These past few days, the alliance had been pouring all their efforts into repairing their defenses.
They collected lava and widened their trenches, soon surrounding the chunk with a thick, two-layer moat of molten rock.
After some nighttime testing, the defense proved incredibly effective against zombies.
"With this lava layer, zombies won't be able to just waltz into our chunk anymore!"
Mark chuckled as he slapped the shoulder of his new comrade, Soren Park.
Thanks to his shotgun, Soren's influence within the alliance was now second only to that of the Freedom Nation.
Even the Samurai Nation showed him a great deal of respect, treating him with careful deference.
It was no joke; that was a shotgun. Even if alliance members couldn't harm each other,
if they made Soren Park unhappy, Mark's personality was such that he might just kick them out of the alliance entirely.
After all, it was his chunk; he had every right.
They knew that if they were kicked out, Mark wouldn't just let them off easy; they'd likely be blacklisted by the entire alliance.
At that point, they would truly be surrounded by enemies on all sides, and the loss would outweigh any gain.
Once the defensive fortifications were built, Mark didn't strictly limit anyone's freedom.
Instead, he encouraged the players to team up for exploration and even opened up the Twilight Forest portal in his home.
Improving their overall strength benefited both sides and made it easier to resist the upcoming crisis—and if someone found another firearm, they'd strike it rich.
Although the Twilight Forest lacked a day-night cycle, the opportunity to team up with others tempted many players to try their luck.
Ronan Mountwell was one of them.
He was still obsessed with the rewards from the Questing Ram in the Enchanted Forest; he didn't want someone else snatching up the good loot.
He quietly shared the news with Kira Oakmoor, who happened to have some leftover dyes.
After some discussion, they decided to re-enter the Twilight Forest.
"Kira, if I remember correctly, didn't you kill a Hydra?"
He received a firm confirmation as Kira produced a bottle of Fiery Blood.
Radiant heat emanated from the glass bottle, and Ronan Mountwell beamed.
His Hunter passive had been triggered.
[Smelt with iron to obtain refined ingots.]
If combined with iron ingots, it could create a new type of mineral!
He tried it at the crafting table and found it worked perfectly, converting all the Fiery Blood into Fiery Ingots to craft a piece of Fiery Plate Mail.
"Now we have powerful armor just like Mark's!"
Having seen the strength of Fiery equipment before, Ronan was ecstatic.
Kira Oakmoor smiled, though he looked a bit regretful.
"Our defense has certainly improved, but it's a pity we still haven't obtained a SlashBlade!"
If they could get one, not only could he use it, but Ronan could as well.
Together, their strength would skyrocket!
Ronan, however, didn't feel the same way.
"The crisis isn't over yet; there will be chances in the future. Now we even have Fiery gear."
"And once we get the strongest hidden reward in the Twilight Forest, then...!"
No one had noticed them, but even if they had, it wouldn't matter.
Without the Hunter skill or Galen Yu's vast reservoir of knowledge, who would know that the Questing Ram required sixteen different colors of wool?
The viewers from the Samurai Nation were filled with anticipation.
"He's right! Once we get that, we'll be the strongest!"
"The Questing Ram is hidden so deep that even Galen Yu didn't find it. The reward must be massive!"
"Ronan finally used his head for once. They're going to take it all!"
"Maybe it won't be as strong as the Annihilation Cube, but it's surely better than the Nine-shot Bow, right?"
"The way that cube clears almost all blocks is better than any pickaxe. I'm so jealous of it!"
"Don't worry, this Questing Ram reward is ours!"
Their return to the Twilight Forest was solely for the Questing Ram, especially since even Galen Yu hadn't discovered it.
The Samurai Nation's audience was eager to see them surpass Galen Yu and Soren Park.
After a long trek, avoiding zombies and skeletons along the way, the two arrived at the Enchanted Forest.
When he saw the sheep filled with various colored dyes, Ronan was overcome with excitement.
"Great, it's still here!"
Kira Oakmoor nodded silently as he studied the Questing Ram.
It was just as Ronan had described—majestic and radiating magical power. It was clearly no ordinary sheep!
Kira handed the wool blocks to Ronan, who placed them all into the ram.
As magic descended, the Questing Ram shivered and underwent a total transformation.
Merging the sixteen colors of wool, it became its complete form—a sheep twice its original size!
After admiring its new form, the Questing Ram didn't forget to spit out its rewards.
With two soft thuds, blocks dropped onto the ground.
"Iron blocks? Gold blocks? My god, there's even a Diamond Block! We've struck gold!"
Ronan was thrilled as he gathered the blocks.
One Diamond Block was equal to nine diamonds; he could finally craft a diamond chestplate!
Aside from the block resources, the rest was classic loot plus a special item: the Crumble Horn.
"Quick, see what this artifact does!"
At Kira's urging, Ronan gave it a try.
Upon use, it let out a horn blast followed by continuous bleating. Then, under Ronan's watchful gaze...
Some blocks began to look aged. Grass blocks turned into dirt and then broke.
And then... nothing.
Ronan tried to find an offensive capability or some other use, and his Hunter skill triggered.
[Can transform blocks, but the range is extremely limited, including only: Stone, Sandstone, Grass, Stone Bricks, Dirt...]
"That's it?"
Ronan stood frozen in place.
Almost all the blocks it could transform were basic building materials. It was completely useless.
It had zero offensive capabilities and couldn't be used as a weapon.
Was this thing just a piece of absolute junk?
Other things might lie, but his Hunter skill wouldn't. If it said it was for block transformation, it had no other purpose.
"Well, Ronan? Is the artifact useful?"
Faced with Kira's question, Ronan hesitated for a long time before explaining its function.
Sure enough, Kira went silent after hearing the details.
So, they spent over twenty days searching for wool, only for it to end in nothing?
"Everyone is laughing at you, but you're the biggest joke of all!"
"I can't believe it, I really can't!"
"I thought their previous blunders were the limit, but it turns out they're masters of disappointment!"
"Galen Yu surprises me constantly, but you, Ronan, make my stomach hurt from laughing every single time!"
"I was wondering why God Galen didn't bother with the Questing Ram. Turns out there's nothing good there at all, huh?"
"I'm dying! This is too funny!"
"How did the Samurai Nation produce such a joke?"
Every single bullet comment was filled with uncontrollable laughter.
Takeshi Sable stared at the screen, his face so dark it looked like it was about to drip ink.
Twenty whole days spent searching for wool, and they thought they had found something powerful.
What do you mean it's just a useless horn that makes sheep noises?
The only truly useful things were five blocks—nine diamonds, some iron, and some gold.
In the Twilight Forest, ores were everywhere. Where couldn't you find nine diamonds in twenty days?
It was utterly useless!
But the most unbearable part was yet to come.
Just as they had finished their arduous journey to the Enchanted Forest, a special announcement rang out.
[Congratulations to the players who survived to thirty days; every player's chunk score +15.]
[The Third Crisis has begun, and the zombies seem to have undergone further changes.]
[They have become even more terrifying and specialized, with specific variants appearing!]
[The environment seems to have undergone subtle shifts.]
[In the face of irresistible natural laws, only by strengthening oneself can one survive!]
A thick, grey haze obscured their vision, swallowing half of the Enchanted Forest.
"It's fog! Fog is rolling in!"
Ronan let out a terrified cry as he made an even more horrifying discovery.
The barrier of the Enchanted Forest seemed to have failed!
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