New Year's Gift

After leaving the Giant Horn Peninsula, the Youth Civilization headed south towards the edge of the Arctic Circle. Twelve hours after its official departure, the locomotive traversed 200 kilometers and arrived at the banks of the Sang River.

The ice on the river was over a meter thick, so Su Ming didn't need to worry about the load. After Zijin used magic to clear a downhill slope of snow, the Youth Civilization entered the river channel and then headed west along the ice of the Sang River.

The train became much smoother, gliding almost effortlessly across the ice. Su Ming even felt as if he were riding a high-speed train on Earth. The speed easily exceeded thirty kilometers per hour, which was the current limit since the train was fully loaded.

The camouflage work was gradually completed as the train moved, with each carriage now featuring two tusks and a pair of large ears.

Hansite modified the whistle, and now pulling it produces a deep, resonant gurgling sound.

Zijin's assessment was that the call sounded very similar!

She also constructed two puppets fixed to the driver's platform, which were directly controlled by Gospel to operate the locomotive. The automatic driving system was further improved.

After the steam locomotive started running at full speed, the carriage was warm enough, and the journey finally became comfortable. On the afternoon of the second day after setting foot on the frozen surface of the Sang River, Su Ming and Zijin decided to take half a day off, as the work they had been doing for the past few days had indeed been too arduous.

After a lazy afternoon nap, Su Ming took out some flour, eggs, sugar, and nuts and started baking cookies.

The unicorn, which was originally on duty in the driver's cab, miraculously smelled the aroma from upwind, even through the working steam locomotive and water-powered car. By the time Su Ming noticed, the unicorn had already sneaked into the kitchen and devoured all the piping hot cookies from the oven.

"It's not even ready yet, and you've already..." Su Ming was stunned.

"Don't worry, it tastes great!" the unicorn grumbled as it chewed.

Su Ming angrily kicked her out, locked the kitchen door, and started making it again.

****

An hour later, Su Ming finally sat down in the workshop with Zijin, drinking milk coffee and enjoying cookies. Watching the snowflakes swirling outside the window, they enjoyed a leisurely afternoon tea. Su Ming finally experienced a taste of bourgeois life in this other world.

The unicorn barged in again, shouting, "Su Ming, where's mine?!"

Su Ming pointed to a pile of food beside him and said, "I grilled a big one for you."

Qiluo ran over excitedly, picked one up, and sure enough, it was much bigger, a round, thick pancake. She swallowed it in one bite, but choked immediately, clutching her neck and jumping up and down.

She drank water frantically to relieve herself, exclaiming angrily, "Phew~, Su Ming, this is completely different from the one before!"

"Of course they're different. I'd bake these cookies all day and it still wouldn't be enough for just one bite," Su Ming said matter-of-factly. "That's why I kindly baked them for you; they'll fill you up."

"No, this isn't as good as cookies!" The unicorn picked up the second one and took a big bite. Su Ming spread some ghee on it and sprinkled sesame seeds on top.

The freshly baked naan bread still smells delicious.

"Eat this wrapped around your tongue." Su Ming brought out a bowl of diced onions and minced meat and placed it in front of the unicorn, which immediately beamed with joy.

Su Ming took out a water spinach and a curved needle, broke off the small stem of the water spinach, and then began to sew it up.

"Do you have a grudge against this vegetable?" Qiluo asked, puzzled.

"When I used to play games, people would praise me for my steady hands," Su Ming said, tying a knot after each stitch. "So I want to develop that skill."

At first, he always tore the skin of the water spinach, but he quickly figured out the trick and started to succeed.

****

That evening, Miao Xin contacted Su Ming.

[Happy New Year!]

Su Ming was stunned for a moment before realizing that today was Lunar New Year's Eve.

He put down the rune book in his hand; bruises from the battle with Zijin still clung to his arms, and his back ached from strength training. Others come to this world tired of being beasts of burden, but why did he become even more of a beast of burden here?

Su Ming switched his consciousness to the other side, and the familiar sound of a variety show rang in his ears. A tablet was placed on the table, and the screen was full of bright red, displaying the hosts that Su Ming knew.

Despite complaining about it every year, Miao Xin still watches it. There's another phone next to her with a one-way video call showing Miao Mu and He Ran, with the same program playing in the background.

