Beneath the Snowy Mountain

As the train journey continued, preparations were underway amidst intense activity.

As the altitude continued to rise, the wind speed outside the Youth Civilization increased significantly, and soon the entire carriage could hear the howling of the fierce wind.

Su Ming glanced at the anemometer: Level 6!

The temperature is also dropping. The temperature, which had risen to minus twenty degrees Celsius due to the recent sunny weather, has fallen again.

The winter solstice has just passed, and seasonally speaking, we are entering the coldest period of winter. Normally, no one would come to the snow-covered mountains at the innermost edge of the ice field at this time.

Even superhumans will experience significant energy depletion if they stay in windy and cold environments for extended periods. Once hypothermia develops, death will affect everyone equally.

"These weather conditions," Zijin looked out the car window at the pristine, azure sky, "Are you really sure everything will be alright?"

"Just follow the plan," Su Ming said confidently.

****

On the third day at noon, the Youth Civilization arrived at the designated work site— the Sheltered Valley.

This is a depression in the mountain range, surrounded by mountain walls on two sides, providing excellent shelter from the wind. It is also the thinnest part of this mountain range.

Su Ming drove the train into the triangular terrain and stopped it. Everyone immediately set up work sheds and campsites against the mountainside, clearing away the snow.

Su Ming, dressed neatly, arrived at the apex of the triangle with Newman and exploration leader Benedict, which was the starting point of this tunneling project.

The three climbed up a low peak on the side, and the wind immediately picked up. Inside the Sheltered Valley, the wind was about level five, but as soon as they came out, it soared to level seven or higher.

[It's so cold.] Su Ming zipped up his down jacket.

[According to the plan, the construction area needs to be sealed off and then heated up.] Newman said, [We have plenty of manpower; we can finish this work tomorrow.]

The howling wind was so loud that the group decided to communicate using magic.

Su Ming looked back at the lower camp area. Thanks to the efforts of more than one hundred mages and more than fifty bear-men, the snow in an area of five hundred meters in radius had been quickly cleared away.

At the valley entrance, a mage skilled in ice magic was using snow to construct ice blocks, building an outer windbreak wall.

[Many people, indeed, is the key!] Su Ming couldn't help but sigh.

The three turned their gaze to their right. Several kilometers away, the majestic main peak of the Dome Mountains gleamed under the midday sun. This colossal mountain, 5,000 meters above sea level, was a full 2,000 meters higher than where they were now.

The north slope where they were located is the steepest side of the main peak, with an average slope of over 60 degrees, and in some sections it is even close to vertical, making it feel very imposing when looking up at it.

But if you broaden your perspective, the pristine white of the snow-capped mountains, paired with the deep, pure blue sky unique to the plateau, creates a scene of clarity and ethereal beauty.

Su Ming unfolded the map he carried with him and carefully compared it with the terrain. The Divine Might Prison was located on the southern slope of the mountain in front of him, at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, and about 18 kilometers away from them horizontally.

They chose to penetrate the lower side peak of the dome, where they excavated a tunnel system that led directly to the Dome Coal Mine. From there, they would travel through the internal tunnels to the main peak mine, eventually reaching the exit, which was only 3 kilometers from the Divine Might Prison.

Initially, Su Ming's plan was to launch an infiltration operation. However, with the experiences since the landing, the situation has changed drastically. The current plan is completely different from the original one.

But one thing remains unchanged: we must open up and utilize this underground passage!

****

The distance of 18 kilometers is not particularly far, but thanks to the high mountains in the middle, their movements here are not easily detected.

[Su Ming, should we send a drone up to take a look?] Newman suggested, pointing to the distant snow-capped peaks.

Su Ming was amused and exasperated. "What? You don't know the wind speed up there, do you?"

The wind force at their current location is already at level 7, and towards the mountaintop, it would definitely be at least level 10! Rotary-wing drones simply cannot operate under such severe wind conditions.

Furthermore, Dodder had warned that the temperature at the summit could drop below minus forty degrees Celsius, and in severe weather, it could even reach minus fifty or sixty degrees Celsius.

