Thank you for the Powerstones. This is the Bonus Chapter for reaching 400 Powerstones.
--
"One more thing," Victor added as they parted ways. "Creed wants to speak with you personally tomorrow morning regarding the details of our next collaboration."
Zeke didn't look back; he simply raised his hand in an "OK" gesture as he merged into the crowds on the Bastion's streets.
Tyrok Bastion was slowly catching its breath, recovering from the agony of battle.
Zeke even spotted a burst of colorful, albeit not particularly spectacular, light exploding over the Bastion, scattering motes of light.
Some children were setting off fireworks.
Fireworks... Zeke recalled the "Flower of Cadia" broadcast he had heard earlier. It seemed to be a Cadian tradition to celebrate victory.
Suddenly, an emerald badge with a red ribbon floated past Zeke's eyes, spinning before merging into his status bar.
[Hero of the Village I]
[Time Remaining: 23:59:59]
It seemed that helping defend the Bastion was recognized by the system as saving a village in Minecraft.
A mother by the roadside watched Zeke's figure, inexplicably feeling a surge of strong goodwill. "How strange," she muttered to herself. "We've clearly never met."
Her younger child ran over crying, tugging at her hem. "Mom! A weird guy in white armor just snatched the firework I lit!"
[Firework Rocket] x6
Zeke whistled a tune, his steps light, and soon arrived at the tunnel entrance in the plaza.
The tunnel was vastly different from when he first arrived; it now had electricity and installed lighting.
Some combat engineers were spraying a waterproof coating onto the rock surface.
Fortunately, the wooden boat Zeke had placed was still there.
He hopped into the boat and skillfully teleported to his construction camp.
There were more unfamiliar faces now; Creed's troops had evidently taken over and begun construction here.
"How is this even possible? What about the conservation of energy?!"
An old man, looking like a technician, was tearing at his sparse remaining hair in frustration, looking like he wanted to bury his head into the infinite water source.
Zeke ignored the chaos and went to the barracks' living quarters. He punched the leaves off the grown saplings, collected a few apples, entered his own hut, and closed the door.
First, the Golden Apples.
Zeke arranged Gold Ingots in a square shape on the Crafting Table, placing an apple in the center.
[Golden Apple] appeared in the crafting slot.
The fruit glowed with a warm, golden hue throughout. Zeke scratched it with his finger, confirming it wasn't just gold-plated—it was a real Golden Apple. It was one of the few precious supplies in Minecraft that provided Resistance, offering noble percentage-based damage mitigation and decent health regeneration.
Zeke turned all the Gold Ingots in his inventory into Golden Apples, making a total of five, with some ingots left over. He had already figured out how to make Golden Apples beget more gold: he could sell them at a high price to wealthy individuals, like Rogue Traders or perhaps rich Space Marine Legions. Selling one for the price of five—given the Golden Apple's effects, demand would absolutely exceed supply.
Next was the Diamond Armor set and tools.
Zeke took off the iron set he had worn for a long time, which was running low on durability, and changed into a brand-new set of Diamond Armor.
20 Defense Points, maxed out instantly.
He then called over the Fire-Anvil in the camp and plated his Diamond Armor with a layer of gold. In Tinkers' Construct, gold increases magic defense. He also upgraded the Genestealer Sword with diamond, adding two points of damage.
With his equipment brand new and Golden Apples in hand, Zeke took out the few pumpkin seeds.
Plant, Bone Meal, harvest.
"Phew, it's time." Zeke chose to set up the blocks on the floor inside his house. He arranged the iron blocks into a standard T-shape.
He lifted the pumpkin. "I choose you, Iron Golem!"
Like performing some sacred coronation ceremony, Zeke lifted the pumpkin with both hands and placed it atop the T-shape.
Thud.
The floor trembled, and soldiers outside the house cried out in alarm.
Why is the commotion so big?
Zeke looked at the setup and realized he had placed the pumpkin head crookedly; it was resting on the far left block.
