The Hard Road Through America

"Sorry, but right now we have to prioritize our own survival. We can't allow our technology to leak," Su Ming answered her. "If we solve the problem, I can consider selling it."

"Really?" Beianqi asked. She pulled out a sheet of paper and quickly wrote two strings of symbols on it. "The first is the Five Fangs' call sign. You can use it to contact me for the time being. The other is my rune telegram call sign, and this is the encryption method."

"Rune telegram?" Su Ming asked.

"It's a communications system unique to us dwarves," Beianqi explained. "You can contact any dwarven faction's rune communications tower that has a signal, such as one on a dwarven ship. They'll forward the rune telegram to the central station, and I can check it when I have time. Oh, the message is charged by the word, and it isn't cheap, so please keep it as short as possible."

"Understood." Su Ming accepted the note. Zijin also gave her the call sign for the Zhiyuan's communications tower.

After seeing the Ale and Beianqi off, Su Ming and Zijin began discussing their next move.

"The Zhiyuan's draft has increased, and it's carrying more than its reasonable load. We'd better find somewhere to anchor," Su Ming said.

"How many days will the refit take?"

"With two steam units and adjustments to the hull, a week wouldn't be too much."

"Then we do need to find somewhere secluded." Zijin thought for a moment, then took out a nautical chart and looked for an island.

"It needs to be farther away from here."

"Mm."

After some discussion, they chose an uninhabited island more than a thousand kilometers to the north. While the sea conditions and wind direction were still favorable, the Zhiyuan set sail once more.