Can a Fortress Save $500,000 from Tanks, TNT, and Burning Cars?
MrBeast ミスタービースト
In this MrBeast challenge, Blake is shown $500,000 in cash and told that five tanks are about to fire on it. Whatever money survives, Blake keeps. To defend it, MrBeast hands over a credit card: Blake can spend as much as they want on protection, but has only 24 hours before the tanks fire. The video follows Blake's attempts to build a defense and adapt it through escalating attacks. MrBeast later reveals the tanks are only the first of four planned phases.
Buying Everything Made of Metal
Blake's first move was to go looking for metal. They headed first to a junkyard, and the first three hours went to sourcing anything that could shield the cash. At the junkyard Blake wanted essentially every vehicle on the lot, including all the trucks, and asked the owners for shipping containers. Blake thought the containers would work well stacked on top of the money. The narration puts this spending at $30,000.
Blake then did the same at two other industrial stores. Time was the main constraint, so Blake told one supplier that everything had to arrive within 12 hours and offered to pay double to make that happen. The supplier agreed, and that purchase came to $15,000. Blake remarked how quickly it was possible to throw money around.
The Four-Step Plan Against the Tanks
While the deliveries were on their way, Blake returned to the site and presented a plan they had spent about an hour working out:
- Place a shipping container over the money. MrBeast called this "actually genius."
- Add giant water tanks. Blake thought this was a good layer but not the best one.
- Fill containers with bricks, hay, and wood.
- Build the strongest layer: a fortress of strategically angled cars, an idea Blake took from a previous video. The angle was meant to make incoming rounds ricochet away rather than punch through.
MrBeast said he would be "flabbergasted" if Blake actually built all of it.
The materials took another four hours to arrive, so Blake hired construction workers to speed things up. Blake called it "a complete fortress" and claimed that even an atomic bomb wouldn't move the money. Blake and the crew worked through the night but still weren't finished at sunrise. Blake used one car as spare "inventory," and MrBeast suggested putting it between the money and the tanks. Blake asked for 10 more minutes to finish a white car and was given five. Then time ran out.
Twenty Rounds from Five Tanks
By then Blake had been awake for about 25 hours. Seeing the tanks and the size of the shells up close was sobering. Blake admitted having no idea the shells would be that big. Asked whether a shipping container could stop them, Blake said they hoped three of them would.
The five tanks were to fire 20 rounds in total. Blake fired the first shot, and Chandler fired another. After several rounds MrBeast counted eight holes in the outer shipping container, and the onlookers were doubtful the money was intact. Blake fired the final shell. Blake then ran to the pile and found the stack still there. The money had survived phase one.
Phase Two: A Hundred Crates of TNT
Next, MrBeast announced that in 24 hours they would detonate "the biggest bomb we've ever blown up" in the channel's history around the money: a hundred crates "filled to the brim with TNT." When Blake asked how that was even allowed, MrBeast replied that he wasn't sure it was legal.
Blake treated an explosion as far more dangerous than tank fire and revised the plan:
- Remove everything flammable. All the wood had to go.
- Keep the water tanks.
- Move the shipping containers so the money was enclosed inside other containers.
- Add walls, cement, bricks, and cars as needed.
Blake confirmed this bomb would be bigger than the one used on a safe in an earlier video. In that video everything inside the safe was destroyed and Blake lost $250,000. Asked whether history would repeat, Blake said no.
After more than 24 hours awake, Blake left the construction workers to finish and went to bed. Blake slept far longer than planned. On waking, Blake found a key area still empty and concluded nothing had been done overnight. With six hours left, Blake patched weak spots with spare parts, bricks, and more cars. MrBeast also had a school bus placed at the site, and joked about the bus while handing out chocolate to distract the crew.
The final minutes were rushed again. At a five-minute warning Blake asked for ten; MrBeast gave four. Blake was spraying water over the structure, soaking workers still on top of a car. At five o'clock MrBeast ordered everything stopped and threatened to start taking money if Blake kept going.
The recap before detonation: two days of work, 17 cars, six water jugs, shipping containers, and $500,000 on the line. They waited until after sunset for the explosion. Blake, who said it was the first bomb they had ever seen, admitted to sweating, took the live detonator, and triggered it after a countdown (shouting "Mom, I love you").
