I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 44

Inside the grand temple.

In the center, surrounded by tall stone columns, stood a finely crafted statue of a goddess.

Her clothes looked like melting liquid, morphing and twisting, the ends transforming into all kinds of plants.

Her lower body was a coiled serpent’s tail, from which sprouted all sorts of animal limbs.

This goddess was a mixture of all kinds of creatures, yet her head was a beautiful woman’s, gazing lovingly into the distance.

Her hands, covered in plants, reached forward, a vine winding up to her palm, which held a strange spine.

The statue’s square base was carved with a dense network of circles, each with a dot in the center-like tightly packed cells.

The spine stretched long over the base, spiraling down to the ground and into the earth.

The lifelike sculpture drew everyone’s gaze, and Mo Ling was captivated by its bizarre beauty.

He suddenly realized the goddess’s spine looked just like the one in his cube.

Mo Ling checked and found it was indeed very similar.

But the most important thing right now wasn’t the spine, but the figure on the floor before the goddess.

It stood with its back to the crowd, facing the goddess, perfectly still.

It was the sheep-headed person.

What lay before it made everyone freeze, including the two tribes who’d arrived first.

It was a giant wooden frame, made of crossed logs in the shape of the character “米”.

The frame was planted in the ground, and on top hung a dying Flesh Tribe person.

His arms and legs had been split vertically from end to root, each half tied with vines to the top of the frame, suspended in the air.

The sheep-headed person had turned this Flesh Tribe man into a living Vitruvian Man!

The chainsaw on its arm hadn’t even retracted, still spinning rapidly.

Yet the watching Flesh Tribe didn’t intervene.

Because the suspended Flesh Tribe man’s wounds were dripping transparent liquid!

The Flesh Tribe exchanged looks, sniffing the air in disbelief.

The Transparent Tribe leader’s expression shifted wildly.

The sheep-headed person wasn’t done. It kept fiddling with the hanging Flesh Tribe man.

It tightened the vines to keep him from moving, ignoring his agonized cries.

It kept moving the frame, placing it in the center of the temple, directly before the goddess statue.

This desecration finally became too much for some Transparent Tribe members.

“What are you doing? Get that thing out of here!” a few, who hadn’t seen the sheep-headed person before, shouted angrily as they approached.

The sheep-headed person turned, its rectangular pupils staring blankly at the approaching Transparent Tribe.

One circled around, reaching to touch the frame, but as soon as his hand lifted, it left his body.

The sheep-headed person swung its chainsaw up from below, slicing off the arm, which fell, oozing transparent liquid.

It happened so fast, the Transparent Tribe member didn’t even react, staring at his empty arm.

When the pain hit, he clutched the smooth stump and screamed.

“Ahhh!”

His terrified wails echoed through the temple.

The sheep-headed person didn’t attack further, but curiously watched the severed-armed Transparent Tribe, then bleated, “Baa baa baa,” a few times.

Then it raised its own right hand and chopped it off with the chainsaw.

Its hoof fell to the ground.

“Baa baa baa! Baa baa baa!” The sheep-headed person also cried out in pain, the two voices echoing.

The wounded Transparent Tribe member, horrified, forgot all about desecration and scrambled back to his companions.

The sheep-headed person mimicked him, staggering after him, bleating loudly.

But after a few steps, its arm fully healed.

So it stopped imitating, stood still, and turned back to the frame, as if nothing had happened, carefully sawing at the vines.

The leader couldn’t take it anymore and demanded of the Flesh Tribe, “You’ve found the culprit. Aren’t you going to punish it?”

The Flesh Tribe shrugged indifferently. “It’s not the culprit-it helped us find your traitor. It should be a hero.”

They didn’t even question why their comrade was bleeding transparent liquid, just labeled him a “traitor.”

“I actually admire its actions. If you want to catch it, do it yourself.” The Flesh Tribe looked pleased.

At that moment, the “traitor” on the frame finally died from the torture, his body turning transparent as liquid poured down.

The sheep-headed person grew frantic, tightening the vines to hold the body, but the liquefaction was too fast. It realized it was futile and gave up.

It stood before the frame, watching its creation reach the end.

When it was over, the sheep-headed person picked up the now-empty frame and walked out of the temple.

A soldier in the group quietly asked Captain Su, “Captain, should we attack it?”

“If you want to attack, go ahead. Can you beat it now?”

The soldier was silenced.

Everyone stepped aside; no one tried to stop the bizarre sheep-headed person.

As it approached, it seemed to recognize the floating cube, paused, and lifted its frame, shaking it.

“Baa baa!”

After a few bleats, it slung the frame over its shoulder and walked out.

Noticing the soldier who’d attacked it before, it lifted the frame and waved it the same way.

“What’s it doing?” a soldier asked.

“Waving hello?”

“Aren’t we its enemies? Why is it greeting us?”

The soldiers whispered, speculating about the sheep-headed person’s behavior, but no one knew what it wanted.

When it reached the Flesh Tribe, one of them blocked its path and patted its shoulder.

“Thanks for helping us get rid of the traitor,” the Flesh Tribe man praised.

Everyone was stunned.

Just as they thought the sheep-headed person would attack, it simply bleated twice and walked around the Flesh Tribe, heading out.

Mo Ling was shocked.

“Why didn’t it attack?”

Recalling its previous actions, Mo Ling suddenly had a guess.

“Could it be that it won’t attack normal-cell lifeforms on its own?”

Note:

Vitruvian Man: Reference to Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing.