I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 7

Li Luo stopped in front of an automatic steamer.

Behind her was the cart carrying the cube, and behind the cart was a shopping trolley packed full.

The shopping cart was cluttered with all sorts of food and some outdoor camping gear.

Mo Ling was already numb.

Li Luo even bought a lot of expensive Relic Capsules, but she asked the salesgirl if these capsules could be used to store food.

Mo Ling felt worried for the girl’s wallet.

But soon, he was proven wrong. At checkout, Mo Ling glanced at Li Luo’s electronic screen.

The shopping expenses couldn’t even keep up with the number on Li Luo’s balance, which jumped up every second.

Rich people are truly incomprehensible!

Poverty really does limit imagination.

Li Luo headed to the modification workshop.

When she came out with the cart, it had been transformed from a supply cart into a small combat mountain vehicle.

Thick treads, powerful engines, the cube riding high as it roared through the Monitoring Station.

Behind the cube was a huge storage box with refrigeration, packed full of all kinds of items.

It was obvious her family owned a mine.

Li Luo walked out of the Monitoring Station under the astonished gaze of everyone.

At the station gate, Li Luo climbed into the driver’s seat and sped toward the valley indicated by the mission.

There were many other Hunters on the road, startled by the sudden mountain vehicle, staring dumbfounded as Li Luo sped away.

Mo Ling was speechless.

He remembered what Li Luo had said to the workshop staff when she entered-

“Can you modify this vehicle into a tank?”

The vehicle’s noise attracted many roadside Aberrations.

But before they could get close, Mo Ling turned them into chunks of meat.

Some of the weaker ones couldn’t even keep up with the mountain vehicle’s speed.

Two days later, the two of them arrived at the Oscillation Beast’s habitat-a trip that would have taken half a month on foot.

A vast valley.

Looking down from the road, there was no sign of Oscillation Beasts. Tall, dense trees covered the entire valley.

Morning mist wrapped the valley, thick moisture drifting up, making it seem peaceful and calm.

But faintly, there was a dull rumbling.

Oscillation Beasts, as the name suggests, are creatures capable of generating vibrations.

All animal behavior has some purpose-survival, mating, pleasure.

Yet scientists still don’t know why Oscillation Beasts generate vibrations.

Some research even suggests their vibrations are involuntary, as they can be woken by the vibrations of their companions.

Li Luo reviewed Oscillation Beast data on her screen while slowly driving the vehicle into the valley.

Mo Ling was eager to see this strange creature.

Luckily, they soon found one at the bottom of the valley.

At first glance, it looked like a giant mechanical spider with straight legs, its massive limbs made of metal parts no living thing should have.

But unlike a spider, it had only two awkwardly unbalanced mechanical legs, alternating front and back as it moved through the towering forest.

Its slender body blended into the valley’s trees.

On each leg was a small spherical metal mesh, inside which was tangled bright red flesh-the only visible biological structure.

That red flesh pulsed like a heart. With each beat, the rear mechanical leg would rotate half a turn to the front.

The sharp tip stabbed deep into the ground, and with each pulse, a deep vibration would come from the leg’s tip.

The cycle repeated-so long as it moved, the vibration never stopped.

Mo Ling stared blankly at the two-meter-tall giant creature.

Weird, indescribably weird.

Its body structure defied physics, its behavior had no purpose.

Li Luo followed behind, quietly recording the creature with her instruments.

According to records, Oscillation Beasts have very poor perception and usually wander aimlessly.

They can only sense vibrations close to their bodies-an even smaller range than Mo Ling’s perception.

When they sense an unfamiliar vibration, they go berserk and attack the source, like you being woken by a power drill at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday.

They even go mad and attack their own kind.

Yes, they are absolutely solitary creatures, yet they have dedicated habitats.

The first time Mo Ling read about them, he felt deep unease.

What is the point of their existence?

Mo Ling was troubled.

As he observed, the Oscillation Beast ahead suddenly stopped moving, the flesh in the spherical mesh freezing.

What happened?

When the mechanical leg turned again, it spun around and pointed straight at Mo Ling and Li Luo.

Damn.

The flesh suddenly pulsed violently like an exploding heart, the vibrations rapidly increasing.

The Oscillation Beast broke the norm, sensed movement behind it, and charged!

Because she knew the Oscillation Beast’s habits, Li Luo hadn’t kept much distance, so the sudden change caught her off guard.

Fortunately, Mo Ling’s focus was locked on the Oscillation Beast.

He quickly aimed at the spherical head and separated a large chunk of flesh.

The Oscillation Beast’s spherical head instantly had a cube-shaped hole.

The pulsing flesh oozed out of the metal mesh like jelly, dropping to the ground like a cracked egg.

Even after falling, it kept pulsing, like a red slime.

The hollow left by Mo Ling’s separation stretched out red filaments, slowly healing.

The little flesh slime still didn’t stop, hopping suicidally toward Li Luo.

Without the flesh controlling them, the mechanical legs crashed down.

Only the red slime on the ground kept hopping, trying to get closer.

Li Luo picked up her instrument and recorded the bizarre scene.

She pulled a capsule from the back of the vehicle and sealed the flesh slime inside.

After checking the surroundings, she relaxed and sat in the driver’s seat.

She uploaded the recorded data to her screen and began documenting the anomaly:

“Oscillation Beast’s perception range increased.”

“Head flesh, after separation, shows rapid healing and remains alive, retaining aggression.”

……

After recording everything, Li Luo went to the rear storage box, pulled out a pile of food, and neatly arranged it on the cube.

Then she patted the cube.

“Well done, eat up.”

Mo Ling was about to pick food when he realized something was wrong.

Had he really become an electronic pet?

“I will not eat food thrown at me with disdain!”

The food was right there in the back-I could get it myself!

But Mo Ling’s stomach growled again.

After two days on the road, he’d finished all the berries and canned food, and the cube was out of supplies.

……

“Fine, I’m already here anyway.”

Half the food on the cube vanished in an instant.