I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 233

An endless expanse of white filled Mo Ling’s vision.

For a long time.

When he came to his senses again, the buzzing sounds around him had disappeared, the blinding white slowly faded away, and the white specks of light suspended around him slowly fell…

The fishy, foul fog was gone from the surroundings, and the series of stuttering scenes became extremely smooth.

After the white curtain withdrew, everything around had completely changed.

Only then did Mo Ling realize he was no longer on the Moon Altar.

“Where is this?”

Sea wind rolled through the iron bars into this oppressive small room. The floor was covered with dry straw, but it had become somewhat damp and smelly.

The metal walls were covered with mottled stains and rust marks, looking somewhat similar in material to those strange components on Merman Island.

Iron bars enclosed the entire room. Beyond the bars was a long corridor, and the runes on the corridor flickered with faint light.

This light was very dim and constantly flickering, appearing extremely oppressive.

Mo Ling looked at the iron posts in front of him and suddenly realized something was wrong.

“I’m in prison?”

Looking at the iron window again, Mo Ling finally confirmed he had arrived at some kind of prison.

Curiously, he reached out and grasped the iron bars. A crackling sound immediately came from his hand.

Electricity?

The electric current didn’t cause Mo Ling any harm, and that kick was just right, kicking him precisely onto the pile of straw.

Before he could recover, Mo Ling was suddenly kicked to the ground.

Then he heard a string of cursing sounds.

That voice sounded very familiar.

“How did they arrest such a fool?”

The person cursed while coughing weakly several times.

Mo Ling quickly looked toward the sound and discovered he knew the person before him.

“Bai Zhou?”

“You know me?” Hearing Mo Ling’s question, the person walked out from the dark corner.

The person before him was indeed Bai Zhou, but his attire was somewhat strange.

He wore ancient cloth clothing, had disheveled hair, an unshaven beard, and his signature diving helmet had disappeared without a trace.

At this moment, Bai Zhou before him was truly too bizarre, making Mo Ling feel like he had run out from some period drama film set.

Looking at this strangely dressed Bai Zhou, Mo Ling couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you dressed like this?”

Hearing Mo Ling’s question, Bai Zhou looked at his own clothing in confusion.

“I’ve always dressed like this.”

He bent down and looked at Mo Ling curiously, “How do you know me? Have I seen you before?”

Examining his own appearance, he discovered he had become cube-person-shaped again.

He looked puzzled and crouched down in front of Mo Ling.

“Where have you seen me? How come I don’t remember you?” Bai Zhou reached out and touched Mo Ling’s cube head. “Such a distinctive race, I should remember very clearly.”

He examined Mo Ling and tried asking, “Cube tribe?”

“Or Iron Head tribe?”

“Or…”

Listening to the increasingly strange words coming from Bai Zhou’s mouth, Mo Ling finally couldn’t help but interrupt him, “We met at the Black Tower.”

“Black Tower?” To Mo Ling’s surprise, when Bai Zhou heard about the Black Tower, he looked completely confused, as if he had no idea what place Mo Ling was talking about.

“I haven’t been there. You must be mistaken.” Bai Zhou thought for a while but still couldn’t remember. “Forget it. Since you know my name, you must have really seen me.”

As he spoke, Bai Zhou’s expression actually became somewhat lonely, and a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes. “You must have come to our island and probably saw me then.”

At this point, Bai Zhou’s mood suddenly dropped, and he returned to the corner to sit down.

At the same time, he didn’t forget to remind Mo Ling:

“Don’t touch those bars anymore. The mermen have electrified them.”

Mo Ling quickly looked at his hands and found there were no burn marks at all.

“The electric current seems to have no effect on me.”

Only then did Mo Ling notice he was wearing shackles on his hands, also made of that peculiar runic metal from Merman Island.

“Don’t think about escaping.” Seeing Mo Ling constantly studying the shackles, Bai Zhou kindly reminded him, “The mermen won’t provide us with food. Try to conserve your strength.”

Listening to Bai Zhou’s words, Mo Ling noticed something was off.

“The mermen?”

Didn’t Bai Zhou think he was a merman himself?

Why would he refer to them this way?

Had he already broken free from the diving helmet’s distortion?

Thinking of this, Mo Ling quickly tried asking, “Bai Zhou, what race are you?”

Bai Zhou’s answer surprised Mo Ling greatly:

“Human. We’re called ‘humans.'”

He seemed very willing to answer Mo Ling’s questions, his words filled with pride.

“We were originally a race from outside the Abyss, but our branch came to the Abyss Third Layer by chance.

“Humans have strong adaptability, so our branch settled down in the Abyss Third Layer.”

Hearing Bai Zhou’s explanation, Mo Ling was stunned.

Another new background story?

At this moment, Mo Ling couldn’t tell whether Bai Zhou’s words were true or false.

“How did you come to the Abyss Third Layer?” Mo Ling decided to continue questioning.

Bai Zhou didn’t seem reluctant to tell these things. He tilted his head, seemingly thinking about how to explain this history to Mo Ling.

“You should know about emperors, right? People like chiefs or kings.” Bai Zhou asked.

“I know.”

“We were sent by the emperor…”

Just like that, Bai Zhou told Mo Ling a completely new, even more incredible “background story.”

…

The story was simple.

The human emperor of that time, after unifying the territory and ensuring the country was secure, began “seeking immortals and asking about the Way.”

After aging, the emperor fell into the illusion of pursuing “eternal life” for “eternal rule.”

“The emperor was unwilling to accept this and wanted immortality.”

To realize this dream, he widely recruited alchemists and pill refiners, seeking various secrets of immortality.

After learning about the immortal mountains overseas, the emperor sent people to lead thousands of people, bringing food, clothing, medicine, and farming tools to seek immortals at sea.

This fleet sailed into the endless ocean but encountered unprecedented storms.

Or rather, it wasn’t storms, but some kind of unknown phenomenon.

Seawater flowed upward in reverse, and an inverted whirlpool drew seawater up to the sky, forming a huge water sphere like an olive.

The edges of the water sphere flickered with golden light.

A golden current spread out like a carpet from the center of the water sphere to the bow of the ship, welcoming the fleet with the most magnificent ceremony.

The alchemists of that time all thought it was the work of immortals and dared not act rashly.

The water sphere didn’t urge them either, but quietly suspended in the air.

Instead, the alchemists on the ship were all in an uproar:

“The immortal’s meaning seems to be for us to go over?”

“Should we go over?”

“Of course we should. Isn’t that why we came to seek immortals? The immortals have come out to welcome us.”

In the end, the alchemists still didn’t dare disobey the immortal’s will and steered the ship forward along the golden current.

Until they crossed the current and arrived at a sea they had never seen before…