The blast left a massive firestorm. The crew ran in with fire extinguishers while fire kept burning at the front of the structure, and Blake moved sandbags to reach the cash. Blake then called out "I see green." The money was covered in dirt but had survived. Phase two was complete.
Phase Three: Flaming Cars Full of Gasoline
The third challenge was to drop gasoline-filled flaming cars onto the money from above. Asked how many, MrBeast would only say "a lot." MrBeast called it the hardest phase yet, because Blake had to deflect impacts from the sky and also keep gasoline from seeping through gaps in the defenses. MrBeast also promised another surprise after the car drops.
Blake wanted the crate holding the money packed with concrete and a spare shipping container placed on top. Exhausted after several days of work, Blake went straight to sleep and left most of the work for the next day. The narration says this challenge would prove harder than anything Blake had faced in these videos.
On day four, Blake said they felt "like a zombie." The new idea was to set the remaining shipping container at an angle, point up like a pyramid, so falling cars would hit it and slide off rather than land on the money. Over the next few hours Blake worked to get the container into that angled position, using wooden logs to prop it up. Blake said that if the container didn't land exactly right, a lot of money would probably be lost. When it finally went into place, Blake said it made them feel really good. Next, a water tank was filled with bricks and moved into position, and the last remaining car was placed to block another side.
The Catapult Twist and the Late Water Truck
MrBeast then revealed the twist: a catapult. While cars fell from above, giant flaming balls would be hurled from the side. Blake said they had guessed "millions of things" but never a catapult, and had no materials left. Blake spent the final hour covering weak spots.
The water truck Blake had sent to refill that morning was badly late. It arrived with about 90 seconds left, and Blake drenched everything in water in the last minute, hoping to protect the money from fire. Asked if that would really stop the fire, Blake said "Oh, yeah, baby."
The attack was five flaming cars plus five "flaming death balls" from the catapult. A car was dropped as the countdown ended. MrBeast then said he wouldn't show mercy on the last one, and someone described what happened as "intentional."
A Fortress That Became a Furnace
The first burning car rolled off the angled container as Blake had designed. But the wooden logs propping up the container caught fire quickly. When MrBeast asked what was on top of the container, Blake admitted there was wood there. MrBeast pointed out that Blake had used wood knowing flaming cars were coming. Blake said they had needed to use it.
The narration held out hope because Blake had surrounded the money with cinderblocks. During the barrage, one catapult shot was called a direct hit "right on the money," and Blake said they were remembering what it felt like to lose. The car drops continued through the night and the fire kept growing. It burned for more than an hour and a half. Blake said it would be either all there or not there at all. MrBeast's verdict was that Blake had accidentally built a giant bonfire: "He thought he was making a fortress, but he was actually making a furnace." MrBeast still allowed that the concrete might have protected the cash.
It had not. When they opened the structure, the bills were ruined. Someone described the inside as "a thousand degrees." MrBeast told Blake to be realistic: it was gone, and most of the money looked burned. Blake said this loss hurt more than a previous laser challenge, and that the worst part was working so hard for nothing. The challenge ended at phase three. The fourth phase announced earlier was never reached.
A Final Offer
Before Blake left, MrBeast offered a choice: walk away with $100,000, or take a third and final chance in a future video. Blake chose to come back. MrBeast said that attempt would not be released until February. MrBeast added that no one, including himself and the audience, could bear to see Blake lose a third time.
The video ends with that open question: whether Blake's third attempt will finally produce a win.
These tanks are literally about to rain missiles on this $500,000. And any money that doesn't get destroyed, I'm giving to Blake.
But lucky for you, I'm going to give you my credit card. And you can spend as much money as you want trying to protect this money from all of the missiles we're going to be firing at your money.
So I just build whatever I want? Whatever you want. But you only have 24 hours before we fire the tanks.
I need metal! Let's go! All right, let's go, boys! He's running! We're kicking this off with a sprint.
All right, Blake, where are we heading to first? I'm thinking the junkyard.
Blake's first 3 hours consisted of sourcing any metal he could find to protect his money.