Even a grand mage wouldn't be willing to meet such conditions.

"I'm just a little curious about the view up there," Newman said.

"It's not impossible," Su Ming sighed, "But I'll have to wait until I pass the CAAC drone beyond-visual-range piloting test."

On the other side of the world, fixed-wing drones are everywhere. Different organizations are even fiercely competing for Su Ming's order.

Unfortunately, as Xiaobai in fixed-wing aircraft operation, he is still learning. Otherwise, blindly attempting to operate it would definitely result in a crash.

Su Ming never imagined that even after he transmigrated to another world, the matter of obtaining certifications still wouldn't let him off the hook!

Newman consulted the topographic map and carefully confirmed the location points with Benedict. The next step was to accurately determine the axis of the excavation, a task that Benedict was responsible for.

Su Ming and Newman then leaped down the low slope and returned to the valley.

"We need to start excavating the foundation pit." Su Ming stood at the starting point of the excavation, looking around. "A lot of equipment needs to be placed here."

"Let's start with the layout and positioning today." Newman unfolded the construction layout plan and directed the technicians to begin measuring and marking on the ground. "We'll lay the foundation tomorrow."

"Then this part is yours." Su Ming nodded. "I'll go set up the power system."

"No problem!" Newman replied.

****

Su Ming assembled some utility poles and summoned several mages from the First Construction Regiment, instructing them to dig holes in the frozen ground and erect the poles one by one around the entire site.

Then, an auxiliary cable was pulled out, and the skeleton was allowed to hang it on a utility pole and install lighting fixtures to use it as a street lamp.

Su Ming didn't need to worry about the details; the black and white skeletons, trained by Master Newman, were already very efficient at these routine electrical jobs.

With many devices requiring communication, Su Ming began setting up repeater access points to build a wireless network covering the surrounding area.

Then there's the drone base station, which provides drones with positioning, charging, launch, and recovery functions. Once the program is set up, the base station can periodically launch drones to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance of the surrounding area.

At several key traffic points, Su Ming also deployed electronic sentry systems. Passage is only permitted through iris and fingerprint recognition, and the systems automatically record the identity information of all personnel passing through.

Finally, there are fixed cameras, covering the entire area, numbering over a hundred. This is accompanied by intelligent management software that can record the movements of all personnel and quantitatively evaluate the work performance of the First Construction Regiment members.

On Earth, the Dodder Group, in order to cooperate with Su Ming, specifically found a similar location and set up, connected, and debugged all the necessary equipment to its optimal state.

This saved Su Ming from the tedious initial setup work. He only needed to install the summoned devices one by one in the required locations and then connect the power.

Not far away, Zijin was building a sunlight-reflecting wall. She chose a sunny spot nearby, constructed several arched ice walls, and used magic and alchemy to treat the surface into a perfect mirror.

A large amount of sunlight is gathered near the Sheltered Valley and then reflected twice before being concentrated into the valley, thereby raising the temperature of the construction area within the Sheltered Valley.

As she worked diligently, the sunlight intensity in the valley continued to increase, and many people began to wear sunglasses to protect their eyes.

Qiluo chose a good location and directed the bear-man laborers to cultivate a flat piece of land, where the necromancers then built a greenhouse.

Under the coordination and command of instructor Rupert and "representative of the people" Bowers, the buildings in the work area were quickly completed. The entire construction site presented a scene of bustling activity.

After two days of ample food and rest, the necromancers of the First Construction Regiment regained much of their color and were exceptionally cooperative during their work.

Today marks the first day that labor assignments have been given. According to the "Management Manual," they can use points to exchange for better food, warm clothing, books, stationery, and other supplies.

This group of people, who have been imprisoned for so long, are quite expectant and have considerable enthusiasm.

In just one afternoon, the group of mages used two hundred tons of bones, along with stones they found on the spot, to build a huge work shed.

Their living quarters were completed; the train's living quarters were detached, moved to one side, and enclosed by a courtyard wall. New mobile homes, communal toilets, and communal bathrooms were also built.

