I'm Trapped in the Block

"Great Clan Leader, how many more days until the Sea Moon Rite?" Jeff asked curiously.

"Five days. We’re on a tight schedule. The Moon Altar needs to be set up as soon as possible," the Great Clan Leader said, fraught with worry. "You’re back just in time. Go get some more hands to help."

Then, he turned to Li Luo. "Friend, if you don’t mind, you can stay here for the time being. Just be careful not to damage these ancient texts."

Seeing this, Li Luo had no choice but to nod.

’These Fishmen have already been more than gracious, even trusting a human to stay in the place where they keep their ancient texts.’

Hearing the Great Clan Leader’s words, Jeff didn’t move. He stood his ground, hesitating to speak.

"What is it?" Sensing that Jeff had something to say, the Great Clan Leader inquired.

Jeff was silent for a moment before he spoke. "Great Clan Leader, I’ll go ask the Fake Fishmen for help."

"Absolutely not!"

The Great Clan Leader rejected the idea sharply, as if he’d heard something terrible.

He seemed extremely wary of these "Fake Fishmen" Jeff mentioned.

But Jeff didn’t give up. He continued to persuade him. "Great Clan Leader, there isn’t enough time. We’re short-staffed in the village. Most people have to keep the village running. Only the Fake Fishmen are free."

"If the setup for the Moon Altar isn’t finished, the entire Sea Moon Rite will be affected."

Jeff didn’t seem to care about the Great Clan Leader’s status at all, stubbornly confronting him.

The Great Clan Leader was about to refuse again, but Jeff’s reasoning left him with no rebuttal.

He lowered his head and thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a counterargument. He could only nod helplessly. The wrinkles on his face deepened with exhaustion, and an air of powerlessness surrounded him.

Even his voice was faint. "Fine. But you are to keep your distance from them. Avoid any unnecessary contact."

Hearing the Great Clan Leader finally relent, Jeff nodded quickly.

"I’ll go now, then."

The Great Clan Leader waved him away and returned to his chair. Just like before, he went back to intently reading the ancient Fishman texts.

Their conversation left Mo Ling completely bewildered.

’What in the world are "Fake Fishmen"?’

Jeff and the Great Clan Leader seemed to have two very different opinions about the Fake Fishmen.

’Are they another species of Fishman?’

Li Luo, who had been listening from the side, was also completely baffled.

"Do you need help?" she asked Jeff, both curious and confused.

Jeff didn’t hesitate. "Sure! An extra person is always good. Come with me to find the Fake Fishmen first."

With that, he hastily led Li Luo out of the "library."

The moment they were outside, Li Luo asked impatiently, "Are the Fake Fishmen another race of Fishman?"

Hearing the question, Jeff nodded, then shook his head, as if he couldn’t decide either.

"They’re not Fishmen."

"Then what are they?" Li Luo pressed.

Jeff sank into thought again. A moment later, he replied, "They’re a bit of everything."

’A bit of everything?’

The answer only confused Li Luo more.

"What they are isn’t important. I think they’re good people. They taught me a lot of things—they’re the ones who taught me human language. But no one else in the clan accepts them," Jeff said, a little dejected.

A hint of helplessness colored Jeff’s words.

"You’ll understand when you see them..."

After passing rows of Fishman stilt houses and crossing a muddy patch of ground, Jeff led Li Luo to the front of a small, low hill.

"They’re up there."

At the entrance to the hill was a path leading straight up, made of stone steps laid one after another.

The stone steps seemed to have been finely crafted—they were perfectly square and orderly, completely unlike the haphazard construction in the Fishman Village.

Surprisingly, rows of streetlights lined both sides of the path, illuminating the way up the hill with perfect clarity.

There was even a signpost at the foot of the hill. It had place names pointing in various directions, written in standard Fishman script.

This signpost was also exceptionally well-made, like one you’d find at a scenic tourist spot. It was painted a reddish-brown color and even had a spotlight at the top, making it especially conspicuous in the fog.

Looking at the scene, Mo Ling felt as if he had returned to human society.

’Did a Fishman make this?’ he thought in disbelief.

This was clearly the work of humans.

Sure enough, on the path up the hill, Mo Ling spotted a figure.

It wasn’t a Fishman, nor was it a human. It was a Shrimp-headed Man with a human body, fully clothed, and with feelers growing from its head.

The strangest part was the extremely heavy metal collar clamped around the Shrimp-headed Man’s neck. The material of the collar was very similar to the components they had seen among the Fishman cargo before.

It was a very old, rust-spotted metal. In some hidden spots, runes were engraved, glowing faintly.

This Shrimp-headed Man was sitting on the stone steps, shaking his head back and forth. A plastic toolbox sat beside him. He kept pulling out all sorts of tools from the box, but most of them were already rusted.

After discovering a tool was rusted, the Shrimp-headed Man would shake his head and put it back, looking very frustrated.

Soon, he noticed the beam from Jeff’s flashlight and looked curiously toward the foot of the hill.

When he saw it was Jeff, the Shrimp-headed Man shot to his feet with a WHOOSH and charged down the path.

But the stone steps were wet and slippery. The Shrimp-headed Man lost his footing, tumbled down the path, and landed face-first in the mud.

After rolling to a stop in front of Jeff and Li Luo, the Shrimp-headed Man scrambled back up as if nothing had happened and said excitedly, "Jeff! You came to hang out with us again?"

Jeff’s arrival seemed to make him very happy.

"Aren’t you supposed to be setting up for the Sea Moon Rite?" The Shrimp-headed Man seemed to know all about the event, asking Jeff curiously right after his greeting.

"I’m about to, but we’re short-staffed. I was hoping to ask you guys for help," Jeff said, a bit sheepishly.

"Say no more!" The Shrimp-headed Man was very enthusiastic, clapping Jeff on the shoulder.

But even as he clapped, the Shrimp-headed Man asked worriedly, "The Great Clan Leader won’t say anything, will he? We’re not allowed too close to the village."

"I already spoke with him," Jeff replied.

The Shrimp-headed Man was clearly surprised by this answer. "The Great Clan Leader actually agreed? And for something as important as the Sea Moon Rite? For real?"

A disbelieving voice came from his swaying shrimp head.

"It’s true. We’re too short-staffed. He had no choice," Jeff confirmed.

The Shrimp-headed Man nodded. "It must be really urgent, then, for the Great Clan Leader to even consider us guys."

And so, the two strange, humanoid creatures began to exchange pleasantries...

From their conversation, one could tell that the Great Clan Leader had a very poor attitude toward this group of Fake Fishmen and wouldn’t even let them near the village.

As a result, most of the other Fishmen had also begun to ostracize them.

Only Jeff didn’t care at all and even visited them often.

Li Luo, listening from the side, was stunned by all this. She couldn’t help but interject, "Is your species actually called Fake Fishman?"

Only then did the Shrimp-headed Man notice Li Luo behind Jeff and turn to look at her.

His two small, black shrimp eyes shone with an innocent light.

"Nope."

"I’m a Fishman."