The Earth is Online

“The ability to go back in time is certain. They must’ve gone back in time. It is due to the charred bookshelf at the rear of the newsstand. The bookshelf was blackened from being burnt but on the shelf...” Tang Mo paused for a moment. “There was an intact magazine.’

The trio walked across the road and found the charred bookshelf.

The bookshelf really couldn’t be seen from the bungalow where the four stowaways had been hiding. It could only be seen when they walked past the newsstand. The bookshelf was charred and was almost a steel shelf. There was a yellowed magazine on it that wasn’t burnt at all.

How was this situation strange? There was the possibility that someone burnt the shelf and then put the magazine on it.

However, this was enough.

In an empty place, Tang Mo suddenly saw a charred shelf with a well-preserved book on it... what would he think?

Tang Mo didn’t know what Fu Wenduo and Fu Wensheng would think but he felt that this was a deliberate hint someone left for him.

It was like in detective novels when a protagonist went somewhere and saw something abnormal. There must be a reason for the abnormality. He just didn’t have time to guess what the clue was or what it was trying to say. He came up with one possibility. “The magazine might not be placed there after the bookshelf was burnt.

Fu Wensheng was surprised. “Why?”

The bookshelf was so burned that it would fall from a single touch. The magazine didn’t have a single burn mark so it must’ve been placed later on. If it wasn’t placed there after the shelf was burned... could it be on top of the shelf when it was burned?

Fu Wenduo raised an eyebrow at Tang Mo’s words and looked at him. Previously, Tang Mo was in a hurry to take care of the four stowaways and didn’t carefully observe the bookshelf. He stepped forward and crouched on the ground, taking down the magazine from the shelf. Due to his movements, the shelf quickly collapsed.

Tang Mo looked at the t.i.tle and date of the magazine. He turned and waved the magazine. “This magazine is quite famous and is sold all over the country. The date on it is November 18th.”

Fu Wensheng immediately had a thought. “The day that the black tower games officially began?”

Tang Mo nodded. “Yes. This type of bookshelf generally contains the popular magazines. The boss would place all the good things on the small shelf so that pa.s.sersby could see. The magazine might’ve been on the shelf for a long time, probably at least five months.”

Fu Wensheng still didn’t understand what was going on but Tang Mo had it all figured out.

He previously suspected that someone was in the area due to the strange shelf. From beginning to end, he was unsure if someone was actually ambus.h.i.+ng or the location they were ambus.h.i.+ng from. He was just suspicious. Thus, after entering the newsstand, he used the turkey egg to communicate with Fu Wenduo and told him about the strange phenomenon. The two men made a decision at an extremely fast speed. One of them would search the bungalow while the other would search the restaurant. It was because these two were the best places to hide people.

Perhaps no one was ambus.h.i.+ng at all and the strange bookshelf was just a player’s prank. Still, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo couldn’t let go of any doubts.

There was something Fu Wenduo didn’t know that Fu Wensheng did. Tang Mo said, “Xiao Sheng, don’t you know what burned this bookshelf?”

Fu Wensheng was stunned. “I know it?”

“Yes, you know.”

The little boy bowed his head and thought for a moment. Then he suddenly exclaimed, “...Your big match?”

That’s right. It was Mosaic’s big match.

Two months ago, in the Queen of Hearts’ Gem Corridor, Tang Mo ignited Bai Ruoyao’s arm with the big match and told him mercilessly, “You will be burned alive by this fire if you don’t cut off your arm.”

[Prop: Mosaic’s Match]

[Owner: Tang Mo]

......

[Function: Flames that can’t be extinguished. You can ignite the match at will. Once the match’s flames burn an object, the causality effect means the object will be burned up. Extinguis.h.i.+ng the flames is hard beyond imagination.]

The bookshelf was burnt down by this match.

It was a law of causality that only objects ignited by the big match would be burned.

“In a previous time that was reversed, I must’ve discovered this ability but didn’t know how to remind myself that someone was waiting in ambush. Thus, I lit the bookshelf with the big match and took away one of the magazines.” Tang Mo placed the magazine on the remnants of the charred shelf. “It is because the magazine was taken away that it wasn’t burnt by the flames. Once time reversed, it returned to the shelf again. However, the bookshelf has been burnt.”

Fu Wensheng looked at the shelf and magazine on the ground. “That’s why on the burnt bookshelf, there was an intact magazine.”

The cause of this matter was determined. The trio returned to the gas station to dispose of the bodies of the four stowaways.

Tang Mo reached out and pulled out his abilities book. He flipped to the last page and read the text.

[Ability: High Tide Always Comes Quickly]

[Owner: Zhao Kewei (Stowaway)

[Type: Atomic]

[Function: Reverse the physical state of all substances in a certain area. The state of all substances can be restored to one minute before.]

[Level: 3]

[Restrictions: The physical strength improvement is zero. From the moment the ability is used, you must go through 60 seconds of material change before you can use the reverse ability. When this ability is used, all living objects in the area will experience strong physiological needs. It can be used up to seven times a day. Restoring the physical state will consume the user’s corresponding cell life and recovering the state of multiple living objects will consume many times more cells.]

[Note: High tide always comes quickly so savor it over and over again.]

[Tang Mo version usage instructions: Can be used once a day and consumes double the cell life. There is a 5% chance that the physical state of the living body can’t be reversed. For Tang Mo, a minute of high tide... wait, can Tang Mo’s high tide last a minute?]

...It turned out that the strange impulse he felt when crossing the road was actually because of this ability?

Tang Mo had long been accustomed to the abilities book. His eyelids twitched but his eyes focused on the functions and limitations of this ability.

