I’m Trapped in a Cube - 76

Seeing the patient’s change, Mo Ling was also puzzled.

The impact of Vein Mutation Disease on the mind seemed much greater than on the body.

It hadn’t been long, and the infected was already feeling emotions other than fear, and even suppressing fear.

He no longer trembled in terror as before, but found joy in his suffering, accepting his new power.

Just like the general in Shi Beng’s story.

While using the power brought by Vein Mutation Disease, they were also adjusting their emotions, adapting to feelings they’d never had before.

Gradually becoming “optimistic.”

Looking at the mineral vein in his hand, the patient changed the lapis lazuli into the shapes of former companions, even the cube and Li Luo.

His sadness faded, and he perked up again.

“Thank you for believing me. Something really did touch me just now, I’m sure of it,” he said to Li Luo, with conviction.

He was now very confident.

Li Luo nodded and asked, “Do you really not know who it was?”

“I don’t. I was in the void state, like human sleep, and didn’t see anything,” he replied after thinking, a little apologetic.

Looking at the lapis lazuli in his body, which had spread a bit more, the patient said to Li Luo, “I’d better stay away from the vein. I’m going to the Vein Mutation Hollow. Thank you.”

His tone was very sincere and gentle.

At this point, Mo Ling actually thought Vein Mutation Disease made these mineral tribes more endearing, though that was from a human perspective.

Maybe for mineral tribes, gaining emotions was hard to accept.

The infecteed said goodbye and walked into the depths of the cave.

Setting off again, he no longer hung his head, but quickened his pace, full of hope for his journey.

Li Luo watched his back, deep in thought, then seemed to remember something and started searching on her tablet.

Mo Ling quickly shifted his vision to the screen.

He saw Li Luo type a word into the search bar-

-Midas Touch.

“What was that?” Mo Ling kept watching.

After the search finished, Li Luo clicked on an entry.

“This is actually a Relic?”

……

Midas Touch, as the name suggests, is the ability to turn anything you touch into gold.

Of course, that’s just the most basic use.

This Relic was first discovered at the beginning of the Cataclysm.

At that time, the world hadn’t yet fallen into the chaos brought by the Cataclysm, and countless Relics appeared on Earth.

Some small Relics appeared in ordinary homes, sometimes not even noticed, mistaken for old junk.

Because when not in use, they were no different from ordinary things, nothing special.

Midas Touch was discovered at this time.

One day, a regular farmer on Crete, Greece, found an old pair of gloves in his cupboard.

They looked like ordinary leather gloves, suitable for farm work. Though dusty, they were undamaged.

This farmer, named Midas, ran an olive grove, making a living selling olives to oil companies.

The grove wasn’t large; Midas’s family could handle it, though it required frequent pruning and watering, a busy life.

Midas thought the gloves were bought by a family member and left in the cupboard. He checked them and found they were usable.

So, he washed and dried them, then put them in his bag to bring along for harvesting olives.

Olive trees are tall, and the grove’s terrain is complex, making picking difficult. Midas often used ropes to climb the trees.

He usually wore gloves or protective tape on his fingers to avoid damaging the sensitive olives.

These gloves fit perfectly, so he put them on and climbed the tree.

But the moment he touched an olive, the contact point turned gold, and the gold color spread over the whole fruit.

With his experience, Midas immediately felt something was off and let go.

Soon, the gold covered the whole olive.

Surprised, Midas picked the golden fruit.

The strange feel and heavy weight made him think it was a prank, so he tossed it down.

But when he deliberately touched another olive, the same thing happened-the gold spread again.

This olive also turned into that strange form.

Midas almost thought he was hallucinating, so he tried several more times and found every olive he touched turned the same way.

He thought maybe he’d eaten something bad and was hallucinating, so he kept the gloves on and hurried down the tree.

But when he grabbed the rope, it too turned gold…

Taking off the gloves and finally sliding down, Midas did many experiments under the tree and confirmed it was the gloves.

By now, he was surrounded by golden objects-branches, grass, stones…

All had turned gold, and they were heavy in his hands.

Looking at them, he realized what they were, so he took them to the gold shop.

Sure enough, it was gold.

Midas Touch? Midas was overjoyed.

At that time, news of the Cataclysm was everywhere, with TV constantly warning people not to use Relics, as there would be unknown costs.

The authorities kept telling people to turn in any found Relics, not to use them privately.

This only had the opposite effect; Midas learned about the Cataclysm and confirmed his gloves were a Relic.

He had no intention of turning them in.

His farm was struggling; after olive oil companies monopolized the industry, they wanted to take over the growers too.

Small farms like his were on the brink.

With prices constantly falling, Midas’s family was in dire straits.

“I’ll use it for a while, make some money, then turn it in. The authorities won’t care about such small stuff,” Midas thought.

So, he started making gold.

He still went to the grove every day, greeted his neighbors, acted normal, and brought back some stones in his pocket.

In the evening, telling his family he was fixing farm equipment, he’d turn the stones into gold in the garage.

On weekends, he’d find some odd-job workers in town to help sell the gold.

With a little reward, they were happy to help.

The amount of gold was small, but it added up, and Midas made a lot of money.

He thought his good life had begun.

But he didn’t know-the cost had already quietly arrived.