The Earth is Online - Chapter 208
Tang Mo quickly calmed down. He looked up at the black tower and tried again.
However, the results didn’t change. The black tower once again refused Tang Mo’s request to attack the tower. As Tang Mo tried to attack the tower a third time, the mechanical voice of the black tower was heard. “Ding dong! The black tower’s second iron-clad law, 6 o’clock to 18 o’clock is the game time. The game time has passed. Please come back to attack the tower tomorrow!”
Tang Mo’s eyes narrowed and he glanced at Fu Wenduo.
The pair quickly left the black tower and found a safe place to rest their feet.
Tang Mo looked up and said, “There is no problem with the time. We applied for it during the game time and didn’t exceed the time limit.”
Fu Wenduo thought about it before making a decision. “Go back to Tian Xuan.”
10 minutes later, the two of them came to the 80th High School.
They saw Chen Shanshan and Fu Wensheng who were eating canned food. As the most powerful organization in Beijing, Tian Xuan naturally had much better resources than the freely organized Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. Li Miaomiao didn’t treat the two children badly. Fu Wensheng saw that the two of them were back and asked with surprise, “Eh, you didn’t attack the tower?” He didn’t think that Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo attacked the black tower’s sixth floor so quickly because the black tower didn’t announce anything.
Chen Shanshan put down the can and walked forward with a serious expression. “What happened? You can’t attack the tower?”
Tang Mo nodded heavily. “The black tower said that the data is wrong and we can’t attack the tower.”
Next, Tang Mo told Chen Shanshan what happened with the black tower.
The short-haired girl thought for a moment and guessed the same as Tang Mo. “The game time isn’t the problem because you chose to attack the tower at the right time. In other words, there are other problems with the black tower itself.” Chen Shanshan wondered, “Is it impossible to play all games or is it only the tower attack games?”
This matter was very significant.
The black tower had never banned players from entering the game.
The second iron-clad rule was the only restriction that the black tower placed on players entering the game. The time looked strange, 6 o’clock to 18 o’clock, but the earth was divided into the north and south hemispheres. There were two times a year when the sunrise and sunset in the northern and southern hemispheres were at 6 o’clock and 18 o’clock. In addition, the sunrise and sunset time in the equatorial region was always 6 o’clock and 18 o’clock.
The black tower followed the local time of each region. For example, in China, according to Beijing time, the game started at sunrise and ended at sunset.
This was true all over the world.
Anyone could attack the tower as long as they didn’t violate this rule.
Li Miaomiao was also aware of the seriousness of this situation and immediately contacted the Tian Xuan members. A short, thin man entered the classroom and said a few words to Li Miaomiao. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo heard the man’s words but the children’s hearing wasn’t as good. Li Miaomiao told them, “The instance games can be entered. At 5 o’clock this afternoon, two peripheral members entered a regular instance without any obstruction.”
Tang Mo speculated, “Maybe it is only after 5 o’clock.”
Li Miaomiao said, “Wait for tomorrow. We will send several members into the instances and then we will know the truth.”
They agreed to this suggestion.
The next morning at 6 o’clock, Tang Mo opened his eyes on time. He didn’t sleep. He just closed his eyes and rested. The moment it reached 6 o’clock, the turned to look through the window at the giant black tower in the distance.
There was nothing different about the black tower.
However, a clear child’s voice spread all over the world.
“Ding dong! At 6:00 on June 10th, 2018, it has been confirmed that the China region has cleared the black tower’s fifth floor.”
This voice had rang an hour ago saying that ‘It has been confirmed that the East Asia region has cleared the black tower’s fifth floor.’ There were a total of 10 regions in the world and the game time in each region was 6-18 according to local time. Therefore, the time for the forced tower attack was different and would be settled according to local time.
The game time was open again. Tang Mo’s group of five and two Tian Xuan members came to the trigger point of an instance. Tian Xuan had its own intelligence network and knew the trigger locations of many instances in Beijing. Every day, they would arrange for members to enter and enhance their strength. They saw the two members walk into a hot pot restaurant. They pushed open the door of the restaurant and reached into the big fish tank at the entrance.
The next moment, the pair disappeared inside the store.
Li Miaomiao cried out, “They have entered!”
Chen Shanshan turned to Tang Mo. “Brother Tang, Major Fu, this place is close to the black tower. Why don’t we try again?”
“Okay.”
This time, the five people arrived at the bottom of the black tower. As he walked through Tiananmen Square, Tang Mo noticed several eyes staring at him in the darkness.
After the dodgeball game on the East Third Ring Road, he and Fu Wenduo had become completely famous in Beijing. It wasn’t just their reputation. Most of Beijing’s senior players knew their faces. Ordinary players who didn’t know their faces could recognize the armband around Li Miaomiao’s arm which was printed with a dark mark similar to an ‘X’.
This was the sign of Tian Xuan.
The hiding players didn’t dare go forward. Tang Mo whispered, “I choose to open the black tower’s sixth floor and my teammate is Fu Wenduo.”
The cold mechanical voice was heard again. “Ding dong! The data is abnormal. The player has failed to apply for the tower attack.”
