The Earth is Online

Chapter 18

The Earth is Online Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Li Wen walked behind the man who must be a teacher and strode into the guardroom. Behind him were four middle school students.

Tang Mo released his grip on the fat boy, who ran away behind the teacher.

Li Wen said, “You finally came. After today’s tower attack game, I opened my eyes and found myself on the street. When we entered the game, we had just arrived at the junction between the Putuo District and the Changning District. But when I woke up, I was in Jing’an District. I thought about it and decided to go to Shibei first.”

Tang Mo glanced at the teacher and students still on guard against him and asked Li Wen, “What time did you arrive?”

“Around 7 o’clock. This is my alma mater so I know the way.” Li Wen found that the teacher and other students didn’t speak and quickly introduced them, “Mr. Li, this is Tang Mo. He is the person I mentioned before. He isn’t bad and he isn’t a stowaway. There is no need to worry.”

Teacher Li guarded the students behind him as he eyed Tang Mo vigilantly. “Li Wen said that you are looking for someone? Who are you looking for?”

Tang Mo heard Li Wen deliberately explain that he wasn’t a stowaway and his eyebrows raised.

“I’m looking for Chen Shanshan. She should be in the first year.”

“Ah, Shanshan?”

“You are looking for Shanshan?”

Tang Mo was surprised but then he saw a girl with 1.6 metre tall girl with short hair walk forward. She coldly looked at Tang Mo sand said, “I am Chen Shanshan. Coming to Shibei just to find me, what is your purpose?”

What a coincidence!

Li Wen was also surprised. “I didn’t think you were looking for Shanshan. If you had told me the name earlier then I would’ve already found her.”

Tang Mo looked down at the very calm little girl and explained, “Your father and I are friends. Your father is called Chen Fangzhi. I work at Suzhou Library and he often came to read the books. He asked me to go to Shanghai to find you and confirm your safety.”

“That is my father’s name. Do you have any evidence that you know him?”

“Shanshan?” Li Wen and Mr. Li both frowned. Li Wen had always believed in Tang Mo and didn’t doubt him. Teacher Li listened to Tang Mo’s words and felt that he was credible. Yet Shanshan was still doubting him?

Tang Mo smiled as he looked at the girl, before becoming more serious. “Your father is around 1.75 metres tall. He has been unemployed for almost a year. He told me that his father, your grandfather, was a doctor. In addition, your father is a highly religious man. Yes, your father seemed to wear a red agate bracelet on his wrist.” Tang Mo paused and smiled. “This only proves that I know your father. However, it doesn’t prove that I came here to fulfill his wish and not for another intention.”

“Is it his wish or...a final will?”

The smile faded from Tang Mo’s face. “It is a will.”

The little girl’s expression loosened for a moment before she turned around and walked back among the other students. “I believe you.”

Li Wen felt relieved. “Why is it so complicated? I said it before. I was going to Shanghai from Suzhou and met Tang Mo on the highway. If he was really a bad person, there would be no need to run to another city to harm a middle school student that he doesn’t know. Isn’t it enough to commit bad things in Suzhou? He really isn’t stowaway.”

Tang Mo asked, “What happened?”

Teacher Li interrupted, “This isn’t the place to talk about it. Zhao Ziang, work with Liu Chen to restore the traps. We will go inside and talk.”

The chubby boy called Zhao Ziang nodded and left with another tall boy. It was to restore the pit trap that had been touched by the broken glass. Tang Mo followed Teacher Li into the school.

Teacher Li explained as they walked under tall fir trees. “I’m sorry, we were afraid that you were a bad person and stowaway. We dare not take any risks. This is the most dangerous time. It is difficult for us to determine your identity when you come to the school at this time. We would rather kill you and be wrong, then to have something happen.”

Tang Mo nodded. “From 11 to 2 in the morning is a person’s deepest sleeping time. This time is indeed the most dangerous time of the day. If someone wanted to make a sneak attack, they would probably choose this time.”

