Captain America’s brow furrowed at the words.
The Zombie horde was indeed a major problem.
And if the judgment from earlier today was correct, there were already mages among the Zombies capable of cross-spatial teleportation.
Hawkeye glanced at him, pulled a crumpled cigarette from his pocket, and lit it.
“Worried about the Zombie mages?”
Captain America nodded.
“Strange set up a defensive array around the camp, so Zombies can’t teleport inside. But if they teleport nearby for a surprise attack…”
“That’s a big enough headache.”
“Yeah.”
Hawkeye exhaled a puff of smoke.
“I wonder if Strange is still…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, and Captain America didn’t pick it up.
In the distance, the light of the bonfire flickered among the ruins like a lost firefly.
Figures surrounded the firefly, singing, dancing, and laughing in hushed voices.
A “person” composed entirely of cubes kept thrusting his right hand at others in the crowd, doing who-knows-what.
Watching this scene, Captain America couldn’t tell for a moment whether it was heartwarming or eerie.
Meanwhile, Steve…
Was actually hunched over, trying to interact with the villagers one by one to see if he could trade.
After all, he was carrying 12 Emeralds; might as well use them.
This attempt actually led him to discover a few villagers who could open a trading interface.
However, they didn’t use Emeralds as currency like Overworld villagers, and Steve didn’t have the resources they wanted, so he had to give up.
…
Three days later, 6:32 AM.
Beep-beep— Beep-beep— Beep-beep—
His watch issued an alarm.
Captain America woke instantly, feet hitting the floor, grabbing his shield, and rushing toward the door in one fluid motion without pause.
Because this alarm meant the Scout Team had detected a threat within five kilometers of the camp!!
Captain America’s quarters were on the fifteenth floor, the top floor of the apartment.
He took the stairs four or five at a time, and ten seconds later, he slammed open the iron door to the roof and rushed into the lookout position.
“Report.”
A member of the Security Team immediately stepped forward and handed him binoculars.
“North-northwest, toward 5th Avenue, distance approximately 2.5 kilometers. A Zombie horde. Estimated size at least six hundred.”
Captain America took the binoculars and looked.
The morning mist hadn’t fully dissipated, but he could vaguely see the intersections a few blocks away.
Those shadowy black dots were densely packed, moving slowly through the streets.
The number of Zombies was converging at a rate visible to the naked eye, forming a large black mass spreading across the edge of Central Park, like a colony of ants preparing to cross a river.
But they made no other move; they just gathered bit by bit and then stood there, facing the camp, motionless.
What are they…
“Are there any high-tier individuals?”
“Yes, but their movement pattern is Strange… There are several high-tier individuals with noticeably faster speeds roaming the perimeter, as if they are… herding the common and low-tier ones.”
Captain America frowned.
What did he mean by “herding”?
He focused his observation for a moment, and his heart sank slightly.
The behavioral logic of those high-tier individuals wasn’t so much herding as it was guiding, or…
Shepherding.
They seemed to be guiding the low-tier individuals to cluster together, like a shepherd with sheep.
He pressed his earpiece and switched to the all-hands channel.
“All combat personnel, Condition One alert. Assemble at the North and West walls. Non-combatants, proceed to the shelters. Be in position within one minute.”
Then he paused and added:
“If anyone sees Square-man, tell him to come to the North wall as well.”
…
“Square-man!”
Alan shouted, standing in front of a perfectly square stone hut.
The hut was right next to the wheat farm, about five or six meters high and covering about a hundred square meters.
It had a wooden door on both the north and south sides.
It looked as plain as a public restroom, entirely devoid of aesthetic appeal.
Click!
The wooden door in front of Alan suddenly opened, and a square head popped out!
◨▂◧ Huh?
“The Captain wants you at the North wall! The section you just reinforced yesterday! Hurry!”
Upon hearing this, Square-man didn’t hesitate to crawl out of the hut.
Without even closing the door, his four square limbs swung with powerful momentum as he sprinted toward the North wall!
This Square-man was, naturally, Steve.
The name was given to him by Captain America, who said he needed a localized nickname to distinguish between the two Steves.
Not everyone in the camp called Captain America “Captain”; some called him Steve directly.
Steve didn’t understand what “localized” meant, but he actually didn’t like the name Square-man very much; he felt it sounded a bit unpleasant.
The nickname he originally gave himself was “Wither-eye,” mimicking Hawkeye, but everyone rejected it because the meaning was unclear.
Then Captain America suggested “Square-man,” and before he could refuse, everyone cheered in approval.
