Chapter 144
“Who the hell are you?”
The roar echoed in the yard, filled with surprise and panic. Li Chaocheng stared at the three people in front of him, trying to see through these three people. However, Tang Mo and Chen Shanshan were calm when listening to his words, their expressions not changing. On the other hand, Jack didn’t understand the meaning of the other person’s words and didn’t show a special reaction.
Tang Mo looked coldly at this frightened ‘invisible man.’ He was calm on the surface but countless thoughts flashed in his heart.
The invisible people didn’t know that the worlds were fusing together!
From the beginning, Tang Mo thought it was a big strange. The black tower had always been fair. This time, the two worlds suddenly fused and the black tower didn’t tell them about it, while the transparent people could freely come and go between the two worlds. This was too unfair for the surviving players.
Tang Mo had taken half a month before learning the truth of the time leaderboard and the invisible people from Bai Ruoyao. Ordinary players without an organization would take longer to discover these facts. These players didn’t know anything and were called pigs when meeting the invisible people. They didn’t understand who killed them or why they were killed.
Originally, Tang Mo thought that the black tower deliberately created such an unfairness.
Half a year ago, more than six billion people disappeared. Tang Mo didn’t know that these people encountered. Perhaps they had to constantly challenge the black tower games and attack the tower? However, it could be seen from the time leaderboard that the world these six billion players faced was much crueler than the survivors.
The six billion people lived in a world of cruel terror for half a year and now that the black tower 4.0 version was about to be updated, the two worlds fused and the invisible people seemed able to return to Earth. They had long encountered unfair things (due to their bad luck at not successfully loading the game) and now the black tower gave them a type of fairness: the surviving players didn’t know their existence.
It turned out the black tower was still fair.
Tang Mo put his hands in his pocket and whispered, “Luck is a type of strength. It has never been unfair.”
The middle-aged man heard this and quickly turned to look at Tang Mo. Bright sunlight shone on the man’s face and there was no number on his neck, but Li Chaocheng felt a long-lost sense of oppression. He had experienced this once before in an instance, when he met the number 36 madman on the time leaderboard.
Li Chaocheng’s brain worked quickly. The fact that he could enter the time leaderboard showed that not only did he kill a lot of people, he wasn’t a fool. It took him a moment to understand what Tang Mo said but the truth made him tremble from shock, surprise and horror filling his eyes. “You… you aren’t a returnee! You are only of the damned 400 million lucky people!”
Jack wondered, “Returnee?”
Li Chaocheng immediately shut his man. He looked at Tang Mo strangely before looking at Chen Shanshan and Jack.
Then the middle-aged man laughed wildly. His facial muscles twitched from the mad laughter and the scar on his face seemed alive as it twisted and wriggled. He laughed and cried out, “We are back? We’re already back?” He hadn’t heard a reply from Tang Mo and the others when Li Chaocheng’s laughter came to an abrupt end. “No, we definitely aren’t back yet. If we came back, the black tower would’ve informed us. There is no notice so…”
Li Chaocheng wondered, “It is because of Mu Huixue?”
Without waiting for an answer from the Tang Mo trio, Li Chaocheng repeated to himself, “Yes, it must be because of Mu Huixue. Half a month ago, the black tower gave her a briefing and she went to clear the black tower’s fourth floor. It turned out that the fourth floor is the key to returning. But the instance wasn’t completely successful… then we haven’t completely returned yet?”
After saying this sentence, Li Chaocheng seemed to understand something.
He knew the current situation.
In just a few minutes, Tang Mo hadn’t told him anything but Li Chaocheng noticed the truth of the matter based on a few words and their slight reactions. Once he knew the truth, he shut his mouth, showing an extremely weird smile.
In the process of thinking about the truth, Li Chaocheng had been trying hard to untie the rubber rope binding him. Yet he couldn’t release it no matter how hard he tried. He simply gave up after half a minute.
