A Familiar High Wall

"Compatriots, our mission has been accomplished. From now on, all newly born Metamorphic Trees will be able to travel freely to the Great Tree Cave."

"No enemies will stand in their way, and nothing will be able to harm them."

The leader sounded relieved, no longer as fervent as he had been during the mobilization.

But the Metamorphic Trees could not calm down at all. They continued responding to every word from their leader with excited cheers.

They had been repressed for far too long.

The Cube Tribe held a grand ceremony. The Cube was carried onto an altar and worshipped from all sides.

The Metamorphic Trees arranged offerings all around the Cube.

They praised the Cube's deeds and chanted of its greatness.

"Praise the Holy Object!"

By the time everything was over, it was already late at night.

The leader dismissed the guards again and came to the Cube's side.

Though he had once again returned to that deflated appearance, he looked quite relaxed.

"Holy Object, you came to save me, didn't you?"

The leader leaned against the Cube's metal wall again.

"I suddenly don't know what I should do from here on."

"I wanted to save my compatriots from their suffering, but after succeeding, I suddenly felt a little empty inside."

Mo Ling understood him somewhat.

The leader had gone to such lengths to fabricate a faith solely so the Metamorphic Trees would help him drive away their natural enemy.

Now that his goal had been achieved, this tribal leader had been placed on a pedestal and no longer knew what to do.

Was there still any need for the Cube Tribe to exist?

Mo Ling sighed.

Compared to the other Metamorphic Trees, the leader truly was far too unusual.

He was always able to think farther ahead.

Leaning against the Cube, the leader stared blankly at the distant tribe for a long while in silence.

"Thank you." The leader suddenly stood up, turned to the Cube, and said those words.

"You possess self-awareness too, don't you? I can sense it. Metamorphic Trees have the ability to perceive the existence of consciousness."

The leader's words gave Mo Ling a fright, but he quickly calmed down.

Mo Ling suddenly recalled how, when he had first encountered the Metamorphic Trees, they had passed right by Li Luo and greeted the Cube first.

So that was it.

He had not expected Metamorphic Trees to possess such an ability.

Mo Ling controlled the Cube to float slightly before settling back onto the ground, responding to the leader's question.

The leader said wistfully, "It seems you have known everything all along and merely could not be bothered to expose me."

The leader found a piece of cloth and gently wiped away the ashes that had fallen onto the Cube.

"I'm sorry. You must have known all along that I was using you, right?"

Mo Ling froze for a moment. He had not thought that much about it.

The leader was completely overthinking things on his own.

After wiping the Cube clean, the leader asked again, "Now that all this is over, will you be leaving the Cube Tribe?"

That was indeed the case.

Mo Ling wanted to keep exploring here. Now that he could move freely, he really wanted to see what exactly was going on in this world.

But he was too hungry.

He had not eaten for two days already.

Controlling the Cube for so long had left Mo Ling lightheaded.

Earlier, to clear out space inside the Cube for battle, Mo Ling had thrown away all the food he had stored, keeping only a few bottles of water.

There was nothing much to eat in the Tree Transformer Tribe either. He also had to worry whether the various fruits had been infected by Theseus Cells, so he did not dare eat anything carelessly.

Mo Ling began missing the days when he ate and drank his fill every day beside Li Luo.

At that thought, Mo Ling made the Cube tremble slightly again.

Although the leader had guessed this answer long ago, he was still deeply dejected. "I really want to follow you."

After thinking for a while, the leader said to the Cube, "Leave tomorrow morning. I'll have my compatriots see you off."

Mo Ling was not in any hurry, so he made the Cube tremble in reply.

After the leader left, Mo Ling, exhausted in both mind and body, fell into a deep sleep inside the Cube.

He even had a dream.

In the dream, Mo Ling became incomparably tall.

He became a Cube Head again, sitting atop an enormous metal throne and looking down motionlessly at everything around him.

Countless Metamorphic Trees surrounded Mo Ling, endlessly crying, "Praise the Holy Object!"

They scrambled to shower Mo Ling with all manner of lavish praise, then dug pits around the throne and jumped into them, transforming into trees.

The closer a tree was to the throne, the greater the honor it represented.

After the Metamorphic Trees in front transformed into trees, those behind surged forward and repeated the actions of their predecessors.

The praise of the surrounding Metamorphic Trees never ceased.

The clamor continuously assaulted Mo Ling.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already morning.

The Cube was already surrounded by Metamorphic Trees chanting hymns.

At that moment, Mo Ling could barely distinguish dream from reality.

The leader announced something to the Metamorphic Trees:

"The Holy Object has completed its mission. The future development of the Metamorphic Tree race must depend on ourselves. The Holy Object will now return to the place it came from before descending upon us. Only when our race faces another crisis will the Holy Object descend again."

Mo Ling timely controlled the Cube to rise into the air and move toward the Great Tree Cave, gradually disappearing beneath the reluctant gazes of the Metamorphic Trees.

After a while, Mo Ling saw that no one had followed him. Only then did he slowly fly out from behind a thick tree root.

"Putting on an act is really exhausting."

For the time being, he could finally put the Metamorphic Trees aside. But before heading back, Mo Ling still wanted to search for traces of Theseus Cells here.

The Cube flew away from the Great Tree Cave.

Along the way, Mo Ling saw many familiar creatures again, but none of their populations seemed to have been affected by biological distortion.

He could not even find any Theseus Cells. The same was true for both plants and animals.

This was clearly like a duplicate version of the Sealed Area, yet he could not find even the slightest abnormality.

Mo Ling's expression grew increasingly grave as a terrifying conjecture formed in his mind.

The Cube sped up, weaving nimbly through the forest.

Sure enough, it was not long before Mo Ling was shrouded in shadow again.

A high wall!

That familiar high wall.

Mo Ling looked beyond the wall in disbelief, and the thing he feared most appeared before him.

Beyond the wall lay a world made of Theseus Cells!

Mo Ling hurriedly tested it. After being stripped apart, the trees and insects outside the wall all turned into transparent liquid.

This was exactly the sign of having already been replaced by Theseus Cells.

If Theseus Cells had occupied this entire world, then who had built this high wall?

The more Mo Ling thought about it, the more terrified he became.

While he was still struggling with the question, a figure approached Mo Ling.

He wore an Outpost Station Combat Suit and looked completely normal.

The man raised a Recording Device and aimed it at the Cube.

"Anti-Cell Blockade Zone, Sector 13. An unidentified metal cube has been discovered. Requesting reinforcements. Acknowledge upon receipt."

After several acknowledgments came through the radio, the man slowly walked up to the Cube.

He knocked on the Cube and muttered to himself, "What is this thing?"

The newcomer also wore a Hunter Badge, no different from the soldiers Mo Ling had previously seen at the Outpost Station.

But Mo Ling still noticed one difference.

The man's arm was injured. A bandage was wrapped around the wound, and a trace of bright red blood seeped through it.

That trace of blood soaked into the bandage, but slowly lost its color and turned pink.

Then the pink grew paler still.

In the end, only a faint transparent water stain remained on the bandage...

At the sight, a chill shot straight up Mo Ling's spine.