A middle school student interjected, “You said the same thing as Shanshan.”

Tang Mo looked at the short-haired girl.

In addition to the two boys who stayed at the gate and Chen Shanshan, there was one more girl and boy. Chen Shanshan lowered her head without speaking, while the boy and girl kept comforting her. After all, Tang Mo just told Chen Shanshan that her father was dead. The little girl didn’t cry but she was still young and couldn’t completely conceal her sadness.

Teacher Li sighed. “You’re right. We were really afraid that someone would sneak into the school and kill us. There were more than 1,000 students and teachers in our school. After the black tower officially started the game, most of the school population disappeared, leaving only two teachers and 16 students.

“Where are the others?” Tang Mo asked.

Teacher Li replied, “They are here.”

The group walked towards the gymnasium. Teacher Li pushed open the door and Tang Mo looked inside.

In the hallway the gymnasium, six bodies were neatly placed with coats covering their faces. Three of the bodies were short and time. At first glance, it was obvious they were children. The remaining three bodies were more than 1.7 metres. They lay quietly on the cold tiles, while moonlight shone through the windows at the end.

Teacher Li’s voice was hoarse. “We had too many students and only two teachers. The 16 students live in different places and some are quite far. It was impossible to send them home. After the game officially started, I and Teacher Wang decided to stay at the school to wait for parents to pick up their chicken. If the parents didn’t disappear, I believed that they would definitely come to pick up their children. If we blindly sent the children home, they might end up missing their parents. If the parents disappeared, we would stick together and get through this. Finally, five parents picked up their children and 11 children didn’t have anyone to pick them up.”

Tang Mo looked at the six bodies on the ground and pinched his fingers. He turned his head and asked, “How did they die?” They clearly weren’t wiped out by the black tower. One child’s body was covered in knife marks. They had been hacked to death by a knife.

Teacher Li blinked angrily. “It is that group of stowaways!”

Li Wen gave an explanation. “Tang Mo, today all of us were sent into the black tower to participate in the tower attack game. The teachers and students were no exception. At the end of the game, only two children didn’t return. Nine children and Teacher Wang came back. Of these, three children were sent to the same game. There was a total of six players, three of which were adults. Out of the three adults, two of them were stowaways! The three children were just ordinary reserve players. They only wanted to survive the game. They didn’t expect that one of the children would accidentally complete a branch mission and was rewarded with a big match.”

Tang Mo was startled. “A big match?”

Li Wen nodded. “Yes, it was exactly the same as your big match.”

Teacher Li motioned to the students. A tall boy went to the gym’s equipment room and took out a big match. It had a huge red match head and a familiar wooden body. Tang Mo took the match and observed it. “It is exactly the same as my match. The kid saw Mosaic? They finished Mosaic’s mission?”

Li Wen shook his head. “I don’t know. The child is already dead. He is lying there.”

Tang Mo had collected Qian Sankun’s ‘My spiritual field is worse than a protagonist’ ability. His usage restriction was that it was a one-time power and he could only store the same inanimate objects in his body. Tang Mo took this big match and found that he could store it in his body at any time. But he didn’t do it as he returned the big match to the boy.

The boy took the big match with red eyes. He quickly wiped away the tears and cried out, “This match belonged to Wang Chao. The three students who died were killed by stowaways. Before he died, Wang Chao told me that after he received the big match, the stowaway tried to make him hand it over. The stowaway could see that this was definitely a treasure. Actually, Wang Chao would’ve definitely given it to him if he could. Wang Chao’s courage was very small. We used to joke that he was shyer than girls. But...but...”

The boy choked in his words, “But in the game, Wang Chao didn’t have time to make a choice. The monster said to find the stowaway so it could eat the stowaway. If the stowaway wasn’t handed over, they would be eaten one by one.”

