Divine Favor and the Plane

On the White Triangle, the flight deck had been cleared, and even a small portion of the superstructure had been removed.

With little effort, the transfer of consumable parts for the locomotive was completed smoothly, Miao Xin immediately left the warehouse.

"The next teleportation will cause quite a stir on Earth; I have to complete it in one go," Su Ming said. The sea breeze was cold that night, and he breathed on it to warm his hands.

"Can you handle it?" Zijin asked with some concern.

"The equipment this time isn't structurally complex, it's just very large," Su Ming said. "My Magic Power has increased quite a bit."

"How about compressing it inside the crystal first?"

Su Ming hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head and refused, "It still needs to be assembled. It's easier to finish it in one go."

Qiluo stood to the side, holding a large plate of stir-fried garlic sprouts and smoked meat, and used a large spoon to shovel the meat into her mouth.

"You really don't let anyone eat a single piece of meat for free!" Qiluo revealed her unicorn form, raised her head and poured half a plate into her mouth, chewed it up and swallowed it, revealing a satisfied expression.

Several deep teeth marks were left on the plate.

"Phew!" She burped. "Too much overload isn't good. I'll share some of the workload for you."

"This can work?" Zijin was surprised. There was still a considerable gap between her and Su Ming to bridge before they could achieve this.

"I am a magical auspicious beast!" the unicorn said proudly. "Of course, the conditions are actually quite strict, but who can blame me when Su Ming is a pure white soul!"

Qiluo's long horns lit up, and a green and gold halo appeared simultaneously beneath her and Su Ming's feet.

"Moon's Offering!"

"Alright," said the unicorn. "Let's begin!"

"[Miao Xin?] "Su Ming asked.

I am in position.

The circular plaza at the Da'an North Locomotive Storage Base.

The Little Spiky Head stepped to the center, Miao Xin dispelled the fusion, retreating in her ghost form.

Su Ming closed his eyes and connected with the Little Spiky Head in a deep connection. Time and space shifted, and when he opened his eyes again, he was on the red floor tiles. The night sky was clear, full of stars, and the surroundings were solemn and silent.

Su Ming bowed deeply, "I apologize for disturbing you all."

He stretched out his hand, and a nested magic array unfolded. One of Su Ming's eyes reflected a sea of runes, while the other reflected a large number of mechanical structures.

Following Miao Xin's markings, Su Ming connected to more than a dozen steam locomotives and selected the best ones.

"Magic Array - Summoning of All Things!"

On the White Triangle, the rune array around Su Ming suddenly trembled violently, rippling with countless waves, and the surrounding space distorted.

Zijin was initially shocked by Su Ming's rapid progress, but frowned upon seeing this unusual phenomenon.

Su Ming was about to stop what he was doing when the scholar stopped him.

"Don't stop, keep going!" She materialized the Divine Favor Scepter in mid-air. "I roughly know what's going on, I'll handle it!"

Centered on the Zijin, a mottled, colorful field suddenly unfolded, and the trembling runes quieted down.

Su Ming immediately felt much less pressure and quickly moved on to the next stage of the spell.

Mapping, recombination!

Starlight connects, and coal dust and steam travel across time and space, arriving from afar.

Earth, the storage base. On the display plaza, a large number of components disintegrated, and metal fragments clattered and flowed across the ground, disappearing into the distance amidst silent cheers.

****

With a series of muffled thuds, a huge black machine appeared on the flight deck, and the tail of the White Triangle began to sink, only stopping after a dozen seconds, before slowly rising again.

Zijin dismissed the Divine Favor Scepter and fell from the sky, only to be caught by a unicorn that flew up and caught her.

"Heh, don't you only like people who are pure white?" Zijin whispered, lying on Qiluo's back.

"VIP Gold Members have special privileges!" The unicorn transformed into a little girl, swept the scholar up in her arms, and landed back on the deck, setting her down.

Su Ming was actually in better condition, only slightly dizzy. He declined Hansite's offer of help and went forward to check on Zijin's condition.

"What just happened?" he asked.

"The laws of the plane," Zijin explained, "Your summoning has provoked tremendous resistance from the will of the plane."

"I remember you said last time that planes have no will?" Su Ming asked.

"Actually, there is something, but it's very vague," Zijin replied. "The key question is, what kind of exaggerated thing did you summon?"

"A steam locomotive," Su Ming said. He added that everything was fine when he summoned the steam boiler earlier.

"Is this such a big reaction just because it's upgraded to coal as fuel and can travel on land?"

