---o---
In the Underworld.
Seele yawned as she continued her daily patrol through the district. It was nearing nighttime, and she should have been enjoying dinner by now. But because of the Company's presence these past two days, Natasha had asked her to keep a close eye out for any strangers entering the Underworld.
According to news from the Overworld, the people from the Company seemed very interested in the Redstone technology Fu Zhu had left behind on Jarilo-VI. The majority of that technology was housed within the reactor core in the Underworld.
It had only been a few months since Fu Zhu repaired the reactor. If anything happened to it, the people of the Underworld would have to suffer the cold all over again.
Just as Seele was feeling a bit bored, three figures suddenly emerged from a dark alley ahead. Due to the dim lighting, she couldn't make out their faces.
"Who's there? Stop."
Seele immediately gripped her scythe, aiming it at the three figures and warily watching their hands. If they showed any intent to attack, she wouldn't hesitate to lop off their hands first.
"Long time no see, Seele. You're as energetic as ever."
Fu Zhu, Xing, and March 7th stepped out from the shadows with smiles, giving her a wave.
Seele was stunned for a moment when she saw it was them. Then, she relaxed her grip on her scythe and rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Couldn't you three have come from somewhere with more light? You scared me."
Fu Zhu spread his hands helplessly. He couldn't help it; who decided to place the Space Anchor in such a gloomy spot?
"Let's not talk about that for now."
Seele grinned and walked forward, giving Xing and March 7th a hug.
"Welcome back!"
Fu Zhu stood to the side, also opening his arms. Seele just shot him a white-eyed glance.
He shrugged, and just as he was about to lower his arms, Seele stepped forward and gave him a brief, fleeting hug.
"You too, Fu Zhu. Welcome back."
A smile returned to Fu Zhu's face.
After the short reunion, Seele asked why the three of them had returned to Belobog.
"Why are you guys back all of a sudden?"
"Of course, it's because Bronya invited us for the Sun-Soaring Festival. And since we were back, we thought we'd drop by and see you all. Besides that, there's a small favor I was hoping Wildfire could help with."
"Something for Wildfire?" Seele's curiosity was piqued. "Let's hear it."
Fu Zhu gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking. "Does Wildfire know about the debt Belobog owes the Company?"
"You mean that..."
Seele rubbed her head in frustration. "We know. Oleg, Natasha, and Svarog are discussing it right now, trying to figure out if there's any way to help. Are you guys here for that too?"
"Mhm. We certainly don't want to see Belobog fall into the abyss again."
"No way!"
Seele immediately refused, shaking her head. "You've already helped us so much. If you do more..."
Before Seele could finish, Fu Zhu cut her off with a wave of his hand, a hint of weariness in his voice. "I know what you're thinking, but if Belobog falls into ruin again, how will you ever repay the kindness we've shown you? Wouldn't everything we did before have been for nothing? Seele, I came to you specifically because I thought you'd understand our perspective. Stop making a fuss and just find me a large, empty space. I need to build a few machines."
Seele opened her mouth but couldn't get a word out for a long moment. Finally, she let out a helpless sigh.
"Fine. You're as unreasonable as ever. Follow me. The only large, open space is in Svarog's robot settlement."
Seele led the three of them towards the settlement, arriving there a short while later.
Although several months had passed, the situation in the robot settlement was much the same as before. The outskirts were still crowded with vagrants. Even though the Eternal Freeze had ended, this situation hadn't changed quickly.
However, the faces of these vagrants were now full of smiles. They no longer held the attitude of just getting by day-to-day; instead, they were filled with hope for the future.
Seele led Fu Zhu's group to a particularly large, open plot of land and then said, "I'll go find Svarog. I don't know if he has any plans for this piece of land. It's best to ask first. You guys wait here."
"Alright."
Fu Zhu wasn't in a hurry anyway. While waiting for Seele to find Svarog, he began to recall the construction plans for the Iron Farm in his mind and prepared the materials on-site.
He could handle the more difficult machines like the Iron Farm himself. As for the simpler ones like the String Duplicators, he could have the people of the Underworld help build the basic frame, and he would handle the rest.
---o---
A short while later, Seele returned with Svarog and Clara. The moment Clara saw Fu Zhu's group, her face lit up with a smile as she ran over, calling out sweetly.
"Big Brother Fu Zhu, Big Sister Xing, Big Sister March!"
"Clara, long time no see!" ×2
Xing and March 7th immediately went over, pulling the soft, squishy Clara into a hug and playfully kneading her cheeks.
Meanwhile, Fu Zhu greeted Svarog and got straight to the point.
"Svarog, you probably don't have any future plans for this empty plot, right? If not, I'd like to use it to build some machines to help Belobog repay its debt."
Svarog shook his head. "There are no plans for its use. Mister Fu Zhu, if you require anything, feel free to proceed."
Fu Zhu was very satisfied with Svarog's attitude. Compared to others, he was exceptionally pragmatic, focused only on how humanity could continue to survive on this land. Since Fu Zhu had a plan, Svarog would naturally provide his full support.
"Okay. Please help me find some people, or your robot subordinates will do. As long as they can understand my instructions, they can help me build the basic framework."
"Understood."
Svarog immediately went to recruit helpers, while Fu Zhu took out his materials and began to build the foundation for the Iron Farm.
A multi-core Iron Farm might cause severe performance issues in the game, but here in reality, there was no such thing as frame drops.
He could build it as big as he wanted!
As Fu Zhu took out a villager spawn egg, a thought suddenly struck him. He stroked his chin and mumbled, "Since I'm already building an Iron Farm, should I just go ahead and make a Gold Farm too?"
Gold was definitely more valuable than iron, and he now had the ability to build one.
Although this wasn't the Nether, he did have a spawner from the Apotheosis Mod! He could freely adjust the spawn rates, and all he would need is a Zombie Piglin spawn egg!
The more Fu Zhu thought about it, the more he felt it was worth a try.
It was time to give those clueless folks from the Company a little taste of the MC shock and awe!