This looks like they have metal, even if that meant spending $30,000.
Definitely want that. Want that. All the trucks. Basically, you just want every car here. Yeah.
Can you give me any of your shipping containers? Let's go out back! Yeah. This is good. Those would work well if I put them on top of the money.
And as if buying out the entire store wasn't enough, Blake did the same thing at two other industrial stores.
Everything I get from you today I would need within the next 12 hours. 12 hours? I'm willing to pay double. Okay, we'll get it.
It is very quick to throw my money around. $15,000.
And while we waited for the materials to be delivered, we headed back to the money, and Blake laid out his official plan.
You just spent the last hour strategizing. What did you come up with to stop the tanks from destroying your money?
Step one, I want to put a shipping container over the money. That is actually genius.
Step two, giant water tanks. Do you think that's your best defense? I think it's good, but it's not the best.
Step three, these containers filled with bricks, hay and wood.
Step four is my best defense. A fortress of strategically angled cars from the last video that I saw. Those bullets are going to hit those cars and ricochet elsewhere.
If he actually builds everything you see here, I will be flabbergasted. Let's get to work. Good luck.
Unfortunately for Blake, it wouldn't be for another 4 hours until his materials were delivered. So he hired some construction workers to help get the job done.
I'm building a complete fortress. If we dropped the atomic bomb on this thing, the money's not going anywhere. This is like an industrial construction site.
It started to look like Blake might actually have a chance at protecting his money. But even if the 500 grand survives those tanks, the tanks are actually only the first of four phases of attacks Blake will have to defend. And believe me when I say this, they're going to get much more challenging.
For the rest of the night, Blake and his crew worked tirelessly to defend the money, but by the time the sun rose, they still weren't quite done.
Looking good. Looking good.
That's the money. The tanks are over there. What is this car here for? This is like my inventory back here, dude. Put your inventory between the money and the tank.
Give me 10 minutes, and that white car will be ready. You have 5 minutes.
I don't think I even have time to do anything else.
Time is up. Stop, stop, time is up. Drop it. Drop it right there. Go far away. Blake, time has officially ended.
Seems pretty sturdy. Let's go fire some tanks.
I've been up for about 25 hours now, just building and building and building. I'm looking at it now, and it looks great. But then I turn around and I see these five beasts, and then I see these shells that they're working with. I really had no idea they're going to be that big.
You think a shipping container is stopping that? Hopefully three of them are. Oh, man.
All right, it's time. Load up the tanks. All right. These five tanks aimed at your money are about to fire 20 rounds. Blake, fire the first shot.
There's so much dust. Oh my gosh! Look at his face. Look at Blake's face. No way his money is safe.
So only 19 more, right? 19 more to go. Chandler, fire!
This is way too much fun.
Oh, my God. All the way back here. I can count eight holes in that shipping container. Yeah, I see those holes. No shot his money is safe.
I'd ask you how you're feeling. Well, we might as well fire the last few shots. Let's just get this over with.
Five shots. Four shots remain. Three shots remain.
How much money do you have back there? Like half a…
Two remain. And of course, Blake, you have to fire the last shell. The honor is mine. After this, we'll see if you have any money left.
Let's go. Oh, he's running. He's so fast. Is there any money? Wait, it's still there! Yes!
Blake, it looked like your money survived. We got a fresh stack. I know you're happy.
We're moving on to phase two of four, and in 24 hours, we're going to blow up the biggest bomb we've ever blown up in our history of the channel around this money.
Are you going to drop it or are you going to shoot it? I'm glad you asked. I'll be right back.
Blake, what do you think is in those green crates? I don't know, dude, it looks like… Here, I'll answer for you. This is a hundred crates filled to the brim with TNT.
How are you even allowed to do that? I'm not sure it's legal.
And while we prepared one of the biggest explosions in YouTube history, Blake began to strategize on how to keep his money safe.
Step one, we got to take everything flammable out of here, man. All the wood has got to go. Step two, water tanks. Step three, I want to move the shipping containers that I got. I just want to close them in into the other shipping containers. Then step four is just walls, cement, bricks, cars, if I have to.
Explosion is a lot worse than the tanks. This is bigger than that safe that blew up? Yes. Every single thing inside that, destroyed.
