I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 38

Captain Su saw that Li Luo was also ready to enter the cave and asked, “Li Luo, do you need any supplies?”

Li Luo thought for a moment and said, “Food.”

So a small bag of canned food was brought over, and Li Luo slung it over her back with a flick.

Seeing everyone ready, Captain Su didn’t hesitate and gave the order, “Let’s go.”

He took the lead, entering the cave, with several deputies following closely behind.

Mo Ling and Li Luo were in the middle of the group.

Controlling the cube into the cave, the flesh nodules accepted everything, pushing the cube smoothly inside.

After a turn, the cave sent the cube down a slope.

The speed increased as the nodules squirmed faster, squeezing the cube downward like an intestine.

Mo Ling saw that behind the nodules, the cave wall was covered in tiny fungi like mushrooms, and further back was white fungal flesh.

The strong fungal flesh had fibrous structures inside, expanding and contracting, extremely tough, surging up and down like waves.

Although the cave twisted and turned, Mo Ling inside the cube didn’t feel tossed around at all-just a soft ride.

As the speed increased, the nodules grew longer, eventually wrapping the entire cube.

Mo Ling quickly straightened up, bracing himself against the metal wall, but was still shaken dizzy.

Finally, the nodules began to slow the cube down.

After a stretch of deceleration, Mo Ling saw the exit.

It was an opening identical to the entrance above, slanting downward, aimed at a giant mushroom cap.

The cube was thrown onto the mushroom cap, pressing a deep pit into the soft flesh, then slowly bouncing back up.

Seeing they’d finally arrived, Mo Ling quickly controlled the cube to return to the air.

This was a vast underground world, countless stone pillars holding up a pitch-black sky.

Yet life here was especially abundant, with giant mushrooms and glowing plants everywhere.

It reminded Mo Ling of a certain period-the Carboniferous.

The air was warm and humid. After just a short time, the cube was covered in water droplets.

The plants looked extremely dense and lush, especially ferns, which occupied much of the lower space, their roots tangled in the damp soil.

There were also many huge-looking insects, matching the Carboniferous’s other name, “the Age of Giant Insects.”

Soon, Mo Ling saw Li Luo and the soldiers following close behind.

Captain Su had already contacted the soldiers who’d come down before, and soon they returned to the passage.

“What were you thinking, acting so rashly? Once you knew it was safe down here, why didn’t you report back?” Captain Su scolded.

The soldiers apologized repeatedly, explaining until they’d reported the lamb’s escape direction, at which point Captain Su stopped berating them.

Once everyone was assembled, Captain Su began assigning tasks: one person would return above to report, several would stay to set up camp, and he would lead most of the group to explore this underground world.

Li Luo went to the side, pulled up a blade of grass, and found that the break did not turn into transparent Theseus Cells.

She told Captain Su, who quickly had the soldiers check the surrounding flora and fauna.

The result: some of the nearby plants and small animals were Theseus Cell organisms, others were normal cell organisms.

“Captain, the flesh nodules in the passage are normal cell organisms, but the mushroom we landed on for cushioning is a Theseus Cell organism.”

There were places like this?

After a rest, Captain Su led the squad in the direction the lamb had fled.

The ground vegetation was so dense, and the surface so uneven, that fallen branches under the low plants made progress extremely difficult.

Some areas weren’t covered by glowing plants and were pitch-black, so they marked those spots and went around.

Soon, the team encountered something strange.

Ahead, a group of bird-eating spiders the size of human heads were fighting two red-eyed dragonflies with wingspans over two meters.

The spiders leapt into the air, biting at the dragonflies’ wings.

The dragonflies tried to fly higher but couldn’t shake the spiders off. Once their wings were bitten off, they fell to the plants below.

Then the spiders on the ground swarmed them, and in an instant, juice splattered everywhere.

The exploded dragonfly corpses quickly turned into transparent liquid, and the spiders gathered to drink it.

The remaining dragonflies swooped down to counterattack, but after biting off a spider’s leg, they were attacked in the same way and fell.

The spider with the severed limb oozed blue fluid as it sucked up the dragonfly’s transparent liquid.

The blue fluid dripped onto the leaves, staining them blue.

Mo Ling piloted the cube closer and saw everything clearly.

“Are they preying on Theseus Cell organisms?”

The spiders glanced up at the cube but ignored it, continuing to feast.

After eating their fill, they circled the squad a few times, then lost interest and left.

“Why aren’t they attacking us?” a soldier asked, weapon in hand.

“Maybe they’re full?”

“But that was only two dragonflies, how could they be full?”

No one had any idea. Captain Su had it recorded and moved on.

Gradually, Mo Ling flew the cube ahead, taking on the role of scout thanks to his ability to fly.

Soon, Mo Ling found signs of battle.

Looking ahead, he saw transparent liquid and some kind of clothing everywhere, so he quickly reported the discovery to Li Luo.

Everyone sped up to reach the battlefield.

Arriving, they saw the two sides locked in combat.

On one side were humanoid creatures, slightly shorter than humans, with limbs and bodies very similar to humans, slender and beautiful, with clear curves.

Their skin was exceptionally smooth, silvery-gray, with silver-white hair floating lightly, and features that matched human aesthetics.

If not for their elongated ears and pitch-black pupils, they could easily be mistaken for humans.

These beings wore light clothing and were speaking Abyssal in fear.

On the other side was the familiar lamb.

It had grown much larger, its legs thick and upright, chest-high to a person, with two chainsaw horns spinning wildly.

Its curly gray wool couldn’t hide its powerful muscles, and white flashes kept sparking from its hands as its cold gaze locked onto the fleeing humanoids.

Those who tried to attack were struck down by liquid chains from its body before they could get close.

The situation was dire.

“Attack!” Captain Su, seeing the lamb, decisively gave the order.