The Earth is Online

Once the black tower gave the game tip, they didn’t immediately communicate with each other and did their own thinking.

Time pa.s.sed and the young woman in black spoke first. “The rules that the black tower said just now, do you have any ideas?”

Ning Zheng stared coldly at the woman and didn’t speak.

Tang Mo shook his head.

Fu Wensheng followed Tang Mo and said without hesitation, “I don’t know.”

The three people in the room obviously didn’t have the intention to cooperate and the young woman raised an eyebrow. She didn’t force them and just looked through the windows at the four stores outside.

Five minutes later, faint vibrations were heard outside the room. Tang Mo’s heart thumped and all four of them immediately moved to the window. They saw four doors made of light appear on the road between the candy house and the four stores. The four doors happened to be facing the doors of the stores and a bright red light shone from the door frames.

Tang Mo suddenly thought of something and immediately turned to the other side of the candy house, looking out the windows on the other side.

Sure enough, there were also four light doors here!

“Eight stores, eight doors made of light... each door corresponds to a store.” Fu Wensheng was surprised.

The sudden appearance of the eight doors made the players puzzled but the black tower soon gave an answer.

The vibrations increased and the red light on the door frames became brighter. Once the vibrations and light reached the apex, everything came to an abrupt end. Suddenly, a light-coloured figure stepped out of a door.

It was a figure covered with a red light and the appearance was completely invisible. They could only vaguely tell that it was a grown man. He walked with a bag of coins in his hands and went into the gift store on the right side of the candy house.

A few words instantly popped into Tang Mo’s mind.

“Virtual customers?!”

The four people cried out with astonishment.

This red light man was just the beginning.

Immediately afterwards, another red light person emerged from one of the eight doors. The door they came from didn’t mean they would approach the store facing that door. At the same time, they didn’t necessarily enter only one store. After coming out of the first store, they might enter a second or third store, or they might disappear directly into the light door.

Countless virtual customers came in and out of the eight stores and the entire commercial street was lively. Tang Mo was stunned as his eyes quickly swept over the four stores on the left. He looked at the left but he couldn’t see the right side.

The customers were very fast. They walked in and out, bought good things and then returned to the light doors one by one.

Five minutes pa.s.sed and all the customers disappeared into the light door. If it wasn’t for the shaking of the earth that hadn’t completely dissipated, Tang Mo wouldn’t be sure if he had truly seen the red light people just now. His spirit soon recovered and he looked at the other people in the room.

Ning Zheng tried to hide his astonishment but he exposed the fact that he was also dazed. The black woman called Mo Xue frowned. She looked at the eight stores on the left and right sides before saying to the three players in the room. “The eight doors haven’t disappeared.”

The group immediately looked again.

Tang Mo stated, “All the people have disappeared but the doors are still there. So... are they going to come back?”

Ning Zheng added, “When are they coming back and will it be the same people?”

The next second, the child’s voice was heard.

“Ding dong! Please be prepared. After five minutes, the second batch of virtual guests will arrive.”

Tang Mo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming down his violently beating heart. Xiao Fu noticed his abnormality and looked at him with concern. Tang Mo threw a rea.s.suring look at him and Fu Wensheng removed his gaze, pretending to be unfamiliar with Tang Mo.

Tang Mo looked calmly at Ning Zheng and the young woman before saying, “I counted it just now. There were a total of 100 light people, which is consistent with the 100 virtual customers that the black tower said.”

The four people in the room weren’t ordinary players and they did the same thing as Tang Mo.

Ning Zheng refused to reveal the information he found but the young woman was very generous and said directly, “I remember 67 of them. This small friend looks surprised.” She laughed. “These people have no face and no clothes but their heights are different. If you look carefully, there are some differences that you can use to identify them.”

Tang Mo also glanced at the woman with surprise but she was only staring at Fu Wensheng and didn’t seem to notice Tang Mo.

She could remember more than 60 people who were almost identical in appearance in such a short time. The strength of this woman was probably stronger than imagined.

The woman gave her information, glanced at the group and asked again, “Have you found any clues this time?”

Ning Zheng was silent as he stared at her vigilantly.

Fu Wensheng thought that Tang Mo would also refuse and said, “No...”

“What would happen if I said I have a clue?”

The smile on the young woman’s face froze and she turned to look at Tang Mo. The surprise in her eyes wasn’t difficult to hide. It seemed she hadn’t expected Tang Mo to say this. Her bright eyes gazed quietly at Tang Mo and he looked back at her. The two people stared at each other before the woman smiled slightly. “What a coincidence, I have a clue as well. Then... Tang Mo, do you want to work together?”

