With J's issue finally resolved, one of the biggest burdens weighing on Notch's heart had at last been lifted.
Even though ten years had passed since they last met, and Notch truly wanted to spend the whole night talking with J and catching up properly...
He could no longer think of himself as merely J's friend.
As the Creator God and the CEO of Zero Point Company, there were still countless matters waiting for him to handle.
There might not be time to reminisce right now, but there was still plenty of time ahead. The two of them would have many chances to meet again in the future.
Just as Notch was thinking about how to interrupt J, who was enthusiastically recounting all sorts of memories from the past, J suddenly stopped on his own.
Even though Notch hadn't said a word and had only drifted off in thought for a moment, J seemed to read his mind as easily as if he were a worm living in his stomach.
J looked at Notch helplessly, sounding almost reproachful as he said, "You really don't treat me like a friend anymore, huh?"
"How many times has this been already? You never used to beat around the bush like this."
At that point, J seemed to think of something. He sighed and continued with a guilty look on his face, "It's my fault too. It's been too long since we last met, so I couldn't help wanting to talk with you a little longer..."
"Even though you adjusted the flow of time here, you still can't stay too long, right? There must be a lot waiting for you outside."
"It's fine. The thing we lack the least is time. Handle what's in front of you first."
After saying that, J waved at Notch.
"Go on."
Hearing those words from J, warmth spread through Notch's chest, and that familiar sense of comfort washed over him once again.
After knowing J for so long, Notch had never once argued with him. J was the kind of perfect friend who understood you completely, respected you completely, and always knew exactly what you were thinking.
He always noticed the smallest emotional changes and carefully took those feelings into account.
He was like a bottle of warm water. Never too hot, never too cold. He always surrounded Notch with exactly the right amount of warmth, making him feel comfortable and at peace.
That was why Notch and J never needed to say much to each other. Both of them could sense what the other was thinking inside, and both instinctively considered the other's feelings.
Thinking of that, Notch smiled at J and said sincerely, "It's really good having you around."
The embarrassingly mushy line had barely left his mouth before, without giving J time to react, Notch grabbed J's arm and vanished from the Nameless Land in a flash.
J only felt darkness blur across his vision. The next second, he found himself standing in the void above the Nameless Land.
He had just been about to tease Notch over that cheesy remark when he saw Notch suddenly wave toward the barren emptiness.
In the next instant, a familiar figure appeared out of thin air before them.
"Brother Jiang?!", J cried out in surprise.
The one who had suddenly appeared there was indeed Brother Jiang. Judging from the dazed expression on his face, being dragged here so abruptly had clearly caught him completely off guard.
Before Brother Jiang could even process what was happening, Notch's sigh sounded beside him.
"You really move fast."
After speaking, Notch let out another helpless sigh, then reached out and grabbed both Brother Jiang and J by the arms, pulling them back into the Nameless Land once more.
With so many identities resting on his shoulders, Notch actually didn't like giving himself too much personal time. But Brother Jiang, just like J, was someone incredibly important to him.
The moment Notch left the Nameless Land earlier, he had sensed an account with administrator privileges active within the void.
At first, he thought Rookie had run into some problem he couldn't solve. He never expected it to be Brother Jiang instead.
Notch knew very well that Brother Jiang had appeared here because he was worried about him. He also knew better than anyone how much Brother Jiang had sacrificed for him along the way.
There were surely many questions weighing on Brother Jiang's mind as well. Since J was already here, this was the perfect chance to go over everything from beginning to end so Brother Jiang could fully understand the truth behind it all and finally put his worries to rest.
Fortunately, time flowed differently inside the Nameless Land compared to the outside world, so telling a story wouldn't delay things for too long.
Besides, since he had already made time for J, he naturally couldn't treat Brother Jiang differently. The bowl of water had to stay level.
At this moment, when J saw Notch bring him and Brother Jiang back into the Nameless Land again, he immediately understood what was going on. Looking at the still completely bewildered Brother Jiang, he grinned and teased,
"Brother Jiang, you're really lucky. The great Creator God personally carved time out of his busy schedule to answer your questions."
"If you've got anything to ask, hurry up. Miss this chance and there won't be another shop after this village."
Brother Jiang was still blinking those innocent little eyes, staring blankly at everything around him with an oddly clever expression.
Clearly, his brain still hadn't fully caught up and was unable to process all the information yet. Thankfully, his speech function had finally restarted.
"What the hell's going on? Where is this? Notch... your brain okay?? You remembered J?!"
Seeing Brother Jiang slowly regain his senses, Notch exchanged a glance with J before walking over and patting him on the shoulder.
"I'm fine, Brother Jiang. I remember everything now."
Hearing that Notch was alright, Brother Jiang finally began calming down. After steadying himself, he glanced at J before looking back at Notch, guilt filling his eyes.
"I already learned about D... Back then, I never guarded against him at all... I even helped push his plan forward..."
Before Brother Jiang could finish, J shook his head and comforted him.
"You don't need to blame yourself. You were completely thinking from Notch's perspective. Besides, you didn't know the truth at the time at all..."
At that, J smiled and patted Brother Jiang's shoulder.
"The innocent aren't guilty. Besides, things already ended in the best possible way. Even I, the real sinner here, have stopped blaming myself, so don't join in."
Hearing J's reassurance, Notch laughed.
"You're just way too trusting. You think he's actually feeling guilty? He's just putting on a show."
At those words, Brother Jiang finally dropped the guilty expression. He rolled his eyes at Notch and laughed as he cursed,
"Yeah, right. I'm basically a weasel paying New Year visits to a chicken. You have no idea how much I was hoping you'd turn completely brain-dead. Then I could've packed up all your assets and run off."
"Oh please, Young Master Jiang. You think highly enough of my tiny bit of property to bother stealing it?" Notch laughed back.
As the atmosphere lightened, the three chatted casually for a while before Notch finally steered the conversation back to the main topic.
"Brother Jiang, when we were making Minecraft back then, there were things I kept from you... I wasn't deliberately hiding them."
"It was just that the world at the time was too strange. Even I didn't understand what it really was. I was afraid that if I told you, you wouldn't believe me and would think I'd gone crazy, so I kept it to myself..."
"In truth, everything had already begun back when I was creating Minecraft."
At that point, Notch looked at Brother Jiang, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "Let me start from the beginning and tell you this fantastical story..."