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Chapter 169




Pheidippides’ Dart, the target hit by it would run uncontrollably for 40.2 kilometers. This was a causality prop and looked to go against the sky, but it was actually trash. When used in combat, the enemy would constantly be in a dodging and running state. It would have no effect on the target as long as they adjusted to it in time.
Bai Ruoyao adapted to this prop in a flash.
The silver knives flew towards Tang Mo, every movement extremely fast. Tang Mo didn’t dare be careless. They hadn’t seen each other in half a month and Bai Ruoyao’s strength had actually improved. He was faster and more powerful. Tang Mo opened the small parasol and heard a metal collision sound on the surface of the umbrella.
These two knives actually left white scratches on the strengthened small parasol!
Bai Ruoyao’s lips curved. “Tang Tang, your umbrella is good.”
A dark shadow flashed and Bai Ruoyao immediately used the knives to block the blow. He slipped back a few metres, raised his head and stared at Fu Wenduo.
From the moment Tang Mo fired the dart at Bai Ruoyao to now, everything happened in only three seconds.
Bai Ruoyao was a psychopath but he wasn’t a fool. He smiled as he glanced at Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo before looking at the Chen Shanshan trio. There was a faint glow around his eyes as he stared at the five people. He grinned, “There are so many of you yet you are bullying me.”
Lian Yuzheng crossed her arms. “I’m not meddling in your affairs.”
Apart from Lian Yuzheng, there were still four people. Fu Wenduo and Jack wouldn’t casually watch Bai Ruoyao attack Tang Mo. In particular, Jack stared viciously at Bai Ruoyao. The baby-faced youth noticed his angry eyes and blinked, “The big man over there, I don’t know you. Don’t look at me like that. I’m not gay.”
Jack gritted his teeth. “Bai Ruoyao…”
Bai Ruoyao raised an eyebrow. “Do you know me?”
Jack definitely knew Bai Ruoyao but Bai Ruoyao didn’t know him.
Bai Ruoyao had innumerable enemies. Jack couldn’t forget the Shanghai assembly instance. He hadn’t failed but he indirectly suffered a lot. The selfish madman did things to harm others.
Jack wasn’t afraid of Bai Ruoyao but he hated Bai Ruoyao.
Bai Ruoyao muttered, “I’m so popular,” and the smile on his face became brighter.
“You didn’t come here this time to kill me.”
Bai Ruoyao smiled and looked at Tang Mo. “I don’t want to kill you?”
Tang Mo put away the small parasol, not worried at all about Bai Ruoyao’s surprise attack. “You have a strange personality but you aren’t a fool You won’t die. You might have a chance when attacking and fighting me alone. However, now there are many people. Even if you really manage to kill me, you won’t be able to leave alive.”
Bai Ruoyao spoke in a deliberately exaggerated tone. “Wow, Tang Tang knows what I am thinking for the first time.”
Tang Mo ignored this man’s foolishly and asked coldly, “Bai Ruoyao, what are you doing here?”
“I’m talking a walk.”
No one believed his nonsense.
Bai Ruoyao grinned. “I took a walk and happened to see Tang Tang and Major Fu. We are old friends and haven’t seen each other for a while. I wanted to come and say hello.” Bai Ruoyao pulled the dart out of his shoulder without changing expressions. He didn’t return it to Tang Mo and placed it in his pocket in a natural manner. This prop would become an ordinary dart after being used. Tang Mo didn’t stop his behavior.
A low male voice was heard. “Yesterday, the black tower announced that the new version was going to be updated.”
Bai Ruoyao turned and looked at the calm looking man.
Fu Wenduo stared at the baby-faced youth. “You are worried about this update.”
Bai Ruoyao paused for half a second before suddenly smiling. “It turned out I was thinking this way. I found out for the first time. Thank you, Master Fu.”
Any confrontation seemed useless before this baby-faced youth’s deliberate stupidity. Tang Mo narrowed his eyes and stared at Bai Ruoyao. Then he looked over at Fu Wenduo. The two people glanced at each other. Fu Wenduo shook his head and Tang Mo frowned before turning to go, not wanting to waste time on this person.
Bai Ruoyao called out, “Hey Tang Tang, don’t you want to kill me?”
Tang Mo didn’t look back and continued moving.
