I was just fishing, how did I become a Great Old One?

The twilight of the pixel world always comes so suddenly.

One second ago, that huge square sun was hanging on the western horizon, turning the whole world into a warm orange pixel.

The next second, it was as if it had fallen to the edge of the world, plummeting straight down.

"Click".

It was as if someone had turned off a switch.

it's dark.

The black here is not a gradient black.

Instead, it was a pure, dark blue patch with reduced brightness that quickly covered the sky.

At the same time, a pale white, square moon, with a pixelated halo, rose into the sky.

"Boss, it gets dark way too fast!"

Er Gou has turned into a blocky dog ​​and is trying hard to adapt to digging holes with his four stiff, short legs.

As it looked around at the rapidly darkening environment, its fur (texture image) involuntarily stood on end.

"Why do I feel... a chill?"

Jiang Li held a newly dug-out "cobblestone" block in his hand, preparing to build a temporary shelter for tonight.

He glanced at the system notification in the upper right corner of his field of vision.

Current ambient brightness: 6

[Warning: When the light level drops below 7, hostile mobs will begin to spawn.]

"Everyone! Get back on defense immediately!"

Jiang Li shouted loudly.

"Stop lounging around outside! Time to grind monsters!"

Before he could finish speaking...

On the dark plain less than fifty meters away from them, a sickeningly loud sound suddenly rang out.

"Ugh... Ah..."

It was a low, guttural groan, like phlegm stuck in the throat.

Followed by.

Suddenly, puffs of black smoke particles appeared on the previously empty grass.

The smoke dissipated.

One by one, green humanoid creatures appeared out of thin air.

They were wearing tattered blue shirts and purple trousers.

The skin was dark green and covered with lividity (pixels).

The strangest thing was that they all held up their stiff, blocky arms, stretched out in front of them, like a group of sleepwalking patients, and walked towards the light source (the firelight of the furnace) in Jiang Li's direction.

【Zombie】

Moreover, there was more than one.

It's a group.

Hundreds of these densely packed green cubes swayed in the moonlight!

"Click...click..."

Besides the groans of the zombies, there was also a crisp sound of bones colliding.

Behind the zombie horde.

Some white figures appeared.

All that remains of them are their white skeletons, each holding a square bow.

Skeleton.

Commonly known as "Xiaobai".

A cold, dark light gleamed in their empty eye sockets, and the bowstrings in their hands were already drawn.

"Whoosh—"

The first arrow flew over.

It was a square arrow, with a pixelated trail, that shot precisely at Odin, who was building the wall.

"when!"

Odin reacted extremely quickly, swinging his toothpick spear (now a pixelated spear) to deflect the arrow.

"How dare you!"

"What kind of demon dares to ambush this old man!"

Odin was furious.

Although he has turned into a blocky person, his fighting spirit remains.

He strode stiffly to the front and stood in front of the unfinished half-built earthen wall.

"Men! Protect the boss! Protect the kitchen!"

"kill!"

Odin thrust out with his spear.

puff!

It hit a zombie squarely in the chest.

In the pixel world, there is no bleeding effect.

The zombie's body turned red for a moment, and it was knocked back a few meters. A red damage number appeared above its head: [-5].

"So hard?"

Odin paused for a moment.

Although the zombie was repelled, it did not die.

It shook its head, then raised its hand and walked over.

Moreover, the horde of zombies behind them has already pressed forward.

They are tireless and feel no pain.

Once you've set your sights on a goal, you'll fight to the bitter end.

"There are too many!"

Abel stood on the wall, looking somewhat anxious.

Although his blood-stained blade was sharp, its attack range was limited.

Moreover, as an assassin, he was used to killing with a single blow.

But the monsters here have very thick health bars. Unless you empty their health bars, you might not die even if you cut off their heads (although you can't cut off the heads of the blocky people either).

"I don't have any ranged weapons!"

Abel picked up a round stone from the ground and threw it out like a brick.

"Bang!"

It hit a skeleton.

But it only slightly hindered the opponent's attack.

"Whoosh whoosh-"

More arrows flew over.

If you are accidentally shot, your body will turn red instantly and you will also experience a backward knocking force.

"Boss! We can't hold on any longer!"

Er Gou hid in the corner, trembling with fear.

"These guys have no sportsmanship! They're using sheer numbers!"

"and……"

Odin retreated, panting.

"I'm...hungry."

In this world, there is a very deadly setting—[satisfaction level].

Intense exercise and combat will quickly deplete satiety.

Once the satiety level falls below a certain value, you will be unable to run or even recover health.

At this moment, the row of "chicken leg icons" (satisfaction bars) above Odin and Abel's heads began to flash red.

