Star Sand's First Arrival

Zijin felt a little sleepy, got up and said, "I'm going to sleep." Then she left the workroom.

Katharine's previous injuries hadn't fully healed, and after a harrowing escape, she was utterly exhausted. She lay back on the bed, saying, "I'll rest for a bit before analyzing the situation."

"Give me the child." Su Ming walked over and took the little Tuanzi from her arms.

He communicated with Hansite through his headset to check on the situation. The train was running normally, but the carriages were swaying quite a bit.

Younier happened to come looking for him, and that was exactly what she wanted to discuss.

"This section of the road is covered in snow and gravel, and many of the steering blades are damaged," she reported to Su Ming.

Su Ming had encountered this type of problem before when they were navigating the first phase, and he had already instructed the design studio on Earth to take countermeasures. He had Miao Xin check the progress and found that things were going smoothly.

"We're already preparing to replace it with a flexible structure; we'll do it during the next maintenance," Su Ming said to Younier.

Su Ming then left the work carriage, but the little Tuanzi was taken away by Younier. She said that her fracture was no longer a problem.

This is no problem.

****

Although only a few minutes had passed, when Su Ming arrived at the room in the living area, Zijin was already asleep, curled up in her blanket. The girl's sleeping face was very peaceful, neither as cold and fierce as when she was fighting, nor as focused as when she was doing research.

In the past few days, he noticed that Zijin spends most of her time sleeping on her stomach, wondering if it was a habit left over from being a dragon.

But thinking about it carefully, she didn't have this characteristic when I first met her.

The malfunctioning corrective blade caused increased noise in the carriage, with unpleasant scraping sounds frequently heard. Su Ming reached out and set up a soundproof barrier for Zijin. The priority now was to ensure she got enough rest and recovered her strength as quickly as possible.

However, the spell encountered unexpected interference, and the runes collapsed as soon as they were constructed.

Su Ming was baffled; the difficulty of this spell was already within his capabilities. He searched for the cause and quickly suspected Zijin's bed.

Su Ming lifted the thin quilt and, sure enough, found a layer of neatly laid-out Celestial Gold underneath.

"That's really how dragons behave!" he couldn't help but complain. But Celestial Gold's characteristic is to stabilize spells, so this definitely wasn't the culprit. Su Ming turned his gaze to Zijin's pillow. He reached out and pressed it, feeling the hard texture at his fingertips—it was indeed Magic Crystal Core core inside!

Ever since learning of Zijin's intentions, Su Ming had kept these crystal cores well hidden. He had wrapped them in bone and used them as the floorboards of a truck. Presumably, it was during the past few days when he took out half of them to make a reflector that he inadvertently exposed them.

Omniscient Vision is truly impossible to defend against!

Su Ming gently pushed Zijin to his side of the bed, and this time he finally succeeded in releasing the silencing barrier.

Then he collected all the Celestial Gold and Magic Crystal Core and hid them in a different way.

After all the fuss, Su Ming finally returned to his room, climbed into bed, and lay down. He reflexively checked on the Tuanzi, only to find that he didn't need to take care of the child tonight.

Outside the window, amidst swirling ice shards, the Youth Civilization sped along, leaving its enemies further and further behind.

****

It was nearly midnight when Younier was woken up by the Tuanzi. She made milk and changed the diaper.

Then the little guy refused to sleep. The noise wasn't loud, but it still woke up Su Ming next door.

He opened his eyes; the Youth Civilization was still advancing in the night. This was the advantage of mechanical power. Even the strongest snowfield field force of the White Graupel Cavalry had to obediently camp and rest after a day's march. Perhaps the personnel could persevere, but the livestock would not be able to keep up.

Steam trains, however, can run non-stop for 26 hours.

Looking to the side, the silencing barrier was functioning normally, Zijin was still lying there asleep, a trace of glistening liquid dripping from the corner of her mouth.

Su Ming arrived at the workspace and saw that Katharine was already up. She had transformed the long table into a sand table, adorned with various flags.

She only rested for a short while before getting up and continuing to work.

Su Ming glanced at the interlayer of the car window and found some broth and wraps. He took them out and put them in the microwave to heat up. The outside temperature was minus twenty or thirty degrees Celsius, so the temperature inside the interlayer of the window was also below zero. Everyone was used to using this place as a refrigerator.

Then Su Ming walked to the sand table and asked Katharine, "How's the analysis going?"

