The Unicorn's Ordeal

Su Ming had long heard of the extreme bitterness of gentian root, and out of curiosity, he pinched off a small piece with his fingernail and licked it with his tongue.

In an instant, a surge of bitterness swept through his mouth, the intense stimulation seemingly awakening all his taste buds.

"Ptooey! Ptooey!" Su Ming spat repeatedly, but to no avail. That tiny bit of saliva had already penetrated deep into his throat, even giving him the illusion that his throat was being choked. He grabbed his water glass and drank it all in one gulp, but found that it did not relieve the pain at all.

Younier, standing to the side, held her work log, a slight smile playing on her lips, and watched him court disaster.

"No wonder it's the legendary 'bitter to the throat' stuff!" Su Ming said helplessly, wiping his mouth.

"It's just for external use anyway," Younier said, unable to suppress a smile. "No one would be foolish enough to eat it directly."

Student number 0426 picked up another brownish-red root and asked, "President Su, wolfsbane is very poisonous, is it really safe to use?"

"When used in the correct dosage, it's perfectly fine for external application," Su Ming replied confidently. "It's incredibly effective against scabies mites and fungi, providing immediate relief." He instructed 0426, "Once these medicinal materials are collected, hand them over to Secretary Younier for processing."

"Understood!" Number 0426 replied.

****

A large group of people carrying hundreds of wine jars passed by in a grand procession.

Su Ming quickly reached out to stop the group. He picked up a jar, broke the mud seal, and a rich aroma of liquor immediately wafted out. He dipped his finger in it, licked it, and judged from the spicy burning sensation that it was a strong distilled spirit with an alcohol content of over 50%.

"Where did you get this wine?" Su Ming asked.

This was the transport platoon of the Third Construction Battalion. The leader immediately straightened his back and replied, "Reporting to the Chairman! This was discovered by Instructor Rupert in the underground wine cellar of Sea of Divine Grace. A preliminary count shows approximately six tons!"

"This guy." Su Ming couldn't help but chuckle. Rupert, that old drunkard, was a master at finding alcohol.

He waved, signaling the group to move forward.

When consumed in moderation, alcohol is actually a high-calorie food, and it can also be used as a medical supply. As long as it is properly managed, these are valuable resources.

Inside the base, hundreds of training camp participants were busily carrying out dismantling work. They were hauling away various equipment and removing the structural materials from the building's framework one by one.

The bones were then transported to the assembly area, where a group of necromancers were already waiting.

The team is now full of modeling experts, so Su Ming no longer needs to assemble the carriages himself. In front of the students, he completely altered a normal necromancy spell.

"Will this spell work?" The group of mages looked at each other. They had long heard that the Scholar Bay Owl would rewrite spells at the drop of a hat, to the point that the magical world had created a new category specifically for her to include her magic.

I didn't expect Bone King, who was with her, to be like this too. It seems the textbooks will have to be significantly thicker from now on.

A trainee tried it out, and the magical light actually shone. He then discovered that he could manipulate the bones that made up the White Bone Fortress.

These skeletons are deeply bound to the spiritual imprints of Su Ming and Bay Owl. Under normal circumstances, the spiritual imprints on them need to be forcibly erased in order to control them—if these necromancers can do that.

"This technique is a one-time authorization," Su Ming explained. "The interface will expire in three hours, so everyone hurry."

Soon, the entire assembly area was bustling with activity. Under the influence of the necromancers, brand-new train carriages gradually took shape.

At the same time, Su Ming began to summon various supporting equipment from the technology side, while Hansite and Gospel led the black and white skeletons, as well as the long-cultivated zombie maintenance team, to enter the site and carry out the electrification assembly work in an orderly manner.

As the setting sun painted the sky a golden-red hue, all twenty-five new carriages were finally completed. The crew chanted in unison as they towed these gleaming, pearl-like bone carriages one by one to the rear of the Doomsday Locomotive, completing the final connection and mounting work.

Su Ming wiped the sweat from his forehead. During a break from his non-stop work, he couldn't help but wonder if he had set the departure time too tight.

****

At 5 p. m., Zijin took the initiative to establish Mind Synchronization.

[Su Ming, should we come and deal with the corpse of the Radiant Chanter?] Her thoughts were filled with a hint of eagerness.

[Handle?] Su Ming didn't react for a moment.

[Isn't your Dawn and Dusk Bracelet supposed to consume Saint Rank corpses and souls?] Zijin reminded her, [It wouldn't be good if too many people saw you consuming them after bringing them back to base.]

After being killed by Zijin, the body of the Radiant Chanter was sealed in the snow and ice near the coal mine.

"No need," Su Ming replied, shaking his head. "I already checked during my patrol yesterday; the Dawn and Dusk Bracelet didn't react to him at all."

Strictly speaking, the Dawn and Dusk Bracelet even seemed rather disdainful. Clearly, in terms of sheer strength, the Radiant Chanter wasn't inferior. Su Ming lamented its picky nature.

