Chapter 11: Silence and the Dark Horn
Silence.
Outside the metal mountain, the originally massive Vibrating Beasts stood still, the flesh masses on their heads no longer pulsating.
The entwined arthropod spheres ceased to tremble, relaxed, and fell to the ground.
It was as if time itself had stopped.
The small vehicle drove all the way to the edge of the big pit.
Wherever it went, not a single Vibrating Beast was moving; their perpetual vibrations had ceased.
The Vibrating Beasts, once fighting tooth and nail to reach the center of the pit, had now lost their purpose.
Even those that had been fighting a moment ago stopped, still in their combat poses.
Bird-like Vibrating Beasts fell from the sky, turning into statues.
The small vehicle stopped outside the pit.
Li Luo pointed her device at the frozen Vibrating Beasts, activating the electronic screen to start recording the happenings inside the pit.
Mo Ling attempted to peel the flesh from one of the Vibrating Beasts, but the wound continued to heal.
He tossed the cut flesh to a noticeable spot, which quickly caught Li Luo’s attention.
She found the Vibrating Beast that had been stripped of its flesh and aimed her device at it.
Nothing had changed; the Vibrating Beasts had simply stopped.
“Could it be that they’ve lost their target?”
Why weren’t they attacking the location of the Black Horn?
Mo Ling had already anticipated this outcome before teleporting the Black Horn.
Teleportation required the device to first receive the cube, which should have logically triggered an attack.
But evidently, Li Luo did not understand the principle of Mo Ling’s teleportation.
Mo Ling guessed that Li Luo intended for him to teleport the Black Horn to her and then escape by car.
However, this unintended result occurred.
“It’s as if I hid the Black Horn.”
Mo Ling looked at the Black Horn on the ground and curiously picked it up.
The moment he touched it, he saw the pure black surface of the Black Horn begin to glide.
It was like a black hole, continuously falling inward.
It felt like it could lead somewhere.
What is this?
Mo Ling was puzzled.
“I don’t understand.”
He put the Black Horn down, and the falling sensation disappeared, with the Black Horn returning to its pure black appearance.
Mo Ling planned to teleport the Black Horn to Li Luo, to let her check the data first. If anything went wrong, he would retrieve it promptly.
Since he couldn’t understand it himself, he would use the power of the database, and coincidentally, there was a person from this world right beside him.
Li Luo’s face was also full of confusion.
She was probably wondering where the Black Horn had gone and why the valley had suddenly fallen silent.
Duang!
The sound of a can clanking caught Li Luo’s attention.
Immediately, the Black Horn embedded in the can appeared, Mo Ling closely watching, ready to retrieve it at any moment.
Li Luo looked at the Black Horn, her confusion slowly turning to joy.
Boom!
As the Black Horn appeared, the entire valley began to tremble again, even more violently!
Seeing this, Li Luo quickly took the Black Horn.
At the moment of contact, Mo Ling noticed she too, like him, became dazed when she touched it.
Her eyes widened, staring deeply into the black hole.
Although she was looking at the object before her, her gaze seemed to drift into the distance, as if she uncontrollably fell into a trance.
The surrounding vibrations grew more intense.
Very soon, Vibrating Beasts began to attack.
A crimson creature entered Mo Ling’s view.
It was a torrent of countless flesh slimes, converging into a mass and surging quickly towards them.
Mo Ling hurriedly began teleportation separation on them, but it was too slow to do much good.
Fortunately, the height difference at the edge of the pit slightly hindered the wave.
However, wave after wave of flesh slimes surged forward, more and more of them.
They were about to break out of the pit.
Huge Vibrating Beasts, driven by the surging tide, charged forward, waving their limbs and climbing upward.
Sharp limbs hooked onto the edge of the cliff, ready to climb up the next second.
Mo Ling anxiously looked at the girl: “Let go already!”
But unexpectedly, Li Luo still held the Black Horn in her hand.
She was in a trance, while also seemingly trying to break free from the strange attraction, and then suddenly fainted, the Black Horn falling to the ground.
Mo Ling hurriedly retrieved the Black Horn from the ground; such a situation took longer than he expected.
Sure enough, the vibrations stopped again.
The once unstoppable crimson tide suddenly lost its energy, gradually retreating like a tide.
The metallic beasts within no longer roared and waved their limbs, drifting away with the tide.
Silence was restored.
Phew~
Mo Ling let out a sigh of relief, it seemed the cube could indeed block the Vibrating Beasts’ perception.
Looking at the girl who had fainted and fallen to the ground, Mo Ling regretted recklessly throwing the Black Horn out.
What’s going on?
Where does this Black Horn lead to?
After waiting for a while, Li Luo did not wake up, so Mo Ling picked up the Black Horn again and examined it.
The feeling of attraction hit again, pulling his thoughts inward.
This time Mo Ling did not resist. Glancing at the unconscious Li Luo outside, he made up his mind to slide inward along the black surface.
……
Where is this?
When Mo Ling came to his senses, he was standing in a bustling street at night.
I’m standing?
Mo Ling felt something odd with his perspective, but his thoughts couldn’t quite piece it together, as though he’d forgotten something.
An idea formed in Mo Ling’s mind:
He believed he shouldn’t be standing, he should be either sitting or lying down.
Besides this strange thought, he also did not recognize this place.
Everything felt out of place.
Looking up, he saw high-rise buildings with colorful lights constantly changing patterns.
Airborne tracks connected the buildings, with sleek flying cars speeding through them.
Neon signs flickered, three-dimensional advertisements projected by holograms, a lifelike woman warmly waving at him.
A technology-filled car stopped by the roadside, a robot got out, and courteously assisted a lavishly dressed lady into the car.
Passersby on the sidewalk wore strange and bold outfits, chatting excitedly under bright streetlamps.
As he looked around, the sense of dissonance grew stronger.
Who am I? Where am I?
Mo Ling was stunned.
At that moment, a robot by the roadside approached him, bowed, and asked in a magnetic voice: “Hello, do you need assistance?”
Mo Ling tried to speak but found he couldn’t.
He waved his hand at the robot instead.
“Why can’t I speak?”
Mo Ling started walking down the street, finding his steps a bit awkward.
How strange.
Coming to a cake shop window, Mo Ling looked inside.
The glass window reflected light from the streetlamp, and Mo Ling suddenly saw his appearance.
A box person?
Huh?
In disheveled pajamas, with a metal cube on his head, the cube’s edges neatly cut across his neck, without any visible connection marks.
The cube reflected the light as he stood there blankly.
The moment he saw the cube, the dissonance in Mo Ling’s mind broke through his mental barrier, and his memories flooded back.
Is this where the Black Horn brought me?
Mo Ling’s memory was fully restored, but he was still filled with doubt.
An unfamiliar city, and his own strange form.
He hadn’t walked in a long time, no wonder it felt awkward.
And his vision.
Mo Ling’s vision wasn’t limited to the cubic space as before; he saw things clearly with his own eyes.
Curiously looking around, Mo Ling relished this regained freedom.
In the distance, a sign on a magnificent building caught his attention.
“Dawn City Library.”