Li Wen added, “Like us, they faced the same scenario. However, two of the three adults were stowaways. The two of them unanimously decided to hand over the children first. The last adult didn’t know what to do. In any case, the monster decided to start eating the three children. The child called Wang Chao, he was afraid and casually said that one of the adults was a stowaway. The monster said that adults had more flesh and turned to eat the adult. The result was really a stowaway...”

“He coincidentally pointed it out?”

“Yes, the three children were very scared and didn’t want to be eaten. They just randomly pointed to one. This man had been talking about handing over Wang Chao, so Wang Chao pointed to him. He didn’t expect to be right.”

“The monster ate the stowaway?”

Teacher Li gritted his teeth. “Why didn’t he eat the stowaway? Wang Chao said that the monster had only swallowed one of the stowaway’s arms when the tower attack game suddenly ended. They didn’t die and all six left the game. Originally, we thought this was the end and intended to celebrate for everyone who came back from the black tower game alive. We didn’t expect that the two stowaways recognized the uniform of our school and attacked the school half an hour later. They also joined up with another three stowaways. Altogether, five stowaways attacked these children!”

The young boy glared with red eyes. “They said that they wanted to kill Wang Chao and that we had to hand over the big match. We weren’t willing to hand it over at first. This was the reward that Wang Chao obtained himself, why should it be given to them? But all five of them have abilities and were very strong. They killed one of us and we decided to give them the big match. But the match wasn’t all they wanted. The stowaway who lost his arm said that he wanted Wang Chao to pay for it! We couldn’t agree and they attacked. We managed to kill two stowaways but Wang Chao...Teacher Wang...they died.”

Teacher Li took Tang Mo to two bodies lying on the ground.

Apart from Chen Shanshan, the two middle school students saw the two bodies and immediately stepped on the faces.

Teacher Li said, “Things aren’t as simple as not giving the match. Two of them died, while several children and Teacher Wang died on our side. We won’t stop until we kill them!”

“Kill them!”

“Kill them!”

Harsh words emerged from the mouths of the two children.

Tang Mo didn’t want to comfort them and urge them to put down their hatred.

The world was no longer peaceful and no one could protect these children forever. They could only protect themselves. This world was too cruel. 15 years old was too young to grow up so quickly.

The world had many evil people and war never stopped. The pervious China was too peaceful because many people sacrificed themselves to protect everyone. Now that evil had stretched out its minions, the only thing they could do was eradicate evil and protect themselves.

Tang Mo felt the presence of long absent anger. He took deep breaths to try and restore his calm. He glanced at the clock on the wall. “It is already three in the morning. There were five stowaways and you killed two. This means there are three left. If they are smart, they shouldn’t attack the school again tonight. But in order to ensure safety, we should have someone guarding the door.”

Teacher Li made a suggestion. “Of the six people we have left, Qiao Feifei and Zhao Ziang are official players. They both have abilities and their physical strength is better than ours. Zhao Ziang is now at the door.”

Tang Mo wondered, “You all know what official players, reserve players and stowaways are?” He thought only the big mole had mentioned it.

The silent Chen Shanshan finally spoke up. “Today, we had 13 people enter six different games. The games were different but they had one thing in common. The black tower monsters in these six games spoke about the three types of players. They mentioned the identities but didn’t tell us what this meant. It was thanks to Brother Li Wen that we finally understood the meaning of these three types of identities. Of course, we knew about official players and reserve players before today.”

“How did you know?” Tang Mo was surprised.

The other girl who had been hiding in the back stepped forward. “It is because of me. I am an official player. My ability isn’t as useful as Zhao Ziang. I can only see the identity of others.”

Tang Mo wondered, “You can see the identity of others?”

The little girl nodded. “Yes. In my eyes, everyone has words suspended over their heads. After the game officially started, I saw ‘official player’ above Zhao Ziang’s head, while ‘reserve player’ was above Teacher Li and Shanshan’s heads. But my ability can only be used five times a day and I can only see the identity of five people. After reading five people, the words above other players will be covered by a mosaic.

“You were at the school gates just now. Didn’t you see my identity?”

