The Earth is Online
chapter-43

Chapter 43

In almost an instant, Tang Mo knew how this man knew that he had a king’s gold coin.

After entering Pinocchio’s Honest Card Game, Tang Mo had been acting very carefully to not expose his strength. No one knew what type of companions and enemies would appear in the same instance. Caution was the most important thing. Thus, once Pinocchio said that the king’s gold coin would let them abstain from a black tower game, he showed the same surprise and joy as Zhao Wenbin and the others.

It should be at this time that Mr. Fu discovered something was wrong.

But everything was only his guess. No one knew whether or not Tang Mo really owned a king’s gold coin.

Tang Mo spoke lightly. “I don’t understand what you are saying.”

Fu Wenduo smiled.

“When did you find out it was me?”

Fu Wenduo replied, “Before the first round started.”

Tang Mo was startled. So early?

“I have been specially trained to be more sensitive to people’s voices, tone of speech and word habits.” Fu Wenduo took the initiative to explain and then asked, “When did you find out?”

“After the first round was over.”

At the end of the first round, Tang Mo thought about the identity of the man in black while wondering why the other party could unanimously decide on the king card. He must be a stowaway, a very powerful stowaway. So powerful that the black tower had to make some changes to the rules of the game, giving the queen’s team an unfair advantage.

Yes, only the queen’s team had the power to ask a question. This was simply making the game unfair.

Why did the queen card have the right to ask a question and why did the king have to ask honestly, otherwise it would be a failure? What factors determined the position of the queen card? Tang Mo thought it was either good luck or the other team had a reason for not receiving the queen card.

Tang Mo turned to look at Pinocchio. “When the underground people play the honest card game, do they have the privilege of the queen card?”

Pinocchio smiled at the words and shouted. “Of course not! Our underground people are good citizens who admire the fairness of the game. How can we make the game unfair? The queen’s privilege only appears when there is a player who is almost impossible to be eliminated.” Pinocchio pretended to be surprised. “Geez, did I forget to tell you? My memory isn’t good when I am old. You shouldn’t forget this rule.”

Tang Mo didn’t react much to Pinocchio’s intentional satire. Zhao Wenbin took a long time but he finally understood, making him stare angrily at Pinocchio.

Pinocchio’s skin was so thick that when he saw Zhao Wenbin’s angry expression, he just looked prouder.

Fu Wenduo spoke, “The last reason for guessing my identity is due to the privilege of the queen card?”

Tang Mo looked at him. “Yes. You voice is a bit different and I didn’t know who you are. But this privilege is too ridiculous and strange. The advantage is given to the queen’s team. Thus, there is only one possibility. There is a presence in the opposite team that destroys the balance of the game.”

What type of existence could destroy the balance of the game?

Pinocchio’s Honest Card Game was divided into two parts. One was the victory in each round and the other was the final victory. In order to ensure that the team didn’t lose and to get the king’s gold coin reward, they needed to get the final victory and beat the opponents. However, having different cards on both sides would trigger the duel field.

This duel was the most unfair embodiment of the game.

Even if the card won against the opponent, if the person dueling couldn’t beat the opponent then they would be eliminated. The most unfair result would be that Tang Mo’s side beat their opponent every time. But when it came to the duel, they had to face the most terrible enemy. The enemy eliminated their players again and again. Once the fourth round was won again, even if the opponent was eliminated, there would only be one person left in Tang Mo’s team.

It wasn’t fair.

Tang Mo guessed that there was an ‘opponent who can’t be defeated by anyone’ and could determine Fu Wenduo’s identity.

The black tower believed that even Tang Mo couldn’t threaten the powerful opponent on the opposite side. This opponent was noticed by the black tower and forced to clear the black tower.

Tang Mo didn’t know how many players in the China had cleared the black tower. But Attack was well-informed in Shanghai. Luo Fengcheng didn’t know all the players that cleared the black tower’s first floor (he didn’t know about Tang Mo). Taking Shanghai as an example, the number of players who passed the black tower’s first floor in China was very few. And this person was stronger than Tang Mo.

“…Such a powerful stowaway, it can only be you.”

