I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 85

Everything that happened next was exactly as that previous ghost had described.

The war spreading through the Needle Stone Forest  began to reach the World Pillar, and during one battle, the stone wall of the World Pillar was shattered.

A huge hollow extended from the outside into the main fissure, causing many clueless Natural Gas Tribe members to drift out.

Most of the Natural Gas Tribe had no intention of exploring the world, and just continued loafing in the main fissure, which meant that when disaster struck, they didn’t have enough knowledge to escape.

Who would have thought that the once, forbidden knowledge would save them when the World Pillar was breached?

Only those with knowledge, who knew to hide in concealed fissures, or who had communicated enough with the outside world to understand that turning into liquid would keep them from floating away, survived.

This event devastated the entire Natural Gas Tribe, their numbers plummeting.

They called this the “Great Extinction Event”.

It was from the Great Extinction Event that the Natural Gas Tribe began seeking ways to protect their World Pillar.

But soon, the world-destroying World-Burning Fire struck.

Just as the previous ghost had said, it started with a simple skirmish: two mineral tribes of different factions fought beneath the World Pillar.

Then a stone blade pierced a fissure, and sparks flew.

At this point, the peculiar ghost was clearly terrified.

The great fire didn’t instantly burn through the whole World Pillar, but spread gradually from the ignition point into every fissure.

The lower fissures were quickly filled with flames, which then burned upward, invading the World Pillar’s interior.

Although the Natural Gas Tribe was lazy, their fear of fire was deeply ingrained.

But they’d never experienced a great fire, let alone organized an orderly evacuation.

The main fissure became a pillar of fire from bottom to top, then spread outward, burning the entire World Pillar clean.

Not a single Natural Gas Tribe member was spared.

However, when the World-Burning Fire died out and the World Pillar cooled, they were shocked to find they were still alive.

But now, they were no longer Natural Gas Tribe, they existed as carbon dioxide.

It took a long time for them to adapt to their new bodies and begin living as carbon dioxide.

At this point, the World Pillar was no longer habitable, so these former Natural Gas Tribe members left to find new pillars.

That’s why they scattered and made homes in different pillars.

At this point, the story started to differ from what the previous ghost had said.

“Had that ghost lied?” Mo Ling couldn’t figure it out, so he kept listening.

These ghosts, who had already died once, continued to hide in the pillars they found suitable, which kept their tribe’s fate hidden from the outside world.

Of course, the mineral tribes outside, busy fighting to the death, didn’t care about the ghosts’ affairs.

Then, the red cloth was rediscovered in the World Pillar, and when worn on the head, a pair of donkey ears grew from the wearer’s head.

After using the red cloth, the donkey ears would disappear, and the cloth would fall off.

At first, they didn’t notice anything strange, until one day, they realized that a ghost who had used the red cloth developed a mistaken sense of self.

“He believed he was still Natural Gas Tribe, including the experience of being burned by the fire, all of it was twisted,” said the peculiar ghost, full of fear.

During the spread of Vein Mutation Disease , the ghosts discovered that anyone who used the red cloth would believe they were still Natural Gas Tribe.

Nothing could change this belief.

They kept their old habits, instinctively feared fire, and stayed liquid in open places.

They didn’t know they had become carbon dioxide, even if they turned gaseous now, they’d just sink to the bottom of the air.

They forgot all the properties of their new bodies, retaining only one unshakable belief: I am Natural Gas Tribe.

When they realized this, some tribe members were too afraid to use the red cloth, but those voices were quickly drowned out.

Their fear of war and the trauma of the World-Burning Fire outweighed their fear of the red cloth.

The Vein Mutation Disease kept spreading; as the red cloth was used, more ghosts developed mistaken beliefs.

Twisted history became widespread, sometimes even confusing the still-sane ghosts.

The ghosts who had used the red cloth became the overwhelming majority, and gradually, the true history was buried.

The few ghosts who hadn’t used the red cloth had no interest in arguing the facts, and couldn’t win against their deluded companions anyway.

Once you used the red cloth, this mistaken self-identity was branded into your heart, impossible to change.

Even if you told them the price for using the red cloth was your self-identity, they wouldn’t listen-they’d just ignore it.

That’s why the previous ghost said he didn’t know the price of the red cloth.

Because admitting the price meant admitting you weren’t Natural Gas Tribe.

And so, more and more ghosts used the red cloth, and this nearly obsessive self-identity gradually changed the tribe’s entire view of history.

Only those ghosts who had never used the red cloth still remembered the real history.

At this point, the peculiar ghost was visibly uneasy.

“There are only a few of us left. Our history will soon be completely changed, and the whole tribe will fall into an identity crisis.”

He grew more and more fearful as he spoke.

Li Luo was puzzled. “You all know the price of the red cloth is so terrible, so why keep using it?”

The ghost explained, trembling,

“At first, we didn’t care. Compared to the constant threat of war, this price didn’t seem like much, nothing is scarier than losing your life.”

“Later, those who no longer knew the price became the majority, and started forcing the rest to use the red cloth, demanding obedience.”

“To them, the red cloth had no cost, and the spread of Vein Mutation Disease really did stop the war, so it had to be used.”

“There was no choice.”

The peculiar ghost looked utterly terrified.

He said that when he attacked Shi Beng earlier, it was because his companions forced him to use the red cloth.

It wasn’t until Mo Ling stripped the red cloth from him that he started begging for mercy.

With the truth revealed, Li Luo and Shi Beng both fell silent-the impact was too great.

Mo Ling was also amazed at the Natural Gas Tribe’s fate.

He hadn’t expected an entire tribe to be twisted by a relic to the point of forgetting their original identity.

“Do you know why the red cloth makes those with Vein Mutation Disease develop emotions?” Li Luo pressed.

The ghost said he didn’t know; they had only used the red cloth’s ability superficially, never understanding it deeply.

“It’s absurd, using something so blindly without even knowing what it does.”

Mo Ling thought these ghosts were truly naive beyond reason.