I'm Trapped in the Block

The Little Elf stared at the static-filled TV screen without saying a word.

"Can’t see anything, huh?" Mo Ling asked, feigning curiosity.

This was undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire. The Little Elf seemed very concerned about whether it could fulfill Mo Ling’s wish.

It flew over to the television and kept smacking it with its hands, but the static-filled screen didn’t go away.

"You’ll see it! I’ll make it happen for you!" the Little Elf said anxiously.

"If you can’t do it, then don’t. I’ll just go find another Little Elf."

"No!" Provoked by Mo Ling, the Little Elf grew even more frantic. Golden light poured from its body, streaming continuously into the television.

Not only that, but it also seemed to be drawing golden light from elsewhere.

Mo Ling followed the channels of light with his eyes and discovered that the golden rays were actually being siphoned from other Little Elves.

As the Little Elf’s transmission speed increased, the channels of light became more distinct, revealing the other Little Elves in the distance who were connected by the rays.

They had all been granting wishes for other people, but as the Little Elf in front of Mo Ling siphoned their power, their own light instantly dimmed, and they became listless.

While this Little Elf was still exerting itself, the others in the distance were no longer able to create relics. They held out their hands, seemingly confused as to why their powers had vanished.

Immediately after, those Little Elves slowly turned transparent, the last wisp of golden light from their bodies being pulled into the channels of light.

The golden rays continued to converge on the television, and the channels of light grew even more conspicuous.

Countless rays of light connected to even more distant places, like a golden transport network, with golden light from all over being continuously delivered.

The linked Little Elves were rapidly drained of their energy, fading and dissipating.

Meanwhile, the Little Elf before Mo Ling kept its arms spread wide, transferring its power to the TV, completely unconcerned with the disappearance of its kin.

But the TV screen remained filled with static, showing nothing at all.

The Little Elf had no choice but to grit its teeth and increase its power output. In an instant, threads of light filled the sky, connecting to every corner of Oasis City. Then, the channels of light abruptly thickened, becoming rushing rivers of light.

These rivers surging through the sky actually coated the entire mirage of Oasis City in gold.

The energy was so immense that a HUMMM sound began to fill the air.

Perhaps because the glow was interfering with the sunlight, the mirage began to be obscured by the golden rays.

The edges of the light began to show flickers of iridescence, like the curved surface of a rainbow, and the mirage was fractured into various different eras.

The chaos began.

The golden channels of light grew thicker and thicker, and the eras within the mirage began to change wildly, like a slideshow on fast-forward.

The distant Little Elves dissipated one after another before they could even react.

’This is so much more efficient,’ Mo Ling thought, instantly overjoyed.

By a complete fluke, he had found the swiftest way to eliminate these crazed Little Elves.

Though it was causing quite a scene.

The Little Elf in front of him had now plunged its hands into the television, its entire body surging with torrential golden energy.

The tide of energy flooding in from the entire city caused its body to swell, but it seemed oblivious to the commotion it was creating or the change in its own form.

Instead, it was focused intently on the television, dead set on fulfilling Mo Ling’s "wish."

The collapse of the mirage grew more severe. Mo Ling could now see the figures of some Oasis City residents appearing, all of them staring in shock at the surging golden rivers.

’The mirage’s influence is weakening.’

’It seems this mirage really is the Little Elves’ doing.’

Under the Little Elf’s full-power output, the golden rivers soon began to run dry.

The Little Elf had already grown taller than Mo Ling, its expression one of extreme fanaticism.

However, as the golden light continued to pour in, its intelligence seemed to be returning.

Mo Ling’s verbal provocations began to lose their effect; the Little Elf seemed to realize that Mo Ling was tricking it.

"I can’t create a relic like that. You don’t have a wish."

"You just can’t do it, so you’re making excuses, right?" Mo Ling continued trying to provoke it. "In that case, I’ll go find another Little Elf."

But by now, the Little Elf had calmed down and was no longer getting carried away.

"The other Little Elves... are also me."

Its tone slowly lost its madness, and Mo Ling’s obvious attempts to fan the flames no longer worked.

Finally, it stopped outputting the golden light from its hands and stood there, stunned.

"What am I doing?" the Little Elf asked in a daze.

"You were helping me fulfill my wish."

Hearing Mo Ling’s words, the Little Elf looked at him. "I can’t do it."

It finally admitted it. This time, the Little Elf was no longer stubborn. Having regained its senses, it answered faintly.

In that moment, its intellect had once again taken the high ground.

"What have I done?" the Little Elf asked, looking with some surprise at the golden light still surging toward it from all around.

"I’d like to know what you’ve done, too," Mo Ling retorted. "The mirage in Oasis City was your doing, wasn’t it?"

"No." The now-rational Little Elf gave Mo Ling an unexpected answer.

"The Vortex Turtle did it."

’The Vortex Turtle?’

Hearing the Little Elf’s words, Mo Ling asked in surprise, "It’s not dead?"

The Little Elf nodded. "It doesn’t die that easily. It’s been recovering its strength and now wants to crawl out from underground. That’s why there are earthquakes. The mirage is also its doing."

Thinking about the Vortex Turtle’s abilities, Mo Ling instantly understood why the earthquakes in Oasis City were all small in scale.

"What does it want to do?" Mo Ling asked impatiently.

"Return to the sea."

The Little Elf pointed a finger, and a golden image materialized out of thin air.

In the image, the Vortex Turtle tore open the ground and carried Oasis City into the sky.

Its shell vibrated, and blue cracks split open high in the sky, with streams of water pouring out from within.

On the other side of the cracks was the sea!

Just like that, the Vortex Turtle carried Oasis City and crashed into the sea.

The image abruptly ended...

"That’s it?" Mo Ling asked in disbelief after seeing the brief vision.

"Mhm, that’s all," the Little Elf nodded. "Its wish is very simple."

’Simple?’

Mo Ling recalled the vision, his blood running cold. It might be simple for the Vortex Turtle, but for Oasis City, it was an absolute disaster!

An inescapable disaster.

Looking at the golden light that was still dissipating, Mo Ling had a bad feeling. ’The Vortex Turtle didn’t make a wish to the Little Elves, too, did it?’

Thinking of this, Mo Ling quickly asked the Little Elf, "Did the Vortex Turtle make a wish to you?"

However, the worst-case scenario had come to pass. The Little Elf nodded. "It did. And it’s being fulfilled."

’It’s over.’

As long as a wish was made to a Little Elf, the events in the vision would definitely happen.

It was something akin to a prophecy.

Just as Mo Ling was wondering what to do, the mirage suddenly began to tremble.

Around them, cracks of iridescent light appeared out of nowhere. The illusion seemed to be dissipating. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Many people wished for the mirage to disappear. That’s also being fulfilled now," the Little Elf explained.

"Another portion of people wished for Oasis City to stabilize, for it to remain undamaged, and for its residents to be protected..."

Thanks to the efforts of these people, Oasis City could still maintain its current state and not be destroyed by the earthquakes.

Although the indiscriminate fulfillment of wishes had led to many terrible consequences, it had also triggered these protective wishes.

At this moment, it wasn’t just the Vortex Turtle’s wish taking effect, but the wishes of the people in Oasis City as well.

The Little Elf looked at the collapsing iridescence and murmured:

"They weren’t lying..."

"They truly want to protect Oasis City."