Tang Mo definitely wouldn’t be soft if there was a chance to kill this man. He and Fu Wenduo agreed that Bai Ruoyao’s strength had grown. No one knew how this person’s strength improved but if they wanted to kill each other, Bai Ruoyao might be able to escape but they would also expose a lot of their cards.
This was the base of Tian Xuan and Lian Yuzheng was watching. There were many opportunities to kill Bai Ruoyao but now wasn’t the time.
The group moved a it further when a helpless voice was heard behind them. “What if I say that I have information about Mu Huixue?”
Tang Mo stopped moving and turned with an astonished expression.
He threw the beautiful knives in the air and caught them in his sleeves. The baby-faced youth blinked at Tang Mo.
“I said that I know Mu Huixue.”
Fu Wensheng heard that he could see his brother and Tang Mo today and felt very complicated. These days, he had stayed in the Tian Xuan organization instead of Li Miaomiao, helping Ruan Wangshu and the others heal. He was a bit afraid of the Tian Xuan stowaways. However, if he left Tian Xuan then he had to see Fu Wenduo…
“Jumping out of a tiger cave into a wolf’s nest…” The child said to himself in a depressed manner. Perhaps his brother was more murderous than Tian Xuan!
There was the sound of knocking outside the classroom. Fu Wensheng was shocked and reflexively looked at Ruan Wangshu sitting in the classroom. The sickly looking teenager nodded at him and Fu Wensheng silently opened the door. He was happy and nervous when he saw Tang Mo and the others. He shouted, “Big Brother!” Fu Wenduo nodded and then Xiao Fu saw the grinning psychopath at the rear of the group.
Fu Wensheng exclaimed, “Ah, how are you here?”
In Tang Mo’s team, this small child had always been bullied by Bai Ruoyao. The baby-faced youth imitated Xiao Fu’s stunned expression and spoke in an exaggerated manner, “Ah, it is me. Hehe, you guessed it.”
Fu Wensheng scoffed and was turning back into the classroom when he found something. “Why are you running in place?”
Bai Ruoyao whose smile froze. “…”
…Tang Mo’s group didn’t have anybody good!
Lian Yuzheng was telling Ruan Wangshu about Bai Ruoyao. Ruan Wangshu looked warily at Bai Ruoyao but allowed him to exchange information.
Ruan Wangshu said, “Tell us first. Who is Mu Huixue?”
Bai Ruoyao squinted. “Why do I have to speak first?”
Ruan Wangshu calmly said, “It is because you asked for us.”
Bai Ruoyao made an exaggerated expression and Ruan Wangshu repeated, “If you don’t want to cooperate then you can leave here, Mr. Bai.”
Bai Ruoyao smiled at Tang Mo. “Tang Tang, look at him bullying me.”
Tang Mo didn’t bother looking at him.
Bai Ruoyao was still smiling but his cold eyes were locked on the pale teenager. After a moment, he spread apart his hand. “Who told me to have a good temper? Mu Huixue, a 25 year old person from Guangzhou. She just returned to China the year before and her skills are great. She is famous in the circle. I met her in Moscow. She is a very beautiful woman.”
Tang Mo asked, “What else?”
“That’s all.”
Everyone, “…”
Ruan Wangshu’s voice was cold. “Mr. Bai, if this is the information you want to exchange with us, I think we can leave now.”
Bai Ruoyao told them, “Everything I said is true.”
Ruan Wangshu asked, “What does this mean to us?”
Bai Ruoyao said arrogantly, “At least you now know that Mu Huixue is a man or a woman and where she lives.”
A light flashed as Lian Yuzheng pulled out a dagger. She was extremely fast and the dagger was placed at Bai Ruoyao’s neck. Bai Ruoyao didn’t hide. He just looked at Lian Yuzheng with a smile. No one expected Tang Mo to stop Lian Yuzheng. He looked carefully at Bai Ruoyao and said, “Your information does make sense.”
Ruan Wangshu frowned but chose to believe in Tang Mo.
Lian Yuzheng retracted her dagger.
Bai Ruoyao actually knew Mu Huixue. This alone had meaning.
