Terrain Magic
The train crossed the mountaintop and continued forward, its speed increasing again. Hansite and Qiluo followed the speedometer lever, and the clanging sound of the rotating wheels gradually accelerated.
The front of the car followed the terrain downwards. "Gentlemen, I don't mean to bother you, but shouldn't we brake?" Seeing the long downhill road ahead and the gradually increasing speed, Hansite felt a bad feeling.
Reminded by him, Su Ming also noticed the problem. "Reset the handle! Apply the brakes!" he hurriedly said.
The steep downhill slope in front of us is definitely more than 80 percent; this is extremely dangerous!
Hansite immediately pulled the brakes to the stop, locking the brake wheels of both locomotives and leaving deep grooves in the snow with their tracks. But the rear carriage immediately crashed into the steam locomotive, veering to one side and overturning on the snow slope, followed by another carriage.
With a series of impacts, the rear of the motorcycle was completely pulled to one side, and it looked like the whole vehicle was about to overturn and roll down the hillside.
In that instant, Su Ming realized his mistake: the car body didn't have brakes. His original plan was to use the car's drag to stop itself.
But this does not include downhill sections!
"Release the brakes! Full acceleration!" His mind raced as he instructed Hansite, while simultaneously activating the Hundred Bone Mark.
The thirty-odd carriages that hadn't yet collided with the rear of the train quickly lost traction to the front half. The bottom of these carriages, which were still sliding vertically, deformed and developed blades, which, under the action of the blades, caused them to turn sharply to the right and pass by the side of the overturned carriages.
The locomotive accelerated again, and Su Ming disconnected the steam locomotive from the rear carriage, causing it to turn left.
"The motorcycle is yours!" he said to Hansite and Qiluo, activating the Flight Spell on the crystal on his wrist and flying out of the cockpit.
Long before he came out, Zijin had already rushed out of the driver's cab and soared into the night sky, closely following the twenty-odd carriages that were rolling down the steep slope. Su Ming glanced at her and then rushed towards the rear half of the train that had not yet overturned.
The scene instantly split into three!
Su Ming caught up with the thirty-odd carriages that were accelerating and sliding forward, and used Shadow Jump again to stick to the first carriage. He manipulated the White Bone Mark, and brake blades began to appear on the bottom of each carriage.
The vehicle began to swerve violently, like a giant snake writhing in the wind. Su Ming quickly adjusted it.
"It should be steering from the front and braking from the rear." He placed the steering blade at the front of the carriage to stabilize the direction, and then inserted the braking blade at the rear of the carriage. Sure enough, the train's gliding began to stabilize.
He carefully navigated the rugged terrain, maneuvering the massive multi-unit sled beneath his feet, gradually slowing down on the snow slope.
On the steam locomotive, Hansite and Qiluo, one manipulating the front guide wheel and the other the rear guide wheel, finally managed to veer sideways and avoid the tumbling carriages. However, the locomotive continued to slide diagonally downwards.
Even more critically, a huge, protruding rock suddenly appeared on the ground ahead. Because it was nighttime and it wasn't on the searchlight's axis, the two men only noticed it when they were already very close, about to crash into the center of the coupled motorcycle.
"Su Ming, unhook the motorcycle!" Qiluo quickly contacted Su Ming.
Younier heard it through her earpiece too. Startled, she quickly ran towards the junction of the two motorcycles.
Su Ming did as instructed and disconnected the fixing device between the two locomotives. The two locomotives separated to the left and right respectively, and the pipes and data cables were immediately torn off. The control of locomotive number two was taken over by the local system, but the brake air pipe broke, and high-pressure air surged and leaked out.
The air pressure in the pipes of both locomotives dropped sharply, and the brakes began to lock. They were still leaning on the snow slope, and if they braked at this speed and locked up, they would definitely overturn immediately!
At the critical moment, Younier arrived at the location and closed the angle plugs at the rear of the two locomotives, stopping the depressurization of the pipeline!
Seeing this, Qiluo breathed a sigh of relief, "Hansite, it's all about skill!"
"No problem, Miss Holy Beast!"
Two locomotives rushed past the boulder from the left and right sides respectively. Hansite stabilized the first locomotive. He opened the exhaust valve on the left side, causing an imbalance of power on both sides of the locomotive and twisting the vehicle. Only after the vehicle was straightened did he cut off the power and pull the brakes to slow down.
On the other side, Qiluo had just released the brakes and resumed the motorcycle's gliding when a jolt and a sound came as motorcycle number two scraped against the edge of a boulder.
The right track broke upon impact, flew off and disintegrated, and the wheel immediately sank into the snow. The motorcycle, which was originally leaning to the left, suddenly swerved sharply to the right.