Wait, this wasn't a noise I made. Zeke walked out the door. Flames were rising not far from the camp. Several Cadian soldiers were carrying a stretcher, sprinting toward the crash site.
"Dammit, that was a frigate from Cadia's outer orbit that just came down."
"Any survivors?"
"Yes, there seems to be one barely breathing."
Moments later, Zeke saw a mangled figure on the medics' stretcher. His HP bar was empty; he was already a dead man. Yet, his hand tightly gripped a dataslate with a blue casing.
Blue represented Alpha-grade: Top Secret Intelligence.
"No one is allowed to touch that dataslate, or you'll be executed!"
Ten minutes later, Creed's aide, Kell, arrived at the camp. He took the dataslate with a grim expression, then drove straight toward Tyrok Bastion without looking back. The camp returned to silence, as if nothing had happened. Instructors ordered soldiers to swallow what happened today and never mention it again.
Zeke went back into the house and mined the pumpkin back up. This time, he placed it correctly.
The sharp-edged iron blocks merged together, green vines winding around the steel. A towering silhouette rose from the ground before Zeke, its cast shadow completely enveloping him. Two red lights ignited where the face should be as the Iron Golem turned its head slightly to look at Zeke.
Staring up at the massive, three-meter-tall hull before him, Zeke recalled the cruel acts he had committed against Villagers in the game—including but not limited to Iron Farms and Villager Trading Halls. He couldn't help but take a step back.
However, looking at the [Hero of the Village] buff in his status bar, Zeke quickly calmed down.
"Ahem." Zeke cleared his throat, deciding to test the big guy's intelligence level first. "What is 1235 times 5324?"
The Iron Golem tilted its head, then took a step and walked straight out of Zeke's hut.
"Hey, wait."
CRASH.
Zeke's door was smashed open by the Iron Golem. A massive white monster appeared in the camp, and countless pairs of eyes instantly focused on this sudden white behemoth.
"What is that? It looks dangerous."
"I don't know. Feels like something a Tech-Priest would cobble together."
After scanning the area, the Iron Golem began to patrol the camp along the line of houses. It was executing the task designed into its code: Patrol and Defense.
Wherever the Iron Golem went, Cadian soldiers backed away. But realizing the big guy had no hostile intent, and with Zeke's repeated assurances, they soon gathered around again.
"I bet this big guy could smash one of those Chaos Cultists to death with one punch."
"That's not exactly hard," his companion scoffed.
Perhaps the sound of conversation attracted the Iron Golem; it turned toward the two soldiers who were speaking. The soldier being stared at felt his hair stand on end and retreated repeatedly.
At that moment, the Iron Golem extended its hand. With a pop, it materialized a Poppy and held it out to the Cadian soldier.
The Cadian soldier's brain short-circuited a bit.
"It's giving you something," a bystander said, enjoying the show as he gave the soldier a shove. "Haha, you kid! Who would have thought the first flower of your life would be from a hunk of iron?"
"What do you mean 'kid'? She's a woman. And have you ever received flowers? The only flower you'll get is the one on your grave in the future!"
"Grave? Come on. If we die and leave a whole corpse to be burned to ash, that's considered lucky. Where would we get a grave?"
The atmosphere in the camp changed from initial vigilance to wonder. The Iron Golem's unexpected gentleness, so contradictory to its massive frame, made many soldiers feel a strange sense of affection for it.
The soldier who was offered the flower blushed, stepped forward, and accepted the Iron Golem's Poppy.
"Thank you," she mumbled, then said a bit louder, "Thank you. My name is Willow."
Everyone heard it this time, including the Iron Golem.
Zeke stood by his door, which now had a large hole in it, watching this scene.
The Iron Golem giving flowers to villagers was actually retained. At least this proved that the Iron Golem he crafted followed Minecraft's original behavioral logic to a large extent.
"Need to find it an opponent to test its real strength," Zeke mused, rubbing his chin. "Preferably a Space Marine."
He paused, a thought crossing his mind. "That reminds me... do Iron Golems have Machine Spirits?"
--
Only 70 Powerstones remaining before the next bonus chapter.