I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 179

“What’s wrong?” Li Luo saw Old Xu’s condition wasn’t right and pursued the question.

Wasn’t this exactly what he wanted?

Old Xu shook his head. “Nothing. I thought of some things. When people get old, they always think too much.”

He sighed and stood up.

“Everything is over. The people outside should have already discovered the dome. After they break through the dome, we can get out, but it will probably take some time.”

Old Xu looked at the thick shell walls and said somewhat helplessly, “Just now, to prevent accidents, we made it too hard. Let’s wait for now.”

He also seemed somewhat tired and sat down on the nearby railing.

Li Xiangyi walked to the edge of the water pool, looking at those tightly sealed shells, and asked with some lingering fear, “We won’t be arrested for destroying the fountain, will we?”

Old Xu waved his hand casually. “What does this have to do with us? It was all done by the Shell People.”

“These Shell People corpses are the key point. When the time comes, you can just blame everything on the Shell People,” he said lightly.

“We just followed the Shell People out from the underground waterways but got trapped in the plaza, didn’t we?” Old Xu winked at Li Xiangyi.

“Alright.”

Before long, the shattered shells in the fountain began rising with mist again when illuminated by Li Xiangyi’s light band.

It seemed those broken shells had started creating mirage vapor again.

Li Xiangyi’s light band created sunlight, and the humid water vapor in the pool once again satisfied the conditions for mirage vapor formation.

Because the dome was completely sealed, the mist instantly spread.

Rainbow lights appeared around them again, followed by familiar changes as some figures began flickering within the dome.

When these figures slowly solidified, Old Xu’s eyes widened instantly, and he stood up from the railing with a start.

“What happened?” Li Xiangyi saw Old Xu’s startled appearance and quickly asked.

Old Xu pointed at one of the shadows and said in surprise, “That’s the captain!”

“Captain?”

“Yes, our investigation team’s captain,” Old Xu nodded and began pointing out other figures.

“Old Lin, very experienced in wilderness survival.”

“Chef Guo Xiaomei, excellent cooking skills. Too bad she went to the Black Tower later.”

“Medic Little Wang.”

“That’s me. I was really clueless back then.” His face was full of nostalgia as he pointed at a blank-looking young man.

Old Xu enumerated them like treasures, pointing out these people one by one.

“This is the investigation team’s virtual image?” Li Luo asked in surprise.

Old Xu nodded. “That’s right. They should all be investigation team members. I just don’t know what time this is from.”

“Should we retract the light band?” Li Xiangyi asked quickly, seeing the mirage vapor beginning to spread again.

“It’s fine, leave it. They’re all illusions anyway,” Old Xu said flatly.

Before long, as the virtual images continued solidifying, some sounds began coming through.

The blank-looking young man suddenly looked toward the sky and shouted, “Above us!”

The team members nearby quickly shone their flashlights toward the sky.

That was a dome.

The dome from the past.

The light beam hit this dome that transcended time. Old Xu looked toward the sky with a complex expression. At this moment, the dome could no longer be distinguished as illusory or real.

The domes from two time points overlapped in this instant.

“This was the day the spring water first opened, and the day I gained my ability,” Old Xu’s voice trembled slightly.

Li Luo and Li Xiangyi suddenly understood.

“Follow me, charge this way!” The captain in the illusion was leading all investigation team members to break through in one direction.

After the breakthrough failed, he had team members spread out to look for weak points.

Only the young man chose a special direction, happening to come to the spring water.

Just then, the spring water suddenly gushed forth. The few people standing nearby could hear the sound of the water flow.

The young man in the illusion stared blankly. Before he could react, he was grabbed by the giant hand formed by the spring water into the water flow.

The few people quickly moved aside, but the spring water didn’t splash on them—it passed right through their bodies.

“This is an illusion. Don’t be afraid.”

After Old Xu realized this, he walked toward the fountain. Li Luo and Li Xiangyi exchanged glances and quickly followed.

The group passed through the water flow and soon arrived at a space wrapped in water currents. This space was very spacious, seemingly much larger than it appeared from outside.

“So this is the interior of the Wishing Fountain,” Li Xiangyi sighed.

She looked at the dancing, floating water currents around them and the water drops flickering with golden light, finding it very novel.

The young man was communicating with a golden little sprite.

“Are you a Relic? Why did you grab me at this time?” The young man kept looking around, his expression somewhat fearful yet very anxious.

“Yes, I’m a Relic. I’m very sorry for suddenly grabbing you,” the little sprite apologized to him. “I just wanted to ask, what do you want most?”

Old Xu watched this scene, covering his heart as if feeling phantom pain, murmuring to the young man, “Don’t agree to it…”

But how could he influence virtual images from history? These things had already happened and couldn’t be changed at all.

At present, he could only helplessly watch his former self methodically walk the path he had once taken.

“You can’t lie,” the sprite said gently.

Hearing this, the young man turned to look at the golden water flow nearby.

On that golden water flow, his wish was reflected.

Old Xu also looked at the water flow. This was also his former wish.

However, the images of this wish differed slightly from his memory—

In the scene, the young man gained powerful abilities.

He casually found the dome’s weak point and broke through it, precisely finding the Shell People hidden in this attack, as if divinely assisted.

He led the investigation team to defeat the Shell People, receiving everyone’s attention, becoming unrivaled for a time.

Afterward, the young man could always step forward when the investigation team encountered difficulties, finding the key to problems.

On missions, he could casually discover hidden dangers, allowing the investigation team to reduce many casualties.

During construction, whenever he sensed problems somewhere, accidents would soon occur. The young man would quickly organize evacuations. Although buildings were damaged, no one was injured.

He could even observe celestial phenomena, predicting extreme weather that the Oasis Monitoring Station would face, allowing teammates still planting food outside to take timely shelter.

The young man became the most prominent team member in the investigation team, an indispensable main force in building Oasis City…

He relied on powerful abilities to accomplish what other Hunters couldn’t achieve despite their best efforts, descending to the depths of the Abyss.

Others needed to face countless dangers, but he strolled leisurely through the Abyss.

Returning laden with harvests, in the Oasis City he had helped build, enjoying others’ worship.

Fame, honor, status, envious gazes…

These scenes were both his fantasies and the most extreme desires of his heart.

The images kept changing. The young man even used schemes to resolve the Shell People attacking Oasis City.

In the golden water flow appeared dense Shell People corpses fallen in the water pool, identical to what had just happened…

The little sprite circled around the young man, its voice very clear and gentle, yet piercing the heart like thorns.

“Everyone who comes to me for wishes will forget their true desires. The deeper the obsession, the more they forget.”

“This is the cost…”

“Do you accept?”