The little girl shook her head. “It is strange. I haven’t used my ability today but I can’t see your identity. Your head is also a mosaic.”

Tang Mo thought about it. “Are there any requirements before triggering it?”

“No, I can see it directly.”

Tang Mo said, “Touch my hand and see if you can trigger the power.”

The little girl touched Tang Mo’s hand and looked up. “Ah! I can see it! Official player! How curious, I can only see it from a touch? Before, I just had to look at Zhao Ziang and the stowaways and I could see it directly.”

Tang Mo also couldn’t explain it.

The boy who was in charge of the traps with the chubby boy returned. “Teacher, we have set up the traps again. Zhao Ziang said he would continue watching the gate and told me to go to sleep.”

“Official players and stowaways both have abilities and it is clear that they are physically fitter than reserve players.” Chen Shanshan suddenly said. The group looked at her while she asked Tang Mo, “Can you let us know...what is your power? We understand if you don’t want to say the specifics. But I need to know if you are going to stay and help us. Is it an ability without any combat capabilities like Qiao Feifei? Or is it biased towards attacking like Zhao Ziang?”

Tang Mo stared at the little girl for a long time before replying. “My ability isn’t the offensive type but I will stay.”

The group sighed with relief.

The east became brighter and the morning light appeared.

As the sky became brighter, the nerves of Teacher Li and the children relaxed.

Teacher Li said, “They shouldn’t attack during the day. I think we should get a good night’s sleep during the day. I am going to call Zhao Ziang back. He didn’t sleep all night and should take a rest.”

Tang Mo looked at the six bodies in the gym hallway. He looked at them one by one, with no expression on his face.

“How did you become an official player?”

Tang Mo looked up. Chen Shanshan had come out from the gym and leaned against the wall.

Tang Mo was silent for a moment. “On the third day after the earth came online, I participated in a black tower game and won. It was a 1v1 game and the other player was your father.”

Chen Shanshan’s body tensed before relaxing. “You don’t need to feel guilty.”

“I don’t feel guilty.”

Chen Shanshan looked at him.

Tang Mo explained, “It was your father who pulled me into the game. I might’ve disappeared if I had lost. Now I have fulfilled his wish and confirmed your safety. It was a game where either him or I disappeared. I won’t feel guilty now that I see you are alive. I also think your father wouldn’t blame me.”

Chen Shanshan looked at him for a while and smiled. “You are very strange.”

The little girl was shorted than Tang Mo but she was very mature.

Tang Mo expressed his thought. “You are very smart.”

“My grades are in the top 10 all year round and I won the first prize in the Olympiad and the computers national competition. I only participate in various academic competitions on behalf of the school.” Chen Shanshan continued, “After the earth came online, the physical fitness of reserve players also improved. I seem to have become smarter. For example, do you know how reserve players are created?”

Tang Mo’s eyes narrowed “I don’t know.”

Official players are those who played a black tower game during the three day elimination period, while stowaways are players who killed a person within those three days.

What about reserve players?

“After the game official started, there were 18 people remaining in our school. Only Qiao Feifei and Zhao Ziang were official players while the other 16 were reserve players. I asked them in detail about their experiences in those three days and found common ground.”

Tang Mo hadn’t met too many people and didn’t meet the conditions to find out this information. Chen Shanshan knew a lot of reserve players and could explore the cause. However, it was very amazing that she thought to do this and that she actually found an answer.

“The 16 people, including myself, all played games in those three days and won. It isn’t the black tower game but simple games, including computer games, mobile games and real games. Teacher Li is the most special. He didn’t play any games but he won a bet with a teacher and survived.”

Tang Mo frowned. “It isn’t that simple. If it was just winning a game during those three days, more than 400 million people would’ve survived.”

Chen Shanshan nodded. “Yes, it certainly isn’t so simple. For example, I won and lost games during those three days. But the classmate I lost against failed to survive. I inquired carefully and found that the opponents of the surviving students admitted that they were ‘eliminated.’”