Fu Wenduo smiled. “I didn’t expect to meet you in this situation.”

“I had no idea it would be this scenario.” Tang Mo spoke in a relaxed tone. “Mr. Fu, let’s make a bet.”

Fu Wenduo’s eyes flashed. “What bet?”

Once Pinocchio heard this, interest filled him and he gathered curiously.

Tang Mo glanced at him. “You aren’t afraid that what we say next is related to the contents of the card?”

Pinocchio placed his hands on his hips and looked at Tang Mo like he was a fool. “When the card is played, both cards only show their backs. No one knows the contents except for you. What cards are you saying? I don’t believe you! I can’t tell if you are lying about the card contents or not. Even if I believe it 90%, as long as I don’t admit it, who dares to say that I know your card?”

“I see.”

Pinocchio waved his hand impatiently. “Well, what are you going to bet? This is the first time I’ve seen someone make a bet in the honest card game.”

Tang Mo no longer cared about Pinocchio. He looked at Fu Wenduo. “This bet has nothing to do with the card content. It doesn’t matter if Pinocchio hears it. Mr. Fu, so far we have played a total of two cards. No matter what card we chose, no matter the outcome, something has happened twice…we are always standing on the opposite grid.”

Fu Wenduo asked, “So?”

“There is a lot of coincidences in the world. You might have the upper hand but in fact, the situation isn’t decided yet. In the final outcome, you are just slightly more likely than me to win. This game isn’t entirely based on strength. Luck and a moment of choice are also the key to the game. The winning percentage of our two teams isn’t really 5:5. As far as the current situation is concerned, the person who will win or lose is hard to determine.”

Fu Wenduo was still unmoved. “You are right, but luck is also a type of strength.”

Tang Mo said calmly, “I don’t want to gamble on this luck. A win-win situation might be the best option compared to a party being eliminated.”

Fu Wenduo was silent.

Pinocchio was the first to speak. “Win-win? Hahaha, not bad, you really are good friends. Good friends want to hold hands and play the honest card game together. No one can lie.”

Tang Mo kept looking at Fu Wenduo. “I want to make a bet with you. The content of the bet isn’t related to the contents of the card and it is okay to be heard by Pinocchio.” After a pause, Tang Mo continued. “We both happened to stand in the opposite grid. The probability of this is only one-sixteenth. So…I bet that in the third round, we will stand on the same grid.”

Pinocchio asked, “Hey, what is this strange bet?”

“It does not have anything to do with the cards.” Fu Wenduo laughed. “If I win, you have to promise that the ending of this game won’t affect the relationship between Momo and us. What if you win the bet?”

Tang Mo replied, “If I win the bet, Mr. Fu will end this game peacefully and no one will be in danger.”

Pinocchio touched his nose, his eyes moving back and forth between Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. Fu Wenduo looked at Tang Mo like he was unsure about the bet.

Tang Mo suddenly turned his head and looked at Pinocchio. “I am an honest human, Pinocchio. This time, the contents of the bet is really irrelevant to the cards.”

Pinocchio didn’t care. “Even if it is related to the contents of the card, I can’t be sure that if you are lying or not. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if I hear it.’

Fu Wenduo suddenly said, “Okay, I agree to this bet.”

Pinocchio smiled and clapped. “The two good friends have made a bet. This is really the most interesting honest card game that Pinocchio has ever seen. I have seen more than 100 honest card games in the Underground Kingdom and I have never seen a peaceful end.”

Tang Mo said, “Perhaps you will see it today.” Then he turned and walked back to his own team.

Fu Wenduo was the same.

Pinocchio opened his mouth, revealing a sinister smile. He said, “I am looking forward to it.” But the expectations and gloating in his eyes told a different story.

The white wall fell down, blocking the two teams.

As the white wall separated both sides, Tang Mo watched Fu Wenduo while Fu Wenduo watched him. The two people quietly looked at each other until the wall fell and they couldn’t see the opposite side.

Tang Mo went to a grid and stood still.

While Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were speaking, Zhao Wenbin didn’t have a chance to speak at all. He watched Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo make a bet and then Tang Mo selfishly stood on one grid. There was no to intervene in the bet.

