Reconstructing the Princess Kidnapping Incident
Su Ming felt a little embarrassed, but suddenly realized that this was indeed a serious problem. He was always criticized here for being indecisive, but there was actually room for improvement in this regard.
But if Zijin were to go to Earth, given her ruthless and bloodthirsty nature—
"I will teach you properly!" Su Ming said firmly.
"I accept your control over me using the White Bone Mark, restricting me from doing things that violate Earth's laws and morals." Zijin's tone was unusually serious. "If I cause trouble and become an enemy of the whole world over there, then I'll truly have nowhere to go!"
****
Arriving before the soul of the Feather Race Magister, the two gracefully leaped down from their staffs.
"If Deacon Bulenleifu were still alive, you would not have won!" The dark blue soul flame flickered violently in the air, emanating a mental fluctuation filled with resentment.
Bulenleifu, the Grand Puppeteer, is one of the strongest warriors in the noble army, playing a crucial role on the battlefield. In Katharine's wargame simulations, he has disrupted the battle plans on numerous occasions. The Youth Civilization has yet to directly confront him on its journey so far.
So he's dead?
"I remember you said you had a good relationship with the Feather Race?" Su Ming asked. "This one seems to hate us a lot."
"I have a good relationship with their entire clan, but those individuals who have sided with the nobles and become their lackeys are not among them," Zijin said calmly.
The spirit in the air continued to release mental fluctuations, "Chairman Jimite will avenge me and slaughter you all!"
"Why is he so fierce?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.
"Er Gouzi is even fiercer than his master. Isn't that how it is where you are?" Zijin retorted.
"... They're the same," Su Ming said.
Zijin sensed it for a moment, "The Divine Favor Scepter is quite obedient this time."
Su Ming also looked at his wrist. "The Dawn and Dusk Bracelet didn't take shape; it seems it has no interest in this level of 'material'."
Thinking about how the Dawn and Dusk Bracelet had absorbed Yexiya's corpse, Zijin complained with slight dissatisfaction, "I wonder which creator was so willful to use Saint Rank corpse as material." She pouted, "How extravagant!"
Su Ming really wanted to say that, from Earth's perspective, the Heavenly Father of the Gospel was the real extravagant waste. A mere Saint Rank being would pale in comparison to the true god of industry.
Su Ming reached out and conjured the spell "Soul Punishment," a dark, eerie light enveloping the souls in the air.
"Answer a few questions, and I won't let you suffer, how about that?" he asked.
The soul seemed oblivious, continuing to utter resentful mutterings, "You will go to hell!"
Zijin suddenly stopped Su Ming, blocking his spell. "This soul state is wrong." She focused her gaze and observed carefully. "Oh no, it's already dissipated!"
Su Ming looked at the corpse and noticed a collar around the neck of the Feather Race Magister, with faint runes on it indicating the disintegration of the wearer's soul after death. Jimite must have been unwilling to equip the necessary magical items for the exorcism, and used a cheap substitute instead.
"If the soul is scattered, we can't get any information?" Su Ming frowned.
"Yes, you could say he's lost his mind," Zijin replied. "But this cheap solution doesn't completely solve the problem; the memory remains. I have another way!"
She took Su Ming's hand, initiated Mind Synchronization, and raised her other hand, "Soul-Tracing Reflection!"
The souls of the Feather Race were directly decomposed, turning into tiny specks of light that surrounded Su Ming and Zijin. Zijin extracted and integrated the memory components from them, and a series of scenes unfolded in the minds of the two.
Su Ming hadn't seen this spell described in any spellbooks; it was clearly something the scholar lady had modified herself. She always used this method to rewrite the rules.
****
Zijin selected the nearest image, and the scene immediately expanded, unfolding the memories of the Feather Race Magister:
Bang! A Bone Spear pierced through his body, revealing the scene of their final battle.
Su Ming found it novel; the memories remaining in his soul were presented from the perspective of Feather Race Magister. In the memory scene, he was standing on the opposite side, launching a follow-up attack on the Feather Race.