Fu Wensheng hadn’t expected that in a game where he and Brother Tang were a.s.signed to the same team (room), Brother Tang didn’t choose to cooperate with him and picked the woman instead!

What exactly did this woman have to do with Brother Tang?

What was this?

Tang Mo and the woman in black headed to a corner of the room and quietly discussed the information. Ning Zheng stared at them with narrowed eyes. Fu Wensheng wanted to run over but he weighed it repeatedly and decided to keep concealing his relations.h.i.+p with Tang Mo. The child was started to doubt life when Tang Mo looked up at him and gave a signal. Fu Wensheng was stunned before reacting.

Brother Tang definitely had a reason for doing this and he chose to believe in Brother Tang.

Tang Mo and the young woman whispered many words that Ning Zheng and Fu Wensheng couldn’t hear. They walked back together. Then the woman stopped beside Ning Zheng and asked, “Ning Zheng, do you want to join our team and work together?”

Ning Zheng hesitated for a moment before replying, “No.”

The young woman shrugged and went to Fu Wensheng’s side. “I haven’t seen a child in a long time. I’ll let you pa.s.s.”

Fu Wensheng didn’t understand the meaning of her sentence. Once he reacted, he stared up at Tang Mo with astonishment.

Tang Mo opened his mouth. “It is beginning.”

The ground shook again and the red light doors glowed brightly.

It felt like customers really came out from the doors to go shopping as noisy voices flowed into the ears of every player. The group of red light people gradually entered the stores to buy what they wanted.

Their speed was even faster than the first round.

Like red leaves, they slammed into the eyes of the players in a dazzling manner. Fu Wensheng stared with wide eyes. He wanted to see how many light people he could identify as possible but he only recognized six people before his head felt like exploding and his eyes dried up.

The light people rushed in batches and disappeared in batches.

Tang Mo’s eyes were bloodshot. The last light person held the gift bags and disappeared into the light doors. Then he closed his eyes and thought about it. Tang Mo looked at the young woman and the other person nodded at him. The two people quietly exchanged information before Tang Mo whispered, “Sure enough...”

Ning Zheng’s fingers tensed.

The woman in black said, “It is better to reconfirm it the third time.”

“Okay.”

The young woman in black went to Ning Zheng’s side again but didn’t stop. She just walked past when she looked back, “Do you still not want to cooperate?”

Ning Zheng was silent for a long time before turning to stare at Tang Mo.

In the current situation, Ning Zheng would have to temporarily put down his hostility with Tang Mo if he wanted to cooperate. He could cooperate and then as soon as he left this room, team up with Bai Ruoyao to sell Tang Mo. However, Ning Zheng couldn’t do this. It wasn’t good to ignite Tang Mo’s desire for revenge. He didn’t want to shake hands with Tang Mo because this was a simple game without danger. There were still many things he wanted to do.

Ning Zheng replied calmly, “No.”

The young woman asked, “You really don’t want to?”

Ning Zheng became alert. “What are you trying to say?”

The woman smiled. “Nothing. It is just that Santa Claus is one of the most powerful bosses in the black tower world and it is better to be careful in his game.”

Ning Zheng was about to open his mouth when the ground shook again.

Tang Mo interrupted, “They’re coming.”

The four people walked to the windows as fast as they could. Tang Mo and Fu Wensheng stood on one side and the young woman and Ning Zheng stood on the other side, each of them looking out one window. This time, the virtual customers appeared faster and they bought things faster. It was as if someone had pressed the acceleration key. The red lights overlapped and it was difficult to discern how many people there were.

Fu Wensheng stared with dry eyes and managed to survive the five minutes. Then he heard the black tower coldly say,

“After one minute, all reserve customers will be asked to enter the right store.”

“Please note that entering the right store is the only way to become a regular customer.”

Fu Wensheng asked, “What if we can’t enter the right store?”

As if hearing his words, the black tower replied, “The game will fail and the player will immediately leave Santa’s Quirky Commercial Street.”

Then they wouldn’t die?

These words rang in the heads of the four people at the same time.

Once the words of the black tower finished, two red dots of light appeared at the marshmallow door of the candy room. The lights disappeared and reappeared in front of everyone as a small turntable made of two sweet syrup. The upper turntable was divided into two pieces, with the word ‘left’ on the left and the word ‘right’ on the right. The other turntable was divided into four pieces, with a small version of a lollipop, chocolate, cake and gift drawn on it.

