I'm Trapped in the Block

"Next are the legs."

...

"The abdomen."

"The heart."

"As you can see, some non-human structures have already formed in the heart."

Bai Zhou narrated as they dissected, while Dr. Li gritted his teeth, using runes to keep his wounds healing.

But to allow Bai Zhou a clear view of his internal structures, he would frequently interrupt the runes’ healing process...

"Dr. Li, how are you feeling?"

There was no response.

Bai Zhou proceeded to open Dr. Li’s skull. An abnormal organ also appeared inside, but it was extremely well-hidden.

Bai Zhou placed the bloody organs on a tray and held them up to the camera.

"There are also abnormal structures in the brain. They likely affect the thought processes of the Distorted."

...

"Dissection complete. The distortion within the Black Tower has been confirmed as a physiological abnormality, not a psychological one. This is exactly as Dr. Li previously speculated."

"This also corresponds with the strange shadows seen during the body scans."

Bai Zhou held up a series of images, which were multi-angle scans of the strange organ.

Just then, the doors to the operating room were suddenly thrown open.

The tray of organs was knocked to the floor. A group of people swarmed in, trampling the strange organs underfoot.

It wasn’t until the crowd pushed him to the front that the leader of the group finally noticed the mangled corpse on the operating table.

Bai Zhou reached out and turned off the camera.

Li Luo finished watching, too stunned to know what to say.

Bai Zhou unplugged the storage device and set it aside, then said calmly, "He asked me to help him finish his ’animation’ and take it out of the Black Tower."

"He must have known I wouldn’t be affected by the distortion, so he trusted me completely."

After a moment of silence, Li Luo finally nodded.

"The grilled fish is ready. Have some."

"Okay."

...

Bai Zhou led Li Luo on a long, roundabout path, even going outside the Black Tower and jumping to another aperture before they arrived at the pass leading upward.

"We can’t bypass the area ahead. We’ll have to fight. Those robed figures are already very different from humans. Don’t hold back," Bai Zhou advised.

In the distance was a sentry post, with two robed figures standing guard at the entrance.

Having seen Bai Zhou’s previous recording, Mo Ling now knew about the existence of those strange organs.

Before, he hadn’t noticed these organs at all, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have been able to identify them.

That was because the organs were very small and indistinguishable from the surrounding tissue, like a tiny growth.

Now, Mo Ling could also detect these organs inside the bodies of the robed figures.

’So well hidden.’

The organs grew on the periphery of the heart and brain, in the same location on every robed figure.

’I could try removing them.’

He acted on the thought immediately. Mo Ling shrank his teleportation frame and, in an instant, stripped the organ from the heart of one of the robed figures guarding the path ahead.

What Mo Ling didn’t expect was this:

The robed figure whose organ was removed went into sudden cardiac arrest. He collapsed in agony, clutching his heart, and soon went still.

’Is the effect that drastic?’

This was something Mo Ling hadn’t anticipated.

The dead robed figure’s companion quickly noticed something was wrong. He shouted a single glyph, which transformed into armor, encasing him completely.

He scanned his surroundings warily and shouted out another rune, this one shaped like an eyeball. It floated into the air, seeking the hidden enemy.

But this was completely useless against Mo Ling.

’I’ll try removing it from a different spot this time.’

Mo Ling aimed at the strange organ in the figure’s head and activated his teleportation.

The instant the organ vanished, the black armor on the robed figure disappeared into thin air, and the eyeball floating upward dissipated.

But the robed figure was unharmed; the teleportation seemed to have done no damage to him.

However, his expression instantly contorted in terror.

He opened his mouth, apparently trying to use that power again, but no sound came out.

As if falling into a state of confusion, he clutched his head, his mouth wide open in a silent "scream."

Realizing he could no longer make a sound, he turned and scrambled away in a panic. But by then, Bai Zhou had already charged forward.

A slender tentacle of water shot out from the diving helmet, lanced forward, and pierced through the robed figure’s back, impaling him completely.

The robed figure fell, his mouth still open, not a sound escaping.

Bai Zhou waved a hand, signaling to press forward.

Further ahead, inside the sentry post, a dozen or so robed figures were gathered in a circle, chanting words as if in praise.

The intermingling sounds of their words were beautiful, possessing a sacred quality, like the lovely sound of a choir in a cathedral.

Each person chanted completely different words, yet they combined as if in harmony.

Listening closely, one would find they were chanting common words, but their intonation was so beautiful and melodious it was as if they were being expressed in a different way.

"Lightbulb’s sting, the comer appears, milk three thousand, pot lid~"

This combination of meaningless words merged into a mystical, sacred song that echoed throughout the cavern.

But the scene surrounding the robed figures had nothing to do with the sacred.

A huge sphere of black blood floated in the center of the robed figures. Bloody tendrils extended from the sphere, connecting to each of their wrists.

The tendrils writhed eerily in the air, their contents clearly flowing at high speed.

’Are they absorbing this blood?’

Mo Ling watched for a moment longer and realized that wasn’t the case.

These robed figures were extracting blood from their own bodies.

After extracting the blood, the robed figures continued to chant as they pulled miscellaneous items from their pockets, tossing them into the sphere of blood and mixing them in.

The things they added were also strange, like rotten wood chips and decaying leaves gathered from various other places.

Finally, the contaminated blood returned to the robed figures’ bodies through the bloody tendrils.

Because the tendrils were mixed with this putrid residue, they carried many small, black fragments within, looking utterly filthy.

Yet the robed figures continued to absorb this blood as if they were parched.

In Mo Ling’s vision, the shredded leaf fragments were still sharp enough to slice open the robed figures’ blood vessels.

Wood splinters clogged the flow of blood, their sharp points stabbing into the vessel walls, but the robed figures paid it no mind.

Their chanted song seemed to contain a healing spell. As soon as the decaying matter destroyed parts of their bodies, the spell would help them recover.

The robed figures’ expressions were a mixture of pain and pleasure. Their eyes were glazed over, and they panted heavily.

The stagnating blood caused problems with their oxygen supply. Their faces were even turning slightly blue and their eyes bulged, but the runes kept them alive, allowing them to remain immersed in this bizarre state.

’Self-mutilation?’

Mo Ling couldn’t comprehend the robed figures’ actions. The debris flowed through their blood vessels, wreaking havoc throughout their bodies, yet the strange organs within them remained unchanged.

It didn’t increase their power, nor did it bring any other benefits.

It was purely for the sake of destroying their own bodies.

Some fragments even got stuck somewhere in their bodies, forming disgusting black lumps that sent a chill down Mo Ling’s spine.

The robed figures he had seen before didn’t have these lumps in their bodies; they probably hadn’t participated in this strange ritual.

Li Luo and Bai Zhou also stared blankly at the robed figures.

"What are they doing?" Li Luo asked in a low voice.

Bai Zhou shook their head in confusion, took out an electronic tablet, and began recording the robed figures’ strange ritual.

"I don’t know."