I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 271

“You should lead the fish swarm to swim higher.”

Zero One said to the little small fry, then immediately looked up at the sky.

What was in the higher places?

The little small fry looked up to see a layer of reflective membrane, just like the ones it had seen before.

“Continue going up?”

The little small fry also understood that its wild thoughts were meaningless—Zero One was right.

Looking at the fish swarm behind it, the little small fry shook its head, casting away those useless anxieties, and led the fish swarm upward.

Arriving before the membrane, it once again controlled the fish swarm to transform into a giant dragon and passed through.

When the giant dragon passed through the membrane and turned back to look down, it discovered that the membrane just now was only a horizontal line-like ravine.

“Still characters…”

The giant dragon looked up at the sky—there was still another layer of reflective membrane.

Layer after layer, each time it crossed a membrane, the giant dragon would look back.

As expected, these membranes all turned into horizontal ravines stretching across.

The giant dragon’s speed grew faster and faster, charging through those layered membranes, crossing boundary after boundary, until something different appeared before its eyes.

That was also a membrane, but it wasn’t reflective—it seemed transparent. Through this membrane, everything outside could be seen constantly changing. Those scenes that had once appeared in the little small fry’s dreams appeared on the membrane.

“That side might be the real world. It won’t be as pure as the world of characters, so everything is combined together,” Zero One speculated.

The giant dragon just floated there, watching everything beyond the membrane.

Compared to the world of characters, the outside world was much more vibrant. Before long, many creatures the little small fry had never seen flashed past beyond the membrane, looking bizarre and strange.

The combinations of those things were also much richer than what the little small fry had seen in its dreams, and naturally much more beautiful.

As the little small fry watched, it noticed a light sphere floating in the sky.

“Is that the sun, Zero One?”

“It should be.”

“But it doesn’t look as red as the ones we’ve seen.”

“But it seems to be slowly turning red.”

Hearing Zero One’s words, the little small fry immediately observed carefully and found that the sun really was slowly turning red. As it turned red, it was also setting.

Could it be like in the dream—when the sun sets, the moon would rise?

Sure enough, when that crimson sun set, before long, faint moonlight scattered from the sky.

It was the moon!

There was a moon outside too!

The little small fry was overjoyed.

The moonlight passed through the membrane, illuminating the giant dragon’s body, incredibly real.

“Finally, this isn’t moonlight from within characters!”

The little small fry felt it had found a new goal.

Looking at that familiar yet strange moon in the sky, infinite longing burst forth.

Under the little small fry’s control, the giant dragon unconsciously touched the membrane again. But after touching it, the little small fry froze once more.

For a long time.

Only then did the little small fry slowly speak.

“Zero One, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“This time you can’t answer from the fish swarm’s perspective. I want to hear your own opinion, an opinion that belongs to you alone.” The little small fry suddenly made a special request.

But Zero One still agreed, “Please ask.”

The little small fry thought for a moment, then began to ask:

“If I gave you a choice, would you want to transform into a giant dragon and soar through the sky, conquering everything, or be a free and carefree little fish, without worries?”

Hearing the little small fry’s question, Zero One fell unusually silent for a long time.

“Of course the fish swarm should transform into a giant dragon and soar through the sky…”

“Don’t use the fish swarm’s perspective. I’m asking about yourself.” The little small fry interrupted Zero One’s answer.

Zero One fell silent again.

The little small fry had never seen Zero One hesitate like this.

In its memory, Zero One never hesitated and was very decisive about everything. Every time the little small fry asked Zero One something, it could always quickly give an answer.

It had never expressed its personal wishes, but unexpectedly, this question had made it fall into such long silence.

However, even though Zero One hadn’t answered, the little small fry roughly understood what it was thinking.

Zero One then slowly spoke, “I am your replica. All choices are the same as yours.”

It still didn’t answer directly.

But the little small fry had already understood everything.

“I always thought you were different from me…”

What difference was there?

The foundation of “Swarm” was all the little small fry. These replicas were all the same as it—there was fundamentally no difference.

It wanted to be free and carefree, and the other replicas also wanted to be free and carefree.

It liked the moon, and the other replicas also liked the moon.

There had never been any difference.

But it had always thought it was out of place.

The little small fry regretted very much that for such a long time, it had never seriously conversed with any replica, until now.

“Zero One, I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Zero One asked in confusion.

“As the leader of the fish swarm, I haven’t done as much as you have.” The little small fry recalled everything from before and found it really wasn’t as good as Zero One.

“You’re overthinking.”

“No, I’m not overthinking. I just realized that being free and carefree has a price.” The little small fry murmured.

“You did those things I wasn’t willing to do, allowing me to have enough conditions to be free and carefree.”

“You helped me bear the price, helped me shoulder the responsibility. The entire fish swarm has been working hard for our unified goal. Only I was still indulging in those useless fantasies.”

“Actually, you all also want to be free and carefree, don’t you?”

The little small fry’s voice grew quieter and quieter.

Only now did it realize that unknowingly, the fish swarm had already done so much for it…

“You’re overthinking.”

Zero One answered the same way, but this time, its tone seemed much more relaxed.

“Look outside. It’s very beautiful.”

Zero One looked longingly toward beyond the membrane.

The bright moon hung in the sky, and familiar moonlight covered the giant dragon’s body.

Those replicas all looked together at that dreamlike bright moon.

The little small fry was stunned.

The moonlight flickering in their eyes seemed familiar.