"I'm out of energy..."

Odin's movements as he swung his spear became sluggish.

The zombies had already climbed the earthen wall and were about to rush into the hotel lobby, whose foundation had just been laid.

……

Are you hungry?

"Let's eat!"

In this critical moment.

A steady voice came from behind.

Jiang Li stood in front of a newly crafted [block furnace].

The coal in the stove was burning brightly, emitting a warm, orange-red glow.

And on the stove.

It's set up on the newly made pixelated frying pan.

"In war, logistics are the key."

"Since the enemy has delivered themselves to our doorstep, let's turn them into our supplies!"

Jiang Li's eyes were sharp as knives.

He looked towards the battlefield.

The zombies that Odin killed did not leave behind any corpses after they died.

Instead, it turned into a wisp of white smoke and disappeared.

Only a few green, foul-smelling pieces of meat remained on the ground.

Rotten Flesh.

These are the drops from zombies.

In the game, this thing is trash; eating it will give you a "hunger" debuff (poisoning).

But in the eyes of the God of Cookery...

"That's meat."

"Everything that is meat deserves to be saved."

Jiang Li's figure flashed (the cube-shaped man's teleportation).

They rushed to the edge of the battlefield and retrieved a large pile of rotten flesh.

"Abel! Give me your pebbles!"

"Ergou! Take out the gunpowder you just hid!"

"Tangyuan! Spit out some white squares for me! Make them soft!"

Jiang Li returned to the furnace.

He began his first formal cooking experience in the pixel world.

……

Step 1: Cleanse the rotten flesh.

Jiang Li threw the green, rotting flesh into the frying pan.

"Sizzle—"

The high temperature instantly locked the meat in.

"System, activate [Ingredient Purification Mode]."

Although there is no water, Jiang Li has fire.

He used high temperatures to force out the cadaveric toxins (green particles) from the rotting flesh.

As the toxins evaporated, the originally green chunks of meat gradually turned into normal, dark brown smoked meat cubes.

The stench disappeared.

Instead, a rich aroma of meat filled the air.

Step 2: Prepare the tofu.

Tangyuan just ate a lot of the snow covering the ground.

At that moment, it was there, "poof poof poof" spitting out chunks of snow as white as jade.

In this world, snow blocks are soft, white, and square.

It looks just like... [soft tofu].

Jiang Li raised his hand and brought his blade down (using a pixelated greatsword).

The large snow block was cut into neat small squares.

Pour it into the pot.

When the snow blocks are heated, they do not melt into water (because this is the rule of blocks, a snow block is a snow block).

But at high temperatures, they become even more translucent, absorbing the oil from the bottom of the pot.

Step 3: Infuse with soul.

This is the most crucial step.

This is also the key to whether this dish can turn the tide of the battle.

Jiang Li took out the gunpowder he had previously obtained from the Creeper.

It was a gray powder with a strong sulfur smell.

Besides.

He also took out a handful of red powder.

Those were red roses he had casually picked by the roadside, which, after being processed by Tangyuan, turned into [red dye].

Here, the red dye represents—[spicy].

Gunpowder is numbing! Dye is spicy!

"This is called—【TNT Spicy Cube Tofu】!"

wow-

Jiang Li poured the gunpowder and red dye into the pot all at once.

boom!

A small, red mushroom cloud instantly rose from the pot.

An extremely domineering and spicy aroma, mixed with the explosive smell of gunpowder, instantly swept across the entire battlefield.

This flavor is too strong.

Even the zombies, who have no sense of smell, were jolted into a daze by the stench.

"It's so...so pungent!"

Er Gou sneezed, and two sparks flew out of his nose.

"Out of the pot!"

Jiang Li swung the large ladle.

A large pot of bright red, tempting, square-shaped, and still sizzling hot spicy tofu was divided into several wooden bowls.

"Odin! Abel! Catch!"

"Eat it!"

"Drive those green-skinned monsters back!"

……

Odin was already starving.

He took the wooden bowl, ignoring whether it was hot or not, and buried his face in the bowl (the action of a blocky person eating).

"Snoring—"

One bite.

Odin froze.

Followed by.

A dangerous red light began to flash on the surface of his body.

That's the reaction of gunpowder burning inside the body.

[System notification: Consume "TNT Spicy Tofu".]

[Gain buff: Fully restored satiety.]

[Gained Buff: Highlight (glows like a light bulb).]

[Gain special effect: Explosive Strike.]

Duration: 10 minutes.

"roar----!!!"

Odin suddenly raised his head.

Two red pixelated beams shot from his eyes.

