I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 221

Jeff had always felt that these pseudo-mermen were no different from himself.

That’s why he could always face them with a normal mindset.

Having experienced the cultural influence of various races, Jeff didn’t care about “outsiders.”

However, he also understood that most people on Merman Island couldn’t accept outsiders, so he gradually began to understand the Great Chieftain’s approach.

“Recognition still isn’t enough,” Jeff said helplessly.

After hearing Jeff’s unique insights, Li Luo nodded while looking thoughtful.

Mo Ling was also very surprised.

“You can’t judge a person by their appearance.”

Jeff wasn’t as simple as he appeared on the surface, rather, he was wise in his simplicity.

While still marveling at this, the distant shrimp-headed person had returned hurriedly with a group of strange and bizarre races.

Looking closely, this group of pseudo-mermen all wore those metal components on their bodies. The shapes were varied—bracelets, rings, necklaces, helmets… everything was there.

In the pseudo-mermen’s “background stories,” the components appeared on their bodies out of nowhere, without any warning.

When they appeared, the wearer had already been distorted completely. Even removing them had no effect.

It seemed these components were the cause of the pseudo-mermen’s appearance.

But these pseudo-mermen were still wearing them on their bodies.

“Maybe they all realized the importance of these components, so they carry them with them,” Mo Ling thought.

“They should have discovered this long ago.”

They distorted the users’ identity recognition, creating so many “mermen.”

“Where exactly do these things come from?”

Mo Ling thought for a long time but couldn’t figure it out.

Of course, he didn’t dare act rashly either.

However, thinking of Bai Zhou’s example, the appearance of these creatures was completely understandable.

Just as they arrived, they warmly greeted Jeff, and Jeff responded earnestly to each one.

These races all had human-like bodies, wearing various styles of clothing, but their heads were all different creatures.

Mo Ling even saw some land creatures like eagles and hamsters among them.

“That’s all the people,” the shrimp-headed person said breathlessly. “This is everyone I could find.”

Looking at the very conspicuous components on these pseudo-mermen, Mo Ling guessed that actually both the mermen and pseudo-mermen knew about these components’ tricks.

But they didn’t understand the principle of identity distortion, nor could they figure out what these components did.

Just as he was thinking, this group of strange-looking pseudo-mermen had already rushed up to them.

“Enough, that’s already a lot,” Jeff said.

Li Luo stood on her tiptoes, searching through the crowd for a long time, then stopped the shrimp-headed person and asked curiously, “Is there someone called Bai Zhou among you? He wears a diving helmet…”

“Bai Zhou?” The shrimp-headed person looked at Li Luo in surprise. “There is!”

“There really was?”

Bai Zhou had returned to Merman Island?

But among these pseudo-mermen, there was no sign of Bai Zhou.

“He’s been fiddling with something lately. Haven’t seen him in a long time. Couldn’t find him just now either. Are you his friend?” the shrimp-headed person asked.

Li Luo nodded.

Learning that Li Luo was Bai Zhou’s friend, the shrimp-headed person was very happy, patting his chest and saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell him next time I see him.”

Seeing the shrimp-headed person being so enthusiastic, Li Luo quickly thanked him.

Just like that, Jeff led the group of pseudo-mermen with various appearances toward the direction of the Moon Altar.

The journey wasn’t far. After crossing several low hills, Jeff pointed into the distance and said, “We’re here.”

Mo Ling’s vision was limited, he could barely see a corner, which seemed to be the edge of a fjord. Some stone building’s support pillar was erected on the hard rock layer at the fjord’s edge.

Some mermen were moving cargo, manipulating water currents to transport goods to that stone building.

Just seeing that corner of the building, Mo Ling realized this wasn’t a simple “altar.”

It was some kind of wonder.

Because that support pillar was simply too massive. Based on the proportions, needing such thick support pillars meant this stone building must be very spectacular.

Sure enough, all the pseudo-mermen were looking at that fjord with fascination.

Even Li Luo was the same, staring blankly into the distance, seeming to see something incomprehensible.

Finally, she took out her recording device and aimed it at the distance.

On the screen, in the fog, appeared a huge circular platform that was faintly visible.

Countless lamp posts and firelight shone on this platform, reflecting a bright moon in the dim thick fog.

The circular platform was entirely made of stone. Half was built on the high fjord, with thick support pillars driven into the rock face, while half stood on the sea surface, suspended in the air in what seemed like a very unstable posture.

The huge platform occupied a mountain, like a giant beast that had swallowed half the mountain.

As the lights swept across, the stone textures on the platform also became visible. The mermen had carved runic patterns using fish-fry-shaped merman script along the stone’s original shapes and patterns.

These runic carvings covered the platform in various sizes.

Most surprisingly, these carvings were all interconnected, just like the Merman Ancient Texts Mo Ling had seen before. A little small fry flowed between these runes, wandering on this stone platform.

When encountering corners, the runes would turn. When encountering dead ends, the runes would cross over edges and move to another surface, shuttling back and forth. From a distance, it looked like an endlessly winding curve.

But the runes never intersected, like a snake game, they would never touch their own body.

Mo Ling couldn’t see the end of these runic carvings. He only felt that the runes covering the platform seemed to be slightly swaying, slowly crawling. But looking carefully, they weren’t moving at all.

“Some kind of optical illusion?” Mo Ling speculated.

These carvings made the platform appear even more mysterious. In the fog, the platform seemed to be slowly trembling with the runes, devouring the mountains.

“Is this the altar the mermen built for the Sea Moon Ceremony?”

It really was some kind of wonder.

He hadn’t guessed wrong, the mermen had spent enormous manpower and resources to create such a wonder.

Mo Ling finally understood why the Great Chieftain kept talking about manpower problems. To complete the altar’s arrangement, even the originally strict isolation policy for pseudo-mermen could be relaxed.

“No wonder they’re short-handed.”

While looking at the spectacular stone platform on the screen, Mo Ling also noticed Jeff’s abnormality.

Jeff’s fish eyes were gazing deeply into the distance, not showing the same shock and longing as the others.

He also wasn’t looking at the stone platform like the others, nor at those mysterious runic carvings.

Instead, he was looking at those mermen who were moving cargo, his eyes revealing deep worry.

Under the massive wonder, those mermen looked like tiny ants, forming lines as they slowly crawled, carrying heavy cargo on their heads.

They gathered together, shuttling between the placed goods, constantly adjusting water currents, maintaining balance, struggling to advance…