Zijin suddenly turned around and looked at the two huge locomotives. "You mean, they can tow the White Bone Fortress to the Dome Mountains?"

"Yes," Su Ming replied, "In our world, we call this a train."

"Heh, a monster that can carry thousands of tons and travel tens of thousands of kilometers." Zijin glared at him. "You summon something that can redefine an era, and you think the will of a plane is making a mountain out of a molehill?"

Su Ming's eyes darted away. "So what just happened?"

"Divine Favor is the will of this plane," Zijin affirmed. "The so-called divine grace is this plane's vague self-protective instinct. I've always doubted this, but today it's been confirmed."

"Hmm, so you just calmed it down as its spokesperson?" Qiluo realized.

"Almost."

The three then fell into deep thought.

After a long pause, Su Ming spoke first, "So, during the Battle of Clear Spring Reef, it was the will of the plane that locked onto Yexiya?"

At that moment, the beam attack technique "Six-Pointed Star - Divine Decree" mysteriously reversed its direction, turning the two sides, who were originally at peace, into a life-or-death battle.

"Back on Snail Island, the Divine Favor weapon, which is supposed to be non-lethal, still managed to kill Yexiya." Zijin looked at the scepter in her hand.

From the Battle of Cui'an Sea Cliff onward, the Divine Favor weapons did not kill anyone; the will of the plane had no intention of killing the beings under its control.

Yexiya was the only exception.

"In other words, Yexiya, like Su Ming, also incurred the wrath of the plane's will," Qiluo said.

"You don't have to be so eloquent," Su Ming said, displeased.

"The difference is huge. The will of the plane only hindered Su Ming, but it put Yexiya to death," Zijin corrected. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to calm down just now."

"Then the question arises: what exactly did Yexiya do?" Su Ming murmured.

Miss Unicorn suddenly perked up, pointing a finger. "The root of the Divine Favor's anomaly lies with Yexiya, the god himself is fine! And Yexiya is already dead. Ta-da! Guardian Beast mission complete! If I get tired of playing with you guys, I can finally go off and have some fun!"

As she spoke, she even hummed a tune.

"I have good news for you." Su Ming patted Qiluo on the shoulder, "Yexiya belongs to the Truth Cult of the Plundering Clock. Judging from the seized materials, everything she did was assigned by the organization!"

"The sacred beast, yearning for freedom, won't be fooled!" Qiluo tilted her head, "You're a liar!"

Su Ming pulled her into the library, turned her head to face the neatly organized documents on the Plundering Clock, and said, "Miss Saint Unicorn, the documents are all here. The evidence is irrefutable! Take your time checking them."

****

On the deck, the scholar, who had regained some strength, was already using her bone cane to tap and tinker with the engine.

"What a heavy lump of iron." Zijin felt sorry for her bone staff, so she switched to the Divine Favor Scepter. She pointed to the lower part of the motorcycle, which was empty. "You say it's a motorcycle, but where are the wheels?"

"I didn't send it to save trouble," Su Ming replied. "We're going to the snowfields, and the original wheels definitely won't work."

Su Ming reached out, and a stack of papers flew over, then transformed into blueprints for a steam locomotive in the light of the Summoning of All Things spell, which he handed to the girl.

"This thing has a curb weight of 168 tons, and it's designed to run on steel tracks on Earth."

"It's really too heavy. It'll break through the snow and sink deep into the mud, unable to move." Zijin unfolded the drawings, which rustled in the evening breeze.

"I've already hired a structural engineering studio on Earth to redesign it for weight reduction and modernize it," Su Ming said, walking up to the motorcycle. "But that's definitely not enough; our magical modifications need to begin!"

They had been planning this for several days.

"I'm such a workaholic." Zijin rubbed her forehead, her fingers brushing against a few strands of her light brown hair. She looked at herself in the light. "I haven't washed my hair in three days. I was too exhausted just now, I'll rest tonight."

"I need to sleep too." Su Ming was still dizzy. "Once we receive this group of scholars, it should alleviate our manpower shortage."

"Of course. By the way, what's our new name this time?"

"Too lazy to come up with a name," Su Ming replied. "Let's just use the name that came with this motorcycle."

Zijin glanced back and saw the words "Youth Civilization" printed below a bronze plaque shaped like a red flag on the front of the motorcycle.

****

Su Ming took a shower and dried his hair. As he was getting ready for bed, he remembered that Zijin had just used her domain continuously, so she probably wouldn't be able to use magic to dry her hair as usual.

[Zijin, do you need a hairdryer?] he texted. [--Okay, get it for me.]

