"You did pretty well this time!"
After all those stupid mistakes, Sato Taishi could finally relax a little.
With a Wither-proof body, Yamamoto Rokuko wouldn't die from the Wither effect.
Gu Yu probably hadn't received that special reward, had he?
"Looking at it this way, the reward for entering the Nether for the first time isn't so bad after all!"
The National Fortune Reward of nutritional intake was a laughingstock, but at least they'd gotten the top-tier buff of a Wither-proof body.
Others would die from it, but they could avoid that fate!
"The Wither effect is actually this strong!"
It was Fries's first time seeing the Nether, and he was shocked.
He'd never been there himself or seen a Blaze or a Ghast, so he could only make guesses based on the contestants' perspectives.
It looked difficult from Yamamoto Rokuko's perspective, but at least it hadn't been fatal. Mark's situation gave the clearest picture.
Without a Wither-proof body, facing that thing meant certain death!
"Gu Yu has a Golden Apple. He should be able to hold out, right?"
Fries sounded unsure of himself.
Golden Apples granted extra health and health regeneration, but whether they helped during the Wither effect—
It was impossible to know.
He watched on anxiously.
Ignoring everything else, Gu Yu examined the chest, delighted.
"The drop rate's so high! I've already got more than ten diamonds, and five gold ingots?"
Along with the Golden Apple and Ender Pearl, this trip to the Nether had been quite fruitful.
With his Epic Weapon, the Heavy Hammer, he was confident he could speedrun the Twilight Forest.
As for the Wither effect—
Losing a heart every so often was troublesome, so he immediately rummaged through his inventory and found some milk.
Gulp, gulp. He downed it in one go.
A sweet taste burst across his tongue. It was delicious.
The Wither effect was gone!
"Time to head back to the overworld and get ready for the Twilight Forest and Sudden Change."
He didn't take the minor inconvenience to heart at all.
The Twilight Forest and Sudden Change were the real challenges ahead.
In the shadows, Yamamoto Rokuko was already utterly bewildered.
The Wither effect had tormented him worse than death. He'd been watching all this time just to see Gu Yu fall into the same state.
And now the Wither effect was gone?
All because of a bucket of milk?
"Milk can cure poison? Is that even scientific?"
On the other side of the screen, Sato Taishi's expression, which had just begun to ease, darkened again.
He'd just called the Wither-proof body a top-tier buff, only to be told that milk could cure this thing.
There was no need to suffer so much after all.
Then what had Yamamoto Rokuko gone through all that pain for?
And what about all the Health Potions Mark and Jeter had wasted?
So after finally discovering a new dimension, they'd been given rewards that were useless?
The expert beside him looked ready to twist himself into a knot.
"This makes no sense! How can milk cure poison? And how did Gu Yu know about that property?"
"Maybe the Jiuzhou side really is hiding something. Should we ask them to share some of their technology?"
Before he could finish, Sato Taishi kicked him.
After so many rounds in the arena, Jiuzhou had long since run out of supplies. They might look powerful, but they were just paper tigers!
By contrast, their own nation had ample reserves and a full stock of supplies. In a situation like this—
How could they possibly ask some weakling for help?
"Baka! If you have to ask others for everything, what use are you?"
"Fools! If Jiuzhou already knows about this, then hurry up and find out how it works!"
Sato Taishi could only take his anger out on the experts.
After a brief silence, the Bullet Comments erupted.
"Gu Yu's poison is gone!"
"Really? All it took was a bucket of milk?"
"How does Jiuzhou know about so many useful things?"
"Baka! If you knew milk could cure poison, why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"Mark nearly died! We almost lost a powerful fighter!"
"It's all Jiuzhou's fault. They owe us an explanation!"
The viewers had nowhere to vent their anger after being tormented by the Wither effect, so they all turned on one target.
Jiuzhou!
If Jiuzhou had warned them, they wouldn't have wasted so many resources!
Seeing the screen fill with angry comments, Fries promptly posted a message on social media.
To the viewers from the Samurai Nation and the Free Nation, he offered four sincere, earnest, and polite words:
[Go fuck yourselves]
They'd been greedy for resources and gotten punished for it, and now they were blaming someone else?
He'd never seen anyone so shameless!
After a good fight online, Fries returned to the Research Institute, feeling refreshed.
"Those bastards. I'd have felt awful if I hadn't cursed them out!"
He looked back at the screen.
Fries truly hadn't expected Gu Yu to have prepared for the Wither effect in advance.
Milk curing poison made no sense at all!
"Right, it's not scientific. But block science works just like you said, Fries."
"Maybe Gu Yu really did learn it through some kind of 'beta test.'"
That would explain why he knew so many basic properties!
Dean Qi was growing more and more eager to learn from Gu Yu in person.
"Let me guess. Yamamoto Rokuko has nowhere left to go now. Given how stupid and nasty he is, there's a good chance he'll mine the obsidian!"
"He thinks that'll leave Gu Yu with no way out, trapping him in the Nether just like he was."
Neither of them spelled it out. Fries and Dean Qi exchanged a glance, understood what the other meant, and smiled.
He had two buckets of water in a world full of lava. Was he really worried about running out of obsidian?
Now it was time for the clown to put on a show!
Just as Fries and Dean Qi had predicted—
When he realized the Wither effect didn't matter and saw Gu Yu ready to go home with a full haul,
Yamamoto Rokuko started to panic.
"How long has he even been in there? Gu Yu's already heading back with a full inventory?"
"No way. How can he speedrun it? Everyone who enters the Nether should have to experience wandering around!"
While Gu Yu was sorting through his inventory, Yamamoto Rokuko hurried outside.
He happened to spot a group of Piglins and immediately rushed toward them to draw their aggression.
"These pig-headed monsters aren't like the NPCs in the resource zone. You can't talk to them. I'll have them block Gu Yu!"
"I'll mine the obsidian while he's distracted and leave him with no way out!"
After luring the Piglins away, he pulled out his Diamond Pickaxe and began mining the portal.
Sure enough, he did it!
Obsidian was extremely hard, so even a Diamond Pickaxe mined it slowly. He didn't take all of it.
He mined only a little more than half, enough to break the portal, then immediately fled.
With plenty of obsidian in hand, he headed back along the road.
Jiuzhou's viewers couldn't help cursing him out.
"Stupid and nasty—that's the Samurai Nation for you!"
"He got beaten because he was stupid, and now he's dragging us into it?"
"Disgusting. It's not just Yamamoto; the whole Samurai Nation is disgusting!"
"You'll get what's coming to you!"
If Yamamoto Rokuko had seen that, he would have laughed out loud.
"What do you mean, 'get what's coming to you'? Let them try!"
They were so far away. Even if they found out, what could they do? Gu Yu had no way of locating him!
Besides, he remembered the original spawn point. Soon enough, he ran back to the broken obsidian portal!
He filled in the remaining gaps and lit it with Flint and Steel.
"Fresh air! I'm back!"
Looking at the familiar overworld, Yamamoto Rokuko felt a rush of emotion.
After spending so long in the Nether, surrounded by lava and monsters, he'd finally made it back!
"I've only been gone a little while. Why are there so many zombies?"
It was dark out. After surviving the Nether, Yamamoto Rokuko figured he'd grown much stronger.
"Your grandpa's not home. What are you showing off for?"
Zombies were zombies, no matter how strong. They couldn't be worse than the Nether, could they?
He charged at them with his sword, completely failing to notice—
These weren't the familiar zombies anymore. They wore strange, tattered gear, and there were more of them. They were stronger, too!
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