I'm Trapped in the Block

The "extinction tactic" wasn’t a name Shibeng came up with himself.

It came from an ancestor of the common Mineral Race.

He discovered that not long after defeating the enemies inside a hollow, new ones would be born.

Endlessly.

However, if the mineral vein within an entire stone pillar was completely destroyed, that pillar would become completely safe, and enemies would no longer appear out of thin air.

This tactic slowly began to spread.

However, the rare Mineral Race quickly learned this trick as well, and both factions began clearing out mineral veins as a post-battle tactic.

As a result, both groups saw a sharp decline in newborns, and the Thorn Stone Forest became even more desolate.

The rare Mineral Race began to hide, moving through the labyrinthine network of interconnected caves. They formed small squads to ambush mineral veins and lone members of the common Mineral Race, making them impossible to guard against.

They would also utilize hollows that had already been depleted of their mineral veins, manually connecting them to create entrances and form all sorts of secret tunnels, which they used to conceal themselves.

They were intelligent beings, after all, not ones to stubbornly fight a war they had no confidence in winning.

Facing the threat of extinction, the rare Mineral Race unleashed its latent potential.

As a result, the war has dragged on into an endless, grinding stalemate.

"Have you never considered peace? You don’t have any fundamental conflicts, do you?" Li Luo asked after a moment of thought.

These Mineral Race People were all born from stone pillars. Broadly speaking, they were all the same race.

The division into "rare" and "common" factions was purely subjective.

There was no competition for resources, no deep-seated hatred. Why did they have to fight?

"Why is there even a war?"

"I don’t know."

At this, Shibeng seemed to fall into a daze. He didn’t answer Li Luo’s question directly, nor did he seem to have any personal opinions about the pointless war.

He mechanically described everything that was happening in the Thorn Stone Forest, like a surprisingly calm observer.

Only when recounting his own dangerous experiences did a fearful expression appear on his face.

It seemed fear was his only emotion.

Mo Ling suddenly recalled their first meeting with Shibeng. His lively expressions and animated conversation back then had also been born from fear.

He’d even joked with him and acted shy before.

But now he was like a robot.

Once his fear slowly subsided, he became mechanical and numb, his voice flat as he answered Li Luo’s questions.

Calm and indifferent.

’How strange.’

’Could this be the so-called empty state?’ Mo Ling wondered.

Li Luo also seemed to notice the change in Shibeng, suddenly waving a hand in front of his face.

Startled, Shibeng snapped back to his lively state, but a moment later, his face went blank again.

It was like he was switching between two personalities, which was incredibly bizarre.

Having learned about the situation in the Thorn Stone Forest, Li Luo asked, "Do you know how to get out of here?"

But Shibeng’s answer was startling. "We can’t get out right now. The Thorn Stone Forest has been sealed off."

"Sealed off?"

"Yes."

At this, Shibeng’s expression became animated again.

He pointed in one direction and said to Li Luo, "The Thorn Stone Forest has only one exit. The other sides are all enclosed by stone pillars. That exit has been sealed."

’Then we can just fly out,’ Mo Ling thought.

But his curiosity compelled him to learn more.

"Why is it sealed?" Li Luo was also curious.

"I’ve been away from my people for too long, so I’m not sure. It’s probably because of the anomalous vein disease. The roads to the exit are all blocked." As Shibeng said this, his expression grew increasingly strained.

The animation returned to his voice, and he reverted to his lively self.

’Is it because he’s afraid?’

’Afraid of the "anomalous vein disease"?’

When he mentioned the anomalous vein disease, he glanced up at the Block in the air, seeming somewhat afraid of it.

Mo Ling tried slowly descending, flying toward him.

The movement made Shibeng’s face drain of color. He scrambled backward, hiding behind a large boulder.

"What are you doing! Stay away from me!"

Mo Ling didn’t understand. A moment ago, Shibeng had been calling him an Iron Race brother, but now he was acting like he’d seen a ghost, keeping his distance.

So he pressed forward, accelerating to block Shibeng’s path.

Shibeng looked as if he’d seen something horrifying. He pressed himself flat against the boulder, his face full of disgust, and began to sidle along it, trying to escape.

’What is he afraid of?’

’Why is he suddenly so jumpy?’

’Does he have a guilty conscience?’

Completely bewildered by Shibeng’s sudden change in demeanor, Mo Ling’s suspicion grew.

’I can’t let him just run away.’

Seeing Shibeng start to skirt the edge of the boulder, Mo Ling accelerated again, cutting off his escape route.

Shibeng couldn’t stop in time and nearly collided with the Block. He had to brace a hand against it to halt his momentum.

The instant his hand touched the Block, Shibeng’s mouth fell open. The ripples across his body trembled violently, chaotic patterns scrambling across his surface.

He stumbled back several steps and stared at his palm. His stone joints had begun to shake uncontrollably.

As if having made a decision, he steeled himself and detached the joint, severing the hand that had just touched the Block.

But he wasn’t finished. Shibeng scrambled away from the detached hand on the ground, ran to another spot, and began to disassemble his body again.

Leaving only his head and legs, he turned and fled.

Seeing this, Mo Ling quickly detached his ankles, causing him to collapse.

Yet, even on the ground, he kept crawling, desperate to get away from the Block.

Mo Ling flew over, once again blocking his path.

When Shibeng saw the Block in his way, he immediately turned and began to drag himself forward, even biting at the ground as he crawled.

’Why is he suddenly so afraid of me?’

Li Luo walked over, her brow furrowed. "What are you doing? Why did you suddenly take off?"

Shibeng didn’t answer, just kept trying desperately to escape. As the Block drew near again, a burst of vitality surged through him.

The growth at his severed ankles instantly accelerated. A resounding clang of metal on stone erupted from his body, reverberating violently across his surface as if some latent power had been unlocked.

Stone spikes erupted from his back. His body began to swell with muscle, a stark contrast to his previously gaunt frame.

As the ripples resounded, his body rapidly recovered. His missing arm grew back, and his entire frame shot upward.

Then he suddenly leaped, clearing Li Luo’s head, and sprinted off into the distance.

He didn’t stop until he reached a solid rock wall, where he stood, helpless.

Now a hulking stone brute, his body still trembled uncontrollably.

Li Luo seized the opportunity to shout at him, "Calm down!"

Now distant from the Block, Shibeng finally regained a sliver of composure. He slowly turned, pointed at the Block, his hoarse voice trembling.

"You’re the anomalous vein disease!"