The Landing of a Proper Ship

If I remember correctly, the church in this painting is the Saint Lan Cathedral, the main church of the Church of the God of Light. The statue floating beneath the dome is... "Hey!" he pointed to the thing soaking in the large pot and questioned the former saint, "Could this be the Heavenly Father of the Gospel?!"

Zijin glanced this way. "It really was something I picked up at the Saint Lan Cathedral when I left the Temple Academy. Too bad it was just a showpiece; all my hopes were dashed."

"Wait!" Su Ming wouldn't allow her to skip this easily. "Please explain in detail!"

[At that time, I was still Saint Ailisha, and my health deteriorated severely, forcing me to leave the temple.] Zijin replied Mind Synchronization.

Some information needs to be kept from others. [I thought this thing must contain many rare materials that could help with my treatment, so I came up with a plan...]

"I'm not asking about the details of the theft," Su Ming interrupted. "I'm asking why you said it was just for show?"

"The Heavenly Father of the Gospel can levitate without any Magic Power, producing holy water that blesses all beings and holy mist that uplifts the soul," Qiluo said. "It has also received divine inspiration, enabling it to answer questions for believers and spread the Gospel."

As Qiluo spoke, she examined the statue, even poking the hole in it, but there was no response. She tapped it and discovered that it was hollow inside. "This really doesn't look real!"

"When I stole it, I noticed it was suspended from the church dome by a thin, transparent rope," Zijin said. "I had a bad feeling about it then. After I got back, I studied it for a long time, but no matter what I did, I couldn't produce water or mist. I prayed to it and recited prayers, but there was no response."

"Could it be that it was originally 'floating' because of the rope?" Su Ming asked.

"The Heavenly Father of the Gospel is the temple's symbol. The Church of the God of Light invites celebrities from all walks of life to its grand events, including many top-tier experts. It's impossible to be deceived," Qiluo replied. "My mother took me to see it once. It truly can levitate without any magical power, and the water and holy mist it produces don't rely on magic either. Hmm, back then, the Saint Lan Cathedral hadn't been destroyed yet, and many of the paintings were genuine. It was amazing!"

Upon hearing that Saint Lan Cathedral had been destroyed, Su Ming reflexively looked at Zijin, who, as expected, turned her head away unnaturally.

Hansite offered a conjecture. "The true Heavenly Father of the Gospel is extremely precious, so the Temple of Light, when not holding grand events..."

"Just hang a fake one there to replace it?"

"That's certainly possible, and these alchemical creations also require regular maintenance," Su Ming pondered.

"I've analyzed it carefully. Almost all the runes on the statue are for aesthetic purposes and sound penetration; none of them involve water creation, spirit enhancement, or levitation," Zijin said.

"[Then why would the Pope write you a secret letter offering 300,000 gold coins to redeem it?]" Su Ming asked.

"I suspect I've been framed," the former saintess gritted her teeth. "It's probably some bastard who saw an opportunity, took the real item, and then pinned the blame on me!"

Stealing the goods was bad enough, but being framed was even worse; it was incredibly frustrating. To make matters worse Zijin didn't even know who to hold accountable.

[There's nothing we can do about it, there's no way to clear this up.] Su Ming also expressed his helplessness.

The unicorn lifted the statue and pressed it into the pickle jar, finding it quite beautiful. The entire jar was bathed in a sacred glow, elevating the quality of the pickles.

"This will be my personal pickling stone from now on!" she announced excitedly. "In a few days, please enjoy my Gospel pickled cucumbers!"

Everyone continued with their work, while Su Ming stood in front of the statue for a while. He compared it to the textbook cover, and it was indeed exactly the same as the statue in front of him, with meticulous attention to every detail.

The dripping water and diffused mist in the image look somewhat like a container filled with dry ice. However, the white vapor emitted by dry ice is carbon dioxide and has no invigorating effect.

Too high a concentration can even cause suffocation.

Su Ming put away the book, and as he turned around, a sudden thought popped into his mind—the air that made him feel refreshed wasn't empty. He glanced sideways at the statue on the pickle jar and murmured, "If it's something like that, then... it's truly astonishing!"

****

With the continuous arrival of spare parts, the reinforcement of the steam locomotive's power system was completed. After a successful test run and some minor adjustments, it finally started operating normally.

The White Triangle then began to dock. Zijin used magic to propel the ship into the mudflats, following the chosen tidal channel, and sailed along the remaining narrow waterways frozen over, soon arriving at a secluded bay.

Scholars smoothed the edges of the ice into gentle slopes, and Su Ming also flattened the bottom of the White Triangle before it was rammed. Amidst the sounds of impact and flying ice shards, the bone ship ran aground on the ice.

