Reborn as a Cube Man in the Late Ming Dynasty

"Liu Er, here's an axe for you. What you need to do next is very simple: just chop down that tree!" Bai Li took out a stone axe, handed it to Liu Er, and then took two steps back.

"Hey boss, why don't you move away a bit?" Liu Er suggested, "lest this tree fall and hit you!"

"Haha, don't worry, this tree shouldn't fall. And even if it does, it'll just send me flying and take away a bar or two of my health. It's no big deal." Bai Li shook his head nonchalantly. "Besides, what if the tree hits your small frame?"

"But I just don't want to smash the boss."

"Don't worry, nothing will happen. Don't forget, I'm not an ordinary person. This tree is nothing to me. Just focus on cutting it down."

"Okay." Liu Er was relieved and started chopping down the tree with all his might.

Bai Li watched expectantly as the large tree trembled repeatedly from the blows.

He is conducting a very important experiment.

Can anyone other than him use these Minecraft tools he has?

There will be some reduction, or there may be certain restrictions on its use, such as conditions needing to be met before it can be used.

For example, the current defensive gear can be confirmed to have a similar effect to that in the game, providing full-body defense.

This determined Bai Li's future development plan, since if he wanted to expand the scale of farming, it would be far from enough for him to do it alone.

Just supporting a hundred or so people would exhaust him.

The most important thing is food.

For animal husbandry, the initial population needs to be increased, while for farming, the number of seeds is insufficient, and there is a certain growth cycle.

Therefore, at present, the easiest source of food is fishing.

Therefore, of all the experiments, Bai Li planned to try the fishing rod last.

This allows for ample time, preventing the experiment from ending prematurely just because the fish have taken the bait, which would result in incorrect information and be disastrous.

The best-case scenario is that the tree is cut in half and a log block falls out.

The slightly less desirable type has no blocks; it simply floats in mid-air.

As for the worst-case scenario...

I hope that's not the case.

However, when Bai Li saw that the wood did not develop white cracks, but instead the gap gradually widened as the felling continued, he knew the answer.

Whoosh!

The gaping hole occupied half of the tree, and the massive trunk could no longer support it, beginning to sway precariously in mid-air.

"That's about it." Liu Er walked to the other side of the gap and stepped down.

boom.

The entire tree fell down along the direction of the gap, kicking up dust on the ground.

This really seems to be the worst-case scenario!

Even in my world, Liu Er and his friends follow the laws of reality.

Bai Li's hopes were dashed.

"Boss, I've cut this tree down!" Liu Er exclaimed joyfully, looking excitedly at Bai Li.

Seeing Bai Li's serious expression, he cautiously asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you did very well, it's just that the result didn't meet my expectations, but that's not something you can control, so don't be disappointed." Bai Li shook her head: "Then, how does the axe feel to you?"

"It's very sharp," Liu Er said, weighing the stone axe in his hand. "And although it's heavy, it's very easy to handle."

"Okay." Bai Li nodded and handed over the stone shovel: "Next, try digging with this."

Next, the two experimented with a stone pickaxe, a stone hoe, and taking out seeds to draw water from three blocks of water.

All attempts have ended in failure.

Clearly, the plan for villagers to rely on their own farming has been temporarily abandoned, and things may change when their world extends to the village.

But that's a story for later.

For the rest of the time, let's try fishing.

Bai Li handed the fishing rod to Liu Er, letting him try fishing in the water. To increase the chances of successfully catching fish, he even doubled the size of the pond.

If this experiment is successful, even if it takes a very long time, it will be well worth it.

This means the food problem is solved. All I need to do is craft enough fishing rods and distribute them to the villagers so they can fish on their own.

……

Nestled on a leaf, Bai Li crossed her legs and listlessly munched on an apple.

Although there are no scissors and she can't get whole leaves, Bai Li can pick leaves by hand.

One shouldn't be so rigid!

These apples taste really good, and they're quite big too.

He took the last bite, casually tossed the apple core aside, stood up, looked at his figure still sitting upright by the water in the setting sun, and sighed.

Sigh, it still doesn't work!

Although there was no clock and the approximate time was unclear, judging from the sun's trajectory, five or six hours had already passed.

It's fortunate that Liu Er was able to persevere for so long.

If he were just left sitting by the water, even for half an hour without any reaction, he would have to lift the fishing rod to see what was going on, and then cast it back down.

