I'm Trapped in the Block

Chapter 354: Chapter 351: White Rain

Jin Lou’s strange behavior struck Li Luo as odd.

She let go of Jin Lou’s mechanical arm and jumped down, landing amidst the coal.

Even though she was blindfolded, Li Luo could still sense that something was wrong with Jin Lou.

She frowned and asked in confusion, ”Jin Lou, what’s wrong?”

Hearing her question, Jin Lou turned its head.

”I am not Jin Lou. I am Console.”

”Console?” Hearing the unfamiliar name, Li Luo grew wary.

”Don’t be afraid. You can think of me as another application on a machine. When one program can’t solve a problem, you switch to another one that can.”

The explanation was brief, but Li Luo understood immediately.

”Then where did Jin Lou go?”

”Temporarily shut down. We just need to turn it back on later.”

Console’s voice was flat and monotone, yet it possessed a convincing quality.

It didn’t explain further to Li Luo, instead raising its head to look at the Block. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

”Mo Ling, the Builder is about to use ’Dam.’ Remember, no matter what you see, do not attack and do not move.”

Hearing his name called, Mo Ling’s heart skipped a beat.

He had only told that name to one person—or rather, one machine.

’So it really is the perfect machine from Lin Nian’s memories. It was hiding inside Jin Lou’s body?’

’Or, to be precise, it’s another program inside Jin Lou’s body!’

It was the first time since he’d arrived in this world that someone had called him by his name. Even though he was the one who had told it, the experience still felt novel to Mo Ling.

’How did it recognize me?’

Just as he was thinking this, the Builder in the sky made its next move.

It held its hands out flat and pushed them forward, its body of white light stone grinding and trembling.

”Construct: Dam!”

The booming voice echoed across the black hills.

’It’s true! Just as Console predicted, the Builder used a brand-new technique—Dam.’

’Now, I just have to do as Console said and not attack or move.’

After much hesitation, Mo Ling decided to trust what Console had said for now.

After all, these robots had never shown any malice. From the very beginning, they had always protected humanity.

The words Captain Ji Pavilion had spoken on the Paradise still echoed in Mo Ling’s ears:

”Rest assured, robots will always protect humanity.”

”Just as ’the Captain’ always protects the Paradise.”

For some reason, Mo Ling had a gut feeling that those words weren’t a lie.

...

DRIP... DRIP.

Suddenly, rain began to fall from the sky, striking the Block.

’Where is this rain coming from?’

Mo Ling looked closer. It wasn’t rain, but some kind of teardrop-shaped white stones. They were tiny, like little water droplets carved from white light stone.

’Are they falling from the white dome above?’

Mo Ling’s vision couldn’t reach the white dome, but he could tell the stones weren’t falling from very high up.

At first, there were only a few stones, but soon they began to pour down like an unprecedented torrential downpour.

Console produced an iron umbrella from its mechanical arm, shielding Li Luo.

’Do we really not have to do anything?’

Mo Ling grew worried. The small stones were piling up, already beginning to submerge Li Luo’s ankles.

Li Luo also sensed something was wrong. She could only vaguely make out a tall figure standing beside her, blocking the stones, but a RUSHING sound in her ears grew louder and more chaotic.

She couldn’t help but ask worriedly, ”Con...sole? What’s happening?”

”It’s raining. The rising ’water’ will slowly submerge us, but don’t worry. This rain is illusory. Rest assured.”

Console’s tone was as calm as ever.

But the stones piled higher and higher, and Li Luo couldn’t possibly be at ease. She placed a hand on her blindfold, about to pull it off.

Just then, Console reached out and stopped her.

”Please trust me.”

At the same time, it looked up toward the Block again.

The words were meant for Li Luo, but also for Mo Ling.

Mo Ling had been about to destroy a ”raindrop” to see if the downpour was truly illusory, but the thought of Console’s instructions made him stop.

The downpour intensified. The white stones submerged the lower half of Li Luo’s body and enveloped Console’s mechanical legs.

”So we... we just stand here?”

”Yes. This rain will pass quickly. It seems incredibly fierce, but it won’t last long.”

White stones ricocheted about, striking Li Luo’s face. The black ground was no longer visible, and the CLATTERING rain of stones was rapidly burying them.

Floating in the air, Mo Ling was unaffected.

Li Luo’s situation, however, was dire. In just a short time, the stones had already risen to her chest. She had to cross her arms in front of her to keep her lungs from being crushed.

”The moment it is about to go over your head, all of this will disappear and return to calm,” Console reassured her.

Li Luo could only grit her teeth and wait as the stones piled ever higher.

The sound of their conversation was gradually drowned out by the RUSHING of the ”raindrops.”

Countless times, Mo Ling nearly acted, but the thought of Console’s words stopped him every time.

But the downpour showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it grew even heavier. More and more stones hammered against the Block, and Li Luo was now submerged to her neck. She could only tilt her head back, struggling to leave room to breathe.

Of the three, Mo Ling was the one suffering the most.

Watching Li Luo and Console be slowly buried by the stones, unable to do a thing, was pure torture for him.

Soon, the storm reached a terrifying crescendo. Countless ”raindrops” poured down as if the dome itself had burst, and the small white stones RUSHED in, burying everything.

Now, even the ground had become a field of pure white.

Finally, the ”water droplets” submerged the top of Li Luo’s head, burying her completely.

Watching Li Luo’s figure vanish, Mo Ling finally couldn’t take it anymore. He moved to tear away the stones that had buried her.

But just then, he saw Console.

Console was still holding the umbrella. At some point, its other mechanical arms had slowly opened, forming a circle around Li Luo’s sides to prevent the full pressure of the stones from bearing down on her body.

Its tall body also acted as a wall, shielding her from the side where the downpour was thickest.

Mo Ling suddenly realized something.

Console wasn’t just asking them for their trust; it was also trusting that Li Luo and Mo Ling would follow its instructions—that they wouldn’t attack or move.

The trust was mutual.

Mo Ling froze, staring at the torrential downpour, unsure of what to do.

The raindrops concealed everything, leaving nothing but pure white in his vision.

The torrent surged, swallowing the entire hill...