At that time, Su Ming deliberately kept his distance, used the Thorn Long Whip to cast "Arcane Collapse" to destroy the opponent's defense, and then used "Elemental Fade" to eliminate his Flight Spell.
Knowing he had no hope of survival, the Feather Race attempted to unleash all his Magic Power to perish together with Su Ming. But before he could even do so, Zijin's distant "Negative Energy Torrent" completely ended his life.
Su Ming couldn't help but sigh, the most tragic thing is to do everything in your power to perish together with the enemy, only to find that the enemy has no idea about it.
"Maintaining distance is the right thing to do," Zijin commented. "This tactical discipline should be maintained."
[Thank you for the compliment, I'm just afraid of dying.]
Those who do not know the fear of death have already gotten what they wanted.
****
Memory exhausted, image fades, automatically switches to the next scene:
Four hours earlier, Jimite was giving instructions to the Feather Race Magister, with a companion beside him.
"Quasimodo, you and Castor go to Returning Bird Bay together."
This appears to be a scene of Jimite assigning tasks before departure. Quasimodo then sets off with his companions.
Zijin manipulated the scene, quickly skipping over the two Feather Race traveling and switching to the moment they approached the battlefield.
Quasimodo, realizing the battle had begun, Castor to observe from a distance while he ventured into the battlefield to investigate the details.
Zijin noted down Castor's hiding place, and then the scene changed again.
****
This was a military meeting held a day earlier. Quasimodo and two other Feather Race were assigned to stand guard outside the command post, while the officers gathered inside the temporary command post to discuss matters.
Su Ming shook his head. The Feather Race is highly mobile, making them suitable for battlefield reconnaissance and intelligence transmission, Jimite clearly likes to use them. However, he excludes them from military decision-making, Quasimodo knows nothing about core military secrets.
Zijin continued to switch scenes forward, but they were all insignificant. As time progressed, the scenes became fragmented, indicating that the Feather Race's memories were becoming incomplete, with only the most memorable events remaining in their memory.
About ten days ago, the scene had become sparse. But suddenly, a scene caught Su Ming's attention: [It's Lisi City, look at this!]
Zijin immediately led Su Ming into this memory, where Quasimodo and another person were standing on the balcony of a building in Lisi City, gazing ahead.
Su Ming immediately recognized that what they were looking at was Akosita's residence—the house of the businessman who kidnapped a girl, had nowhere else to turn, and ultimately detonated explosives to kill himself and others.
The other person on the balcony was a very large, obese man. Strangely, his body kept switching between gears and human form, appearing as if it were collapsing.
[Who is this?] Zijin was puzzled. Her memories were often blurry or fragmented, but this was the first time she had ever seen such a back-and-forth switching phenomenon.
[The build and clothing were those of Alessandro.] Su Ming recognized the person, [but the face was nothing like his.]
Zijin pondered for a moment Bulenleifu, then suddenly realized, "[Bulenleifu?]"
This memory comes from Quasimodo, who knows that the "person" in front of him with the appearance of Alessandro is actually a puppet controlled by Bulenleifu, which is why such a bizarre scene is presented.
Alessandro was a puppet? Su Ming immediately realized that what happened in Lisi City was far more complicated than it appeared!
[View all related memories!] he said to Zijin.
****
Ten days ago, in the tower of Lisi City.
The Lords' Alliance's chief deacon, Bulenleifu, watched as Yise led his squad of priests into the hut opposite the human trafficker Akosita. A satisfied smile appeared on his face, which bore a striking resemblance to the real Alessandro.
He himself was not present, but rather controlled the puppet through a soul-splitting technique. This technique allowed him to advance multiple projects simultaneously, and even if the puppet encountered an accident, his split soul could return to his main body. Although this required a considerable price, it was absolutely worthwhile compared to the convenience and benefits it brought.
At this moment, he is carrying out an important plan—to assassinate Dafulin!