Zhao Wenbin was so anxious that his face was red. He hesitated for a long time before saying, “You are standing in that square. Can…can you really win?”

Tang Mo looked up at him. “You will stand in the knight’s grid.”

Zhao Wenbin suddenly understood. “You will deliberately give the knight card to them to show our sincerity in this gambling contract? No, what if we lose the knight card. If they break the promise and refuse to end the game peacefully, what can we do? Even if the man in black breaks the contract, how do you know that you will win the bet?”

The probability of Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo standing in the same grid was one-fourth.

Zhao Wenbin wasn’t in a hurry to become a eunuch. He was anxious but Tang Mo chose a grid from the beginning and didn’t move.

When the previous two rounds were played, Pinocchio was lying on the wall, humming. This time, there was the bet so he eagerly looked at Tang Mo’s side before turning to look at Fu Wenduo’s side.

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo couldn’t see or hear each other, but Pinocchio knew everything.

Pinocchio saw Tang Mo look up at him and raised his chin, the red feathers of his heat swaying. “Don’t look at me. Honest Pinocchio never betrays his friends.”

“Biu——”

“Okay, the dishonest Pinocchio will never tell you where that man is standing. But…you can guess.” Pinocchio’s sharp laughter rang out. He looked at Tang Mo with no good intentions and touched his nose. “Pinocchio’s nose will grow longer if I lie. Maybe you can ask me some questions, such as where that man is standing?”

Tang Mo ignored him. Meanwhile, Zhao Wenbin pondered for a while before asking, “Pinocchio, has that man chosen a certain grid?”

“Yes.” Pinocchio’s nose didn’t become longer.

Zhao Wenbin asked, “Do you think this bet is ridiculous?”

“Of course…” Pinocchio’s voice stretched out and Zhao Wenbin excitedly waited for his words. Pinocchio watched him pretending to be calm and suddenly laughed. “Why should I tell you? You stupid human. Hahaha, you are like the stupid bug in the Banana Pub, so cute!”

Pinocchio’s nose didn’t grow longer when he said this. Zhao Wenbin was stunned before reacting.

“You…you tricked me!”

Pinocchio sat on the wall and clapped happily. “Bug, bug!”

Zhao Wenbin cried out, “You…!”

Tang Mo looked at them before looking away.

Zhao Wenbin was a bit clever. He determined that Pinocchio had already seen the positions of Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. At this time, he asked Pinocchio if the bet was ridiculous. If Pinocchio thought it was ridiculous, it meant that Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo weren’t standing on the same grid and that Tang Mo was a joke.

But Pinocchio only said that his nose would become longer when he lied. He didn’t say that he would answer Zhao Wenbin’s questions.

Zhao Wenbin was angry and anxious at being played by Pinocchio.

Five minutes later, the black tower prompted the players to make the card selection. Zhao Wenbin was so angry that his face was flushed. He was anxious for Tang Mo and also for himself. Once the time was up, Tang Mo held the small parasol and looked straight ahead. He didn’t have to look anywhere else as the plastic tip was directly pointed at Zhao Wenbin’s neck.

He said, “Come and stand in the knight’s grid.”

Zhao Wenbin stopped breathing. He wanted to scold this cold-blooded stowaway (he thought that Tang Mo was a stowaway). Zhao Wenbin was obviously trying to find a way for Tang Mo to win the bet. Tang Mo didn’t appreciate it and allowed Pinocchio to play with him.

The pink parasol moved closer, pressing against Zhao Wenbin’s neck.

Tang Mo declared, “Stand there.”

Zhao Wenbin gritted his teeth and stepped in the knight’s grid.

Pinocchio smiled. “You really don’t want to think again and change your position?” He made a fist with his right hand, deliberately touching his head. “Oh I forgot. You have to stand in the knight’s grid or else you can’t play the card.”

Tang Mo looked straight ahead, not looking at Pinocchio.

Pinocchio didn’t find it fun and no longer spoke to Tang Mo. He jumped off the wall and clapped.

Boom—

The white wall started rising.

