\The Dream SMP Novel/

Chapter 1 / The Van

<<So, TommyInnit, have you ever seen the TV show "Breaking Bad"?>>.

The rain was falling, landing softly on the leaves of the oaks in the woods which was only a few steps from the Prime Path.

A man dressed in a black and orange sweatshirt, clearly visible in the middle of the green forest, walked briskly, speaking with a firm tone and waving his hands around, as if he had foreseen that his project would be a huge turning point for the server.

Behind him was a 16-year-old boy, with his characteristic white and red T-shirt, who followed him despite not knowing what awaited them, for he would have followed the man in front of him to the end of the world without hesitation.

Both the man's beanie and his curly brown hair were soaked, but he didn't even notice as he spoke to the boy while walking backwards to see his reactions <<Imagine what could happen if we could get every brewing stand of the server, and then...>> he first pointed at the boy's chest, and then his own <<We make an Empire out of producing all the potions... on the server>>.

As he spoke, the man led the boy farther and farther from his home, entering the forest in the dark of night <<...I spent a little bit of time...>> climbing over a tree, the two had the entire view of a lake in a plain, and in the center of the water was a small islet of land, above which was positioned a gray van, motionless as it probably had always been.

From the inside came a light that made the veichle visible despite the darkness <<...I worked on something>> the man was interrupted by the blonde laughing loudly, another of his characteristic traits.

Walking down the hill, the boy asked with an amused tone <<Are we becoming drug dealers?>> to which the man answered almost automatically, as if he knew that question was coming <<No Tommy, we are not becoming drug dealers>> and you could tell from the way he was saying it, that it was exactly what they were going to do.

He stopped in front of the door that led inside the van, and looked straight into the boy's blue eyes <<If people ask what are we, what are we?>> the blonde stopped for a second, choosing his next words carefully <<Gentlemen>> was his answer.

Wilbur suppressed a laugh <<That's right, just two gentlemen living in a van>>.

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Tommy was easy to convince, being Wilbur's adopted brother and trusting him with his life, but they needed more brewing stands and they couldn't really make it on their own. Wilbur had only joined the server some days before, and Tommy had almost never been to the Nether, so they needed someone to get the blaze rods for them.

The problem was that the blonde boy and the owner of the server had been fighting each other until a few days before Wilbur's entry, and consequently most of the members had become Tommy's enemies, for they didn't want to go against the owner since he was very powerful to say the least.

But there was one person they could ask for help, and that person was the only one who has always been on Tommy's side during the, as they liked to call it, Discs war which has luckly ended without them losing any of their three lives. And that one person was Tubbo, none other than Tommy's best friend.

Unluckily, as they went to the other 16-year-old boy, they met one of the owner's best friend, whom has actually helped Tommy during the war, but was smart enough to stop mid way. His name was Sapnap, a really good fighter, and that's why Tommy asked him for help in the first place, but now that he switched sides his job was the policeman. And the moment he heard about Wilbur's plan, he tried to put him behind bars, and he could have easily done that with his enchanted diamond armour, but there wasn't any concrete evidence, so he just kept an eye on the group.

Since Tubbo trusted Tommy just as much as Tommy trusted Wilbur, he joined the two and provided them the blaze rods they needed. But it wasn't over.

Wilbur still wanted one person to join in with them, and that person was Fundy. Fundy was an hybrid, half human and half fox, son of Wilbur and Sally, who was a salmon shapeshifter. She left when Fundy was just a little child, and Wilbur has been taking care of his son ever since.

And when Fundy joined their project, Wilbur started to see this "Empire" taking form, with four Europeans men because no Americans were allowed.

But of course this nation needed a name.

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<<I have an idea!>> Tommy screamed suddenly, making both his brother and best friend jump in surprise. They were building walls, more specifically black and yellow walls, made out of concrete, around the van, and they had taken a break sitting on top of the almost nonexistent walls.

Wiping the sweat from their foreheads with their clothes soiled with sand and gravel, the three watched the van with tired smiles.

Tommy turned around to have one leg on the inside of the wall, and one on the outside, Wilbur was in front of him and Tubbo was behind him <<There is only one woman in this server and she is American, so there's no way we are letting her join us... why don't we call it "Manburg" or "Mantopia">> Wilbur's brown eyes lit up at the suggestion <<But how do we make it European?>> the man asked, but then answered by himself <<Let's add L'... L'Manburg>> he said with confidence.

They continued to work even at night like tireless machines, and the walls began to take shape, about 3 blocks high on each side. But during their first sleepless night, apparently they had disturbed the stillness of the server, because a very tired and confused man showed up at the right side of the walls, with his enchanted netherite armour and his white mask with a smiley face.

Wilbur was the first one to notice him, and immediately warned the others. The owner of the server looked at the walls like a professor who looks at a student before giving him a bad grade: with pity and disappointment.

<<Hello Dream>> Wilbur greeted reluctantly <<Welcome to our great nation of L'Manburg>>.

<<L'Manburg?>> Dream inquiried with a lopsided grin. Wilbur rolled his eyes <<Yes, we are succeeding from the Dream SMP, this is our own server now>> then he realized how arrogant he sounded, and added <<This area, just this part is our server>> he pointed to the small portion of land they were surrounding with walls.

<<And what happens if the rest of the server decided to take over your land?>> Wilbur was taken aback by the question, but answered with a joke, trying to cool down the situation <<Well... that's not... that's not how it works, you can't just "take over" our personal server>>. The three had stopped working to make sure they didn't miss the discussion with Dream, a false move could have led them to war. After all, they were building an independent nation in a land that was not theirs.

<<What are the laws in your land?>> the man with the green hoodie asked totally disinterested, and Tommy answered proudly <<No weapons, no armour>> <<Yeah, we use our words>> added Wilbur with a smile. Dream watched the three males not wearing any kind of armour, and while he was holding his netherite axe in his hand, they all had their weapons in the straps on their back.

Eventually they came to an agreement: Wilbur asked Dream if he could let Tommy and Tubbo move from L'manburg to their homes without being disturbed, and Tommy's home was made an embassy. They also explicitly asked that the trees around the walls not be damaged as there are very few of them inside. After that, Dream left and the sun had already raised above their heads.

Wilbur went back towards the van, turning to the two boys and clapping his hands together <<Tubbo, Tommy? It's time to do chemistry>>.

Author's note:

Thank you so much for reading this! This is my first story ever and I feel like it's not going anywere, but trust me, i'll try my best!

See you next chapter!