The turntable could be turned so that the pointer aimed at any small block.

Fu Wensheng said, “These two turntables are for us to choose one of the eight stores to enter.”

The first turntable divided the eight stores into two teams while the second turntable allowed the player to select a specific store. Time was short and Fu Wensheng nervously glanced at Tang Mo. He had an answer in his heart but he wasn’t sure. The young woman had long said that she wanted to help Fu Wensheng pa.s.s the instance so Tang Mo held the child turn the two turntables.

Once he finished turning, the turntables returned to their original positions. A light flashed on the marshmallow door and a line of words appeared.

“Asking all reserve players to choose the store they want to go to. Once the selection is complete, the door will open.”

Next was Tang Mo and the young woman.

The two of them had clearly cooperated but they didn’t communicate. Each of them blocked the view of the turntable and turned it.

Only Ning Zheng was left.

Ning Zheng stood quietly and watched the three people at the door and the marshmallow door. He stepped up to the door and calmly reached out to touch the first turntable. He was just about to turn it when a female voice was heard. “The candy store on the left.”

Tang Mo looked at the young woman with surprise.

Ning Zheng was also surprised and looked at the woman with strange eyes. A long time pa.s.sed before he asked quietly, “Do we know each other?”

The woman in black smiled. “I don’t know you but I’ve heard your name. There aren’t many Chinese players on the time leaderboard. You are very good.”

Ning Zheng wondered, “Why are you helping me?”

“You are a returnee.”

Tang Mo was startled and realized something.

Ning Zheng cried out, “Are you also a returnee?”

“Did I say I was a returnee?” The woman in black raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Are you hostile to Earth survivors because you are a returnee? That isn’t necessary. We are all humans. Why should there be a distinction between us. And... maybe I didn’t help you.”

Ning Zheng’s eyes narrowed and he coldly declared, “I also guessed the candy store on the left.” Then he quickly moved the turntable.

The marshmallow door exuded a tempting sweet smell once he finished choosing. Amidst this rich fragrance, the black tower’s cold voice was heard. “One minute has pa.s.sed. 19 reserve customers have successfully turned official and 12 reserve customers have failed the game. Santa Claus believes that only dishonest and bad children won’t know that he operates the best candy store in the entire Underground Kingdom. The bad kids will receive the punishment they deserve as Santa’s reindeer sticks out their hooves with a smile.”

The voice finished and the door opened.”

“Ahhhh!”

The moment the door opened, more than 10 shrill screams could be heard. Tang Mo looked in front of him and saw 11 muscular reindeer sticking out their hoovers and kicking the b.u.t.tocks of 11 players. These players howled in pain as they were kicked into the light doors by the reindeer and disappeared from the commercial street.

Tang Mo’s group of four turned their heads and finally saw where they were.

This was a narrow and long street. The start off the street had a colourful neon door with coloured lights spelling out:

Santa Claus’ Quirky Commercial Street.

In the middle of the street, the eight red light doors gradually disappeared and the seven fake stores vanished with them. From the room, Tang Mo hadn’t realized that Santa’s candy house was so big. It was like a palace standing by the side of the road with a huge lollipop hanging as the store sign. In the middle of the road, there were eight small candy houses.

Compared to Santa’s candy house, the eight candy houses were as small as toys.

These were the candy houses the players had just been stuck in. They thought they were playing along but they were actually playing the game at the same time. They saw the same red light people and at the end, 12 people didn’t pick the right store while 19 people entered the next game.

Tang Mo looked at the crowd and saw Chen Shanshan and Fu Wenduo.

Fu Wensheng was very clever and didn’t look at Fu Wenduo. He ran straight for Chen Shanshan. Once the two children met, the other players looked at them with surprise and didn’t take them seriously. Fu Wenduo found Tang Mo and strode towards him. As he walked towards Tang Mo, he discovered Ning Zheng and the woman in black.

Fu Wenduo gazed at Ning Zheng before finally focusing on the woman in black.

Once the group left the candy house, the restriction on their abilities and props were lifted and a sense of oppression that couldn’t be ignored instantly pressed down on them. Tang Mo stood with Fu Wenduo and both of them watched this woman in black.

In the crowd, most players were observing the three famous players, Fu Wenduo, Tang Mo and Ning Zheng. Only Bai Ruoyao was staring at the woman in black. Slowly, the corners of his mouth went up. He burst out laughing, attracting the eyes of the people around him. However, he didn’t care and kept laughing loudly.