The first time he lost $250,000 in this video. Are we going to repeat it? No.
And because at this point, Blake had been awake for over 24 hours, he trusted the construction workers to finish the job while he got a good night's rest.
Yeah, I'm going to bed. Good night, guys. This is Blake going dark.
Yeah, I'm going to bed. Good night, guys. This is Blake going dark.
And because he was so exhausted, Blake slept for way longer than he planned.
All right. I got a good night's sleep. About to find out how much progress was really done overnight.
Like half… Empty. That means nothing has happened since I've been gone.
And with only six hours remaining, Blake did what he could by covering his weak spots with spare parts, bricks and more cars.
Looking good in here, looking real good.
Oh, Mr. Jimmy, what am I about to witness?
If you listen closely, you can hear beeping. It's actually a school bus coming in. It's going to be plopped right where you're standing.
I assume it's not full of children. It's a short bus. That is just not what I asked.
It's our brand new Feastables bar, new flavor, new branding. You want to try it, Blake? Yeah.
I'm using our snack products to distract them from telling them where to put the bus.
Dude, honestly, this is better than all the other ones. All the other ones. I promise. Anyone want a piece of chocolate?
Did you get that?
Hey, Blake! Five minutes till boom. I need 10 more minutes. Just give me five extra minutes. You have four minutes.
Bro, you're spraying them with water. Probably feels good. I don't think they agree. They're literally getting off the car.
They've got 90 seconds left. Blake, you're running out of time. Go! Go! Come on. Come on.
Hey! It's five o'clock. Stop, stop, stop, turn it off, turn it off. Hey, hey, Blake. Turn it off before I start taking your money.
Let's go over to the bunker. You narrowly escaped death from the tanks. Let's see if you can do it again.
Let the sun go down so it's a little darker now. This is the biggest bomb we've ever set off.
This is the first bomb I've ever seen. Blake, are you nervous? Yeah, I'm sweating now.
This is the detonation device. Here you go. It's live? Yes, it's live.
Two days of work, 17 cars, six water jugs, four shipping containers and $500,000 on the line. Let's find out if you're going to be rich or go home with nothing. When you're ready, Blake.
Three, two, one. Mom, I love you.
Oh my gosh. That firestorm is massive. Can we go put that out? Before we go put it out. I'm just wasting time.
Run! Grab the fire extinguisher! Go, go, go, go. Let's go see if it burns!
Oh, no. Oh, it's on fire over there. Oh, no. Be careful of this.
Get off my money. The fire's still going on up front. Blake is moving sandbags. Right there should be good.
Please don't be ashes. Please don't be ashes. What do you see? What do you see? I see green! Oh my gosh. Yeah, baby! Yeah!
I see a lot of dirt on it, but it seems it survived. Whoa. I knew it.
Blake, you've officially completed phase two of four. Do you want to see what the next challenge is? Yes.
All right, Blake, for your third challenge, we're going to be dropping flaming cars filled with gasoline on top of your money.
Can you tell me how many cars? A lot. A lot? A lot.
This is going to be the hardest phase yet. Not only will Blake have to deflect the attack from the sky, but he'll also have to protect his money from the flammable gasoline seeping through the cracks of his defense.
And after we drop the cars, I have another surprise. Good luck.
I want the crate with the money in it to be stuffed with concrete. That shipping container that's just sitting, plop that on top of the money.
Since Blake had been working so hard for the past few days, he ended up going right to sleep and saved most of his work for the next day. And although he seemed confident, this challenge would soon prove itself to be more difficult than anything he's ever faced in these videos.
Let's go, Blake! Come on, Blake!
All right, this is day four. I'm feeling like a zombie. We're going to take the other shipping container that I have. We're going to pick that up and we're going to put it in a formation to where the point is facing up, so it's like a pyramid. The cars will hit it, boom, and fall, but not on the money.
We've got to get that shipping container on top as soon as possible. It's starting to worry me a little bit.
Over the next few hours, Blake did everything in his power to place the top shipping container at an angle to deflect the cars, even if that meant using wooden logs to prop it up.
If this container does not go exactly where I want to right now, I'm probably losing a lot of money.
