I'm Trapped in the Block

The relic, glowing with golden light, slowly descended. Shen Ping watched this scene, pleasantly surprised.

He had actually managed to trigger the relic-bestowing function of this blue Olive!

’Is this some kind of mechanism too?’

"Can it be triggered repeatedly?"

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Shen Ping’s mind. He grew even more certain that buying this island had been a wise decision.

The golden light slowly drifted down. Shen Ping had already raised his cupped hands, intending to catch the relic.

As the relic drew closer, he could see its form through the golden light.

It was a Bronze cup, exquisitely crafted, like some kind of vessel for wine. It looked ancient and elegant—clearly no ordinary object.

In the blink of an eye, the Bronze cup fell right in front of Shen Ping. He judged its position and carefully moved to receive it.

However, the expected sensation of touch never came.

The Bronze cup passed right through his hands and fell to the floor.

Shen Ping stood frozen, his hands still raised.

For a moment, a whirlwind of emotions washed over him. He felt an urge to curse, but there was no one to curse at.

Looking up again, he saw that the blue Olive had vanished, as if its task was complete.

Inside the empty pavilion, the lights remained as bright as ever.

Shen Ping’s hands were still in the air. He suddenly felt like an idiot.

’What am I doing? How did I get so absorbed in this?’ he thought with a wry smile.

He took out a relic again to check his own body. Everything was still normal.

’First, let’s see if I can find anything of value.’

Shen Ping decided not to waste any more time and began searching the pavilion. Thanks to the phantoms, the building was brightly lit, making exploration quite simple.

He soon returned downstairs. Shen Ping searched the area meticulously, but the ruin was completely empty. There was nothing but some wooden tables, chairs, and a few utensils carved with patterns.

’Might as well make some money off antiques.’

Many collectors enjoyed gathering various artifacts from the abyss, and they would pay a lot of money for items that were worthless to a Hunter.

After stuffing some of the more portable utensils into his backpack, Shen Ping decided to leave the pavilion.

The haul wasn’t great, but it would be enough to pay off his loan. The relic data he had recorded earlier should also sell for a bit of money.

Outside the window, the stars were still twinkling, but Shen Ping keenly sensed that the starry sky was slowly starting to break apart.

Iridescent lights appeared across the sky, shattering the darkness of the night.

The surrounding lights were also growing blurry.

As the thick morning fog dissipated, the phantom illusion was beginning to collapse.

Shen Ping took out his recording device, intending to document the process of the illusion’s collapse.

Everything around him grew hazy again. First, things became indistinct, then they dissolved into iridescent light that faded until only a faint mist remained.

A sudden ray of sunlight shot in like a bullet, shattering the fabricated space and knocking the whole world back to its true form.

Before long, Shen Ping watched as the brightly lit, clean pavilion became dilapidated and ruined. Sunlight streamed in through holes in the roof and uncovered windows. The recent scent of wood turned into the stench of rotting timber.

There was no eerie sonata, only the CHIRP CHIRP of birds outside.

The illusion was over.

Shen Ping hurriedly took out the "antiques" he had just collected.

There were no patterns, only scraps of rotten, crumbling wood.

"So much for my haul."

But after such an emotional rollercoaster, Shen Ping had come to terms with it. He decided he would be satisfied with just earning a little money from uploading the data this time.

He searched the pavilion one more time. Now it was even "cleaner"—there was nothing at all besides assorted pieces of rotten wood.

"Sigh. The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment."

He was about to head back to his boat, but as he was going downstairs, he saw something in the center of the pavilion, covered in dust and cobwebs.

’What is that?’

He walked over, crouched down, and took out a light source, carefully cleaning away the grime.

However, the object before him made his heart skip a beat.

It was a Bronze cup.

A familiar Bronze cup...

Shen Ping’s eyes widened, a mix of complex emotions swirling within him.

He picked up a branch and poked it. The solid sensation made Shen Ping’s mind go blank for a second.

’This is real? Not an illusion?’

’Did the blue Olive really respond to my gesture and give me a relic?’

’Why would something from an illusion respond to me?’

’Were those Immortals real?’

The more he thought about it, the more his hair stood on end. Shen Ping immediately threw away the branch he had used to poke the Immortal, took out a sealing capsule to store the Bronze cup, and turned to run for the door.

Only then did he notice that the pavilion’s main door had long since rotted away.

There was no door at all!

Shen Ping rushed down the stone hill, ran back to his boat, and returned to a nearby island base without a moment’s rest.

"I need to report important information!"

He handed over everything he had recorded to the officials, and he turned in the Bronze cup as well.

Because of this experience, Shen Ping felt the cup was a bit strange and didn’t dare use it himself.

「After a period of time, an official in a suit came to find him...」

"Mr. Shen Ping, we have reviewed your recordings repeatedly. We’ve made significant discoveries, but there are still a few things we need your cooperation on."

The official took out a digital screen and began playing the footage Shen Ping had recorded of the blue Olive dispensing relics.

"These relics... we’ve seen many of them before."

He paused the playback, pointing at the relics within the golden light.

"This one we discovered two years ago in the Shrinking Sea..."

"This one we found not long ago on Rock Spike Island..."

"This one is a relic currently in official use. It was discovered five years ago in a ruin in the Forbidden Sea Region and was recently used to stabilize an island when a Sea Siren appeared. It’s very effective..."

"This one is..."

The official patiently explained each relic that appeared, although a large portion of them were still unknown.

"What does this mean?" Shen Ping was utterly confused.

Upon learning all this, he was simply more shocked and bewildered, unable to think of any other explanation.

The official looked at Shen Ping and said with great seriousness, "The phantoms you saw were not false, nor were they fabricated from thin air."

"It was all real?" Shen Ping asked in disbelief. "Impossible! Those were all illusions! I tested it myself."

But the official’s next words struck Shen Ping like a clap of thunder, leaving him frozen in place.

"Those were all real events that actually happened. They are echoes of history."

"Echoes of history?" he murmured.

"Yes. The Immortals you saw were real, and the relics were real. It’s just that the phantom phenomenon replayed events from the past at a specific moment," the official explained earnestly.

It suddenly dawned on Shen Ping, but he was still confused. "If they were echoes of history, then what about the Bronze cup? Why did I receive a relic too?"

Hearing Shen Ping’s question, the official didn’t answer right away. Instead, he opened a case beside him, which contained the Bronze cup.

He looked at the cup and said with a solemn expression, "Because you communed with history. By following the methods of those Immortals, you connected with a certain existence and participated in their relic-bestowing ’ritual’."

"Without realizing it, you joined them. Therefore, this relic was always meant to be bestowed upon your future self."

The official carefully picked up the Bronze cup and placed it on the table.

"It slumbered in that pavilion for countless eons, waiting to come before you..."