I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 66

A few days later, fully prepared, Li Luo said goodbye to the monitoring station and brought the cube to the entrance to the second layer

Inverted Mountain.

The road was winding, and the mountain itself looked ordinary. If not for following the girl, Mo Ling thought he’d never have found the place.

What surprised Mo Ling was that after so many years of development, the facilities at the foot of Inverted Mountain were already very complete.

It had even become a small town, much more prosperous than the Seventh Monitoring Station.

But he soon understood-this was the only passage from the first to the second layer, a key checkpoint, so of course it was bustling.

Shops were everywhere; anything you could think of was for sale, even some specialties from Dawn City.

“Business had even reached here?” Mo Ling could hardly believe it.

There were many uniformed staff, since inspections and security needed lots of people.

Fully armed squads patrolled everywhere.

Hunters came and went, carrying all kinds of relics, some huge, some tiny and intricate.

But something as big as the cube, flying in the air, was still very special, drawing many glances from other hunters.

There were many stalls, especially popular were strange abyssal plants and animals, and maps. An interesting stall might be surrounded by curious hunters.

Some hunters even sold useless relics here, so those with enough points but no relic could make up the numbers.

The authorities didn’t mind; they cared more about points.

The points system was meant to get hunters familiar with the Abyss, gain experience, and learn the dangers.

Ten thousand points took a long time to earn; by then, rookie hunters became veterans, just as the authorities wanted.

As long as you had the points, you could go to the next layer-an unspoken rule at Inverted Mountain.

Officials even turned a blind eye to some undefined things; some hunters tamed an aberrant beast and called it their relic, and could pass as long as it was accepted, reaching the second layer.

Li Luo only learned this after talking with other hunters here.

But those hunters, seeing the cube behind Li Luo, couldn’t hide their envy.

In the first layer, such a special relic was rare.

“When you get to the second layer, there’ll be more relics. Disorderly Dunes is the main source of relics in the Abyss,” a hunter told Li Luo.

After wandering around, Li Luo soon passed through the town and reached the checkpoint.

The checkpoint at the mountain foot processed people quickly; staff just checked Li Luo’s points and nameplate, glanced at the cube, and let her through.

It seemed casual, but around the checkpoint was a ring of machine gun-like devices, and soldiers in advanced armor holding all sorts of relics.

These relics looked extraordinary, clearly not common items.

It seemed few dared cause trouble here.

Past the checkpoint, a huge screen by the road looped warnings about the Inverted Mountain passage:

The authorities would issue protective suits to all hunters with enough points; the suits could be compressed after passing through and wouldn’t take up space.

A guide would lead hunters up the mountain; the top could be freely visited, with clear signs and directions everywhere.

Past the summit, gravity would change rapidly, and the second layer’s abyssal pressure would hit, causing extreme discomfort, needing time to adjust.

The last and most important point: after crossing the summit, the landing spot was random.

Completely random.

You could land anywhere in the Disorderly Dunes.

So, the authorities added parachutes and jets to the suits, and you had to stay alert when passing through. If the terrain looked wrong, act fast.

But most landing spots were desert, so no need to worry too much.

After landing, you had to quickly find a nearby landmark, determine your location, and go to the nearest monitoring station to check in.

The screen also showed all the Disorderly Dunes landmarks, so hunters without the image database could download it.

With the image database, you could identify your location after landing; most places could be recognized directly.

……

Li Luo downloaded the database and carefully reread the warnings.

“No wonder it’s called Disorderly Dunes-even the landing spot is random,” Mo Ling thought.

But thanks to earlier explorers, these random spots had become regular.

Marveling at the progress in Abyss exploration, Mo Ling looked at the hunters climbing the mountain.

They were all suited up, checking their gear, everything vacuum-packed, with staff helping check.

So convenient.

Li Luo put on her suit and followed staff up the mountain.

After a while, Mo Ling suddenly realized something was wrong.

“What about me?”

At the top of Inverted Mountain, the air would be thin, so Mo Ling changed the air in the cube in advance, pumping in more air.

“I shouldn’t suffocate.”

A bit further up, Mo Ling found another problem.

“Why hasn’t gravity changed?”

He experimentally released control of the cube, letting it slowly drop to the ground.

Outside the cube, gravity had definitely dropped-a lot.

But inside, he felt no change at all.

Even halfway up, Mo Ling felt no weightlessness.

After a few experiments, he understood.

“The cube blocks gravity changes?”

He couldn’t make sense of it; the difference between inside and outside made him dizzy.

Following the mountain road, they soon reached the summit. Mo Ling was still sitting steadily in the cube, but outside, the cube was floating without control.

“So strange.”

Staff guided hunters to jump off the summit in turn.

Mo Ling saw hunters float into the air, disappearing in moments.

Soon it was Li Luo’s turn; she held the cube and jumped, entering anti-gravity.

Mo Ling piloted the cube up.

The instant gravity went negative, Mo Ling finally felt the change.

But it was intense.

His senses flipped, his head slammed into the cube, no cushioning at all.

He tumbled inside, sky and earth swapping places, nearly busting his bones.

After a moment, things returned to normal.

“What the hell was that?” Mo Ling muttered, clutching his head.

Outside, Li Luo floated with the cube, very calm.