Crossing the Lower Ridge Mountains

Yise knew about her mother Katharine's visit to the Northern Lands. As the Empress of the Star Empire, the Cold Mountain Kingdom needed to arrange for someone of equal status to receive and accompany her.

The second princess of the royal family in the Northern Lands would be a perfect match.

Yise gripped her tightly, but Dafulin did not struggle. She used the pain to try to recall the situation, "There were so many enemies—we were scattered, Queen Katharine escaped!"

"When did this happen? Where were you attacked?" Yise gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

The deal between the Church of the God of Light and the Star Empire was far from peaceful on the surface. Internal disputes and infighting were rampant, even affecting Katharine, who was meant to be the "link." Her mother arranged for Yise to come to the Northern Lands, and she herself, under the guise of supervising the work of the Cold Mountain Branch, took her newborn brother away from the vortex. Since she was being sidelined anyway, she deliberately fled the eye of the storm and let those in power have their way with her.

"Two days ago, at dusk, at Galloping Horse Slope in the Lower Ridge Mountains!" Dafulin replied. After being captured by the enemy, she had been blindfolded and frequently moved, making everything seem hazy and confused, but she still managed to remember the time.

The Watcher Girl jumped onto the snowmobile prepared by Akosita and his group, discarded the excess supplies, and then immediately started it up.

"Zephlin, escort the princess to safety!" Jielusi handed Dafulin over to her companion, then caught up with the sled and nimbly jumped on.

"Alright!" Zephlin agreed. "Yise, don't panic, Lady Katharine won't be defeated so easily!" Jielusi comforted her.

The watcher girl nodded. "I know, I'll stay calm."

Very few people knew that Yise was Katharine's daughter; Jielusi was one of them.

The snow plane quickly left Lisi City, Yise, just as he had said, began to calm down and plan the route to Galloping Horse Slope.

Jielusi noticed a button-like object stuck to the girl's cloak, reached out and removed it, asking, "What's this?"

Yise glanced at it, picked it up, and tested it with Magic Power, only to see a wisp of green smoke rising from it.

"Strange alchemical artifacts," she said, glancing in the direction the alchemist had ridden away on his unicorn. "They're a gift from Graves in return."

****

As expected, Su Ming, who was on the back of the unicorn, found another small piece of transparent crystal on its body.

"Yise's doing this way a bit too skillfully, isn't he?" Su Ming complained. He stuffed the crystal into the inside pocket of his forbidden magic cloak, so that whatever its function might be, it would be blocked.

He turned on the walkie-talkie and connected to the Youth Civilization. "Zijin, I overheard something: Katharine has also come to the Ice Plains."

The scholar was astonished, "She only gave birth a month ago!"

"Katharine was attacked two days ago at Galloping Horse Slope," Su Ming continued. "Princess Dafulin was with her; we just rescued her. She said Katharine escaped."

Zijin's hand tightened, and she immediately reached for the map. "Is there any more information?"

"That's it," Su Ming said. "The bugging device was destroyed after that."

"Su Ming, can we go to Galloping Horse Slope?" Zijin asked.

Su Ming chose a mountain crossing point in the more desolate northern region. Galloping Horse Slope, on the other hand, is located on the more prosperous southern side of the ice plains, along the trade route from Moon Bay City to Bubing City. The two are more than 500 kilometers apart.

"The Youth Civilization can't get through the steep slope of Galloping Horse Slope," Su Ming explained to the scholars. "Hurry up and prepare; we must leave immediately when I return!"

"Understood."

After the communication ended, Su Ming and the unicorn landed next to the snowmobile, and the two rode back on a motorcycle.

Qiluo suddenly pricked up her ears, looked up at the sky, and carefully sensed it.

Su Ming immediately tensed up, "What's wrong?"

"The weather's about to change; there's a blizzard coming at dawn," the unicorn replied.

Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that no one is chasing us. Don't be so jumpy, it's kind of scary."

****

Standing before the ruins of the exploded Lisi City, Zephlin watched the sled drive away, a sigh escaping his lips.

What started as a kidnapping case of a young girl has escalated into a serious situation as the investigation continues, making it impossible to return to Shafeng'er Town anytime soon.

With Alessandro Morton dead, Lord Morton will surely demand an explanation. As a party involved in the incident, the Temple of Light in the Northern Lands must carefully clarify responsibilities, and Zephlin meticulously considered his response strategy.

Moreover, Princess Dafulin is a hot potato, and her safety needs to be protected. Gathering the forces of the nearby Temple of Light for her protection and contacting Bubing City for a handover are things that must be done immediately.

