"If you put iron ore in a Furnace, you can smelt it into an iron ingot. Don't look at me like that. I don't know what the rules are, so I can't explain them to you." Fang Bie spread his hands and explained helplessly to the two curious souls beside him.
For some reason, even after learning some of the basic rules of this world, the two of them kept asking him all kinds of questions.
Fang Bie was sometimes so stumped by their questions that he didn't know how to answer. He was just an ordinary player, not some top-tier gaming expert, let alone a leading scientist. When faced with questions like these, all he could do was shake his head helplessly.
He was now even more eager for their plan to succeed. Once they returned to their own world, the two of them would have things to do and would stop pestering him.
Fang Bie focused his attention on the three Furnaces beside him. They'd had good luck: in just three hours, they'd mined more than a hundred pieces of iron ore.
Before leaving, Fang Bie had taken a special look at the mine they'd dug earlier. The iron vein hadn't been exhausted; it continued deeper underground, and he had no idea how far it went.
That was good news for them. It meant they wouldn't run short on iron for a while. If the two of them carried out their plan successfully, they might be gone as soon as tomorrow. If Fang Bie was left on his own, he should be able to make the supplies last even longer.
He reached into the Furnace and took out an iron ingot. Just as he'd expected, like Mutton, the iron ingot—which looked tiny in the game—was actually as long and wide as half his forearm.
No wonder nine iron ingots could be combined into a one-by-one-meter iron block. If each ingot were only the size of an ordinary palm, that would be ridiculous. This ingot was still pretty ridiculous, but at least he could accept it.
Tony had already impatiently taken several iron ingots out of another Furnace and put them into the Crafting Table beside him. With Fang Bie's earlier instructions, he successfully crafted a helmet.
The more Fang Bie thought about it, the more he felt they were getting ripped off. It took five iron ingots to craft a helmet that fit over someone's head, but nine ingots could be combined into a one-cubic-meter iron block. So where did all the leftover iron go?
But when he thought about it, he laughed. In this world, even Newton was practically buried deep underground. Why would it have to obey the law of conservation of matter?
"See Einstein's coffin over there? Bang! Gone!"
The three of them hurriedly ate dinner. Each received a set of armor, put it in their personal Inventory, and gathered the things they would need the next day. Then, each with their own thoughts, they returned to bed.
Tomorrow, they would face a life-or-death battle for real. Their plan might make it seem like nothing more than a game, but no one knew whether anything unexpected might happen. They had to prepare for the worst!
Fang Bie left his things by the bedside table. They were going to another world tomorrow, and he had no idea whether his Backpack would still work there, so he needed to make extra preparations.
After talking things over, Tony and the other man seemed to have gone to bed early, too. Tomorrow, they would face a life-or-death situation.
Though the two of them had lived in this world for many days, neither of them wanted to experience again the feeling of having their lives in someone else's hands.
Fang Bie had advised them to stay in this world a few more days and wait until they had the best possible equipment before setting out. That way, if nothing else, their chances of survival would improve considerably.
But after Tony discovered the special properties of the water here, he used his formidable eloquence and charisma to persuade Fang Bie. Even so, none of them could truly feel confident.
All they had was a set of armor with roughly the same defensive capability as medieval armor. Their opponents, meanwhile, were an elite unit capable of ambushing U.S. combat troops.
They also had a large supply of Stark Industries weapons, which looked terrifying. The two could only force themselves not to think about what would happen tomorrow, practically hypnotizing themselves before finally falling into a deep sleep.
After all three had gone to bed, the stone door still glowed faintly beyond the wall. The portal curtain on the door, like a shimmering veil of light, had not stopped turning.
When Fang Bie first saw the door, its curtain had been nothing more than a transparent film. Now, it shimmered with dazzling colors.
That wasn't all. Tiny things seeped through from beyond the door, quietly entering this world and seeming to slowly alter it in ways they had yet to encounter.
In the world beyond the door, time should have been completely frozen. Yet a Bald Sorcerer slowly opened her eyes, which should have remained shut.
An object resembling an ancient cage rested on her chest, its contents glowing with a dark green light. She awoke in a time that should have been frozen—or, because time flowed differently, nearly motionless.
"I can feel the flow of time. Another world has connected with ours...but I don't sense any evil or terrifying presence. It shouldn't be Hell or the Dark World..." She carefully considered the information conveyed by the flow of time. The green light on her chest quietly faded, and the flow of time, which had been forcibly slowed to match that of the other world, settled down.
"But the world's correction won't allow this pause to last. Time hasn't started flowing again, which means the people from that world haven't truly entered this one yet. I hope you don't come with hostile intent...or else..." She slowly closed her eyes. "Earth has buried countless demons and invaders. It wouldn't mind burying one more!"
Time once again drew to a near standstill. But this disturbance had been felt by beings in distant realms above, in shadowy corners of the universe, and even by a strange creature laughing madly on some junk planet.
Of course, none of this affected the people in that cave. At least, there wasn't an old man wearing the Ten Rings among the members of the Ten Rings. Even the food roasting over the fire hadn't turned to burnt crust; it still bubbled and tumbled over the flames, ready to eat.
And when a foot stepped out from the hidden area behind the cave, the world that had been paused resumed in an instant. The burning flames crackled softly beside the three men's ears!
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