The Earth is Online
chapter-80

Chapter 80

Once the black tower finished talking, the seven players stood in front of a green bug and looked up at the big turkey in front of them. The turkey seemed to hear the black tower’s voice and was very dissatisfied. She kept screaming and stomping on the ground.

“Damn black tower, it actually says that I will harm my children. This is impossible, it is absolutely impossible. My children, you are all Mother’s darling children. How can Mother harm you?” The big turkey affectionately looked at the seven players in front of her with small eyes. Her expression didn’t seem like she was lying but when when she found the seven players casually standing there, a fierce glitter suddenly filled her eyes.

“Why haven’t you lined up yet?”

The big turkey let out an angry roar and mercilessly crushed a tile. She glared at her seven children. “Everyone wants to eat the bug first but you have to line up. Why are you so disobedient? Mother told you to line up. What are you doing?”

Tang Mo frowned and prepared to speak when a voice rang out from his side. “Mother, we will immediately line up. But before that, aren’t you going to answer some of our questions?” He spoke the ‘Mother’ so naturally, as if he really was a turkey chick.

Tang Mo turned to look. The tall and thin young man looked seriously at his ‘mother’. The turkey’s fury slowly dissipated in front of such a good child. Her temper was like the weather, coming and going quickly.

The big turkey stated, “Coo my child, you were just born. Do you want to know this world?”

The young man’s colour didn’t change. “Yes Mother, I have a question to ask you.”

The big turkey looked down at the bug on the ground. She raised her head again and said, “You have to quickly. Mother has to help you deal with this smelly bug. It smells so bad, how can my lovely children eat it?”

The man laughed. “Then I will ask.” The young man stared at the big turkey and asked, “…What is the way to clear this instance?” It became cold all of a sudden.

The turkey constantly flapped her wings at the bug to make the meat more delicious and tender. After listening to this, she patted the big bug and looked up at the young man, revealing a malicious smile. She was smiling but it was a very different smile from before, as if she was looking at a smart and self-righteous human. She said, “My child… what is your second question?”

The young man stopped talking and stared at the big turkey with narrowed eyes. The turkey looked at him with a sarcastic smile.

The harmonious atmosphere of the mother and son suddenly became tense.

Then the young man smiled. “I must ask two questions?”

The big turkey blinked. “Coo, is this your second quest…”

“What is the correct queuing order?” A voice came from behind the young man. He turned and head and saw Tang Mo add calmly, “This is the second question.”

The turkey seemed to notice Tang Mo at this time and her gaze shifted between Tang Mo and the young man. She picked up the big bug and put it on her back. The big turkey replied, “The way to clear this instance, didn’t the black tower tell you? My child, line up to eat bugs and don’t make your Mother embarrassed. This is the way to clear the instance. As for the correct order…”

The big turkey looked at Tang Mo and Tang Mo calmly looked back.

The turkey couldn’t see any expression on Tang Mo’s face. He was neither excited or worried. It was a little disappointing but as a mother who loved her child, she encouraged him. “My child, you are a clever boy. Mother had told you the correct order long ago. Don’t you have older brothers and sisters and a younger brother?”

A female voice exclaimed, “Are you saying that the order we entered the instance is the correct queuing order?”

The big turkey turned to look at the girl who spoke. It was one of the two young girls. She seemed to sense that she became too excited and covered her mouth, hiding behind her companion. The turkey fixed the big bug on her back with her wings. ‘Child, you are too greedy. You can only ask two questions. But Mother won’t criticize you. You just have to line up well.”

The turkey smiled and stepped on soft red meat, causing the little girl to nod in fear.

In the midst of this pungent and bloody smell, the big turkey looked around at her seven children. She smiled kindly. “Mother has to deal with this big bug. Coo children, you must line up in one hour.”

Nobody spoke.

A faint light flashed in the small eyes before she turned happily, humming a little song. “Seven cute chicks, a bad and big green bug. The chicks want to get the green bug? Mother…” Suddenly she turned around, looking at the girl who had just spoken. “Mother wants to eat chicks!”

The little girl shivered with fright.

The big turkey smiled strangely at her, humming this strange rhyme as she strutted through the meats food area.