As Younier was returning to the cab, she crashed heavily into the outer wall of the motorcycle and was thrown off.
Qiluo peeked out the left window; a flash of green light appeared, and Younier was enchanted with a defensive spell. Then, another sharp light flashed...
She deliberately severed the left track of the steam locomotive!
Since it's asymmetrical, let's actively make it symmetrical!
Just in time, the second locomotive managed to straighten itself. With both tracks missing, the wheels on both sides of the locomotive were stuck in the snow. The speed dropped sharply, and the rear of the locomotive bounced up due to the violent deceleration, while the front of the locomotive sank into the snow, creating a large pile.
Fortunately, the steam locomotive was extremely heavy, so it didn't tip over and quickly came to a stop. The rear of the locomotive landed back on the snow, creating a large crater.
Ice shards flew everywhere, and the unicorn let out a long breath, wiping the cold sweat from its forehead.
****
In the final battlefield of the central area, a vast expanse of yellow light illuminated, blooming in the darkness. Amidst thunderous roars and shaking,
The ground rose, the snow slid off, revealing the brown soil underneath.
And just like that, a huge, sloping, upward-curving earthen platform appeared!
"Terrain magic, as expected of Li, amazing!" Qiluo's eyes shone with admiration.
The rolling carriages were stopped, leaving deep marks on the earthen platform. Several carriages broke apart in the impact, scattering black coal all over the ground, while the others gradually stopped rolling.
Even so, Zijin still couldn't stop all the carriages. Two carriages rolled over the edge of the earthen platform she had created and continued downwards.
Those were a library cart containing documents and books, and an alchemy cart containing a large quantity of valuable materials; they could not be lost!
Zijin closed her eyes, and her flying body suddenly lost its strength, falling and tumbling into the snow.
In the extended carriage behind Su Ming, the wall panels were suddenly pushed open, and the amethyst ore bricks collapsed one after another. The bone dragon stretched out its long legs, stood up, and more skeletons continued to deform and combine, forming a body, wings and head in turn.
Under the cover of night, the bone dragon completed its transformation, stretching its body. Then, it spread its wings and flew towards the still-rolling carriage ahead. Magical starlight danced with its wings, leaving trails of light dust in the night sky.
The bone dragon spared no Magic Power, accelerating to fly above the carriage, then grabbed down with both feet. It forcefully pulled the library carriage back, and the bone dragon fell onto the snow. It spread its wings to slow down and quickly came to a stop.
The bone dragon then rushed to the next carriage, trying to grab it again. But the alchemy carriage was obviously much heavier, and the spinning carriage immediately flipped the bone dragon over, causing it to roll together. She used her wings to protect the carriage, leaving huge ruts in the snow, and rushed for more than a hundred meters before gradually coming to a stop.
The world suddenly fell silent, and the once smooth and beautiful snow slopes were now covered with crisscrossing deep gullies.
****
"Miss Sacred Beast, depressurize the boiler and shut it down!" Hansite reminded him while flipping through the operation manual.
"Ah, okay!" Qiluo, who had been staring blankly for a while, quickly snapped back to reality.
Following the steps in the operating manual, the two stopped the steam boiler. The sound of water draining echoed across the snowfield, and a large plume of white steam rose up, enveloping the locomotive.
The moment the snowmobile came to a stop beneath his feet, Su Ming sprinted towards where Ailisha's body had fallen. He frantically dug through the snowdrift at the end of the skid track and quickly pulled the girl, who was huddled up in a ball, out.
Having emerged from the warm motorcycle, Zijin was only wearing a light-colored shirt. The girl was pale and silent. There were scars on her forehead, and her hair was dyed red.
Su Ming brushed the snow off her face, then quickly checked the bloodstains on her forehead. He searched for a long time but couldn't find the wound, so he carefully pulled her hair apart.
A coughing sound rang out, and Zijin switched back, opening her eyes.
Finding herself completely embraced by Su Ming, the girl, fiddling with her hair, pushed him away with her right hand and sat up. "Again, taking advantage of me." She was breathing heavily, having been completely suffocated in the snow.
I saw blood, but I couldn't find a wound—does your forehead hurt?
"I'm not injured, I have defensive spells." Zijin slapped away Su Ming's hand, which was reaching for her head again. "Let's see if you've accidentally killed any animals."
The sound of flapping wings rang out, and the unicorn landed beside them, carrying two coats in its beak. Qiluo tossed the coats aside, "See? I told you I never let you down!"
Over there, Hansite also found Younier in the snow. The little girl was slightly injured, but not seriously.
