Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Empire's Blade Is Hungry (1)
Dusk descended.
Because of the impact of the daytime “First Kingdom High Council Meeting,” Lin Ye and the others hid at home, pondering strategies, and no one ventured outside.
Except for Mo Fangyuan.
Yes, the Block Kingdom was indeed facing a crisis of governance, but solving institutional problems didn’t conflict with heading into the Black Forest at night to hunt monsters!
Gripping the Blade of the Empire, Mo Fangyuan moved through the wind and snow.
A dark night with wild winds—a perfect time for monster hunting!
From less than five hundred squares a year ago to a radius of eleven hundred now, the Block Kingdom’s power had grown, and its territory expanded.
Lumberyards, livestock farms, fields, plantations…
In the world of blocks, as long as someone works, there will always be output.
The number of workers was directly proportional to the yield.
“What’s going on?”
Just as he stepped out of the Block Kingdom’s borders, Mo Fangyuan felt a strong… sense of restraint?
It was so intense, yet didn’t impede his actions…
“It’s as if someone is gently persuading me not to leave!”
Mo Fangyuan swayed, his mind dizzy.
“May the king be safe!”
“A great king should stay and guide us!”
“I will grow strong enough to defend the king!”
“Your Majesty…”
Mo Fangyuan seemed to see himself as a beam of light, trailing countless white threads that connected him to tiny white points of light behind…
“Is this what it means to lose freedom?”
He looked at his hands, pondering deeply.
He speculated that as the Block Kingdom grew stronger, so did the Blade of the Empire, but the restraint upon him increased!
Eventually, it might reach the point where his very body would be restricted!
Mo Fangyuan furrowed his brow.
He wasn’t afraid to lose his freedom, for it was his own choice.
But being unable to leave the kingdom would be troublesome—the Block Kingdom’s current fighting force couldn’t venture beyond Mo Fangyuan!
The dense, broad-leaved blocks of the Black Forest kept the wind and snow from penetrating within, allowing many monsters to survive.
“Roar! Roar, roar!”
Braving the storm, Mo Fangyuan arrived at the forest’s edge.
No sooner had he entered the Black Forest than he heard the excited howls of zombies.
“Night vision, on!”
He prompted himself to activate night vision.
Deep blue particles appeared beside his eyes, transforming his gaze into a “blue space.”
[Charisma +100]
With night vision, Mo Fangyuan could see everything around him clearly.
“Roar, roar, roar!”
A zombie with glowing green eyes eagerly approached.
It struggled to move its stiff, slow body, rushing toward Mo Fangyuan at a speed of 0.4 squares per second.
You’re the one!
Mo Fangyuan raised the Blade of the Empire and charged at the excited zombie.
With the boost of Speed 2, he was instantly in front of the zombie.
The Blade of the Empire glowed with a strange blood-red light in the darkness, like a bloodthirsty demon lurking in an abyss, or a valiant warrior on a crimson battlefield…
“Urgh!”
One strike!
Just a single strike!
The zombie was cleaved cleanly in two by the Blade of the Empire!
And that wasn’t all!
[Knockback 2]
The zombie’s two halves were sent flying six squares away.
[Empire’s Wrath 2]
The corpse ignited in fierce flames, the red fire lighting up the darkness, and soon the blaze spread from the zombie’s body to the nearby trees of the Black Forest.
Mo Fangyuan gained an experience orb and a few trees that became “light sources.”
“Hm, it comes with a terrain destruction effect!”
Seeing the burning trees doused by wind and snow, Mo Fangyuan began to reassess the Blade’s power.
“Close or ranged, single or group…”
“No wonder it’s the artifact of the block people! Incredible!”
Raising the Blade of the Empire again, a hint of discordant cruelty flashed in Mo Fangyuan’s deep blue “stellar eyes.”
“The Blade of the Empire is hungry—it needs the joy of block people and the suffering of monsters!”
With that, Mo Fangyuan charged deeper into the Black Forest.
“Roar, roar, roar!”
