I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 46

The elder was now full of despair, looking apologetically at the squad.

“I shouldn’t have brought you here. I can’t control the tribe’s decisions.”

A soldier was still puzzled. “But Prophet Baixiang hasn’t attacked us. Isn’t it fine?”

“It’s just that you’re not the target yet. Once the main targets are gone, it’ll come for you too,” the elder explained. “Prophet Baixiang is the Transparent Tribe’s secret. The leader won’t let you leave.”

He sighed helplessly. “When Baixiang appears, all flesh will perish. That’s the rule.”

“What exactly is that thing?” a soldier asked.

“It’s our ancestor,” the elder said, shocking everyone.

Then the elder began to tell the story of Prophet Baixiang.

……

Long ago, when the undying things came to this world, the Transparent Tribe decided to drive them out.

They blocked the cave exits, killing every Flesh Tribe that entered.

They also discovered that if they put undying things back in the cave, the cave would swallow them.

So the Transparent Tribe thought they’d found a way to expel the undying things.

But it didn’t last. Soon, undying wood began to appear in the underground world.

It grew in strange places, indistinguishable from Transparent Tribe plants.

These plants took over the growing space of the Transparent Tribe’s own plants.

By the time they realized their world was full of these plants, it was too late.

The plants were everywhere, mixed in with native flora.

Then, small Flesh Tribe animals appeared everywhere, attacking Transparent Tribe creatures. Their tiny wars raged underground.

The prophet told the people to hunt and chop down Flesh Tribe plants and animals.

But the Transparent Tribe was few in number, and guarding the caves took most of their effort. Now they had to do even more, and were stretched thin.

The crisis worsened-they couldn’t clear the undying things as fast as they spread.

Large creatures began entering the world, even attacking the Transparent Tribe.

Giant Flesh Tribe insects and beasts drove them away from the cave exits.

But the disaster wasn’t over.

One day, intelligent Flesh Tribe arrived.

The prophet called them Flesh Tribe people. As soon as they arrived, they declared war on the Transparent Tribe.

With strong bodies and unique flight, the Transparent Tribe couldn’t fight them and were driven back to their villages.

So the prophet had an idea.

He would gather all the Transparent Tribe’s power.

He discovered that the Transparent Tribe could absorb the power of other Transparent Tribe creatures.

They began hunting their own kind, cutting off limbs and grafting them onto themselves.

As long as the grafted limb was attached quickly enough, the transparent liquid would fuse it to the body.

The prophet formed a unit called “Baixiang” (百相, “Hundred Forms”).

Everyone in the unit grafted powers from other Transparent Tribe creatures.

The prophet led by example, grafting the most.

The Baixiang unit began to counterattack the Flesh Tribe, using all sorts of beastly abilities to gain the upper hand.

The weak Transparent Tribe finally had the power to fight the undying things.

During the struggle, the prophet discovered that their transparent liquid could infect pregnant Flesh Tribe animals, causing their offspring to be born as Transparent Tribe.

This was an inspiring discovery.

If all undying things could be turned into Transparent Tribe, the disaster would end!

So during the counterattack, the Baixiang unit infected Flesh Tribe creatures and kept grafting powers.

But then, as the Baixiang unit routed the Flesh Tribe, disaster struck.

Some Baixiang soldiers went mad.

They had grafted too many powers, developing beastly traits. At first, their intelligence dropped; eventually, they couldn’t tell friend from foe and attacked at random.

The war was raging, so stopping the grafts was impossible.

So the prophet came up with a cruel solution.

He had the Baixiang kill their mad comrades and graft their powers onto themselves.

“As long as we keep grafting, the power will last forever!” At this point, the elder’s expression was almost twisted.

Repeated grafting made the Baixiang even stronger and more brutal. After battles, the field would be strewn with flesh.

Not only that, but Baixiang became addicted to grafting, unable to control their urge to kill.

Even if they already had a power, they’d seek it again. For them, gaining power became more important than destroying the undying things.

The Transparent Tribe’s own creatures suffered mass slaughter by the Baixiang.

They also kept countless Flesh Tribe creatures as infection fodder.

Gradually, the Flesh Tribe migrated to the deep underground, while the Baixiang became wild monsters.

They killed more and more Transparent Tribe.

With repeated grafting, the number of Baixiang dwindled, but those who remained were unimaginably powerful and uncontrollable.

Baixiang were no longer the tribe’s guardians, but a Damocles sword hanging over them.

Fortunately, the Baixiang lost interest in weak powers and began fighting among themselves.

After a massive Baixiang war, only one remained.

This last Baixiang had all the powers of the whole unit-the most terrifying of all.

This is the current Prophet Baixiang.

The Transparent Tribe, exhausted by the civil war, shrank into small villages.

When the prophet was still sane, he set a restriction on himself, giving the Transparent Tribe the ability to control him.

He had the leader of the time imprison him beneath the village, to be released only in times of crisis.

Each successive leader kept the secret, telling as few as possible about Prophet Baixiang.

They deeply feared his power, and avoided using it, lest they become the tribe’s sinners.

Grafting became taboo.

The elder sighed deeply. “But the current leader uses Prophet Baixiang’s power often, always talking of war.”

“That Flesh Tribe traitor was also created with Prophet Baixiang’s power, to find where the Flesh Tribe were hiding in the deep underground.”

“Who would have thought the sheep-headed person would stumble upon it by chance.”

Mo Ling was shaken after hearing all this.

“No wonder I always felt its power was unusual.”