The Deal

Fang Bie had only been in this world for three days, so he wasn't particularly familiar with it yet. But as a hardcore My World player, he knew its mechanics like the back of his hand.

After a complicated bout of soul-searching and discussion, Tony and Yinsen readily accepted his proposal.

At that moment, Fang Bie was essentially playing the role of their savior. They'd been trapped in a cave and had been ready to risk their lives to find a way out.

But halfway through their efforts, they'd stumbled upon a portal filled with strange colors—and discovered this bizarre, magnificent world.

Although Fang Bie seemed well disposed toward them, neither man was about to place all his hopes in him. They weren't foolish enough to trust someone they'd met only minutes ago.

But Fang Bie knew their personalities inside out. Tony Stark was famous throughout the world. He was brilliant, immensely proud, completely full of himself, and extremely arrogant.

His tongue was sharp, especially when he had the upper hand. He wouldn't hesitate to tear down your confidence. Yet he was kind at heart, and aside from his vicious mouth, he had few obvious flaws. Of course, standing people up counted too.

He was at the very top of society, so he didn't usually talk to people at the bottom. But he wasn't the sort to look down on them, either. His personality was rather complicated.

Fang Bie had made a quick assessment of Tony's character. At least he was kind at heart, so Fang Bie wasn't too worried. And inviting the two of them over hadn't been an act of spontaneous kindness.

What was kindness worth to him? He had to follow basic moral principles, of course, but now that he'd finally found a couple of strong laborers, he wasn't about to waste them.

"I've gotten a basic understanding of your world." Fang Bie had learned a lot about it from the two men. They'd been stuck in that cave for a long time, and chatting with someone from a completely different world had been a rare experience.

"Let me tell you about my world—the one you're looking at now, a world made of blocks!" When Fang Bie touched the two men, a glowing panel had flashed before him, just like the prompts in the game.

"Grant permissions?" Beneath the question were a whole host of different options.

Permissions for gathering, destroying, attacking, building, mining, crafting, enchanting, and dozens more appeared below. With his sharp eyes, Fang Bie spotted one of them.

"Grant respawn permissions?" His taut nerves suddenly relaxed.

Having that permission meant he should have the same ability himself. Immortality was within reach. He was becoming more and more like Steve from the original game.

But Fang Bie soon realized that this ability was grayed out. The same ability listed after his own name was grayed out, too, and there was no option to activate it.

Still, it gave him something to look forward to, and a stronger reason to keep moving ahead.

In reality, he didn't spend long considering his options. He quickly ran through them in his mind and immediately made up his mind.

"Grant permissions: gathering, storage, and opening inventory." Fang Bie pointed at Tony. Naturally, the command left both men baffled.

But Fang Bie didn't leave them standing there. He casually took out a piece of wood and tossed it beside them. "I've enabled your permissions to use and build. Try picking up this wood."

Tony eyed him suspiciously, then slowly reached out toward the piece of wood floating above the floor.

It wasn't very big—about the size of his palm. The moment he touched it, he felt as if a switch had been flipped inside him, and the wood shot into his body!

"What the hell?" Tony leaped up and frantically patted himself down. Even the bright blue light in his chest flickered.

Fang Bie laughed. "Don't panic. Just think the word 'wood' to yourself."

After hearing Fang Bie's advice, Tony finally calmed down. He followed the instructions and silently repeated the word.

As if by magic, a piece of wood appeared in his hand. He couldn't feel its weight at all; only its solid texture told him that the object was really there.

"Congratulations! You've successfully mastered one of this world's basic abilities!" Fang Bie said with a laugh. "That's one of this world's special rules. Any object can be turned into this state and held in your hand."

He continued, "Try putting the wood on the ground. You'd better do it outside, though. There isn't much room left in the house!"

As he spoke, he opened the door and led Tony and Yinsen outside.

As soon as Tony stepped out, he eagerly tried it with the ground. He saw the piece of wood, which had been only palm-sized, rapidly expand the instant it touched the ground, turning into a block a full cubic meter in size.

"Oh my God, what kind of miracle is this?" Yinsen marveled beside him. Even his medical doctorate seemed powerless to make sense of what he was seeing.

Tony looked surprised, too, but more than anything, he looked thoughtful.

"You've arrived at an inconvenient time. I've only just started getting established in this world. Since you don't want to go back to your own, you might as well help me out here for now." Fang Bie had no intention of deceiving them. Both men were exceptionally clever. Even if he managed to fool them now, they'd figure out his true intentions sooner or later. Better to be upfront.

"Fine." Tony Stark looked down at his hands, a strange light in his eyes. "You've given us these abilities, and we'll work for you. That's fair. But I have one request."

Fang Bie nodded. "Go ahead. As long as it's not unreasonable, I can agree."

"Once we've recovered enough in this world, I want you to come with us back to mine and help us escape!" Tony Stark's expression was resolute. He clearly hadn't given up on his original plan.

"Deal!" Fang Bie nodded. He knew Tony's world was full of gunfire, and going back could put them in danger. But that was only a concern with the gear he had right now.

Once Fang Bie reached the diamond age and had a full set of enchanted armor, he refused to believe he couldn't rely on its terrifying defense to cut that whole bunch of people down.

"Deal made. Now, get to work!" Fang Bie flashed a smile like a ruthless landowner and pointed to the huge plot of land he'd cleared behind him.