"Just how much equipment do they have? How many materials? How can thirty-two people possibly manage so many machines?"
"They must have enabled admin permissions! Or they modified the game data!"
Another player jumped up in agitation while pointing at the obsidian tower, shouting;
"Otherwise, how could they have infinite materials, infinite gunpowder, and build such a monstrous fortress in seven days? Ten thousand of us working for a week couldn't do this much, yet the thirty-two of them pulled off such a massive construction!"
However, some rational players had already noticed the strange devices scattered throughout the interior.
"Look at those weird buildings inside!"
Only then did the players shift their attention elsewhere.
The first things to catch their eyes were various automated factories, as well as rows of extremely neat portals that had been cut open and destroyed. Though they were all out of operation now, the sheer number was staggering.
Besides those, there were also dense clusters of small figures gathered at the bottom.
"These buildings are so strange! What are they all for?"
"No idea!"
"This is a real eye-opener. I never imagined Minecraft could be played like this!"
"Quick, look at that group at the very bottom! What are those things?"
Everyone looked down, and an absurd scene appeared before their eyes.
Up ahead, ten thousand pillagers dressed in uniform armor and holding crossbows gathered in a dense mass that stretched across the very bottom.
The pillager captain stood at the very front of the formation with a banner on his back and an enchanted crossbow in his hand. His eyes radiated a fierce intensity that spoke volumes of his skills.
There were also many advanced monsters mixed into the ranks, including ravagers, witches, and evokers.
"What on earth are these things?"
Someone stepped back in fear as their voice trembled.
Jose was also stunned and nearly dropped the iron pickaxe in his hand.
They had exhausted their efforts to break through the wall's defenses, but what awaited them wasn't victory. Instead, it was a well-equipped pillager legion that matched them in numbers.
Some people were almost driven mad by the revelation.
"Hahaha, and they say they didn't use admin permissions? They've enslaved monsters to work for them!"
On the observation deck at the top, Alto watched the players' doubts and wails below with complete indifference.
"This isn't cheating. This is an abuse of mechanics."
These pillagers had all been sent directly into the Nether from modified pillager farms.
Then a passage was built in the Nether leading directly to a portal near the castle.
Pillagers falling into the Nether are considered eliminated by default according to the overworld spawn mechanics.
Therefore, it wouldn't trigger the mob cap and cause spawning to stop.
The pillagers that accumulated in the Nether were finally transported all at once to the arena floor.
Alto didn't transport them without limit, though. Instead, he controlled the number to maintain a one-to-one ratio with the players.
He considered this as giving the players a fighting chance.
Otherwise, a single automated device could toy with the players endlessly.
Despair hung in the air as the players below continued arguing. Some were unwilling to give up, some had already fallen into despair, and others were trying desperately to find holes in the defense.
But looking at this fortress created by thirty-two people that seemed to defy all logic, everyone knew that this siege battle would be far more difficult than they had imagined.
"Whether they used admin permissions or not, we'll naturally know when the footage is released after the match! We've already broken through the wall, so charge forward, brothers!"
"That's right, we've come this far! We can't give up now."
"No matter how hard it is, we must strive for victory and then prove them wrong!"
"Charge!"
"Capture the fortress and show Alto what we're made of!"
But the arena floor was so far below, and the drop was a sheer cliff. How were they supposed to descend safely?
Not a problem.
"Pour water! Then follow the flow down to enter the arena."
The player army began roaring as they launched their direct assault.
Detecting players entering their line of sight, the pillager legion instantly raised their crossbows and pulled the triggers at the charging players.
The dense volley of crossbow bolts surged toward the players like a black tide.
Players with shields hastily raised them for defense. Those without were instantly turned into pincushions before dissolving into white light to respawn.
Some players' equipment was still inadequate, and they would be eliminated within seconds upon charging in.
"This won't work! They're doing too much damage!"
"Damn it! Without proper gear, we can't survive this at all!"
The players sent back to the respawn point finally understood the situation.
This pillager legion was different from the mindless zombies they'd fought before. Their equipment was sophisticated, and most of them had ranged crossbow attacks.
Combined with the other advanced monsters mixed into their ranks, it was impossible to fight without crafting better equipment first.
At this time, the group of players who had been quietly crafting their gear entered the battle.
Many of them already had full sets of iron equipment, and some even had diamond gear.
Boshita stood at the front of the crowd with his brow furrowed. His gaze swept over the redstone buildings and obsidian tower in the arena, and his expression turned grave.
The situation was worse than he had thought.
He had originally wanted to travel to the Nether to gear up properly, but the entire dimension had been blown to smithereens.
The bastion remnants and nether fortresses in the surrounding areas had either been leveled or flooded with lava.
"How on earth was this done?"
He carefully observed the various structures and facilities within the arena.
Although he didn't know what they were, they must be related to all of this somehow.
He had thought this was just a normal adventure game, but seeing everything before him, he realized there were far too many things in Minecraft he didn't understand.
But now wasn't the time to think about that. Progress was the priority. The player group was no longer as scattered and disorganized as they were at the start, so a large group began discussing attack plans in the communication channel.
Finally, led by players with shields, they began their coordinated assault.
"Victory is right before us! Defeat this wave of monsters, and we win!"
"Charge!"
The arena floor instantly transformed into a chaotic battlefield.
Boshita wielded a diamond sword and precisely dodged a pillager's crossbow bolt, then thrust his blade through its throat in a swift counter.
At the same time, he sidestepped a splash potion of poison thrown by a witch and shouted to those behind him.
"Maintain formation! Don't spread out or the ravagers will break us apart!"
The battle thus fell into a long stalemate.
Meanwhile, the development team members were still creating chaos throughout the battlefield.
Some even traveled deep into the player respawn areas to cause disorder and prevent players from crafting gear.
With the help of their elytra, even when they were sometimes surrounded, they could always soar into the sky at the critical moment to escape danger.
Helena was one of them.
She was currently flying through the air while using a bow to shoot at targets below.
As she activated another firework rocket to gain altitude and avoid the players' siege below, a sharp crack echoed through the air.
The wings of the elytra suddenly snapped, and broken fragments scattered in the wind. She'd been so preoccupied with flying around that the durability of the elytra had been completely exhausted.
Losing her balance, Helena instantly plummeted from the sky and crashed heavily onto an open space.
"Ouch!"
She let out a startled cry.
"It's someone from the development team! Her wings are broken!"
A player was the first to spot the fallen Helena and shouted excitedly. The surrounding players instantly swarmed toward her position.
"Oh no... This is bad..."