I'm Trapped in the Block

Chapter 484: Chapter 481: History Filter

”Team Leader! Come quick and look at our supplies!”

Someone in the group suddenly shouted.

The middle-aged man they called Team Leader immediately went to where they had stored their supplies, only to be met with a complete mess.

They had temporarily placed all their supplies here because of the earlier battle.

”All the metal objects have rusted. The pins, the nails... these small things are so rusted you can’t even make out their shape anymore.”

The man then went to the side and picked up some tools. They were also covered in rust spots, looking as if they’d been left outdoors for several years.

The team leader watched for a moment and sighed.

”Are all the supplies like this?”

”Pretty much. Only some of the plastic stuff is still usable.”

”Pack up the usable stuff and take it with us. Leave the rusted things here. The safety of our people comes first.”

”Yes, Team Leader.”

The group gathered around, their hearts sinking as they looked at the mountain of supplies that now seemed like nothing more than a pile of trash.

”Looks like we won’t be able to complete the mission this time...”

”Forget about the mission. We’ll be lucky to get out of this with our lives. This Sky Island is so bizarre, we might not even make it out of here alive.”

As everyone present chattered amongst themselves, Mo Ling gleaned the origin of this group from their words.

They were a supply transport team from the third level.

This pile of supplies had also been synchronized from the third level along with them.

However, their mission was more than just that...

At the end of a branch of a new route, an unused synchronization device had been discovered. They needed to test the safety of this new device to see if it could be used as a regular passage to the fourth level.

And so, they had brought these supplies here.

They had just arrived on this Sky Island and hadn’t even had time to sort the supplies when they were hit with a sudden setback. The air here wasn’t suitable for humans; it was filled with the pungent smell of rust. The team leader decisively had everyone put on gas masks.

However, it was one thing after another. Just as they were getting used to the strange smell, they were attacked by Antlered Apes and had no choice but to temporarily abandon their supplies and retreat while fighting.

As they fought, they discovered that their weapons would rust quickly as soon as they were exposed to the air. The Antlered Apes were also incredibly tough, and their weapons couldn’t stand up to the abuse...

Eventually, they had to resort to using a relic, which was the scene Mo Ling had witnessed earlier.

After listening to their conversation, Mo Ling was filled with doubt.

’An unused synchronization device?’

’If they’re a supply transport team, why would they try a Synchronous Passage native to the Abyss instead of using an officially manufactured synchronization device with a fixed destination?’

’If you can’t even be sure of the destination, how can you guarantee the supplies will arrive on time?’

Mo Ling’s mind was full of questions, but he soon found answers in their fragmented conversation.

”I heard that humans can manufacture synchronization devices now, and can even specify the destination. Why are we still using a Synchronous Passage native to the Abyss?”

”New things always need a period of testing. I heard the success rate of those man-made synchronization devices isn’t high yet. Sometimes they even synchronize people into solid rock. Would you dare to try it? I wouldn’t, anyway...”

Listening to their conversation, Mo Ling seemed to understand something.

’New things?’

’From what Zhou Dynasty said before, those man-made synchronization devices are hardly ”new.” They’re a fully mature technology. Nobody chooses the natural passages anymore, to the point that Li Luo became an anomaly for using one to get to the fourth level.’

’But to these people, man-made synchronization devices are still ”new things”?’

’If neither Zhou Dynasty nor this group is lying, then there’s only one possibility:’

’This group of people... they aren’t from the present.’

Faint, brownish-red dust drifted through the air. This circular area seemed to isolate everything. A subtle humming sound reverberated within it, and even time itself seemed to be skewed.

’Did they come from the past to the present? Or is this just some kind of historical projection? Or have I crossed the boundary of time and come to the past?’

Mo Ling looked at the group, his brow furrowing with worry.

Instead of getting clearer, things were only getting more complicated. He had only wanted to figure out the source of the invisible attacks, but now he was trapped in a new mystery.

’What on earth is this place?’

The somewhat dim sunlight shone on the ground. Mo Ling stared at the light and shadows, which were completely different from outside the area, his thoughts a bit hazy.

The weapon strikes, the claw marks, the footprints...

In an instant, the battle that just happened overlapped with those invisible attacks:

A rusted saber hacked down, chopping off the branches of a large tree.

The claws of an Antlered Ape ripped a large tree to shreds.

Sturdy bodies trampled the ground, leaving behind an outline of invisible footprints of varying depths...

’The past... is interfering with the future?’

Those weren’t invisible attacks! They were attacks from the past!

Mo Ling understood everything in a flash. This circular area was like a filter layered over reality, concealing all the past events within it. But that history was constantly interfering with the future.

Events that had once happened became invisible attacks, destroying things in the future.

The smell of rust also lingered, spreading into the air of the future.

’But what’s the cause of this strange phenomenon?’

’Is it some kind of activator?’

’Activating time?’

Countless possibilities surfaced in Mo Ling’s mind, but he had no way to confirm any of them at the moment.

After realizing this might be a piece of history, Mo Ling felt a barrier form around him, separating the Block from the brownish-red light and shadow.

A sudden sense of unreality washed over Mo Ling, as if history itself were rejecting him, an uninvited guest.

’Is this some kind of psychological effect?’ Mo Ling’s heart grew more and more anxious as the sense of unreality intensified.

So, Mo Ling decided to first return to the area’s edge, tell Li Luo what he had discovered, and then they could plan their next move.

Quickly, he hurried back to the edge.

At that moment, his sense of unreality reached its peak.

Mo Ling felt as if he no longer belonged to this world. It was like he had stepped outside the world’s filter; everything beneath it had become something happening on another plane, and he could only ever watch through that filter as this piece of history repeated itself.

He was completely unrelated to this history, just a passerby who had never existed within it.

The moment he reached the edge, Mo Ling stopped.

He changed direction and flew up toward the sky. Driven by that sense of unreality, he wanted to see if this circular area had an upper boundary.

Mo Ling controlled the Block to fly upward but never felt a boundary.

’No boundary?’

This area was like a pillar shooting up into the sky, with limits only at its edges, not its height.

Like a pillar of light, shooting down from the distant heavens to the earth.

And the movement of the circular area was merely a searchlight changing its direction.

Mo Ling’s vision was limited; he couldn’t see what the searchlight looked like.

But he knew—

Something was definitely shining down on this Sky Island.