Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 39 Flying Against the Wind
The archbishop himself was also "seriously injured" and fell into the sea, holding back his teammates to rescue him. Then everything that happened at that time makes sense.

Going back further, Stanton deliberately set fire to the mountain while the zombies were collecting fuel to obscure their view. Clearly, Stanton didn't understand the importance of vegetation. Fortunately, there was a shipwreck at sea; otherwise, Su Ming and the scholar's escape plan would have failed.

It makes you want to punch it.

So what did he come here for? Was it just to deliver defense deployment information?

“That’s right, we can’t count on him this time,” Violet replied. “Stanton and I are very close, though others don’t know that.”

“No wonder the bone dragon appeared out of nowhere and disappeared so quickly back then. I thought it was Saint Sorcerer Russell who really came,” Su Ming said. “I was really scared to death back then. We had just killed his student, Galio.”

A barely suppressed smile played on Zijin's lips.

"What's wrong?" Su Ming asked curiously.

“Russell, you’ve already seen him,” Violet replied. “I’m not talking about the illusion of the Bone Mark, but in reality.”

"Hey, does the riddle have an extra twist?!"

“No, I’m just providing information,” Zijin said. “Now that you’ve made your plans, I’ll continue engraving the magic array.” She suddenly reached out and covered her hair with a spell.

As the light flowed by, the purple disguise on the outside of her hair disappeared, revealing its original light brown color, and her purple eyes turned azure.

"Want to change the color to lift your spirits?" Su Ming asked.

Violet shook her head. "There's no point in hiding it anymore. Catherine is here, and the Temple of Light already knows my identity as a human."

"Wait a minute." He called to the girl, reached into his pocket, took something out and handed it to her.

Zijin took it and found it to be an exquisite hair tie. The flax-colored silk satin was woven in a fine and secure manner, and a dozen sparkling crystals were hung on it, forming the shape of a butterfly orchid.

"Don't let the skeleton take my data cable, Miss Violet," Su Ming said. "It would be troublesome if it drew something useful."

"Thank you!" The scholar put the hair tie on his wrist, turned and left, waving goodbye to those behind him. "See you later."

"See you."

****
Eleven hours after setting sail, night had fallen at sea. Su Ming had successfully left both reconnaissance ships more than 70 kilometers behind, allowing the Zhiyuan to escape the sight of the Eye of Insight.

Su Ming began to adjust the direction of the Zhiyuan ship, increasing the output of the steam engine and the speed of the propeller.

With his maneuvering, the Zhiyuan gradually changed direction at high speed, and the crosswind that was originally relative to the ship gradually turned into a headwind.

"Are you about to begin?" Violet asked from the top of the ship's deck. She had just tied her hair up with a hair tie, and after shaking her head from side to side, she felt it was just right, the tightness was perfect.

“That’s right, it’s time to let loose!” Su Ming replied.

"Starboard winds are coming in, forward winds are at 45 degrees, and the sea surface wind speed is 27 knots." Su Ming read the data and began to adjust the sail angle.

“I understand a little better what you mean by hydrostatic propulsion.” Zijin looked at the streamlined sails standing tall against the wind in the night and said to Su Ming, “But I still don’t understand why the optimal course is against the wind? Doesn’t that increase drag backward?”

"This is to increase the relative wind speed," Su Ming explained. "When sailing against the wind, the increase in apparent wind speed is greater as the ship's speed increases. And the greater the apparent wind, the greater the static pressure on the wing sails."

Violet didn't understand at all, but reality taught her a harsh lesson. Against the 45-degree headwind, the Zhiyuan sped faster and faster, and soon she could barely open her eyes, forcing her to put on goggles. Finally, she was forced to crouch down and summon a bone wall in front of her to block the wind.

The Zhiyuan has a real-time speed of 26 knots and a wind speed of 44 knots!
The violet was being blown by a Force 9 gale!

"Su Ming, this is truly outrageous!" the scholar exclaimed excitedly. "Does that mean the faster the ship travels, the stronger the propulsion against the wind?"

"That's true to some extent."

The scholar murmured, "What terrifying Earth science, what amazing technology, it's all counterintuitive!"

“This is equally incomprehensible to most people on Earth,” Su Ming replied.

This actually includes Su Ming himself. When he learned in junior high school that a single-person sailboat powered solely by wind could achieve a speed record of 64 knots in a 25-knot sea breeze, his worldview was shattered.

"So, is this cycle infinitely repeating?" Violet suddenly asked. "The faster the ship goes, the stronger the wind becomes—the stronger the wind, the faster the ship goes!"

"It depends on the wind resistance on the windward side of the sail and the water resistance of the hull. If the resistance is low enough, then mathematically it can increase infinitely!" Su Ming said. "The steam engine is already at its maximum power, so it can only go up to 26 knots."

****
Less than 100 kilometers from the enemy ships, at its current speed, Su Ming estimates it will take two hours to reach the blockade line.

For the first half hour or so, the "Squirrel Battle Group" and the "Carrier Battle Group" maintained their course, continuing to head towards the predicted location of the Zhiyuan. Everyone was at peace, each going their own way.

When the distance closed to about 70 kilometers, the encirclement fleet suddenly reacted and began a series of countermeasures.

"The Azure Ocean Valley also has enhanced detection capabilities," Su Ming said. This was expected. The good news is that unlike the Four-Eyed Jenny, it doesn't have the ability to perform联动叠加 (interlocking and superimposed) detections; it's limited to detecting enemies at a distance of 70 kilometers.

The Azumi-Yutani and the Songstress-class carriers adjusted their course and headed north towards the interception line, while the "Squirrel Fighter Group" also quickly headed south. However, the "Carrier Fighter Group" was at an angle with the wind and could reach a speed of 13 knots at full sail and full speed, while the "Squirrel Fighter Group" was facing the wind at a 50-degree angle and could only reach a speed of 4 knots.

Su Ming found it strange. The Azure Sea Valley and the Songstress-class ships definitely had magical propulsion capabilities, but according to the radar, they were not using them.

Even Zijin frowned, beginning to suspect that something fishy was going on.

But soon, a few stray waves flashed across the radar, and the three warships of the "carrier battle group" suddenly accelerated, which put the two men at ease.

Time continued to move forward. About an hour later, the speeding Zhiyuan was only 30 kilometers away from the interception line, while the nearest Sona-class ship heading north from below had only just reached a position 15 kilometers away from the interception line.

The "Squirrel Fighting Group" on the other side was still 40 kilometers away from the battlefield, clearly too late.

However, the Azure Sea Valley had already approached within 30 kilometers. Facing a flying beast mothership, this was not a distance that could guarantee its safety.

Violet looked up at the night sky, suddenly unfolded a shield, and summoned the Divine Blessing Scepter.

"Are they here?" Su Ming asked.

“Hmm, I smell the scent that the Temple Watchers hate,” Violet replied.

She suddenly raised her hand, and a series of magic orbs shot out, creating a barrage of bullets in the night sky to the southeast.

(End of this chapter)