The Boundary Crosser
The North Pole.
The Pansy sailed through the dark sea.
A thick ice sheet pressed down from above, like an entire continent turned upside down.
The sonar on the ship's spine is operating at full power, its invisible ripples sweeping across the ice and constantly transmitting data back to the structures above.
"Found it!"
The sonar operator suddenly reported, his voice brimming with excitement.
"The average thickness of this ice layer reaches 5.2 meters!"
Su Ming looked over.
The sonar image shows a large, intact ice surface above, without any obvious cracks.
"This is it." Su Ming made his decision.
"Begin breaking the ice."
"Okay!" Beianqi and Zijin replied at the same time.
Pansy adjusted its posture and slowly approached and floated upwards.
Once they were close enough, the ice-breaking magic array on the upper part of the ship's hull unfolded.
Circles of red magic runes lit up on the ship's hull, spreading upwards and finally settling at the bottom of the ice layer.
A series of soft crackling sounds came from the ice as countless cracks began to appear.
Sea ice, frozen for who knows how many years, shattered and peeled away under the erosion of Magic Power, only to be swept away by the icy seawater.
The ice is very solid.
Even with the magic circle operating at full power, the ice cap was only gradually disintegrated.
This process lasted about half an hour before a passage was finally cleared above the Pansy.
"Half a meter left."
"That's enough, just smash it open!" Su Ming ordered.
The Pansy dived again.
The massive ship sank downwards, as if it were tucking its spine in.
Subsequently, Beianqi emptied all the ballast tanks in one go.
The alarm lights came on.
"Everyone prepare for a potential shock!"
The pump-jet propulsion system also started at full power.
The 30,000-ton nuclear submarine raised its bow and charged toward the ice fissure weakened by the magic array.
The moment the bow wedged into the ice crevice, the bony outer shell rubbed violently against the ice wall, and a piercing shriek reverberated throughout the entire vessel.
Click-
The first crack penetrated the ice layer.
Then came the second and third rounds.
Boom!
Large chunks of ice were arched up by the bow of the ship, with cracks extending in all directions.
Black seawater gushed out from the crevice, quickly rising as white mist in the frigid air.
The ship is still rising.
A continuous series of friction sounds erupted between the Pansy's hull and the ice.
The next moment -
The ice cap shattered with a deafening roar.
The ice surface, spanning hundreds of meters in radius, broke apart simultaneously.
The massive ice slabs were shattered into pieces by the Pansy, some standing upright and breaking like city walls.
The seawater cascaded down to both sides like a waterfall.
A massive black outline rises from the center of the broken ice.
That's the conning tower of a submarine.
It first reveals its tip, then the entire structure.
Next came the even larger hull.
A colossal beast, hundreds of meters long, gradually emerged from the icy plain.
Seawater poured down from both sides of the ship, and ice shards crashed against the hull, making a splashing sound as they rolled down.
****
The recoil from breaking through the ice caused the ship to bob up and down between the seawater and the ice.
Finally, the Pansy stabilized.
The photoelectric mast unfolds.
Before my eyes was an extremely pure starry sky.
The sky is very high.
It's high and spacious.
The searchlights were turned on, their stark white beams sweeping across the surroundings.
A vast ice field stretches out from beneath your feet, extending all the way to the ends of the earth.
There is no sunlight.
The delay caused by Charybdis has allowed the North Pole to enter the polar night.
Only the direction where the sun is located still casts a faded white shadow on the edge of the sky.
The hatch was pushed open.
The cold air, carrying the scent of sea salt, suddenly rushed into the boat, which had been sealed off for several days.
One by one, everyone climbed out of the elevator and stood on the bridge, facing the sea breeze.
The cold wind scraped against my cheeks like a knife.
The moment everyone exhaled, their white breath froze into tiny droplets, which were instantly dispersed in the beam of the searchlight.
Su Ming glanced at the temperature.
-18 degrees Celsius.
Many people couldn't help but laugh.
As the quail stepped onto the deck, it instinctively rubbed its frozen hands before slowly straightening up.
He stared at the numbers and curves under the ice for far too long.
Seeing the sky again now gives me the illusion of having crawled out of another world.
****
Zijin walked to Su Ming's side.
The girl reached out and took his hand.
Su Ming turned to look at her. "What's wrong?"
"Have you forgotten?" Zijin reminded her.
"The initial promise: to reach places never before seen."
Su Ming was slightly taken aback.
The next moment, numerous points of light appeared all around.
It is the obsession of the dead within the White Bone Fortress.