Fu Wenduo stared at the woman in black for a long time before asking, “What are you called?”

The woman in black didn’t answer and gave a name instead. “Fu Wenduo?” Then she observed everyone on the street, stopping when she saw Bai Ruoyao. She smiled and muttered, “Tang Mo, Fu Wenduo, Ning Zheng... this game is really surprising. Tang Mo, I found that man is looking at you with a very interesting expression. Do you know each other?”

Tang Mo followed the direction of her finger. Bai Ruoyao waved to him and called out, “Tang Tang.”

Tang Mo’s response was cold. “I don’t know.”

The woman in black suggested, “Why don’t we make a bet? If you guess who I am then I’ll tell you who he is. I kind of hate him. I don’t hate many people but it is rare to meet such an annoying person. His relations.h.i.+p with you doesn’t seem good. It would be nice to find out a bit of information about him. But if you can’t guess, I want your most important prop.”

Tang Mo asked, “Are you sure you want to make this bet?”

The woman in black replied, “Yes. You don’t want to make this bet? Okay, I never force people...”

“No, I’ll make this bet with you.”

The woman’s voice stopped and she watched Tang Mo with interest. She never gazed at Tang Mo with such serious eyes. Before Fu Wenduo’s appearance, Tang Mo thought this woman was interested in him and Ning Zheng since she never hid this interest. However, after Fu Wenduo appeared, a fierce flame ignited in her eyes. The fighting spirit that couldn’t be hidden was burning in her eyes.

Yet they didn’t know each other.

Now she looked at Tang Mo with the same eyes.

The woman in black smiled. “Do you want to think about it again? I can tell if the prop you give me is the most important thing to you.”

“The first batch of virtual customers appeared and you could identify 67 people despite the unclear situation. In the second and third batches of customer frenzy, it was easy to observe and remember the features of the humans that entered the four stores.”

Not far away, Xiao Fu was learning about the real way to clear the game from Chen Shanshan. The child exclaimed, “We have to remember the 100 identical light people that went into every store? Remember all of them?”

Chen Shanshan corrected. “They don’t look exactly the same. There are differences. There are children and there are adults.”

“That’s too strong. 100 people in such a short amount of time and it is also hard to distinguish between male and female.” Xiao Fu found suitable words.

Chen Shanshan discovered the confrontation between Tang Mo and the woman in black. She observed the situation over there while saying, “The second and third times aren’t needed. You only need to look at the store that the children enter. Santa Claus likes honest children and children also like Santa Claus the best. In the first customer frenzy, if you discover that all the children went to the candy house then you can figure out a vague goal. Then you just need to test your guess and you can clear it.”

She said it very easily but among all the players, she was probably the only one qualified to say this. Thanks to her super intelligent mind, Chen Shanshan knew the answer in the first customer frenzy and didn’t need to check again because her brain could control such calculations at the same time. Even Tang Mo and the woman in black needed the second frenzy to determine the answer.

Chen Shanshan asked, “Xiao Sheng, who is that woman? Was she just in the room with you?”

Fu Wensheng nodded. “Her name is Mo Xue and she is very strange. Sister Shanshan, you said it is best to pa.s.s the game when two people cooperate. You don’t know but Brother Tang chose to cooperate with that woman instead of me. That woman is also very strange. She seems to be Cantonese and she also helped Ning Zheng pa.s.s the game. Ning Zheng didn’t show her any good feelings.”

Chen Shanshan’s eyes widened and she turned her head. “Wait, you said she is Cantonese?”

Fu Wensheng touched his head. “Yes, she spoke Cantonese in the room and seems to be Cantonese.”

Chen Shanshan stared at the woman in black with astonishment. “Is she...”

At the same time, Tang Mo stared at the woman and spoke in a certain tone.

“Mu Huixue.”

Mu Huixue’s eyes narrowed before her lips curved. Her hand touched the whip at her waist and she suddenly threw it towards Fu Wenduo. Fu Wenduo moved sideways to avoid the whip and reached out to grab it. His hand had just touched the whip when the whip caught on fire.

Fu Wenduo frowned and threw the whip away.

The whip returned to Mu Huixue’s hands and changed back to its original form.

Mu Huixue didn’t give him time to react. She threw the whip against the ground and borrowed the force to jump into the air. The nimble whip smashed a crack in the ground and headed towards Fu Wenduo at a speed beyond what was visible to the naked eye. Tang Mo didn’t think much. He quickly read the spell to open the small parasol and blocked the front of Fu Wenduo. He had just raised the umbrella when he felt a chill from his soles and realized that the parasol was likely to be pierced by the whip!

