Quail

The two walked out of the administrative center one after the other. Zijin's steps were unusually light, even a little bouncy. She overtook Su Ming in a few steps and leaped down the stone steps in front of the door as lightly as a gust of wind, her skirt drawing a graceful arc.

"I say, you've been in an excessively good mood these past few days, haven't you?" Su Ming quickened his pace to catch up, finally asking the question that had been lingering in his mind for days. Although both of them were equally swamped with affairs, the almost overflowing joy emanating from Zijin was rather strange. "The problem with the White Bone Mark is solved." Zijin turned her head, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight, "Of course I'm happy!"

"Uh, do we just continue with the previous upgrade steps?" Su Ming pressed, "No modifications needed?"

"Of course!" Zijin spread her arms and twirled lightly in place. "As long as we go to the Land of Ancestral Spirits again, the Bone Dragon Form can be controlled by both of us!"

Su Ming nodded. Star Pickaxe's visit would last two days, so the trip to the Land of Ancestral Spirits could be arranged for the day after tomorrow.

He then asked another question, "Didn't you clearly state before that you weren't interested in attending the ball?"

Zijin gave a soft snort, raising her chin slightly. "I've changed my mind, is that a problem?"

"No problem," Su Ming said calmly, "But you shouldn't have treated Magelaili that way."

It was just a work meeting, and Su Ming didn't quite understand Zijin's actions.

With a flick of her toe, Zijin sent a small pebble flying with a "whoosh," rolling far away.

"Is it wrong to be a little... willful once in a while?" Her voice lowered.

"It's a small matter," Su Ming sighed. "The problem is that neither of us can dance. Star Pickaxe is bringing the Queen with him, so what are we going to do about the opening dance tonight? Are we just going to stand there staring at each other in the middle of the dance floor?"

Upon hearing this, Zijin subconsciously rubbed her smooth chin and tilted her head. She had been furious the moment she heard the word "female companion," without thinking of anything else.

Now it seems that this is indeed a problem.

Upon entering the laboratory, Su Ming and Zijin met Stacy.

To his surprise, the Quail researcher was also present, still in Human Form. He sat somewhat awkwardly in a hard-backed chair, his hands tightly clasped together, his knuckles turning white, exuding an air of unease.

However, compared to before, Quail, though still tense, seemed more lively, clearly showing the remarkable effectiveness of the treatment. "Actually, Quail wants to see you," Stacy explained. She turned slightly, gently placing her hand on Quail's shoulder, her voice encouraging, "Relax, you can do it."

Quail's apple bobbed, he took a deep breath, and struggled to squeeze out a few words: "You... you... are... good."

"Hello," Su Ming replied, trying to make his tone as gentle as possible.

The Quail's gaze drifted uncomfortably to the side. "Um, Scholar Bay Owl, Bone King Scholar... my name is Devila."

"I know you are the younger brother of the Titled Scholar ' Blue Peacock '," Su Ming nodded.

"These past few days... I've found a feasible path... using inferior magic crystals." After saying this, Devila turned around immediately, as if she had found a safe haven.

His fingers tapped the keyboard somewhat urgently, activating the computer on the desk. "Generally speaking, if the impurity content in a crystal exceeds nine percent, it will be considered a completely useless piece of waste ore."

Once she no longer had to face the crowd, Devila's speech became noticeably more fluent.

Impurities in Magic Power crystals not only dilute their purity but also severely disrupt the flow of internal Magic Power. Every impurity makes the Magic Power of a crystal more than ten times its size difficult to control.

"I've been studying the various processes and technologies in your ore flotation workshop all this time," Devila said, operating the computer, "And conducting detailed tests on the magic crystal."

A video window unfolded on the screen, alongside a complex set of related data charts.

In the video footage, Devila places a magic crystal with an impurity content of up to 13% into a high-frequency ultrasonic bath filled with a transparent liquid for processing.

Then the camera switched to displaying the image from the electron microscope.

Everything seemed normal at first, but when Devila sped up the playback by a hundred times, it became clear that under the continuous high-frequency vibrations, spiderweb-like fine cracks began to appear inside the crystal, centered around impurity particles. Then, the crystal structure seemed to be dismantled by an invisible hand, crumbling little by little. Devila then opened a spreadsheet filled with densely packed data—experimental records of different ultrasonic frequencies, energy intensities, durations, and hundreds of combinations of leaching solution formulations and processing conditions, so detailed it was astonishing.

Devila not only meticulously recorded the results of each experiment, but also generated statistical analysis charts to quantify and mine trends in massive amounts of data in order to find more optimized solutions.

"Stacy, these operations... you haven't mastered them yet, have you?" Su Ming couldn't hide his surprise. This wasn't just a matter of computer operation—currently, the base had only developed a simple U1 interface for the industrial control system and monitoring platform, designed for people from other worlds; the interfaces of the other complex application systems were all densely packed with Earth text.

Apart from Su Ming, Zijin, and Miao Xin who can barely be considered half), no one else can operate these things independently.

"I taught Devila some Earth languages related to computer operation," Stacy explained.