All the muscles (squares) on his body swelled up.

That feeling of hunger vanished instantly.

Instead, there is a sense of power that seems about to explode.

"It's so hot! So spicy! So refreshing!"

"I feel like... I could tear a Creeper apart with my bare hands now!"

Odin turned around and looked at the zombies climbing over the wall.

What once seemed like grotesque zombies now appeared to him as nothing more than bombs waiting to be detonated.

"Come on, you scum!"

Odin rushed out.

This time, he didn't use the tip of the spear to stab.

Instead, he used the pixelated long gun like a stick and swung it out fiercely.

"Take this—[Explosive Sweep]!"

boom!

The moment the spear struck the first zombie.

There was no knockback effect.

But...

Boom!!!

The zombie was hit, and a small TNT explosion occurred directly at the spot.

Sparks flew everywhere!

The zombie didn't even have time to scream before it was blasted into countless experience orbs and rotting flesh.

Moreover, the shockwave from the explosion blasted away three or four zombies in the vicinity.

"Holy crap?!"

Er Gou was stunned.

"A basic attack with an explosion? What kind of enchantment is that?"

the other side.

Abel also finished eating the tofu.

Even after consuming such ferocious food, he remained calm as an assassin.

But the way he was moving his hands changed.

He picked up the round stone from the ground.

An ordinary stone was imbued with a red glow in his hands.

"go."

Abel flicked his wrist.

The round stone flew out and hit a skeleton archer squarely on the head.

boom!

That tiny stone turned into a grenade.

The skeleton archer was blown to pieces, with white bone clubs scattered all over the ground.

"Firepower coverage."

Abel's hands flew as he frantically picked up and threw stones.

In a short time.

The area in front of the position resembled a battlefield engulfed in artillery fire.

Every stone that falls will trigger an explosion.

The zombie horde was blown up and couldn't get even a step closer to the earthen wall.

……

"I'll join in the fun too."

Jiang Li took a bite of tofu.

Feeling the surging heat within my body.

He picked up his frying pan and joined the fray.

"Frying pan...smack!"

Clang! Boom!

Clang! Boom!

Each time he swung the wok, it was accompanied by a crisp metallic sound and a violent explosion.

He swatted and blasted the charging zombies away one by one, just like he was playing tennis.

This is no longer a defensive battle.

This is a one-sided massacre.

This is the Musou mowing mode.

With the help of "TNT Spicy Tofu", this small team of only four people managed to unleash the firepower of a division.

The once formidable zombie army was now completely routed.

The debris on the ground (rotten flesh, bones, arrows) was piled up like a mountain.

Experience orbs (yellow-green orbs of light) rained down on the group, entering their bodies.

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

The exhilarating feeling brought by the upgrade, combined with the stimulation of the spicy tofu, made everyone more and more courageous.

……

at last.

The first light of dawn appeared in the east.

The square sun slowly rose from the horizon.

The first ray of sunlight falls on the earth.

"Ugh... Ah!!!"

The surviving zombies and skeletons, upon contact with sunlight, began to ignite with orange-red flames.

This is a characteristic of undead creatures—they die when exposed to light.

They struggled and ran in the flames, eventually turning to ashes.

The battle is over.

Jiang Li stood in front of the earthen wall piled high with spoils of war and let out a long breath.

The frying pan in his hand was still steaming.

"It's dawn."

He glanced at the mess on the ground, then at the perfectly intact statue behind him.

He smiled with satisfaction.

"We held out on the first night."

"and……"

He glanced at the piles of rotting flesh and bones in his backpack.

"A bumper harvest of ingredients and fertilizer."

The village chief (the big-nosed, square-faced man) led the villagers, opening the door with trepidation.

When they saw the monster loot scattered all over the ground, and the unyielding statue.

Their blank, square faces showed expressions of extreme shock.

"Huh?!?!" (They're all wiped out?!)

"Hmph—ha!" (These outsiders...are more like monsters than monsters themselves!)

The village chief walked up to Jiang Li and bowed deeply (leaning forward at a 90-degree angle).

"Ha~ Hmph..." (Warriors... you protected the village.)

"Ha!" (As agreed... this land belongs to you.)

Jiang Li nodded.

As he looked at the rising sun, a new plan formed in his mind.

"Alright, guys."

"Breakfast has been eaten, and warm-up is over."

"Now……"

Jiang Li pointed to this square of land, which was full of hope.

"Let's get down to business."

"Ergou, go dig the foundation!"

"Odin, go lay some bricks!"

"We're going to build one... one that even the Creator himself wouldn't want to leave—"

"The Deep Blue Cube Hotel!"