"Alright, Liu Er, put the rod back in, you don't need to fish anymore!" Bai Li walked over and advised.

Liu Er stared intently at the bobbing float: "Boss, I can fish a little longer. Maybe I'll succeed? It's just a matter of time. I can hold on."

During the fishing process, Liu Er became a little anxious. After all, no one can stay fishing in empty water for long. He curiously asked Bai Li about his purpose in doing so.

Bai Li then told Liu Er everything.

The general meaning is roughly:

If he can catch fish, then their village will never lack food.

Good news, it worked very well, Liu Er immediately became obedient.

The bad news is that the effect was too good. Three hours ago, Bai Li had planned to ask Liu Er to stop fishing, but Liu Er refused without hesitation.

Bai Li suggested fishing three or four times during this period, but Liu Er always brushed it off by saying that they should fish a little longer.

If I don't stop him, this kid could probably fish for a day or two straight.

I don't want to hang myself on a utility pole.

"Alright, the last minute has passed. If you haven't caught anything by now, then it's not going to work."

Bai Li said.

After all, previous experiments had already shown that Liu Er could hardly use any of the tools he had, including the fishing rod.

Give me the fishing rod.

Seeing Bai Li's resolute attitude, Liu Er could only hand over the fishing rod in disappointment.

There's one more thing you can try.

Bai Li took out the compost bin.

He had stumbled upon this item in the synthesis table by chance, and out of curiosity, he synthesized it using seven wooden steps.

His research revealed that the main function of compost bins is to convert crops and plants into bone meal.

Bai Li tried it; you can also put the pulled grass or leaves directly into it.

However, the efficiency was extremely low.

Instead of wasting time putting plants in there, he might as well catch a few more fish; it's a complete waste of his time.

However, in this situation, it would be quite good if Liu Er could be used.

"Next, go and pull some grass from the surrounding area and throw it in to try," Bai Li instructed.

Under the expectant gazes of the two, the grass fell into the compost bin and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving a few green particles at the bottom.

"Keep playing!" Bai Li said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Finally found something that works!

As plants are added, the compost layers increase, eventually forming a block similar to ash soil.

"Boss, it won't fit!" Liu Er said.

If you use it again, you can turn the blocks inside into bone meal.

However, it seems that Liu Er cannot do this step.

"Let's see if we can pour this block out."

Liu Er used all his strength, but he couldn't move the compost bin full of fertilizer even an inch.

"No, it's too heavy!" Liu Er said, panting heavily.

"Okay, then let's do it this way!"

Although the result was not very satisfactory, at least there was a safety net.

With compost bins, he could allow villagers to exchange bone meal for food.

That should be enough to solve the food problem.

Bai Li glanced at the sky and said to Liu Er.

"It's getting late, you should head home now! Bring me your basket, this is your payment for today, don't be shy. Let me tell you, this grilled fish was delicious, especially the skin, it was simply amazing!"

Bai Li took out the grilled cod from her backpack and enthusiastically stuffed it into her bag.

"Boss, that's too much! Don't stuff it anymore, it'll go bad if we can't finish it! Besides, boss, I can't take it all back with me!"

"That's true, it is indeed a bit too much!" Bai Li looked at Liu Er's size, and then at the basket in front of him that was full to the brim.

Hmm, it's probably unlikely we can bring it back.

"And now?" Bai Li asked, taking out some of the grilled fish.

Liu Er picked up the basket, weighed it in his hand, and nodded: "That's about right."

"And these two apples, one for you and one for your sister." Bai Li took out two more apples.

"How about two more?"

"That's enough, boss, we really can't fit any more!" Liu Er quickly waved his hand, refusing.

"All right."

Bai Li, still somewhat unsatisfied, put away the apple she had just taken out.

"Hey, by the way, did your village chief and the villagers talk about the water source?" Bai Li asked curiously.

"I told you, I saw lots of people fetching water there when I arrived!"

Oh, I have to go take a look. I've been in this world for so many days, and all I've seen are the village chief and Liu Er's family.

"Liu Er, let me see you off!"

"What, boss? No need! I can walk over by myself." The scene of the sky collapsing and the earth sinking that day flashed through Liu Er's mind.

Seeing Liu Er's terrified expression, Bai Li knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Don't worry, I'll just take you to the water source; we won't go far."