"Our current situation is somewhat like a three-way encirclement," Katharine, pointing to the model on the sand table. "This train has a relatively limited route. Behind us are the White Graupel Cavalry. After crossing the Red Fruit Slope of the Middle Ridge Mountain Range, to our left is the Bubing City Guard, and to our right—" She planted a yellow flag on the sand table, "The noble army of the Northern Lands Lords' Alliance. Their Black Territory isn't too far away; they might block the old river channel and intercept us."

"Will the noble army also participate in the encirclement?" Su Ming frowned.

"I recognize a few of the mages from that daytime squad; I can confirm they belong to the Noble Army's mage corps," Katharine sighed. "I'm starting to understand your predicament back then. How did you manage to come to the Northern Lands and find yourselves surrounded by enemies?" She slammed her fist on the table. "Completely absurd!"

"The noble army's combat effectiveness isn't very good, is it?" Su Ming asked. The old river channel isn't very close to Black Territory either, and maneuvering over under these weather conditions to intercept them requires a certain level of skill from the troops.

"The noble army is quite large, and it includes elite troops," Katharine said. "It's best to avoid them. Do we have more options?"

Su Ming shook his head and said, "No, the Youth Civilization has limited climbing ability and is very picky about terrain."

"Then there's nothing we can do," Katharine said. "Jimite, the leader of the noble army, is a formidable figure. He can't hide the characteristics of the Youth Civilization from us, so we need to prepare for battle."

"If battle is unavoidable, we can break through either side in open combat," Su Ming also revealed his team's strength, "But we'll need some time to prepare."

"Impressive!" Katharine gave Su Ming a thumbs up. "Let me think about which way to break through; this requires a lot of deduction."

****

"Let's discuss another issue first, which is why things turned out this way." Su Ming tapped the table. "I don't intend to shift the blame to you, and I know that even if I give up on you now, it won't solve the problem." He spoke frankly, "But I need to know the reason for this situation!"

"I'm sorry, I'd love to answer your question," Katharine said with a wry smile, "But I really don't know. I'm not stupid, and I haven't offended any of these forces. There's definitely something fishy about their assassination attempt on me!"

Are you sure you didn't do something without realizing it?

"It's precisely because I know myself," Katharine said seriously, "That I realize I'm not worthy of any of this!"

Katharine is the Empress of the Stars and an official of the Temple of Light. But compared to the survival of the nation, this status is insignificant. The current situation is already on the brink of disaster for the Cold Mountain Kingdom. If they can successfully kill her, erase all traces, and find a scapegoat of sufficient importance to frame her, they might still have a chance to avoid a complete falling out with the Star Empire.

"This is all indeed illogical," Su Ming said, "But that's just how it is."

"If only we had a communications tower," Katharine said. "This is the first time I've ever encountered a situation where everything is completely black out and we have absolutely no information."

"That's why I wanted to ask," Su Ming said, repeating Zijin's earlier question, "Your Majesty, what exactly did you do?"

When the scholars asked questions, Katharine seemed to avoid the topic, and Su Ming was certain that something was amiss.

"I truly haven't provoked any of these forces," Katharine said. "I have a good relationship with the members of the Cold Mountain Royal Family, and we've cooperated on many occasions. I don't have much interaction with the Northern Lands nobles, but I've absolutely not offended them."

"Please mention other aspects as well," Su Ming insisted.

Katharine hesitated for a moment, then sat down again at the long table. "It's something I can't say, and it's unrelated to this incident."

Su Ming extended his palm, signaling the Empress of the Stars to continue.

After some hesitation, Katharine finally decided to concede, "I can tell you, but you need to promise that you absolutely cannot tell Ailisha what happened before I leave."

As expected, something was up. I knew this guy was no pushover! Su Ming's eyelids twitched, and he nodded in agreement, "Okay."

****

With a ding, the microwave countdown ended. Su Ming took out the heated broth and served a bowl to Katharine.

Katharine picked up her spoon and drank her soup. "It all started at the church. Shortly after Ailisha left the college, I was assigned to work in the church's Gospel department. I was diligent and capable, and quickly rose through the ranks to become a middle manager, but that was the end of it."

Katharine was just an ordinary person with no connections; this was the end for her.

"I didn't like this kind of predictable life, nor did I like the stagnant, greasy, and disgusting upper management in the church, so I started thinking about how to break all of this."