Tang Mo was surprised. “They personally admitted to be eliminated?”

“Yes, they said they were eliminated. The black tower issued an announcement on the 15th, notifying the world that the earth was online and that we should eliminate players. No one knew how to eliminate players, but most people paid attention to this word. Normally when playing games, people would say they lost, not that they were eliminated. It is because the black tower said ‘eliminated’ in advance that so many people were aware of it. Some people might’ve said it as a joke, or it might be a casual remark.”

Tang Mo never thought things would be so simple.

Chen Shanshan leaned against the wall. “But there might be other ways to become a reserve player. Out of the 16 reserve players, two students didn’t hear the word ‘eliminated’ yet they still survived. The sample size was too small and I could only analyze this much.”

“You have been very good.” Tang Mo seldom praised people.

Chen Shanshan bowed her head and looked at the six bodies on the ground. They were her teacher and classmates. Perhaps she didn’t know any of the six, but she saw them die in front of her eyes.

“They should sneak in tonight.”

Tang Mo agreed. “Yes, it should be tonight.”

“I want to kill them and live.”

She wanted to kill them first and then live.

Tang Mo looked seriously at this short-haired girl and nodded. “Good, we will kill them and live.”

Chen Shanshan was called over by Teacher Li. Then Li Wen walked over to Tang Mo. “The most dangerous time was before you came. Chen Shanshan, that little girl is very clever. Not only did she tell us to set a trap in the guard room, she also had a very thin line in front of the door. As long as you enter the door, you will be sure to enter a trap. It is lucky that you used another method or you would’ve been trapped. Hey, how did you know there was a trap?”

“I found a map of Shanghai from a newspaper kiosk with the location of the school marked. The middle school is quite large.”

Li Wen didn’t understand. “My alma mater is one of four prestigious schools in Shanghai and it does indeed occupy a large area. But what about it?”

Tang Mo looked at him. “Middle school isn’t like elementary school. Most middle schools had cafeterias set up on campus. Big schools like this might even have a campus supermarket. Two days have passed since the game began. There is a supermarket in the school so the students shouldn’t be lacking food or water. I deliberately told the chubby boy that I would give him food and water. Normally, he wouldn’t accept. But he did.”

The small and chubby Zhao Ziang walked into the gym, scratching his head. “Ah, I was trying to lure you into the trap. It turns out that you were lying to me?”

Tang Mo started lecturing him. “You are still young. When deceiving people in the future, you must first think ahead to see if there are any loopholes.”

The chubby boy nodded in a daze.

Li Wen joked, “You are teaching a middle school student how to deceive people.”

Tang Mo shrugged as he looked at the chubby boy. “Based on Chen Shanshan’s words, your power is the offensive type. Can you tell me what it is? Is it those nails that I encountered on the way?”

Zhao Ziang sat down and spoke honestly. “Yes, it is my ability. Qiao Feifei and I are official players. Feifei might be short and thin, but our physical strength and energy are better than Teacher Li. Qiao Feifei is a girl, so I volunteered to go to the guardroom at night and prevent those guys from sneaking up to us. Chen Shanshan said that the villains are likely to attack from midnight to two in the morning. You happened to come at that time. I thought you were a bad person and attacked.” He touched his head. “I’m sorry I almost hurt you.”

“It is okay. You didn’t hurt me with your ability.” Tang Mo was more concerned about something else. “Were the street lights broken by you?”

The chubby boy nodded. “Yes, Shanshan told me to break them. She said that if there is broken glass on the ground, anyone approaching will make a noise. I have good hearing ever since becoming an official player. As long as someone steps on glass, I will be able to hear it.”

“What is your ability?”

“It is something similar to moving space? I’m not sure. I can move any object within a 100 metre radius. But my ability isn’t strong enough. I can’t move heavy things. If I try to move a knife, my speed will be very slow.”

Tang Mo saw a knife rising from the ground and drifted in front of him. He grabbed it.

