Chapter Eleven: The Lost Kingdom?

“Unfortunately, still a step too late...” After pondering for a moment, Mo Fangyuan leapt onto a collapsed rooftop, gazing down at the few pitiful survivors below, quietly preparing his words.

“Fellow countrymen! I am Mo Fangyuan, King of the Southern Block Kingdom. I know you are grieving! Yes, who can bear the destruction of their home? Who can endure the loss of loved ones... I, Mo Fangyuan, on behalf of the Block Kingdom, invite you to join us, to become part of our great kingdom... Join us, and we will protect you from harm, and you shall have enough to eat...”

The image of Mo Fangyuan slaying the skeletal knights lingered in the survivors’ minds like a god of war. Now, this “god of war” extended a helping hand to them, a glimmer of light in their darkness, the lifeline to those drowning in despair.

He brought hope to those lost in hopelessness.

Although Mo Fangyuan’s words were awkward and insincere—after all, no kingdom would foolishly accept refugees—they still chose to believe in hope.

“He’s a block person; he won’t deceive us!”

Most thought this way; it was the trust shared among block people in this era.

All eight chose to join the Block Kingdom. Mo Fangyuan was delighted, smiling as radiantly as the flowers of his homeland.

“Iron swords, bows, iron armor, saddles, the various resources in the village, books, a new map... The supplies aren’t bad...” After sorting out these items, Mo Fangyuan thought it best to be cautious, lest he find himself without a place to mourn if disaster struck.

“That’s enough for now. I’ll return another time if there’s an opportunity.”

Mo Fangyuan wasn’t greedy—or perhaps he’d learned his lesson after several beatings. The northern monster faction’s details remained unknown, but judging from the pair of skeletal knights, that power was formidable compared to the Block Kingdom. Their “king” was a skeleton.

Skeleton King, adept at attack and stealth, possessing the power to assimilate creatures, abilities mainly focused on covert killing—Monster Compendium

Most Skeleton Kings described in the Monster Compendium were assassins—a troublesome lot.

If conflict broke out with the skeleton faction at this stage, the consequences would be unbearable for the Block Kingdom.

“Assassin... Witch sequence?”

Truthfully, Mo Fangyuan wasn’t particularly afraid; instead, he recalled a novel he'd read before crossing over, which featured a witch sequence—the ninth was an assassin, quite intriguing.

Because Mo Fangyuan was returning with eight new workers and a fair amount of supplies, their pace slowed, but thankfully the journey was uneventful.

After two and a half days, Mo Fangyuan brought the immigrants safely back to the Block Kingdom.

The kingdom hadn’t changed much in just five days—if anything major had happened, Mo Fangyuan would have stood on his head and eaten Old Eight’s secret hamburger.

Eight people weren’t many, but they eased the block kingdom’s severe shortage of labor.

“Not enough, not enough... Far from enough!”

The Block Kingdom still faced a labor crisis, especially since Mo Fangyuan intended to establish ranches, sugar cane farms, and more—facilities that would require considerable manpower.

If those were built, labor would be further dispersed, leading to inefficiency and hampering the kingdom’s growth.

Internal solutions were impossible; it took at least twelve years for a newborn to become a worker, and there were too few children in the kingdom for that to be feasible.

Pinning the kingdom’s fate on them would be a recipe for disaster!

Absorbing people from other villages was crucial.

In this era, where block people were united and trusted each other, accepting immigrants wasn’t as difficult as it once was—there were virtually no drawbacks.

Well, aside from increasing monster spawn rates.

“The northern desert is actually worth further exploration... Wait... What’s this?!”

There were still many villages in the north, all potential labor sources. Mo Fangyuan didn’t want to abandon them to destruction by the skeleton faction.

“This map...”

Mo Fangyuan had taken a map from the desert village; seeing the drawing on it gave him a strange sense of familiarity, as if he’d seen it somewhere before, though he couldn’t recall where.

He trusted his intuition and immediately called over several survivors from the desert village.

“What is this?” Mo Fangyuan pointed to the red skull in the upper left corner of the new map and asked the newcomers.

“Your Majesty, that is the ruin of a powerful kingdom. At its peak, it had over two hundred people, but a year ago, it was destroyed by the skeleton faction. Now, skeleton monsters may gather there; to prevent anyone from stumbling into it, the village chief marked it for easy identification.”

“And your village chief?”

“He’s dead...”

Mo Fangyuan’s brows furrowed, then his pupils contracted.

Kingdoms, skeleton factions, deserts, conquered kingdoms...

Isn’t this precisely The Lost Kingdom?!

The Lost Kingdom was a four-part Minecraft music film that, in its era, sparked a craze with its superb visuals and effects.

Its predecessor, Skeleton King, was even more popular, with 130 million views, earning its place as a masterpiece.

He remembered, back when Mo Fangyuan was a young dreamer, he often fantasized about growing, adventuring, and fighting alongside the protagonist—a cherished childhood memory.

Now he was filled with regret; this wasn’t the protagonist, and he was no match for what was coming! Had he known, he never would have wished for this!

In that film, if not for the protagonist’s plot armor, the Overworld would have long since fallen to the Nether’s Piglin Empire.

The Lost Kingdom had four parts; the first two centered on the protagonist’s growth, but the third and fourth shifted dramatically to a Nether invasion.

If the first two parts were easy, the latter were hellish.

Nether: steampunk, packed with black technology.
Overworld: classical era? Has nothing of value.
They weren’t even in the same league!

The Nether had mechs and missiles—what did the Overworld have?

“One year destroyed...”

If that was accurate, the main story and the Piglin Empire’s invasion were about fifteen or sixteen years away.

Thinking of the Nether’s technology made Mo Fangyuan’s head ache.

But on second thought, perhaps this was a blessing.

When disaster strikes, the tall bear the weight; in a decade or so, the protagonist would perish with the Piglin Empire, and as long as the Block Kingdom was strong enough, it could compete with other powers, seizing the Piglin Empire’s legacy.

If they could withstand the first waves of the Piglin Empire’s assault, countless opportunities would be theirs.

Mechs, dreadnoughts, beacon missiles... Mo Fangyuan coveted the Piglin Empire’s black technology.

“If we grow for ten years, resisting the first attacks from the Piglin Empire should be no problem. Passing through unscathed isn’t just a dream!”

Mo Fangyuan thought confidently.

Even if, for now, the Block Kingdom was just a tiny broken village.

“If I have time, I must visit those places; the animation showed many valuable locations.”

In the original, several sites held great value, like the northern metropolis, the main battlefield between Piglin Empire and humanity.

In The Lost Kingdom, there was a remarkable city, and from the film, Mo Fangyuan knew at least five thousand people lived there, with technology akin to the medieval period.

If that city truly existed in this world, Mo Fangyuan wanted to see it, to discover what power enabled such an enormous, improbable city to be built here.

Perhaps he could make some deals as well.

“Development... development...”

As the sun dipped westward, after settling these immigrants, Mo Fangyuan, like a diligent farmer, tended his fields once again.

Until the Block Kingdom possessed its own defenses, Mo Fangyuan would not rest.