Early morning, there was almost no fresh air in the wind, which was filled with the smell of blood and something burning, and the whole camp was foggy.
Steve was standing in front of a corpse.
Snap.
Hiss.
He struck the ground with a flint and steel, and a square, pixelated flame suddenly rose up, crackling.
Although the flame was only 1 meter by 1 meter in range, the corpse on the ground instantly disappeared into the flames, as if it had been cut out, leaving not even ashes behind.
For some reason, corpses seemed to count as items; once they touched the fire, they vanished.
This was how Steve helped the camp clear away the corpses left behind by the last attack.
These corpses had to be completely cleared away.
Ten-year-old Jimmy stood by, clutching a notebook tightly in his hand, his eyes red, staring blankly at the Block Hero clearing the corpses.
The corpse Steve had just cleared was Jimmy’s dad.
“Block Hero,” Jimmy suddenly asked, “Aren’t you afraid?”
Steve hunched over and turned to look at him: “Afraid of what?”
Jimmy twiddled his toes: “…The corpses.”
“Not afraid.”
“Why?”
Why?
Steve felt a bit puzzled.
What was there to be afraid of about corpses?
He thought for a moment: “Because they are already dead.”
Jimmy didn’t seem too satisfied with this answer, pouted, and asked again: “Then will you die?”
Steve stopped what he was doing and stared at Jimmy, no emotion visible in those square eyes.
“Yes.”
Jimmy was stunned for a moment; he hadn’t expected this answer.
“Then are you afraid?”
Steve thought again.
“Not afraid.”
“Why?”
“Because you respawn after death.”
After saying that, he put away the flint and steel and hopped off towards the wall.
Jimmy stood frozen in place, pondering for a while, but couldn’t quite grasp it.
What did it mean to respawn after death?
A long time later, he vaguely began to understand.
The Block Hero was saying that death was not the end.
Those who survive must take up responsibility and keep moving forward.
That is what respawning is.
Jimmy gazed at the Block Hero, who didn’t know what he was building, his eyes full of admiration.
“…Thank you, Block Hero.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
After murmuring this, he took the notebook his dad had left behind, sat down in an open space, and began to read it carefully.
Opening the first page: “Camp Generator Operation Guide and Maintenance Manual”.
“I’m sorry, Dad…” Jimmy fought back tears, gently stroking the words his father had left behind, “From today on, I will study the knowledge you left behind well and become a useful person to the camp.”
…
Outside the wall, Steve was building a new layer of wall with stone.
Captain America leaped down from the top of the wall and landed beside him.
“What are you doing?” Captain America asked curiously.
“Reinforcing the wall.” Steve crouched twice and continued placing stone blocks.
“What exactly are you planning to do?” Captain America crossed his arms and leaned to one side.
Steve paused: “Build another two-block-wide wall outside the current one and put the Iron Golem between the two walls.”
Captain America nodded: “Alright, then I’ll leave it to you. If you need any help, just call me, or find anyone else in the camp. Everyone will be happy to help you.”
After saying this, he left, leaving Steve alone in a daze.
Steve stared at his back for a long time; he always felt that this villager who shared his name was a bit different now.
But he couldn’t put his finger on what was different.
However, Steve was never a Block Hero who overthought things.
Once he realized he couldn’t come to a conclusion, he stopped dwelling on it and continued building.
Actually, his feeling was right.
Now, Captain America had completely let go of all his preconceived notions about Steve; whether he thought him kind or heartless, they were gone.
He decided to try to understand Steve’s logic, and if there was any deviation, he would guide him onto the right path.
In the camp, Hawkeye, leaning on a crutch, limped out of the medical tent.
Outside the tent, the sounds of hammering, sawing, and footsteps were mixed together.
Some were nailing boards, some were pulling ropes, and some were counting what was still usable.
Captain America, on his way to find Professor X, happened to pass by the medical tent and saw Hawkeye leaning on his crutch.
Captain America stopped: “…Are you okay? Roosevelt?”
Hawkeye didn’t understand at all and raised an eyebrow: “…Roosevelt?”
Captain America was a bit shocked: “The crippled president, never heard of him? Are you American?”
“I’m a bumpkin from Iowa,” Hawkeye rolled his eyes, “I don’t understand the common knowledge of you New York folks.”
Captain America shrugged helplessly: “Fine, whatever you say. So what did Dr. Hansen say?”
Hawkeye strained his thigh, slightly lifting his left leg which was fixed with a splint, and said indifferently: “It’s ruined.”
Captain America paused: “…Ruined?”
“Yeah. There are no conditions for treatment, so I’ll likely be on crutches forever.”
Captain America just then noticed that Hawkeye’s temples were covered in sweat.
He suddenly remembered the day he invited the Block Hero to join the camp.
At that time, his back was injured, and the Block Hero had thrown a red thing at him.
“Wait for me!” After dropping this sentence, Captain America sprinted towards the wall, leaving Hawkeye puzzled.
Outside the wall, Steve had already blocked off the street directly opposite the north wall with stone, and incidentally cleared away those rotting, stinking zombie corpses.
The street had originally been covered in a thick layer of disgusting, unidentified slime, but Steve found that as long as he dug up the [Concrete] blocks on the ground and placed them back down, the slime disappeared.
Although it was very convenient to clean up, Steve was too lazy to do it.
Anyway, these slimes had no effect on him.
“Block Hero!”
Steve stopped building: “What now?”
Captain America asked about that magical item that could heal wounds.
As soon as Steve heard, wasn’t that a healing potion?
“Yes, yes, yes, that’s the one,” Captain America was overjoyed, “Do you still have this potion?”
“Two bottles left.”
“Uh…” Captain America hesitated and asked tentatively, “Is this thing precious? Can you make more? Like how you make bread. There are many wounded in the camp, they could use it.”
Steve nodded instinctively.
Before Captain America could be happy, he shook his head again.
“…What do you mean?”
“Brewing a healing potion requires a [blaze rod], [Nether wart], [glistering melon slice], or [ghast tear], and you need to go to the Nether.”
Captain America was dumbfounded.
Is this even English?
Captain America rubbed his forehead helplessly: “Why don’t you just tell me what to do? Or is there anything I can help you with? I’ve never heard of these things you mentioned.”
Steve thought about it for a bit.
“Where is there lava here?” he asked.
“…Lava?”
Captain America was stunned.
What do you need lava for??
But then he thought that he couldn’t judge this square-headed guy with common sense; if this guy wanted lava, he must have his reasons, so he answered hesitantly: “Maybe… a volcano? Or underground, somewhere very, very deep?”
“Where is the volcano?”
Captain America frowned and rubbed his forehead: “That’s a bit far, and a volcano doesn’t necessarily have lava…”
“Then underground, how deep?”
Captain America’s knowledge reserve was running out: “Uh… at least 100 kilometers underground…”
Steve: ◨ ▂ ◧ Huh?
100 kilometers?
Doesn’t that mean 100,000 blocks?
How long would that take to dig.
Wait, there’s another way.
“Where is there pointed dripstone here?” Steve asked again.