Zhao Ziang’s face was red. “It is like this. The speed is so slow that I can’t attack people. But things like nails and needles, they are light and small...”

Whoosh!

A small needle the length of a thumb appeared in front of Tang Mo. He quickly ducked his head but the needle hung in front of him and didn’t move forward. Tang Mo’s vision could see the path the needle had taken, but this was on the basis that he was prepared for it. If he had been unprepared, he might not be able to escape this needle.

Zhao Ziang saw Tang Mo’s quick evasive movement and was surprised. “Your response is very fast, faster than me and Qiao Feifei.

Tang Mo stretched out a hand and grabbed the needle. “You have been using nails and needles to attack people?”

Zhao Ziang nodded.

Tang Mo already understood this boy’s ability.

This was indeed a very aggressive ability. It was unfortunate that the things moved were too small. The speed was fast but Tang Mo could escape it. If the boy could move a sharp knife at a fast speed, the stowaways would’ve ended up worse off.

Tang Mo held the needle and looked at the chubby boy. “Don’t tell anyone else about your ability.”

Zhao Ziang made a confused sound. “Oh?”

“You should keep your wits about you.”

Zhao Ziang, “...”

Didn’t Tang Mo tell him to say it?

The chubby boy felt wronged about being fooled and walked away.

Li Wen said helplessly, “Tang Mo, are you bullying a child?”

Tang Mo’s expression didn’t change. “I’m helping him grow.”

Li Wen felt it was unreasonable and was convinced.

During the day, Tang Mo and the others laid several traps near the school gate and inside the school. The traps were very convenient thanks to the chubby boy’s ability. Chen Shanshan also told Tang Mo the details about the abilities of the remaining three stowaways.

“I won’t speak about the two stowaways who died. Both of them didn’t have very good abilities and we killed them quickly. There are still three people left. Two of them have very dangerous abilities while the remaining one is unknown. Let me first talk about the one whose ability isn’t obvious. The ability of the stowaway is...flowers. Teacher Li saw flowers blooming in the place where he walked. It was an ordinary rose and we struck him two times. He didn’t show anything special. But he is very fast and seems to have some fighting skills. He fought fiercely. He is the stowaway who lost an arm and wanted to take Wang Chao’s match in the black tower game.”

Tang Mo had seen all sorts of miraculous powers. His own book was very odd. An ability that grew flowers...he couldn’t comment on it but he couldn’t relax his vigilance.

Chen Shanshan continued, “There are two other people whose abilities are very dangerous. One of them can spray fire.”

“Spray fire?” It was the first time Tang Mo heard of such a common-sense ability.

In many TV shows, people with abilities could often spray fire or water. Tang Mo had read some novels in the library when he was bored. Most of the powers in the books were classified in the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The presence of odd abilities like those produced by the black tower was a minority.

“Yes, he can spray fire. The fire comes from his mouth. I have carefully observed that he can spray fire once every three minutes. The temperature of the flames is very hot. It can melt marble but not steel. It was too dark before so you might not have sign the ‘Shibei Middle School’ sign at the entrance of our school. The words were melted by his fire. The melting point of steel is around 1500? while marble is around 800?. I estimate that the temperature of his flames is below 1000?.”

It was a really dangerous ability.

“And the remaining one?” Tang Mo’s tone was serious.

“The last one...he has a gun.”

“A gun?” Tang Mo’s expression froze.

China had a ban on guns and ordinary people couldn’t have guns. However, there were countermeasures to any policies. China had several occasions of shootings. A few years ago, there was a serial killer murdering people with a gun.

There was no doubt that the stowaways must’ve killed people. But killing someone and shooting someone with a gun were two different things. Criminals capable of shooting guns were often the most vicious and evil. They weren’t ordinary murderers and had a means to buy a gun.

