Zeke raised his hand, stopping the soldier from pulling the trigger.
He walked up to the bound coworker, examining the various mutations on his body.
"I'm going to run an experiment," Zeke said simply to those around him.
The soldier lowered his gun. He didn't understand, but he chose to respect the order; the man before him had saved the Cadians multiple times.
Zeke didn't see any buffs on the coworker. It seemed Milk wouldn't work. Despite knowing this, Zeke still handed the milk to him.
"Drink it."
The coworker stared blankly at the milky white liquid before him. Poison? Some new form of torture?
He didn't have much choice. The muzzle of the soldier's gun forced him to lower his head and sip the milk from Zeke's hand.
As the milk went down his throat, he smacked his lips and mumbled indistinctly, "It actually tastes pretty good..."
Zeke stared at him. There was no change.
Looks like no effect. Zeke didn't give up; he began the second wave of experiments.
He used Fence Gates to build a crude cage, trapping the coworker in the center. Then, he pulled out a Splash Potion of Weakness and threw it.
The liquid splashed over the coworker. Already weak, he became even more withered, his strength drained significantly.
Then, Zeke did something that made everyone's eyelids twitch—especially Wolf Lord Bloodhowl, who had just arrived upon hearing the news.
Zeke pulled out a Golden Apple and handed it to the corrupted coworker.
Bloodhowl's face darkened. He pulled out the Golden Apple he had been treasuring.
He looked at the apple in his hand, then at the apple Zeke handed out without a hint of heartache, realizing they were obviously the same thing.
What does this mean? Does this mean the gift you gave me is actually worthless to you?
Inside the cage, the coworker was also bewildered by the golden fruit presented to him.
This thing looks expensive. Why did this person give me a tasty drink first, and now this?
Is this a last meal? A final mercy?
Under the gaze of countless eyes, and amidst the almost fire-breathing glare of Wolf Lord Bloodhowl, the coworker reached out a dirty hand and took the Golden Apple.
His body was weak, but his intuition told him this thing would be incredibly beneficial.
Crunch.
The crisp sound of chewing was exceptionally clear in the underground space.
Hiss... Sizzle...
A sound like high-temperature quenching emitted from inside the coworker's body.
It's working. Zeke saw a Strength I buff icon appear in the coworker's status bar.
In Minecraft, when a Zombie Villager is hit with a Weakness Potion and then fed a Golden Apple, they also emit a sizzling sound, begin to tremble, and gain Strength I.
And after 3 to 5 minutes, they convert back into a Villager.
Zeke didn't know if the successful conversion of the coworker before him was due to the nature of Nurgle's corruption, but it was a good start.
The coworker, having swallowed the apple, curled up and screamed.
Four minutes later, he regained his human appearance.
The coworker raised his hands, placed them before his eyes, and checked them repeatedly. He was on the verge of tears.
Everyone looked at this scene in disbelief.
Wolf Lord Bloodhowl felt like his brain was short-circuiting.
He had witnessed a corrupted individual being forcibly snapped back into human form.
This is inconceivable!
Dante stood at the edge of the crowd, looking at the familiar yet strange coworker with a complicated expression.
The surrounding soldiers remained vigilant. Even though he had turned back into a human, no one would treat him as an ordinary person.
The coworker looked up only to see eyes filled with questioning, disgust, and suspicion.
Under their gaze, he lowered his head deeply again.
Some mistakes, once made, cannot be undone.
"Zeke," Bloodhowl walked up to him. "Are you human?"
Nonsense, of course I'm human.
Zeke looked at Bloodhowl. The Wolf Lord realized he had misspoken. "I didn't mean it like that. Sigh, anyway."
Bloodhowl couldn't articulate his thoughts, so he simply changed the subject and pointed at the coworker.
"Even if the physical infection can be reversed by your methods," Bloodhowl continued, "what about the psychological aspect? You saw it; he fell willingly."
"A man like this... even if you pull him back this time, the next time he faces a desperate situation, he will make the same choice."
"He might even slide back more easily because he's been 'saved' once, thinking there's always a way out."
The Wolf Lord's meaning was simple: From the moment he chose corruption, he lost the value of being saved.
"That's not my business," Zeke said.
"Control him, lock him up alone, and monitor him closely. That shouldn't be hard for you, right? Just treat him as a long-term observation sample."
Zeke didn't entirely agree with Bloodhowl's "one fall, never trust again" mentality.
He leaned more towards the idea that human choices are largely driven by their environment.
"I've already got the result I wanted," Zeke concluded.
Bloodhowl stared at Zeke for several seconds before finally signaling two men to take the coworker away.
"Guard him strictly," Bloodhowl ordered.
Bloodhowl wanted to chat more, but Zeke had already vanished from in front of him, taking a group of Adeptus Mechanicus personnel with him.
Back on the surface, Zeke arranged the collected ores neatly.
"Alright, time to do some real work."
Zeke opened his Crafting Table and processed the ores into various Cogwheels, Shafts, Gearboxes, and other basic mechanical components.
Then, he began discussing plans with the Tech-priests beside him. He intended to build a Tunnel Bore to practice his hand.
A Tunnel Bore is a mining contraption with multiple drills at the front, capable of collecting all mined blocks and ores.
Zeke explained the concept and handed a Cogwheel to the Tech-priest, telling them to "hold' to Ponder" (TL/N: Referencing the Create Mod tutorial mechanic).
With the assistance of the Adeptus Mechanicus personnel, Zeke soon built the first one.
For this first experimental model, Zeke was relatively conservative. It could only mine a vertical shaft of about 4x4 blocks.
Its power source was a Steam Engine. This was considered one of the stronger stress-generating devices in the Create mod.
The Tech-priests were extremely puzzled. They had never seen such an ancient energy supply facility used in their lives.
"Eh, you wouldn't understand," Zeke said.
"The older the tech, the more powerful it is. Shouldn't the Adeptus Mechanicus feel this more deeply than I do?"
–
After finishing the facility, Zeke recorded it with a Blueprint and named it [Mining Rig No. 1].
He went outside to test it, and then... It failed.
The Tech-priests gathered around, pointing fingers at the Tunnel Bore.
Why isn't it moving?
Why is it moving now?
I thought it should be moving?
There was a minor issue, but it didn't matter. Under the "professional guidance" (confused staring) of the personnel, Zeke made some improvements, and this time it finally succeeded.
The Tunnel Bore mined downward continuously, collecting ores with incredible speed and efficiency.
With this small success, Zeke prepared to build something bigger. Let's go for a 10,000 x 10,000 area.
Set a small goal: Hollow out this planet first.