Model Ship

"Let's go over the plan for tonight and see what else we need to prepare," Su Ming suggested.

White Bone nodded. She reached out and concentrated. Surrounded by a magical glow, her figure looked somewhat illusory, and her face was much paler than a normal person's.

Su Ming felt rather as though he were sharing a movie frame with a CGI character.

"There'll be heavy rain tonight," White Bone told Su Ming. "Before, I could only sense it vaguely, but it's much clearer now."

"In this form, my magic-related abilities are much stronger, but don't count on me in close combat," White Bone added.

Su Ming was a little confused. "You aren't physically here, are you, Miss White Bone?"

"Ah, um, right. This is a mental projection."

"I removed your restrictions and improved your spellcasting ability. Is that right?"

"That's right!"

"Then can't your spiritual form coexist with the White Bone Fortress?"

"Well, they can coexist." The girl frowned.

"Then what did you mean by this form and that form?" Su Ming asked. He was very interested in how White Bone worked; it was crucial to the plan.

"Uh, all right. I was restricted for so long that I got confused for a moment," White Bone explained. "My spiritual body and the White Bone Fortress don't conflict. It's the White Bone Fortress that needs to switch forms-and speaking of which, that's a problem. You'll have to control it yourself."

"I remember you said that switching to ship form required me to master the White Bone Mark and assist you," Su Ming replied.

"No, no, no, you misunderstood." White Bone shook her head. "You'll have to handle the transformation entirely on your own."

"Why?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

"I'm hopeless at spatial reasoning. My solid geometry is a disgrace among scholars," White Bone replied. "So it'll actually be easier for you to do it alone. At least no one will be getting in your way while trying to help."

The corner of Su Ming's mouth twitched. He suddenly remembered that when he had practiced Undead Summoning before, the models Miss Scholar had given him had all been either balls or beads.

So she was hopeless at modeling?

"Do your best, my new master!" White Bone was in a great mood, clearly relieved of a burden. Humming a song, she floated over to the steam engine, looking it over from every angle and occasionally patting or tapping it.

"Don't break it," Su Ming said, then resigned himself to preparing the blueprints.

A day earlier, at the store where he had picked up the air compressor, Su Ming had spent some time online.

Only then had he thought about the hull. A good hull design could improve stability, expand seaworthiness, and increase speed. A failed design could even turn a ship into scrap metal, like that aircraft carrier India had built that pitched severely.

But he didn't know the first thing about it.

Fortunately, there were online shopping platforms that had everything. He found a ship design studio on one and sent over the relevant data, including the hull material, weight, and propulsion system, along with his design requirements.

"Dear customer, what kind of material is this?" The customer service representative found Su Ming's request odd. "And this isn't a cargo ship, so why use a steam engine?"

"There's no mistake. Go with that," Su Ming typed. "I only need the basic hull structure, nothing else, and it doesn't need to be too detailed. How long will delivery take?"

"Dear customer, it really isn't complicated. If your requirements aren't too high, two to three working days."

"I won't request any revisions, and I'll double the price. What's the earliest you can get it to me?"

"Really? Daddy! Three or four hours!" the representative replied at once. The basic structures were ready-made, and they had all the ship design templates. Ordinary adjustments wouldn't take much work.

"Deal!"

Su Ming then found a 3D printing shop and told the proprietor he wanted a 40-centimeter-long ship model printed in stainless steel.

"Sure. Where are the blueprints?"

"The blueprints will be sent to you by this person in four or five hours." Su Ming forwarded the ship design studio's contact information.

"Got it. Huh, I've worked with this shop before."

"If you have any questions, don't contact me. Contact the studio directly. If anything's still unclear, just handle it the usual way. Whatever you do is fine."

"...Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Su Ming checked the shop's address and saw that it was in East China, over a thousand kilometers from where he was. He didn't try to find another online shop, because that was where 3D printing was currently most advanced.

"I'm in a hurry," Su Ming told the shop's customer service representative. "Can it be delivered within 20 hours from now?"

"A thousand kilometers, including design and production, in 20 hours? How am I supposed to manage that?" The person on the other end did some calculations. "How about this, bro? Pay a 300-yuan rush fee."

"Fine."

"All right! If it doesn't arrive, I'll refund you!"

At the agreed location, Su Ming spotted the KYE Express courier through Little Spiky Head. Only 19 hours had passed since he placed the order.

As long as enough money was paid, cross-province, same-day delivery to popular areas was just another routine part of their work.

In the far corners of this vast industrial nation, countless industries and workers like these formed a cheap and efficient system, link by link, operating quietly.

Su Ming still hadn't solved the problem of getting a SIM card. He had been keeping an eye out along the way, but hadn't seen an unattended phone. So he had specified on the delivery order that the customer should not be contacted and that the package could simply be left at the entrance to a roadside supermarket.

There were many variables, so Su Ming had prepared a backup plan: wait nearby and, if necessary, rush in, grab the package, and run. Little Spiky Head really had a great advantage when it came to escaping: she was light, agile, and tireless.

Fortunately-or perhaps strangely-the KYE Express courier really did leave the package at the supermarket entrance, then walked away without looking back.

Su Ming was a little puzzled. He controlled Little Spiky Head as she rode a motorcycle toward the supermarket. Unless someone looked closely, Little Spiky Head was just a rather slender woman and wouldn't arouse suspicion.

He looked around and noticed a car full of people parked across from the supermarket.

There were few pedestrians around. A parked car was perfectly normal, and it wasn't strange for it to be full of people, either.

What was puzzling was that three of them were hiding inside the car, where they couldn't normally be seen from outside. Only one person sat in the driver's seat, playing on a phone. Su Ming continued in the same direction and pretended to glance casually around. Sure enough, he spotted another car with people similarly concealed inside, on the other side of the street corner.

Su Ming looked closely and noticed that they were all armed.

Police! So soon?

Su Ming was astonished. He couldn't understand it. It was only a theft case, so how could they have tracked down Little Spiky Head so quickly? Were the police using cheats?

The police officer playing on his phone looked up and gave Little Spiky Head a casual glance, then paid her no further attention. Instead, he glanced at the package from time to time. Spirit Vision showed this clearly.

Little Spiky Head's figure had certainly been exposed at the shipyard; after all, there were so many surveillance cameras in modern society. But the officer ignored her, which meant these police officers hadn't come because of the theft case. They weren't looking for Little Spiky Head.

Thinking of the package, Su Ming suddenly realized that the person they were looking for was probably him. That made sense-they had followed the purchase records on his Taobao account!

That raised a new question, then: guns, an arrest, and him?