Chen Shanshan shook her head. “No, it isn’t that scary. Zhao Ziang enjoys playing survival games and is familiar with firearms. He said that the gun is a police gun. He guessed that the stowaway must’ve taken it from the police station after the game started. However, the gun isn’t the scary thing. The terrifying thing is that the man’s ability is related to the gun. He has unlimited bullets.”

Tang Mo’s heart tightened.

Zhao Ziang said that the average police gun had eight bullets. But a stowaway shot at least 30 bullets last night. He didn’t change the gun or the magazine in the gun. I don’t know how many bullets his ability can actually fire. I can only consider the worst-case situation that he has unlimited bullets.”

Tang Mo raised an eyebrow. “Official players have very high physical abilities and their skin is very hard. We can resist an ordinary knife cut. However, we are still unable to cope with guns at the moment. The three stowaways will lose combat effectiveness without the gun. It is unlikely he has another gun in reserve.”

“Yes, I know.”

Tang Mo pondered for a long time. “Can you give me the big match to use?”

He just finished speaking when the chubby boy quickly ran over with the match, handing it to Tang Mo. “I have been waiting for you to say this. You have the best physical fitness among the three official players. I feel your strength is higher than mine. Chen Shanshan said it is best if you use this.”

Tang Mo looked at Chen Shanshan with a startled expression.

The short-haired girl looked solemn, like an adult. “This thing must be very powerful.”

Tang Mo smiled. “It will be more powerful in my hands.” After saying this, Tang Mo pressed the big match to his wrist. In an instant, the giant match disappeared and a red match tattoo appeared on his wrist.

Chen Shanshan and the chubby boy’s eyes widened with surprise.

Tang Mo explained, “This is my ability.”

The chubby boy suddenly understood. “This is a hidden weapon! It is great!”

Time passed and the sun gradually sank in the west. Everyone was relaxed during the day. As it got closer to evening, they all became tenser.

Tang Mo walked to the side of the girl called Qiao Feifei. The soft and weak middle school girl had a big knife found in the school’s cafeteria and a big stick was attached to it. She was a girl but she was also an official player. She was more powerful than Teacher Li.

“You don’t need the stick. It is enough if you use the knife. You aren’t tall enough to make the most of the stick. You are more suitable to use a lightweight weapon. Give me the stick.”

Qiao Feifei looked down at the stick. Then she handed it to Tang Mo and said, “Okay.”

Tang Mo held the stick and expected to feel a trace of a strange power. He walked to a corner and pulled out his ability book.

[Ability: Try and find a friend.]

[Owner: Qiao Feifei (Official Player)]

[Type: Special Type]

[Function: Determine the player’s identity.]

[Level: 1]

[Restrictions: Only five players can be identified every day. If the ability of the target is stronger, the identity can’t be found out.]

[Note: Good spicy chicken, I don’t want to make a remark.]

Qiao Feifei couldn’t find out his identity without touching because his ability was stronger than her ability?

Tang Mo looked down again.

[Tang Mo version usage instructions: You can check the identity of a player every day. This ability is a spicy chicken. Tang Mo not giving money for it, I have no words.]

Tang Mo intentionally collected Qiao Feifei’s ability. After obtaining Li Bin’s ability yesterday, he was vaguely aware of his physical ability becoming stronger. His eyes could see further, his reaction speed was faster and his strength was greater.

Before acquiring Li Bin’s ability, Tang Mo couldn’t guarantee that he would’ve been able to escape from that first nail. He wanted to verify that he gained physical strength by acquiring other people’s abilities.

The result was what he thought.

Tang Mo held the stick in his hand. He pressed down the fingers of his right hand, making five shallow fingerprint marks on the wooden stick.

If gaining other people’s abilities could enhance his combat effectiveness...

Tang Mo walked to the side of the chubby boy. “I’m a bit hungry. Can you give this bread to me?”

Zhao Ziang was eating something to replenish his strength and prepare for the battle. He mumbled, “There is a lot over there. You can grab it yourself.”

Tang Mo was thick-skinned. “I like that flavour and it is the last one left.”