Su Ming took the hairdryer and walked next door, gently closing the door behind him.

[Put it on the bed.]

Su Ming went in and found Zijin still taking a shower in the bathroom.

I left it here.

"Um."

Su Ming could tell from her voice that she sounded noticeably more tired than before. She probably had been briefly excited about the motorcycle, and now the aftereffects were showing.

"No rush, I'll wait for you a while." Su Ming there was a difference between overdrawing his domain and overdrawing his Magic Power power. Su Ming's Magic Power would slowly recover over time, and his condition would only improve; while Zijin's condition would continue to decline over time due to her low mental strength.

A few minutes later, Zijin came out of the bathroom. She had changed into a nightgown, and her wet hair was hanging down her back, barely dried.

She climbed straight into bed, closed her eyes, and said, "Could you please blow on it for me?"

Su Ming turned on the hairdryer and started drying her hair. After a while, he found that the girl had fallen asleep.

Turning down the fan, Su Ming patiently dried Zijin's hair. Her long, light brown hair shimmered softly under the light, exuding the refreshing scent of mint shampoo. He recalled their first encounter; the girl was unconscious and looked ill, and the two of them were surrounded by enemies at sea.

Several months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Su Ming covered the girl with a blanket, turned off the light, and left the room.

****

The following morning, when the White Triangle approached the trade route between Red Luo Port on the Eastern Continent and Moon Bay Port on the Northern Continent, at approximately 150 kilometers, Hansite brought the White Triangle to a stop.

The shipping lanes ahead are densely packed with ships, so they must wait until nightfall to cross. For the rest of the day, he will use radar guidance to skillfully avoid nearby merchant ships and conceal his movements.

Su Ming and Zijin both got up late today and will continue to focus on the work of the Youth Civilization, so these tasks have been handed over to Hansite.

Ever since the unicorn learned that the matter of Divine Favor involved a large cult, the entire beast has been shattered, and it only eats about 80% full for breakfast.

Hansite brought over a plate of fried dumplings. "Miss Holy Beast, you still have a long journey ahead, eat more."

Qiluo reluctantly accepted them and popped them into her mouth five at a time.

However, the merchant ship's departure was delayed somewhat, presumably due to a last-minute additional order. It wasn't until noon that Hansite received a message saying that the small merchant ship, the Flounder, had set sail at a speed of about 10 knots from Red Luo Port along the trade route to the Northern Continent.

The unicorn took a bag containing fried buns, tied it together with a bag of gold coins, and carried it on its back, ready to set off.

"Miss Sacred Beast, how about we leave tomorrow morning? That way we can avoid flying a bit further," Hansite said.

Qiluo shook her head. "I'll go now, arriving at night so I'll be seen as little as possible."

She spread her wings and plunged into the vast sea and sky, flying diagonally northeastward.

As dusk fell, the unicorn caught a glimpse of sails appearing in her field of vision. However, judging from the time, the ship she saw could not possibly be the Flounder. She turned right and flew towards Red Luo Port along the parallel trade route.

It wasn't until late at night that Qiluo calculated the distance and switched to direct airspace above the trade route. Sure enough, less than half an hour later, she saw a set of red and yellow signal lights together.

This was the color of the ship's lights that she had specifically instructed the Chamber of Commerce to use.

The unicorn approached her target and activated her night vision spell. She confirmed she had the right ship by checking the name on the side of the vessel before landing on its deck.

The first mate on night watch of the Flounder heard the noise and rushed over to investigate. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was a unicorn. "Beautiful divine beast, may I ask what brings you to our humble ship?"

Qiluo transformed into human form, this time as a young girl.

She coughed lightly and adjusted her voice to sound more mature, "I've been entrusted by the cargo owner to inform your ship of the change of pick-up location."

"Ah, we don't need to go to the Cold Mountain Kingdom anymore?" The first mate was surprised. "Where do we need to send the goods?"

"Very close. It's a day's voyage north from here, and the delivery will be made right there at sea."

The first mate hurriedly woke up the captain, who verified the transaction contract brought by Qiluo and confirmed the identity of the transactor.

Qiluo tossed a bag of gold coins onto the deck with a thud. "The promised payment and shipping costs will not be reduced. Please change course immediately."

The captain immediately nodded and quickly told the first mate to wake up the resting sailors, while he put away the gold coins. Everyone rushed onto the deck and began to work together to adjust the sails and turn the cargo ship around.

Qiluo found the interior of the Flounder to be cramped, so she didn't go inside. She found a quiet corner at the stern and lay down to rest.