I'm trapped in a block

Chapter 1257 Reflection in the Lake
Martin walked deeper into the area, lost in thought.

The sunlight could barely reach his position anymore; the entire lake shimmered with a dark green light, and the rippling waves reflected the remaining light onto the lakebed, turning it into swaying cracks.

Martin quickened his pace, driven by his curiosity. In order to reach his destination as soon as possible, he even used a trace of the power of dreams.

His figure gradually blurred, and a splash of color appeared in the depths of the emerald-green water. He leaped a few times as the color shimmered, and then reached the central area of ​​the mine lake.

It was after arriving in this area that his dream power, which had not yet completely dissipated, sensed something was amiss.

Martin immediately looked toward an inconspicuous corner. He thought he would have to spend time finding the exact location of the explosion back then, but he didn't expect to sense something strange as soon as he got there.

That corner, part of it is "empty"...

The lingering dream was a reminder to him.

Although this world does not have a fully formed dream, the consciousness of living beings still "spreads," similar to a bioelectric field. In populated areas, such as towns, this "field" is very strong, while in remote areas, such as ocean trenches, the "field" is weaker.

In the abyss, the field of consciousness gradually condenses into a dream, but here, the dream does not exist, yet the field of consciousness can still spread.

It was through this perception of the field of consciousness that Martin discovered the strangeness in that corner.

This place was originally a bustling mine, and there was a small town nearby where people lived. The field of consciousness should have been very strong, but in that corner, a blurry void appeared, broken and tattered, as if several ugly holes had been torn open in what was originally a complete field.

The power of dreams could not extend to this world, and Martin's perception of his consciousness field was not very sharp. He only vaguely felt that the emptiness was very abrupt and should not exist.

So he slowly walked toward the hollow, hoping that he could feel it more clearly once he got closer.

Before long, he arrived at the cave, and the "shape" of the cave he perceived became clearer and clearer.

Once he could clearly "see" the shape of the hollow, he froze on the spot, not daring to move forward even an inch.

The reason was that the hollow was shaped like a human!
"One, two, three... twenty!"

Martin counted the number of humanoid hollows in astonishment, finally stopping at a very familiar number.

Twenty people, absolutely twenty people.

The twenty missing people are all here!

Why have they become so hollow?

Martin was somewhat frightened and stood there for a long time, looking around.

At this moment, he had little strength and needed to avoid getting into danger.

The twenty hollow figures stood silently in the water, the emerald-green water washing over their "bodies," but unable to touch the phantoms that did not exist in reality.

They do not truly exist, but rather exist in a state of "emptiness" relative to existence.

The void in the field of consciousness outlined their shapes, as if freezing them in place, frozen on the day the accident happened decades ago.

Martin finally understood why no one could find them.

Humans in this world have not yet developed technology to the point where they can detect consciousness fields. Although they can vaguely infer the existence of bioelectric fields, they are still far from practical application.

Not to mention decades ago.

"There shouldn't be any danger."

The lake remained calm. Martin pondered for a moment, then walked towards one of them.

The person was standing on the outermost edge of the "crowd," looking down at something.

Martin approached the man and looked in the direction of his gaze, only to see thick layers of mud and sand at the bottom of the lake.

Although these twenty people have remained the same, the surrounding environment has undergone tremendous changes and cannot be used as a reference.

However, this emptiness in the field of consciousness was something Martin had never seen before, yet he had a vague sense of familiarity with it.

He pondered for a while, and then suddenly realized the truth.

"Isn't Mo Ling's teleportation the same? He just digs out a hole, and everything inside disappears, becoming a complete 'emptiness'."

Whether in cube form or cube human form, Mo Ling's body, like these figures, is completely hollow.

What's the connection between these two things?

At this moment, Martin fully understood that he was getting incredibly close to Morin's true "container." He knew that this adventure to find the container was bound to succeed, because he had seen Morin's future.

No matter how winding their path may be, the container will inevitably appear.

This was an ending that was predetermined, but it was unknown which path truly led to that ending.

Now, Martin has seen the "road sign."

This is the right path. He will find Morin's container here, and the adventure will come to an end here.

"finally……"

The joy overshadowed Martin's inner fear.

All he wanted to know now was what the connection was between these figures and Moring's vessel.

Could these figures simply be used as containers? Are they the only ones?
Looking at the twenty figures with completely different movements, Martin was somewhat confused.

The path was already there, but he didn't know how to proceed.

As if possessed, he raised his hand and reached for the empty figure...

"boom!"

Martin heard a loud bang.

It was an explosion!

After his hand passed through the "empty" outline, it was as if some boundary was broken, and the world trembled.

After a huge explosion, the earth began to shake, and the entire mine lake instantly became extremely turbulent, with water flowing wildly and mud and sand flying everywhere.

Then, to Martin's astonishment, all the lake water began to fly into the air, like raindrops flowing backward, and disappeared into the clouds. The dark clouds gradually dispersed, and a blazing ray of sunlight shone into the dusty mine.

The sound of a mine cart came from afar, a wisp of dust hit Martin's face, the ground beneath his feet was completely dry, and there seemed to be rustling conversations around him.

"Send the preparation signal."

Martin only caught a vague instruction before a cacophony of honking horns filled the air.

A dozen seconds after the horn sounded, Martin heard conversations again.

"Detonate."

Detonate?

Martin immediately realized that he had arrived at the explosion site.

"What's going on? Have I been transported back to the site of the explosion?"

Martin looked at his hand and realized that he had transformed into the shape of the figure he had just touched!

He actually became one of the missing persons!
After understanding the situation, he immediately turned towards the direction from which the sound came and shouted, "Don't detonate!"

However, it was too late; the person in charge had already pressed the detonation button.

One second later...

The deafening explosion ripped through Martin's consciousness; even with his earmuffs on, the sound could still penetrate his brain from beneath his feet.

At that moment, he noticed that the person in charge's eyes had changed, becoming extremely frightened, and were looking behind Martin.

Not only the person in charge, but everyone else too...

What did they see? What went wrong with the demolition?
Martin immediately tried to turn around, but before he was even halfway there, his body suddenly felt light, and the surrounding scenery vanished instantly.

He returned to the lake, his hand still gently outstretched.

The figure in front of them had changed its posture.

The figure seemed to be turning its head in a panic, but before it could turn, it was frozen in place...

"Isn't that what I just did!?"

(End of this chapter)