The only thing that made Su Ming somewhat disapproving was the architectural style. It was not only filled with various circular and curved structures, but also had bone spikes here and holes there, making the shape quite ferocious.

Su Ming felt as if he had stepped into a cannibal tribe.

But this is just a temporary structure on the construction site, so it's fine. However, if a factory is to be built in the future, we must first rectify the architectural aesthetics of this group of people!

The bear-man camp has also been completed, but it's built to prisoner camp standards, without much frills. Every bear-man now wears an alchemical ring made of Zijin around their neck; if anything goes wrong, it'll explode—simple and direct.

Su Ming set up cameras around the perimeter, and combined with the rings around their necks, completely eliminated any possibility of these bear-men escaping.

****

As daylight ended, the day's construction work finally came to a close.

The afterglow of the setting sun gradually faded, but dusk didn't come particularly early in the Sheltered Valley —after crossing from east to west into the heart of the Northern Continent, they had already left the Arctic Circle by climbing the third step of the ice field.

Inside the campsite, bright LED lights illuminated the entire area. For those who had never seen such a luxurious density of lighting, the sight was truly novel.

After finishing their dinner, the necromancers gathered in twos and threes, pointing at the light tubes that emitted even light, their eyes filled with amazement and curiosity.

As they discussed, they arrived at the points redemption area managed by Younier, where they used the points they had earned that day to exchange for various items, such as warm clothes and leather boots, soft towels, some preview copies of "reportage" pamphlets, and even snacks like fried beans.

As the promises were fulfilled one by one, the monks were visibly relieved. They no longer spoke to each other with the same trepidation they had shown at the beginning, and some even smiled, a rare occurrence for them.

But Su Ming's work was not over. He went to the newly established server room to complete the transmission of various mainframes. For this, he also dismantled some equipment on the locomotive that was not needed for the time being.

"Buzz--" As the power switch was turned on, the whirring of the fans echoed in the server room, and data lights began to flash rhythmically. The program loading progress bar moved rapidly on the screen, and a series of sophisticated devices were quickly activated. Soon, the camera monitoring intelligent system, the automated sentry system, and the radar early warning system went online one after another and completed their linkage under the coordination of the central control console.

Having just finished showering, Zijin came up behind Su Ming. Her long, light brown hair was tied into a ponytail and hung down her back, still slightly damp.

When she saw hundreds of surveillance videos displayed simultaneously on the large screen, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Your equipment is even more powerful than Omniscient Vision," she exclaimed sincerely, her voice filled with undisguised surprise.

"The key point is actually the system's intelligent analysis function," Su Ming replied without looking up, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "Even if you have Omniscient Vision, you can't possibly monitor the performance of every necromancer at the same time, or detect which bear-man is trying to escape, right?"

"It can do that?" Zijin was somewhat skeptical.

"You'll see when I finish," Su Ming said.

After conducting some basic tests and functional verifications, Su Ming stretched out a big yawn, his joints making a slight cracking sound.

"I'm exhausted, but it's finally working!" he said.

On the screen in front of me, the settings interface keeps displaying information about person recognition and movement determination. In the information box on the side, a large number of records are generated in a continuous stream and categorized and recorded by the system backend.

In just a short while, the number of records in the background jumped to over a thousand.

Zijin's expression changed slightly. "What a terrifying machine. Even a full complement of jailers and guards could never achieve this!"

"It can't all be attributed to the equipment," Su Ming explained. "Behind this is a lot of technical support from engineers, and the software was specifically developed for our current scenario."

Zijin didn't speak; she pondered quietly for a moment.

"Will the factory you build in the future look like this?" she suddenly asked.

"This is just the basics," Su Ming replied. "There will be many devices from Earth that seem magical to you."

"I'm really looking forward to it," Zijin said earnestly. "I'm sorry, Su Ming, I made a wrong judgment. I originally planned to build a base in the Polar City, within the Winged People's sphere of influence. But these past few days I've realized that I completely underestimated the scale of the production chain you're about to launch."

