I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 9

Researchers also found the same red worm inside that polar bear.

After completing their mission, both died, including the worms in their brains.

There was one male and one female worm: the sheep had the male, the polar bear the female.

This “tragic love story” of the sheep inspired the researchers.

So, they named this worm the “Red Rope Worm”.

Seeing this, Mo Ling also sensed the namer’s twisted humor.

Now it could be confirmed that the healing ability was brought by the Red Rope Worm. Enhanced perception, barring surprises, should also be some kind of evolution.

That’s where the initial records of the Red Rope Worm end.

So much effort spent tracking a sheep, only to discover such a bizarre creature.

Subsequent records also described the peculiar behaviors of organisms infected by this worm.

If left alone, the infected host would naturally perish; trying to stop it would instead trigger evolution.

After driving the creatures back into the Abyss, the Red Rope Worm also vanished from Earth.

Later, some Hunters who entered the Abyss were infected by this worm, but could only consider themselves unlucky.

Moreover, Mo Ling noticed that the Red Rope Worms previously found in the Oscillation Beast’s brain were only larvae-at this stage, the host’s consciousness would not disappear.

This was also why those Oscillation Beasts still attacked Li Luo.

After reading all the records, there was only one treatment-“let it rot” therapy.

But this also meant the mission was a failure.

If the Oscillation Beast anomaly couldn’t be resolved, the mission couldn’t be completed.

A deadlock.

Li Luo clearly realized this too, sitting in the car, lost in thought.

She kept flipping through the records on the worm.

Suddenly, as if realizing something, Li Luo started the vehicle and drove straight into the depths of the valley.

More and more Oscillation Beasts appeared on the road, and these were especially sensitive.

Every one that entered Mo Ling’s field of vision was already in attack mode.

Peering into the flesh of their heads-there it was again, the red worm!

“Why so many?”

Mo Ling guessed Li Luo’s thoughts.

In previous records, the Red Rope Worm only infected a single individual in a population.

It wasn’t contagious, and never appeared en masse.

But the Oscillation Beast riot was on a massive scale, which didn’t match the Red Rope Worm’s infection pattern.

Thinking of this, Mo Ling quickly used the previous method to eliminate the attacking Oscillation Beasts.

He again delivered infected flesh to Li Luo.

This time, Li Luo didn’t need a reminder-she took out her tools and searched the meat for the worm.

Li Luo’s suspicion was confirmed.

She quickly got back in the car and drove deeper into the valley.

The further in, the bigger the Oscillation Beasts.

But these had lost all awareness, their spherical flesh heads pulsing slowly, marching forward in a daze.

Even as the car passed by, they didn’t react.

Normally, so many Oscillation Beasts could never coexist like this.

Their vibrations would have started a massive brawl.

One infected Oscillation Beast fell into a deep pit, yet its two metal legs kept moving.

A short new limb extended from the spherical metal mesh-an evolution.

It was trying to crawl out of the pit.

The car drove on, reaching a massive lake.

Mo Ling saw Li Luo’s pupils dilate instantly, and she stopped the car at the lakeshore.

She pulled out her recording device and began documenting the scene in the lake.

Through the device’s screen, Mo Ling also saw the shocking sight.

Countless Oscillation Beasts crowded the lake’s center, their metal limbs packed together.

With each pulse of flesh, the limbs sent tremors through the water, chaotic ripples spreading to the shore.

On the bank, several mindless Oscillation Beasts walked straight toward the lake’s center.

Across the lake, evolved Oscillation Beasts lay stranded on the shore.

Their two legs had merged into fin-like forms, undulating with the swelling of their heads.

But, having lost the ability to walk, they could only flop and struggle, trying to bounce farther.

Even just through the screen, Mo Ling could sense the horror of the scene.

At that moment, he had the same question as the researchers once did:

“Where are they going?”

After recording, Li Luo drove around the lake and pressed on.

She opened the map and marked a spot.

The Oscillation Beasts were all moving toward the center of their habitat.

Soon, the car stopped at the top of a slope.

“What happened?”

Mo Ling’s vision was limited; he didn’t know.

Luckily, Li Luo took out the recording device again.

Mo Ling quickly looked.

……

It was a sea of Oscillation Beasts.

All sorts of forms fought at the bottom of the slope.

When their kin blocked their way, they attacked, just like the sheep bashing its pen.

The intense vibrations liquefied the soil, and the gathering Oscillation Beasts dug a funnel-shaped pit.

The weak were trampled into the earth, the deeper ones stronger, their limbs grotesque.

Like a witch’s cauldron, the inner Oscillation Beasts’ limbs grew all sorts of metal spikes.

Spikes stabbed into their companions’ flesh, red sinews constantly healing, trapping the limbs.

The trapped Oscillation Beasts would break off their limbs, rolling forward as a ball.

Balls rolling in got stuck, leaving only narrow gaps.

The flesh could only pulse forward, oozing through the mesh like liquid-

Becoming flesh slime.

The slimes crowded together, forming a red pool.

“What were they fighting for?”

Were all these Red Rope Worm-controlled Oscillation Beasts targeting the same creature?

Li Luo zoomed in on the pit’s center.

Mo Ling focused on the patch of black.

On the blood-red water, a spiral-shaped pure black object floated.

Waves surged as the slimes fought for it, pushing it around.

“A horn?”

A horn of some unknown creature-tough, straight, pitch-black, no color at all.

It seemed to absorb all light; if not for the curved edges, even its shape would be invisible.

Li Luo uploaded the image of the black horn to the database.

She checked entry after entry-none matched.

No result.

The investigation was at a dead end again.

Mo Ling began to doubt the Red Rope Worm’s records.

“Why was the target a horn? Could a dead creature still be infected by the worm?”

While Mo Ling wondered, Li Luo patted the cube again.

She waved the image of the black horn in front of the cube and gave it a thumbs up.

“Do you understand?”

She seemed to trust the cube’s abilities. After speaking, she accelerated, charging into the pit.

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