombie accounts. The mine still had some cleanup work to finish, so he decided to wait until dawn to begin.

"Mr. Fletcher, clear this area by tomorrow morning. We need to remove the water pumps."

"Oh, okay, okay!" Fletcher readily agreed.

The mage Fyodor had already left, but before leaving, he glanced at Su Ming's LED lights for a while.

The unicorn, tired from playing in the sea, dragged a large bag of shellfish back. She lay down on the haystack next to Su Ming and fell asleep almost immediately.

Su Ming brought a blanket and covered her with it. Although she was in her true form while asleep, the unicorn's talent, "Ignore Spell," allowed her to...

She made ordinary people ignore her.

Su Ming originally thought he would just wait for dawn, but unexpectedly the unicorn woke up in the middle of the night.

"Su Ming, it's your turn to rest," Qiluo said to him. "I can handle the guard duty; the three of you combined aren't as good as me!"

After spending a few days with the unicorn, Su Ming had a general understanding of its personality. It was somewhat carefree, but actually quite reliable.

For example, a few days ago, in order to save Beianqi, she flew thousands of kilometers alone. This is something that many sea creatures cannot do, but she, a land creature whose forte is not flying, did it.

Although they stopped at sea on various ships along the way, their ability to coordinate and allocate resources was quite remarkable.

Su Ming picked up "Colorful Wording" and asked, "You like reading this kind of thing?"

Qiluo shook her head vigorously, "I just found it. I heard this book is widely circulated among the followers of the Light Cult, so I flipped through it out of curiosity—but I didn't expect it to be so incredibly boring!"

Thinking about how there are many famous works on Earth that Su Ming himself finds bland and uninteresting, he figured this was normal; perhaps it was just a matter of taste.

Su Ming put down his book and lay down on the table to rest.

****

When Su Ming opened his eyes, he found himself on a recliner in the White Triangle workshop. He looked out the window and saw that it was already early morning, with the faint light just appearing on the horizon.

He stepped off the deck and, sure enough, saw Zijin. Only she could have moved him this far without waking him.

It's not about manipulation techniques, but rather that they are so familiar with each other's mental energy that contact doesn't trigger any stress or alertness.

"Good morning!" Su Ming said.

"Good morning." Zijin seemed to be in a much better mood. She was directing her skeleton servants to unpack the large bag of shellfish that Qiluo had collected. "There are a lot of oysters. It's been years since I've had oyster sashimi—how about we have this for breakfast?"

Eating raw seafood so early in the morning clearly goes against Su Ming's eating habits. But there's no need to worry too much; fresh oysters are among the world's top delicacies, so it's always good to try them.

Beianqi returned from the shore, carrying a comb and a cloth bag, with white bristles peeking out from the bag's opening.

"Wow, so many sea lychees!" she exclaimed with delight as she saw the seafood being cleaned. "I'll go prepare the seasonings."

"What would you like to eat for your main course?" Su Ming asked Zijin.

"How about mashed potatoes? I've been eating too much pasta lately."

"Good."

Su Ming steamed a large pot of potatoes, then realized that Zijin's suggestion was very thoughtful. Even with Qiluo's appetite, it would only require mixing one more bowl, which was very convenient.

The group quickly prepared breakfast and invited the unicorn over to eat together.

Zijin had already used magic to shuck all the oysters. Su Ming dipped them in the sauce prepared by Beianqi, put them in his mouth, and found them delicate, smooth, sweet, and plump, without the slightest fishy smell.

It truly lives up to its nickname, sea lychee.

Qiluo must have already eaten her fill in the sea, as she was only eyeing the mashed potatoes and showing them off. She had already finished everything before the others even started.

Fortunately, Su Ming had anticipated this and brought out another bowl.

"Miss Qiluo, we'll be dismantling the equipment in a bit, and we'll need you to keep watch," Su Ming said to her.

"Hmm, no problem," Qiluo replied, scooping away half of the mashed potatoes with a large spoon.

After breakfast, everyone proceeded step by step. The first step was to dismantle the water pump's underwater anchorage, but just as Zijin was about to summon the zombies, Qiluo signaled everyone to stop.

