Strategy game? Then I'll have to control you properly.

A messenger stumbled into the tent, his voice filled with fear, and shouted to Theodore, who sat at the head of the table, "Great-Great Patriarch!"

Another wounded soldier roared out, his voice filled with despair: "What on earth happened?!"

While the Zhen Dan tribe was successfully cleaning up the mess after the war, Theodore, who was confidently waiting for Gael to lead his tribal army in triumph, received unexpected and devastating news:

Gale's army suffered a crushing defeat in the battle, and its leader, Gale, was killed on the spot by an unknown female warrior.

When Theodore first heard the news, he did not believe it at all, finding the news too absurd and shocking.

But when he saw the distraught and battered remnants of the army who had rushed to deliver the news, he choked up and couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Having witnessed countless soldiers succumb to panic due to fear on the battlefield, it was nothing new to Theodore.

These people may exaggerate or distort the facts, but they would never lie in a life-or-death situation.

But before he could ask the surviving soldier for details, another shocking piece of news arrived in the main tent with the rapid sound of horses' hooves:

"Chieftain! Another urgent military situation!"

The series of unexpected events completely exceeded Theodore's expectations, and even he found it difficult to maintain his usual composure.

Theodore clenched his fist tightly and asked in a deep voice, "What is it this time?"

The messenger hurriedly bowed and reported, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "Report! An unprecedented monster has appeared in the eastern village, and it's slaughtering the villagers. Although the soldiers fought desperately, the casualties are too heavy..."

Theodore jumped to his feet, his brow furrowed, and repeated, "A monster!?"

The messenger's blunt report left Theodore speechless for a moment.

While it's not uncommon for monsters to roam the grasslands, those creatures are at most just a bit more ferocious than ordinary wild animals, and could never cause such heavy casualties to well-trained warriors.

Just then, the trembling soldier who had been cowering earlier, upon hearing the word "monster," suddenly widened his eyes, turned sharply to the messenger, and cried out in utter terror, "That monster! What does that monster look like!? Could it be...?"

The panicked messenger blurted out, "It's said to be a giant, black, centipede-like creature..."

Upon hearing this, the remaining soldiers' pupils contracted violently, and their whole bodies trembled uncontrollably.

This is clearly a terrifying monster that wiped out their entire force and then chased them all the way here.

Theodore, as the chieftain of the grasslands, could not stand idly by when his own territory was attacked by an unknown monster.

He had to set an example of punishment before the rumors spread, personally dispatching warriors and soldiers to slay the unknown monster that dared to attack their territory.

At this moment, a fully armed unit, having received orders, is speeding across the plains toward the destroyed village.

The soldier commanding them kept urging his men on, shouting sternly, "Run faster! If that monster gets somewhere else, it'll be hard to find!"

Before the galloping group, scattered human and livestock corpses soon appeared, all victims who had succumbed to the deadly poison during their escape.

A soldier stared at the blackened corpse on the ground, gritting his teeth and growling, "They said they used poison... What a troublesome fellow."

What's even more infuriating is that the monster is still lurking in the village it destroyed, greedily devouring the corpses scattered everywhere.

The enraged warriors immediately spurred their horses into a charge, drawing their bows and arrows and firing wildly at the monster.

But the next second, a soldier cried out in despair, "The arrows...the arrows don't seem to be working!"

The ordinary arrows they fired were completely unable to penetrate the shell of the rapidly growing eroded creature that had devoured a large number of prey.

As the entrenched erosion body stretched out and raised its upper body, the true form of a giant centipede with countless wriggling legs was revealed.

In this desperate situation, the most striking thing was what the centipede was holding as it coiled up: that black hole-like object that filled everyone's eyes with confusion and fear.

A soldier stared blankly at the black hole and muttered, "That guy seems to be guarding that thing."

As he said, the centipede monster merely rode at a distance on horseback, keeping watch, seemingly unwilling to leave the black cave it was guarding.