Su Ming heated up the wrap, returned to the long table, and started eating it with the soup.

"Isn't it ridiculous?" Katharine said. "A mere priest, with nothing better to do, dares to challenge the behemoth that is the Church."

"Is your plan to rise to power and lead the reform of the church?" Su Ming asked.

"How could that be?" Katharine said. "At that time, I didn't know the Imperial War God, nor did I know Xialike, and I had no connections whatsoever. I wasn't dealing with just a few people, but with a group of powerful clans like the Divine Covenant Faction, whose interests were intertwined and interconnected!"

She unfolded the alchemy book "Blue Bamboo Slips and Rue" on the table, revealing a densely packed list of titles. "This is a keepsake left to me by my mother."

It contains all the historical documents of this world.

Su Ming didn't have much free time; he had only skimmed through the general history section. "So?"

"I found a solution in the history of this world—it's impossible to deal with a class by relying on individual strength alone; it requires another class. Dynastic changes and the vicissitudes of life are all examples of this."

Su Mo's eyes lit up immediately. He had thought it would be a clichéd power struggle story, and he was quite surprised by this development.

"Creating a new social class? I'd like to hear more details!"

Katharine shook her head. "It wasn't me. It all stemmed from Ailisha. Her deciphering of the Divine Language greatly reduced the difficulty of learning it, allowing ordinary believers to wield this power that was originally monopolized by the higher-ups."

Divine Language and magic?

Su Ming recalled what Zijin had told him not long ago about her Divine Language study notes.

"Using my position in the Gospel Fellowship, I privately distributed teaching materials on the New Divine Language to the general public, promoting the concept of equality. At first, it was just me, but it quickly formed a small group, then an organization. Eventually, it continued to expand, with more and more members, until the church noticed."

Su Ming looked up at the woman in front of him, who was holding a bowl of soup and biting into a crepe that had hardened a bit from being microwaved. A complex and indescribable feeling suddenly welled up in his eyes.

"I've always been cautious and haven't been caught red-handed, but the emerging elite commoners have become the scapegoats. They've been successively exiled to the Northern Lands by the temple's higher-ups, gradually forming the Northern Stream faction."

"Wait a moment, let me explain!" Su Ming reached out to stop Katharine. Katharine had skipped over something crucial: the speed at which she had developed this organization from scratch was simply too fast!

More fragmented details surfaced before my eyes and suddenly connected together.

"You dare do this?!" Su Ming exclaimed in shock, "Ailisha really will kill you!"

****

Five days ago, on the night before the blizzard, Su Ming and Zijin drove a snowmobile across the icy plains, searching for Katharine's whereabouts.

The search process was incredibly boring, so the two of them kept trying to find topics to talk about.

"What foolish thing did you do when you left the academy?" Su Ming asked the scholar, "You actually let little girl Katharine rescue you."

"It's all because of the Divine Language," Zijin sighed. "That old, broken language, with its chaotic abbreviations and unclear meanings, has been incredibly frustrating for me to study."

The scholar mastered the vast majority of languages in the other world. Moreover, although both had received the "Comprehend Languages" spell, Zijin was able to use Chinese and English fluently in just two days, much faster than Su Ming.

Even with her linguistic talent, if she can't find fault, then this "Divine Language" must be extremely bizarre.

"Besides rote memorization, there's absolutely no other way. It's inefficient and slows down progress," Zijin continued. "Then, in a fit of anger, I went to find the original data on the Divine Language to see why it was so bizarre."

"Original data?"

"It's the inscription," Zijin explained. "The books that have been passed down from it have been copied repeatedly, and I suspect that too many errors have accumulated in the process."

Alphabetical languages lack self-correcting capabilities, making them prone to various variations during copying and resulting in vastly different versions.

It's normal for Zijin to have this thought.

"However, I visited several sites with inscribed stone tablets bearing Divine Language and did not find any problems in this regard," the scholar continued.

"What did you do next?" Su Ming raised an eyebrow, knowing that the girl would never let the matter rest.

"A common archaeological technique, ' Reverse Object Reversion, ' I suppose," Zijin said casually. "Since we can't find any problems with the current inscription, let's restore it to its original state."

"No, no, no, this isn't something archaeologists usually do!" Su Ming protested. "Reverse Object Reversion" can indeed recreate the initial state, but the recreated object will be reduced to ashes. No archaeologist does that!