Leaving Bela to enjoy the pleasures of farming, Zeke walked around the camp a few times, exchanging items from his inventory for more Emeralds.
After one lap, since each person could only trade once and most soldiers in the camp were unemployed villagers, Zeke only managed to exchange for 15 Emeralds.
He spent 3 of them trading with someone for some cactus and built a cactus farm.
Arriving at the center of the camp, Zeke constructed a Nether Portal.
It wasn't connected using Webway fragments; it was simply a pure Nether Portal for entering the UnderWorld.
–
At dusk, in front of the Nether Portal in the camp center, Zeke waited for the person he was expecting.
With a series of slightly hurried footsteps, Dante approached Zeke, carrying a bulging, oversized backpack.
"Lord Zeke!" Dante stopped in front of the gate, looking at Zeke with fervent eyes, though his gaze couldn't help but drift toward the Nether Portal.
Zeke looked at this miner who had now found a new direction in life with complex emotions.
He didn't say much. He took out three Fire Resistance Potions and a Golden Apple from his inventory and handed them over.
"Take these. Be careful on the road." Zeke's tone brooked no refusal.
Unable to decline, Dante accepted them and stuffed them into his backpack.
As Dante zipped up the bag, Zeke saw that all of Dante's worldly possessions were stuffed inside that package.
"Have you really thought this through?" Zeke asked one last time as he took out the Flint and Steel and struck it against the obsidian frame.
"Of course. I have considered it deeply for several days."
Clutching his large bag, Dante could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart.
Zeke looked at Dante's trembling body. Is this guy a masochist?
What was so good about the Nether? It was hot as death and completely red.
Dante was a strange case. Ever since he survived his escape from the Nether—combined with the trauma of his coworker falling to Chaos—he had suddenly become depressed. He spent his days muttering about how "this dogshit world doesn't give ordinary people a chance to survive."
Ironically, it was Hell—the Nether—that saved him from his suffering.
Dante fell in love with that place. Back in Mariatus, he would run into the Nether whenever he had free time. Later, he even begged Zeke to let him live inside it.
After much thought, Zeke decided to let Dante follow him to this camp first, and then enter the Nether from here.
That way, if something happened, Zeke would be close enough to handle it.
"The Nether is very dangerous," Zeke tried to dissuade him one last time. "When I first met you, you were half-dead. Do you not remember?"
Hearing this, Dante revealed the expectant look of a pilgrim.
"Lord Zeke, the Nether is actually not dangerous at all." His tone was certain. "Look, as long as you carry gold products on you, those humanoid monsters covered in dark red skin won't actively attack you at all and those black demons... as long as you don't stare into their eyes, they usually have no interest in you. As long as you act according to the laws of that world, it is very safe."
"Not bad, man!" Zeke patted Dante on the shoulder.
This guy, Dante, relying on just a few expeditions, had figured out the core rules of most vanilla Minecraft monsters in the Nether.
With that kind of observational skill, being a miner was indeed a waste of talent.
"You flatter me." Dante smiled sheepishly and pulled out a small notebook from his pocket. "Those humanoid monsters are called 'Piglins'?"
Zeke had appropriately pointed out that the humanoid monsters were actually called Piglins.
"Correct. Piglins." Zeke affirmed.
Wearing gold equipment could eliminate their hostility, and one could use gold to barter with them.
Dante took out a pen and wrote the name down in his notebook.
Zeke leaned in. The notebook was densely packed with extremely neat records.
It was entirely filled with transaction details regarding Piglins; even the probability rates of bartering had been statistically calculated by Dante.
Seeing the book reminded Dante of something. He dug around in his large bag and handed Zeke a pile of miscellaneous items.
They were all things he had exchanged from the Piglins: an Enchanted Book with [Soul Speed] (which prevents players from slowing down on Soul Sand), along with some Iron Nuggets, Crying Obsidian, and other sundries.
"Where did you get so much gold?"
"It was my life savings."
"You threw it all in?"
"Yeah. Not a penny left." Dante scratched his head awkwardly.
This kid is going to go places, Zeke concluded.
However, before that, Zeke cursed loudly, sternly reprimanding Dante for this behavior.
"In the future, before doing something like this, report it to me first!"
Truly ignorant are fearless. Wasn't he afraid that carrying such a book would attract the attention of certain entities?
Dante realized his behavior was indeed inappropriate and lowered his head.
"I am very sorry, Lord Zeke. So, what I wanted to say is... this time, once I enter the Nether, I might not come out for the rest of my life."
The scolding words stuck in Zeke's throat.
There was no joking expression on Dante's face. He stroked the book in his hand that recorded the secrets of the Nether.
"I'm not afraid of Lord Zeke laughing at me, but ever since I learned about my coworker's corruption, I tossed and turned every night, unable to sleep. I was terrified of ending up like him. It just so happened that Lord Zeke said the Nether could isolate outside influences. After falling into the Nether the first time, I felt that everything there was attracting me. I figured, since we are mutually attracted to one another, why can't I just live in that place forever?"
Dante smiled, as if he had found the value of his life.
He placed his backpack in front of the Nether Portal and looked up at the sky of Cadia.
"Does Lord Zeke know? This fucked-up world doesn't give ordinary people a way to live. The Imperium... it wants to save Humanity as a whole, not specific humans like me."
Cough, cough, cough.
As Dante spoke, he looked up to the sky and coughed violently. "No one cares if we live or die. Not even Him."
Zeke couldn't refute Dante's words.
Compared to the god-forsaken cesspit that was Warhammer, the Minecraft Nether was indeed more than a little bit better.
"Won't you be lonely?" Zeke scrutinized Dante.
"How could I be? Vergil is there. I am not alone."
"Who is Vergil?"
"A Piglin. Everything I have was traded from her. I gave her a name: Vergil."
Zeke took a few steps back, looking at Dante in horror. There is something very wrong with this kid.
He shook his head, saying no more, and stepped aside to unblock the path to the Nether Portal.
Standing before the purple light generated by the portal, Dante took a deep breath and took the most crucial step of his life.
Just as he was about to be completely submerged by the portal, he turned back and said something profound to Zeke.
"Lord Zeke, do you think the creature in the Nether called the Piglin... do you think it possesses intelligence?"
Dante vanished into the Nether Portal.
The Nether had welcomed its first human resident.