We did it. Oh, that makes me feel really good.
The water tank, we bring that over to right here, fill that thing with bricks, and then we're going to take the last car we got. Put it right here. That's going to block all this. It's going to look great. We got a plan, baby.
But what Blake didn't know is I was about to introduce a twist.
Do you want to know what the twist is? Yeah. Follow me. See that flag over there? That's a catapult. So as cars fall from the top, giant flaming balls are going to be hurled from the side.
Dude, I've been guessing millions of things. I never thought catapult. I have no more materials. I have nothing else to use.
Throughout the final hour, Blake raced to cover the weak spots of his fortress. However, there was still a key part missing. His water truck, which he sent to refill in the morning, was painfully late.
He has 90 seconds left. All right, here we go. As always, it comes down to the wire with Blake.
60, 59, 58, 54. He's drenching everything in water before we drop the car to try to protect the money from the fire.
30 seconds remain. You really think this is going to stop the fire? Oh, yeah, baby. Three, two, one. Drop it.
Just for that, I'm not showing mercy on the last one. You knew that was going to happen, dude. That was intentional.
Oh man, moment of truth. Look how high up that bad boy is. This is only the first of five flaming cars we're going to be dropping, on top of the five flaming death balls from the catapult.
You ready, Blake? Get this going, dude. Light it on fire!
Now drop it. Oh, no. Oh my gosh!
Hold on.
Hold on. Everything is actually setting on fire right now.
The burning car successfully rolled off the container. However, the wood that Blake used to prop it up quickly engulfed in flames.
Dude, what's going on? What is happening? What in there is on fire, Blake?
I don't even know what to say.
What was on top of the shipping container?
All right, there is wood there. Let's not jinx it. Knock on wood.
You put wood? And you knew we are dropping flaming cars?
I needed to use them, dude.
Luckily, Blake did surround his money with cinder blocks, so there's still a very high likelihood his money is unburned.
And since we're about to go into the coolest part of this video, obviously now I'm going to tell you about Acorns. Their debit card is meant to help you grow your money, not just spend it, which I'll tell you more about in a second. Fire!
Acorns just launched the new Mighty Oak debit card they made with Dwayne Johnson. Cool thing about this debit card is every time you make a purchase, it automatically rounds up to the nearest dollar and invests the difference for you.
Believe it or not, your money is also under attack, not by flaming death balls, but by things like bills, spending and inflation. Which is why when you're not spending your money, it'll be hard at work in two of the highest APYs available. Chandler, what does APYs mean?
It means you can fight back against bills and inflation by growing your money, just by having it in your account.
Blake, how are you doing, buddy?
I'm remembering what it feels like to lose one of these things.
Oh, it's a direct hit. Right on the money.
Just from signing up, Acorns and I are giving you $20 to start growing your money. So go to acorns.com/mrbeast to learn about how you can make your money work for you.
Light it on fire!
Drop it.
The rain of fire continued all throughout the night.
Oh, oh.
And as the flames only grew bigger, things started to look really bleak for Blake's money.
No, no, no.
That fire was raging for over an hour and a half. It's either all going to be there or it's not going to be there at all.
That right there is a bunch of logs of wood. He accidentally created a giant bonfire. He thought he was making a fortress, but he was actually making a furnace.
There's still a chance the concrete protected the money.
Blake, moment of truth. Did your cinder blocks protect your money or was the fire just too much?
Oh, my God. Oh, no. Oh. Oh, those are ruined.
Wait, hold up. The money is fried.
It's a thousand degrees in there. Let's be real with ourselves, Blake. It's gone.
As you saw, most of the money looks like this.
Another loss.
Yeah. This one hurts more than the laser one. What hurts the most is that I worked so hard for nothing.
Yeah, it sucks.
The challenge is officially over.
And before you go, Blake, I have an offer for you. You have two choices. You can either walk away with $100,000, or you could get a third and final chance to compete in a future video.
All right, I'm coming back. You're coming back? I'm coming back. Okay.
Blake's last chance to win a video is going to be right here, but it won't be out until February.
I don't think me, the audience, everyone can bear to see you lose a third time. I'll see you then.
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