I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 57

The giant strange egg was like a natural petri dish.

Countless primordial cells writhed inside, tiny cubes that looked clear and transparent.

Simple and beautiful.

Liang Zhi recorded the activity of these cells ravenously, his eyes bloodshot.

Captain Su walked up beside him and asked skeptically, “Is this really the common ancestor of all cells?”

Liang Zhi, focused on operating the tablet, took a long time to answer, “I know it is.”

Still the same enigmatic answer, with no evidence.

“And why are they cubes? You need to give me a reason, or I can’t believe you. Maybe this is just a special form of life, maybe it’s not even a cell at all,” Captain Su remained doubtful.

But Liang Zhi ignored him, continuing to record the activity of the cube cells.

Captain Su stepped forward, carefully examining the screen and repeatedly asking Liang Zhi about the cells.

Liang Zhi still ignored him, as if possessed.

With each of Captain Su’s questions, his expression grew more twisted-excited, but also confused, extremely strange.

It was as if he was doing something that made him happy, while doubting his own actions.

“Why was he like this? Had he realized something?”

As he operated, Liang Zhi muttered softly to himself, “No, no, why do I know so much?”

“This is something I’ve played out countless times in my mind. This really is the primordial cell.” The words sounded like he was answering Captain Su, but also confirming himself.

But his voice was very small, full of self-doubt.

His movements slowed, often pausing, dazed, lost in thought.

At that moment, the liquid flowing from the egg filled the container.

Liang Zhi, on instinct, moved the container away and sealed the egg’s cut with tape.

But his palm was already covered in transparent slime. He stared at his hand, stunned.

He no longer cared about the primordial cell he had chased so hard. He stared blankly ahead, dazed.

Then, slowly, he stood up, spread his hands, his face full of confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Captain Su stepped back, realizing something was off.

The excitement was gone from Liang Zhi’s face. He frowned, looked around, and his eyes returned to the egg.

For a long time.

His confused eyes regained clarity, and he suddenly looked at Captain Su with a hint of apology.

Then he said apologetically, “I’m sorry for bringing so much trouble to the outpost, for getting so many people killed.”

Captain Su was very confused, but still replied seriously, “You’ll be judged officially for your actions. I believe there will be a fair verdict, you don’t need to apologize to me here.”

“If you really did it for Abyss research, that’s a loss we can accept.”

Liang Zhi shook his head. “The Red Rope Worm was unnecessary, the riot was unnecessary, those soldiers shouldn’t have died.”

He looked at the sheep-headed person still picking up spines on the ground and gave a bitter smile.

“It was unnecessary too. All that mutation, the Ugly Duckling Phenomenon’s tracking-it was just my wishful thinking.”

The sheep-headed person showed no reaction, completely ignoring him.

Liang Zhi’s increasingly strange behavior made the surrounding soldiers raise their weapons in caution.

“If you have anything to say, save it for the monitoring station. Finish your research first. I’ll report everything you’ve done truthfully,” Captain Su said solemnly.

“Thank you.” Liang Zhi thanked Captain Su, then looked at the egg, his expression no longer fanatical.

Staring at the egg, he suddenly asked,

“Why did you do this?”

As Liang Zhi spoke, the egg actually trembled slightly.

The growth rate of all plants and animals in the acceleration zone suddenly sped up.

The plants grew denser, then withered faster. The bugs shot across the area like meteors, born and gone in an instant.

The meatball that was once the Transparent Tribe leader also cycled endlessly between vanishing and reappearing.

The sheep-headed person suddenly stood up, staring intently at the egg.

Everyone tensed.

The transparent liquid in the egg suddenly swirled, forming strange bubbles.

The bubbles changed and twisted, taking the shapes of various creatures.

First round cells appeared, then soft coelenterates, writhing inside the egg.

Then they shifted into long, flatworms and nematodes, then suddenly swelled into mollusks and echinoderms.

Just as everyone thought the bubbles would continue evolving through the history of life-

It abruptly jumped to a fixed fern plant.

Countless biological images unfolded in the bubbles.

Lifelike.

Even some never-before-seen creatures appeared above, including species from the Abyss.

Mo Ling even saw the Oscillation Beast among them.

Birds, mammals, arthropods…

The changes sped up, then stopped instantly.

It was a human.

A perfectly average human, average build, average face, nothing special.

Seeing the human figure appear, Liang Zhi asked again,

“Why did you do this?”

At his question, the bubble figure looked at him and slowly approached the egg’s inner wall.

It stretched out its hand, touching the soft shell, pressing a handprint into the gelatinous surface.

The bubble person’s arm extended, pushing through the shell.

The shell turned into a water membrane, wrapping around the bubble person’s arm, forming the shape of a hand.

The water membrane flowed, forming a humanoid vesicle.

As the bubble person kept pushing, the water membrane wrapped around more and more, until it finally pushed the bubble person out.

“This was-exocytosis!”

The word flashed through Mo Ling’s mind.

He suddenly realized-the giant egg was like a cell itself.

The water membrane wrapping the bubble person separated from the egg, the bubble person floating outside, encased in a vesicle, drifting in the air.

Everyone was stunned, not daring to move.

The bubble person was still adjusting to floating, but Liang Zhi stepped forward.

“I should have realized this long ago.”

He circled the floating bubble person, then came to the egg, touching the gelatinous shell.

He knocked on the egg, producing a dull sound, then pressed his eye to the shell, peering inside.

After a moment, his expression grew more serious.

He suddenly turned to the bubble person, confusion gone, and said firmly,

“Those little cubes aren’t the primordial cell at all-you are!”