"Bang!"
Aelita, crouching on the roof of the matchbox house, finally breathed a sigh of relief as the Iron Golem collapsed, dropping a few iron ingots and a flower.
"Come down."
Su Lin called out impatiently. Aelita grumbled a few resentful words, then awkwardly stepped down onto the blocks.
Glancing at Aelita's status panel, Su Lin noticed she only had a few drops of blood left. He said, annoyed, "Didn't I tell you to use the weapons I gave you to attack in the MC Dungeon as much as possible?"
"How was This Queen supposed to know that guy was so strong!"
Aelita looked at Su Lin with a resentful expression.
"Besides, This Queen is a casualty right now! Can't you be a bit more friendly? That monster's punch just now felt like it broke my ribs!"
That punch just now made Aelita feel like she'd been hit by a Minotaur wielding a giant hammer.
A squishy mage taking a full-power charged punch at close range and not dying was already a testament to her Steve physique.
"That monster is so powerful…"
Aelita seemed preoccupied.
The MC Dungeon was indeed a high-level Dungeon, but… wasn't she still on the safest first floor? How could a monster with strength comparable to a high-level demon like a Minotaur appear here!
And… its magic resistance was terrifyingly high!
This was not good news; it meant significantly increased danger for the Elven Kingdom's future explorations.
She sighed, but the movement aggravated her injuries, and Aelita gasped in pain.
"Do you have any healing potions, Su Lin?"
Su Lin rolled his eyes and handed her a steak.
"Eat this."
"This Queen is injured, not hungry, alright!"
"I know."
Su Lin picked up the iron ingots and said casually, "In the MC Dungeon, as long as your hunger bar is full, even if your arm is broken, it will slowly recover."
Aelita paused, then looked at Su Lin in surprise.
"Does this village have a large-scale recovery magic array?"
"It's an MC Dungeon characteristic. After you launched that terrorist attack on me today, didn't your injuries heal quickly too?"
"Oh… it seems so! And it wasn't a terrorist attack!"
Aelita glared at Su Lin, displeased.
She eagerly ate the steak, and was greatly shocked to feel her severely injured body recover completely in a short time.
Now, thinking calmly, those completely broken ribs, and even a section that seemed to have pierced her lung, would have made breathing difficult on the Aetheram Continent.
Yet, she had just been able to climb down the house herself.
By the Goddess of Nature, this Dungeon was too absurd, wasn't it?
"Su Lin, Su Lin! Is this characteristic present throughout the entire MC Dungeon?"
Aelita excitedly grabbed Su Lin.
"Does that mean that injured people from our Aetheram Continent, if they enter the MC Dungeon, can also gain this special ability, and recover completely just by eating their fill?"
Su Lin nodded casually.
"More or less. As long as you don't die on the spot, eating your fill will save you. If you're not dead, even a broken leg won't affect your movement."
The prerequisite was that they had to receive the Steve characteristic he bestowed.
Aelita didn't respond, a storm raging in her heart.
This way… wouldn't the Elven Kingdom directly have a high-level Dungeon with a top-tier recovery magic array constantly active?
From now on, any injured person could be saved by simply sending them into the MC Dungeon?
This one point alone would likely be enough to spark a war for control of the MC Dungeon across the entire Aetheram Continent!
Once this news spread, even the Demon Lord Army would likely make a move!
This information must be kept absolutely secret!
The Elven Kingdom currently did not have the power to defend the MC Dungeon.
In an instant, Aelita thought of many things, then moments later, feigned an innocent expression and asked, "What an amazing MC Dungeon characteristic… but how exactly is it achieved?"
"How would I know? Go ask Notch."
"Notch… is that the creator goddess of this Dungeon?"
"No, it's an evil god."
"…Su Lin! You're messing with me again!"
Su Lin shrugged, looking at the pouting Aelita.
Seeing that Su Lin didn't intend to say more, Aelita changed the subject, "Su Lin, you didn't tell me about this monster! It's only the first floor of the Dungeon, how can there be such a strong monster…"
Aelita was somewhat worried.
