Tony's Obsession

"Mm... bright sun, another new day!" Fang Bie stretched and sat up in bed.

At the same time, noises came from the two rooms beside him. It seemed the two guests sleeping there had woken up as well.

Fang Bie slowly stepped outside and washed up a little in the puddle he had deliberately left nearby.

In Minecraft, all you needed was a water bucket and two source blocks to create an endless flow of water. A single source block could already produce nearly infinite water, while two could even create an entire ocean.

So he had no intention of conserving water. He'd opened a gap in the pool on the other side, letting water tumble down from a height of two meters to form a little waterfall he could use for washing up.

Tony Stark was the first to come out of the house. Though he looked a little dazed, he was in far better spirits than when Fang Bie had first met him yesterday.

Fang Bie was glad to see him like this. After all, the Iron Man he wanted to talk to was one who was alert and sharp-minded, not the strange man from yesterday, who'd looked dazed and been excessively wary.

But Tony still looked a little odd when he saw Fang Bie. The night before, Fang Bie had explained some of the world's peculiarities to them in detail. Even with Tony's capacity to accept the unbelievable, he probably found some of it hard to swallow.

For instance, this water kept flowing from a single source block without ever running out. It was so impossible that it would have left him scratching his head. If he hadn't seen even stranger blocks floating in midair yesterday, he might have wanted to drag Newton over to take a look.

"My equipment here is pretty basic, and I don't have anything for you to wash up with, so you'll have to make do for now!" Fang Bie said with a smile, gesturing at the little waterfall flowing in front of them. "There's some beef left from last night. You can have a bit for breakfast. If you find it too greasy, apples are a pretty good option too!"

But Tony seemed not to hear a word. He stared at the water as it flowed endlessly into the pool below, as if he were completely transfixed.

"Tony?" Fang Bie asked, puzzled. He stepped in front of him and waved a hand gently, trying to figure out what was going on. Tony roughly shoved him aside, his eyes still fixed on the flowing water.

"Yinsen?" Fang Bie asked tentatively. The bald doctor had just arrived by the water, seemingly fresh from a dream and not fully awake yet.

"Tony's found something new. He only reacts like this when he discovers something he doesn't understand. You won't be able to snap him out of it."

Yinsen looked at Fang Bie, seeming to understand the confusion in his eyes, and hurried to explain. The expression reminded him of how he'd looked himself in the past.

"Is that so? What do you usually do about it?" Fang Bie asked.

"Just leave him alone. When he comes around, he'll find us." Yinsen shrugged. "Let's go eat first. We did so much work yesterday. I think I could eat a whole cow today!"

"That's because you don't know how big a cow is," Fang Bie said as he went into the house and pulled a steak out of the chest.

Like the half-person-tall mutton chop, this steak was a full person's size. The meat was a fist thick, making it incredibly hefty. Fang Bie had to hoist it onto his shoulder just to keep his face visible.

"Well? Do you still think you can eat a whole cow?"

Yinsen's face scrunched up. "Forget it. I take back what I said. This piece of meat could feed the three of us for half a week."

"Then let's set Tony's portion aside for him. He'll probably be hungry when he comes around!" Fang Bie said, stuffing the steak into the Furnace.

He was struck again by the strange rules of this game world. Even a steak many times larger than the Furnace could be shoved inside without any trouble or wasted space.

After ten minutes, the steak would be cooked just like the mutton chop. He wondered what beef tasted like in this world.

"Fang, I'm going to fetch some water. This house could use a good cleaning." Yinsen had gone and found himself another chore with admirable initiative. He seemed to love how easily he could use the items here. Carrying an Iron Bucket, he ambled toward the pond by the fields.

Fang Bie watched him with an amused smile. No one would have guessed that this unassuming man was a doctor of medicine who'd once built the first Iron Man armor with Tony.

Fang Bie thought about their situation again. They weren't in danger of going hungry for now, but they couldn't keep eating meat forever. He would check on the fields later. If they were doing well, he wouldn't need to hunt today and could go mining instead.

After all, survival was only the first priority in this world. As long as they had enough food, staying alive wasn't difficult—in fact, it was quite easy.

But Fang Bie couldn't just stay here and live such a dull, monotonous life. He had to explore those strange and wondrous places, to venture into areas that threatened his life and put himself to the test. The spirit of adventure was rooted in his very bones!

After they finished their morning activities and sat at the table, chewing on their steaks, a strange-sounding English sentence suddenly rang out by the pool.

Fang Bie turned in confusion and asked Yinsen, "What's up with him now?"

"Tony seems to have found the answer and snapped out of his exploring. Come on, let's go see." Yinsen seemed used to this sort of thing. He hurried toward the pool with his steak in hand.

"What a strange habit," Fang Bie said. He scooped up another piece of beef and put it in his Backpack, then headed over too. "Maybe that's what sets geniuses apart from ordinary people?"

Tony was digging a gap beside the pool to make another waterfall. Then he waited for the two-meter-deep hole he'd dug to fill up, completely ignoring the fact that he was soaked through and half-submerged in the water.

"Yes, yes!" he muttered. Fang Bie could make out a few other words, but couldn't quite understand what he was saying.

Still, he could feel the joy rising from deep inside Tony as he exulted. A smile crept across his face.

Smiles were contagious. Even the two men who'd been blankly chewing their beef were now lit up with happiness.

"Yinsen! I've got it! I've figured out how to escape!" Tony turned to the two of them and said excitedly to Yinsen.