Once the turkey completely left, the two little girls held each other with fright. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo looked at each other, speculations gradually filling their hearts. At this time, a male voice was heard in front of them. “It seems we have one hour to queue up. We should use this time to get to know each other. How should we call you?”

Tang Mo turned to look at the person speaking.

The young man was very calm. He didn’t lost his attitude despite the big turkey just sneering at him. His eyes were fixed on Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. There was no malice in his gaze.

Tang Mo lightly said, “My name is Victor. He is Tang Ji.”

When he heard the pseudonyms, Fu Wenduo sent Tang Mo a meaningful gaze but didn’t refute his statement.

The young man also wasn’t angry and laughed. “I am Xiao Jitong of the Nanjing Strategy Group. These two are my teammates, Xiao Qiao and Ningning.” He pointed to the blond foreign child and the woman with long hair. The two people nodded at Tang Mo and Xiao Jitong said, “These two children didn’t know the situation., They didn’t see the blockade order and came here.”

He was talking about the two little girls.

The psychological quality of the two girls was obviously inferior to the Xiao Jitong trio and Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. They were pale with fright. The short-haired girl gulped and suppressed the fear in her heart. “I… my name is Xiaoyun, she is Yuanyuan. We were pulled into an instance two weeks ago and just came out yesterday. We didn’t know about the blockade order.”

Xiao Jitong said, “No wonder.”

Fu Wenduo asked in a deep voice. “What is the blockade order?”

Xiao Jitong explained, “When you came to Nanjing, you should be aware that Nanjing is different from other cities you have been to. Based on the accent, you must be from southern Jiangsu.” He looked at Tang Mo and then Fu Wenduo. “You are a Beijing person? I don’t know what your situation is there but in Nanjing, someone has formed a group and decided to establish a certain order in the city.”

“That person is you?” Tang Mo asked.

Xiao Jitong smiled. “Of course it isn’t me. I don’t belong to that organization. They have too many things to do, since as finding all the instances in Nanjing and find out more information about the black tower. Finding a game strategy that will allow everyone to successfully pass the black tower game and also shelter the small reserves…” He paused and looked at the little girls. “You are reserve players? Don’t misunderstand. I am also a reserve.”

The short-haired girl hurriedly shook her head and spoke in a reverent tone. “Captain Xiao, there is no misunderstanding.”

Tang Mo raised an eyebrow when he heard ‘Captain Xiao’. Fu Wenduo was also very interested in this young man.

Xiao Jitong said, “It will take a lot of time to understand the things in Nanjing and we have to return to this game.”

Xiao Jitong’s two teammates were very obedient. The little boy and long-haired woman stood beside him, trusted him to make the arrangements. However, the two little girls were also very trusting of Xiao Jitong. The two girls obviously didn’t know Xiao Jitong beforehand but now they were looking at him with trust.

The discovery made Tang Mo feel a bit interested.

Xiao Jitong stated, “First, the game itself. The big turkey isn’t as simple as she looks and doesn’t really think of us as her children. This is a black tower game and all she wants to do is eat us, turning us into these things on the ground.”

The pieces of flesh were mixed up together on the ground, making it impossible to tell which piece of meat belonged to who.

The big turkey had been filled with malice when Xiao Jitong asked her a question. In the end, this reality instance was a game and the big turkey was the instance BOSS. There would be no meat on the ground if she really treated players as her own children.

Xiao Jitong’s thoughts coincided with Tang Mo’s so he didn’t speak. He just listened as the other party continued, “We have an hour to line up. We have to ask questions first and then line up. If it is the wrong order, we will enter the Eagle Catches the Chicks game, which will last one hour.”

The short-haired girl thought, “Captain Xiao, does this mean we just need to survive one hour to survive the Eagle Catches the Chicks game?” She paused to think. “We can ask two questions every time. Just now, Captain Xiao asked the big turkey how to clear the game and she obviously didn’t want to answer so she made him ask the second question. I guess… she can’ choose to answer one of the two questions? That’s why she asked for the second question!”

Her companion quickly retorted. “No, Xiaoyun, if that is the case, why did it just answer both questions?”

Xiao Jitong laughed. “She is right. The fourth rule states that the big turkey must answer at least one question and it can’t be a lie.”

The timid little girl asked, “Didn’t she just answer two questions?”

“The black tower only told her to answer one question and to not lie. It isn’t a violation of the rules if she only answers one of the two questions correctly.”