If such Iron Golems were common at night on the first floor of the MC Dungeon, then the Elven Kingdom's development efforts could truly run into trouble.
Su Lin glanced at Aelita. Couldn't this Elf girl just ask directly what she wanted to know?
She always had to beat around the bush to get information.
"It's not a monster. If you hadn't provoked it, why would it attack you?"
"Huh?"
Zombies were approaching from afar. Su Lin called Aelita back to his room, then pulled out a pile of iron ingots from a chest and began crafting.
"The thing that attacked you just now is called an Iron Golem. Strictly speaking, it's a village guardian."
"A guardian? A guardian that looks even stranger than living armor?"
"No judging golems by their appearance."
Su Lin tapped Aelita's head. She was annoyed; if Su Lin hadn't saved her, she would have definitely let him experience what "Shine, Breath of Nature!" felt like.
"Iron Golems naturally spawn in villages with enough villagers. They protect villagers and are naturally hostile to hostile creatures like Zombies."
"If a hostile creature gets close, the Iron Golem will pursue it. If a villager is attacked, or the Iron Golem itself is attacked, the Iron Golem will also become hostile to the attacker. They are legitimate village guardians."
Aelita suddenly understood.
"So that's why it…"
"It seems your method of driving out the villagers wasn't very friendly."
"Such things… don't mind them! You said these villagers were unintelligent creatures, so This Queen just…"
Su Lin shook his head. In hindsight, he had indeed forgotten to tell her about this.
Aelita touched her flat chest, feeling her injuries completely recovered, and was amazed. She couldn't help but press further, "Does that mean… you just killed our village guardian?"
"Get it straight, you dumb Elf!"
Su Lin was so exasperated he almost laughed.
"Why did I kill that Iron Golem, huh?!"
"Didn't I already thank you?"
"The Elf Race didn't teach you that apologies should include… never mind, you don't have it either."
Aelita felt a strong sense of malice and glared at Su Lin threateningly.
"You, you must be thinking something very rude, aren't you?"
Su Lin pouted.
"You already activated the Iron Golem's aggro. If you don't deal with it, it will keep chasing you unless you leave the village."
Aelita guiltily turned her head away, but still couldn't avoid Su Lin chopping her on the head with a hand.
"You wasted a lot of my iron ingots. Remember to work to pay me back!"
"Nonsense! You killed the Iron Golem and even picked up several!"
"Of course! Don't I need to make a new one?! Otherwise, are you going to deal with tonight's monsters yourself?"
The existence of the Iron Golem was still quite important to Su Lin at the moment.
At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about Zombies breaking in while he slept at night, and it could also protect the village's precious biological batteries. Now that this Iron Golem was gone, it wouldn't naturally regenerate overnight.
He needed to make one to deal with tonight's Zombies.
Tomorrow, he'd figure out how to make an iron farm. If successful, Su Lin would definitely make dozens of Iron Golems to serve as village militiamen first.
But Su Lin didn't notice Aelita, who, upon hearing his words, had her eyes wide open, filled with disbelief.
"You mean… this Iron Golem can be artificially crafted? Just like how we crafted axes and iron swords today?"
"Of course!"
Su Lin looked at the four iron blocks in his hand with a pained expression. That was thirty-six iron ingots!
It wiped out a third of his inventory in one go.
Su Lin could only comfort himself that once he got the iron farm working, these initial investments would be acceptable.
Seeing Aelita standing there dumbfounded, Su Lin explained further.
"One Iron Golem requires four iron blocks. In the language of the Aetheram Continent, that's over thirty tons of iron. Although the resources in the MC Dungeon are infinite, I haven't collected much yet…"
"Of course, that's also why Iron Golems possess such strong defense and attack power."
"If I can't make an iron farm tomorrow, you, you'll have to go down into the mine and dig up thirty-six iron ingots to pay me back!"
Aelita pursed her lips.
To be fair, thirty tons of iron wasn't a huge amount in the Elven Kingdom, where iron ore wasn't particularly abundant.
