Chapter Nineteen: Retaking the Mine

Dozens of arrows, without exception, pierced the body of the zombie. In Mo Fangyuan’s eyes, this zombie was surely doomed.

“Aaargh!”

Yet the zombie’s reaction was utterly unexpected. After being struck, it paused for a moment—then resumed its ferocious vigor, as lively as ever.

“Your Majesty, it’s getting bigger!” Yali suddenly patted Mo Fangyuan’s shoulder, alerting him that something was amiss with the zombie ahead.

“Hmm... Ah... What is this...”

The zombie, after the assault, had swelled several times in size, its demeanor growing increasingly enraged.

“This is the Red-Eyed Giant Zombie!”

The Red-Eyed Giant Zombie, also known as the Furious Giant Zombie, possessed enormous initial health and far greater attack power than ordinary red-eyed zombies. At times, such creatures could match the Iron Golem in strength.

When attacked, their bodies would swell, and their attack and defense would increase accordingly, making them formidable elite monsters.

“I didn’t expect to encounter such a monster here,” Mo Fangyuan recalled that in his past life during the ‘Mystery Era,’ this creature rarely appeared.

“Keep shooting!”

The Red-Eyed Giant Zombie had high offense and defense, but not without weakness. Its sluggish movement was its most fatal flaw.

As long as Mo Fangyuan used the ‘kite’ tactic, it had no means to defend itself.

“Shoot!”

“Fire at will!”

“Don’t stop shooting...”

Again and again, until the Red-Eyed Giant Zombie’s body was completely covered in arrows, turning it into a veritable “porcupine,” only then did Mo Fangyuan cease.

With a heavy thud, the monster collapsed, the sound reverberating through the cavern.

“What vitality...” Though fallen, the Giant Zombie was not dead, merely incapacitated.

Seeing this, Mo Fangyuan drew his “Big Treasure”—the diamond axe—ready to finish it off.

Through countless battles, Mo Fangyuan discovered he could only absorb the experience dropped by monsters he slew himself. This rendered his plan to build an experience farm useless.

Ordinary monsters provided too little experience, barely enough for Mo Fangyuan to notice. Thus, hunting elite monsters was the best choice.

He licked the blade of his hand axe and approached the Red-Eyed Giant Zombie.

“Don’t be afraid, I’ll just give you a little taste, just once.”

Mo Fangyuan, full of excitement, stood before the giant zombie. He had yet to savor the experience orbs of an elite monster.

“Don’t come near me!”

The Red-Eyed Giant Zombie seemed to anticipate what Mo Fangyuan intended, struggling in vain to rise. Its injuries were too severe; movement was a luxury beyond reach.

Exhaling deeply, Mo Fangyuan summoned all his strength and swung at the Red-Eyed Giant.

The diamond axe sliced through the air, cleaving the neck of the giant zombie.

No miracle occurred; the dark node in the dungeon continued to flicker with black light.

“It seems this node isn’t aggressive.”

After decapitating the Giant Zombie, Mo Fangyuan turned his attention toward the black glow within the breach in the iron bars.

“Everyone, assemble! Form battle formation!”

Should he enter or not? Mo Fangyuan hesitated at the opening in the iron bars.

From prior encounters, it was always his curiosity and reckless actions that led to disaster.

In the ‘Mystery Era,’ the dark node simply spawned red-eyed zombies and altered the surrounding environment’s color. Who knew what modifications had been made in this world?

“I... better not.”

Mo Fangyuan chickened out. The dark node inside looked perilous; entering would be walking into a trap.

“Someone! Bring out all the TNT!”

Ever since savoring the thrill of blowing up monsters with TNT, Mo Fangyuan’s love for the explosive had reached new heights.

Upon returning to the Block Kingdom, he immediately set about hunting Creepers to gather gunpowder for TNT production.

Now, the Block Kingdom had a full stack of TNT, all brought down to the mine by him.

Five tall warriors put down their iron swords and hefted blocks of TNT nearly half their height.

The others retreated to either side of the stone wall to avoid accidental injury.

These five were carefully chosen by Mo Fangyuan for their exceptional strength.

“Throw!”

Mo Fangyuan didn’t plan to toss it into the dungeon—too troublesome. Blowing open the iron-barred wall was enough.

“Boom!”

Five TNT blocks were thrown, and the force of the explosion caused the entire cavern to tremble.

When the dust settled, the iron bars at the end of the cave had vanished, leaving a massive crater.

From the breach, the black particles inside began to spread toward Mo Fangyuan like living things.

The dark node was now exposed to their sight.

It radiated black particles that assimilated everything they touched, making each spot part of the node.

It was eerie, alluring—even a single glance threatened to draw one’s soul into its endless darkness.

“Damn!”

Mo Fangyuan shook his head, realizing he’d nearly lost control and advanced toward it.

“Wake up, everyone!”

He hastily roused the warriors who’d slipped into a strange trance.

“This thing... keep bombing it!”

Mo Fangyuan cared not for exploring the dungeon after removing the dark node.

He had one thought: obliterate this bizarre place completely!

At his command, countless TNTs were deployed in carpet bombing fashion against the dark dungeon.

“Boom!”

“Boom! Boom!”

“Boom...”

“Hiss! Hiss hiss hiss!”

After several bombardments, the dark node couldn’t endure, emitting strange sound waves.

Countless black tendrils appeared from nowhere, attempting to snatch nearby creatures, but they were far too short to reach anyone.

“Good thing I didn’t take the risk!”

Seeing the dark node frantically carve black marks into the surrounding stone walls, Mo Fangyuan felt relieved at his decision not to enter the dungeon.

Had he gone inside, it would’ve been a total disaster.

“Keep bombing!”

Mo Fangyuan spoke coldly.

“Ahh! Despicable Block People! No honor!”

The black tendrils tried to shield the dark node, but the TNT’s explosive force was far beyond their capacity. Many tendrils were severed and vaporized into ashes.

A full stack of TNT was quickly depleted by the five warriors.

By then, the dark dungeon was reduced to a giant crater from repeated bombardments.

The dark node, suspended above the pit, flickered weakly, as if on its last legs.

“Use bows!”

Mo Fangyuan was wary of the dark node—even in its crippled state, he wanted no part of close combat.

“If I fight it up close, I might as well be a pig!”

His warriors evidently knew how to handle such things; they immediately drew their bows and fired at the dark node.

Arrows struck the surface, causing ripples to spread across it.

Soon, Mo Fangyuan winced at the expense.

“This is burning through arrows way too fast!”

Ordinarily, arrows could be recovered after fighting monsters, but against this node, not even dust remained.

Upon impact, arrows were burned to black ash by the dark particles the node emitted, scattering below.

“Don’t stop, keep shooting!”

The Block Kingdom was, after all, a kingdom; a few arrows could still be supplied.

“As long as we destroy this, all is worth it!”

Thus, as the archers persisted, the dark node grew ever dimmer.

As if reaching a threshold, when three arrows struck from different directions simultaneously, the node began to tremble violently.

A jarring sound erupted, and with a bang, the dark node finally met its end—blasting apart.

Just like that, the dark node vanished into the depths of the mine.

“Haha... ha...”

With the monster-spawning dark node gone, the mine was finally reclaimed!

Mo Fangyuan couldn’t help but laugh.

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—once you were so arrogant, but now, haven’t I brought you down after all!