The Earth is Online
chapter-63

Chapter 63

There were a slight tingling sensation from when the iodine touched the wound. Tang Mo didn’t mind this type of pain and sat on the bed looking ahead. He was facing a glass window and outside the infirmary was a dark underground parking lot. Once the lights in the room were turned on, the window became a mirror, reflecting the scene inside the room.

He saw Fu Wenduo applying the medicine on him.

It felt strange and the touch on his back wasn’t very comfortable.

Tang Mo broke the silence. “That kid… I mean, Fu Wensheng, he is your cousin?”

Fu Wenduo held the tweezers in one hand and said, “Yes, if you didn’t make a mistake then it is indeed him.”

“He was very decisive when he denied knowing you.” He didn’t seem to be lying and was good enough to fool Tang Mo and Bai Ruoyao.

“I’m not very familiar with him. He is 16 years younger than me. I went to see him when he was born. Later, I entered the army and came home less so I didn’t see much of him.” Fu Wenduo spoke calmly. “It is understandable that he denies knowing me. If someone asked you about your relationship with me in the game, Tang Mo…” Fu Wenduo’s voice stopped and he raised his head, looking at the window that had turned into a mirror. “Would you admit it?”

Tang Mo’s peeking was discovered.

Tang Mo immediately withdrew his gaze and said, “I definitely wouldn’t admit it.”

Fu Wenduo laughed and changed the topic. “This is the first time you used the archiver. How does it feel?”

The reason why Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo knew each other was because of the turkey egg. It had now been three months. In these three months, Fu Wenduo had used the archiver. At that time, he was forcibly pulled into the black tower’s second floor attack game and could only choose to disclose the true function of the turkey egg to Tang Mo. It was because he didn’t have a grasp of the tower at that time and had to use the archiver to ensure his safety. Finally, he used suicide to load the file and found a way to temporarily leave the tower attack game.

Tang Mo was different.

Tang Mo didn’t need to read the file in the Mario game. Then in the Pinocchio game, Tang Mo also didn’t need to read the file and only used the save function.

This was his first real use of the archiver.

Tang Mo gradually became serious. “It is very wonderful. When I communicated with you in my mind after loading the file, I realized that your time hasn’t changed. But in the game, time flowed backwards. I returned to the save point and met my teammates from 50 minutes ago, including your cousin. They didn’t seem to notice anything. Only I knew what I had experienced. The things that happened next were the same, except I easily avoided some risks.” Tang Mo said this and raised his head, not shy about looking at the man in the glass mirror. “Loading the file, is time going backwards?”

Fu Wenduo stopped his actions and also looked at Tang Mo in the mirror.

The two people’s eyes met in the dark glass window and Fu Wenduo said, “There are many possibilities. However, the thing I most disagree with is time going back.”

“Why?” Tang Mo remembered his A Fast Man ability. This ability looked like paused time on the surface (In Gem Castle, Bai Ruoyao mistook Tang Mo’s ability as stopping time). In fact, this ability sped up the user. Once his speed became many times faster than other people, their movements became still in his eyes.

This ability wasn’t pausing time but speeding it up.

“Humans are three-dimensional beings that can visual a long and wide area, which is space. But the universe we live in is four-dimensional.” Fu Wenduo spoke while disinfecting Tang Mo’s wounds. “The fourth dimension in the universe is generally considered a time dimension. Unfortunately, we can only perceive this dimension but not control it. The only thing we can do is move clockwise along the axis of time.”

This simple common sense, Tang Mo also knew it. Therefore, he understood Fu Wenduo’s meaning. “The save function of the turkey egg might be at the moment it is saved, it leaves a mark on the time axis. We can return to this node directly after loading the file.”

“But Tang Mo, it didn’t take me back to that time node.” Fu Wenduo said. “I intersected with your time node. You returned to the saved node but my time still moved forward.”

Tang Mo fell into deep thoughts.

Fu Wenduo’s words were right. It was very interesting when using the turkey egg. Once saved, the two players would start to share information. It was a compulsive, unable to be closed sharing. This meant that when Tang Mo chose to save a file, Fu Wenduo would inevitably hear Tang Mo’s voice in his mind. Fu Wenduo couldn’t see any images but all sounds could be heard.