[You should have said so earlier!] Zijin suddenly became excited. [I can finally try making "Dread Skeleton"! Wait--] As if suddenly remembering something, [the Choir members are all here too, I can form a... nectar choir!]

[It would be more fitting to call them the Mourning Choir.] Su Ming couldn't help but complain.

The Dread Skeleton are a method for creating a High Rank undead combat unit, which they obtained from data seized from the Plundering Clock.

Last time, Zijin tried to create this using Ice Beauty Yexiya's corpse, but all of it, along with those precious materials, was completely devoured by the Dawn and Dusk Bracelet on Su Ming's wrist, leaving the scholar with a lingering grudge.

"That'll be the name then!" Zijin decided happily. "I'll arrange for their bodies to be brought back right away."

[... Hurry up.]

****

Su Ming turned to look out the window; the setting sun had dyed the clouds on the horizon a brilliant orange-red.

The Sheltered Valley site is unrecognizable. Most of the buildings have been demolished, and all sorts of equipment have either been dismantled or loaded onto trucks. All traces have been carefully buried, as if this large construction site had never existed.

The few remaining barracks served as temporary quarters for Newman's group.

The loading of supplies is still in its final stages, the allocation of the wagons has been completed, and everyone has moved into their designated wagons as planned. The entire base is in a busy wrap-up phase, making final preparations for the upcoming journey.

As the setting sun painted the entire sky red, all the groups had finished their work. Su Ming announced that everyone would have dinner and then depart.

Zijin emerged from the tunnel riding an exhausted frost wolf.

"Long time no see!" The girl on the wolf's back was in a good mood and waved to Su Ming.

She reaped a wealth of material on this trip; the Sea of Divine Grace was like a generous treasure trove, and the feeling of freely plundering it was truly delightful.

Especially for someone with Omniscient Vision, the efficiency is simply intoxicating!

She's already conceiving a paper titled "On the Application of ' Omniscient Vision ' in Loot Collection," and she'll attach the results of this collection as empirical data to the paper, then release it at a convenient time, making those old academics who always criticize her papers green with envy!

Su Ming didn't understand Zijin's greeting at first, but then realized that since they parted yesterday, the two of them had been working on opposite sides of the mountain range. This was the longest time they had been apart since they met.

"Just over a day," Su Ming said. "Welcome back!"

Zijin leaped lightly off the wolf's back, and the members of the service team immediately led the exhausted Frost Wolf away, feeding and watering it.

Zijin clapped her hands and walked into the workshop with Su Ming.

Su Ming noticed that beneath the girl's excited expression lay a hint of exhaustion. The demolition team members following behind her were even more exhausted, with many of them staggering as they walked.

"How long did you sleep last night?" Su Ming asked.

"I found a corner and rested for a while," Zijin recalled, tilting her head. "About... two hours?"

"Go eat something and rest!" Su Ming pointed to the insulated lunchbox on the table.

Zijin lifted the lid, and steam rose up, releasing a rich aroma that immediately wafted out—it was pork stew with vermicelli.

"Wasn't this prepared for Qiluo?"

"I kept some for myself." Su Ming opened his own lunchbox, which contained the same food. "Today I finally paid back the last bucket I owed her."

"Thanks~" Zijin picked up her spoon and started eating. "This time the harvest was so plentiful, have you made a list yet?"

"There's no time for that." Su Ming shook his head. "We've already piled them all into the cargo hold; we can count them slowly on the way."

"Alright," Zijin mumbled, her mouth full of food.

****

Just then, Qiluo appeared outside the workshop door, comically balancing a large iron bucket on her head.

She peeked inside and saw Su Ming, then exclaimed excitedly, "Thank you Su Ming! I didn't expect you to secretly prepare a second pot of meat soup as a surprise for me!"

Su Ming nodded reflexively, then realized something was wrong. "Wait, I only cooked one pot of pork and vermicelli."

"Liar!" Qiluo, with the iron bucket on her head, took several steps back. "You clearly hid a bucketful to eat it all yourself. If it weren't for this divine beast's exceptional intelligence..."

"I really didn't do that!" Su Ming hurriedly chased after him outside.

"I won't fall for that!" The unicorn skipped happily away and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Zijin followed her out, frowning in confusion. "If you didn't make it, where did she get this second bucket of meat soup from?"

Meanwhile, in the cooking car not far away, Younier anxiously poked her head out and looked around. Upon seeing Zijin, she immediately jumped off the car and ran over in a few strides.

"Lord Bay Owl!" she said, slightly out of breath, "Could you please use your Omniscient Vision to help me find something? The medicinal soup that Su Ming asked me to brew disappeared as soon as I turned around!"

Just then, a deafening vomiting sound suddenly came from afar, followed by Qiluo's heart-wrenching scream. A white figure shot up from a distance, flying towards them at an astonishing speed, skimming the ground. It then passed by the group, carving a winding track in the snow, and rushed straight towards the foot of the mountain on the other side.

The snow dust that swept up then swept over, and countless snowflakes hit the three of them.