Thinking

"Fang Bie? Why have you been cooped up in the house for so long?" Yinsen came in carrying a bucket.

"It's nothing. I'm making a Crafting Guide, so you won't have to work so hard memorizing all the crafting recipes. If you don't know how to make something, you can look it up in here by its first letter." Fang Bie handed him the pale blue book.

He had years of gaming experience and knew most crafting recipes by heart, so he didn't really need the guide now. He had made it mainly because he was afraid he might forget some things.

"A Crafting Guide? So this is basically a dictionary for this world?" Yinsen happily took the book, set the bucket inside the chest, then crouched down nearby to flip through it.

"Are you done with your work? Take a look at the book first. I'm going to the fields to pick some vegetables for dinner." Fang Bie rinsed his hands in the nearby basin, then hurried out to the fields.

Yinsen could cook Chinese food, but after Fang Bie had seen him turn a lump of compressed food into black sludge in the cave, he'd lost all desire to try anything he made.

As a member of a nation of food lovers, Fang Bie considered that level of cooking merely average. He poured a bag of high-quality rice into a pot and set it on the Furnace to heat.

Then he put some chicken into another Furnace to roast. Grabbing a pair of shears, Fang Bie headed to the nearby farmland.

The plot they had cleared covered about four hundred square meters and looked quite vast. All kinds of vegetables and plants grew there, giving the place a surprisingly varied appearance.

Apart from the fields and the three houses, there was still one vacant patch of land. Fang Bie planned to set up an experiment table there, which they could use later when crafting equipment or brewing medicine.

Of course, this was a resource-rich continent, not the troublesome Skyblock. Fang Bie didn't need to build facilities out of nothing or struggle just to survive. He could take the time to think and study the more profound aspects of the game.

Still, the Food Craft modpack was a great help to him.

Whether it was the novel plants, the wide variety of ingredients, the many kinds of meat, or the appliances that looked almost exactly like blocks but had special functions, they all fit their current circumstances perfectly.

Fang Bie casually pulled off a few garlic shoots for seasoning, then picked the ripe vegetables nearby and took them back. Neither his Backpack nor the chest had a spoilage mechanic, so the food could be stored for countless years.

He quickly prepared a few simple vegetables. Then it occurred to him that he should probably catch some chickens and raise them. Otherwise, they wouldn't even have suitable ingredients for soup.

They didn't have any eggs, but they had plenty of beef and Mutton. Having gone a whole day without eating, Fang Bie was ravenous.

Yinsen had already put down the Crafting Guide and joined Fang Bie in preparing their first lunch since arriving in this world. They made an incredibly lavish meal.

Even though the sun was already nearing the horizon, the two of them sat outside by the doorway, eating happily at the stone table.

"Fang Bie, did you find anything unexpected while you were out?" Yinsen had taken it upon himself to do the dishes. There were only two of them here, and dividing up the work was the best way to live together peacefully.

Fang Bie nodded. "I did. I brought back some different Saplings and types of wood. You might find them useful when you're building houses. Once we've finished tidying up the houses here, we'll visit the village I found today."

"A village?" Yinsen's hands froze as he washed the dishes. "You mean there are other people in this world besides us?"

"No. The only real people should be the two of us. The Villagers in that village are more like robots with fixed programs. They don't look much like humans, either. They're somewhat similar to the Zombies we saw earlier." Fang Bie gave him a brief explanation.

"Oh!" Yinsen lowered his head and adjusted his glasses. "I need to build a laboratory. There are so many fascinating things in this world. I want to learn about it as quickly as I can."

"Sure." Fang Bie nodded. "It's my job to teach you, anyway. If you'd rather study on your own, that's fine too!"

With the Crafting Guide, Yinsen could avoid a lot of unnecessary detours.

Fang Bie was also curious to see what Yinsen could come up with. It would be a waste not to make use of someone as intelligent as him.

Fang Bie also hoped that when they eventually studied Redstone Tech together, he'd have a partner who could offer all kinds of advice.

Since Yinsen could assist Tony Stark, simple Redstone Tech shouldn't pose too much of a problem for him.

Fang Bie wasn't planning to make terrifyingly powerful devices with Redstone Tech like the experts did. Those people could build phones with high-frequency redstone, using circuits like these to push the limits of what was possible in the world. It was simply incredible.

He only wanted to use Redstone Tech to make life a little faster and more convenient. But that would have to wait until much later—at least until they had enough raw materials and minerals to spare.

After all, no matter the era, technological research consumed an enormous amount of resources. Fang Bie didn't want to start building a tool, run out of materials halfway through, and then have to rush down into a mine to dig for more. That was impractical and would waste a lot of time.

After dinner, while the sun was still up, the two of them finished enclosing the area with a fence. They planted a Torch at regular intervals, lighting up the already dim mountaintop until it was bright as day.

"That should do it!" Fang Bie looked over the area they had built together and clapped his hands with satisfaction. This was his home in this world, and only now did he feel safe.

"Fang, I heard wolves howling nearby. Should we go back to bed?" Yinsen came over and said.

"Wolves? Those are useful too!" Fang Bie's eyes lit up. "When we have time, we'll catch a couple and have them guard the place. That'll make the nights safer."

"All... right..." Yinsen stared at his reaction, dumbfounded. He probably hadn't expected that a pack of wolves—normally a terrifying menace—would become something they planned to seek out and provoke.

"This world really is a mess... So why was I brought here?" Fang Bie lay on the bed, staring up at the sky with his eyes open. For a while, he couldn't fall asleep.