Gray spent the next hour chopping down more trees outside the gates. By the time he finished, he had a full stack of 64 logs sitting neatly inside his inventory. He also collected about 15 tree saplings. He planned to plant them inside the prison courtyard later to grow his own forest. Surprisingly, not a single apple dropped from the leaves the entire time.
Walking back inside, Gray opened his 2x2 inventory crafting grid. He placed a single wooden log inside, turning it into 4 wooden planks. Next, he filled all four slots of the grid with the planks to craft a classic Minecraft crafting table.
He walked back over to his RV and placed the new crafting table right on the ground next to it. It snapped into reality perfectly.
Since the courtyard was completely dark, Gray kept an eye out just in case Minecraft monsters like zombies, skeletons, or creepers spawned. He thought it was unlikely in the real world, but he still kept his guard up.
He walked over to inspect his new crafting table. He tried to open it mentally, but nothing happened. It wasn't until he physically touched the wood that a bright digital screen popped up in his vision, giving him full access to the 3x3 crafting grid. Gray quickly placed 4 of his wood logs into the screen, turning them into 16 wooden planks. Then, he used those planks to craft two chests.
He set the chests down right next to the workbench. The moment he placed the second one, they fused, forming a single double chest. He tried to open it mentally, but it worked just like the workbench, he had to physically touch the chest to see the storage slots inside.
Finally done with his tests, Gray used his Netherite axe to chop down both the workbench and the double chest, popping them instantly back into his inventory. He thanked Merle and turned around, ready to leave the safety of the main prison walls.
Merle stopped him. "What are you doing now, kid?"
"I'm going to start digging for my future plans," Gray replied.
Merle nodded and walked next to him toward the outer gate. "I'll keep watch while you work."
"Thanks," Gray said.
Merle climbed up into a guard tower with his rifle while Gray walked out into the dark fields. It was now a bit after 3:00 AM, but Gray did not feel tired at all. If anything, his new body felt like it could go on for days without sleep. He still wanted to test other Minecraft features later, like checking if he would respawn in a bed if he died, or trying to land on water to see if it canceled fall damage, but he wasn't really willing to risk actual death to find out.
Finding a good spot for his base, Gray started by making the ground completely level. He had to use his shovel and axe to clear out small mountains of dirt and a couple of dozen trees. After an hour of fast-paced work, he had leveled a massive 100x100-meter area. He placed his workbench and double chest on the edge of the clearing and emptied all the dirt blocks he had accumulated inside to keep his personal inventory free. Next, he crafted more double chests, stacked neatly in a row. He planned on digging down at least 50 meters, which meant excavating at least 500,000 blocks. He already had a 5-floor plan in mind, with each floor being at least 10 meters high.
Not wasting any time, he got to work. But using the Netherite tools felt way too slow for a project this massive. Gray opened up the system shop to look for better options. He scrolled through and found a Tech Reborn tool called the Industrial Jackhammer. It could mine in a 3x3 or even a 5x5 area at once. Even better, the jackhammer had infinite durability. Once its electrical charge died, he could just buy a Battery Box from the same mod to recharge it using his existing solar panels.
He bought the Industrial Jackhammer for 50 million Gold. It was more than ten times the price of a Netherite tool. The surprising part was that it had 10M energy instead of the usual 1M, and it was worth every penny. Spawning the heavy tool into his hands, Gray did the ultimate Minecraft taboo... He started digging straight down. Since he could easily teleport 200 feet back to the top once he reached the bottom, he knew this would be the fastest way to hollow out the area.
The difference was instant. Gray mined a perfect vertical shaft down to the 50-block mark in less than a minute. Then, he instantly teleported back up to the surface and started the next shaft right next to it. From the guard tower, Merle watched the giant square hole grow. He would see Gray vanish into the earth, and a second later, Gray would pop back up at the top to plunge right back down. "Damn, I'm glad that kid's on our side..." Merle muttered to himself.
Because it was still dark out and Gray wanted to get the massive hole done as soon as possible, he didn't want to stop to recharge. Instead, every time a tool ran out of power, he just opened the shop and bought a brand-new one.