Everyone looked at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were like bystanders and rarely spoke. They were new and only knew each other for half an hour. The two little girls ignored them. The short-haired girl showed a thoughtful expression when she heard him speak. Xiao Jitong smiled, “Yes. In the two answers she just gave, it is possible that both are true or only one is true. We have to assume the worst and think that one is a lie while the other is the truth.”

Everyone fell into deep thought. Tang Mo suddenly said, “The previous attack on the big turkey of the bomb, small truck and knife is your doing?”

The long-haired woman who never spoke before pointed to the blond child next to her. “Xiao Qiao did it.”

The little boy proudly said, “The captain brought a lot of props and are well prepared. I just didn’t think that this instance didn’t allow us to use abilities. Fucking turkey, I hate her!” The little boy was angry and wronged.

Xiao Jitong explained, “We entered the instance this morning and found we couldn’t use any abilities, only props. Fortunately we have a lot of props and the three of us tried hitting the big turkey before entering the supermarket. You can see the result. Once there is an attack that is judged as one that will kill her, there will be lightning. When the big turkey went out to pick up the two of you, Xiao Qiao and I set up some traps. The props were just there and we weren’t trying to kill the big turkey. I thought this would avoiding the Crazy Matricide effect and deal some damage to her.”

Tang Mo recalled, “It was really hurt but once the fateful trap was activated, the Crazy Matricide effect was triggered.”

The black tower hadn’t responded when the turkey was bombed. But once the knife was about to pierce her chest, the black tower punished the little boy for trying to kill his mother.

The question returned to the beginning.

“So how should we line up?” The short-haired girl called Xiaoyun said, “The big turkey gave us two answers. One is to line up and eat the bug. This will allow us to enter the instance. The other is that we should line up in the order we entered the instance. I don’t think she would so easily tell us the order of the queue. It is impossible to tell us this answer otherwise we can clear the instance right away. She must be lying with the second question.” Then why ask the second question?

The little girl didn’t speak these words but she looked strangely at Tang Mo, her meaning obvious.

When Tang Mo participated in the black tower games, he mostly played the role of the brains. In the past, it was likely for him to ask the first question instead of Xiao Jitong. There were many players who tried to take the lead in the black tower games. They might be strong but they didn’t give the right advice, bringing the team to a game failure. Tang Mo also wanted to ask Xiao Jitong’s first question so he didn’t say much.

Tang Mo liked two types of teammates. One was a person who coincided with his ideas and they could understand each other’s meaning. For example, Fu Wenduo and the very mysterious Xiao Jitong. The second type were the idiots. They didn’t think about anything and unconditionally obeyed orders, not giving the team any trouble.

The female high school student was quite clever but unfortunately, she was still a little bit worse than them. Fortunately, she was quite modest and not too arrogant. The players who pretended to be smart really gave Tang Mo a headache. When he and Fu Wenduo played the Pinocchio game, Tang Mo was pitted by his ‘smart’ teammates and fell into the disadvantage at the beginning.

Tang Mo was preparing to answer when a male voice stole him. “There are two purposes behind asking this question. First, it is to make sure that the answer to the first question is definitely correct. Second, even if the answer is wrong, we don’t know the correct queue order. The big turkey has half a chance of telling the truth. If we line up in this order, we might win through a fluke.”

Tang Mo looked back at Fu Wenduo. When Fu Wenduo saw Tang Mo looking at him, his lips curved and he smiled lightly.

The little girl understood with Fu Wenduo’s answer.

The second question didn’t matter. The important thing was that they could distinguish which answer was correct with this question. In addition, the question about the queue allowed then to see some of the attitudes of the big turkey. She didn’t want players to pass the instance smoothly.

The short-haired girl proposed, “The order which we entered the instance is definitely not the correct order. Then we shouldn’t line up in this order and change it. This has also excluded a queuing order.”

Tang Mo shook his head. “We should line up in this order.”

The short-haired girl exclaimed, “Why?”

“Do you know how many ways there are to arrange seven people?” A low female voice came from the rear of the group. Tang Mo raised his head to look at the person talking. It was the long-haired woman called Ningning. She wore black tights and coldly looked at the two female students. “Assuming that the positive and negative are the same, without a split heads or tails, it is 7!/2, a total of 2,520 sorting methods. Suppose that the big turkey gives us a heads and tails, it is 5,040 ways.” Her voice stopped and she stared coldly at the two girls. “Which of the remaining 5,039 ways do you want to choose?”