When Tang Mo was talking about the Möbius Ring and the Queen of Hearts’ theory, Fu Wenduo was listening quietly.  When he was attacked by Bai Ruoyao and his moon flower snatched, Fu Wenduo heard all of this. It was just that he couldn’t get involved. He could only listen while unable to make any changes.

Once Tang Mo loaded the file, he returned to 50 minutes ago. Fu Wenduo’s time didn’t go back. On Earth, he still walked along the normal time axis. He heard Tang Mo start to repeat the actions of the previous round and successfully counter Bai Ruoyao.

This wasn’t possible unlike the time that Momo reversed was limited to the game. This was very likely because the turkey egg could only be used in the black tower games and there was no effect in the real world. However…

Tang Mo’s eyes widened as he thought of another possibility. He quickly looked back and said, “Perhaps after I turned on the archiver, everything I experienced was fake. The black tower changes the flow of time between you and me. Then it will use the consciousness of my teammates and I to speculate on the most probable future…” His voice stopped.

The sudden action of turning back caused the two people to look at each other in the eye.

Fu Wenduo was holding a cotton ball to help disinfect Tang Mo’s shoulder wound. He lowered his head to look at the deep wound where the bone was visible. Tang Mo suddenly turned back and the distance was narrowed. There was only a distance of five centimeters between them, causing the two people’s breaths to intertwine. Tang Mo seemed to see astonishment on Fu Wenduo’s face. He seldom saw this man looked surprise, but this time Tang Mo was also scared.

Tang Mo’s eyes trembled and he opened his mouth, but he couldn’t speak.

At this moment, Fu Wenduo clearly felt a fresh and clean scent enter his nose. This scent was very light but smelt good. His hand on the tweezers gradually tightened.

For a moment, the two of them didn’t move as they looked at each other from such a close distance.

This distance was close enough that it would look like they were kissing from a certain point of view. The next moment, a smiling voice was heard from the door. “Ah, am I disturbing you?”

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo turned to look at the door.

Luo Fengcheng wore a white research coat and laughed as he leaned against the door. “Just kidding. From where I was standing, it looked like you were kissing.” He spoke very calmly. After all, it was two men, not a man and a woman. It wasn’t a big deal to say such a joke. However, once he heard this, a lump filled Tang Mo’s throat and a strange feeling entered his heart.

…Fu Wenduo wasn’t gay but Tang Mo was.

Luo Fengcheng thought it was difficult to two men to have any special relationship so he made a joke. However, Tang Mo knew that he liked men. This joke might really be a joke for Fu Wenduo but it was a bit embarrassing for Tang Mo. Tang Mo deliberately sat on the edge of the bed, trying to be stay as far away from Fu Wenduo was possible.

At this time, Fu Wenduo moved the tweezers and pressed the cotton ball against the deepest wound on Tang Mo’s back. Once the iodine touched the wound, Tang Mo shook all over and sat back. He almost jumped up and hit Fu Wenduo’s chin, before leaning back against Fu Wenduo.

Fu Wenduo spoke in a low voice. “The wound is next to your spine. You should be careful not to aggravate it while it is healing. Two more centimeters to the side and it would’ve pierced your third lumbar spine. With your resilience, you shouldn’t be paralyzed for the rest of your life. However, you wouldn’t be able to stand up for a short time and would have no ability to fight back.” After a pause, he continued. “When you fight with others, you should try to cover this weak spot.”

“…Okay.”

This was the difference in awareness. Tang Mo seldom fought before. Most Jiangnan people were amiable and there were few opportunities to even move his mouth in an argument. Now he had to fight and knew some places would work better. But it was too hasty and he wouldn’t have knee-jerk reactions. He could only casually attack. It would take a long period of training.

Luo Fengcheng heard Fu Wenduo’s words and came over. “This injury is a bit heavy. You are still alive despite such a heavy injury. Tang Mo, it is rare for you to become like this.”

