I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 267

When a race’s abilities become powerful enough, expansion and conquest become merely a matter of time.

The mermen continued expanding their territory, gradually bringing various authorities under their control. Finally, the fish swarm set their sights on those authorities they had never dared to even think about before.

The sun.

Little small fry had always told the other replicas that the sun was an extremely terrifying authority. The encounter when they first discovered the sun had always left Little small fry deeply frightened.

Infinite high temperatures, blazing light – just thinking about it made Little small fry’s body ache faintly.

This was a scar it would never forget.

The fish swarm also took this very seriously. If they could conquer the sun, it would mean they had the ability to defeat all authorities.

But they hadn’t thought of any solution.

The replicas sent to scout the sun had never returned, presumably meeting with misfortune. This only further proved how terrifying the sun was.

The fish swarm’s conquest had reached a deadlock.

Until Zero One suggested to Little small fry – use the “sea” to extinguish the sun.

The fish swarm had recently obtained the sea’s authority, but using the sea’s authority wasn’t so simple – it required sufficient time.

Although they had already acquired many body-strengthening authorities, the fish swarm still couldn’t last long near the sun, unless there was something that could allow the fish swarm to resist the light from the sun.

“Zero One, I know what you want to say, but that won’t work,” Little small fry immediately guessed Zero One’s purpose.

“This is a necessary condition,” Zero One calmly persuaded.

“Do we really need to conquer everything?” Little small fry suddenly asked Zero One such a question.

“I’ll do everything as you say,” Zero One answered nothing.

“Don’t just follow what I say. I want to hear what you think. You see much further than I do regarding the fish swarm’s development. Go ahead and tell me.”

“Alright.”

Zero One swayed its body and seriously asked Little small fry a question:
“Have you seen the edge?”

“I have. A place where there’s nothing at all.”

It was an empty scene , except for a void, there was nothing else. After entering through the membrane, there was no choice but to return the way they came.

The fish swarm speculated that this might be the edge of their world.

Zero One continued explaining its perspective:

“The edge represents that our world is finite. If the fish swarm wants to continue developing, we need to find the infinite within the finite, or find a way to escape from here, or break through the edge.”

“So we can’t let any of those powerful authorities slip by. Perhaps one of them is exactly what we’re looking for – the means to achieve our goal.”

Seemingly worried that its words weren’t persuasive enough, Zero One changed its approach and asked Little small fry:

“Have you thought about the fish swarm’s future?”

“What about the future?”

“The future… if the fish swarm really obtains all the authorities, but because of the edge’s existence, what meaning would these authorities have?” Zero One said very seriously, “There would be no new things. Having everything, but never being able to get out.”

“Completely locked away…”

Little small fry listened to Zero One’s words and finally felt that endless despair.

It looked at Zero One and said somewhat helplessly, “So we can’t give up any hope.”

“You understand.”

“I understand. Go ahead and do it.”

“Alright.” Zero One agreed.

Little small fry watched Zero One’s gradually departing figure, feeling somewhat at a loss where it stood, unconsciously beginning to swim in circles.

“What are you going to do?” Mo Ling asked Jeff.

“I’m going to destroy the ‘moon.'”

Hearing Jeff’s answer, Mo Ling instantly understood why Little small fry was so conflicted.

To it, the moon was the only gentleness it had encountered since coming to this world.

The other replicas didn’t understand Little small fry’s thoughts and would only see it as an authority that could be utilized.

When facing the race’s development, Little small fry still chose to let Zero One go ahead and act, or rather, it had no choice at all.

Little small fry clearly wasn’t the type of personality that could see into the future.

During the time Mo Ling had observed it, what it did most was play – playing in various scenes:
Racing with replicas in the sea to see who swam faster.

Playing hide-and-seek with the fish swarm in the scenes.

After obtaining authorities, the first thing it would do was use these authorities to play various games.

Of course, what it liked most was staying alone under the moonlight for very, very long periods.

Since the sea was destroyed, Little small fry had been dejected. Only when staying under the moonlight could it cheer up a little.

It wasn’t selfish. Although it had absolute control over the fish swarm, it didn’t treat the fish swarm as tools, but truly regarded them as its people.

Little small fry could recognize every replica. Although it was very lazy with naming, every time it played, it could accurately call out those replicas’ name numbers. It wasn’t careless about this matter.

In choices regarding the fish swarm, it also knew that Zero One saw much further and more clearly than it did. Playing and escaping couldn’t solve the fish swarm’s problems.

Only by being like Zero One – treating all authorities as means that could be utilized, not giving up any possible hope – could the fish swarm be led out of their predicament.

The key to the lock trapping the fish swarm couldn’t be found by Little small fry alone, but Zero One could find it.

After understanding all this, Little small fry’s only choice was to let Zero One go ahead and act.

“Did you destroy the moon?” Mo Ling asked.

“Of course, that was the only way to resist the sun…”

Before long, Zero One returned to Little small fry’s side.

Little small fry asked the same question as Mo Ling:

“Did you destroy the moon?”

Zero One also gave the same answer.

“Of course.”

The moon’s authority came to Little small fry. It felt this familiar power and was filled with melancholy.

“Exactly the same.”

“Take it for what comes next.” After experiencing it for a while, Little small fry threw all of the moon’s authority to Zero One.

What followed went very smoothly. With the moon authority’s help, the fish swarm quickly conquered the sun.

The sea submerged the light sphere, extinguishing the last bit of warmth.

That once insurmountable mighty power now lay beneath the fish swarm’s feet, no longer dazzling.

The sun’s authority was also brought under the fish swarm’s control.

After obtaining the sun’s authority, the fish swarm discovered that its power could destroy anything, representing the death of all things.

Possessing the sun’s authority, the fish swarm could destroy all scenes they saw.

This also greatly accelerated the fish swarm’s conquest speed.

After understanding the sun’s authority, the fish swarm was also curious about why the moon could heal the sun’s inescapable destruction.

Finally, after continuous experimentation, the fish swarm figured out the moon’s authority.

“It’s time. The moon controls time, making everything flow backward, returning to the moment before destruction occurred.”

“As long as death hasn’t happened yet, there won’t be death.”