The long-haired woman spoke mercilessly, causing the two girls to close their mouths and stop talking.

Xiao Jitong smiled. “IT is a 1/5039 chance so I don’t want to choose casually. The turkey might have the same line of thought and assume that we will think she is lying, using reverse thinking on us to rule out the correct answer. Therefore, I also agree to queue up in the order we entered the instance. Now we have determined the queuing order and we don’t have any more information. We can only prepare our own props for the ‘Eagle Catches the Chicks game.”

The seven people separated to prepare their own weapons, recharge their batteries and prepare for battle.

Both Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo felt that they couldn’t win the game in the first round. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo went to a corner of the supermarket. Tang Mo took out Grandmother Wolf’s small parasol and tried to swing it. Then he took out two small knives and one hand gun. There was only one of Fu Wenduo’s special bullets left and Tang Mo didn’t intend to use it. He took out a gun box filled with ordinary bullets.

“You take this.” Tang Mo held out the handle of the gun.

Fu Wenduo had been standing at the frozen food cabinet and observing the surroundings. After hearing this, he turned to look at Tang Mo. He looked slightly stunned as he took the silver gun and asked, “You are giving this to me?”

Tang Mo nodded. “The big turkey’s strength is currently unknown. She doesn’t seem strong based on the foreign child just now. But next time she will change into an eagle. It is unclear whether this change will make her more powerful or not but we must be prepared.”

Tang Mo carefully explained but Fu Wenduo just looked at him, quietly listening. Tang Mo raised his head and found that Fu Wenduo was just staring at his face. Tang Mo’s heart thumped as Fu Wenduo asked, “So why are you giving it to me?”

Tang Mo, “…”

Wasn’t this his gun?

Tang Mo was silent for a moment before answering honestly, “It is a real fight this time and at my current level… I won’t be able to shoot.”

Fu Wenduo nodded and seemed to accept the answer.

Tang Mo, “…”

Fu Wenduo didn’t know that after the use of abilities was forbidden, this gun wasn’t really important to Tang Mo. His marksmanship wasn’t good and without the checkmate ability, the gun was worth less than knives and the small parasol to him.

Tang Mo was unable to use his abilities and could now only rely on his small parasol and… Fu Wenduo. The big match was sealed in his wrist with his ability. The big match itself could be used but not the power, so he couldn’t take out the big match. His physical abilities also declined without his abilities. Tang Mo didn’t want to admit it but his biggest hope was in Fu Wenduo.

However, Tang Mo had some concerns so he handed his gun over to Fu Wenduo. “You can’t use your ability and don’t have a weapon. It is better to take this gun. Fu Wenduo’s ability was related to physical changes. Every time he fought, he used his own body as a weapon. Now that he couldn’t use it anymore, he might lose strength.

Fu Wenduo said, “I have a weapon.”

Tang Mo was stunned. “You have one?”

The moment he spoke, the shadow of a dark knife flashed past Tang Mo’s eyes. Tang Mo’s breathing stopped and he reflexively backed away. However, Fu Wenduo’s actions were faster than him. His left hand wrapped around Tang Mo’s back and cut off his retreat. The object was like lightning and passed Tang Mo’s eyelashes. The cold edge touching his eyelashes clearly reflected in Tang Mo’s heart, causing it to stop and his scalp to become numb. Once Fu Wenduo took back the dagger, Tang Mo recovered and looked at the knife in his hand.

The length was the size of a man’s palm and it was very sharp. The shape imitated that of a military dagger. In the dim light, a dark blue light flashed across the knife. The dagger was average and could be found anywhere, but Tang Mo remembered what he felt when it passed his eyes. It was as if death had come. This knife could easily cut the hardest skull.

Tang Mo asked, “This is your weapon?” He had never see Fu Wenduo use it.

Fu Wenduo seemed to notice Tang Mo’s meaning. “The important weapons should be hidden in order to win against the enemies if necessary.”

Tang Mo completely understood this answer. Tang Mo also kept the big match hidden in his wrist tattoo and only took it out when necessary. He would suddenly take out the match to surprise the enemy.