"But this learning speed is astonishing." Su Ming exclaimed sincerely. In less than half a month, this was simply monstrous learning ability. Devila stopped operating, but still didn't fully turn around to face them. "Perhaps... I need to introduce myself in more detail." "For example?" Zijin suddenly said, "The proportions of the alchemical extract you prepared clearly used the ' Blue Peacock Paradigm ' for calculation. In each round of experiments, you tried hundreds of different formula combinations, and the formula also had more than twenty variations—why are you more proficient in the theories invented by ' Blue Peacock ' himself?"

"Because," Devila's voice carried a hint of frankness, "My brother... was never a real scholar. For obvious reasons, he stood in the spotlight for me, handled social affairs, took on research projects for me, communicated with funders, and published research results... I actually had no problem with anything else about him, except that he used my name to philander everywhere..." He paused.

Upon hearing this, Su Ming gasped. Another formidable figure had arrived without a sound!

"Very good." He composed himself and looked again at the scholar, whose face was still slightly pale. "So, how should we address you now? Blue Peacock, or Quail?"

"Quail, I guess," Devila replied softly. "I prefer that."

"Nice to meet you, Quail Scholar!" Zijin's eyes lit up instantly; meeting an excellent peer was always something to be sincerely happy about. "Nice to meet you," Quail replied, his tone finally carrying a hint of barely perceptible relaxation. "Shall we... continue?" He placed his fingers back on the keyboard.

"Good!"

"When the ultrasonic frequency is set in the megahertz range, and the power density reaches 100 watts per liter," Devila pointed to a line of dense data on the screen, "After three hours of continuous ultrasonic treatment followed by flotation, the highest purity ore can be obtained, reaching 99%, but the yield... is only 15%."

Su Ming's gaze swept over the adjacent data, and he discovered that if the purity requirement was relaxed to 98%, the yield could jump to 55%. "It is possible to classify products of different purity levels through processing and use them separately," Zijin said.

"Yes, this can be continuously improved once the experimental system is established," Devila said.

The two wanted to discuss the details further, but Su Ming interrupted them. He raised the crucial question, "After this process, all we get are extremely tiny crystal fragments, right?"

Instead of answering directly, Devila got up and walked to the lab bench next to him. He took out a sealed glass bottle from the cabinet, which contained Magic Power crystals that were smaller than sesame seeds and shimmered with a faint Starlight.

He poured a small amount of crystal fragments onto a black velvet cloth, then picked up an extremely fine pair of tweezers, patiently picked up each fragment, identified the direction of the Magic Power flow, and then inserted it into a ball of transparent magic-guiding gel.

"I have a pretty good idea of the outcome," Zijin said. "This is Blue Peacock's... sorry, Quail's area of expertise. He used a magical fluid to gather the Magic Power of these fragmented crystals together to work together."

Sure enough, as soon as Zijin finished speaking, a miniature Inextinguishable Bright Flame Magic Array was activated. The entire mass of gel lit up, emitting a stable glow on the experimental platform.

"Excellent!" Su Ming praised.

While the need for magical fluid makes it inconvenient for daily use or individual combat, it's certainly capable of being used in fixed locations to power large-scale magical facilities.

"But just now, to ensure the Magic Power flow of all the crystal fragments was consistent, you adjusted their orientation one by one, right?" Su Ming pointed out the problem. "The volume of a single finished crystal is equivalent to at least tens of thousands of these crystal fragments. Relying on manual operation would probably be inefficient..."

"Yes," Devila frankly admitted, acknowledging it as a significant obstacle after his technological breakthrough. "How to achieve highly efficient directional alignment is the key challenge I must overcome next."

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to turn towards Su Ming and Zijin, trying hard to keep his gaze from wandering elsewhere. "I'm presenting this preliminary result for two reasons: first, I hope to obtain access to more advanced precision instruments; second... I request that you purchase a batch of low-quality crystal samples from the Dwarf Kingdom, with the widest possible variety of origins, types, and amounts of impurities."

"No problem at all," Su Ming readily agreed.

"And... one last thing." This time, Devila's voice became strained, her fingers tightening again. "About my brother... although I don't have concrete evidence, I strongly suspect... his death wasn't an accident."

Su Ming and Zijin quickly exchanged a glance. They had long suspected the mystery surrounding the unnatural death of the top scholar, but they had been too busy with other matters to investigate it properly.

Now it seems that this "Quail" may have escaped the assassination plot against "Blue Peacock" precisely because her brother impersonated her. "My brother may be... a jerk, but he took care of me for so many years." Devila's voice lowered, filled with suppressed pain, "So... I want to find out the truth behind his death. If we can find the killer..." He clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, "Please help me get revenge!"

He raised his head. "I'm willing to join the Final Bone Mad Machines and dedicate myself to the research I love. These... are my conditions." "Deal." Su Ming stretched out his hand without hesitation, clenching it into a firm fist and holding it in the air.

Devila looked at the hand, hesitated for a moment, and finally extended his slightly trembling fist, with a hint of awkwardness and determination, and forcefully bumped it against Su Ming's fist.