Several priests turned over the ruins, moved the fragments from the depths of the cellar, and laid them on the ground. They found the parts of their fallen comrades, pieced them together, and examined them.

A priest suddenly exclaimed in surprise. Zephlin walked over and, following his gaze, looked at a relatively intact body at his feet.

The body was already crushed and deformed, but Alessandro could be identified from his clothing. The priest picked up a severed hand, shook it,

A whole bunch of alchemical parts fell out of it.

"A puppet?" Zephlin asked incredulously, as he hadn't noticed anything unusual.

He stepped forward to examine it; it was an exquisitely crafted puppet. He lifted the outer skin and discovered that the internal structure was even more complex.

"It has a spirit storage structure; it's a puppet controlled by a puppeteer who divides a portion of their soul and possesses it," said a priest who had some knowledge of puppets. "That's why it behaves indistinguishably from a real person."

Zephlin felt a headache coming on, but at least he no longer had to worry about how to explain things to Lord Morton.

On the contrary, the fact that this puppet deliberately blocked Su Ming's trajectory just now is quite intriguing.

"Now that we've dealt with Princess Dafulin, Lord Morton and this mysterious Alessandro should be thoroughly investigated!" Zephlin pondered.

****

Su Ming returned to the Youth Civilization and immediately began checking the train's readiness.

Zijin had something to say, but Su Ming gestured for a moment. "We must set off immediately," he said to the scholar. "First, we must cross the Lower Ridge Mountains."

Galloping Horse Slope, it's unlikely that Yise was the only one heading there. Search and rescue teams from all directions would inevitably radiate outwards from the scene, and the area to their north would certainly not be spared.

This would significantly increase the risk of the Youth Civilization being exposed, and with a blizzard approaching, quickly crossing the mountains and entering the First Tier of the Icefield is definitely the right thing to do.

All the labor force, including idols, skeletons, and zombies, worked diligently to complete the final touches on the train's preparations. The boiler power was increased to maximum, and the steam pressure rose rapidly.

Zijin completed her terrain magic, creating a smooth ramp on the bank of the Sang River. The Youth Civilization slowly started up amidst the crunching sounds of ice being crushed, then accelerated, rushing down the ramp out of the river and heading towards the designated mountain crossing point.

Su Ming released two newly added hexagonal drones, which advanced at high speed. The terrain radars on the drones were activated, and terrain data of the hilly area was quickly transmitted back. The navigation software calculated a suitable route and synchronized it to the display screen in the cockpit.

This is software that Su Ming commissioned from Millet Studio.

"Turn 15 degrees to the left ahead, slope 0.4%, cylinder cutoff ratio 60%," Hansite commanded.

"I think 62.5% is more appropriate," the Gospel Idol objected. "Also, please have manual coal shoveling."

Although there are automatic coal feeders, manual labor is still more advantageous when it comes to preparing the coal bed. Qiluo reluctantly lifted the large shovel.

A layer of coal was spread over the edges and corners of the firebed, and the girl's small figure looked particularly pitiful in the firelight from the opening and closing of the furnace.

"Qiluo, put in more effort!" Zijin warned, "Last time you were suspended, you accumulated 105 hours of punishment."

"But you didn't say the punishment would be shoveling coal!" the unicorn protested.

"Hanging them up like before is fine," Su Ming said. "Tonight we'll fry lotus root slices in oil."

Qiluo immediately grabbed the shovel and started throwing coal, shouting, "I want to eat two hundred!"

Younier, in coordination with Qiluo, operated the automatic coal feeder, using steam to blow pulverized coal into the furnace for combined combustion.

The steam locomotive is powered by the furnace firebox; proper coal burning techniques are equivalent to increasing the throttle. Su Ming glanced at it and saw that the Youth Civilization was able to maintain a stable speed of about 13 kilometers per hour.

It must be said that the extensive experience of these software Gospel, including so many Thought Entity, truly made up for the shortcomings of industrial control software.

Fully leverage the capabilities of the Youth Civilization Train.

Otherwise, with newbies like Su Ming, they would be in as bad a state as possible.

****

"We're about to enter the alluvial sector, a 60/1000 slope!" Su Ming warned, based on drone data.

Su Ming chose the old riverbed of the Sang River from thousands of years ago, where there is a relatively gentle fan-shaped slope at the entrance. The front of the car was raised, Gospel quickly pulled the cylinder cutoff ratio to the highest and opened the valve to the maximum.

Zijin also activated the Rain Condensation Magic Array installed in the cylinder. Under normal circumstances, when steam is filled into one side of the cylinder, steam is released from the other side, thereby driving the piston to reciprocate.

