A Shortcut

The two fell silent again, their gazes both turning to the porthole. The icy sea shimmered with a deep blue hue under the night sky, and massive icebergs on either side of the channel cast chilling shadows in the moonlight. Every now and then, chunks of ice would break off and be swept into the hull by the massive ship, producing a series of dull thuds before disappearing without a trace, leaving only churning white foam.

"Su Ming," Zijin suddenly spoke, her voice very soft, "Tell me about your life on Earth, okay?"

Su Ming was somewhat surprised, "Talking about these things makes me miss home even more."

"Is it to keep me company and share some of this pain?"

Su Ming reached out and gently pushed the plate on the table closer to Zijin.

"If you'd like to try a few bites," he said, pointing to the food on the plate, "I'll grant your request."

Zijin lowered her head and finally saw what was on the plate: golden-brown, crispy stir-fried potato shreds; soft and plump braised soybeans; and a small dish of steamed pork slices with alternating layers of fat and lean meat—all her favorite flavors.

It was clearly arranged by Su Ming on purpose.

Her long eyelashes fluttered. A few seconds later, she nodded slightly and picked up the silver spoon that was placed to the side.

"... good."

****

Previously, it took two whole days to break through this vast frozen area. However, no ice-breaking work was needed on the return trip, and even if there were occasional obstacles, they were only scattered patches of thin ice.

Therefore, the Pansy returned to the ocean successfully in just ten hours.

At the edge of the thick ice zone, nine ships that had sailed from Shining Island were anchored. A large number of Feather Race members, riding sleds, gathered here like stars to receive them.

This batch of ships includes three cannon-equipped "Dawn Pioneer" class cruisers, two magic warships, and four supply ships.

Although the warship has regained basic self-propulsion capabilities, repairing its weapons will still require a considerable investment of time and resources.

As the massive Pansy slowly approached, the members of the "Final Bone Mad Machines" organization, scattered across the various receiving ships, returned to their mothership like a flock of birds returning to their nest.

The core members of the management team also returned. The somewhat empty bridge was instantly filled with the surging crowd, and people moved about everywhere in the cabins. The sounds of conversation and equipment operation mingled, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively and energetic.

Having just achieved a major and exhilarating victory, the morale of the entire ship was soaring, and joy filled the air.

Not wanting her emotions to affect others, Zijin excused herself by saying she was feeling slightly unwell and stayed alone in the quiet workspace.

At the command center, Su Ming convened a brief meeting where department heads quickly exchanged information on current staffing and material reserves.

Su Ming then announced the next phase of the voyage: they would cross the Arctic Circle and head straight for the Gray Ridge region at the northern tip of the Eastern Continent. The entire journey would be approximately 7,000 kilometers and was expected to take five days.

"It's so close!" Beianqi was very surprised, because this distance was much shorter than traveling from the Western Continent or Northern Continent to the Eastern Continent via conventional routes.

"The planet is spherical," Su Ming said, unfolding a 3D map projection. "Traveling around the polar regions to the Eastern Hemisphere is a shortcut, after all."

In this alternate world, nautical charts are typically used in planar projection, which causes severe distortion of the positions of the polar regions on the chart, creating incorrect preconceived notions.

"I understand the logic," said Beianqi, "But this shortcut is only available to the Pansy."

"Other ships don't have this capability to ignore thick ice and dangerous ice floes," Hansite said.

"President Su, we can make full use of these five days of flight time to conduct some necessary intensive training and ideological education," Rupert suggested. "At the same time, we can take this opportunity to assess the trainees who have performed particularly well in the training camp recently, and select the best to promote them to full members of the ' Final Bone Mad Machines '."

Su Ming nodded in agreement; building team cohesion was indeed a crucial matter. The relatively smooth voyage of the past five days had not required them to handle many core tasks, making it a rare opportunity for internal training.

"How about we organize another party?" Bowers suggested enthusiastically. "We just won a game, and everyone's in high spirits!"

Upon hearing this, Hansite's eyes immediately lit up; his guitar had been itching to play. The only regret was that Newman wasn't there, and the members of the "Human Bone Machine" band couldn't be all together.

Su Ming, however, had a flash of inspiration and came up with a new idea.

"Let's hold a sports meet," he announced loudly. "Merge the existing ten training camps into three competition groups, and then add the official members to form another group. Then—" He paused for a moment, "the POW camps will also be formed into a separate group. The events will be—" He finally decided, "Basketball, volleyball, and soccer."

"What is that?" Younier, who was diligently taking meeting notes, looked up, her face filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Su Ming raised his hand to signal everyone to pause for a moment, and then connected with Miao Xin.

[Find Dodder and tell her there's work to be done.] Su Ming said to the vengeful spirit, [I'm organizing a sports meet and need a complete planning proposal.]

"No problem!" Miao Xin replied. "What are you doing, starting team building activities so soon?"

[There's nothing we can do, so many people on the ship are just sitting around doing nothing anyway.] Su Ming explained, [Besides, if we don't give these people something to do—] He trailed off, [Never mind, we can chat later, the meeting is still going on here.]

Inside the Pansy, many previously undecorated corners and empty spaces have been quietly transformed into more exquisite and refined areas. In many unexpected and secluded corners of the ship, numerous murals and small statues depicting Su Ming and Zijin have appeared.

Looking at these "masterpieces," Su Ming felt a slight itch in his back molars, but due to their nature, he couldn't decide what to do with them for the time being.

"Basketball, soccer, and volleyball are all team sports that emphasize cooperation and are collective competitive sports," Su Ming explained to the crowd. "I will distribute the detailed competition rules later. The competition will be held in five groups, with a single round-robin format, to determine the champion!"

"Are we instilling a sense of teamwork by organizing these collective, competitive activities?" Ruixiuli realized and praised, "That's a great idea! In the past, we necromancers suffered greatly from fighting alone and lacking coordination, which is why those Divine Covenant Faction guys, relying on the organizational advantage of the church, were able to slaughter us at will."