As for why Alto was doing this demonstration now, it certainly wasn't to show off in front of his employees.
Rather, he intended to pull off a little performance for players that would leave them scratching their heads.
Alto placed a piston down carefully and said, "You must pay attention to the direction of the piston when placing it!"
As the final block clicked into position, the simplest construction of a flying machine was formed.
The moment this contraption activated, it began operating with alternating movements and emitting mechanical sounds as it propelled itself forward.
"Does everyone remember this structure clearly?"
These people were all core members who had directly participated in the development of Minecraft.
They knew all the underlying logic of the redstone system inside and out, yet this seemingly simple combination could actually create an automatic moving device.
They were completely baffled by what they were witnessing. Why couldn't they understand this structure at all?
"How does doing this first and then that make the device run automatically?"
Helena stared with wide eyes full of curiosity.
"It's so amazing, Alto! What's the principle behind this?"
Helena had also been playing Minecraft these past few days, but she never expected these messy redstone blocks could be used this way.
"Essentially, it's just basic mechanical transmission principles. Watch closely and learn as much as you can."
He continued his demonstration.
The blocks in his hand switched rapidly as he worked. A first layer of normal rails, detector rails, and powered rails appeared, then got covered with dirt.
Waterlogged stairs were placed in an alternating pattern, and soon a massive farm had been successfully laid out before them.
Then came the piston harvesters, followed by a daylight detector configured as a timing circuit.
With the redstone wiring complete, a fully automatic bamboo farm stood finished.
The people gathered around him still looked somewhat confused.
"What is this contraption for?"
"Don't worry, just keep watching."
Alto used his backend permissions to accelerate the passage of time, and the bamboo stalks began growing at a rapid pace.
As dusk fell across the world, the signal from the daylight detector was cut off.
Receiving the command, the piston harvesters immediately began operating with rhythmic clacking sounds.
They knocked down all the grown bamboo while leaving only the roots intact.
The piston harvesters reached their designated positions and activated their sensors, which started the hopper minecart waiting below.
It circled beneath the farm and collected all the fallen bamboo automatically.
Then it followed the railway to an automatic unloading platform where it deposited its cargo, before returning to its starting position on its own.
"This farm isn't just for growing bamboo either. If you change the crop, you can farm sugar cane as well."
Alto explained calmly.
"Scaffolding made from bamboo will see extensive use in the future."
Pausing for a moment, he gestured toward the fully automatic farm before him.
"Ultimately, these are just the most basic applications of redstone devices. We'll start with the simple ones, but there are far more complex contraptions that are possible to make."
As he spoke, even more advanced redstone devices flashed through Alto's mind.
Single-core iron farms, advanced sixteen-core iron farms, TNT duplicators, cobblestone generators, fully automatic wood farms...
Slime block flying machines, pillager farms, gunpowder towers, tunnel boring machines...
And then perimeters, boat-assisted creeper farms, million-drop mob towers, slime chunk factories, orbital dragon-slaying cannons, shulker farms.
Regardless of what schemes Alto was plotting over here, though, many players' progress had currently hit a wall.
[I've got a full set of diamond gear now, so can someone tell me what to do next?]
[Same here, it feels like there's no difficulty anymore. These monsters basically can't pose any threat to me now!]
[Build a house! I'm currently constructing my grand manor!]
[What is this redstone stuff for? It looks like some kind of strange energy.]
[I found something damaged that looks like a portal frame. What's it for?]
[I found one too! I even mined obsidian specifically to fill in the missing blocks, but after fixing it, there was no reaction whatsoever. It just stands there like decoration!]
Boshita stared at the obsidian structure in front of him.
It was arranged in a four-by-five layout with an empty center.
It clearly resembled a doorway of some kind, and there was a considerable amount of netherrack scattered around the area.
On the very edge of the structure, there was actually a treasure chest.
Opening the chest revealed a flint and steel, a few gold nuggets, a golden sword, and golden armor.
He had already completed the obsidian frame, but there was no special reaction occurring.
He examined the items in the chest again, paying particular attention to the item descriptions.
[Flint and Steel]
Used to ignite fires.
Perhaps it has other uses...
Other uses?
Looking at the hint for the flint and steel, Boshita lowered his head in thought and sensed that this obsidian structure might be related to the items in the chest.
He took out the flint and steel and used them experimentally in front of him.
A cluster of flames ignited instantly, as if conjured by fire magic.
He struck it again inside the obsidian frame.
Something miraculous happened.
As the sparks from the flint and steel fell, a series of pale purple ripples suddenly spread through the empty space within the frame, like a stone being thrown into a calm pool.
Immediately after, thick purple mist billowed out from the ripples.
Mixed with tiny swirling particles, it converged in the middle of the frame into a rotating vortex.
That purple portal activated before his eyes just like that.
This instantly ignited Boshita's desire to explore whatever this was, and he stepped toward the swirling gateway.
The moment his foot entered the purple vortex, a strong sense of weightlessness hit him as if passing through an invisible barrier.
In the blink of an eye, the weightlessness vanished, and a familiar burning sensation rose from beneath his feet.
Boshita stumbled to a steady stance, and as he looked up, he found himself completely stunned.
This was an entirely unfamiliar world.
In this crimson realm, beneath his feet stretched an endless expanse of netherrack that felt warm and hot to step on.
In the distant lava lakes, churning magma streamed down the cliffsides like water, while making gurgling sounds as scorching waves of heat washed over his face.
Sharp roars echoed through the air from time to time, and a giant white ghast drifted slowly overhead.
Its hollow eyes stared downward with an exceptionally creepy presence.
"Is this the world behind the obsidian portal?"
He walked slowly forward along the path of netherrack while avoiding the churning lava pools. When he encountered impassable terrain, he either built bridges or dug straight ahead through the stone.
Occasionally, he encountered a few zombie pigmen wandering about. They only glanced at him with dull expressions, but did not actively attack.
After walking for about half an hour, the scenery in the distance suddenly changed dramatically.
A massive structure built of dark crimson bricks appeared in his field of vision.
The building sprawled across multiple layers with towering turrets, suspended stone bridges, and pitch-black doorways. It looked both eerie and magnificent at the same time.
It resembled a giant fortress of some kind!
He hadn't expected such a world to exist behind the obsidian portal.
So, of course, he immediately posted this discovery on the forum for everyone to see.