I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 10

Chaos.

The Oscillation Beasts converging from all directions had all evolved into various forms.

None of them looked normal.

The most common were those with extra limbs.

Three-legged, four-legged, centipede-shaped…

The shapes of their legs also varied; some had webbed feet, some had hooked spikes.

This was divergent evolution caused by coming from different places.

Some even had their spherical metal mesh stretch out, their limbs shortening, transforming into bird-like structures capable of gliding.

These newly arrived Oscillation Beasts were quickly blocked by their companions.

The worm had unleashed the Oscillation Beasts’ instinct to attack their own kind.

These diverse forms began to fight each other.

The centipede Oscillation Beast kept squeezing deeper, rampaging straight ahead.

Its frequent vibrations drew the attention of those around it, who began to gang up on it.

A hooked companion stabbed its limb into the centipede’s body, pinning it in place.

A bird-form Oscillation Beast glided down from above, attacking the centipede’s head.

But it got caught by the metal mesh on the centipede’s head, flapping helplessly in place.

In the end, this group of Oscillation Beasts became a frenzied, trembling ball.

Their limbs locked them together, none letting go, forever deadlocked.

As the vehicle entered the deep pit, it was immediately blocked by various balls of limbs.

Fortunately, these Oscillation Beasts were obsessed with attacking their own kind that made bigger vibrations, so they ignored the vehicle.

Carefully skirting the melee,

They reached a slightly quieter area.

But this “quiet” was only the absence of metal clashing.

Huge, muffled vibrations still thundered on.

They came from underground.

In Mo Ling’s view, the underground was filled with balls of Oscillation Beast limbs.

The balls formed in the melee didn’t disappear;

They just kept vibrating until they sank into the soil.

But evolution continued.

The strongest Oscillation Beasts broke free from the prison of limbs.

After more time evolving,

They burst from the ground.

Some turned mole-like, their limbs becoming claws.

Others abandoned a leg, the remaining one turning into a wriggling worm.

But most became all sorts of insect shapes-

Cicadas, centipedes, ants, cutworms.

Mo Ling was shocked.

This was convergent evolution.

They had nothing to do with Earth’s creatures, but because the environment was the same, they just happened to develop similar forms and structures.

At the same time, all these creatures that broke the surface had one thing in common.

They were huge.

A massive, ferocious ant-shaped Oscillation Beast burst from the ground, heading for the center.

It blotted out the sky; the vehicle was instantly cast in its shadow.

This terrifying creature didn’t care about anything underfoot-or maybe nothing could stop it now.

The vibrations forced Li Luo to stop the vehicle, staring dumbly as the ant marched on.

Mo Ling was tossed around inside the cube.

Only when the ant left did the vibrations subside.

“Too scary.”

The cube’s cramped space left Mo Ling helpless against such a giant.

Li Luo’s face was full of fear, but after the ant left, she still resolutely started the vehicle.

The vehicle drove toward the center, and in the distance, a mountain came into view-

A mountain made of metal limbs.

Countless massive Oscillation Beasts stopped at the mountain, becoming part of it.

Their huge bodies meant massive weight.

The ant struggled to climb the mountain, but slid down because it was too big.

Loose metal limbs slid with it, piling on top.

This happened elsewhere too; the limb gaps blocked the way forward.

Now, size was an obstacle.

Li Luo found the empty shell of a worm-shaped Oscillation Beast and barely managed to drive the vehicle up.

Bumpy.

The cube’s hard inner wall left Mo Ling sore all over.

Luckily, before long, they reached the top.

It was a flat-topped mountain, broken metal cubes filling the cracks, so the vehicle no longer struggled.

Vibrations still came from outside the mountain, but up here, it was very quiet.

Only the sound of rustling underfoot-listening closely, it was metal scraping.

Mo Ling saw countless metal mesh balls rolling through the mountain’s cracks toward the center.

These balls had abandoned their huge bodies, but the gaps got smaller and smaller, becoming dead ends.

They ended up plugging the cracks, supporting the mountain.

Li Luo got out and peered through the cracks into the mountain’s interior.

After making her notes, she moved forward again.

The vehicle followed, and Mo Ling’s vision came to the edge of the red pool.

From afar, the lake had seemed calm, but up close, it was not.

The flesh slimes had abandoned their metal shells, squeezing through the cracks to the center.

The pool writhed and churned like a living thing.

The edges of the slimes blurred, merging together, surging and spinning, forming vortexes.

At the pool’s edge, the black horn wrapped in red waves appeared in Mo Ling’s view.

It wasn’t an illusion-it really was pure black!

Mo Ling had never seen anything so black.

Other black things still reflected a little light, or showed stains.

But this horn, surrounded by slimes, seemed to swallow all light.

Amazed by the Abyss’s creations, Mo Ling remembered Li Luo’s plan.

She’d risked so much to get the black horn.

Now close enough, he tried to teleport it in.

Mo Ling focused on the horn, willed it, and the black horn appeared in the metal space.

Everything went quiet.

The instant Mo Ling brought the horn into the space, the vibrations stopped.

“What happened?”

His vision was limited; he didn’t know.

He only noticed that within his senses, the dull rumbling was gone.

The once-churning red pool was now dead still.

The flesh slimes stopped, as if dead.

The metal ball mountain’s rolling balls lost all power, tumbling into the deep cracks.

Li Luo, too, looked puzzled.

The moment the black horn vanished, she was already in the vehicle, ready to flee.

But now, things were clearly not what she expected.

Mo Ling stared at the horn lying quietly on the ground, holding his breath.

He felt the air freeze.

Luckily, the girl reacted quickly.

After a brief daze, she drove the vehicle away from the center.

Outside the mountain, it was still endless silence.

Mo Ling had gotten used to the vibrations-now, the sudden quiet felt strange.