The two people didn’t say anything else. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo didn’t have as many props as the little boy. They didn’t have as many props but each one was exquisite. Tang Mo tied the small parasol to his waist while Fu Wenduo took the gun and the black dagger disappeared. When they returned to the meats area, the long-haired woman and young boy were setting new traps.

Xiao Jitong smiled when he saw them come out. “Are you ready?”

Tang Mo nodded lightly. He looked at the little boy laying trap on the ground and said, “You have so many props?”

The little boy was surrounded by piles around half a metre high, consisting of all sorts of weird props. The small truck that was previously used against the big turkey was scrapped and kicked to a corner by the turkey, yet they still had so many props.

The number of props made Tang Mo feel surprised. In the four months after the earth went online, he had played games and received many props. But he had never seen so many props. Fu Wenduo also looked at the hill of props with great interest.

Xiao Jitong said, “We planned to participate in this instance so we deliberately bought some more.” He smiled and didn’t say anything else.

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo watched the Xiao Jitong trio from a distance.

These three people were really interesting. The eight or nine year old child who wasn’t afraid of the blood and pieces of flesh. He had many ideas and was also very calm in the face of unexpected situations. The long-haired woman had a cold face and cool temper. She exuded an air of isolation and refused to communicate with anyone. There was also the captain who looked the most ordinary but was actually the most mysterious. He was always smiling but no one knew what he was really thinking.

They were very famous, so famous that two Nanjing players who had never seen them before easily recognized their names and felt respect.

“…Nanjing Strategy Group.” Tang Mo spoke this name.

Fu Wenduo asked in a low voice, “Are you interested in them?”

Tang Mo was surprised and looked at Fu Wenduo, shaking his head. “No they seem different from the Attack group led by Luo Fengcheng and seem to have their own rules. He just said that they brought many props because they planned to take part in the instance. Our props aren’t that much but we would be considered to have many props among the players. The Strategy Group, taking the initiative to participate in a black tower game…”

The players in Nanjing were really special.

Tang Mo wasn’t particularly interested in the Strategy Group but he remembered one thing. “Since they are so powerful, many Nanjing players will know them. Perhaps we can find your cousin through them?”

Fu Wenduo didn’t answer this question. He said, “Which of those three people do you think is the strongest?”

Tang Mo was still a bit lacking when it came to fighting. He carefully observed for a moment. “Is it Xiao Jitong?” His voice stopped and he changed it. “Is it that long-haired woman?”

“It is that long-haired woman.”

At the same time, the blond foreign boy was installing his props. He moved very quickly and easily found the props he needed in the props mountain. He placed them in the right place, occasionally murmuring as he measured the distance between props. He just placed a black stone when he suddenly said, “Sister Ningning, what are you doing? Come and help me calculate.”

The long-haired woman looked down at him and said coldly, “Find the captain.”

The little boy snorted and muttered without saying anything.

Xiao Jitong approached. “What’s the matter?”

“They are talking about us.” The long-haired woman was referring to Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo in the distance. Fu Wenduo noticed her gaze. He looked at the long-haired woman and Xiao Jitong before turning his head back to talk to Tang Mo. Her spying had long been discovered by the others and the long-haired woman frowned. “They just discussed who is the strongest among us.”

Xiao Jitong replied, “This doesn’t need to be discussed. They will quickly find that you are the strongest.”

The little boy crouching on the ground raised his head and asked curiously, “Who is the strongest among them?”

The long-haired woman closed her mouth without speaking. Xiao Jitong turned his head and looked at Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo in the distance.

Tang Mo was looking back at him with a smile. Fu Wenduo glanced at him before turning his attention to the pile of props on the ground.

Xiao Jitong watched for a moment before answering his companion. “These two people aren’t simple. At the very least, they have cleared the black tower’s first floor and perhaps even the second floor. The one who spoke a little bit should be very good at playing games. He will play the black tower game well. But when it comes to a fight, perhaps the man in black is strongest. He smells of blood and has killed before.”

Xiao Jitong laughed and came to a conclusion, “Xiao Qiao, Ningning, he is a stowaway.”

The author has something to say:

Tang Tang: You will feel uncomfortable if you don’t hurt me every day!

Old Fu: …# Where am I, who am I, what am I doing? # x2.