Zhao Wenbin held his breath and stared at the white wall. He even bent down to see the positions on the opposite side. Zhao Wenbin’s body stiffened when he saw which grid Fu Wenduo was standing in. He stood upright, comforting himself. “It doesn’t matter. There is still a chance. As long as we didn’t choose the wrong card, it doesn’t matter…”

The white wall had completely risen. Tang Mo was standing on the rightmost grid whole Fu Wenduo was standing on the leftmost grid. The two people stood completely diagonal to each other. There was no way anyone could say that they were standing on the same grid.

Pinocchio placed his hands on his hips and laughed. He ran to Tang Mo’s side and looked at the expression on his face. “You lost.” He waited a long time and didn’t see any despair in Tang Mo’s expression. Tang Mo remained calm as he looked at Pinocchio.

Pinocchio frowned with dissatisfaction. “I said that you lost! You lost, you lost!”

“He won.” A low voice was heard in the distance.

Pinocchio turned to look at Fu Wenduo. “What are you saying? He obviously lost. The two of you aren’t standing in the same grid.”

Tang Mo said, “But we also aren’t standing in any grid.”

Pinocchio’s body froze. Everyone present, apart from Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo, looked with surprise at the position of Fu Wenduo’s feet, even his three teammates.

In the white world, Fu Wenduo was standing on the boundary line between two grids. Tang Mo was also standing on the boundary line between two grids.

It wasn’t Zhao Wenbin and Tang Mo who chose the knight card. From beginning to end, Tang Mo didn’t choose any card. Only Zhao Wenbin chose the knight card. For the black tower, Tang Mo abstained from selecting a card. Zhao Wenbin chose the knight card so the knight card was played, not affecting the final result.

However, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo chose to not stand in any grid.

The look on Pinocchio’s face suddenly became very agitated. No one expected a puppet to be able to make such complex and rich expressions. His eyebrows started to raise randomly. Once the eyebrows finished, his nostrils started moving. Finally, he screamed angrily. “It isn’t fun at all!”

He wanted to see something interesting. But he wasn’t excited in the end. Pinocchio had wanted to see this group of humans kill each other. He turned to look at Fu Wenduo. “Will you keep the promise? That is the king’s gold coin, the king’s gold coin! You still have an advantage and are likely to win.”

Fu Wenduo said, “I will keep my promise.”

Pinocchio, “…”

“Damn, I really hate honest humans the most!”

Against the backdrop of Pinocchio’s violent words, the cards selected by the two teams moved into the centre of the blank area. There was a loud sound and the silver card on Tang Mo’s side was broken. A silver light shot from the broken card and connected to Tang Mo’s eyebrows. At the same time, on Fu Wenduo’s side, the silver light connected to the eyebrows of the young woman and white-haired old man.

“It was like this.” Tang Mo’s heart thumped.

After the black tower shuffled the cards, there were two people and three cards on Tang Mo’s side. Therefore, both the knight card and slave card were connected to Tang Mo, while the queen card was connected to Zhao Wenbin. Tang Mo didn’t know what rule the black tower would use to choose what player would have multiple cards. Maybe it was random or maybe there were other screening criteria. But the opposite team had three cards and four people. One card was connected to two people.

The light connected to the young woman and white-haired old man constantly flashed. Both of them were nervously waiting for the light’s final choice. After a minute, the light around the old man faded and the dazzling white light was connected to the young woman.

The woman gritted her teeth and entered the duel field again.

She had already exposed his ability. Therefore, she didn’t give Tang Mo any time to react and directly fired when she entered the duel field. Tang Mo moved sideways to avoid the bullet. When he avoided the bullet, the woman raised her left hand and held it in front of her face, revealing only her right eye.

“Checkmate!”

Bang!

A second bullet fired from the silver muzzle and shot straight at Tang Mo’s forehead. Tang Mo quickly recited a spell and opened the small parasol, the bullet reflecting off the parasol. However, it was only half reflected. The bullet turned in the air and flew towards Tang Mo’s eyebrows.

The young woman raised his gun again and fired a third bullet.

“Checkmate!”