"This is nothing," Su Ming laughed.

"So you have to forgive me," Zijin said. "At first, I just understood it using the concept of a workshop in another world, at most a bit larger." She sighed slightly. "But after seeing those documents and construction plans, and knowing that there are countless much larger projects on Earth, if your production chain is based on this concept, it's very unsuitable for the frigid polar regions!"

Su Ming was actually quite hesitant about this. There were precedents on Earth for building large factories within the Arctic Circle. For example, the Northvol battery factory in Northern Europe, which cost 20 billion US dollars, went bankrupt before it even produced anything.

If given a choice, Su Ming would like to find a place more conducive to industrial development.

"Isn't the Feathered People's place the safest?" he asked Zijin.

"Actually, there's another place that's also safe, but with better climate conditions." Zijin smiled mysteriously.

"Where is it?" Su Ming immediately asked.

Zijin bit her lower lip, then suddenly raised her hand, "Forget it, the conditions aren't right yet. I'll tell you when the time is right."

After saying that, she turned to leave.

****

Upon seeing this, Su Ming immediately sprang up from his chair and grabbed the scholar's swaying ponytail at the back of her head. The light brown hair slipped through his fingers, carrying a faint fragrance.

"What are you doing!" Zijin turned around and delivered an elbow strike, her face full of displeasure.

She had sweated a lot while setting up the ice walls in the afternoon, so she took a hot shower early. But after showering, she suddenly couldn't find the Bone Staff of the End that she always used as a hairpin, so she had to take out the hair tie that Su Ming had given her before and tie her long hair into a ponytail.

But she never expected that Su Ming would take the opportunity to grab her braid!

"Riddler!" Su Ming stepped back to avoid Zijin's elbow strike, speaking with righteous indignation, "His crime deserves death!"

"Solving riddles keeps your mind sharp!"

Zijin retorted, raising her slender right leg and launching a fierce flying kick straight at Su Ming.

Su Ming simply jumped to the side, breaking through the window and reaching the outside. The shards of glass glittered under the moonlight, scattering across the ground with a crash.

Zijin understood – the computer room is filled with equipment, making it indeed not a suitable place to put one's skills to use.

She leaped out of the window as well. Since Su Ming had provoked her, she might as well take this opportunity to have a training match and teach this guy a lesson for being so unruly after just a few days of not fighting!

Anyway, according to the agreement, we don't need to use the power of the Saint Rank.

However, when Zijin landed steadily and smoothly deployed her magical shield, she found that Su Ming was already standing calmly not far away, suddenly unleashing several large spells.

Super Magic Skills: Rapid Casting, Dual Casting, Stacked!

Zijin suddenly realized that something was wrong!

Firstly, since she currently lacks the aid of a staff, the decrease in spell power is not a major concern; the slower casting speed is the real problem. More importantly, the Bone Staff of the End is pre-loaded with instant-cast spells, which significantly improves her margin for error.

Besides, she had just taken a shower and wasn't wearing any protective gear.

Upon closer inspection, a triple-strength magic array was clearly visible beneath Su Ming's feet!

A sudden thought flashed through Zijin's mind: This is a trap Su Ming set for her!

They deliberately provoked her when she was unarmed, set up a reinforced magic circle beforehand, and had also arranged some unknown traps around her.

Even the mysteriously missing Bone Staff of the End was probably taken by him!

Zijin immediately withdrew her Magic Power, put her hands behind her back, and walked towards Su Ming humming a song. Her ponytail swayed gently with each step, and a sweet smile appeared on the girl's face.

She even showed off two adorable dimples, which is quite rare for her!

Su Ming almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He could only disperse the spell he had half-condensed and stare at Zijin with wide eyes.

"Hey, why aren't you fighting!" Su Ming said irritably. Did he know how hard it was to arrange all this?

Zijin blinked innocently, "What are you fighting about? Didn't we agree to train?"

Su Ming gave him a thumbs up, realizing that after all that preparation, he hadn't even managed to type out the safe keywords.