Eventually, Gray filled up all of his double chests with stone and dirt. He still had plenty of wood logs left, so he opened his crafting screen and made as many chests as possible, stacking them 6 blocks high. By the time he had filled 70 double chests to the brim, he realized he was only halfway done with the excavation.
He was completely out of wood, and all his storage was full. Instead of paying billions to buy the FallingTree mod, Gray went to the shop and simply bought an Industrial Chainsaw from the mod Tech Reborn for another 50 million Gold. He walked over to the nearest tree, flipped the chainsaw on, and cut through the trunk almost instantly. The power was so intense that even the floating leaves disappeared at almost the exact same time. He sprinted through the woods, cutting down trees until he had enough wood to build the remaining storage he needed.
He crafted the chests and placed them down, bringing his total to 150 double chests stacked neatly next to the massive pit. Gray ended up cutting down close to a hundred trees in total. He didn't care about ruining the landscape because the trees dropped plenty of saplings, meaning he could plant an even bigger forest later. Hell, with his massive income, he could eventually just buy the Naruto Senju bloodline and Wood Release to grow a massive, thick forest instantly.
Getting straight back to work with his jackhammer, Gray noticed the sun was finally coming up over the horizon. He still felt completely fresh, without a single ounce of physical or mental exhaustion. Every once in a while, the loud crack of Merle's rifle echoed through the morning air, picking off walkers that kept wandering toward the area because of the loud digging noises. Gray completely tuned out the sound and kept mining.
As the morning progressed, the rest of the prison survivors started waking up and walking out into the courtyard. The moment they stepped outside, their jaws dropped. A massive chunk of the surrounding forest was completely gone, and a terrifyingly huge, perfectly square hole had appeared overnight.
After working straight until sunrise, Gray noticed something on his interface. His Minecraft hunger bar had dropped to half a chunk. He stopped working to get some food. With a quick thought, he teleported to the top of the pit and, 4 seconds later, directly into the prison courtyard.
The moment he appeared out of thin air, Morgan jumped backward in pure shock. "Holy Jesus!" he yelled, clutching his chest.
Seeing the reaction, Gray didn't say anything. He just walked right past everyone and went straight into the kitchen area. He found the fresh ingredients Carol had set out and quickly made 4 scrambled eggs. After eating them, he checked his interface. His hunger bar only went up by 2.
"Damn," Gray muttered.
Realizing his new physiology needed a lot more fuel, he started preparing more food right away. He cooked up some fresh meat, fried more eggs, and even opened his system shop to buy a large, hot pizza. He finished eating every single bite, and finally, his hunger bar clicked back up to full.
"The hell happened to you?" Shane asked, walking into the kitchen. He had a look of absolute disbelief on his face after witnessing the massive mountain of food Gray had just ingested.
Gray simply waved him off. "Just hungry, that's all."
"Yeah, I bet," Shane continued, shaking his head. "After digging a hole that big outside, I'm surprised you didn't just drop from pure exhaustion."
"Yeah... surprisingly, I'm feeling fine," Gray said, moving his arms and fingers around to check his joints. He didn't feel stiff or sore at all.
"Did you work all night?" Amy asked, looking over from the dining table.
"I started at around 3:00 AM," Gray said, standing up from his seat. "But I should be done in a few hours. I just came in here to get some food."
Oscar finished up his own breakfast, sitting next to his wife and kids. He looked up at Gray. "You need any help digging out there?"
"No, I think it will be faster if I just do it myself," Gray answered. "Besides, as I said, I'm almost done anyway. Thanks for asking, though."
Gray walked back outside into the morning sun and immediately got back to work with his high-energy jackhammers. Hours passed by as he systematically hollowed out the remaining sections of the earth. Right after 10:00 AM, he finally shut off the power tool. The huge hole was completely finished.
He climbed up to inspect his massive storage wall. In total, he had around 35 double chests completely full of dirt blocks. Every single one of the remaining chests was packed to the brim with cobblestone. Surprisingly, he had also uncovered some coal blocks while mining through the deeper layers. It wasn't a massive vein, but he managed to collect around 10 full stacks of 64 coal pieces.