It wasn’t a directly rewinding of time but restoring the physical state of all matter to what it was one minute ago?

Tang Mo thought, “This explains why the burnt bookshelf wasn’t restored while the magazine and everything else was.”

It wasn’t time but the physical state of matter. The magazine that was removed returned to the bookshelf but the bookshelf couldn’t be restored because of the law of causality.

“Did you get that man’s ability?”

Tang Mo nodded. He reflexively wanted to hand over the ability book but he just held it out when he pulled it back. Tang Mo coughed and threw the book back into the air. He explained, “It isn’t rewinding time in the objective sense. His ability...” Tang Mo sorted out his words and continued, “His ability is to restore the physical state of all matter in a certain area to what it was one minute ago.”

It was like the rain in the sky. One minute ago, the rain was a mixture of condensed nuclei and water vapor. It slowly fell from the clouds towards the ground, blending into the puddle. However, everything was reversed with this ability. The physical state of the raindrop returned to the state of condensed nuclei and water vapor and its physical location was restored, returning to the dark clouds.

Tang Mo’s science knowledge had never been good. He carefully recalled the explanations in the abilities book and finally came to a rough conclusion, “All in all, this can be considered a reversal ability but it can’t reverse the laws of causality. For example, the shelf burned by the big match.”

Fu Wenduo asked, “Is there a limit?”

Tang Mo said, “There are many restrictions, such as I can only use it once a day and that life will be consumed.”

Fu Wenduo frowned, “Life is consumed?”

Tang Mo briefly explained it. There were abilities that consumed the life of the user, such as A Fast Man. Tang Mo tried not to use this ability as fast as possible. It was because the ability was too powerful. If he used it too much and became psychologically dependent on it, he would be tempted to keep using it.

Such abilities were too powerful. In the fact of this extreme temptation, Tang Mo didn’t dare guarantee that he could resist using them.

“This ability is like poison.” Tang Mo added, “I guess that players who use these abilities don’t know the side effect. It is just like you and Xiao Sheng only knowing how to use your power but not the function and restrictions.”

Fu Wenduo said, “It isn’t know what my ability is yet.”

Tang Mo was stunned and turned to look at Fu Wenduo.

Fu Wenduo was standing by the window, his head slightly bowed as he looked at Tang Mo.

Since leaving Nanjing and heading to Beijing, Tang Mo looked at Fu Wensheng’s ability first. There was a three down cooldown for this ability and Tang Mo couldn’t check Fu Wenduo’s ability within those three days. After that, they tried to hold hands while Fu Wenduo was driving. The two people held hands for a full six hours before Tang Mo gave up and never mentioned this matter again.

“If it is so difficult to gain a person’s ability, how did that woman get your abilities in such a short period of time?”

Tang Mo looked up at Fu Wenduo with surprise.

Fu Wenduo’s dark eyes were staring at Tang Mo. Tang Mo vaguely felt that the other person might’ve guessed something. Fu Wenduo’s thinking ability was excellent so it was possible for him to guess the truth. Tang Mo’s expression didn’t change. He calmly said, “The abilities that I cope are weakened. It is her ability so it is naturally more convenient for her to use it.”

“I see.” Fu Wenduo made a meaningful sound before saying, “In the one minute before that person used the reverse time ability... I felt that there was something wrong. Tang Mo, did you feel it?”

Fu Wensheng exclaimed, “Eh Brother, I also felt hot and strange. Did you feel it as well?”

Fu Wenduo spoke casually, “You are only 12 years old.”

Fu Wensheng was surprised. “What? What does this have to do with me being 12 years old?”

He was 12 years old so he probably didn’t feel those so sensations so quickly.

Tang Mo filled in Fu Wenduo’s words in his heard. “...”

...d.a.m.n, this person was a dog! He could always smell it whenever something was wrong!

Tang Mo changed the subject. “Check their bodies. There might be some useful clues.”

Fu Wensheng was preparing to ask what was wrong with his age when Fu Wenduo heard these words and turned to look at Tang Mo. He gave a low laugh and didn’t say anything else.

As long as Tang Mo didn’t admit it, Fu Wenduo was just guessing.

Tang Mo didn’t understand how Fu Wenduo could make so many strange conjectures as a straight man and Fu Wenduo was always interested in the cheap abilities book. He probably guessed that some of the contents were very strange. Tang Mo thought of the cheap book and secretly decided. In this life, he absolutely couldn’t let anyone see the contents of the book!

Tang Mo didn’t think it was a coincidence that four strangers came to attack them.

“These people are weak. They aren’t official players and almost all of them have abilities. There is a 70% chance that they deliberately waited here for an ambush. They might’ve been tracking us for a long time. They are very powerful if we can’t find them. There is a 30% chance that they are just random players pa.s.sing by. Tang Mo paused before adding, “Fu Wenduo and I will take these three bodies. Xiao Sheng, you go and check the body of that man.”

Fu Wensheng nodded.

The three people split up.

Tang Mo examined the body of the man with the ability to reverse time.

On the icy concrete floor, the middle-aged man’s eyes were wide open as he stared at the sky. Since the earth went online, Tang Mo had seen many corpses and deaths that were much more horrible. He stared at the corpse’s eyes with a blank expression before searching the other person’s body.

Killing this person was an accident but it was also inevitable. If he didn’t kill this person, the ability would keep being used and everything would start all over again.

The four players were smart. Once Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo took the initiative to attack, they understood that the ability to reverse time must’ve been discovered. The ability to reverse time wasn’t from a prop. Therefore, they made the decision for three of them to delay Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo while letting their companion with the ability escape.

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