"Senior, what should I call you?"
Gangcun Kuzi put on a smiling face and fawned over him.
Every NPC had their own story. They were just like people, and if you got along well with them,
you might even be able to profit from it!
The fact that this NPC had shown up now meant he was very likely connected to the upper echelons of Block Civilization.
Or perhaps he would be their administrator in the future!
What could go wrong with building a good relationship now? There might be benefits down the road.
The Piglin glanced at Gangcun Kuzi, his manner still cool and indifferent.
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't. Tell me what reward you want!"
Gangcun Kuzi kept smiling, but didn't dare ask anything else.
He didn't want to leave a bad impression by talking too much.
"As for the reward..."
He was torn over which block resource to choose.
The Blacksmith Shop was short on food, but pickaxes and weapons were just as important.
If he chose food, he would have to focus on weapons and equipment later, and vice versa. This was a crucial decision.
As he hesitated, Yamamoto Rokuko's voice came through.
"Gangcun-kun, can you hear me?"
Normally, they were too far apart to communicate directly, but they were now in the reward distribution phase.
Since they shared third place, they had been granted temporary permission to communicate.
"Is that Yamamoto-kun? What resources are you short on?"
"Listen to me. Choose obsidian this time. I've figured out its secret!"
The image of that dark, unyielding stone appeared in his mind. Gangcun Kuzi was briefly taken aback, then quickly understood.
He knew Yamamoto Rokuko could sometimes see what an item was used for. Now he'd seen what obsidian could do!
This stone was precious and unbelievably hard. Its value had to be extraordinary.
Since nobody else knew about it, this could be their chance to make the Samurai Nation rise to the top!
"I choose obsidian!"
"Very well, but this block is extremely precious. I can only give you five."
The Piglin's words confirmed Gangcun Kuzi's suspicions.
If even this NPC said so, obsidian definitely had a secret!
When the reward was given, the benefit of selecting two players became clear.
Normally, they could only have received five obsidian blocks. Now they were getting ten—a double share!
Since Yamamoto Rokuko had discovered its secret and Gangcun Kuzi had no use for his share, he simply asked the Piglin to send his portion over as well.
They were from the same nation. If one of them grew stronger, the other would benefit too, so there was no difference.
Looking at the ten obsidian blocks in his hands, Yamamoto Rokuko was overjoyed.
"The key to the Mysterious Door. We've got this in the bag!"
A Piglin also arrived on the Free Nation's side.
Since they'd placed second, he treated them a little better than Gangcun Kuzi, though only slightly. His manner was still cool and indifferent.
Their reward, however, was considerably better than the Samurai Nation's.
They could stay in the resource area for two and a half hours each day, collect blocks fifteen times, and receive two kinds of block resources of their choice.
The signboard explained that Gu Yu had used a shield to block a Creeper explosion, so they chose shields.
For the other resource, given that there was no Crafting Table on the island, each of them received ten Crafting Tables.
"Great! With the Crafting Tables, we've made up for our last remaining weakness!"
Mark was delighted to get the Crafting Tables.
No matter how powerful a weapon or tool was, it had to be made at a Crafting Table. Considering the resources on the island, now that they had these,
they had everything they needed!
And if they ran into something they didn't have, couldn't they just go get it from the resource area?
Sky Island.
Gu Yu was finally receiving the rewards for coming in first.
Perhaps because he'd killed the Lightning Creeper, the Piglin who arrived was unusually friendly.
He went to the edge of the Sky Island and set things up.
He placed a few blocks of bedrock, with a lever on top.
"Please, follow me!"
Gu Yu pulled the lever and felt his vision blur. Then he was transported to another place.
It was a vast Sky Island floating above the void, filled with all kinds of resources, almost like the Overworld.
A line of text appeared before Gu Yu.
[Sky City, Outskirts]
"You can call me Zhu Wu. According to the rules of Block Civilization,"
"the newcomer who places first can collect twenty kinds of resource blocks every day. If you kill a Lightning Creeper,"
"you can choose any area here to become part of your block!"
"The area you choose won't disappear. You can teleport here anytime by pulling the lever!"
Gu Yu immediately perked up.
Resources were the scarcest thing in Sky Island Survival, but now he could teleport here whenever he wanted.
Would he ever run short of resources again?
The audience was even more shocked.
"Did I hear that right? Everyone else gets resources as a reward, but Gu Yu gets an entire plot of land?"
"Everyone else got a cold reception, but his NPC is so friendly and answers every question!"
"Listen to the details. The Free Nation can only stay here for two hours, but Gu Yu can stay as long as he wants?"
"Of course. It's part of his block now. Why would he be restricted from visiting his own home?"
"So this is what coming in first means? The gap is enormous!"
They'd thought the Free Nation's reward was already excellent. Compared with Gu Yu's,
it was like night and day!
Even the Piglin's attitude was on a completely different level!
He couldn't even be bothered to answer when Gangcun Kuzi asked his name. He'd been somewhat more polite to the Free Nation, but by no means welcoming.
But with Gu Yu,
he introduced himself without being asked and called him "sir" at every turn. It was enough to make anyone jealous!
"Damn these locals! Why are they so rude to our contestants but so friendly to the contestant from Jiuzhou?"
In the Samurai Nation, Sato Taishi was furious and resentful.
If the Piglin had been equally cool and indifferent to everyone, that would have been one thing. But he was so warm toward Gu Yu.
He'd practically dragged the Samurai Nation's reputation through the dirt in front of the whole world!
There was nothing Sato Taishi could do about it. He could only take his anger out on those useless experts, who'd called for an expert to kick the Piglin.
"Can I choose anywhere?"
Looking at the clearly divided blocks of land before him, Gu Yu asked tentatively.
"Yes, you may choose any area you like!"
"Once you've chosen, you'll receive a special reward for killing the Lightning Creeper!"
There was more to the reward than just the land?
Something even more precious than an entire plot?
As he eagerly anticipated the reward, Gu Yu fell into thought.
He could indeed stay in the block indefinitely, but according to Zhu Wu, that only applied inside the block. He still had a limited number of mining attempts outside it.
That meant he had to choose carefully.
"This is the resource area? There are so many kinds of blocks!"
"So I'm supposed to choose a plot here? I almost feel bad, haha!"
"We're not short on food right now. We should definitely pick weapons and equipment."
"I think that area over there looks good. It has gold and coal!"
"Gold's rarer than iron. The best equipment must be gold armor!"
"Choose the gold mine. Wouldn't that let us upgrade to a Medium Block in no time?"
Even so, the Jiuzhou audience was thrilled.
Based on what they'd seen so far, the mineral ranking went wood, stone, iron ore, then gold ore.
All of them could be used to make weapons and armor, and gold ore was the rarest.
Going by common sense and the quality of items in other games, they naturally assumed gold equipment was the best.
"I choose this area, the Iron Mine!"
To everyone's surprise, Gu Yu didn't choose the gold mine. Instead, he chose an area full of iron ore.
Outside the screen, the Blond Elder's eyes lit up.
"He didn't choose the gold mine. Quick, get Mark and Jett to the resource area. We must seize the initiative and mine all the gold within our limited number of attempts!"
Before you continue