I'm Trapped in the Block
Chapter 247 - 245: Abnormal Change in the Mist
’Is this some kind of attack?’
The school of Fishmen was quickly separated by the fog, but their vision didn’t seem to be obstructed.
Soon, Mo Ling found out why.
Inside the armor, as the fog spread, components on the facial plate of the armor began to glow faintly, generating a series of images.
The image was a scene of the outside world, now projected with extreme clarity inside the armor. Aside from the colors being a bit grayish, there was no distortion.
Not only that, but the image also highlighted the outlines of various objects: companions, rocks, trees, life forms, suspicious objects...
Names were written around these outlines in the Fishman language, and they were also marked with different colors, standing out starkly against the grayish image.
’So it’s some kind of high-tech tactical visor.’
Mo Ling came to a sudden realization.
Although the Fishmen could still see their surroundings clearly, the ever-thickening fog made them very nervous.
"Back to the fortress first. We’ll deal with the immortality business later. It might not be safe here."
At Jeff’s command, the school of Fishmen quickly returned the way they came.
Mo Ling and Bai Zhou, carried along by their armor, followed behind Jeff.
Along the way, Mo Ling kept his eyes on Bai Zhou.
Ever since he saw the member of the Chali Race transform into an eel, Bai Zhou had been in a daze.
From Mo Ling’s perspective, Bai Zhou seemed completely unresponsive to his surroundings. He paid no attention to the Fishmen’s experiment, nor did he react to the encroaching fog.
He just remained blankly inside his armor like a wooden puppet, letting it move him about. His eyes were vacant, as if he were lost in some kind of memory.
Seeing Bai Zhou’s dejected state, Mo Ling started to fiddle with the communication system inside the armor.
He wanted to check on Bai Zhou.
Fortunately, the Fishmen hadn’t disabled the communication function in their armor, and Mo Ling quickly figured out how to use it.
"Hello, hello, can you hear me?"
The voice emanating from his wristband instantly broadcast to the entire school of Fishmen. The ever-vigilant Fishmen were all startled by Mo Ling’s words and turned to look at him in unison.
"Don’t mess around!"
The Fishman beside him warned Mo Ling sternly.
Then, he casually muted him.
When Mo Ling tried to use the communication system again, a message was displayed: "Your account has been banned. Thirty days remaining until unbanning."
’Why isn’t there a private chat function? This is so primitive!’
Mo Ling was vexed. He had never used the Fishman communication system before and had just wanted to test it out, not expecting to immediately activate the loudspeaker mode.
’Don’t Fishmen ever talk in private?’
When he was operating the communication system just now, Mo Ling hadn’t found any other options. It seemed to be a simple rune that could only be turned on or off.
Now, muted, Mo Ling could only drift forward with the school of Fishmen.
However, that public broadcast had managed to snap Bai Zhou out of his stupor a little.
He probably realized that Mo Ling’s words had been directed at him.
But Bai Zhou was also trapped inside his armor, unable to do anything.
Fortunately, the school of Fishmen soon landed on the edge of the fortress.
After landing, the two of them had some time to move freely again.
Struggling to control the heavy armor, Mo Ling clumsily made his way to Bai Zhou’s side.
"Are you okay?" Mo Ling asked with concern.
"I’m fine..." Bai Zhou said with a wry smile, his weak voice filtering out from the armor.
However, Bai Zhou quickly leaned in and whispered to Mo Ling, "Don’t worry. You’ll be able to escape soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Zhou mysteriously pulled back again.
’What did he mean?’
Mo Ling was taken aback by Bai Zhou’s words.
’Escape?’
The truth was, Mo Ling had no intention of escaping. With his abilities, getting away would be a piece of cake.
It was just that, having arrived in this strange place through that pale moonlight, Mo Ling wanted to figure out what had really happened on Fishman Island.
Why was the Moon Altar so bizarre?
Why did these Fishmen turn into what they became later?
Was this current scene some kind of illusion, or was time truly flowing backward?
Most importantly, Mo Ling wanted to know Bai Zhou’s secrets.
He had originally thought Bai Zhou was just a pitiful man twisted by a relic, but he never expected him to have such a complex story.
’Why did he become a Fake Fishman?’
None of these things had been revealed yet, so Mo Ling didn’t want to escape. He just wanted to watch quietly and learn as much as he could.
Besides, even if he did escape, he could only escape the Fishman Race’s confinement, not this strange scene.
What if time really had reversed? Would he really have to wait two thousand two hundred years to return to the modern era?
Therefore, Mo Ling didn’t dare to make any rash moves.
He could only wait in silence.
However, it seemed something had gone wrong up ahead. The entire Fishman Race was gathered in front of the fortress, looking extremely anxious.
’What’s going on? Aren’t they going up?’
After waiting in front of the fortress for a long time, Mo Ling realized that the Fishman Race hadn’t quickly returned to the fortress as Jeff had commanded. Instead, a crowd of them was gathered around the coiled dragon, inspecting it nonstop.
’What happened?’
Curious, Mo Ling once again maneuvered his armor to get closer.
His armor’s movement functions also seemed to be a gimped version. He couldn’t move as swiftly as the other Fishmen. The way he walked was comical, like a giant doll wiggling around.
Luckily, the distance wasn’t far, and Mo Ling managed to get close to the bustling Fishmen.
A wave of arguing voices came from up ahead.
"What the hell is the maintenance team doing? How could a part have such a major problem and no one noticed before? Didn’t you set up a damage alarm? Why didn’t anyone say anything?"
"We had people inspect it right after we landed! Isn’t this the patrol team’s fault? Something must have attacked the fortress and you didn’t see it, which is why the part is failing now!"
"Nothing attacked the fortress! It’s been right here, perfectly safe!"
"This is what you call safe?"
"Why isn’t the Inscription Team here yet? Come help me see if it’s a connection issue here. The rune pathways on both sides aren’t connecting, and my console keeps giving me errors!"
"Stop staring! Come give us a hand! I swear, you guys in the combat team are useless for anything other than fighting!"
"..."
The Fishmen were extremely agitated, their arguing incessant, but they never stopped working with their hands.
Some Fishmen flew their armor up onto the fortress to inspect it, others slipped into its interior, and still others opened a hatch and seemed to be searching for something inside.
From all the arguing, Mo Ling was able to piece together the current situation.
’A rune component failed? The fortress can’t start up?’
They hadn’t been gone long. The fortress that had been soaring freely through the sky just moments ago had now broken down.
Of course, Mo Ling had no idea what had happened either.
However, he immediately recalled what Bai Zhou had just said to him—
"Don’t worry. You’ll be able to escape soon."
’How did Bai Zhou know?’
’Could it be that Bai Zhou was responsible for this problem with the parts?’
’How did he do it?’