[A large crowd gathered around.] She landed from the air and transformed into human form.

[This is really not surprising at all.] Su Ming sighed. [Should we just go straight to it or follow the proper procedures?]

"I'll go through the motions with them, and retaliate only if they take action," said Beianqi. "Maintaining a silver gleam in our camp is still necessary for someone like me who operates in the business world."

Su Ming took out his notebook, lit up a rune, and wrote, "[Zijin, there were a few parts I didn't understand last night.]"

[You asked.]

From the woods beside the mine emerged the mine owner, Fletcher, and several of his entourage.

"Mr. Fletcher, I remember being instructed to keep the area clear while we're working," Beianqi asked, her voice trembling with suppressed anger.

"Miss Beianqi, could we perhaps discuss not dismantling this equipment?" Fletcher approached her with a fawning expression.

"Oh? You want to keep it and use it?" Beianqi sneered. "You're dreaming. You can't afford this equipment."

"We can sell the profits from the coal mine; the percentage is negotiable!" Fletcher said. "As long as we have this equipment..."

Coal can be mined from the seabed!

Beianqi found a chair and sat down, arms crossed. "See these wires? They're connected to the ship's activation array. Last night, it consumed the equivalent of several thousand gold coins' worth of magic crystals!"

Fletcher's mouth dropped open. Magic crystals worth thousands of gold coins—that was far more valuable than mined coal.

Reason once again suppressed his greed, Fletcher calmed down. He wasn't stupid to become a mine owner; if such equipment were truly fast and cheap, it would have been widely adopted in the mining industry long ago.

Moreover, Beianqi's calmness made him realize that the girl in front of him was fearless.

He gave an awkward smile. "Well, well, excuse me, gentlemen." He waved his hand, signaling the people hiding in the woods to disperse, and then turned and left.

[They're too sensible, it'll only bring them trouble.] Beianqi with a hint of regret.

"[Who told you to act so convincingly, Miss Beianqi?]" Su Ming laughed.

"Wait!" Just as the group was about to leave, the mage Fyodor, dressed in a flamboyant robe, walked out. He held his head high, walked up to the four of them, and glanced down at Beianqi.

"This equipment operates without any Magic Power fluctuations, so there's no possibility of crystal consumption!"

"Oh?" The girl glanced at him warily. "So what do you want?"

"I need to board the ship and see for myself what you've said! Including those strange lighting devices you had last night," Fyodor said, extending his hand as a small ball of Magic Power gathered in his palm. "I expect you to take a mage's request seriously!"

What if I refuse?

"You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences!" Fyodor roared, raising his hands. "Great water god, punish the sinners before you!"

An ice blade gathered above his head and then shot towards Beianqi.

The four of them watched with amusement, seeing the ice blade blast Beianqi squarely. The girl was thrown over and rolled several meters before coming to a stop.

As the dust settled, Beianqi sat on the ground, covered in grime, staring blankly at the other three. "You... you just watched me get beaten up!"

Beianqi's mental damage has not healed, and she is unable to perform magic.

The three of them looked at each other.

"It's not my place to do the dirty work!" Qiluo took a step back. "I'm a planter!"

"Um, if I lift the cloak of forbidden magic, wouldn't my identity be exposed?" Su Ming explained.

"You can use a shotgun!" Beianqi retorted angrily.

Su Ming pointed to a sign at the entrance of the mine, which read, "Open flames are prohibited in the production area."

"The regulations on safe production must be followed." Su Ming said confidently.

"I'm sorry, it's been so long since I've dealt with such Low Rank that I didn't even realize it was magic," Zijin apologized earnestly.

Ignored, Fyodor grew even angrier. He raised his hands again, "Free spirit of the wind, tear—"

"How about I transform into my real form and use my hooves to carry it?" Qiluo suggested.

The scholar suddenly waved her hand, and the mage flew out, crashing into the stone wall beside the mine and flattening himself.

"I used too much force." The girl watched as the mage breathed his last, sliding down the stone wall and falling softly to the ground. "After my body recovered, my control wasn't as refined."

