Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 75 Doctrine Crisis
A communication came in that the decoy ship had arrived at the designated area. Su Ming picked up his binoculars and saw a small sailboat of about 300 tons anchored about 20 kilometers away. The sailors on board had already furled the sails and were launching small boats. Within ten minutes, all the personnel had withdrawn.

"Really efficient!" Su Ming exclaimed. This was, after all, the age of sail; for them to respond and get into position so quickly, these crew members probably hadn't rested since last night.

Su Ming brought the White Triangle closer, had the zombie pull over the tow rope tied to the stern of the White Triangle, and then towed the decoy ship forward.

The speed dropped considerably. Even with the steam engine pushed to 80% power, the ship's speed was only 21 knots.

“The resistance has increased significantly,” Su Ming said. “The streamlined structure of the decoy ship is inadequate.”

"It's designed for a speed of 10 knots, taking into account the stability of cargo handling in large waves." Xiwo updated the model and current position on the sand table. "This speed is barely enough. Did Xiaojin tell you all the details of the plan?" he asked Su Ming.

“She gave me a proposal,” Su Ming replied. “You guys worked really hard last night.”

“I’m getting old, so Xiao Jin wrote it all,” Siwo said. “She has always been an extremely diligent child, and you are the only person I’ve ever met who can keep up with her pace.”

Su Ming sighed, "That's only because of these things that she started to get involved."

The Federation also dispatched another survey fleet to stand by outside the sea monster's area.

Xiwo coordinated the cooperation between the two sides and conveyed the requirement of "peaceful coexistence and non-interference" in the name of Zijin and Suming.

In layman's terms: Don't cause trouble when there's nothing wrong with you, and get as far away from me as possible.

Afterwards, Siwo updated the weather forecast. He also learned to read the gyroscope's trajectory data and diligently kept flight logs and records of each search block.

Su Ming was somewhat unsure whether everyone in this other world was this powerful, or if he had just happened to encounter elites.
Now that he had nothing to do, he continued his duty while flipping through the sonar manual. During this time, the sonar detected several large underwater targets, which he found to be whales, not giant octopuses.

The signal characteristics of the two are quite different. With careful study and practice, even a novice like Su Ming can identify them.

****
That evening, the three met at the dining table.

“At the current pace, we can search the entire area in four days,” Siwo said. “The White Triangle alone has double the entire Federation’s budget and still have some left over.”

"The sooner we finish, the sooner we can stop," said Zijin. "The faster we act, the less time we give certain people to plot against us."

"Are you talking about the Empire and the Temple of Light?" Su Ming remembered his status as a wanted criminal with Violet, after all, the wanted notice was only "suspended".

"Yes," the scholar confirmed.

Su Ming didn't hold out any hope that the enemy would keep their promise, but—

"This is only the beginning; it's not time to discard them after they've served their purpose, is it?" he asked.

“Better safe than sorry. There’s no point in reasoning with the dead,” Zi Jin replied. “That’s true,” Su Ming nodded.

“Actually, things are not so bad on the Star Empire side,” Siwo said. “During the Battle of the Agate Sea, your act of publicly pulling out the teeth of the UFO dealt a huge blow to the Empire’s prestige and made their control of the Western Ocean unstable.”

"Shouldn't the Star Empire be hurrying to wipe us out and save face?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

“You make it sound like you’re easy to deal with, like you can easily regain your pride.” Sivor laughed. “If you fail again, the Imperial Navy will really lose face. Besides—” he added, “they still owe you a debt for not giving the UFO a fireball to make it explode.”

"So, in the short term, we only need to worry about the Temple of Light?" Violet asked.

“No, they don’t need to worry either, and things will be quiet for a while,” Siwo replied. “The Temple of Light is currently facing a major crisis and is too busy to take care of itself.”

"Eh, what crisis, Grandpa Siwo?" Violet continued to ask curiously.

"Thanks to you!" Siwo looked at the girl. "Little Violet, you've forgotten so quickly?"

Zijin realized, "Does my obtaining the Divine Favor Scepter have such a big impact?"

“The first page of the doctrine of Light states that the Divine Favor Scepter is a sign of divine mercy, a favor bestowed by the Creator upon outstanding individuals in the world,” Siwo said. “Xiao Jin, your being publicly wanted as a titled scholar has already generated considerable discussion and dissatisfaction from many quarters. Pope Augustus, as the holder of the Divine Favor, endorsed it in the name of God and forcefully pushed it forward.”

"As a result, Violet actually surpassed Augustus to become the new holder of the divine scepter." Su Ming also realized that the problem was more serious than he had originally thought.

“That’s right, so the temple’s higher-ups are completely unable to explain themselves now. The Temple of Light has always been a target of envy and criticism, and various forces are seizing the opportunity to kick it while it’s down. The topic circulating on the continent now is, who is the real heretic, you or Pope Augustus?”

Zijin was very surprised, "It can get to this level?"

“Don’t forget that one of your identities is that of a former saintess. Any little thing you do will immediately generate a lot of buzz,” Sivor explained. “Before I came here, I heard a bard singing about Elisa, the true goddess of the gods, who was coveted by Augustus because of her beauty. She refused to submit, but was framed by the Pope and ultimately had her divine scepter stolen by him. I had just heard the part about you and Catherine being in love when the Federation urged me to leave—it’s a real shame.”

"Wait, me, the Pope, and Catherine, what the hell is this?" Violet asked anxiously.

"The public needs entertainment, and these behind-the-scenes manipulators know it very well," Su Ming commented. "So, the Temple of Light's propaganda was completely crushed by the public's gossip spirit, resulting in a crushing defeat in the war of public opinion?"

"The situation is just as you described. Moreover, not only are external enemies taking the opportunity to suppress us, but the Temple of Light is also in complete chaos. After all, even the most devout fanatics and the most senior interpreters of the doctrine do not know how to deny that Xiao Jin has obtained the Divine Favor Staff," Siwo said.

“Hmph, those charlatans deserve it!” Violet said happily. “I actually thought the temple would choose to reconcile with me, clear my name and drop the warrant, and then everyone would be happy.” She shrugged. “I never expected it to come to this.”

“If you weren’t an undead, they would have done the same. Hesitating for even a second would be an insult to them as those in power,” Siwo said. “In short, to be able to push the Temple of Light into such a wretched state, Xiao Jin, you always manage to redefine my understanding.”

(End of this chapter)