I'm Trapped in the Block

Chapter 345: Chapter 342: Black Nameplate

Mo Ling never would have imagined that Li Luo’s memory had been hanging around her neck the entire time.

If Li Luo hadn’t brought it up, Mo Ling wouldn’t have even thought to look at her.

But just one casual glance was all it took for Mo Ling to spot the black nameplate.

’Right under my nose.’

Maybe Li Luo had been wearing this nameplate ever since she first arrived on Hell Island, and no one had ever noticed.

At this moment, Li Luo stared at the nameplate in her hand, utterly shocked.

”How is it here?”

She took the nameplate off her neck and placed it in her palm.

The characters on it were already blurred and indistinct. Its surface was covered in rust and mildew, filthy beyond belief, and black fragments constantly flaked off its edges, just like the other black objects they had seen before.

Li Luo carefully flipped the nameplate over. The back was in the same condition, looking impossibly worn and tattered. Her expression grew even more perplexed.

”When did this happen?” she asked, looking up at the Block in confusion.

”I don’t know.” Mo Ling answered Li Luo’s question on the electronic screen. He had only just discovered it himself.

Jin Lou shuffled over as well, casting a curious glance at Li Luo.

”Should I read it?”

”Of course.” Li Luo held the nameplate up to Jin Lou, who extended a mechanical arm and touched it carefully.

A moment later, Jin Lou retracted its hand.

”It’s a memory from your childhood. It’s very chaotic, mostly just you playing. The corrosion is very strong later on, so I didn’t dare look further.”

Hearing this, Li Luo nodded.

”That’s what I figured. Probably no important information.” As she spoke, she started to put the nameplate back around her neck.

But just then, Mo Ling stopped her.

The electronic screen appeared again.

”Let me see it.”

Mo Ling had a feeling this nameplate was extremely important...

Soon, the black nameplate was teleported inside the Block by Mo Ling.

He took a deep breath and gripped the strange nameplate in his hand.

「...」

The first thing he saw was a collection of metallic building blocks.

They were the size of Rubik’s Cubes, scattered carelessly on the floor.

”I don’t want to play with this, it’s boring.” A crisp, young voice rang out of nowhere.

A small hand picked up one of the little blocks and tossed it away.

”Buy me other toys!”

In the reflective surface of the block, you could see that the owner of the small hand was an adorable little girl, though at the moment, she was sulking and throwing a tantrum at the woman in front of her.

”Don’t you think these blocks are cute?” Seeing the little girl act up, the woman didn’t get angry. Instead, she took the blocks and stacked them into a pile shaped like a little bear.

The little girl was unappreciative. She walked right up and threw a punch at the little bear.

But how could her soft little fist possibly topple a pile of metal building blocks?

Soon, the little girl was clutching her hand, rolling around on the floor.

”Hahaha, an egg trying to break a stone!”

The woman didn’t comfort the little girl; instead, she burst out laughing.

The little girl, indignant, rolled around a few times before getting back up. She didn’t throw another fit, but walked over to the block pile and started kicking it.

The metal blocks seemed to be hollow. The little girl kicked a hole right through the little bear, and the blocks came scattering down.

”See! I’m the stone.” The little girl puffed out her chest and spoke proudly to the woman, carrying herself with the air of a great general.

”Alright, alright, you’re the stone. And it looks like you’re having fun, so there’s no need to buy other toys,” the woman said, laughing.

Only then did the little girl realize she’d been tricked. She lunged forward and grabbed the woman’s hand.

”Buy them!”

”No!”

”Buy them!”

The two continued to play-fight like this until the door to the room was suddenly pushed open.

A dignified man in a high-end suit walked in. He looked at the blocks strewn all over the floor and the two people roughhousing, and said coldly:

”Get ready. You’re going to accompany me to a banquet later.”

After saying this, the man walked out without another word.

The little girl stopped playing around and let herself fall limp into the woman’s arms.

”Mom, I don’t want to go. The banquet isn’t as fun as the blocks.”

The woman stroked the little girl’s head.

”This is for your dad’s work. We have to cooperate. Be good.”

”Okay.”

The little girl agreed glumly.

「...」

”Yuanxin Technology Celebration Banquet.”

The little girl, dressed up like a porcelain doll, sat on her chair and stared blankly at the text scrolling on a screen.

The upper management were clinking glasses and showering each other with compliments. A chaotic mix of voices reached the little girl’s ears:

”General Manager Li, Yuanxin Technology truly needs your leadership! We all unanimously agree with your decisions, no question about it!”

”Of course! General Manager Li is someone who clawed his way back from the depths. No one understands abyss technology better than he does. How many levels was it? The sixth? Or the seventh?”

”The name Yuanxin is brilliant, too! General Manager Li, how did you ever come up with it?”

”...”

The compliments were endless. Everyone was praising the cold-faced man sitting beside the little girl.

But the man remained stern and serious, accepting every compliment with a flat expression.

It was the little girl’s mother, in contrast, who kept smiling and responding to the executives, her wine glass being refilled again and again.

The little girl didn’t understand what any of it meant. She just turned her head blankly, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the people, each with their own expression.

The man sat calmly, his face devoid of emotion, yet radiating an insurmountable pride.

The man’s deputy, sitting to his right, was constantly complimenting him, but his eyes held a hidden jealousy, and the veins on the hand gripping his glass bulged.

People from tables farther away scrambled to come forward, as if just making a connection with the man would guarantee their fortune. Their greed was on full display.

Of course, there were others who, perhaps finding the compliments too blatant, remained seated, conflicted, and ultimately did not get up.

In the distance, some people who had had too much to drink started arguing, nearly coming to blows.

Others sat at their tables, madly gorging themselves on food.

And still others grabbed the hands of waitresses, teasing them crudely.

It was as if these people in suits had turned into beasts simply by changing locations. The banquet hall was a cacophony, all the chaos hidden beneath the veneer of civilization erupting at once.

The little girl didn’t know if this was good or bad. She only knew it was very loud.

Her small hand unconsciously reached for the adjacent seat, where her mother’s purse was.

Secretly unzipping it, the little girl reached inside and pulled out one of the building blocks.

She had put it in her mother’s purse beforehand.

Although she had always complained that the blocks were boring, right now, they were the only thing that could calm her down.

Cupping the light, hollow block in her two small hands, the little girl lowered her head.

She looked at her own chubby face in its reflective metal surface.

”I wish I could hide inside.”