I'm Trapped in the Block

"What’s wrong?" Li Luo asked, noticing that Old Xu’s expression was a little off.

’Isn’t this just what he wanted?’

Old Xu shook his head. "It’s nothing. I was just thinking about some things. When you get old, you tend to overthink."

He sighed and stood up.

"It’s all over. The people outside must have discovered the dome by now. Once they break through it, we can get out, but it’ll probably take some time."

Old Xu looked at the thick wall of shells and said with a hint of resignation, "To prevent any accidents, I made it a little too tough. We’ll just have to wait."

Seemingly exhausted, he sat down on a nearby railing.

Li Xiangyi walked to the edge of the pool. Looking at the tightly packed shells, she asked with some lingering fear, "We destroyed the fountain... we’re not going to be arrested, are we?"

Old Xu waved his hand dismissively. "What does that have to do with us? The shell people did it."

"The bodies of these shell people are the key. When the time comes, just pin everything on them," he said nonchalantly.

"We just followed the shell people out of the underground waterway and got trapped in the square, didn’t we?" Old Xu winked at Li Xiangyi.

Li Xiangyi immediately understood what he meant and nodded repeatedly.

Before long, Li Xiangyi’s ribbon of light shone on the shattered shells in the fountain, and a watery mist began to rise again.

Because the dome was completely sealed, the mist spread instantly.

It seemed the broken shells were starting to create a mirage again.

The sunlight from Li Xiangyi’s ribbon of light and the damp water vapor from the pool once again met the conditions for the mirage to form.

"Should I retract the ribbon of light?" Li Xiangyi asked quickly, seeing the mirage begin to spread again.

"It’s fine. Leave it. They’re just illusions, anyway," Old Xu said faintly.

"Okay."

Iridescent light appeared once more, followed by a familiar transformation. Figures began to flicker into existence within the dome.

As the figures slowly solidified, Old Xu’s eyes widened. He shot up from the railing.

"What’s happening?" Li Xiangyi asked hurriedly, seeing Old Xu’s startled reaction.

Old Xu pointed at one of the shadows, his voice filled with surprise. "That’s the Captain!"

"The Captain?"

"Yes, the captain of our investigation team."

He pointed to the other figures and began calling out names.

"Xiaowang, the medic."

"Old Forest, he had tons of wilderness survival experience."

"The chef, Guo Xiaomei. She was a fantastic cook. A shame she went to the Black Tower later."

"..."

Old Xu listed them one by one, as if counting precious treasures.

"That’s me. I was so dense back then." His face filled with nostalgia as he pointed at a dazed-looking young man.

"Are these phantoms of the investigation team?" Li Luo asked in surprise.

Old Xu nodded. "That’s right. They must be the members of the investigation team. I just don’t know what point in time this is."

A moment later, as the phantoms solidified further, sounds began to emerge.

The dazed young man suddenly looked up at the sky and shouted, "It’s in the sky!"

The team members beside him quickly shone their flashlights toward the sky.

It was a dome.

The dome from the past.

The beams of light struck the surface of this time-spanning dome. Old Xu gazed at the sky with a complex expression, unable to tell if the dome above was an illusion or reality.

In that instant, the domes from two different points in time overlapped.

"This was the day the spring first opened, and the day I gained my abilities." Old Xu’s voice trembled slightly.

Understanding dawned on Li Luo and Li Xiangyi in an instant.

"Follow me! Charge this way!" The phantom Captain was leading the investigation team members in an attempt to break through.

When the breakout failed, he had the team members spread out to find a weak point.

Only the young man chose a peculiar direction, happening to end up right next to the spring.

Just then, the spring suddenly erupted. The three of them, standing nearby, could hear the sound of rushing water.

The young man in the phantom scene stared blankly. Before he could react, a giant hand formed from the spring water and pulled him into the torrent.

The trio quickly dodged, but the spring water didn’t splash them; it passed right through their bodies.

"It’s an illusion. Don’t be afraid."

Realizing this, Old Xu walked toward the fountain. Li Luo and Li Xiangyi exchanged a glance and quickly followed.

They passed through the water and soon arrived in a space enveloped by the current. The space was wide and seemed much larger than it appeared from the outside.

"So this is the inside of the Wishing Spring," Li Xiangyi marveled.

She looked at the swirling, floating currents and the glittering golden droplets of water, finding it all very novel.

The young man was communicating with a golden Little Elf.

"Are you a relic? Why did you pull me in here at a time like this?" The young man kept looking around, his expression a mixture of fear and urgency.

"Yes, I am a relic. I’m so sorry for pulling you in so suddenly." The Little Elf apologized to him. "I just want to ask, what is it that you desire most?"

Watching this scene, Old Xu clutched his heart as if feeling phantom pain and muttered to the young man, "Don’t agree to it..."

But how could he possibly influence a phantom from history? These events had already happened; there was no way to change them.

Now, he could only watch helplessly as his former self followed the same path he had walked back then.

"You can’t lie, you know," the Little Elf said gently.

Hearing this, the young man turned his head to look at the golden currents to his side.

Reflected on the surface of the golden water was his wish.

Old Xu looked at the water too. That was once his wish as well.

However, the scene of this wish was slightly different from what he remembered—

In the vision, the young man obtained immense power.

He casually found the dome’s weak point and shattered it. As if divinely guided, he also precisely located the shell people hiding in the attack.

He led the investigation team to repel the shell people, becoming the center of everyone’s attention, unrivaled in the limelight.

After that, whenever the investigation team ran into trouble, the young man would always step up and identify the crux of the problem.

On missions, he could effortlessly spot hidden dangers, which helped the investigation team avoid many casualties.

During construction, if he sensed something was wrong in a certain area, an accident would soon follow. The young man would quickly organize an evacuation, and although the building was damaged, no one was ever hurt.

He could even observe the celestial phenomena, predicting extreme weather that was about to hit the Oasis Monitoring Station, allowing teammates still planting crops outside to take shelter in time.

The young man became the most celebrated member of the investigation team, an indispensable force in the construction of Oasis City...

With his immense power, he accomplished what other Hunters couldn’t, no matter how hard they tried—descending into the depths of the Abyss.

Others had to face a mountain of dangers, but he strolled through the Abyss as if it were a leisurely walk in the park.

He returned laden with rewards, enjoying the adoration of others in the Oasis City he had helped build with his own hands.

Fame, honor, status, looks of envy...

These images were both his fantasy and the most extreme desire of his heart.

The scenes kept changing. The young man even used his wits to defeat the shell people attacking Oasis City.

Within the golden currents, the densely packed corpses of shell people appeared, lying in the pool—exactly like what had just happened a moment ago...

The Little Elf circled the young man. Its voice was crystal clear and gentle, yet it pierced the heart like a sharp spike.

"Everyone who makes a wish with me forgets their true wish, you see. The deeper the obsession, the more you forget."

"This is the price..."

"Do you... accept?"