"... Thank you for your... care," he said in a hoarse voice.

With the matter settled, Su Ming and Zijin didn't chat with Devila much. After all, it seemed that this "Quail" had already exhausted her social skills for the day.

"His performance today has already set a record," Stacy said.

The two walked out of the experimental center building side by side.

Su Ming stretched his stiff shoulders and back, letting out a long breath. "Today's harvest has been quite good, one good thing after another." "Be careful," Stacy said with a smile as she followed him out. "There's a saying that goes, 'The end of a joyous occasion is often the prelude to a monster breaking down the door.'"

"... Don't jinx it," Su Ming glared at her, annoyed. "Everything's finally starting to get back on track." "I saw that guy Wanshi." Zijin's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the dwarven guards changing shifts in front of the administrative center. "Stacy, didn't you want to talk to him about something?"

"Hughes; Wanshi?" Su Ming was somewhat surprised. "That dwarf Saint Rank priest is here too?"

"Hey, he's disguised himself and blending in with the guards. That beard he's wearing is really poorly done." A playful smile curved Zijin's lips. "I'm almost tempted to rip it off and see what happens."

"Oh, it's him. I saw him." Stacy nodded. "When it's convenient, I'll 'bump into' him."

The Dwarf Kingdom, Hidden Dragon Mountain Mining Area.

This is a small-scale Magic Power crystal mine. Although its output is low, it is renowned for its unparalleled purity and is the core source of the Dwarf Kingdom's top-grade magic crystals and crystal cores.

A team of dwarves wearing safety inspector badges arrived at the mine entrance. After strictly verifying their identities, they entered and began a detailed inspection of the mining process, safety control procedures, and hardware facilities such as ventilation shafts and support structures.

Two individuals in the team stood out from the rest; they were agents from the Security Investigation Department. Instead of following the main group, these two acted like ghosts, venturing into the most remote corners and even personally climbing down shafts to inspect long-abandoned side alleys.

Although it was impossible to predict what methods the Temple of Light would use, it was always wise to thoroughly search every possible corner of the mining area where filth might lurk. However, after a full day of inspection, neither the regular security personnel nor the two detectives found anything suspicious. The Hidden Dragon Mountain Mining Area was not large, and by the time the sun was setting, all inspections were completed. The security inspectors brushed the rock dust off their uniforms and boarded the waiting carriages one after another.

Two investigators accompanied them. The carriage started and bumped away from the mining area. One of them looked out the window and his gaze was suddenly drawn to a depression on the outskirts of Hidden Dragon Mountain. It was inconspicuous, but in the afterglow of the setting sun, the entrance to a mine pit could be vaguely seen.

"Oh, that's the abandoned ' Dragon Tail ' mine." The veteran Mining Department employee accompanying him followed his gaze and explained, "It's the tail end of the main ore vein in Hidden Dragon Mountain. It's riddled with impurities, and the vein is broken into many fragments. It was completely abandoned decades ago."

"Our screening mission instructions for this time," one investigator thought for a moment, "Didn't seem to specify whether abandoned mines should be included in the scope of the investigation?"

Another investigator paused for a moment, his gray eyes sweeping over the desolate slope. "Since we're on the way, let's take a look. It won't take long."

The old employee who had been here before volunteered to lead the way. The rest remained in the carriage, a heavy silence filled with waiting. Time ticked by, and the setting sun painted the mountains golden and red. Half an hour passed, and the three who had entered the mine had not yet returned. "There's only one main shaft in there; it shouldn't take this long to see it once," the leader muttered, a growing unease creeping into his heart. He waved his hand, signaling two dwarves to go check out the dark, abandoned mine entrance.

The two had just jumped off the carriage when the ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled without warning.

Boom!!!

A deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the depths of the abandoned mine!

The shockwave, carrying billowing smoke and debris, erupted violently from the mine entrance like a volcanic eruption, instantly swallowing up all the light in the surrounding area! The entire mountain groaned in pain, clearly indicating that a drastic change had occurred deep within the mine.

"Damn it!" the inspection captain roared, his burly body slamming through the carriage door, kicking up a cloud of dust as he landed. He immediately yelled at his fastest subordinate, "Get to the Hidden Dragon Mine! Use the communication magic array there to issue the highest-level alert!"

He knew the real story behind this major safety inspection and didn't believe that a dead mine that had been abandoned for decades would "just happen" to collapse at this moment.

There is only one answer—how "lucky," or rather, how unlucky they were, to have stepped right into the heart of the very thing that triggered the kingdom-wide census! Before the billowing dust had even settled, several figures appeared within it. They were enveloped in a dense, holy aura, like white flames burning. The flying dust seemed to retreat several feet in fear, unable to touch even a speck of their clothing.

"Those charlatans from the Sun God Temple!" The inspection captain's pupils shrank, and with a clang, he took the heavy rune-inscribed battle axe from the carriage and gripped it tightly in his hand.

All the dwarves followed him, leaping off the carriage and drawing their weapons, which lined up beside him.

The chilling killing intent instantly froze the surrounding air.