Killing Dafulin wasn't the hardest part; the real challenge was preventing the Cold Mountain Royal Family from finding fault with him, which required a sufficient number and weight of scapegoats. Therefore, he carried out this task with extreme caution and intricate procedures.
First, there was Asitake, the greedy merchant, and his mercenaries. When they received the commission to transport Princess Dafulin out of the Northern Lands, they actually dared to accept it. Asitake demanded an extremely high price, Bulenleifu paid half of it as a deposit, successfully handing Dafulin over to these madmen.
Then there are the buyers. Recently, a group of extremely wealthy clients have appeared in the Ice Age, buying up young girls on a large scale. Their identities and backgrounds are unknown, but it doesn't matter; they can be used as scapegoats regardless of their powerful backgrounds. In order to get rid of the ordinary girls he has, Asitake has arranged to meet with this group for a transaction that night. Whether these customers come or not, they will be framed as princess buyers in the subsequent investigation.
Finally, there's the heavyweight squad: the priests of the Northern Lands Temple of Light! Bulenleifu knows that Yise and his men will operate at night, but the specifics don't matter. They'll storm in no matter what, subdue or kill the mercenaries, and rescue the kidnapped girls.
But here's the trump card: all the girls tied up in the cellar with Princess Dafulin were planted there by him! They will poison Dafulin after nightfall, turning her into a corpse. Then, even if Yise has a thousand mouths to speak, he won't be able to clear his name of responsibility when he carries out the rescue operation!
These girls will testify to each other, and no one would suspect that these kidnapped girls are the real murderers!
****
Bulenleifu led Quasimodo to the Sheriff's Office in Lisi City. They entered the sheriff's office, opened a closet, and inside lay an unconscious fat man—the real Alessandro.
Bulenleifu checked his breathing to confirm that the fat man was still alive.
This was the fourth scapegoat he had prepared. He was operating here under the identity of Alessandro, pushing forward all matters, and overseeing the plan to ensure its smooth execution. Once it was done, all he had to do was destroy the puppet, and all the additional blame would fall on this poor fat man and the lord Morton, who was unable to defend himself.
Let the wrath of the Cold Mountain Kingdom be borne by them!
Bulenleifu smugly imagined the plan going perfectly, and if he was lucky, the group of mysterious young female buyers would arrive before Yise's operation, and the three parties would converge for a chaotic battle, making things even more ideal!
All of this came to an abrupt end when he saw a unicorn enter the police station!
When Qiluo, disguised as a little girl, strode in and reported that Asitake had kidnapped a girl and was hiding her in the cellar, Bulenleifu was nearly speechless with shock.
What on earth is going on? Why is a unicorn here? And what's going on?
Bulenleifu couldn't understand the situation, but he decided to execute the plan ahead of schedule. He was very good at adapting to changing circumstances, so he quickly came up with a solution.
Using his identity as Acting Sheriff Alessandro, he gathered the guards of the Sheriff's Office and made a grand entrance to Akosita's residence. Of course, he wouldn't actually go inside; he just needed to make a scene at the entrance to alert the priest squad led by Yise, forcing them to act ahead of schedule.
At the same time, he ordered Quasimodo to immediately inform the girls in the cellar to poison Dafulin immediately, without waiting until nightfall.
Just as Quasimodo was gathering his magic to send a message, the unicorn suddenly pricked up its ears and looked over warily. In the breeze, the little girl's green hair fluttered against the wind.
Damn it! Bulenleifu suddenly realized: the wind is the unicorn's ally! Using Wind Message Spell at such close range would be tantamount to exposing our conspiracy.
Kill her?
Bulenleifu quickly dismissed the idea. Unicorns are tough and resilient; a quick victory wouldn't be possible. If things escalated, the entire plan would be exposed.
Just then, a waiter carrying a food basket passed by. Bulenleifu recognized him as the person delivering food to the mercenaries and immediately attached a hamster puppet to him.
The man seemed to sense something and looked back, puzzled. But his winter clothes were thick, and he didn't notice the extra little thing on his body.
