I'm Trapped in the Block

The entrance opened, and Mo Ling floated out along with Li Luo.

But his mind was still reeling from the shock of the colossal Mineral Race on the battlefield.

Although the environment looked crude and felt jarringly out of place, the sensation of enhanced power and the burgeoning will to fight were incredibly real.

As Mo Ling thought back, he realized the Mineral Race members fighting there were also incredibly realistic. Their movements and techniques weren’t stiff at all; they were vivid and full of life.

The same was true for the colossal Mineral Race at the end. Its expressions and actions were both incredibly lifelike. Even the moment it fired the Seven-Colored Light Wave that obliterated him was executed with perfect fluidity.

After a moment of thought, Mo Ling finally found the words to define the experience:

’It’s like a simulation training ground designed specifically to incite the will to fight.’

But it was clearly a fictional simulation... How could things from inside it be teleported into the Block?

But why?

Mo Ling was once again lost in confusion.

As he mulled it over, he floated down the stairs. He overheard Li Luo and Magnetar talking and saw the electronic screen in Li Luo’s hands.

’Why didn’t Li Luo sense anything inside the Stone Ball?’

Apparently, she hadn’t entered the battle at all. She had only been inside for a short time before coming out, which explained her current look of confusion.

"If it had gone smoothly, what kind of signal would I have received in there?" Li Luo asked, perplexed.

Magnetar seemed to ponder this, as if unsure how to explain it to Li Luo. After a moment, he began, "You would have been... spurred on."

"Spurred on?"

"Yes. You’d experience a sudden trance, and then your whole body would be filled with the will to fight. It disappears after a while and has no lasting effects," Magnetar said calmly, shrugging.

"But this incentive signal has no effect on humans whatsoever."

Seeing Li Luo’s confusion, Magnetar seemed to guess her question and continued to explain, "We’ve tested this signal many times, and the result is always the same. The Researchers go in, become filled with the will to fight, and then it vanishes after a period of time. The duration varies."

Magnetar then began to explain the signal’s origin.

The incentive signal was something the Researchers discovered while studying the origins of war.

They discovered that in certain areas of the Thorn Stone Forest, a unique environment would form wherever there was an excessive concentration of intermingled minerals.

In this unique environment, the wars of the Mineral Race would become more intense. Deserters would become significantly rarer, sometimes disappearing entirely, with everyone fighting to the bitter end.

The Researchers had all been ordinary members of the Mineral Race themselves, so they knew the feeling of fear. A battle to the death like that was hard for them to comprehend.

Therefore, they speculated that this environment might be related to the origin of war and began to study it.

At first, they thought it was merely a geographical phenomenon. But as their investigation of this environment deepened, an astonishing discovery surfaced.

It was an omnipresent signal that permeated the entire Thorn Stone Forest. It was normally so faint as to be completely imperceptible.

It took the Researchers a long period of experimentation to even confirm the signal’s existence.

They discovered that the mineral-rich environment wasn’t the source of the signal, but rather an amplifier for it.

The more minerals present, the stronger the signal, and the greater the effect on any member of the Mineral Race within it.

So, based on this phenomenon, the Researchers created their own signal amplifiers. These were far more effective than the naturally occurring mineral-rich environments.

After continuous refinement, more practical devices like the Stone Ball were developed.

The Stone Ball allowed them to conduct more in-depth research into the incentive signal.

Many of the Abnormal Vein Patients willingly volunteered as test subjects. When they learned this research might be connected to the origin of war, they entered the Stone Ball without a second thought.

They did indeed feel the incentive signal. After a moment of trance, a surge of battle lust washed over them.

But before long, this will to fight would vanish completely, leaving no trace, as if it had been a fleeting whim.

Later, the Researchers tested animals from both the Thorn Stone Forest and the outside world, but they discovered the animals had no reaction to the incentive signal whatsoever.

They even invited humans who had accidentally wandered into the Thorn Stone Forest to be tested, but they couldn’t feel anything either.

The research was at an impasse.

As it happened, that was when Li Luo arrived in Neon Village. That’s why Magnetar wanted to invite her to test the device—to see if there had been some error in their previous experiments.

After explaining his reasons for inviting Li Luo, Magnetar continued to describe their research on the incentive signal.

Although their various experiments had failed to determine the signal’s true purpose, the Researchers had still uncovered a clue.

As the Abnormal Vein disease spread and the wars ground to a halt, the signal began to grow stronger, almost as if it existed for the sole purpose of instigating conflict.

Whenever the wars subsided, the incentive signal would intensify. When the fighting was fierce, it would gradually weaken. It seemed to be self-regulating.

"’We speculate that this signal might amplify at certain points in history—for instance, during the period of rebirth after a mass extinction. It would trigger a war, and then recede into a low ebb,’" Magnetar said gravely.

"’Something is using this signal to manipulate the entire Mineral Race, trapping us in a perpetual cycle of war and destruction. It’s a monstrous conspiracy!’"

Magnetar grew more agitated as he spoke, his face filled with worry.

The deeper their research into the incentive signal went, the more they believed it to be the source of war. But this answer only plunged them deeper into fear.

A signal that could regulate itself based on the current state of affairs in the Thorn Stone Forest?

They couldn’t find the signal’s source. The Researchers had even gone to great lengths to transport the Stone Ball to various locations throughout the Thorn Stone Forest, but the signal detected was identical everywhere, without the slightest variation.

After learning about the incentive signal, the people of Neon Village grew even more desperate about this historical cycle.

The incentive signal alone was enough to drive them to their wits’ end, to say nothing of the great earthquake capable of wiping out an entire civilization.

Could something truly be manipulating the rise and fall of the entire Mineral Race?

At this, Magnetar’s face was full of sorrow; the initial joy from the experiment had completely vanished.

For these Abnormal Vein Patients, knowing the source of the wars but being utterly powerless to stop it was more painful than ignorance.

"’There used to be many like-minded friends researching this with me,’ he began. ’But once they realized nothing could be changed, they gradually left.’"

"’At first, when they turned my home into a research institute, I wasn’t happy about it. But as more and more people joined and the place became lively, I was actually quite pleased.’"

"’The reason this place is so tall, with so many levels and such a large underground area, was because it was all built for them. But now, so much of it is empty.’"

"’Some took up music, others sculpting, some even went into architecture... There aren’t many of us left here now.’"

Magnetar stared blankly at the Stone Ball, his eyes filled with nostalgia.

"’This thing... it took us so long to make. They even had me mix magnets into it and run all over the Thorn Stone Forest with it.’"

As he said this, Magnetar let out a soft, bitter chuckle.