I'm trapped in a block

Chapter 664: Blocking the Abyss
"Let me ask you, if I asked you to plug the hole in the abyss, would you be willing to do so?"

"willing."

"..."

"I want an answer from your heart."

"willing."

Wenwen still answered very firmly.

"Can you still feel my thoughts?" Vine asked seriously.

"can."

"My thoughts must have influenced you. If you don't want to, don't agree. This is a very important choice. You have to think about it carefully."

"I do." Wenwen's answer was exactly the same.

"Okay." Ivy agreed reluctantly.

……

The deep abyss was rotating at an imperceptible speed. The surroundings were pitch black. All the light that came here would be swallowed up and filtered by the synchronous funnel and sent to a deeper level.

The invisible big loophole isolates those things that do not meet the requirements and leaves only the purest existence. This is the operating mechanism of the abyss. It is also like a huge meat grinder, crushing everything that should not exist and throwing it into a corner where no one cares.

In this most chaotic area, the synchronized orbits are the most regular.

Countless tracks intertwined like gears, forming a sophisticated screening machine. Precise parameters were marked on the scale of each track. As the track rotated, the selected "spirits" gently passed through the gaps in the track and fell deeper...

What Vine needs to do is to add a counter-rotating track to this sophisticated machine.

This track, called life, is used to resist the erosion of the worms of entropy.

The vines waved their tendrils, creating a huge ball of jelly.

To build a track, you need enough tools...

When the tools were ready, the vine let its body pass through the jelly and came to the abyss. In order to build this track, a skilled operator was needed.

Countless tendrils swayed and tapped on invisible tracks.

The jelly also kept squirming, and the soft gelatin turned into a blade that could cut through everything, cutting into cracks and finding the synchronous parts to make the track.

"Ask, come here."

Ivy called Wenwen over.

“Do what you do best… imitate.”

"You do what I do."

The vine tendrils swung, turning the jelly into a "hammer" and hitting itself.

Wenwen followed suit and turned into a hammer, ready to smash it down on the body, but before he could do anything, he was stopped by vines.

"Fall on me."

Wenwen was stunned for a moment, then hit Tengwan as he requested.

"great."

Thousands of tendrils stirred and transformed the jelly into a sharp nail. The vine pierced the nail into itself, nailing the huge body firmly to the abyss and embedding it into the precision-operating machine.

"Ask, keep going."

Another nail drove in, and the track became deeper...

There was a metallic knocking sound in the void, as if something was being forged. A huge rumbling sound spread far away along with the vibration of space, but in this lonely abyss, only Vine and Wenwen could hear this sound...

"continue."

The jelly-like blade cut through the tendrils of the vine, cut the invisible life track into a suitable shape, and stuffed it into the groove that had been embedded long ago.

"It seems that I can't continue to accompany you to see the world."

"But, it should be enough..."

The huge body lay quietly in the set track and adjusted to the appropriate synchronization rate. The operation of the machine was not affected at all, and the gears continued to turn. Unknowingly, the newly added track had been integrated into it.

The tendrils of the vine rose and fell like waves. Although they were still suspended in the air, they were actually deeply embedded in the track and could no longer move.

The small animals around looked at the shaking vines with worry in their eyes.

"Don't worry about me, it's okay."

"If you still want to continue to see this world, just follow along and ask."

However, not a single animal left. They still stayed quietly beside the vines, looking at them with ignorant eyes.

"Leave me now. I'm not the God of Vine... I'm just a little stronger than you. My tendrils are longer than your arms, and my roots are thicker than your legs." Faced with the vines' persuasion, the small animals remained unmoved.

There seems to be some resentment in their eyes.

Vine looked at these little animals and felt a little guilty.

"There's no other way. Someone has to take the responsibility... Isn't that the strongest one, the one with the longest arms and the thickest legs?"

"To be strong is to protect the weak."

"I have been like this since the beginning..."

Listening to Vine's explanation, the little animals became even more resentful.

"Yes, yes, I didn't keep my promise to you. You can follow me and I will take you on the journey."

"Originally I was worried that I wouldn't be able to lead you guys forward, but at least Wenwen is still here, so I'm not so worried anymore."

Ivy said as she looked at Wenwen beside her.

"Ask, if they want to follow you, you take them with you, understand?"

"I understand." Wenwen replied calmly, still looking confused.

"You're really smart, just ask." Ivy praised.

"Then let's proceed to the last step. You push the track I'm on and make it run stably, just like I just taught you."

"I do not want to."

"Huh, what?" The vine almost didn't react. This was the first time it heard Wenwen reject it.

"I said, I don't want to." Wenwen repeated.

"Are you influenced by my thoughts again? Are you unwilling because I'm afraid?"

"No, this is my own idea, I don't want to."

The answer to the question made Ivy stunned.

However, after being stunned for a while, Vine felt relieved instead.

"Ask, you have your own self, congratulations."

Although Wenwen already had a "self" a long time ago, it was just a seedling. Now, its "self" has truly grown up.

"I don't want to own myself." Wenwen said suddenly.

"What?" Vine didn't react for a moment.

"The question you asked me before... I now have the answer. I don't want to have an ego."

The vine was stunned for a moment, and then it remembered that it had indeed asked this question.

"Why?" The vine was a little confused. Gaining one's self should be something to be happy about.

Why don’t you want to have your own self?
Wenwen's answer surprised Tengman:

"If I hadn't gained my own self, it would be me who blocked the hole in the abyss, not you."

Is that why? Tengman immediately understood Wenwen's idea.

"Don't think like that. Ask yourself. This is my own choice. It has nothing to do with whether you gain self."

"But after gaining my self, I will be sad." Wenwen said suddenly.

"what?"

The vine didn't react again. Today's question was too unexpected for it...

Wenwen swung the tendrils and stuck to the vines.

"I'll be sad, 'I'll be sad."

"My body hurts."

"The tendrils of the vines are in pain, the roots are in pain, the leaves are in pain, and those invisible places are in pain, too. It hurts so much. Before I gain my own self, I will not feel pain."

"It's better to be a shadow..."

After hearing the question, Ivy didn't know how to answer.

After thinking for a moment, Vine could only comfort him helplessly:
"Ask, there's no other way, this is the price..."

“The price of owning yourself.”

(End of this chapter)