At the edge of the world, on a frozen ocean.
Under the starry night sky.
Such beautiful photo spots filled them with joy.
Feedback came flooding in like a tidal wave.
The White Bone Fortress now connects the two of them simultaneously, causing Zijin and Su Ming to pause in unison.
A small amount of colored light emanated from the Zijin.
But Su Ming's reaction was much more severe than Zijin's.
An obscure and profound fluctuation almost enveloped him.
The Stars in the sky resonate with you without you needing to look up.
The familiar "Whispers of the Stars" suddenly showed a strong presence.
Su Ming carefully guarded his mind, finally waiting for the violent turmoil in his sea of consciousness to begin to recede.
Fortunately, the memory seal imposed by Zhimeng was not completely broken in the end.
When he finally calmed down, he found himself tightly hugging Zijin.
The girl realized he had already made it through, and suddenly exerted all her strength.
She threw herself into Su Ming's arms and hugged him tightly.
****
Everyone got busy.
No one bothered the couple, who seemed a bit too affectionate to them.
Conceptual-level power can only be perceived by those of the same level.
The others, of course, were completely unaware.
"Set up a freezing array under the ice!" Beianqi ordered.
The elevator started working, and a large amount of alchemical materials were transported out of the ship's hold.
The monks quickly took their positions and began their work around the Pansy.
Then, the freezing array began to operate.
Pale blue runes spread out in concentric circles, enveloping the ice surface that had just been shattered.
The churning seawater quickly froze, and the broken ice slabs were pulled back together by the magic array, the cracks gradually healing.
They wanted to connect the Pansy and this thick ice into a single entity.
The launch of the Vermilion Bow requires transmitting the terrifying recoil to the ice layer.
This is why they specifically chose to drill through the thickest and most intact area.
The reason is not to choose weak points.
Otherwise, the Pansy would have collapsed into the sea.
The freezing magic circle was completed quickly.
"President, Scholar Bay Owl."
Beianqi walked over to Su Ming and Zijin.
"Can we deploy the Pansy's upper working deck now?"
"Why not?" Su Ming asked, puzzled. "You can arrange it."
"No."
"I'm annoyed," said Beianqi.
I meant that your position is in the way!
Su Ming and Zijin exchanged a smile.
The two took flight and headed towards the nearby ice surface.
After getting rid of the people who were obstructing her, Beianqi was finally able to officially begin her work.
"Work deck expansion!"
A horizontal crack appeared in the upper third of the Pansy's hull.
Then, using the centerline as a boundary, this part of the hull began to slowly open to both sides.
The bony structure and metal framework slid together, and the heavy deck opened inch by inch.
Moisture seeped out from the cracks, only to be dispersed by the cold wind.
The main body of the Vermilion Bow, which was protected in the middle, was partially revealed.
As the two halves of the hull unfold, the upper part becomes the bottom, landing on the ice and becoming a new support point.
But this is not the end.
The necromancers continued to adjust the structure, and another sub-deck extended outward from the inside, spreading outward like flower petals.
The anchor piles pierced the ice, and runes lit up one by one along the support arm, locking the entire platform and ice cap together.
The Vermilion Bow on the ship's core was now fully exposed.
The surrounding work area has also expanded to a much larger scale.
Under the polar night, searchlights illuminated this skeletal flower.
Pansy in full bloom!
****
Su Ming didn't handle any of this at all.
He simply sat hand in hand with Zijin on a small pile of ice nearby.
Watching everyone bustling about.
"Are you feeling better?" Zijin asked, her hand gripping the area slightly.
Su Ming nodded.
"I'm starting to understand the kind of overload you experienced last time when we attacked the goblin heartland."
Zijin shook her head.
"Not quite the same."
You haven't reached your limit.
"When it's just a matter of increasing power level, the body and mind can't handle it."
Extraordinary power, beautiful and alluring.
But all of this requires the physical and mental capacity of the living being to bear it.
A 5.6mm bullet can be fired with a small section of the barrel.
A 203mm shell requires a huge gun carriage and base.
At the level of the Vermilion Bow, it is even necessary to freeze an entire ice layer to support it.
But those with extraordinary abilities do not have this choice.
They can only continuously improve their carrying capacity through various means.
The challenges that go to higher High Rank will become increasingly difficult and dangerous.
"Su Ming, there are some things I can tell you now," Zijin said.
Su Ming withdrew his gaze.
"In this world, both mages and warriors are considered combat classes within the rules."