The nickname then spread through the camp like wildfire, leaving him no room to refuse.
Thus, from then on, a new superhero existed in this world—Square-man, real name Steve Minecraft.
The surname was added by Steve himself when he filled out the camp’s registration form.
It was fine, anyway.
Enough chatter.
In less than half a minute, Steve arrived before the stone wall, which was nearly twenty meters high.
After Steve solved the camp’s food and water problems, his prestige skyrocketed.
After some discussion with Captain America and the other leadership, he was allowed to renovate the camp’s perimeter walls.
Where there used to be a temporary wall crudely built from cars and shipping containers, there was now a five-meter-thick solid cobblestone wall.
It was very convenient for patrolling and sentry duty.
Combined with the automated turrets produced by Stark Industries, the defense was quite formidable.
The current camp was literally a city within a city.
The price was that his Netherite Pickaxe, which had the [Mending] and [Unbreaking III] enchantments, was nearly broken.
Because he had only been mining stone and hadn’t been fighting monsters or mining ores, he had no source of experience points to repair its durability.
Steve climbed the wooden ladder to the top of the wall with a rhythmic “thump, thump, thump.” Captain America, Hawkeye, and the Security Team members were already up there on guard.
Captain America briefly explained the situation to Steve.
Upon hearing it, Steve’s expression remained calm throughout, and he simply pulled out a blue pixelated axe.
Captain America didn’t know if he understood how dangerous the situation was.
Regardless, he didn’t expect much help; the man had already done more than enough in the few days since he’d arrived at the camp.
Suddenly, the trembling voice of the top-level scout came through everyone’s earpieces: “…They’re moving, they’re moving!! The Zombies are moving!! They’re moving along 5th Avenue!!”
Except for Steve, everyone got goosebumps.
Because in the past, Zombies always moved in straight lines.
As for the reason… it was likely because Central Park’s terrain was complex, and it was actually faster to advance on the main road.
But Zombies shouldn’t know such things.
This Zombie horde seemed different.
Five minutes later.
“They’re here!”
Hawkeye warned in a low voice.
The scout holding the binoculars shuddered and swallowed hard.
Two long seconds passed.
In the binoculars’ field of view, a Zombie suddenly burst out from a street corner one kilometer away.
The Zombie’s soles skidded against the pavement as it braked, then it spun around to face the camp and crouched down.
In the next second, the Zombie launched itself like an athlete at the sound of a starter’s pistol, sprinting toward the camp with perfect running form!
It was like an Olympic athlete sprinting toward the finish line.
Even though it was alone, the sense of pressure it exerted was staggering!
Hawkeye’s expression was grave as he raised his AR-10 rifle.
At this distance, only he could guarantee a hit every time, even if the weapon in his hand wasn’t his specialty, the bow and arrow.
Bang—
The athlete-Zombie’s head vanished instantly, and its body flew backward, landing flat on the ground.
Now, the starter’s pistol had truly fired.
There was no time to cheer for the death of this one Zombie.
In the next second, a massive cluster of Zombies came tumbling and crawling out from the street corner!
Even from afar, one could hear the heart-shuddering collective roar.
They crowded one another, wave upon wave, like a surging tide.
Captain America raised his AR-10: “Everyone, get ready!! Square-man, you… Square-man?!”
Before Captain America could react, he saw that square head standing at the edge of the wall, and then he leaped!!!
Everyone on the wall: (☉д⊙)?!
WTF?!
As for why Steve did this, we have to go back a few minutes to when he first climbed the wall and Captain America was briefing him.
What Captain America actually said: 2.5 kilometers away blah blah large Zombie gathering blah blah likely to attack the camp blah blah get ready for defense blah blah protect yourself.
What Steve heard: You have completed the challenge [Hero of the Village]!
Ding-ling-ding-ding~
In Minecraft, helping a village fend off a raid grants the [Hero of the Village] buff.
With this buff, you get discounts when trading with villagers and receive random gifts from them.
Steve had already tried it on the night of the bonfire party; a few villagers really could trade.
Although Steve didn’t even know what currency they used for trading, and the discount might not be useful, however…
He could also get gifts from these villagers.
These villagers were smart; they might have some Strange and useful items.
Furthermore, killing Zombies provided experience points.
By holding the low-durability Netherite Pickaxe in his off-hand, he could repair its durability.
Once repaired, he could level up, and leveling up allowed him to open those Strange mod blind boxes.
It was simply killing many birds with one stone.
So, this situation occurred—
Everyone watched in stunned silence as Square-man, shouting something about gifts and experience, charged toward the Zombie army all by himself.