Let alone in the MC Dungeon.
Today, in the mine, Aelita watched Su Lin dig dozens of iron ore blocks in an hour, smelting them into dozens of iron ingots.
That was dozens of tons… one person, one pickaxe, one hour, a miracle… This was too incredible even for the Dwarf Empire, which had the richest mineral resources.
The resources of the MC Dungeon were frighteningly abundant.
Most importantly, a mere thirty tons of iron could create such a magic golem comparable to a high-level demon?
This deal was too profitable!
And Su Lin still complained about wasting resources?
One must know that the reason the Armed Empire Doragon could now rampage across the northern Aetheram Continent, and even not fear the Demon Lord Army, was partly due to the magical alchemy technology Doragon found in a high-level Dungeon within their country.
This technology included a top-tier method for creating war weapons—magic golem crafting.
It was also by relying on this technology that the Armed Empire Doragon assembled a magic golem army.
And with this, through invasion and warfare, they successfully rose from the harsh northern lands of the Aetheram Continent to become the now infamous Armed Empire of the Aetheram Continent.
All told, after acquiring that technology, Doragon went from weak to powerful in just thirty years… while other nations took at least a thousand years to reach their current strength.
This shows how powerful magic golem crafting technology was.
But even Doragon's magic golem crafting technology required massive amounts of magic crystals and various magical resources.
Yet, for Su Lin, a mere thirty tons of iron could create a stronger one, and he was still not satisfied?
Aelita took a deep breath.
"Su Lin, can I learn to craft Iron Golems?"
"There's no difficulty in it."
Su Lin unenthusiastically handed the iron blocks and pumpkin to Aelita.
"Place them in order, and you can make an Iron Golem."
Aelita nodded earnestly, looking eager to learn.
"So, if I use iron from the Aetheram Continent, can I make one?"
"No, the resources of the Aetheram Continent don't have the MC Dungeon characteristic and are not recognized by the laws."
"Then if I take iron from the MC Dungeon out, can I craft an Iron Golem on the Aetheram Continent?"
"This…"
Su Lin pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"It's highly likely to be feasible. As far as I know, the special laws of the MC Dungeon are also inscribed within every piece of resource from the MC Dungeon."
Understood!
Aelita completely understood!
The MC Dungeon would surely allow the Elven Kingdom to rise completely, becoming an uncrowned king of the Aetheram Continent, comparable to, or even surpassing, the Armed Empire Doragon!
And now… she had already learned the magic golem crafting technology that was the foundation of Doragon's nation, and it was cheaper, stronger, and more convenient!
She firmly believed that the MC Dungeon and Su Lin were absolutely gifts from the Goddess of Nature to the Elven Kingdom, the hope for the Elven Kingdom to become great again!
The rest was to quickly shift the Elven Kingdom's strategic focus entirely to the MC Dungeon.
It wasn't until she personally witnessed the iron blocks she placed become an Iron Golem and begin a brutal massacre of the Zombies that Aelita… "This Queen has another bold idea!"
Su Lin's heart trembled, and he had a slight ominous premonition.
"If we go to the main bases of the Armed Empire Doragon, the Orc Empire, the Demi-human Alliance, and the Demon Lord Army, and deploy massive numbers of Iron Golems in each."
"While the Elven Kingdom can gain a considerably long and stable period of development, these damned factions will also suffer a significant drop in strength. At that time, the Elven Kingdom will surely become great again!"
This guy, isn't she a bit too radical?
Su Lin looked at the fired-up Aelita with a hint of melancholy. Didn't they say the Elf Race were all peace-loving beings?
However, this time Su Lin didn't deny her plan, after all, he was cooperating with the Elven Kingdom, and these factions were definitely terrorist organizations.
"I don't have that many resources to support your bold idea."
"I'll dig!"
Aelita replied without hesitation, making her slave declaration with anticipation.
"For the glory of the Elf Race!"
"Everyone in the Elven Kingdom can become a gold miner!"