The small crane didn’t quite match what Magnus Specter had envisioned. Instead of a tracked crane, it was more like a hybrid vehicle—a small crane mounted on a truck chassis.

It had two driver’s cabs. One was on the truck chassis, looking just like an ordinary medium-sized freight truck. But instead of a cargo bed, the chassis carried a compact crane, which itself had its own cabin for a second operator.

It could keep up with the convoy’s speed and was incredibly handy for the job.

This was Mia Hadid’s idea. Neither Magnus Specter nor Charlotte Renard had realized there were such vehicles. Maybe people had seen one back during times of abundance, but it’s not something anyone would’ve paid much attention to.

With more than ten hours to spare before the animal blood application schedule at 10 PM, there wasn’t a moment to waste. Magnus got to his feet, ready to head into Hanford City to track down this small crane.

“Captain, hold on a second. I’ve got another matter to bring up,” Mia called out, stopping Magnus in his tracks. He turned, eyebrows raised in surprise, waiting for her to continue.

“It’s about the animal blood,” Mia said, her tone serious. “Animal blood?” Magnus Specter turned his head, startled. Seeing Mia Hadid’s serious expression, he sat back on the couch.

Mia followed suit, settling onto the seat across from him. Her tone stiffened as she declared, “I’ve been thinking about the way we’re using animal blood on the trucks these past few days. We’ve already established that animals attack vehicles with people inside, right?”

“Yeah.” Magnus nodded, his eyes narrowing as he listened.

“Then I think some of the trucks don’t need it,” Mia continued after a pause. “Like right now, we’re planning to stay here for more than two days, right? Under these circumstances, there’s no reason to waste blood on cargo trucks.”

Sophia Reid, sitting nearby, leaned forward, intrigued. “But what about the drivers? That night we were attacked by bats, remember? They went after both the cargo trucks and the sleeper ones. It wasn’t just about people.”

“Simple. Make the drivers get out.” Mia’s tone was as matter-of-fact as her gaze toward Sophia. “Magnus, since we’re guaranteed to be here for 48 hours, why not have the drivers gather in a sleeper truck for rest? That way, we won’t need to use blood on the unmanned cargo trucks.”

Magnus blinked, taken aback by the simplicity of her logic. She had a point.Why didn’t I think of that earlier? Just move the drivers from the trucks to the sleeper vehicles. Saves animal blood, saves time, and lets the drivers get proper rest.

How stupid was I two days ago? Over a thousand trucks, and I was running around delivering supplies—blankets, water—one by one! Should’ve just gathered them all in the sleeper cars from the start!

“Smart thinking, Mia!” Sophia widened her eyes as she walked over and patted Mia Hadid’s shoulder. “What did you used to do? You’re way too clever for this!”

“I...”

Mia’s expression dimmed as she thought about it. She lowered her eyes. “I used to be just a housewife.”

“A housewife? No way!” Sophia clearly didn’t believe her.

Mia gave a slow, quiet nod, her tone laced with sadness. “I got married right after I graduated from college. Never worked. My husband... he was in the import-export business. He... forget it, I don’t want to talk about him.”

Her husband had cheated on her, and Mia had left him scarred—literally.

Magnus Specter didn’t know how to respond to that, and Sophia, even less so. She just settled for cursing under her breath about how no man could ever be trusted. It was just hours until the next round of dousing vehicles with animal blood. Magnus Specter handed Sophia Reid two Super Fire Crystals, instructing her to move all drivers to sleeper buses immediately and find any crew members skilled in operating cranes. With Mia Hadid by his side, Magnus headed to Hanford City to locate small cranes, planning to return by nightfall.

Accompanied by Mia and Harper Quinn, Magnus’s familiarity with Hanford City made the search easy. They quickly located shops selling cranes, finding unused, brand-new models in the warehouse—apparently no one cared to touch them.

Back at the underground parking lot, they loaded up gas and gathered nine female team members. Including Mia and Magnus, they drove off with ten small crane trucks, refueling them all at the main convoy.

Four hours of work flew by. Meanwhile, Sophia demonstrated impressive efficiency, completing the transfer of over two thousand drivers to sleeper buses within just two hours.

The changes brought by Mia’s plan were striking. Originally, the massive convoy comprised over a thousand vehicles, all needing to be drenched in animal blood. Thanks to her idea, Magnus spared nine-tenths of the labor and saved an enormous amount of blood.

With every problem—blood, sealing, crane transportation of steel sheds—sorted out smoothly, good news came one after another. Magnus, the weight of days of stress finally lifted, felt exhilarated.

The tasks were clear: collecting animal blood at set locations, lifting steel sheds for meteor excavation, sealing with Metal Crystals, and conserving animal blood.This might seem like just a handful of minor victories, but when put together, it’s a game-changer for the Ice Regiment.

If everything works out, the Ice Regiment could make a killing, claiming every meteorite resource in the nearby cities without restraint.

Hanford City alone has over 200 high-yield meteorites. How about Ridgehaven City? What about Springvale City? And then there are the towns scattered across Northreach Province...

If they manage to pull this off, the Ice Regiment’s crystal reserves will skyrocket to a number that could shake the continent—maybe even beyond.

By 10 PM, Magnus Specter, now with a lighter workload, finished spreading all the animal blood in less than two hours.

With tomorrow’s big operation in Hanford City, Magnus made sure his team had a hearty meal and gave specific instructions to the sleeper car drivers: make sure everyone gets a warm and restful sleep tonight. He wasn’t shy about using meteorite soil.

Even Magnus himself planned to get a good sleep tonight; tomorrow’s large-scale action meant he needed his energy and stamina at their peak.

---

At dawn, Magnus called every sleeper car driver involved in today’s meteorite excavation into the living room of his caravan. A total of 40 sleeper buses and their 40 captains. Magnus Specter meticulously explained the details of extracting meteorites—how to coordinate with the cranes, handle sealing, and deal with the excess meteorite soil. He went over it all three times without skipping anything.

Still uneasy, Magnus randomly called on a few captains to repeat the instructions for everyone. Only after they recited them to his satisfaction did he give a slight nod of approval.

The convoy consisted of 40 sleeper buses, 10 small cranes, and 15 box trucks, with almost 3,000 people. This was the Ice Regiment’s most elite team.

Sophia Reid stayed back to oversee the main group while Magnus led Mia Hadid, Chloe Clark, Molly Robinson, Lucy Horváth, Amelia Rossi, Kristina Jarvis, and the rest of the vice captains to Hanford City.

If everything went smoothly, Magnus planned to wrap up the excavation of over 200 meteorites in Hanford City within two days.