Chapter 84: The Open-Air Molten Pool

"Village Chief! The crops here are growing far too slowly! If we don’t go out hunting soon, we really won’t make it!" Rong Huang, the village’s only combat professional, pounded the table in agitation.

The eruption of magma in the valley’s central pit was, in some ways, fortunate, but the affected area was simply too vast! The entire valley’s soil had turned into dry, clumpy mud, utterly unfit for cultivation. The village’s food supplies were nearly depleted during this time. If no solution was found, famine would descend upon the village...

In the world of blocks, famine is either nonexistent or endless. A village struck by famine spirals into an unending cycle of decline, eventually fading into the dust of history.

"I... ah!" The old village chief was at a loss—he couldn’t conjure food out of thin air. The more he experienced, the more he realized that hope never simply falls from the sky.

"Your Majesty, look below!" Old Li pointed toward the valley floor, shouting in disbelief.

Below, scattered stone cottages dotted the landscape, and faint dark figures could be seen moving about. Those figures must be the block people living here. Yet at the very center of the valley’s floor, a splash of blood-red caught the eye, glaringly vivid.

That blood-red mass was a mysterious, viscous liquid, flowing like water and seething between the cracks of the stones. Boils erupted continuously within it, releasing terrifying heat, keeping the valley floor above freezing even in this bitter cold…

"What is this dreadful liquid? Are the creatures living here even block people?" The sight below filled everyone with horror.

In their worldview, that blood-red liquid resembled the evil substances of legend. Any creature living near such a thing must surely be a monster.

"This..." Mo Fangyuan was startled by the crowd’s reaction, then looked down himself and was equally shocked.

"Isn’t this an open-air magma pool?" In "Minecraft," open-air magma pools are a rare terrain feature. Since water holes were removed from deserts in recent updates, these pools usually appear there instead. Although uncommon, they aren’t particularly useful, so few pay them much attention. Mo Fangyuan knew little about them.

Compared to the game’s magma pools, this one felt far more real. Aside from a few extra stones and obsidian around the edges, and the grass blocks turned to mud, it was otherwise unchanged from the game.

"This... is a treasure!" Mo Fangyuan’s eyes lit up.

In the game, magma isn’t much use, but reality is quite different. The game is the game—reality is reality. In the world of blocks, magma is "perpetual," meaning...

Magma = heat source = increased temperature = no need for fuel = factories can work overtime!

In the winter, the Block Kingdom’s greatest challenge was that people couldn’t work early shifts. Human bodies are vulnerable; low temperatures affect mood and productivity, and too much cold can kill. Every shift, factories needed enormous amounts of fuel just to keep warm and maintain a suitable temperature. Providing fuel daily put immense pressure on the kingdom’s development.

But with magma, everything changes! It can release unlimited heat, without any restrictions, endlessly creating value!

With proper safety measures, placing magma blocks in factories or crowded areas could replace much of the needed fuel, greatly reducing production pressures. The hope for overtime was right below!

Staring at the churning magma at the valley floor, Mo Fangyuan’s heart raced, his hands trembling.

"The red liquid below is magma!" To prevent his field soldiers from mistaking their compatriots below for monsters and slaughtering them, Mo Fangyuan especially warned them.

"You’ve seen ‘Beneath the Earth,’ right? Magma is that red liquid below. Aside from being extremely hot, it’s not... dangerous!" As long as you don’t foolishly jump in, there’s really no danger…

"It releases heat, resists the cold, raises the temperature... that’s why our compatriots gather here..."

After repeated reminders, Mo Fangyuan prepared to descend.

"Experts are among the people, mistakes are among the dead!" He had originally planned to jump down and use a "water landing" to make a dramatic entrance and awe the block people below.

But remembering his own lamentable hand speed, Mo Fangyuan hesitated.

Better safe than sorry. If his hand slipped and he failed to pour the water...

That would truly be a disaster.

"Don’t court death and you won’t die!" Mo Fangyuan quietly reminded himself not to take unnecessary risks.

Aiming for a protruding ledge below, he prepared to use a fishing rod to move.

Using the fishing rod was safer, less likely to end in disaster. The valley’s inner cliffs were steeper than the outer ones, with many jutting ledges suitable for landing, making descent easier.

"Gurgle, gurgle—"

The magma continued to erupt, releasing surges of heat.

Under Mo Fangyuan’s direction, the field soldiers moved methodically downward between the stone ledges.

"But if we don’t find food outside, our village will be finished!" The old village chief strongly opposed digging out the snow-buried exit.

Clearing the exit would require great physical effort, accelerating food consumption. With so little food left in the village, they couldn’t risk it.

"We could wait for the wheat to mature, then..."

"But what good will that do?!" Rong Huang roared in fury.

"The village can’t hold out! If we stay, we won’t even have the strength to clear the snow!"

"Going out might still give us hope to save the village! Staying only means death!"

Thinking of those elders who starved themselves so the younger generation wouldn’t go hungry, Rong Huang’s heart ached with sorrow.

His father was among them.

Before winter, the village had thirty-seven people; now, only eighteen remained! All the elderly and children were gone!

"Eighteen... The village really can’t go on!" Rong Huang, a man of seven feet, shed large tears at the thought of the block people who had starved to death before his eyes.

As the village’s guardian, he could do nothing but watch helplessly as those he protected died in agony before him.

What greater torment could there be?

"What do we have left to lose now?"

His wife was dead, his father was dead, his child was gone! He knew this was the moment of life and death for the village—if he didn’t make a choice now, the village would perish!

Rong Huang’s eyes were bloodshot, his whole body radiating a dangerous aura like a monster from hell.

"This... ah!" The old village chief was rendered speechless by Rong Huang’s words.

Yes, but what can they do? Staying in the village was safest, letting people die a little later...

"Even if it’s darkness, as long as it can protect the village, I am willing to give everything... including my soul!" Rong Huang vowed in despair.

On the ledge, Mo Fangyuan sensed something was amiss.

"They have stone houses, yet the population is so small?"

He had only seen fewer than ten people so far.

Logically, a village with stone houses should have decent productivity—so why were there so few people?

"The farmland here is pitifully small..."

Even the zombie village he’d encountered before had more farmland than this one.

If he hadn’t seen block people working the fields, Mo Fangyuan would have suspected this village was some monster’s lair.

"Your Majesty, shall we keep going down..." Xiao Li hesitated.

They had been hanging on the cliff wall for over ten minutes.

"Let’s go down first!"

After another look at the village population, Mo Fangyuan decided to investigate further.