Bai Ruoyao’s matter was put aside and Ruan Wangshu talked about the information that Tian Xuan collected. “Due to the existence of the time leaderboard, we know how difficult it is for the invisible people to trust each other or form organizations. However, that doesn’t mean it is impossible. The invisible person caught by us disappeared half an hour ago. I ended his life before he disappeared. He was ranked 98th on the time leaderboard. Ruan Wangshu looked grim. “According to him, there are two relatively famous teams of invisible people in Beijing.”
Tang Mo asked, “What type of teams?”
Ruan Wangshu replied, “The first one are twin brothers and sisters. The brother is 71st on the time leaderboard. They are light and dark. The two of them have never been seen together. If you fight against one of them, you have to watch for another person sneaking around in the darkness. They are very strong.”
Fu Wenduo asked, “Then the other team?’
Ruan Wangshu was silent for a moment. He didn’t directly say it. “Perhaps it is because Beijing is the capital of China. It is densely populated and has relatively rich urban resources. As we guessed before, when the earth went online on November 18th, all survivors remained on Earth and the invisible person went to a place similar to Earth. There was almost no difference between that place and Earth. The only difference is that there is no moon.”
Tang Mo asked, “No moon?”
Ruan Wangshu said, “That’s my guess. The Tian Xuan organization caught a total of nine invisible people. From their descriptions, they have never seen the moon. In addition to killing people to get extra time, the invisible people can rest for 10 minutes after completing each game. I can’t rule it out because 10 minutes is very short but these people never saw the moon. In half a year, nine people didn’t see the moon. This is too much to be a coincidence. That’s why I’m guessing that the Earth has no moon, only the sun.”
“The moon symbolizes the night and night symbolizes rest. The invisible people don’t need rest so the black tower didn’t give their room a moon.” Ruan Wangshu looked at the little girl who spoke calmly and said, “This speculation isn’t impossible.”
The group didn’t become too tangled up in this situation and Ruan Wangshu continued, “The second group is more difficult than the twin brother and sister. Tang Mo, previously you said that you met a middle-aged man who was 89th on the time leaderboard.”
Tang Mo nodded. “Yes, his name was Li Chaocheng.”
Ruan Wangshu stated, “There are four people in Beijing who are on the time leaderboard.”
Tang Mo was surprised and Fu Wenduo asked, “Including Li Chaocheng?”
Ruan Wangshu nodded. “Yes, including him.” The group was a bit relieved until they heard Ruan Wangshu’s next words. “The seventh place on the time leaderboard is in Beijing.” Ruan Wangshu’s voice became serious. “The seventh place on the leaderboard is a 16 year old girl called Xu Yusheng.”
Next, Ruan Wangshu introduced the three person team with a young average age.
Killing a person in the top 10 could get an excellent quality prop. In the past six months, Xu Yusheng’s name climbed steadily from 90th place to 7th place. In addition to Mu Huixue, she is the second ranked person in China. Players on the time leaderboard aren’t necessarily strong but they must be bold and determined to enter it.”
Ruan Wangshu added, “Xu Yusheng’s team only kills pigs.”
They only killed invisible people who didn’t have extra rest time, unless a person attacked Xu Yusheng to get props. Such teams were extremely rare among the invisible people. There were a few invisible people who liked killing pigs but there were very few players on the time leaderboard who only killed pigs.
That didn’t mean Xu Yusheng wasn’t strong.
Ruan Wangshu looked at Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. “One month ago, Beijing had five people on the time leaderboard. The invisible person ranked 36th heard that Xu Yusheng’s team only killed pigs and thought she wasn’t strong. He took the initiative to try and kill her. The next day, his name disappeared from the time leaderboard and Xu Yusheng’s name rose from tenth to eighth place.”
Ruan Wangshu knew this wasn’t much information. Tian Xuan caught nine invisible people and none were on the time leaderboard. Xu Yusheng’s team had a bad reputation in Beijing. Anyone they targeted would die. Other people couldn’t find out anything about them and no one knew what Xu Yusheng’s ability was.
Tang Mo’s eyes narrowed as he thought about the information on these two teams. Ruan Wangshu told them some other information. By the way, it was mentioned that there were no players in the top 50 in Shanghai. There were four after the top 50.
Chen Shanshan stated, “The regional division of invisible people is the same as ours. Beijing is China District 1 and Shanghai is China District 2. Mu Huixue is District 3. If she is in Guangzhou then Guangzhou is China District 3.”
