I'm Trapped in the Block

Chapter 372: Chapter 369: Light

And just like that, Mo Ling was bathed in the radiance.

This time, the light wasn’t hypnotic, no longer blinding. It simply hung quietly atop the lighthouse, bringing the purest illumination to everyone on the island.

In an instant, all eyes on the island turned toward the lighthouse.

But before long, those curious gazes drifted away.

At the same time, Mo Ling’s consciousness seemed to ride the lighthouse beam, spreading across the entire island. He saw the people bustling about:

A cyclist loaded supplies onto his bike to deliver to those in need.

A receptionist guided people through the ruins, helping them search for salvaged belongings.

A chef directed volunteers to collect the food scattered all over the ground.

A beggar in the square helped set up temporary tents.

...

These people, from all walks of life, were still doing their part, each with a role to play.

Watching these busy figures, Mo Ling found them to be in perfect harmony.

Ever since he’d set foot on the island, Mo Ling had been unable to adjust to anything about it. Yet at this moment, a thought surfaced in his mind—

’Humanity... it seems it’s fundamentally made up of individual roles.’

’Hardship forges humanity’s different roles, and these roles, like pieces of a puzzle, come together to form a society.’

’Ultimately, there’s no difference between humans and ants.’

’The division of labor is just more defined, and there’s plenty of so-called free will.’

”We’re all just dust crawling through the Abyss.”

These roles converged, blurring under the light’s glow until they fused into one.

Mo Ling seemed to see a gray, Slime-like creature squirming in the pitch-black Abyss. It crawled further and further, a trail of gray ooze marking its long path.

That was the entity called ”Humanity.”

He couldn’t help but reach out to grab it, but he felt an icy coldness.

When he came to his senses, he found himself sitting on his bed, facing the metal wall. For some reason, his hand was already resting against it.

The chill he felt... it came from the metal wall...

Meanwhile, outside the Block, Li Luo suddenly felt a chill on her neck.

She suddenly felt that something in the sky behind her was watching her.

Or rather, that something was gazing down upon the entire island—upon the entire human race.

It was a terrifyingly detached gaze, devoid of emotion, as if all things in existence were regarded as one and the same.

The gaze seemed to pierce through her very body, through every single thing in her field of vision. Before it, all matter and thought were laid bare.

The chill on her neck grew more distinct, and a shiver, cold and sharp enough to pierce bone, ran through Li Luo’s entire body.

Li Luo’s body stiffened. She slowly looked behind her—

The icy Block floated silently in the air, perfectly still...

She took a sharp breath and waved at the Block. The Block slowly floated down in response.

Li Luo’s hands were trembling slightly. She hastily pulled a can of coke from her bag and placed it on the Block.

A moment later, the coke vanished without a trace.

Seeing this, Li Luo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

’Was that just my imagination?’

She touched her neck. The cool wind that came with the night was a bit disorienting.

Li Luo pulled her collar tight. Only then did she feel the chill begin to fade as warmth slowly returned to her body.

”The nights on Paradise Island are pretty chilly. You should keep warm,” the machine beside her said caringly, watching her movements.

Li Luo turned her head to look at it. ”Did you feel cold just now, too?”

The machine answered her question matter-of-factly:

”I am a robot. I cannot feel cold.”

Looking at the machine’s earnest reply, Li Luo suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment.

’Maybe it really was just my imagination?’

...

「In the distance.」

The island’s residents gathered on their own accord, beginning to discuss the disaster that had befallen them.

Thanks to Paradise Island’s final ”rationalization” protocol, they only remembered experiencing a terrifying storm.

”The dark clouds devoured all light, and a terrifying tornado swept across the island, destroying nearly every building. Thankfully, there were no casualties.”

In the Abyss, a disaster like this was considered mild. The only issue was that rebuilding would likely take a very long time.

Most of the island’s residents were just thankful to be alive.

Most of them understood the horrors of the Abyss. Just surviving was an incredible stroke of luck.

Having survived a catastrophe, what was there to be unhappy about?

The policeman from earlier in the day rushed over to the lighthouse, found Si Yang, and asked him about the light that had enveloped the entire island.

”That was you, wasn’t it?”

Si Yang nodded. ”This is what my secret identity is for.”

”You don’t have to tell me your secret identity!” the policeman said, waving his hands frantically. ”I know you people have your missions. I just needed to confirm it for my report.”

Many people on the island were still busy. There was much to do in the aftermath of the disaster, and the policeman was no exception.

”I’ll report the matter of the light and let the officials handle it.”

”No problem,” Si Yang nodded.

After getting the details about the light, the policeman kindly checked on the group’s well-being before hurrying off to deal with other matters.

Even though Paradise Island was no longer a pure white land, its people maintained their peculiar courtesy. Despite facing a member of another race, the policeman showed no signs of distance; on the contrary, he showed Si Yang a great deal of trust.

It felt, in fact, a bit too ”naive.”

Li Luo had expected her group to be subjected to some kind of investigation, but to her surprise, that was the end of it.

Si Yang, however, watched the policeman’s retreating figure, lost in thought.

”’He must have recognized me long ago,’ it murmured.”

”Do you know him?” Li Luo asked curiously.

”I’ve helped him many times...”

Si Yang slowly began to recount its story with the policeman:

”On Paradise Island, he’s the only policeman.”

Paradise Island, on the 3rd Floor of the Abyss, is a rather unique human settlement. It isn’t an officially recognized island; most of its residents gathered here of their own volition.

There are very few officials on the island, and that policeman is one of them.

He is responsible for almost all matters on the island, big and small.

With such a shortage of manpower, oversights were common. And this particular policeman seemed a bit slow, often struggling to handle things properly.

As the island’s Guardian, Si Yang often helped this human who was, in his own way, also a ”guardian of the island.”

It often used white light stone projections to take the form of various races and help the policeman with his duties on the island.

”’Every time, I would tell him it was my secret identity...’”

The policeman reacted the same way every time, and Si Yang never thought anything of it, only that the man was easy to fool.

Looking back on it now, Si Yang realized:

”’It turns out I was the one who was easy to fool.’”