Everyone was stunned and tried a few more times. The result was exactly the same.
The five people returned to Tian Xuan first.
Tang Mo opened his mouth. “It is the tower attack game that is forbidden. Ordinary games are unreleased.” He thought of one thing. “Is it related to the forced tower attack? Yesterday, Fu Wenduo and I weren’t able to attack the tower after clearing the fifth floor. Players in China will no longer be forced to attack the tower. Then all Chinese players aren’t allowed to attack the tower during the forced tower attack games of other regions?”
This was a possibility.
Chen Shanshan speculated, “This isn’t a certainty. Brother Tang, have you ever wondered… perhaps it is only the sixth floor that can’t be attacked?”
Everyone was stunned by the words. Tang Mo’s brain worked quickly. “The grab the sixth mode, the three teams or players who clear the sixth floor first will get a clue about the seventh floor. Does this mean that for all regions in the world, the region needs to have players clear the fifth floor before allowing people to attack the sixth floor? This is fair so no one will attack the sixth floor ahead of schedule.” However, it wasn’t fair. Why did players who cleared the fifth floor have to wait for those who haven’t been to the fifth floor?
This guess was more likely.
Everyone was pondering on this strange matter when Chen Shanshan said, “Tomorrow, Xiao Sheng, Li… Sister Li and I will go to attack the black tower’s fourth floor. Then we will know if it is forbidden to attack all floors or just the sixth floor.”
Tang Mo nodded and was about to say something when a strange voice was heard all over the world. This sound was like the rustling of a blower and the hoarse voice was heard to hear. Afterwards, the cold mechanical voice spoke without any emotion. “Ding dong! No one in the South Asia region has cleared the black tower’s fifth floor and the forced tower attack mode is opened!”
All players around the world were startled.
The players in South Asia were frozen. Some were pale while others trembled with fear. An Indian female player wearing a red sari had been kneeling on the ground and praying that someone would clear the fifth floor and save them ordinary players. She heard the voice of the black tower and wept while saying bitterly, “Why, why did no one clear the black tower’s fifth floor? Why?”
However, the black tower didn’t give these players an opportunity to object. They weren’t qualified to make any comments. A glaring white light flashed in the eyes of all South Asian players. In the black of an eye, all of South Asia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh… they became empty cities. The humans had disappeared, leaving only empty streets and cities.
This was the first area forced to attack the tower.
Throughout the day, there were four regions in the world who didn’t have anyone clear the black tower’s fifth floor and all players were forced to attack the tower. They were South Asia, Russia, Southwest Asia and the Americas.
Every time there was a forced tower attack game, a large number of players died.
Late at night, Tang Mo closed his eyes and sat on a desk while leaning against the wall. In the classroom, Chen Shanshan and Fu Wensheng prepared the props and mineral water needed to attack the tower the next day. They didn’t show much sympathy to the players in the four regions who were forced to attack the tower. This was the cruel black tower game. If Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo hadn’t cleared the fifth floor yesterday then all Chinese players would now be rushing to attack the tower.
Fu Wenduo sat next to Tang Mo with a Go set he found in the library. Originally, he played against Tang Mo but Tang Mo wasn’t familiar with Go. The two people finally settled into playing five-in-a-row (similar to tic tac toe).
Fu Wenduo closed his eyes and spoke in a low voice, “November 13th, 2017, I entered Myanmar from India and returned home that evening. If I stayed in India then I would be a South Asian player.”
Tang Mo understood his meaning.
The area that a player was in was their region.
He remembered one thing. “Andrei, who wanted to kill Mu Huixue, was the first player in the world to clear the third floor and he was Russian. After he left Russia… unfortunately, no one cleared the fifth floor within the stipulated time.”
Fu Wenduo opened his eyes and looked at Tang Mo.
He whispered, “Hmm.”
This was fate.
If Andrei hadn’t left Russia then perhaps he would’ve cleared the fifth floor and the Russian players wouldn’t be forced to attack the tower. Strength was the basis of survival. Tang Mo recalled all the previous black tower games and bosses they encountered. He wanted to remember as much information as he could, thereby improving his chances of clearing the sixth floor first.
Early the next day, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo came to the black tower with the children.
Chen Shanshan applied to attack the fourth floor and a white light shrouded the three people. Before disappearing, Chen Shanshan hurriedly turned her head and exchanged looks with Tang Mo.
“It has nothing to do with the tower attack game. We just can’t attack the sixth floor!”
They both realized it.
The children left Earth and started to attack the fourth floor. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo no longer stayed here. They rushed back to the 80th School, intending to wait for Chen Shanshan to return. They were just about to enter when Fu Wenduo stopped and took out a black dart, throwing it to the right.
There was a loud sound and a black silhouette emerged from behind a tree.
The baby-faced youth in the white jacket caught the dart between his fingers and the smile on his face couldn’t be maintained. He slowly put the dart in his pocket and raised his head. “Hey Major Fu, Tang Tang, we meet again. Wow, why are you looking at me like that? I’m not looking for trouble. Haven’t you discovered that we can’t attack the black tower’s sixth floor?”