Bang bang bang!

Four bullets flew like flying insects, their trajectory going against the laws of science as they constantly rushed at Tang Mo. Tang Mo moved the small parasol extremely quickly, blocking every bullet with the umbrella. The bullets hit the small parasol, causing a harsh metal collision.

Everyone present was stunned. Only Fu Wenduo had narrowed eyes as he watched Tang Mo use repeatedly use a strong physical ability and reactions to avoid the attacks of the four bullets.

As time passed, the attack speed of the four bullets became slower. The young woman was pale when she shot the fourth bullet and seemed to become a few years older. Now she had a white hair on her forehead. She saw that Tang Mo was perfectly dealing with the four bullets and gritted her teeth, raising her gun with trembling hands.

“Checkmate!”

The gun fired and half of the woman’s hair immediately turned white. But the moment she finished her words, Tang Mo waved away all four bullets. He stared at the woman standing four metres away.

The woman seemed to realize something and turned in horror, but her physical ability had fallen and she couldn’t react at all.

The four bullets had turned and shot at Tang Mo after being fired, while the fifth bullet flew straight to Tang Mo. Once the fifth bullet was fired, the speed of all bullets slowed down. Tang Mo bent down. His body was like an arrow as he leapt forward. The four bullets continued to chase behind him.

Tang Mo ran to the young woman. Behind him, the four bullets were getting closer and closer. He raised the parasol and his pupils magnified to the extreme. Using this horrible dynamic vision and his body reaction, he waved the small parasol and stabbed forward.

Clatter.

No one paid attention to this small sound. Only Fu Wenduo’s eyes widened with surprise as he saw Tang Mo using the tip of the umbrella to split apart the fifth bullet into two pieces.

As Tang Mo’s parasol aimed at the young woman’s neck, the four bullets and two bullet pieces had caught up with him and were pointed at the back of his head. But the tip of his umbrella touched the woman’s neck first. All the bullets stopped and the young woman looked at him with horror. She seemed to have forgotten to breathe and her face was white.

Clang!

The bullets made a loud sound as they fell.

Tang Mo didn’t remove the parasol. He stated coldly, “Admit defeat.”

The young woman’s hair was almost entirely white as she trembled. “I-I…I admit defeat.”

A huge black hole appeared under the woman’s feet. She screamed as she fell down, disappearing from the white space. Tang Mo closed the parasol and returned to his position.

Pinocchio finally showed some interest on his face as someone was eliminated. He clapped and the white wall slowly fell from the air.

Fu Wenduo shouted, ‘In the next round, I will play the minister card.”

Tang Mo turned to look at him, lips slowly curving. “Good.”

Pinocchio was angry at the dull game.

Five minutes later.

“Ding dong! In the fourth round, the players have played their cards.”

The silver card in front of Fu Wenduo broke. He really played the minister card. Tang Mo, who represented the queen, stepped forward while the middle-aged woman opposite him trembled. Tang Mo had just opened the small parasol when the woman unexpected said, “I give up! I admit defeat. Don’t kill me, don’t kill me!”

Tang Mo was slightly startled.

He was regarded as a stowaway.

The black hole appeared at the foot of the middle-aged woman. Tang Mo put away the umbrella and said in a light voice. “…I’m sorry.”

At the end of the fourth round, Tang Mo’s team still had him and Zhao Wenbin, while the opposite side only ahd Fu Wenduo and the white-haired old man. There were two cards left on each side. The king card and slave card, and the queen card and slave card.

The white wall slowly fell while Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo stared at each other.  Tang Mo said, “The next one is according to the rules of the Underground Kingdom.”

Fu Wenduo replied, “Yes.”

Pinocchio was bored enough to pick up the pieces of broken radio and put them back together. After listening to Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo’s words, he sighed and said, “I knew I shouldn’t have done this boring thing.” Then he bowed his head and continued to play with the broken radio.

Once the white wall fell, Zhao Wenbin was relieved and felt that he could narrowly escape for the first time. Although he had been oppressed by Tang Mo, at least he could safely leave the instance. He didn’t dare ask for the king’s gold coin. A good reward was no use if he didn’t have his life.

