I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 209

The day of departure quickly arrived.

The port was chosen on a sand dune outside Oasis City.

Oasis City didn’t make a big show of publicity, just having a few officials explain the precautions for this voyage.

The glasses-wearing man was among them. Usually crisp and efficient in speech, once he got on the podium his pace became very slow, full of bureaucratic tone.

The advance team members weren’t many, but most were experienced veterans. Li Luo stood out among them.

The captain specially came to greet Li Luo and told her to relax.

“Just call me Captain He. I was on the first sand ship in the Abyss Second Layer, so I’m an old crew member,” Captain He said with confidence, as if this voyage wasn’t much to him.

Li Xiangyi and Old Xu stood side by side, watching Li Luo.

“Come back early. Being late means you might not see me anymore,” Old Xu said while covering his heart, “These old bones of mine, oh my, my heart can’t take it.”

“Why doesn’t it hurt? Not having a heart doesn’t mean the heart won’t hurt. Anyway, you should come back early. Even if you can’t make it to Oasis City, find someone to bring me word, remember?” Old Xu had a serious expression.

Li Luo looked at his poor acting and actually laughed, “Old Xu, can your heart still hurt?”

“How would I know whether it hurts or not? Anyway, you come back early. And even if it hurts, I have to bear it…” Old Xu said while still covering his heart, “I’m getting on in years…”

Li Xiangyi on the side was fiddling with something, taking out a purple bracelet from her bosom and putting it on Li Luo’s hand.

“What’s this?” Li Luo asked curiously, looking at the beautiful woven bracelet.

“This is made from Rainbow Shuttle silk threads. It will protect you,” Li Xiangyi explained.

“Protection?” Li Luo was somewhat confused.

“Yes, protection at any cost.”

The woven bracelet instantly fell apart, and those purple silk threads seemed to suddenly become some kind of living creature, weaving and moving together.

Then they flew crosswise into the air, interlacing with each other, weaving into layers of overlapping gauze.

The purple gauze circled around Li Luo continuously, like a sentry vigilantly guarding against the surroundings.

After discovering the Cube behind Li Luo, it rushed up regardless of everything.

The purple gauze net instantly expanded, as if wanting to wrap the Cube layer by layer.

“Little Purple, come back!” Seeing this, Li Xiangyi quickly called out, and only then did the gauze obediently run back to Li Luo’s hand, coiling into a bracelet again.

Li Xiangyi pointed to the bracelet’s cord end, “If you encounter danger, just pull here.”

As she spoke, she grabbed the cord end and pulled it down.

“It’s still a bit dumb. Just teach it more and it’ll be fine,” Li Xiangyi said somewhat embarrassedly.

“What is this?” Li Luo asked curiously.

“It’s called Little Purple. It’s a simple creature I made using purple silk threads. The program I set for it is to protect humans at any cost,” Li Xiangyi explained.

“Anyway, when you encounter danger, just pull here and it can protect you,” Li Xiangyi pointed to the cord end again, “Train it more, and it can help you with some simple tasks too.”

“Okay, thank you,” Li Luo didn’t quite understand the purple bracelet’s function, but looking at the bracelet, her eyes still shone, “It’s really beautiful.”

At this time, Mo Ling’s heart in the Cube was still beating violently.

When that purple gauze net rushed over just now, Mo Ling felt like he was seeing that overwhelming Purple Gauze Creature from the historical virtual images.

For that instant, Mo Ling thought Li Xiangyi had remembered her former identity and was attacking him.

It was exactly the same…

Mo Ling let out a long breath.

“Protection of humans at any cost?”

Mo Ling seemed to think of something, but the inspiration was fleeting.

“So similar…”

The three people’s small talk didn’t last long before departure time arrived.

The official in charge pulled away the curtain from Oasis City’s first sand ship.

The hull was made of some kind of lightweight alloy. With its ellipsoid appearance, rather than calling it a ship, it was more like an airship.

Its size was also similar to an airship, enormous.

Round portholes were evenly distributed on both sides of the sand ship, arranged in different sizes from bow to stern along the hull.

The official pressed a switch, and the sand ship separated up and down along the middle of the hull, with alloy layers separating like a shrimp shell, leaving only half.

With only the bottom half remaining, the sand ship truly looked like a “ship.”

After opening, the interior space of the sand ship was fully visible.

The cabin facilities were complete, like an oddly shaped residential building.

Although the rooms and passages were somewhat narrow, they didn’t seem to affect usage.

Space utilization was very high. The layout of various rooms should have been specially designed, staggered and layered, completely filling the entire sand ship interior, crowded but not conflicting, with very scientific pedestrian flow.

The internal piping and electrical arrangements were also very precise, along with some advanced equipment Mo Ling couldn’t understand.

At the center of the sand ship was an hourglass wrapped in a glass sphere, with patterns on it. This should be the Relic the sand ship utilized, strictly protected.

Overall, the sand ship gave a feeling of ultimate simplification, yet with incredible perfection in its complexity.

“It seems the technology really is mature.”

Mo Ling knew that human tools only considered comfort and aesthetics after practicality completely met requirements.

And this sand ship had obviously reached the level of considering comfort, indicating the technology was indeed very mature.

Now Mo Ling felt even more at ease.

After reluctantly saying goodbye to the two, Li Luo tightened her backpack and followed the team toward the sand ship.

After reaching the ship, she couldn’t help but look back at the two again.

At this time, both were waving continuously.

Old Xu wore a smile, while Li Xiangyi was already wiping her eyes with her hands.

Li Luo waved back and walked into the ship without looking back.

Only Mo Ling knew that Li Luo kept her head down, silently looking at the bracelet Li Xiangyi had given her.

“When will we meet again?” Li Xiangyi looked dejected.

Li Luo thought for a moment, “Some morning.”

“Then every day when I wake up, I’ll go knock on your door…”

“That over there is your room. Put your things down first,” Captain He pointed to a room in a corner, “After you put your things away, you can familiarize yourself with the ship. If there’s anything you don’t understand, come to the bridge up front to find me, or you can ask anyone else.”

Captain He was indeed very considerate of Li Luo. He even thoughtfully gave Li Luo a three-dimensional design diagram of the cabin.

“Don’t randomly enter those important facilities. If you’re bored, just wait. After we set sail, you won’t be bored anymore,” Captain He smiled somewhat mysteriously.

After saying this, he walked toward the bow.

As personnel finished boarding, the sand ship began slowly closing again, with the metal hull covering the upper half once more.

After sealing was complete, the entire cabin fell into darkness.

Then the lights came on.

Captain He’s powerful voice came through the speakers:

“Prepare to set sail!”