Three zombies encountered!
Slaughtered!
Five zombies!
Killed!
Each strike felled a zombie, letting Mo Fangyuan savor the thrill of a hack-and-slash game once more.
“Crack! Roar! Hiss!”
On Zhang Lingyun’s map of the Black Forest, a medium-sized monster group was marked not far ahead.
“Time to test my hand!”
With his combat experience and the Blade’s mighty enhancement, Mo Fangyuan believed he could cut them all down.
“Come! Blade of the Empire, let us fight for the block people!”
Clearing out a group of monsters ahead would make the “Break Lock Operation” easier to succeed!
Caressing the Blade of the Empire again and again, Mo Fangyuan murmured in obsession.
This is power! Only by wielding great strength can the block people be saved!
“Monsters must die!”
Targeting a cluster of skeleton archers, Mo Fangyuan activated Skill 1.
Blood-red particles gathered in his left palm.
He could feel the surging energy within.
Sensing a critical point, Mo Fangyuan released his hold on the power and hurled it forward.
“Whoosh—”
The blood-red particle sphere shot at the group of skeleton archers at lightning speed.
“Bang!”
The sphere exploded, creating a flaming crater at the target location, killing or injuring the skeleton archers nearby.
The Blade of the Empire’s ranged attack combined the damage of arrows, the destructive force of TNT, and the burning power of fire.
Skeleton archers engulfed in flames writhed in agony on the ground.
The monster horde was alarmed and erupted into chaos!
Mo Fangyuan followed up with another ranged attack, aiming at a Creeper.
In Minecraft, Creepers have an interesting trait: right-clicking them with a flint and steel causes them to detonate manually.
Some ruthless players breed Creepers, storing them as mobile TNT.
In this world, Creepers also contain gunpowder and are even easier to detonate.
Seeing the Blade’s ranged attack had a burning effect, Mo Fangyuan was inspired.
“Can I use ranged attacks to trigger their explosions from afar?”
Thus, he threw his skill at the Creeper.
“Hiss, hiss, hiss—”
The struck Creeper emitted a piercing noise, its body swelling and turning white.
“Just as I thought!”
Mo Fangyuan’s guess was correct—fire could indeed ignite Creepers.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Several Creepers detonated, killing monsters clustered around them.
Leaping onto a tree, Mo Fangyuan squinted, searching for more Creepers in the monster horde.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
Explosions echoed throughout the crowd of monsters.
By letting monsters consume each other, Mo Fangyuan managed to wipe out a quarter of their number.
“Now it’s time for the warrior to act!”
Drawing an invisible circle before him with the Blade of the Empire, Mo Fangyuan began his assault.
He hooked a large tree in the monster horde with a fishing rod, pulling himself swiftly to its side.
“Die!”
Landing atop the tree, he leaped into the horde, sweeping his blade.
[Enchantment: Sweeping Edge]
In an instant, monsters around Mo Fangyuan were cut in half at the waist.
[Knockback + Empire’s Wrath]
The slain monsters, aflame, were launched into the ranks behind.
“Feel the fury of the block people, you wretches!”
Now Mo Fangyuan truly resembled a “terrifying upright ape,” standing atop the food chain, possessing the power to slaughter all.
He hurled another ranged attack and continued to sweep.
With each swing of the Blade of the Empire, Mo Fangyuan wiped out a squad of monsters.
Like slicing tofu, he felt no resistance from the blade, growing ever more adept at killing monsters.
This was a massacre—a slaughter of monsters by the block people!
One strike, two, three…
Mo Fangyuan wielded the Blade of the Empire, unleashing the fury of the block people upon the monsters.
Because of [Empire’s Wrath], the battlefield blazed with fire, flames burning on monster corpses and the trees of the Black Forest alike.
Blazing fire, scorched earth, mutilated limbs…
Standing atop the bodies of monsters, Mo Fangyuan swung his blade, admiring the “art” he had created.
“A weapon that can slaughter monsters is true art!”