The situation in Beijing was more complicated than other places.
In addition to the two famous teams, there were dozens of invisible people in Beijing. These teams tended to consist of only two people. After finding ‘prey’, they would evenly distribute the result.
Ruan Wangshu mainly gained information from Beijing but he cautioned, “Many of the strong people aren’t on the time leaderboard. We can’t be careless. As far as I know, there is a team of two foreigners in Suzhou. They aren’t on the time leaderboard but they are notorious. They aren’t on the time leaderboard because they like to rest. They will choose to rest whenever they get a chance. They are extremely strong and have cleared the third floor of the black tower early on. They like to kill pigs and their killing method is very cruel.”
Tang Mo paid attention when he heard ‘Suzhou’ but he didn’t think too much.
All the information was gathered and the group quickly made a decision.
Tang Mo said, “There are seven days before the black tower update. We have to collect more information. I care more about the twins and Xu Yusheng’s team. The brother is 71st on the time leaderboard but the sister isn’t on there. Tang Mo paused and looked down at Chen Shanshan. “What do you think?”
Chen Shanshan said, “I also think that they seem strange.”
Bai Ruoyao’s voice was heard at this moment. “Wow, is it a woman’s intuition? Such a small child has a woman’s sixth sense?”
Fu Wenduo spoke lightly, “Have you finished running?”
Bai Ruoyao who was still running, “…”
There was a unanimous agreement between Tang Mo and Ruan Wangshu. The Tian Xuan organization and Tang Mo’s side decided to use these seven days to seize as many invisible people as possible.
Ruan Wangshu said, “Since the black tower announced a new version update, the invisible people are staying on Earth for a longer period of time. If you capture an invisible people then there will be time to gain information from them.”
Tian Xuan had six powerful stowaways at the core but they had many members.
The average strength of an invisible person was definitely stronger than the survivors but the Tian Xuan organization was far superior to ordinary players. Bai Ruoyao ran for a full hour before finally stopping. He smiled and listened to Ruan Wangshu’s arrangements. By the time the group focused on him, they discovered he had disappeared sometime.
Even Fu Wenduo wasn’t aware of his disappearance.
Tang Mo became alert.
In the next seven days, Tang Mo accidentally entered an instance. They spent this time carefully looking for the invisible people. By the time May 18th arrived, Tang Mo had a full list of the time leaderboard. The first place was still Mu Huixue. Xu Yusheng had moved from seventh to ninth place and the twin brother had moved forward to 62nd place.
Ruan Wangshu and the leaders of other organizations in Beijing seemed to have negotiated but they couldn’t reach a contract.
They were all waiting for the new version to arrive.
6 o’clock on May 18th, 2018.
The warm sun slid below the horizon and the moon rose from the east. The remaining sunlight shone on the black tower, making it look softer. The moment the second hand pointed to 6 o’clock, a genial song was heard, followed by a female chorus.
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo hid in a small building on Chang’an, staring at the black tower in the distance.
The black tower had never been as gentle as it was today.
This song was Ave Maria.
The female voice sung lightly and the black tower shimmered with a warm red glow. However, in the deadly still Beijing, this originally very gentle song sounded strange. The planet was silent and the city’s roads were empty. Countless eyes hid in buildings and stared at the black tower with frightened and hateful eyes.
Once the song stopped, lights on the tower also disappeared.
Everything became cold again but this was the black tower.
A small white spot of light flashed at the spire. This time many people noticed the light spot. They counted quickly but their expressions turned ugly after a few seconds. Tang Mo tried to count the number of flashes but even his dynamic vision couldn’t capture it.
The dots of light flashed wildly, perhaps it was more than 100,000 times and maybe it reached the millions.
Next was the second dot of light.
It flashed more than 30,000 times.
The third light dot flashed 6,932 times.
The fourth dot only flashed 11 times.
Tang Mo patiently waited but the fifth dot didn’t light up.
Tang Mo suddenly realized what was going to happen and he straightened his body. The next moment, a crisp and unemotional childlike voice was heard.
“Ding dong! The black tower version 4.0 new rules—”
“First, the last person instance is officially closed.”