Tang Mo had thought the same thing when treating Fu Wenduo’s wound half an hour ago. Now Luo Fengcheng was saying to him. He replied, “I was lucky. The main thing was that the monster’s weapon was unique. It weakened the healing powers of the wound.”

The trio didn’t continue on this subject.

Luo Fengcheng asked, “What were you talking about just now?”

The timing for when Luo Fengcheng entered the infirmary was quite clever. Normally, Fu Wenduo and Tang Mo would hear his footsteps before he got close. But at the time, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were in a relatively embarrassing situation and neither of them realized Luo Fengcheng was so close.

The problem with the archiver involved time, consciousness and might even be related to the human brain. Professional problems should be solved by professional people and Luo Fengcheng was the best choice. Tang Mo looked calmly at Luo Fengcheng. Then he heard Fu Wenduo say, “It is nothing. We were just talking about a previous game.”

Tang Mo added, “Yes, that game was very difficult. It is the Christmas Even game Major Fu and I participated it. I mentioned it to you before.”

The two of them tacitly avoided the problem of the turkey egg.

The turkey egg was Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo’s most important prop. They didn’t want to tell anyone about it yet, even if that person was Luo Fengcheng.

Luo Fengcheng gazed at the two people. Then he said, “In the office, I heard you say that Major Fu’s cousin also cleared the black tower’s first floor. Is he in Shanghai?”

Fu Wenduo finished the disinfection and covered the wound with gauze.  Tang Mo stood up and put his white shirt back on. He said, “He shouldn’t be in Shanghai. When the black tower broadcasted this game clearance, it said that he was a player from China’s 6th district. China’s 2nd district is Shanghai. I don’t know where the 6th district it. But it definitely isn’t Shanghai.”

Fu Wenduo said, “China’s 1st district should be Beijing.”

When Fu Wenduo was still in Beijing, the black tower said that ‘China District 1’s stowaway Fu Wenduo has cleared the black tower’s first floor.’ A few days later, Fu Wenduo cleared the black tower’s second floor and it said ‘China District 2’s stowaway Fu Wenduo.’ Most players might not notice this difference but Tang Mo and Luo Fengcheng noticed. Many other players who were prepared might’ve found this detail.

Luo Fengcheng speculated, “China’s 1st district is Beijing and the 2nd district is Shanghai. This is the region distribution of the black tower. It is clear that the regions are based on each city. Every 10,000 square kilometers of land has a black tower. According to China’s urban planning, most city areas are around 10,000 square kilometres. It is possible that the division of each area is based on the location of each black tower. A black tower is a district.”

Tang Mo looked up at Luo Fengcheng as he realized. “Beijing is District 1 and Shanghai is District 2.  Is it divided according to the city rankings of China?”

Luo Fengcheng nodded and added something else. “I noticed it a long time ago but I also noticed something else. Tang Mo, Major Fu, the first time a player in each region of the world clears the black tower, it will be broadcasted globally. Mr. Fu is the exception. He was the first to clear the black tower and it was reported three times. In the other regions, the players that clear the tower are only broadcasted once, such as the US and European regions.”

The first person would always get the privilege. Tang Mo was deeply touched because he was the first to clear the tower attack game in difficult mode and got the ‘special care’ of the black tower.

Fu Wenduo’s calm voice was heard. “Why is it the European zone?”

Tang Mo was slightly startled and his face sank as he understood the key of the problem.

Luo Fengcheng saw Fu Wenduo and Tang Mo’s solemn expressions and smiled. It was easy to talk to smart people. If it was Jack standing in front of him, it wouldn’t be possible for Jack to understand his meaning without Luo Fengcheng explaining. He just mentioned it and Fu Wenduo and Tang Mo already knew what he wanted to say.

“Yes. There is the United States, China and European regions. Why not the UK region, Germany region or France region? Or with the East Asian countries, why is China separate and not part of the East Asian region like Japan and South Korea? Beijing is China District 1 and Shanghai is China District 2. Why… does the black tower have such a clear regional division?”

The author has something to say:

Tang Tang: …As a gay person, I am silent about this joke.

Old Fu: His favourite person is a man, making him potentially gay. He is also silent about this joke.

Luo Fengcheng: Are you blaming me?!