It really went to the Oakmoor family!
Takeshi Sable had just started to smile, the look of pleasant surprise not yet faded.
Then, it froze on his face.
"Wha—What?"
As if unable to believe it, he asked Saburo Oakmoor again.
"What is the national fortune reward?"
"It's lava! The reward this time is lava! Mt. Fufuji erupted, and even with half the county seat included, everything near the volcano is covered in lava!"
Mt. Fufuji was one of the landmarks of the Samurai Nation.
It was the highest point in the country, hailed as a sacred peak. Because of its beautiful scenery and unique geographical location, it was famous worldwide.
The last time this place erupted was hundreds of years ago—so long ago that many people had forgotten it was even a volcano.
Consequently, many residents lived nearby, driving the development of tourism, commerce, and other sectors.
Now, it had erupted?!
Without any warning, it suddenly erupted!
And because they were so close, the entire Oakmoor family—except for Saburo Oakmoor, who happened to be out and escaped the disaster—was buried in lava!
"Sable, what should we do? When Kira returns and sees that the whole family is dead, this... this!"
Immersed in the news of his family's total annihilation, Saburo Oakmoor's tears flowed freely as he wailed in agony.
Meanwhile, Takeshi Sable suddenly thought of a new problem.
"Since the reward is lava, then doesn't that mean our vicinity...?"
As soon as those words left his mouth, the entire room fell silent.
Even the weeping Saburo Oakmoor stopped, his head turning mechanically toward the north.
*Boom!*
Flames soared as a massive glob of lava erupted from the distant volcano, flowing and spreading in all directions.
"This is bad!"
It wasn't just the Oakmoor family; Takeshi Sable now had to face this situation as well.
Volcanoes were one of the most common geographical features of the Samurai Nation.
Despite having a small landmass, it possessed a total of three hundred volcanoes of various sizes, earning it the nickname 'Nation of Volcanoes'.
With frequent activity and wide distribution, residents were usually heavily affected, and now, with lava as a 'reward'...
The entire Samurai Nation was gripped by an atmosphere of terror.
"Damn it! Why did the volcano near us erupt!"
"Didn't the experts say it was an extinct volcano that hadn't erupted in a thousand years?"
"Those cursed experts! Those stupid experts!"
"Those damn experts are full of it... What? You're saying the experts were buried by lava too?"
"Where exactly did things go wrong? How could so many volcanoes erupt!"
"Galen Yu? The national fortune reward? He rewarded us with lava!"
"I knew he wouldn't be this kind! Oh no, the lava is coming!"
If one were to look through a satellite, they would see that most of the Samurai Nation was occupied by red.
It was fresh, boiling, and incredibly hot lava, directly destroying many districts and counties.
Busy fleeing for their lives, people no longer had time to go online. The Samurai Nation's IP addresses suddenly vanished from the internet.
The only ones remaining were 'foreigners' who were studying abroad or traveling.
It wasn't that they were born with divine strength to resist high temperatures or that they weren't afraid of lava, but rather a property of the rewards in the block world.
[SYSTEM: Each reward can only be enjoyed by the citizens of that nation; those who are not citizens, even if they reside in the territory, cannot enjoy the resources.]
Unless a consensus was reached where both parties were willing to accept the resource. If not...
If even one side disagreed, there was no way to obtain it.
When this rule first appeared, everyone in the Samurai Nation was overjoyed.
Their players had worked hard to obtain rewards; how could they let others steal them?
Now, things were very different.
Lava was also a resource from the national fortune rewards, and it only took effect on the Samurai Nation.
This meant the international students were unaffected. Even if lava flowed over and buried the entire county...
They remained completely unharmed within it, as if they had a layer of protection; the lava automatically bypassed them.
"Scared me to death! I thought it was a real volcanic eruption!"
"Lava is even more terrifying than a tsunami. A sea of fire bigger than a building just rushed at me like that!"
"Luckily, I'm an international student. Honestly, swimming in lava feels pretty good!"
"It's warm, not hot. It's fun!"
"Haha, that little Samurai wanted to 'gift' me some lava. To hell with him!"
"If one side doesn't agree, you can't accept it. You guys can suffer on your own!"
"Let me add one more thing: God Yu is awesome!"
When the news spread, social media platforms across the entire web lagged again.
The traffic was so massive it caused the servers to crash!
It wasn't until emergency repairs were made and the details were understood that the audience in the Nine Provinces continued to laugh.
"I knew God Yu couldn't possibly do something like that!"
"Lava, huh? Well, that's not surprising!"
"I can't think of any use for this stuff. We wouldn't take it even if it were a gift. Better to give the 'good stuff' to the Samurai Nation!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Fries slowly let out a sigh of relief.
He really thought Galen Yu had given something to the Samurai Nation to seek peace and admit fault.
Thankfully!
"Lava... that really is quite a gift!"
Thinking about the situation in the Samurai Nation, Fries burst into laughter.
On the Sky Island.
After making his choice, Galen Yu smiled slightly.
It did indeed have something to do with the Beacon, so the rewards at the time weren't just lava.
There were also water, stone, and other resources.
But thinking carefully, they didn't need all those messy things. Even if he chose them, it would just be the icing on the cake, and the effect wouldn't be that great.
Instead, there was lava.
Giving this thing to others would be too much fun.
There was no reward more suitable for the Samurai Nation than lava!
'It must be a complete mess out there, right?'
Just imagining it made Galen Yu want to laugh.
After his laughter subsided, he looked inside his chunk.
As the first player to build a Beacon, his rewards were indeed generous.
He automatically gained a Luck buff within fifty blocks, and monsters would never spawn within thirty blocks.
Currently, this distance could probably only cover the core area of the Sky Island; the outer rail area wasn't included.
But the Beacon could be upgraded!
It was currently only Level 1. Once he had enough iron ore to upgrade it to Level 4...
Would he still need to worry about the coverage distance?
'Luck? That's a rather unique status.'
Seeing the new addition to his attribute bar, Galen Yu didn't feel much of a physical change.
Luck was something that was admittedly quite important; many things wouldn't work without it.
'It should count as a decent buff.'
Since it was a freebie anyway, he didn't overthink it.
He took out an iron ingot and placed it into the Beacon.
After the Beacon emitted its beam of light, it could provide buff effects by consuming iron ingots, gold ingots, emeralds, diamonds, or netherite ingots.
At Level 1, he could only unlock one of two effects: Haste or Speed.
The Sky Island was only so big, so Haste wasn't necessary. Galen Yu chose Speed.
It wasn't as if the choice couldn't be changed; he could still consume an iron ingot to modify it later, so it didn't really matter.
Upon activating the attribute, Galen Yu immediately felt like the wind was beneath his feet. His whole body felt much lighter, and he could run extremely fast.
The Architects and Guard Villagers also received the effect, and their speed increased.
Once he had adapted to the speed, the Architect brought another piece of good news.
"Thanks to the Runed Bricks, the upgrade for the Great Wall is complete!"
[SYSTEM: Chunk score officially finalized!]
The newly upgraded Great Wall had become even more majestic and domineering. The gold and ethereal blue added a divine aura to its towering height.
With a smile, Galen Yu clicked on its specific attributes.
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