Zijin explained slowly.
"Dou Qi, a basic element, is a common application of Magicules energy."
"No matter how it changes, it's just a combination, a variation, or an extension."
Su Ming seemed to be deep in thought.
"Are you saying that as you advance in rank, you begin to come into contact with the laws?"
Zijin shook her head.
Not everyone is like that.
She looked at him.
There is a type of person who exists outside this system.
"The power they touched was, from the very beginning, outside the scope that the gods had prepared for humanity."
There are no readily available rules.
There are no established practices to follow.
The polar night wind blew between the two, stirring up tiny ice crystals.
These types of people are called "cross-border individuals."
Su Ming glanced at the Zijin.
"Like us?"
"Just like us."
Zijin looked up at the sky, her voice somewhat ethereal.
"Life and Space."
"These powers are a blessing from God."
"It's a curse from the devil."
Su Ming looked down at his palm.
The feeling of my consciousness being torn apart and projected by an irresistible force still lingered.
A dangerous gate is being opened wider and wider.
"So, there's a limit to what we can do?"
"Certainly."
Zijin nodded.
We are but one of billions of living beings.
"We were not designed to wield such power beyond limits."
Su Ming also sighed.
"Once this incident is over, we can no longer go any further down this path," he said.
Zijin nodded, still feeling a lingering fear.
"Ideally, after dealing with Eden, we shouldn't use conceptual-level power anymore."
Su Ming, then suddenly said seriously, "I think we can make this an agreement between us."
"Should we forbid the other party from trying to destroy themselves?"
Zijin couldn't help but smile.
"All right!"
****
When the two returned, Beianqi was checking the equipment on the work deck.
There are countless tasks involved in the work.
The freezing array needs to be maintained, the fixed structure of the Vermilion Bow needs to be unlocked, and the outer working deck needs further reinforcement.
Alchemy materials were piled up, and mages, undead minions, and technicians moved back and forth on the ice.
"Hey, you two."
Beianqi glanced at them.
"Are you done with your date?"
Su Ming calmly took out his tablet and went online in the work group.
"Send a group of people to deploy the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen storage tanks first."
He issued instructions in the group chat.
The deployment of the equipment has been postponed.
"The components will shrink as they cool down. Once the temperature stabilizes, we will recalibrate and proceed with the next step."
"Receive!"
Those in charge responded enthusiastically.
Zijin also began to take over the control of the magic circle.
She raised her hand and pressed down, causing the brightness of several runes in the freezing array to change, and the slight fluctuations that had occurred before quickly stabilized.
The Quail walked over, putting on gloves as it did so.
Several people followed behind him, carrying a bunch of equipment boxes.
"I'm going to build a weather station and an ice displacement observation point nearby."
Su Ming gave an OK sign.
He then took a deep breath and sent a notification in the group chat.
"Please bear with us, everyone."
"Finish this job all night before resting."
The message had barely been sent out when people quickly realized something was wrong.
"President, you don't mean you'll stay up all night until the next sunrise, do you?"
Su Ming glanced at the sky under the polar night.
Then, quite naturally, he replied, "Yes."
"Only four months."
The group chat was silent for a moment.
The next moment, a burst of laughter erupted on the deck.
****
Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen production workshops are ready on the ice surface and have begun production.
These items are not convenient to bring on board.
Liquid oxygen is fine.
Liquid hydrogen is really difficult to handle.
It can erode the crystal lattice of almost any material.
Even the hardest metal will become brittle because of it.
It's the most terrifying corrosive agent!
Bringing this thing on a submarine is simply a waste of one's life.
Therefore, it must be prepared on-site at the North Pole launch site.
In the production workshop, seawater is pumped into the pretreatment unit, where it undergoes filtration, desalination, deionization, and degassing.
Enter the electrolytic cell.
Electrolysis is continuously carried out using electricity generated by the nuclear reactor.
Then it is compressed and condensed.
Of course, this process does not rely entirely on machinery; various alchemical arrays, including low-temperature arrays, also glow with magical light.
"Magic Power circuit is normal."
"Hydrogen purity meets the standard."
"Oxygen purity meets the standard."
Su Ming surveyed the area and found the scene of magic and technological equipment working busily on the same icy plain to be surprisingly harmonious.
Another group continued to reinforce the area around the Pansy.
They simply built a trapezoidal platform out of ice.
At temperatures as low as minus twenty degrees Celsius, this is an easy task.
Just keep watering it.
Only after the foundation was stable did everyone begin to erect the Vermilion Bow.