Bulenleifu breathed a sigh of relief. The waiter went inside to collect the dishes and brought the puppet hamster into the house. He continued to pretend to argue at the door while secretly controlling the hamster puppet to kill people.
Perfect!
Just as Bulenleifu was secretly pleased with his cleverness, the waiter was stopped by a young man near their destination. The waiter then handed over his apron and basket to the young man and ran away.
It's just getting some cutlery, why were they suddenly replaced?
Bulenleifu felt his blood rush to his head. He forced himself to calm down; Yise and the priest squad were right there, he couldn't make any rash moves, he couldn't expose himself.
"Stay here. If things get dangerous, evacuate immediately," he whispered to Quasimodo, while tucking another puppet hamster into his robes.
He had no choice but to take matters into his own hands!
In the illusory memory scene, Zijin and Su Ming stared in disbelief.
"That Bulenleifu must have had the worst luck to run into you guys," Zijin sighed.
Bulenleifu puts himself in the situation, bringing the hamster puppet into the house and releasing it. However, when the little hamster crawls into the cellar, it discovers that the princess has already been taken away by the mercenary servants with a strong will to survive, and is being used as a hostage to threaten Yise.
Bulenleifu was too exhausted to curse anymore, so he simply stopped pretending and went straight for the kill. The advanced puppet he controlled far surpassed humans in both weight and strength; with just one strike, he could cleave the mercenary and that damned Princess Dafulin into four pieces!
But at the critical moment, the young man who took over the food delivery suddenly transformed into an alchemical gunslinger, repeatedly striking the puppet's vitals. The meticulously crafted possessed puppet instantly became paralyzed and completely out of control.
****
Quasimodo's remnant soul energy was exhausted, the memory reversal spell ended, and the two returned to the battlefield shrouded in night.
"I never imagined it would be so complicated," Su Ming murmured.
"I don't understand either. Bulenleifu only lost a part of his soul, how could he be completely dead?" Zijin frowned in thought.
In Quasimodo's memory, he only saw the Bulenleifu puppet destroyed, and his remnant soul intercepted by the quick-witted Qiluo on its way back.
"Let's ask Qiluo later," Su Ming said. "The Northern Lands nobles want to kill Princess Dafulin, and then the Cold Mountain Royal Family joins them in attacking Katharine. What a mess this is."
"Let's ask Katharine later," Zijin mimicked Su Ming's tone.
The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
"Anyway, it's good news," Zijin said. "Bulenleifu's death is confirmed. Puppetmasters are essentially half necromancers on the battlefield, with a greater advantage against elite units."
"Can I understand that your undead creatures can't defeat his puppets, and using Ailisha form will only result in you being worn down by his puppets?"
"Killing him in Ailisha form isn't difficult," Zijin replied. "It's just that dismantling the puppet takes too much time, making the fight very tedious."
The girl flew towards Castor's hiding place, unsurprised to find that he had already escaped for some time. She flew back to the train, waved to Su Ming, and said, "I'm going to rest."
"Goodnight." Su Ming waved to her.
There's another battle tomorrow morning, and Zijin needs to be in top condition. He turned to Hansite and Younier, "Let's clean up the mess quickly, then we'll leave!"
"OK!"
****
Su Ming inspected the battlefield again to ensure that no detail was overlooked.
Meanwhile, Hansite and Younier completed all the preparations. They began shunting, swapping empty coal cars with fully loaded ones.
"Switch locomotives number one and two as well," Su Ming arranged. "It's too crowded to be commanding them all together with Gospel."
Locomotive No. 1 is positioned at the rear, and its driving functions remain unchanged. Gospel can still control the Youth Civilization via radar and monitoring screen. Meanwhile, the spacious Locomotive No. 2 will provide Su Ming with a better view, making it easier for him to operate drones and other equipment.
After some modifications to the data wiring and system settings, the shunting and regrouping of the Youth Civilization was completed.
