LITMIR.BIZ

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chuckled. She knew Po wasn’t in any real danger. It would take more than a few zombies to scare her.

      But then a low moan sounded at her back.

      It didn’t make sense. Harper was standing on the beach. She had the ocean behind her. How could anything sneak up on her from that direction?

      She turned to see a creature rising from the surface of the water. At first, she thought it was another zombie. But there was something different about it. Its skin was a sickly

      shade of blue. Limp strands of seaweed hung from its head.

      “It’s a drowned!” cried Morgan.

      “A what?” said Harper. She took several quick steps to distance herself from the slimy mob.

      “A drowned is like an underwater zombie,” Ash shouted from across the beach. She swung her sword at one of the regular zombies.

      “It’s not underwater at the moment,” Harper pointed out.

      “It’s drawn to the baby turtles,” Morgan said. He jumped to avoid a zombie’s grasp. “Harper, you have to stop it!”

      Harper saw that Morgan was right. The drowned was ignoring her and shuffling towards the turtles. It would catch them before they could make it to the water.

      All of her friends had their hands full. It was up to Harper.

      She fired an arrow at the monster’s back. Direct hit!

      The drowned flashed red. It uttered a fearsome groan and turned to face her.

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      “Well, I got its attention,” Harper said. It lurched toward her. “Uh-oh.”

      Harper lifted her bow as the creature came at her. But she was out of arrows.

      “Don’t panic,” she said. “You’ve still got a . . . ” Harper held up . . . a loaf of bread.

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      Cooked salmon.

      A block of wool.

      Her square eyes toggled back and forth in exasperation. I really need to organise my inventory, she thought.

      The drowned was almost close enough to slash her. Leading it away from the baby turtles, she backed up all the way to the line of trees at the edge of the beach.

      A low hissing sound came from the forest. It was the sound of a creeper, about to explode.

      “Oh no,” Harper said. She had nowhere to run. The drowned was right in front of her, blocking her escape. She could see past it, though. She watched the baby sea turtles make it to the water. They scuttled into the ocean.

      At least she’d been able to save them.

      That was her last thought before the creeper blew up.

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      Chapter 2

      Go Ahead; Rock the Boat! It’s Already Super Broken.

      P

      o saw it all happen as he raced across the beach. He saw the creeper step out from the trees. He watched as it exploded, knocking Harper all the way to the edge of the water.

      He wasn’t fast enough to help her. He just couldn’t reach her in time.

      “Harper!” he cried. “Harper, are you all right?”

      “Ouch,” Harper said. “I actually felt that.” She looked down at her blocky hands. “How does that even work? Are the VR goggles interfacing with our nerves? Or do they just trick our brains into thinking we feel something?”

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      Po breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, you’re all right,” he said with a smile. “If you’re geeking out about the science of being blown up, you’re obviously fine.”

      Po still suspected those VR headsets

      were more magic than science. He knew

      better than to say that to Harper, however. She was the brains of the group, particularly when it came to science. She was also a whizz at the crafting table, where she made swords, tools, and more, all from memory.

      Morgan, Ash, and Jodi ran up to join them.

      “DID YOU SEE HOW THAT CREEPER TOOK OUT THE DROWNED WHEN IT EXPLODED?” Morgan cheered. “That was amazing!”

      “I think you mean scary,” Jodi said. “Harper, you went flying!”

      “You should eat some food, Harper,” Ash said. “To restore your health.”

      “At least she’s in better shape than the forest,” Po said. Where the creeper had exploded, there was a crater in the ground and a big gap in the line of trees. Blocks of wood, sand, and soil

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      floated there for the taking, along with rotten flesh from the drowned.

      “We should grab some of this stuff,” he said. “Maybe we’ll find a use for . . .”

      Po froze. He saw something in the distance. It was a massive wooden structure. He could just barely make out the details in the

      moonlight. But what he saw thrilled him. “Do you guys see that?” he asked.

      “What is it?” Jodi asked.

      “Something awesome,” Po answered. “Team, we just discovered a shipwreck!”

      They approached the old

      shipwreck cautiously. The

      moon was getting lower in the

      sky, but night wasn’t over yet.

      Any number of hostile

      mobs might be lurking

      nearby.

      The ship was big. It looked as though it had run aground, crashing into the beach. It showed signs of damage, but it was still in one piece. Its masts rose high into the sky.

      “Can we board it?” Po asked. “I want to see what’s in there.”

      Morgan and Ash shared a look. While they all loved Minecraft, Morgan and Ash knew the most

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      about the game.

      “What do you think?” Morgan asked her. “I’ve never found a shipwreck before.”

      “Me neither,” said Ash. “But they’re supposed to hold treasure chests.”

      “Well, now we have to check it out,” Jodi said.

      Harper quickly constructed a staircase out of dirt and stone. It would allow them to hop from the beach to the deck of the ship. “We could hack our way in,” Harper said. “But the ship looks so cool, I don’t want to break it.” She peered through a hole in the hull. “Any more than it’s already broken, I mean.”

      They all gathered on the deck. Po immediately pointed out the treasure chest at the front of the ship. He knew from reading non-fiction that the front of a ship was called the bow. It was spelled like a bow and arrow but rhymed with now and wow.

      “There’s another chest at the stern,” Jodi said, pointing to the back of the ship.

      They split up to open the chests. There was a lot of useful stuff inside both chests: carrots

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      and potatoes, gunpowder and gemstones, and even a couple of pieces of enchanted leather armour.

      “Not bad for a night’s work,” Po said.

      “And we’re not done yet,” Morgan said. “Check it out.”

      Morgan led them down a short staircase to the interior of the ship. There

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