However, the scholars designed a magical auxiliary system that allowed the side that should have been venting to directly condense the steam into water inside the cylinder for recycling.

This causes a sudden drop in pressure, which, in conjunction with the high-pressure steam on the other side, pushes and pulls the piston.

This significantly increases the vehicle's power, but it consumes some magic crystals and can only be used for short periods.

With the help of the magic-assisted system, the train's speed remained stable at about 8 kilometers per hour. The Youth Civilization, like a tenacious stick insect, clung to the edge of the Lower Ridge Mountains and climbed upwards steadily, arch by arch.

After a full half hour, the train ventured deeper into the mountains from the edge. With continuous energy expenditure, the boiler's water level and pressure were approaching critical levels. Meanwhile, the slope ahead grew increasingly narrow and steeper.

"Stop the car," Su Ming said.

Gospel quickly closed the valve and retracted the handle, bringing the already struggling train to a stop.

Zijin flew out of the train, summoned the Divine Favor Scepter, and cast a spell. Countless rock pillars burst forth from the ground, surrounding the Youth Civilization and locking each carriage firmly to prevent it from sliding down.

After the last rollover incident, the scholars rewrote new spells to prevent the car from rolling away.

Next, everyone inspected the locomotive, organized the water and coal reserves, cleaned the ash from the grate, replenished the water inside the boiler, and reheated and pressurized it.

Unlike internal combustion engines, steam equipment continuously consumes steam pressure when operating under high load, causing the system temperature to drop. Of course, this also means that it has energy storage capacity and can unleash power exceeding the average level in a short period of time. However, on such a long slope, Su Ming had to arrange for a stop halfway to restart steam and store water for pressure.

Su Ming also retrieved the drone and replaced its battery.

It took a full half hour for the temperature and pressure of the two locomotives to climb back to their maximum levels.

Zijin flew out of the cockpit and continued to use low-intensity terrain magic to clear a smooth path several kilometers ahead. Finally, she erected a solid rock wall behind the Youth Civilization before removing the rock pillars securing the carriages.

The train slid backward, with the last carriage pressing against the rock wall and the front carriage pressing against the front carriage, closing all the gaps.

Once the train had come to a complete stop, everyone checked the overall condition of the train again.

"Alright, get ready to start uphill," Su Ming said. He had failed his driving test once because of this, and it had left him with a lingering fear of it.

"God says, 'Go up!'" Gospel's eyes lit up, and he immediately pulled the valve to its maximum, then steadily controlled the handle and steering, tightening the rear compartments one by one and pulling them out.

Everyone was taken aback by the violent start. "Gospel, be gentle!" Su Ming said angrily.

"God said, 'Stand firm!'" The Gospel immediately responded.

"God never said that, so you better drive carefully!"

As Lu Xun said, "Let the storm rage on!"

"Don't argue with it, it's famous for its gossip," Zijin interjected. "I've never been able to win an argument with it before."

Although the Gospel's initial movement was suspected of being aggressive, the Youth Civilization continued smoothly forward. However, when the thirtieth carriage was also pulled, the train could no longer increase its speed.

Zijin slammed her staff on the carriage floor. "Levitation!"

The weight of the entire train immediately decreased by almost half, and the speed began to increase again. However, as the speed increased, the pressure on Zijin increased significantly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

"Slow down the speed, Ailisha can't handle it if it's too fast!" Su Ming reminded Gospel, who immediately limited the speed to maintain traction.

Once the train had successfully started and left the temporary parking area, Zijin withdrew her spell.

The vehicle lurched slightly, but this time it stabilized, and the Youth Civilization resumed its journey up the mountain.

Zijin collapsed onto the floor. Su Ming went over to check on her and found that although she was tired, she was not completely exhausted.

He took Zijin back to the workshop to rest, "After increasing the speed, your Magic Power can't keep up?"

"Yes, the consumption is much higher than expected."

As expected, magic involves the concept of energy. Zijin reduced the weight of the vehicle, but she had to expend her own Magic Power to compensate for the increase in gravitational potential energy.

****

With its boiler fully charged, the train faced the rugged mountain road with much more strength. It climbed steadily, traversing the bumpy, fan-shaped peaks, and entered the passage between the mountain valleys.

The road at the bottom of the canyon was much smoother due to the constant erosion from the water flow, and the boiler's condition stabilized. Gospel brought the speed back up to over 13 kilometers per hour, and the industrial control system began to restore the boiler's steam pressure and water level.