The chubby boy handed the bread to Tang Mo in a very depressed manner.

Li Wen exclaimed, “Hey Tang Mo, you are stealing from a child now?”

Tang Mo didn’t answer but his expression was slightly ugly.

He received bread from the chubby boy without giving money in return. Yet why didn’t he get the chubby boy’s ability?

What was going on?

Tang Mo didn’t give up. The chubby boy’s ability was very aggressive. It would be a big help if Tang Mo collected it. Tang Mo asked the chubby boy for a few biscuits and a bottle of milk. He didn’t ask for other people’s food, only the chubby boy’s. The chubby boy looked green as he wanted to cry. “Why are you only looking at me?”

Tang Mo looked even more green. “...Give me another cookie.”

Despite eating two boxes of biscuits, one piece of bread and one bottle of milk, he didn’t get the chubby boy’s ability.

The others were amused by this behaviour and gave a rare laugh before the battle started. However, Chen Shanshan looked thoughtfully at Tang Mo. Once Tang Mo finally gave up and turned away, she picked up a box of cookies and quickly ran to him.

The small short-haired girl wasn’t good-looking, but her eyes were strong. She looked at Tang Mo. “Are you trying to get something from someone else? Is it related to your ability? Can I give you something so that you will become stronger?”

Tang Mo was startled.

How could she be so smart? Was it just a good guess?

Chen Shanshan didn’t have an ability. Tang Mo wouldn’t benefit from taking these biscuits from her. However, the small girl was staring at him seriously with the box of biscuits in her hand. She gritted her teeth and declared, “I will give it to you. But you must kill them. Whatever it is, I will give it to you if you kill them.”

Tang Mo had wanted to refuse. After hearing the words, he shut up and took the biscuits. Tang Mo’s eyes became bigger the moment he touched the biscuit. He hadn’t stored the book in the air when he took it out previously. Instead, he placed it in his backpack. Now he took out the book and opened it.

[Ability: Super Intelligent Thinking]

[Owner: Chen Shanshan (Reserve player)]

[Type: Genotype]

[Function: The ultimate development of the brain regions. You will get superior intelligence and acuity.]

[Level: 3]

[Restrictions: The upper limit of the judgment accuracy is 50% and physical improvements is 0%.]

[Note: Why do I always guess the truth? Mortal fish lips, it is because I am smarter than you. Hahaha.]

[Tang Mo version usage instructions: The accuracy is 10%. Tang Mo unexpected has good luck and found this treasure, but he didn’t bring money!]

“What’s wrong?” Chen Shanshan asked.

Tang Mo looked down at the little girl.

As the big mole once said, official players and stowaways would definitely have abilities. Reserve players had a chance of gaining an ability.

This was why she was so smart.

“I will definitely kill them.”

Chen Shanshan nodded. “Yes, kill them and get revenge!”

Bang!

A loud gunshot broke the stillness of the night. Tang Mo turned to see Teacher Li standing behind him. In his vision, a silver bullet flew at a slow speed past Teacher Li’s station. The bullet didn’t hit anything so Tang Mo quickly looked in the direction where it was fired.

Tang Mo shouted loudly, “Fatty, break the lights of the gym.”

“Okay!”

A nail quickly flew through the air and broke the gym’s lights.

The area was plunged into darkness.

Li Wen asked with surprise, “Tang Mo, what are you doing?”

Tang Mo was squatting on the ground, during a neat circle at a very fast speed. It was too dark. The others saw him suddenly squat but they didn’t know what he was doing. Tang Mo stood up and said lightly, “I am drawing a circle to curse him.”

Tang Tang: Kill the chickens tonight!

Fu Wenduo: ...#Living in this small theater#

(TL: small theatre is the author skits at the end. So hes basically lamenting that he only appears here lol)

As you might’ve noticed, this chapter is 2~3 times longer than normal chapters and it isn’t just this chapter. This is the start of the period of really long chapters. Therefore, chapters for EO might take longer to come out than they have before.