Su Ming put on his coat. "You all performed very well. It was my carelessness!" He looked somewhat gloomy.
The unicorn smelled the blood and began searching for the animal in the snowdrift.
Zijin looked at the devastated snowfield and suddenly burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.
"What a spectacular scene! Aren't you proud?!" The student brushed aside the blood-stained stray hairs from his forehead with his uninjured hand. "I haven't had this much fun in ages!"
Su Ming was also somewhat moved; he knew that Zijin was comforting him.
He exhaled a puff of white breath, responded with a smile, and then activated his Flight Spell to fly towards the motorcycle. "I need to quickly develop an improvement plan and procure parts. I'll leave this to you."
Yes, regardless of how the mistakes were made, there's no point in wallowing in self-pity. The important thing to do is to correct them!
Zijin gave an OK sign and then patted the unicorn. The unicorn was pulling a dog that was still half-dead from the snow, its eyes shining.
"Take Younier back to treat her wounds, then we'll clean up the mess."
Okay!
****
It was a busy night. Zijin activated her Bone Dragon Form, moved the carriages containing essential items back, reconnected them to the steam locomotive, and restored power, heating, and basic equipment.
They set up the kitchen facilities and used the dog that had been bumped by the Zijin to prepare a sumptuous dinner. The group ate and drank to their hearts' content.
After the three humans and one beast finished eating, they set up a living area to rest, leaving only servants on guard and activating the radar for surveillance.
Su Ming continued working.
The issues revealed during road tests, such as inadequate braking, insufficient steering ability, and vehicle sway, all require the addition of corresponding systems to address them.
Su Ming arranged for the studio to work overtime overnight to design three brand-new subsystems: snow braking components, motorcycle steering mechanism, and snow travel correction system.
He stayed online the whole time, reviewing the plan and making adjustments as needed. It wasn't until the next morning that he handed over the long list of parts he had compiled to Miao Xin.
[Most of the items are purchased as finished products, such as cylinders, valves, high-pressure air pipes, hydraulic systems, and laser sensors; the quantities are large. With the year-end approaching, there will be additional difficulties.] Su Ming said, [There are also parts that need to be machined; I need to order a large number of blades and irregularly shaped connectors.]
Although these are all very routine items, today is the Little New Year, and normally the processing plant would already be closed for the holidays.
[I've contacted them. The factory manager kept his promise and left the foremen waiting.] Miao Xin replied, [I'll get on with it right away. No problem.]
[I'll go rest for a while. Call me anytime if you need anything.]
[Good!]
Su Ming stood up from his seat, his body swaying slightly. He had drunk quite a bit of coffee and eaten a lot of biscuits, so he didn't feel hungry. However, the long hours of staying up late and the intense mental exertion had left him extremely exhausted.
Hansite was the first to get up and immediately took him to the room that had been prepared the night before to rest.
****
Su Ming fell asleep immediately, and when he groggily opened his eyes, he found that he had slept until dark. He quickly contacted Miao Xin and was told that everything went smoothly.
The factory manager was very trustworthy; after accepting the deposit, he actually kept a few workers there to wait for orders. It was just a little slow, but the goods could still be delivered within two days.
"That's good." Su Ming felt relieved.
He felt dizzy and his throat was dry. He touched his forehead and realized he had a fever. Last night, when he rushed out to intercept the train carriage, he was also only wearing a thin layer of clothing. The dark-elemental shield could block the cold wind, but it couldn't prevent hypothermia.
However, it's just a minor cold; in this other world, light magic can cure it.
[Zijin, I'm awake. Are you alright?]
[I'm fine. We're having dinner in the dining car, come quickly.]
Su Ming stepped into the food cart and immediately smelled the aroma of food. In the soft light, Qiluo leaned out from the side of the table and waved to him.
"Hey, we had a really tough day, collecting all the carriages and the coal scattered on the ground." She held a small bowl in her hands, poured the remaining mushroom soup into her mouth, and continued, her words muffled, "We also arranged more than a dozen carriages in a circle..."
A work shed was set up.
Su Ming sat down next to Zijin and was relieved to see that she looked alright. Unlike Su Ming, the girl couldn't receive light-based healing spells, which would cause a lot of trouble if she got sick.
"Are you sick?" Noticing Su Ming's unusual condition, the scholar cast a Detection Spell. "It's alright, just a minor issue."
She summoned a spellbook, flipped through it rapidly, and searched for the corresponding spells.
"What, you need to look it up in a book for such a small problem?" Su Ming teased.
"There's no way around it, all my treatments so far have been for you." The former saintess found the modified version of the Disease Removal Spell and completed the casting.