This was the first time Su Ming had descended onto the ground of the Northern Continent. This vast mudflat was completely covered in white, and thick ice and snow had completely buried the already low vegetation, making the entire space silent and monotonous.

Su Ming dismantled the ship's superstructure, lowered a wide gangplank at the bow, and allowed the engine to drive from the deck onto the ice and onto the shore.

A large number of zombies began their work. Under Younier's command, they unloaded the supplies and equipment that needed to be taken from the ship's hold. Every time Su Ming assembled a wagon, Younier would instruct the zombies to fill it, number it, and then drag it ashore.

Qiluo Luo listlessly maintained her Consecration Aura, relieving Su Ming of some of the pressure, while Hansite and Zijin checked and verified the items.

Su Ming glanced at his wristwatch; there were still eight hours until nightfall. This was a specially customized adventure watch; although its positioning and navigation functions were unusable, it still retained many practical features. He had also loaded his custom-designed otherworldly calendar; the current date was December 272 of the Stars Calendar.

January 5th.

"We need to hurry, we must complete the road test today!" Su Ming couldn't help but feel anxious.

"Relax, we can do it." Zijin cupped her hands and breathed on them to warm them. It was warm inside the cabin; she couldn't stand being outside.

Su Ming slapped his forehead, had the skeleton bring two bags, and handed one to the girl, saying, "I prepared this for you; I was so busy I forgot."

Zijin took the items and opened them. Inside were a thick cashmere scarf, a woolen hat with ear flaps, and a pair of gloves made of the same material. "Why is it white?" she asked, clearly dissatisfied with the color.

"The snowy environment is good for concealment," Su Ming replied. The forbidden magic cloak was also white, and paired with these, it was definitely a ghillie suit. "Then why did you ask me about my favorite color?" Zijin muttered, putting on her gloves. They were indeed warm, and more convenient for movement than the leather gloves Hansite wore.

"The lining is purple," Su Ming replied. He put on his own matching three-piece suit and immediately felt much warmer.

Zijin suddenly took off her gloves, pulled a pendant from her clothes, untied it, and tossed it to Su Ming.

"What will you use if I give it to you?" Su Ming asked, catching the pendant which was still warm from his body.

"It was originally made for you; I'm just wearing it to charge it," Zijin explained. "This pendant is engraved with ' Blur ' and ' Refraction,' perfect for snow camouflage."

As expected, the sixth brother's view was the same. Whether or not to kill the enemy is not important; hiding and securing an invincible position is the key.

****

Everyone continued working, and as each carriage was loaded with goods and towed away from the ship, Su Ming began to deal with the remaining parts of the White Triangle.

Most of the bone mass needs to be preserved, as do the biomass boilers, steam power plants, and propellers used for power generation, as well as equipment that is not currently in use, such as sonar and anti-roll devices.

The Youth Civilization was re-equipped with a land-based radar, while all the original sea and air radars were retained.

What Su Ming was most reluctant to part with was the Mk71 heavy artillery. Although he could find a way to reduce its weight, its height of over ten meters made it impossible for Su Ming to change. The vehicle-mounted weapon of the Youth Civilization had to be replaced by another method.

Otherwise, without the truth in hand, one would lack the confidence to "speak of civilization," and this train would be far from living up to its name.

Another issue is the large amount of material; only a portion of it will be brought ashore this time.

Su Ming packed these items up, sealed them with bone, and sank them to the bottom of the water.

Zijin selected twenty zombies to accompany her, while the rest jumped into the icy sea and entered a dormant state.

During the clearing process, a stiffened corpse was found on the ship. Su Ming thought for a moment before remembering that this was Saenieka, whom he had forgotten.

As for the murderer, judging from the horseshoe-shaped mark on his head, he's quite difficult to guess.

"This man has done too many bad things," Zijin explained. "Qiluo dealt with him on her very first day here."

[The legend of the unicorn is right about one thing: hating evil as if it were an enemy.] Su Ming sighed.

The splashing sounds stopped, and the water became still. In the cold wind, thin ice began to reappear.

"See you in a while." Su Ming bid farewell to these things. He placed a radio beacon on the shore. It had a standby time of six months and would be activated upon receiving a signal from the wristwatch, providing directional guidance with an effective range of tens of kilometers.

This was done to prevent them from losing their hiding place on the way back. The snowfield was all white, making it very easy to get lost. And whether the snow was getting thicker or the ice and snow were melting, it would seriously affect their memory and recognition of the terrain.

****

On the coast, the Youth Civilization were assembled, with two locomotives and sixty carriages lined up in a straight line on the snow.

The first locomotive is facing forward, while the second locomotive is facing backward. The two steam locomotives are positioned tail to tail, operating in a double-unit coupled mode.