Her house had been decorated, with blessing characters posted on the door and a few small lanterns hung in the window. Miao Mu was stuffing a bunch of meatballs and sticky bean buns into the refrigerator. He Ran was on the coffee table, wearing an apron, with flour on her face, holding dumplings with her small hands.

Su Ming asked Miao Xin for her phone and logged into the home security camera. He suddenly remembered that his app's renewal period had expired and the cloud service should have been suspended. But to his surprise, he still managed to connect successfully.

The house had some New Year's goods, but it was still visibly deserted. The two elderly people sat on the sofa watching TV, and there was only a plate of peanuts on the table. Su Ming's eyes stung, and tears immediately welled up.

"Su Ming?" His senses returned to the other world, and Su Ming opened his eyes to find Zijin looking worried. "What happened?"

Su Ming shook his head. He had wanted to talk about his parents, but felt it unnecessary to evoke her feelings. "Sorry, seeing some scenes..."

I'm starting to miss my hometown.

Zijin nodded. "If we go to Earth in the future, I don't think we'll miss this place."

"That's hard to say." Su Ming forced a smile. He paused, and once he had calmed down a bit, he switched back to Miao Xin's side.

Miss Vengeful Spirit had already crushed the phone Su Ming had just used and was preparing to move to another location.

"Miao Xin, could you make a video for me to send to my parents?" he asked.

Miao Xin for a moment and then understood, "Use AI to synthesize your video and then send it to your parents?"

"Hmm," Su Ming said, "Just wishing them a happy holiday will suffice."

Miao Xin agreed.

Su Ming disconnected and prepared to rest, but Miao Xin initiated contact again.

[What's wrong?]

[Regarding the video, my dad doesn't recommend doing it.] Miao Xin said, [He means that it would definitely expose the connection to...]

Putting your parents in danger.

Danger? Su Ming didn't understand at first, but he quickly thought of the enemy who had ambushed Miao Xin in Vietnam.

He rubbed his forehead in frustration. There were a ton of things to do in this other world, and he had too little time or energy to think about things back home.

"[Is there a solution? This can't go on like this.]" Su Ming said, somewhat fed up with the situation.

[My father's idea is to maintain the status quo for now.] Miao Xin said, [The International Services Department hasn't resolved the issue yet. It would be dangerous for me to expose myself rashly.]

"Are these guys really that inefficient?" Su Ming complained inwardly. "Why are they all so aggressive when they're surrounding me?"

[Okay.] He had no choice but to agree.

[My dad said, until the problem is resolved, don't connect the camera to your parents' side of the network.]

"I understand," Su Ming said helplessly.

But then he remembered that Miao Xin had just been watching Miao Mu via video.

Are you really that hypocritical, being a professional?

Just as he was about to disconnect, Miao Xin called him back, "[I forgot to mention, Su Ming, I prepared a gift for you.]"

[Oh?] Su Ming was quite surprised.

Miao Xin put on her coat and went downstairs. It was an unfamiliar neighborhood, and in a secluded corner, a brand-new snowmobile was parked. It had sleds in the front and tracks in the back, with two seats in the enclosed cabin and a small trailer at the back.

Miao Xin patted the snowmobile. "How is it?"

[Thanks!] Su Ming was quite touched; this was indeed something useful. [I didn't prepare a gift for you, and I can't give it to you anyway.]

Su Ming hasn't found a way to send things back to Earth yet, so he can't use magic with Earth as the target. As for Miao Xin, she can't use "Summoning of All Things." Although Miss Wraith's Nether Sea is powerful, it's not a spatial ability in nature.

Another problem is that the good stuff in the other world, compared to Earth, mostly contains special magical materials. So, if we teleport back, we probably won't find the corresponding materials on Earth. Otherwise, how awesome would it be to think of a way to send the Gospel Material back?

Of course, the specifics of what happened will require further research after a stable base is established.

"I'll owe you, once you've set up the dimensional portal," Miao Xin said. "There are so many fun things in that other world, I can bring them back then."

[Hopefully so.]

Su Ming retrieved some materials from the Youth Civilization's warehouse and summoned the snowmobile to this other world. Miao Xin took out a shovel and broom and cleaned up the broken debris.

The two exchanged New Year's greetings, Su Ming then severed the connection. On the third day after entering the Sang River, Su Ming stopped the Youth Civilization. Instead of docking in the middle of the river where they could easily be seen, they chose a spot on the lower part of the riverbed, parked it close to the embankment, and built a snow wall on the other side for cover.

