I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 154

Li Luo ultimately couldn’t persuade Bai Zhou to stay.

His mind was made up, he stubbornly wanted to return to his “home.”

“Don’t be so dejected. When you reach the Abyss Third Layer, maybe we’ll meet again!” Bai Zhou encouraged.

Li Luo could only nod helplessly.

She couldn’t change Bai Zhou’s choice and could only advise, “After you reach the Abyss Third Layer, remember to find the human island base to update your information and try to follow the known routes.”

This was the most she could do.

“Don’t worry, humans will always be my best friends,” Bai Zhou patted his chest.

“Let’s leave this place first.”

Afterward, the two searched around Black Tower City and found the stone doors to leave.

Unexpectedly, there wasn’t just one stone door, but many. These stone doors led to various parts of the Black Tower, like anywhere doors.

“How convenient.”

After some wandering, the two returned to the bottom of the Black Tower.

Bai Zhou looked at the monitoring station littered with corpses and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he turned away and said quietly, “Goodbye.”

……

Going in different directions, after bidding farewell to Bai Zhou, Li Luo headed toward Oasis City with the Cube.

The Black Tower’s seal had been completely lifted. Li Luo hadn’t walked far when she happened upon the corpse of that Hunter who had initially fled.

At this moment, he was leaning against a conspicuous large rock, having taken out all the visible items from his backpack and tied them to an iron rod erected beside the rock.

Dried bloodstains extended from his neck to the ground, and a sharp knife was gripped in his hand, covered with grime.

It was suicide.

Li Luo approached and silently looked at this pioneer.

That tattered white paper was held in his hand.

He had wrapped this white paper tightly with plastic capsules used for collecting biological samples, then secured it firmly to his hand with tape.

He had preserved this white paper very well.

“Run quickly.”

……

“Help me with a favor, dig a pit,” Li Luo looked toward the Cube and requested.

After carefully preserving this Hunter’s nameplate, Li Luo bowed before his grave, then walked toward Oasis City without looking back…

They hadn’t walked far when Mo Ling felt the surrounding temperature begin to drop sharply. The wind became violent, and flying dust constantly assailed them.

“It’s a sandstorm,” Li Luo said.

This was a common phenomenon in the Disorderly Dunes, impossible to guard against sandstorms.

The reason humans sought various hard places in the Abyss Second Layer to build monitoring stations was also because of sandstorms.

Sandstorms in the Abyss Second Layer often contained many unknown strange phenomena.

Some Hunters, after entering sandstorms, saw enormous sand-stone creatures. They were like combinations formed from piles of sand, continuously advancing along with the sandstorm, devouring everything in the sandstorm’s path.

Even if these sand-stone creatures could be eliminated, they would make a comeback after some time.

Some researchers speculated these combinations weren’t creatures at all, but rather the entire sandstorm was the creature, and these oddly-shaped combinations might just be certain organs of the sandstorm.

That’s why they exhibited biological characteristics but could regenerate promptly.

But this was also just speculation.

Some Hunters experienced sudden location changes after going through sandstorms, arriving at unknown relic zones.

Many ruins in the Abyss Second Layer were discovered by chance this way.

No one had ever figured out the teleportation principle of sandstorms either.

The officials only advised Hunters not to try running when encountering sandstorms, because escape was simply impossible.

“When sandstorms approach, try to lower your body as much as possible, walk bent over, to prevent being blown down or even swept up by the extremely strong sandstorm.”

“Observe your surroundings and find suitable shelter objects as quickly as possible, such as stone piles, large plants, ruins, etc. Take shelter on the leeward side while being careful of sand burial.”

“When encountering sand-stone creatures, observe their movement routes in advance and relocate ahead of time.”

“……”

Li Luo’s electronic screen displayed many methods for avoiding sandstorms, all experiences left by predecessors.

But as she looked around, there was nothing, no objects that could serve as shelter or hard objects.

So she looked toward the Cube.

Mo Ling understood her meaning and controlled the Cube to descend, positioning it against the direction from which the sand and stones were blowing.

The surrounding temperature changes became increasingly obvious, and the sky gradually darkened. Li Luo looked into the distance with an increasingly grave expression.

“It’s coming.”

The approaching sand and stones moved faster and faster. High-speed flying gravel struck the metal walls, producing sharp “tap-tap” sounds.

Li Luo bent down and hid behind the Cube, taking out some clothing to wrap her head tightly.

Before long, the sandstorm had spread to the Cube’s position.

Some long sounds came from within the sandstorm, making it impossible to distinguish whether they were wind sounds or roars of fierce beasts.

Those sounds became stranger and stranger. As the sandstorm advanced, they began to develop rhythm, like singing.

The sound of colliding gravel mixed in, making the rhythm of this singing stronger and stronger.

Accompanied by the granular sounds of sand striking the metal walls, Mo Ling felt like he was listening to an old song with indistinct lyrics coming from an old videotape.

Melodious yet eerie.

That wind sound was like someone’s sobbing, mournful and plaintive.

“So strange.”

Visibility became very poor, but fortunately Mo Ling’s vision wasn’t affected, he could still see clearly what was happening in the sandstorm.

Li Luo had already hugged her head and hidden behind, pressing tightly against the Cube.

Just as Mo Ling was listening to that strange singing, a swaying, sheet-like figure suddenly flashed through the flying sandstorm.

“What was that?”

Mo Ling thought of those sand-stone creatures mentioned in the records and immediately became alert.

He didn’t know exactly what these sand-stone creatures looked like, but he knew they were very dangerous.

Sure enough, before long, that sheet-like body slowly swam toward him.

Mo Ling was shocked to see the complete appearance this creature displayed.

It was a whale!

That strange sound, unclear whether it was wind or sobbing, was coming from its body, as if calling to companions.

In the distant sandstorm, similar sounds responded in turn.

“Just how many were there?”

This whale’s body was somewhat black, like damp sand, adhered together in an incomprehensible way.

Mo Ling didn’t see anything different inside its body either, it seemed to be composed entirely of sand.

The whale swam to the Cube’s side. Mo Ling was about to act immediately, but discovered it only curiously examined the Cube for a moment, then went to a nearby cactus and opened its mouth to take a small bite.

Then it brought its mouth close and sucked up the cactus’s juice.

This completely non-whale-like feeding method left Mo Ling stunned.

After sucking for a few moments, the whale spat out some sticky sand and wrapped it around the cactus’s wound, apparently protecting the cactus, then slowly swam away.

“Are they just looking for water?”

Mo Ling suddenly had this strange thought.