I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 178

Old Xu led the Shell People in forming a circle, crouching beside the fountain that had not yet erupted, extending their hands into the water pool.

Shells spread along the Shell People’s arms into the water, quickly reaching the bottom.

The water pool wasn’t deep. The shells kept spreading along the pool bottom, soon covering the entire underwater surface completely.

The shells also drilled toward the bottom of the pool, beginning to fill the internal rock cracks.

The hard rock cracks crushed some shells that had penetrated deep within, but the shell fragments tightly blocked the cracks.

The continuously spreading shells compressed the fragments, pressing them deeper inside.

Soon, all the rock cracks were covered by tree-like shells.

The Shell People all appeared very exhausted. Even just crouching, some Shell People had begun swaying as if about to collapse, lacking strength.

Creating the dome earlier had already consumed much of their energy. The amount of shells a single Shell Person could produce was limited, and now the shells sealing the spring water had become intermittent.

However, the Shell People continued persisting, with Old Xu constantly urging them on.

“Even if we can’t return this time, we must destroy this fountain!” Old Xu shouted loudly in encouragement.

The Shell People became even more determined after hearing such words.

Shell People kept collapsing, but they all fell toward the water, using their own bodies to continue blocking the spring water.

Some Shell People, even after falling to the ground, still kept their hands in the water, with shells still intermittently emanating from their arms.

Old Xu seemed intent on squeezing out the Shell People’s last bit of strength.

“Put in more effort! Once we destroy the fountain, our descendants won’t have to do the same things we do anymore!” Old Xu shouted encouragingly.

Old Xu continued rallying the Shell People.

These Shell People who had lost control of their bodies fell into the water like puppets, with shells spreading all over their bodies, mixing with their own forms.

The sound of shell striking kept ringing out.

At one point, it became impossible to tell whether those were Shell People or the shells they had created.

Shell striking sounds constantly arose.

That was their conversation.

The Shell Person who had previously answered Old Xu’s questions was crouching to the side, his body already leaning against the nearby railing.

He looked at Old Xu, and shell striking sounds arose.

“Why do our ancestors do what they do, so we must do what they do? What meaning do our actions have? Even if we fix all the outsiders in place, will the god be saved?”

He returned Old Xu’s previous questions to him unchanged.

Old Xu, who had been constantly encouraging other Shell People, froze upon hearing this Shell Person’s questions.

“You’re asking me?”

“Yes,” the Shell Person answered weakly.

Old Xu looked shocked that this Shell Person was still thinking about his previous questions.

“I don’t know. Can you tell me?” This Shell Person’s half body had already fallen into the water, but he was still pursuing answers.

Despite clearly having doubts about everything, he hadn’t stopped creating shells, which made his voice even weaker.

“I haven’t found the answers to these questions in the experiences left by our ancestors. I’ve been thinking about it but haven’t figured it out. You asked me these questions before because you know the answers, right?”

Old Xu listened to this Shell Person’s explanation but couldn’t say a word.

The one who had been rallying the Shell People with one sentence after another was now frozen in place, instantly at a loss for words.

The Shell Person’s weak voice arose again.

“Since my birth, I’ve only known eating and wandering around. Until the ancestors appeared and told me what I should do, then I had to do it. But why I should do it, I don’t understand at all.”

“They tell me how I should act, so I act that way. They say I should rescue the god, but I don’t even know what the god looks like. Is that really our god? What exactly is a god? I don’t understand.”

“The ancestors also told me to use shells to fix outsiders in place, to avoid the core area, avoid the high walls, avoid the guards, and hide. But I don’t understand why we should do this.”

“And you said destroying the fountain could eliminate all the outsiders, so I did as you said, because my other companions were doing the same. Even if I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t know what else I should do.”

“I also don’t know why. I’ve thought about your questions for a long time, but I’m not smart and haven’t figured it out.”

“Can you tell me why?”

“I feel like I don’t understand anything.”

“I don’t understand anything…”

While speaking, this Shell Person could no longer hold on. His body slid toward the water pool and fell in.

Old Xu instinctively reached out wanting to grab him, but his arm stopped in mid-air, frozen.

Around them were still the “clack clack” conversation sounds of Shell People encouraging each other, spreading shells down and penetrating deeper cracks.

In the darkness and silence, these Shell People who had been born for less than a day fell one by one into the water pool, meeting their deaths.

From birth to death in confusion.

Corpses of the dead Shell People floated in the water pool like puppets, swaying in the waves caused by the shells.

Those shells still continuously spreading pressed their owners’ bodies back and forth, like duckweed.

Old Xu was speechless.

He silently crouched by the shore, looking at those scattered shells.

Under the dome, there were only faint sounds of water flow and gradually fading shell striking sounds.

In the blink of an eye, few Shell People remained. After exhausting their strength, they would all let themselves sink into the water, letting their bodies continue to contribute.

After the intermittent shell spreading ended, the bodies in the water fell silent.

Soon, only three Shell People transformed from humans remained on the shore.

The Shell People maintaining the dome in the distance also collapsed beside the shell walls, having exhausted all their strength.

This generation of Shell People had all died for the same reason.

This time, no one would return to the graveyard.

The dome they had painstakingly created became their own tomb.

Li Xiangyi watched everything happening around them. After confirming all the Shell People had died, the shuttle behind her flew out again.

As the shuttle continuously spun, white silk threads began appearing on the three people’s bodies out of thin air.

These threads were bound by the shuttle, and the three transformed back into human appearance.

She summoned the yellow shuttle again, creating a brilliant light band once more.

The chaotic scene inside the water pool appeared before them again.

Old Xu continued staring blankly at the Shell People corpses in the center of the water pool, his gaze vacant, not knowing what he was thinking, until Li Luo interrupted his contemplation.

“This should be exactly what you wanted, right?” Li Luo looked at the dead Shell People and the fountain covered in shells. “Mutual destruction.”

But Old Xu didn’t speak, his hands trembling slightly…