Chapter 32 Familiar High Wall
“Comrades, our mission has been completed. All the newly transformed trees can now freely go to the big tree hole.”
“No enemies will stop them, and nothing can harm them.”
The leader breathed a sigh of relief, no longer as passionate as during the mobilization.
But the transformed trees couldn’t calm down at all, still responding enthusiastically with cheers to every word from the leader.
They had been oppressed for too long.
The Odd Shapes Tribe held a grand ceremony, and the block was lifted to the altar, surrounded by worshipers.
The transformed trees placed sacrificial offerings around the block.
They praised the deeds of the block and exalted its greatness.
“Praise the sacred object!”
When everything was over, it was already late at night.
The leader dismissed the guards again and went to the side of the block.
At this moment, although he looked deflated again, he seemed very relaxed.
“Sacred object, you came to save me, didn’t you?”
The leader leaned against the metal wall of the block.
“I don’t know what to do next.”
“I thought about saving my compatriots from dire straits, but after succeeding, I suddenly felt a bit empty inside.”
Mo Ling understood a bit.
The leader had concocted a belief with so much effort just to get the transformed trees to help him drive away the natural enemies.
Now that the goal had been achieved, this tribal leader didn’t know what to do next.
Does the Odd Shapes Tribe still have a reason to exist?
Mo Ling sighed.
Compared to other transformed trees, the leader was indeed too special.
He always thought further.
The leader leaned on the block, staring blankly at the tribe in the distance in silence for a long time.
“Thank you.”
The leader suddenly stood up, turned to the block, and said these words.
“You should have self-awareness, right? I can feel it. Transformed trees have the ability to perceive consciousness.”
The leader’s words startled Mo Ling, but he soon calmed down.
Mo Ling suddenly remembered the first time he met a transformed tree, when the transformed tree greeted the block before Li Luo.
So that’s how it was.
Mo Ling controlled the block to float slightly, then landed on the ground again, responding to the leader’s question.
The leader sighed, “It seems you have known everything for a long time, just disdainful of exposing me.”
The leader brought a piece of cloth and gently wiped away the ash that had fallen on the block.
“I’m sorry, you should have known long ago that I was using you, right?”
Mo Ling was taken aback, he hadn’t thought about it that much.
It was entirely the leader’s own speculation.
After wiping the block clean, the leader asked again, “After all this is over, are you going to leave the Odd Shapes Tribe?”
It seems so.
Mo Ling did want to keep exploring here. After gaining the ability to move freely, he really wanted to see what this world was all about.
But he was too hungry.
He hadn’t eaten for two days.
Controlling the block for a long time made Mo Ling’s eyes dizzy.
Previously, in order to clear the space in the block for battle, Mo Ling had thrown out all the food he had stored, leaving only a few bottles of water.
There was nothing much to eat in the transformed tree tribe, and he had to worry if the various fruits had been infected by the Theuthis cells, so he didn’t dare to eat casually.
Mo Ling began to miss the days when he ate and drank to his heart’s content next to Li Luo.
Thinking of this, Mo Ling made the block shake slightly again.
Although the leader had already guessed the answer early on, he was still very frustrated, “I really want to follow you.”
The leader thought for a while, then said to the block, “You can leave tomorrow morning, I’ll have my compatriots accompany you.”
Mo Ling was not in a hurry either, he responded by shaking the block.
After the leader left, Mo Ling, mentally and physically exhausted, fell asleep deeply inside the block.
He even had a dream.
In the dream, Mo Ling became extremely tall.
He turned into the form of the block head again, sitting on a huge metal throne, overlooking the surroundings motionless.
Countless transformed trees surrounded Mo Ling, constantly shouting “Praise the sacred object!”
They rushed to praise Mo Ling with all sorts of flattering words, then one by one dug pits around the throne and turned into trees when they jumped in.
The closer to the throne the trees were, the more glory they represented.
After the transformed trees in the front became trees, those in the back rushed up, repeating the actions of their predecessors.
The sounds of praise from the surrounding transformed trees were incessant.
The noisy voices kept stimulating Mo Ling.
When he opened his eyes again, it was already dawn.
The transformed trees were already surrounding the block, chanting prayers.
At that moment, Mo Ling even had trouble distinguishing between the dream and reality.
The leader announced something to the transformed trees:
“The sacred object has completed its mission, and the future development of the transformed tree population will depend on us. Now, the sacred object is returning to where it descended from. It will only return during times of crisis for the tribe in the future.”
Mo Ling opportunistically controlled the block to float up and move towards the big tree hole, leaving amidst the reluctant gazes of the transformed trees.
After a while, Mo Ling realized that no one had followed him, so he slowly flew out from behind a thick tree root.
“Acting is really tiring.”
Finally, he could put aside the matters of the transformed trees for now, but before returning, Mo Ling still wanted to look for traces of Theuthis cells here.
The block flew in the direction away from the big tree hole.
On this journey, Mo Ling saw many familiar creatures, but these animal populations seemed unaffected by the biological chaos.
Even Theuthis cells were nowhere to be seen, both in animals and plants.
It was like a mirrored version of the quarantined area, yet there was no trace of abnormalities.
Mo Ling’s mood became more and more solemn, as he had a frightening guess in his mind.
The block accelerated its speed, maneuvering deftly through the forest.
Sure enough, not long after, Mo Ling was shrouded in shadows.
A high wall!
A familiar high wall.
Mo Ling couldn’t believe it as he looked outside the wall, and the thing he feared the most appeared.
Outside the wall was a world made up of Theuthis cells!
Mo Ling quickly conducted an experiment, and the trees and insects outside the high wall turned into transparent liquid when detached.
This was the manifestation of being replaced by Theuthis cells.
If this world was taken over by Theuthis cells, then who built this high wall?
Mo Ling was extremely horrified.
While he was still conflicted, a figure approached Mo Ling.
He was wearing the combat suit of the Seventh Monitoring Station, looking completely normal.
The person picked up a recording device and pointed it at the block:
“Area 13 outside the anti-cell blockade zone, found an unidentified metal block, requesting reinforcement, please respond after receiving.”
After a few acknowledgments came through the intercom, the person slowly walked to the front of the block.
He knocked on the block and muttered to himself, “What is this?”
The man also wore a hunter’s badge, no different from the taxi soldiers Mo Ling had seen at the previous monitoring station.
But Mo Ling still noticed a difference.
The man’s arm was injured, with a bandage wrapped around the wound, and a little fresh blood oozing out.
That drop of blood seeped into the bandage, gradually losing color and turning pink.
Then the pink hue became lighter.
Eventually, only a faint watermark was left on the bandage…
Seeing this scene, a chill ran up Mo Ling’s spine.