The soldier leading the group gritted his teeth, drew his spear, and said in a deep voice, "We must kill it. There's an old saying that a wild beast that has eaten a man should not be allowed to live."

Although it was difficult to get close to the monster, he planned to shoot it from a distance as long as it remained in place.

As one of the top warriors on the grasslands, his spear, thrown with all his might, could travel a great distance and shatter thick stone walls.

The soldier roared and hurled his spear with all his might: "Ha!"

Sure enough, his spear cleaved through the air and pierced the thick, massive body of the centipede monster.

Although it was only a very slight puncture, it did shatter the carapace and penetrate the monster's body.

Seeing this, he grinned, confident that if he repeated the attack a few more times, the centipede monster, which had no ranged attack capabilities, would surely die on the spot.

But an unexpected turn of events occurred the instant the wind reversed.

A soldier suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream: "Wind direction... Poison, it's poison!"

The centipede monster spewed out a thick cloud of poisonous mist from its mouth, which swept towards them with the help of the wind.

Although the concentration of the toxic fumes inhaled was not high, the soldier, whose breathing was disordered for a moment, still coughed violently with a grimaced face.

In the thin, poisonous fog, his bloodshot eyes widened in horror as he saw countless tentacles slowly crawling out of the black cave embraced by the centipede monster.

◆◆◆

the other side.

As a price for this victory, a large number of new people joined the Zhen Dan tribe.

Not only Attila, the ruler, but also others in the tribe were inevitably worried about the population explosion.

Looking at the bustling crowd, an old herdsman couldn't help but exclaim to his companion, "This is the first time in my life I've seen so many of my people gathered together."

His companion shook his head with a wry smile and replied, "To be honest, if this were before, just feeding them would have been a huge headache."

While population size can enhance tribal strength, population structure is equally crucial, especially since the rate of increase in resource consumption often far exceeds the rate of increase in productivity.

However, at this moment, they all held an unwavering belief in their hearts: faith in their guardian deity.

Legends about the game world are spreading rapidly among the new members.

A newly joined boy, his eyes brimming with curiosity, tugged at the arm of his senior and asked, "Does such magical land really exist? Where day and night alternate in the blink of an eye, and crops planted ripen instantly?"

The senior patted him on the shoulder, his tone boastful as he exaggeratedly described the place: "When you see it with your own eyes, you'll find it even more astonishing that the whole world is made of blocks!"

Those who have already witnessed the irrefutable evidence firmly believe this.

That's why, even when some of them were lifted into the air by an unknown force, they didn't feel fear. Instead, they cheered joyfully, "It's me! I've been chosen!"

Those who were chosen by Lin Miao outside the screen and possessed special talents were assigned to the expanded Minecraft department to learn from the seniors working there how to awaken and use their powers.

Due to the limited number of slots available in the game, many people quit during the process.

However, even when they leave the game, they are not without things to do.

Looking at the increasingly bustling construction site, a porter smiled and said to Maureen, "There have been quite a few more porters now."

Maureen nodded and replied, "Yes. A skilled worker can stack 10 stones a day, but now that there are more than 10 people, they can stack more than 100 stones a day."

Attila walked up to the two and gave a new command to Maureen, who could manipulate game blocks in the real world:

"We need larger walls and facilities. You and the miners should work together to make it happen. This war should have taught you a great deal that we must make good use of the power we have gained from it."

Attila ordered Maureen to build even more magnificent walls and to cover the roads throughout the village.

To encircle a tribe inhabited by thousands of people, the scale of the city wall would be enormous, but the construction manpower would also increase accordingly, making it not an impossible task.

A young porter looked troubled and whispered to Maureen, "But Maureen, it will take too much time for us to do it alone."

Maureen patted him on the shoulder, reassuring him, "There's no other way. But this time it's not just us contributing; a lot of miners have come too, right? As long as they have the ability to freely mine the earth, we can build even more by working together."

Maureen knew in her heart that if things continued like this, she would probably break her bones from exhaustion, spending all her time piling up stones. She had to find a way to improve her efficiency.