Once the two teams played the slave cards, the king and queen would be played together last. The king and queen would hold hands and end this absurd and cruel game.

Zhao Wenbin walked over to Tang Mo. “…Thank you.” He said thank you. If Tang Mo wasn’t here, he would’ve died at the hands of the man in black. Tang Mo might be a tough stowaway but the game was almost over. He was willing to say thank you.

Tang Mo was looking at the ground, as if he was thinking of something.

Zhao Wenbin didn’t get an answer. Then he asked curiously, “What are you thinking? The game is going to end. Is there a problem?”

“I was thinking…how did he become a stowaway?”

Zhao Wenbin knew that Tang Mo was talking about Fu Wenduo. He always believed that Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were stowaways. He said, “He killed a person and became a stowaway. The man in black killed someone in the three days before the earth went online, making him a stowaway.”

Tang Mo didn’t answer.

This wasn’t the answer he wanted.

In the second round, Tang Mo’s reason for Fu Wenduo playing the knight card and not the minister card was because when both options were available and Tang Mo’s team played the knight card, he would choose the knight card. The two knight cards would void each other out and the duel field wouldn’t activate. If he used the minister card to suppress the knight card and trigger the duel field, one of the two teams would have one less person.

In the second round, Tang Mo had no choice. If he played the knight card, the hope of ending the game peacefully was slim, even if he made the bet. But Fu Wenduo could choose to use the minister card.

He chose to play the knight card instead. This meant that unless it was a last resort, Fu Wenduo wouldn’t watch others die or force them to participate in the dangerous tower attack game.

And…

“The first round, he actually gave us a chance.”

Zhao Wenbin asked, “What?”

Tang Mo shook his head. “Nothing.”

In the first round, Fu Wenduo and got the advantage. But if the Tang Mo team really decided to follow the rules and play the slave card to peacefully end the game, Fu Wenduo would lose.  It looked like a big gamble and he eventually won, but it also gave the opposing team a chance.

Looking at the first game alone, Tang Mo couldn’t see his intentions. But once combined with the second team, Tang Mo really that this person really wanted to give the opponents a chance.

Why did this type of person become a stowaway?

“Once the game is over, I might know.” Tang Mo whispered to himself.

Pinocchio had no interest in hosting the game. He sat on the wall and played with his radio, letting the black tower prompt the players to play. The white wall gradually rose and the cards of the two teams were exposed. Tang Mo and Zhao Wenbin were standing in the grid of the slave card, while Fu Wenduo and the old man were standing opposite.

The two sides glanced at each other.

The old man was trembling. He didn’t dare move with Fu Wenduo beside him, but his expression was ugly. He turned his head several times, as if he wanted to talk to Fu Wenduo. But once he saw Fu Wenduo’s face, he closed his mouth and didn’t dare move.

Zhao Wenbin looked at the old man strangely.

Pinocchio said, “You play by yourself. It is really boring.”

Two silver cards clung to the ground and moved to the blank area. There was a dazzling white light and Tang Mo closed his eyes, waiting for the end of the game.

Pinocchio was the only one who could open his eyes in the light. He wasn’t interested in looking at the cards as he concentrated on the old-fashioned radio. Until there was a sharp sound. It was one instead of two sounds.

Pinocchio raised his head in horror and looked at the broken card.

A white light shone from the centre of the broken card, connecting to Fu Wenduo’s eyebrows. On the other side, the white light shot out and connected to Tang Mo’s eyebrows.

Pinocchio looked at the broken card. The next moment, he looked at Fu Wenduo and said incredulously. “Are you crazy? Why did you play the king card? Do you want to lose the game? You don’t understand the rules of the game. You will lose!”

The white light dissipated. Simultaneously, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo opened their eyes and looked at Pinocchio.

At this moment, a loud voice rang out in the white world.

“Ding dong! Pinocchio has learned the contents fo the card and violated the rules of the game. He has been deprived of the privilege of being a citizen of the underground kingdom.

“Ding dong! China District 2’s No. 419 instance has changed to Santa’s Honest Card Game.”

Chapter end