The boiler and boiler of the Qianjin Class steam locomotive are located at the front, the driver's cab is located in the middle and rear, and then the tender car. After being connected end to end, the two locomotives share the tender car, and there is no boiler exhaust obstruction between the driver's cabs.

The original five pairs of driving wheels at the bottom of each locomotive were replaced with ratchet wheels, which were significantly widened and wrapped with deep-toothed tracks made primarily of bone, forming a track wheel system.

This is the only option left; no matter how you modify ordinary wheels, they will inevitably sink in the snow.

"Boiler pressure is within standard range, the entire system is normal, and the combustion chamber is functioning normally." Su Ming boarded locomotive number one to conduct a final check.

"Same here, everything's normal." Zijin was in charge of locomotive number two, operating it from the driver's cab.

Driving a steam locomotive is an extremely complex task. Fortunately, with modern boilers, most of the work is now handled by industrial control computers. Otherwise, with the constant adjustments to water, coal, fire, and steam, Su Ming would definitely die.

A crew that hasn't undergone training and developed a tacit understanding with each other can't operate this thing properly.

"Everyone, put on your headphones," Su Ming said. He adjusted the headset and tested the sound. "Ahem, locomotive one, brakes in operation; locomotive two, coupling mode."

Given the noise of the steam locomotive, Su Ming didn't expect everyone to be able to speak normally.

"Roger!" Hansite operated vehicle number one as instructed, while Heilou took over the control of vehicle number two.

Younier put on the earphones, somewhat surprised by the small device. She couldn't help but press the call button, but didn't know what to say. Finally, for some reason, she meowed.

Everyone laughed, and she covered her face, blushing deeply.

Because the chassis structure of the carriages was removed and replaced with a snow-covered structure, the train body no longer has braking capabilities; only the two steam locomotives possess braking functionality.

After switching to the mode of locomotive number two, control of the public systems, including the brakes, was centralized to locomotive number one.

"Younier, inspect the equipment." Su Ming replied, "Okay!"

Younier immediately checked the boiler's pressure, water level, combustion chamber temperature, and other parameters. Although the control system relied on electronic sensors to read the data, the equipment also maintained another set of mechanical readings. After Younier's inspection, she confirmed that the two were consistent.

After checking the levels of each lubricating oil, she finally went to the connection between the two locomotives and checked the valves and pressure gauges of the braking system to confirm that the compressed air system was connected properly.

"No problem!" she reported to Su Ming. "These tasks need to be carried out regularly before starting the car and during operation." Su Ming instructed Younier, "In addition, we also need to monitor the coal car's reserves and the water level in the tanks."

"OK!"

****

The unicorn ran into the driver's cab of locomotive number two, very disgruntled, "You guys really are hiding in warm places!"

It was not only warm next to the two large boilers, but the group was also dressed in only a single layer of clothing.

"This looks so fun, I want to try it too!" She pushed the black skull aside.

Su Ming saw this scene on the monitor and felt somewhat helpless. However, Qiluo had a very strong learning ability, and she had been observing various things from the sidelines for a long time, clearly having coveted it for a long time.

[Be serious, everyone's a beginner with this, figuring it out.] Su Ming texted. [Also, put on your headphones.]

"Don't worry at all, I never hold you back!" Qiluo said confidently. She put on her headphones, pulled up a high chair, sat in the driver's seat, and gripped the handlebars. "I'm ready, give the order, Commander!"

Su Ming operated the electronic control panel for a few moments, switching the boiler systems of the two locomotives to linkage mode.

"Ailisha, I'm in control of both boilers now."

"Okay." Zijin left the boiler control panel of locomotive number two and switched to the alchemy control panel to begin monitoring and adjusting the operation of the magic circle.

"Number one, number two, valve one-quarter, handle back 45%."

The valve is the accelerator, and the lever is equivalent to a gear shifter, also known as the cylinder deactivation ratio. Pulling the lever back moves the cylinder backward, and the deeper you pull it, the higher the gear.

Steam rushed into the pistons, and the two locomotives started moving simultaneously. The front locomotive lurched backward while the rear locomotive lurched forward, causing them to collide. Everyone was jolted and nearly fell over.

"Handle in zero position!" Su Ming hurriedly shouted, and the drivers on both sides quickly disengaged the power.

Qiluo burst into laughter. The two motorcycles were connected at the rear, and as they reversed at the same time, they naturally collided. Su Ming had forgotten this; they should have one driven forward while the other reversed.

"Be lenient with a newbie," Su Ming said sternly, then threatened Qiluo, "If you laugh again, you won't get your midnight snack tonight!"

The unicorn immediately stopped laughing and its face tightened.