"More laundry." Beianqi grumbled as she got up, brushing the dust off her clothes. She glanced at Ran Fletcher. "What, is something else?"

Fletcher shook his head frantically and scrambled away, the sounds of people running frantically fading into the distance echoing from the surrounding woods.

****

After removing the water pumps, Beianqi informed Fletcher to resume production. Fletcher didn't dare to delay and quickly arranged for people to start repairing the roads in preparation for transporting coal out.

Then he carefully walked up to the Zijin.

"Sir, we can transport all the coal out in four days, no more than three."

Zijin nodded, indicating that he could leave.

"My lord, well, I can tell you're experts in alchemy," Fletcher said, forcing a smile. "I have some mineral collections that I'd like to offer you."

Zijin showed some interest. "What kind of collection?"

"These are all rare or unfamiliar ores found in the mines over the years," Fletcher explained.

These items are difficult to categorize and inconvenient to sell, but alchemists often come to Taobao, and they can make some money from them.

"I'll go too," said Beianqi. "The things in his warehouse are probably not valuable, but he often comes across hard-to-find materials."

Zijin nodded and left with her.

"Hmm, this mine owner is probably afraid we'll just kill him like we did with Fyodor," Qiluo said.

"He reined in his horse in time; his crime doesn't warrant death," Su Ming said.

This mining island is so desolate; it's a pitiful place for someone who runs a real business.

Qiluo lay down on the haystack again. "Su Ming, I'm going to sleep for a while. Wake me up when it's time to eat."

"Hey, we still haven't figured out the ingredients for lunch. Aren't you going to go fishing for them?"

It's rare to find such a rich variety of aquatic products in this area, and the seafood is of decent quality. Su Ming wanted to eat there a few more times.

"Let's go again this afternoon. You can make sausages for lunch!"

This means the consumption of ten pounds of sausages, Su Ming sighed. But it's not surprising; on Earth, only the wealthy can afford to keep racehorses. This unicorn is already considered easy to please, especially since she's quite capable.

Beianqi and Zijin returned quickly, followed by a group of workers pushing more than a dozen carts.

"What a bountiful harvest!" Su Ming greeted the two.

"It's alright," said Beianqi.

"We've found something good," Zijin said to Su Ming. "It should solve a problem that's been bothering us."

"What's bothering you?" Su Ming asked.

Zijin picked up a piece of amethyst and tossed it to Su Ming. The crystal wasn't very pure, containing a lot of impurities, but it still reflected a beautiful purple light in the sunlight.

"The amethyst here isn't of good quality, but there's a lot of it," Zijin replied. "I disassembled the UFO's armor fragments..."

It is inlaid with this material.

"Can amethyst block the fluctuations of the undead?" Su Ming asked in surprise.

While the magic-forbidden cloak can solve the problem, it comes at the cost of suppressed power.

"No, the designers of the UFO only used it as an indicator. It can indeed absorb undead energy and convert it into fluorescence, but the efficiency is very low."

Su Ming thought for a moment, "You mean it can produce an effect, but it needs to be piled up very thickly?"

"That's right. Use treated amethyst to build the wall, 30 centimeters thick will suffice."

"Thirty centimeters thick," Su Ming was somewhat speechless. This meant nothing to him and Zijin; who could wear thirty centimeters of armor? Perhaps they could build a small refuge hut, but the White Bone Fortress itself also had undead fluctuations.

No, it actually works! Su Ming realized. The undead fluctuations of the White Bone Fortress mostly originated from Zijin's Bone Dragon Form. If they could shield the bone dragon, and the scholar lady wore the magic-forbidden cloaks, while they wouldn't be 100% hidden, the detection range would definitely be greatly reduced!

"That's really good stuff!" he exclaimed happily. "Fletcher can pack lighter now."

"How did you know I would deal with him?" Zijin asked.

"Do you think I don't know your vengeful nature?" Su Ming thought to himself. Although Fletcher had stopped himself from courting death, and the Apprentice mage Fyodor's attack wasn't at his behest, this man had still harbored some intentions.

Belladonna will definitely not let this go so easily.