Gray walked over to the chests and grabbed 10 stacks of cobblestone, along with all of his newly found coal. He opened his crafting screen, quickly built 10 furnaces, and lined them up neatly right next to the chests. He loaded the cobblestone and coal inside, starting the smelting process to turn the rough cobblestone into smooth, normal stone blocks. Thanks to the massive pit he had just excavated, he now had all the raw building materials he would ever need to construct a massive apartment building so the prison families could finally move into their own private spaces.
With the furnaces roaring, Gray finally walked back inside the cell blocks to take a break. As he stepped into the shade, he noticed something else amazing about his new body. He didn't feel hot at all while wearing his heavy gear, even after doing hours of intense manual labor under the morning sun. Hell, he hadn't even broken a single drop of sweat. The armor felt as light and comfortable as a second skin.
Inside the cell blocks, people started gathering around Gray, asking what he was digging that massive hole for. Gray looked at the group and gave them a straight answer. "I want to move the entire ranching and farming operation deep underground to better protect you guys, the crops, and the animals from any outside threats."
Hershel had already walked out to look into the pit earlier. He looked at Gray, completely confused. "How do you plan on doing that underground without any sunlight or space, son?"
Gray looked at the whole group. "Come outside. I'll show you."
Everyone followed Gray out into the courtyard. Once they were standing on the grass, Gray mentally selected his Netherite shovel. He hit the ground twice, instantly destroying two dirt blocks. The group watched in surprise as perfect, neat cubes vanished from the earth, leaving a clean hole behind. Next, Gray did the exact same thing he had done with Merle. He stacked the two dirt blocks on top of each other, and then he quickly smashed the one underneath.
The entire group stood in absolute disbelief. A solid cube of dirt was just floating in mid-air, entirely defying gravity. Several people gasped out loud. Morgan's and Duane's eyes almost popped right out of their sockets. Hell, even Candace and Dr. Jenner were staring at the floating block in pure shock, their scientific minds completely blown. Gray had just shown them that he could ignore the laws of physics whenever he wanted. But since he had already brought Candace back to life with a needle, this reality-breaking stunt almost seemed normal.
Gray turned back to the crowd and explained his full plan. He said he planned to use at least 3 of the underground floors strictly for the food operation, meaning all of the Minecraft animals and crops would live down there.
Hershel slowly put his hand up. "Gray, I am incredibly grateful, and I don't mean any disrespect at all. But if we are moving everything down there, we are going to need a much wider variety of crops. We can't just survive on potatoes and carrots forever."
Gray nodded and agreed. "I just need a little more time to get other crop types." He continued. "I assure you that once the underground facility is ready, I will have every single crop necessary so you all can have a balanced diet and never get tired of eating the same food."
Finally, Morgan spoke up next. He looked at the floating block, then back at Gray. "Rick told me about what you could do. I'll admit, I was highly skeptical at first. But seeing the way you appeared out of thin air, and the way you just defied the laws of physics... I truly believe everything he said now." Morgan took a breath, looking around the massive courtyard. "But what is your ultimate plan here? You are building this massive safe haven for people, but looking around, we are way too small of a group for all these massive projects."
Gray looked at Morgan, his face serious and full of confidence. He finally laid out his macro vision for the future. He told them he wasn't just saving a few families or groups, he planned on building a massive city capable of housing millions of people. He pointed over toward the BSL-4 trailer unit. He reminded them that they already had world-class virologists like Candace and Jenner working around the clock on a permanent cure for the virus.
He acknowledged that, yes, for now, they were just a small group. But after he expanded further underground, he planned to build massive housing structures, such as high-density apartment complexes. He planned to build full-scale water treatment plants deep underground. And finally, even further down the line, he planned on building a massive, independent power plant so the city would always have unlimited electricity and never have to worry about the grid failing.
Gray turned and pointed toward the Minecraft solar panels on the roof. "Those panels are just temporary."
Then, he turned his arm and pointed directly toward the concrete guard towers along the prison walls. "Once I set up advanced AI systems, we won't even need to stand guard. I will have automated robots patrolling the perimeters, and a dedicated AI built specially to help the Jenners develop and mass-produce the cure."