Chapter 124: Heading North

Because the Block Kingdom had undergone centralized, state-controlled political reform, it was extraordinarily stable, its order immaculate, and its crime rate stood at zero.

Before venturing abroad, one must first secure the homeland. Now that its internal problems had been resolved, it was time to attempt another expedition.

A month had passed since the field army’s last outing, and the calendar had reached the end of the first year of winter.

This meant that the kingdom would soon enter the even colder “Perpetual Cold,” which lasted through most of the second winter year.

During the Perpetual Cold, temperatures would grow harsher and reach the lowest average point of the winter years. Historically, most catastrophic cold spells had occurred during this period. Yet natural conditions were relatively stable, and extreme weather such as blizzards was rare.

The period in which the Block Kingdom currently found itself was called the “Gradual Cooling” by the block people. Temperatures were not yet at their lowest, but the climate was changeable and extreme weather frequent. This period corresponded to the first year of winter.

The third winter year was easy enough to guess. It was called the “Warming Turn,” when temperatures began to rise and the weather grew warmer. Extreme conditions were uncommon, though sleet occurred frequently.

The field army had rested within the kingdom for a long time, and Mo Fangyuan was preparing to send them out once more.

This time, the field army’s mission was not to map unexplored territory or recruit people. Instead, they were to risk bypassing the skeleton forces’ sphere of influence in the north and advance deep into the unknown northern regions. Their task was to determine whether that area was the setting in which the events of *The Lost Kingdom* had taken place—and, if so, to see whether the enormous city described in the story, one with a population exceeding ten thousand, truly existed.

Put simply, Mo Fangyuan wanted to find out, before the original plot began, whether this world was the world of *The Lost Kingdom*, or whether the events of *The Lost Block* had unfolded here.

If it was, then did the unknown northern regions contain the cities and villages that had appeared in the story? And, more importantly… did they contain the original protagonist and his father?

This mission was of immense importance and would have a profound effect on the future direction of the Block Kingdom’s development. Mo Fangyuan’s order was clear: they had to investigate thoroughly.

The gigantic city from the story was especially important to the Block Kingdom’s future.

Although the city had performed poorly when confronted by the Pigman Empire’s invasion, the story made it clear that it was a vast settlement of block people, home to a great many of them.

A city capable of supporting so many block people would inevitably possess formidable defensive and survival capabilities.

Since they were all block people, Mo Fangyuan could easily establish friendly relations with them, trade freely, and exchange supplies. Once their trust had been secured, the two sides might even form a military alliance and attack the skeleton forces from both sides…

“This mission is extremely important. Take it seriously, and have confidence. Do not overlook even the smallest detail…”

Mo Fangyuan was also keeping in mind the many valuable things that had appeared in the original story.

For instance, the End Portal beneath the kingdom’s castle; the cultivation manual painted in the murals of the desert temple; the lava castle of Fake Him; and the stone giant in the lava pool…

The dimension beyond the End Portal was the Land of the End, commonly known as “the End.” Endermen would spawn there in great numbers, and they could drop Ender Pearls. Anyone who knew what those were for understood their value.

In the original story, the protagonist had painstakingly trained in the techniques depicted on the murals for more than ten years and eventually became a warrior without equal. His own talent and hard work had certainly played a part, but the superiority of those techniques was equally apparent. Once obtained, they could be incorporated directly into the army’s training and used to enhance its combat strength.

Mo Fangyuan did not know whether the white-eyed Steve from the original story was truly Him. But since the creature bled and could be killed, he had decisively named it Fake Him, distinguishing it from the true Him.

In any case, all of these things were immensely valuable. If possible, the Block Kingdom would acquire as many of them as it could without affecting the course of the story.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Iron Nose’s expression was exactly as it had been before. Clearly, he still had not found the courage to have a heart-to-heart talk with Lin Ye during the past few weeks.

“Then, warriors of the kingdom, raise your spirits and prepare to depart tomorrow!”

In order to establish contact with the northern region where the story took place as quickly as possible, Mo Fangyuan reluctantly ordered the field army to travel on horseback.

Over the entire first winter year, the Block Kingdom had managed to raise only thirteen horses. Every one of them was a precious treasure.

Once the field army departed tomorrow, eleven of those horses would be taken away. No one knew whether the soldiers would be able to bring them back alive.

The livestock department workers were all terribly upset. Some of the more delicate girls even burst into tears.

“Big Sis, I’m leaving…”

Early the next morning, Iron Nose packed the required supplies neatly into his inventory before bidding Lin Ye farewell with great reluctance.

“Mhm. Off you go, Little Iron. Come back soon, all right∽”

Based on Lin Ye’s own judgment, Iron Nose might have developed a dependence on her resembling that of a son toward his mother. Since that was the case, Lin Ye decided to try playing the role of a mother, giving Iron Nose “maternal love” and using that love to guide him in the affairs of daily life…

“I—I… well… Big Sis, I like you! I’ll come back! Wait for me… I…”

Hearing Lin Ye’s gentle words, Iron Nose’s face suddenly flushed crimson. Combined with his own morally and ethically unacceptable feelings toward her, an inexplicable courage surged through him. In that burst of bravery, he stammered out the words “I love you,” his nerves taut.

“Mhm. Big Sis likes you too…”

Lin Ye took his words only as an expression of Iron Nose’s longing for the maternal love he had lost after being orphaned at a young age. Thus she echoed him without considering whether the words might carry another meaning.

“I’m sorry, Big Sis, I said the wrong thing… What?! You agree?!”

The moment he had said “I love you,” Iron Nose immediately came to his senses and realized that he had actually blurted out those words. His heart plummeted.

“Am I completely finished?! No! No, I can’t! My love… she agrees?!”

Just as Iron Nose was sinking into despair, he heard an unbelievable response.

It was like a dream. He could hardly believe his ears. In an instant, he had actually received an answer from Big Sis!

She did not care about morality or ethics. She was willing to accept him!

Iron Nose was overjoyed. His entire being entered a state of euphoria. He felt so wonderful that he could practically stride through the air.

His unusual condition also attracted the attention of the surrounding field army soldiers.

“Hey, Minister, what happened to you?” one of them asked teasingly.

“Ha! I just remembered something happy!”

Thinking of the dreamlike incident that had just occurred, Iron Nose was in excellent spirits.

“Oh? What sort of thing could make an iron block happy?”

“The minister’s wife must have given birth!”

“To his own child, no less!”

“Stop joking around. The minister doesn’t even have a fiancée yet. He’s still a bachelor!”

Iron Nose ignored them and simply threw back his head and laughed.