Fu Wenduo moved the parasol to the side and his right hand turned into a black weapon that blocked the long whip.

The two collided, causing a harsh metal sound.

Mu Huixue was excited as she stared at Fu Wenduo’s right hand that had changed into a weapon. “This is your ability? Come again!”

No one knew what the woman was suddenly doing but they could see that the battle between her and Fu Wenduo wasn’t something that ordinary players could partic.i.p.ate in. Other players avoided this scene but Bai Ruoyao’s eyes brightened. Fu Wenduo and Mu Huixue weren’t alone, Tang Mo was also there. Bai Ruoyao found an opportunity to seize the flaws revealed by Tang Mo.

“Hehe, let me find out, Tang Tang.”

Two silver flashes emerged as the sharp b.u.t.terfly knives cut through the wind. Tang Mo had to be careful of Bai Ruoyao’s sneak attacks while dealing with Mu Huixue. His expression sank and he struggled to block the knives. Unexpectedly, the red whip changed directions in the air and firmly tied up Bai Ruoyao’s wrists.

Bai Ruoyao was shocked and lost his smile for the first time.

Mu Huixue used the whip to pull the baby-faced youth to her side and kicked his legs.

“The luckiest person is the circle is hated by the first place on the leaderboard. Today you don’t seem very lucky. Am I the first person to catch you?”

If Bai Ruoyao moved then his wrist would be broken by the whip. Fu Wenduo directly took out a prop and tied him up with the causality rope.

Bai Ruoyao, “...”

d.a.m.n it, weren’t these three people just fighting?”

Tang Mo glanced at him. “Don’t yell at me in your heart.”

Bai Ruoyao, “...”

Mu Huixue told them, “There has been no one who caught you in all these years. The lucky slippery one, this nickname makes me want to catch you. Thus, I put on a play and the effect seems to be good. I seem to have talent for acting.”

Bai Ruoyao tried but couldn’t escape from Fu Wenduo’s prop. He didn’t worry too much and smiled again. “Mu Huixue, we don’t seem to be familiar with each other.”

Mu Huixue refuted, “Not being familiar doesn’t mean that you aren’t annoying.”

Bai Ruoyao wanted to refute these words but found himself speechless.

...He did seem to be hated by many people.

Mu Huixue wanted to catch Bai Ruoyao but like Bai Ruoyao said, they didn’t have any deep hatred towards each other. Thus, she turned to look at Tang Mo. “What are you going to do?”

What was he doing to do?

Tang Mo didn’t blink. “Kill him.”

Bai Ruoyao, “...”

A moment later, the baby-faced youth made a wronged expression. “Tang Tang, how are you so willing to kill me? We are good friends. You can’t be impulsive and do something you regret. You should think about it and perhaps find someone to discuss it with?”

Tang Mo made a meaningfully sound and looked at Fu Wenduo to discuss it. “What do you say?”

Fu Wenduo didn’t hesitate. “Kill him.”

Bai Ruoyao, “...” He soon expressed his dissatisfaction. “Hey, you will really regret it if you are so hasty, Tang Tang.”

Mu Huixues smiled. “It seems that you aren’t lucky today.”

Bai Ruoyao’s eyes swept over the three people before raising his head to look at Ning Zheng not far away. He was about to open his mouth when he heard the familiar ‘Christmas song’ play from the end of the commercial street. The cheerful song got closer and closer, filling the entire commercial street. Santa Claus rode a sleigh pulled by reindeers and laughed happily, “Hohoho, Merry Christmas!”

Santa Claus quickly arrived at the door of the candy house and smiled at the 19 players outside the door. “My dear children, are you here to visit my candy store? The children who come here are honest and kind children. You aren’t allowed to fight.”

As soon as he finished, the black tower’s mechanical prompt was heard.

“Ding dong! In Santa Claus’ Quirky Commercial Street, abilities, props and all violent acts are prohibited.”

Tang Mo, “...”

Fu Wenduo, “...”

Mu Huixue, “...”

In an instant, the ability that had returned to their bodies were suppressed again.

The prop tied around Bai Ruoyao’s wrists returned to Fu Wenduo’s pocket. The baby-faced youth was a bit stunned before he smiled. “Hey Tang Tang, I told you from the beginning that my nickname is Lucky Yao.”

...Are you the black tower’s illegitimate child?

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