“Secondly, opening the returnee game. Returnees are players who don’t have an identity. Releasing the methods to gain an identity: Eliminate a stowaway and acquire the identity of a stowaway. Eliminate 10 official players to obtain the status of an official player. The elimination method includes but isn’t limited to beating them in instances.”
“Third, returnees who are granted an identity will no longer be affected by the rest time. The time leaderboard will always exist and the rankings will no longer be updated after 18 o’clock on May 18th, 2018.”
“Fourth, releasing the method to get rid of the stowaway identity. Stowaways who clear the fifth floor of the black tower will automatically become reserve players. Reserve players who clear the sixth floor of the black tower will become official players. Returnees can eliminate these reserve players and directly become formal players.”
This was broadcasted three times in a row. The indifferent child’s voice echoed in the sky above each city. This was perhaps the quietest moment in the world. No one spoke and no one moved. They were like leopards lying in the grass staring at prey, waiting for their enemies to appear.
“Ding dong! 5.63 million players have successfully loaded the game…”
“320,000 players have successfully loaded the game…”
“Game saving…”
“The player data is loading…”
“The game data is loading…”
“Save is successful…”
“Loaded successfully…”
“The returnees game has been updated…”
“Ding dong! On May 18th, 2018, the black tower version 4.0 has officially launched. All players are welcome to enter the game.”
Tang Mo hid in a small building, waiting for the last sentence of ‘please try to attack the tower.’ His eyes were locked on Chang’an Street in front of him instead of the black tower. In the world of the invisible people, the black tower was also suspended above the Forbidden City. Once the invisible people returned to Earth and the two worlds merged, perhaps they would suddenly appear nearby.
Three seconds later, Tang Mo looked up at the black tower with astonishment.
Chen Shanshan was surprised. “Where is the sentence of please try to attack the tower?”
Xiao Fu also reacted. “Yes, every time the black tower updates, it says we should try to attack the tower. This time it didn’t say it? Does it not want us to attack the tower?”
There was an unknown premonition in Tang Mo’s heart and Fu Wenduo’s expression sank.
The next second, a cheerful childlike voice sounded over the world.
“Ding dong! China District 3 returnee Mu Huixue has taken the lead in clearing the black tower’s fourth floor and triggered the black tower version 4.0 update. The returnees have gained the reward, Eve’s Game.”
“The rules of the game—”
“First, from May 18, 2018 to May 24th, every night from 18 o’clock to 6 o’clock the next day is the game time. The game doesn’t affect the black tower games.”
“Second, during the game time, the returnees will get the extra Eve’s Reward prop. The prop is a one time item and players have to find the use for it themselves.”
“Third, returnees who fail to use the props by the end of the game are judged to have failed the game.”
“Fourth, Earth players who kill the returnees on the time leaderboard can get Eve’s Reward. If the returnee hasn’t used Eve’s Reward, the Earth players can look for ways to use it.”
“Fifth, Earth players who kill China District 3 returnee Mu Huixue can get Eve’s Reward and the rare prop, the Fallacy Compass.”
“Sixth, returnees who kill China District 1 stowaway Fu Wenduo can directly open Eve’s Reward and gain the ‘respect of the underground people.”
“Seventh, returnees who kill Europe District 1 official player Lina Jophos can directly open…”
……
“13th, returnees who kill China District 1 official player Tang Mo can directly open Eve’s Reward and gain the ‘respect of the Strange Circus’ leader.’
“14th, returnees who kill China District 1 stowaway Ruan Wangshu can directly open…”
“15th, returnees who kill China District 1 stowaway Lian Yuzheng can directly open…”
……
“49th, returnees who kill Europe District 18 stowaway James Holland can directly open Eve’s Reward.”
All over the world, players had wide eyes as they listened to the black tower finish the 49th rule. There had never been a black tower game with so many rules. However, every name mentioned by the black tower was known to Earth players.
Fu Wenduo, Lina Jophos, Andrei Ivan Petrov, Tang Mo…
These names had been broadcasted by the black tower for the past six months. There were only a few names that weren’t known to players around the world. Today, the black tower repeated their names over and over in the same mechanical tone.
The sun sank into the earth, the moon rose and sprinkled moonlight on the black tower. The black tower calmly stated in an indifferent voice.
“Do you know Eve? Find her, she is hope.”