The train was restarted, Gospel adjusted quickly after a few movements. He used the terrain radar to find a flat spot and maneuvered the train to turn around in a circle.
Currently, on the battlefield from Red Fruit Slope to Returning Bird Bay, only the second echelon of the noble army, numbering approximately 4,000 men, remains as a fighting force. Su Ming decides to return to Peacock Gully to eliminate this force, resolving the problem once and for all, and to bring back Katharine and Qiluo.
Although he failed to obtain military intelligence from Quasimodo the Feather Race, he identified several officers among the captured prisoners. After some "exchange," Su Ming gathered a considerable amount of information.
With the aim of concentrating combat power, Jimite arranged for the vanguard regiment to carry the most advanced war machines. However, due to the surprise attack by the Youth Civilization, the vanguard regiment was defeated before it could even deploy.
These weapons were subsequently destroyed by Su Ming.
This arrangement meant that the vanguard regiment, marching at breakneck speed, was unable to carry much in the way of supplies. Therefore, the second echelon mainly carried food and other necessities to provide logistical support for the vanguard regiment.
This makes the current second-tier fighting force relatively weak!
It was nearly midnight. Su Ming calculated the enemy's marching speed and instructed Hansite to keep the train's speed at around 10 kilometers per hour, so that they would make contact with the enemy around 5 a. m.
Jimite must already know about the incident at Returning Bird Slope. Since the true speed of the Youth Civilization has been exposed, Su Ming has chosen to slow down. This way, if a battle occurs at dawn, the enemy will be in their most exhausted state, while his own side can get the necessary rest.
Under the starry sky, the steam locomotive clattered rhythmically as it retraced its steps, heading straight for the final enemy.
****
160 kilometers outside Bubing City, a military unit has already set up camp.
In just one day, the White Graupel Cavalry marched from Bubing City to this location. Such a marching speed was astonishing, especially considering the adverse weather conditions of the snowy plains.
The exhausted soldiers had already rested, while the middle and high-ranking officers of the cavalry regiment gathered in a brightly lit tent to study the battle situation.
A commotion arose outside, and a sentry came in to announce, "Princess Dafulin has arrived!"
Upon hearing this, General Price immediately rose to his feet, preparing to come out of the tent to greet them, only to see Dafulin and Bubing City Emilio, the commander of the city's defense forces, walking into the tent together.
Dafulin's exhaustion was undeniable. After being rescued, she was immediately sent to Bubing City, where she traveled day and night for four days under the escort of priests and guards from the Temple of Light.
But as soon as she settled down, she heard that there were unusual movements at Red Fruit Slope, and the White Graupel Cavalry had been dispatched urgently. She hurriedly led her personal guard and the city guard cavalry regiment to catch up.
"Is it confirmed that it's related to Katharine?" Emilio asked.
"No," General Price readily admitted. "We haven't received any information about Price Katharine, only an unusual troop buildup at Red Fruit Slope." He pointed to the map and said, "Their identities are currently unknown, but this location shouldn't have noble troops, nor does it resemble the Temple of Light's cavalry." He stated firmly, "In such extraordinary times, the appearance of an unidentified, organized army must indicate something is amiss!"
To wage war in the dead of winter is extremely costly, and no one takes military matters lightly. Price believes there is a connection between these two factors!
"You mobilized the troops just for this?" Emilio shouted, assuming Price had discovered concrete information about Queen Katharine. "His Highness's orders were to search for her; only after obtaining Katharine whereabouts could the main force be mobilized as needed—you've disobeyed orders!"
"This unusual activity is very likely related to that matter," General Price replied.
"You're just making excuses—"
"Alright, stop," Dafulin waved them off. "I'll give you the order now. Initiate formal military action immediately. We'll discuss Price's procedural violations later."
Seeing that Dafulin had already made up her mind, Emilio stopped arguing.
General Price breathed a sigh of relief; if it was just a matter of violating procedures, things would be easier to handle, and he wasn't wronged in that respect. But if investigated thoroughly, mobilizing troops without orders would be a very serious offense.