As planned, he conducted the first overhaul of the train's equipment, and the energy of the White Bone Mark also needed to be restored to keep up with the consumption during the journey.

This time, 80% of the bone was sacrificed, weakening the power of the White Bone Mark. Fortunately, as long as the Bone Dragon is at its core, there are no problems with the control and function of the White Bone Fortress. Bone spirits can also reside on it and follow it, so the overall power of the mark can still be half.

Ailisha's form was largely unaffected, except that Zijin's already weak dark energy was further reduced.

The train has many maintenance tasks, including checking the wear and tear of all moving parts, inspecting and replacing steering and brake pads, adding axle oil, draining boiler water and removing scale.

Hansite brought out twenty sets of white work clothes and hats from the warehouse and had the zombies wear them so they would be harder to spot from a distance.

"I ordered it at Red Luo Port last time," he explained.

"Not bad," Zijin praised.

Everyone got busy. Gospel, inheriting the thoughts from the motorcycle, offered many helpful suggestions. In return, Su Ming gave it some zombies and resources, allowing it to directly participate in the work.

Only the unicorn had nothing to do. She looked at the map and found a village a dozen kilometers away.

"I'm going to buy some food!" Qiluo took out two backpacks, packed a set of clothes, and then took off with a whoosh.

"Go early and come back early," Su Ming instructed.

Preparations were carried out one by one, and the most important boiler was in pretty good condition. The water-steam circulation system set up by Zijin had greatly reduced the hardness of the water, saving a lot of trouble.

Yumier verified each item, working with Hansite to organize and streamline the process.

"Mr. Hansite, you were wasted your talents at the mine!" she said to Hansite. Hansite was one of the technical leaders of the Brown Gold Island coal mine and often dealt with Younier, who was the clerk. At that time, after finishing his work, Hansite would eagerly find a place to lie down.

Unlike now, although they are just as unfamiliar with all aspects of the Youth Civilization as she is, they are highly motivated and take learning very seriously.

"Heh heh, with so many novel things, it's impossible not to put in a lot of effort," Hansite replied. "Miss Younier is pretty much the same, isn't she?"

Although it was cold, Younier's face was flushed from being so busy.

"I—after all, my father owes them money, so I have to do my job well!" She carefully checked the lubricant level. "Mr. Hansite,"

Why did you suddenly decide to come?

"Can I still stay here?" Hansite asked, with a wry smile.

"Oh, what happened?" Younier asked, puzzled.

"You didn't know?" Hansite was somewhat surprised. He thought for a moment, guessing that it hadn't been long enough for anyone to deliberately tell her about what had happened, so he simply took the initiative to tell her.

When Brown Gold Island was trapped and submerged, some people organized a self-rescue effort, while others acted selfishly, looting supplies. To stop the conflict,

Seeing that the seemingly harmless Hansite suddenly made a move, breaking the necks of the two troublemakers and successfully using them to solve the food shortage problem.

Trapped underground, everyone treated him with deference. After his rescue, however, they gossiped about him behind his back. This bored Hansite, and he began to contemplate wandering far away and dying wherever he pleased.

Hansite didn't talk to the little girl about human flesh. He changed the subject with something else, "I was tidying up the house when a Butterfly flew in."

"Butterfly?" Younier asked, puzzled. "Why would there be Butterfly this season?"

Brown Gold Island is not as cold as the Northern Lands, but it is still winter.

"I found it just as strange," Hansite said. "I don't know why I followed them, and then I saw Mr. Su and Miss Rui Shou handing out candy in the square."

It was a Butterfly entirely black, its delicate scales shimmering with an eerie light; Hansite was captivated the moment he saw it.

"Perhaps, it's the guidance of fate?" Younier said.

****

"God said, 'Sing!'" came the Gospel from the other side.

"Singing is allowed, but no whistling!" Su Ming warned. He actually quite enjoyed listening to hymns; the Temple of Light was quite adept at disseminating the arts, but unfortunately, Zijin never sang a word.

The spirit of the Gospel spoke, and a bright, clear song rang out, "Hey yo~, our mountain songs are sung by cart~ yo~~"

"..."

Zijin chuckled, "Your Earth songs are quite charming!"