I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 32

“Comrades, our mission is complete. From now on, all newborn Transforming Trees can freely go to the Great Hollow Tree,” said the chieftain.

“No enemy will block them, and nothing can harm them.”

The chieftain was finally relieved, no longer as passionate as during the mobilization.

But the Transforming Trees couldn’t calm down at all, still responding to every word with excited cheers.

They had been suppressed for far too long.

The Qifang Tribe held a grand ceremony, the cube was lifted onto the altar, and they gathered around it in worship.

The Transforming Trees placed offerings all around the cube.

They praised the cube’s deeds, reciting its greatness.

“Praise the Holy Relic!”

By the time everything ended, it was already late at night.

The chieftain once again sent the guards away and came to the cube.

Though he looked deflated again, he seemed much more at ease.

“Holy Relic, you came to save me, didn’t you?”

The chieftain leaned against the cube’s metal wall.

“I suddenly don’t know what to do next.”

“I wanted to save my suffering comrades, but after succeeding, I suddenly feel a bit empty inside.”

Mo Ling understood a little.

The chieftain had gone to such lengths to fabricate faith just to get the Transforming Trees to help him drive out their enemies.

Now that the goal was achieved, as the tribe’s leader, he was left on a pedestal, not knowing what to do.

Did the Qifang Tribe even need to exist anymore?

Mo Ling sighed.

Compared to other Transforming Trees, the chieftain was truly special.

He could always think further ahead.

The chieftain leaned against the cube, staring blankly at the distant tribe, silent for a long time.

“Thank you,” the chieftain suddenly said, turning to the cube.

“You must have self-awareness, right? I can feel it. Transforming Trees can sense consciousness.”

His words startled Mo Ling, but he quickly calmed down.

Mo Ling suddenly recalled the first time he met a Transforming Tree-it had greeted the cube before Li Luo.

So that’s how it was.

He hadn’t expected the Transforming Trees to have this ability.

Mo Ling made the cube float a little, then settle back down, as a response to the chieftain’s question.

The chieftain said with emotion, “It seems you’ve known everything all along, just never bothered to expose me.”

He fetched a cloth and gently wiped the ashes from the cube.

“I’m sorry, you must have known I was using you, right?”

Mo Ling was stunned-he hadn’t thought that much about it.

It was all just the chieftain’s own overthinking.

After cleaning the cube, the chieftain asked, “Now that everything’s done, are you going to leave the Qifang Tribe?”

That was true.

Mo Ling did want to keep exploring now that he could move freely-he wanted to see what this world was really like.

But he was starving.

He hadn’t eaten in two days.

Controlling the cube for so long had made him dizzy.

Earlier, to clear space inside the cube for battle, Mo Ling had thrown out all his stored food, keeping only a few bottles of water.

There was nothing to eat in the tribe, and he had to worry about whether the fruits had been infected by Theseus Cells.

Mo Ling started to miss the days with Li Luo, eating and drinking his fill every day.

Thinking of this, he made the cube vibrate a little.

Although the chieftain had guessed the answer, he was still very dejected. “I really wish I could follow you.”

He thought for a while, then said, “Leave tomorrow morning. I’ll have the others see you off.”

Mo Ling wasn’t in a hurry, so he vibrated the cube in response.

After the chieftain left, Mo Ling, mentally and physically exhausted, fell into a deep sleep inside the cube.

He even had a dream.

In the dream, Mo Ling was enormous.

He’d become a cube-headed figure, sitting on a giant metal throne, motionless and overlooking everything.

Countless Transforming Trees surrounded him, endlessly chanting, “Praise the Holy Relic!”

They all tried to say every kind of praise to Mo Ling, then dug pits around the throne and jumped in to become trees.

The closer a tree was to the throne, the greater the honor.

When the front ones transformed, those behind surged forward, repeating their predecessors’ actions.

The praise never stopped.

The noise kept bombarding Mo Ling.

When he opened his eyes again, it was morning.

The cube was already surrounded by Transforming Trees reciting hymns.

For a moment, Mo Ling couldn’t tell dream from reality.

The chieftain announced to the tribe:

“The Holy Relic has completed its mission. From now on, the development of the Transforming Tree tribe is up to us. The Holy Relic will return to where it came from, and only in times of crisis will it descend again.”

Mo Ling timed it perfectly, making the cube float up and move toward the Great Hollow Tree, leaving behind the reluctant gazes of the Transforming Trees.

After a while, Mo Ling noticed no one was following, so he slowly floated out from behind a thick root.

“Acting is so exhausting.”

He could finally put the Transforming Tree matters aside for now, but before returning, he wanted to search for traces of Theseus Cells.

The cube flew away from the Great Hollow Tree.

Along the way, Mo Ling saw many familiar creatures, but none of the populations seemed affected by biological chaos.

There wasn’t a trace of Theseus Cells-plants and animals alike.

It was just like a copy of the containment zone, but there wasn’t a single anomaly.

Mo Ling grew more and more uneasy, a terrible suspicion forming in his mind.

The cube sped up, weaving through the forest.

Sure enough, before long, Mo Ling was overshadowed again.

“A high wall!”

A familiar high wall.

Mo Ling looked outside the wall in disbelief, and his worst fear came true.

Outside the wall was a world made of Theseus Cells!

Mo Ling quickly tested it-trees and insects outside the wall turned transparent liquid when stripped away.

This was exactly what happened to bodies replaced by Theseus Cells.

“If this world was entirely occupied by Theseus Cells, who built the wall?”

Mo Ling shuddered at the thought.

As he was puzzling over it, a figure approached.

He wore an outpost combat uniform, looking perfectly normal.

He raised a recorder toward the cube:

“Anti-cell Containment Zone Area 13, found an unidentified metal cube, requesting backup, please respond.”

After a few acknowledgments came through the radio, the man walked up to the cube.

He knocked on it, muttering, “What is this thing?”

He wore a Hunter nameplate, looking just like the soldiers Mo Ling had seen at the outpost.

But Mo Ling noticed something different.

The man’s arm was wounded, wrapped in a bandage, with a bit of bright red blood seeping through.

The blood soaked into the bandage, but gradually lost its color, turning pink.

Then, the pink faded further.

In the end, only a faint transparent watermark remained on the bandage…

Seeing this, a chill ran down Mo Ling’s spine.