So she thought of cooperating with the miners. If she could join forces with the miners who were digging freely and build some facilities underground, she could make more efficient use of space and reduce their labor intensity.

Just as Maureen was pondering how to build a wall that was stronger and taller than the existing one, her body suddenly rose into the air.

It was Lin Miao who summoned Maureen into the game world.

The villagers working nearby stopped what they were doing, and one of them asked in surprise, "What's that?"

Another villager immediately realized what was happening and whispered, "Was it a summons from that esteemed person?"

In a world made of blocks, the bewildered newlyweds suddenly saw Maureen screaming as she fell from the sky and they all rushed over to her.

Rosie, who had been summoned just like them, immediately walked towards Maureen.

Rose addressed the still-stunned group, urging them, "Don't be too nervous. Our mission is to hunt enemies and obtain monster essence. This way, please."

These are all new warriors who recently changed jobs and awakened their skills through the Dark Soul Hunting Mode. Lin Miao arranged for them to come here to collect monster essences, while the work of guiding the newcomers was naturally handled by the veterans who had already started their activities.

Among the crowd were both natural-born warriors and inexperienced newcomers, yet no one dared to speak ill of Luo Xie.

Someone sighed softly, "But she is indeed a powerful figure highly regarded by that lord."

In terms of skill mastery, Rosie is one of the top experts in the tribe.

The tradition of grassland warriors is to respect and be loyal to the strong.

Moreover, Rose was one of the founding members who received continuous investment from their guardian deity.

Looking at the deep underground passage, a newcomer couldn't help but exclaim, "I never imagined that there would be such a deep underground world right beneath these vast farmlands!"

Rose pointed to the iron gate at the end of the passage and said in a deep voice, "See that iron gate? Make sure to close it when you come out."

They traveled for a long time along the underground passages they had cleared, and finally arrived at the entrance to the underground world, where a door stood all alone.

Although it is an ordinary door in the literal sense, the monsters have never been able to cross it.

Skeleton colossi kept spawning behind the door; these were the monsters they needed to hunt.

A new recruit immediately gripped his weapon tightly and shouted excitedly, "Oh, here it comes!"

The newly joined trio will form a team to wipe out these monsters, while Rosie, Bruno, and Mista, who are already familiar with the battle, plan to leave and head to the deeper parts of the underworld: the second level of the underworld, where even more powerful monsters will spawn.

While their juniors were fighting the monsters, they crossed the passage that had been destroyed by the Phantom Wings and continued their journey into the abyss.

Rose took a deep breath, gripped the sacred amulet on her hand, and silently prayed: Grant me power this time as well.

At this moment, what can overcome the fear of unknown enemies and unfamiliar environments is no longer the burning desire for revenge, but an unwavering belief.

◆◆◆

Lin Miao watched the screen as everyone, including the newly deployed soldiers, headed underground to collect the essence of monsters, and couldn't help but chuckle softly, "Having so much to do is actually more exciting, isn't it?"

With the number of people doubled, collecting monster essence should be much easier.

Equipped with special gear made from the byproducts of malfunctions, they are strong enough to deal with the monsters that dwell in the deeper parts of the world.

Next, all they need to do is use the monster essence they've collected to awaken more people, and then redeploy them to their posts.

However, before that, Lin Miao called the transporter, Mo Lin, to come alone for another matter.

As Lin Miao approached with her Palico character, Maureen showed a panicked expression. Even the farmers working nearby stopped their work out of curiosity and stared at the two of them.

Lin Miao thought to herself: I hope it will come in handy.

After filling his backpack with pre-prepared building blocks, he opened a webpage next to the game window.

This is a Minecraft video uploaded by a Bilibili user, teaching people how to build beautiful structures using various materials in the game.

Lin Miao plans to personally demonstrate the production method so that residents can directly copy and use it.

Although it's uncertain whether a perfect replica can be achieved, it doesn't matter. Perhaps they are even smarter than us. As long as we demonstrate a possibility, they can develop and improve it on their own.