I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 210

With a low rumbling sound, the hourglass at the center of the sand ship suddenly stood up from within the glass sphere, then began emitting buzzing sounds.

The hourglass began vibrating at high frequency within the sphere. This vibration traveled through transmission channels all the way to the bottom of the sand ship, reaching the ground.

On the sand dune, the point touching the sand ship’s bottom suddenly rippled with waves. The ripples began echoing, spreading farther and farther.

Soon, these tiny ripples began bouncing up, shaking the dune’s surface into tall, regular sand columns.

The vibration didn’t stop. These sand columns seemed fixed in the air, though careful observation revealed the sand inside was still constantly moving.

The sand columns gradually grew taller, circle after circle, forming a wave-like maze surrounding the sand ship.

The sand ship at the center of the sand column maze also began slowly sinking as the flowing sand shifted.

“Prepare.”

“3, 2, 1…”

“Set sail!”

After a muffled sound, a sand column larger than any before suddenly surged up from the sand ship’s bottom, forcibly pushing the sand ship into the air.

In an instant, the tall sand column fell from high in the air.

Then came rapid descent.

The sound of flowing and friction from the sand squeaked and creaked. The sand ship fell like a sinking stone, continuously plummeting beneath the desert.

Just like a heavy object falling into water and creating ripples.

The sand ship was swept up by the falling sand and rushed toward the ground.

Endless sand rushed past the sand ship’s surroundings at high speed.

When reaching the peak, the sand ship was also completely covered by sand.

Following the reverse ripples, the sand ship flew higher and higher, its speed increasing.

At the moment of reversal, the entire sand ship’s state became wrong.

The sand ship used an ingenious principle, letting the ripple energy work in reverse to propel the heavy object, hurling the hull violently toward the sky.

These circles of sand columns stirred up surging sand waves that rushed toward the center, gathering extremely strong energy at the maze’s center.

The sand ship was swept into this by the falling sand and rushed toward the ground.

All was sand, the sand ship was continuously advancing toward the underground.

But the sand ship’s interior remained extremely stable, completely unaffected by impact forces.

The sand waves around the sand ship began being repelled. The sand ship borrowed the falling speed to rush toward the underground.

“Could this be the sand waves?”

Mo Ling only then discovered that between the cabin and the outer shell was a layer of thick buffer fluid that forcibly stabilized the interior.

With Captain He’s excited command, the hourglass stopped vibrating.

All the energy accumulation had been for this moment.

“What is this supposed to do?”

At the moment when speed reached maximum and they were about to crash into the ground, the hourglass changed again, it suddenly flipped over within the glass sphere.

The turbulent sand columns pushed the sand ship into the air, and sand continuously covered the sand ship.

Just as they were about to hit the ground at maximum speed, the sand waves around the sand ship began being repelled away. The sand ship borrowed the falling speed to rush toward the underground depths.

After falling at high speed for some time, a trace of light appeared in Mo Ling’s vision.

“How can there be light?”

It should all be sand.

Mo Ling confirmed multiple times before realizing he hadn’t seen wrong, this light was indeed coming from the endless sand sea.

Just then, Captain He’s relaxed voice came through the broadcast:

“We’ve reached sea level.”

The sand ship’s speed began to slow, and the sand in the hourglass was nearly finished falling.

When the last grain of sand fell from the hourglass, the sand ship came to a stop, falling into an ocean glowing with faint light.

The light seemed to come from the ocean’s distance.

The sand ship was stuck between the inverted desert and the ocean.

The desert and ocean were moving relative to each other at extremely high speed, while the sand ship was being pushed by the desert, advancing toward the light.

“Is this riding sand waves toward the ocean?”

Mo Ling watched this marvelous scene with immense shock.

The inverted desert, constantly moving sand waves, the sand ship riding the sand waves, the calm ocean, everything really was reversed!

Just as Mo Ling was shocked, several creatures suddenly emerged from the desert around the sand ship.

Those were Spiral Turtles!

But these Spiral Turtles were all very small, not even as large as the sand ship. They were currently moving in the same direction as the sand ship, riding the sand waves toward the light.

These small Spiral Turtles’ shells had already been polished by sand, showing they too had been falling in the desert for a long time.

“Could these be the Spiral Turtles from beneath the oasis?”

Mo Ling still remembered the eggs that Spiral Turtle had laid under Oasis City. These small Spiral Turtles might have come from there.

Before long, Captain He announced news over the broadcast:

“We’ve encountered Spiral Turtle hatching. There are small Spiral Turtles everywhere outside now, which might attract many predators. But don’t worry, these predators won’t ignore those fragile small Spiral Turtles to deal with our iron lump.”

Captain He’s tone remained relaxed, very confident in the sand ship’s safety.

Soon, more and more small Spiral Turtles emerged from the desert.

They densely rode the sand waves toward the light.

The sand ship was also crawling with small Spiral Turtles. These small Spiral Turtles all looked energetic, constantly adjusting their surfing postures to fix themselves on the sand waves.

However, Captain He was right, predators were already waiting and watching.

In the faintly glowing deep sea, black shadows circled, waiting for opportunities.

One small Spiral Turtle had the wrong posture and nearly fell from the sand waves into the sea, its two small claws hanging onto the sand waves.

But the splashing it made on the sea surface quickly attracted the predators’ attention.

They swiftly approached the small Spiral Turtle.

When these black shadows approached the sea surface, Mo Ling could see clearly—these were creatures similar to ichthyosaurs, except their fins were particularly huge, like bird wings.

One ichthyosaur flapped its fins, approaching the small Spiral Turtle. With a fierce pounce, its sharp teeth bit off the small Spiral Turtle’s struggling hind limbs.

Instantly, blood flowed freely. The deep red blood scattered into the sea, immediately stirring the ferocity of other ichthyosaurs. They crowded together, attacking the injured small Spiral Turtle.

The small Spiral Turtle could no longer hold on and was knocked into the sea by an ichthyosaur, followed by cruel dismemberment. A cloud of blood drifted farther and farther in the water.

The sand waves pushed the sand ship forward. Soon that blood cloud vanished without a trace.

Like the dinner bell for a feast, this small Spiral Turtle’s death made the predators that had been following beneath the sea surface unable to restrain themselves any longer. They surged toward the sand waves.

For a moment, these small Spiral Turtles hanging on the sand waves became easy prey, cruelly dismembered by the gathered predators.

These small Spiral Turtles had no recourse but to try hiding their bodies in the sand waves as much as possible, though this was also futile.

Other restless predators beneath the sea surface also launched attacks.

A type of sea urchin-like predator had no locomotion organs anywhere on their bodies, but they gathered in groups, more and more, directly becoming a “roadblock” on the sea surface, blocking the sand waves’ advancing direction.

Every small Spiral Turtle that happened to pass by would be knocked down by this roadblock of sea urchins.

The sea urchins’ long spikes could even scrape out small Spiral Turtles hiding deep in the sand waves.

When small Spiral Turtles fell among the sea urchins, they would be quickly swallowed. Long black spikes pierced their bodies, extracting the fluids within.

Finally, these small Spiral Turtles were left as nothing but empty shells, sinking into the deep sea.

For these small Spiral Turtles, they had no means of resistance, nor the abilities of the adult Spiral Turtle Mo Ling had seen before.

They could only drift with the current, letting fate decide their fate.

With good luck, they could live.

With bad luck, they would sink into the ocean and return to the abyss.