The short, middle-aged man sat on the ground and looked at the three humans in front of him, smiling insidiously.
He just smiled and didn’t talk, his smile full of malice.
Jack couldn’t help asking angrily, “What are you looking at?”
Li Chaocheng sneered at him and didn’t speak.
Jack shouted, “You…!”
Jack was very angry. He couldn’t understand how this man had changed so much in a matter of minutes. A few minutes ago, he had been frustrated and panicked after being caught by Tang Mo and unable to escape. Then a few minutes later, the expression on his face constantly changed and it eventually became this unconcerned appearance.
His ugly smile was very clear in the sunlight.
Tang Mo stared for a moment before crouching down to this man’s eye level. The two men looked at each other quietly, no one speaking. A moment later, Tang Mo’s lips curved and he said in a calm voice, “It turns out that you are a returnee. Is this the name given to you by the black tower or did you call yourself this?”
Li Chaocheng was startled but he instantly hid his emotions, asking, “What returnee? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Chen Shanshan’s calm voice was heard. “You aren’t a fool and we aren’t fools. You mentioned the time leaderboard and returnees. If only he was present, he might really be tricked by you.” The little girl pointed to Jack before saying, “The things you can think of, we can also think of them. You might know the truth but you are caught by us. We really want to know one thing… what is the time leaderboard?”
His words were debunked but Li Chaocheng wasn’t nervous. He sneered, “The time leaderboard? You aren’t very smart to still need to ask me about this type of thing. You already know about the time leaderboard, which is why you asked me what number I am on the list.”
“Killing a person can get 10 minutes of rest time. If the other person has extra time, you can get half of that extra time.”
Li Chaocheng turned his head and looked at Tang Mo.
Tang Mo raised his eyebrows. “These ordinary things, the surviving players… the damned 400 lucky humans as you called them already know about it. This is an open secret on Earth.”
Li Chaocheng’s eyes tightened. The surviving players knew about the returnees?
Then he reacted the next second. “Impossible, you are lying to me! I just found out that we are going to return. How can you, the foolish humans who live in the cradle of the black tower mother know about it?”
Tang Mo replied lightly, “This is really an open secret. You can choose to believe it or to not believe it.” His voice stopped and Tang Mo smiled. “Then… do you believe it?”
Li Chaocheng cried out, “You…!”
The middle-aged man gritted his teeth. He realized his was being carried away by Tang Mo and flushed. In fact, his heart was clear and he was constantly thinking. The damned 400 million idiots actually found out information about the two worlds fusing sooner than the returnees? The 400 million people were that smart?
No, the earth had been online for half a year and millions out of these 400 million people probably died. The remaining tens of millions should’ve at least cleared the black tower’s first floor and have some strength. If their strength was really high enough that everyone found out the truth… were they stronger than him?
Li Chaocheng’s sense of reason told him that this young man must be lying. How could the 400 million humans be stronger than him? Still, he wasn’t sure of his judgment. If the 400 million players really were that strong, it would be nothing less than a disaster for the returnees.
Li Chaocheng lowered his head, hid his expression and stopped talking.
Jack was annoyed and angry at the sight. He wanted to scold this arrogant guy but Tang Mo stopped him. “What is the time leaderboard?”
Li Chaocheng immediately looked up at Tang MO. “Don’t all you surviving idiots know what it is?”
Tang Mo smiled. “I knew what it is and how we can get time. But how did it come about. Was it directly given to you by the black tower or is at a special prop? Or perhaps… an ability?” Tang Mo had seen many strange abilities. The time leaderboard being an ability wasn’t impossible. There had been the teenager who could strengthen people’s physical fitness through the eating of hearts.
Li Chaocheng mocked them. “Why should I tell you?”
Tang Mo pointed to the rubber rope. “You are now tied up by us.”
Li Chaocheng smiled. “Just because of this? I thought you were the best of the 400 million players. You should be smart but you are just like this.”
Tang Mo’s expression didn’t change. “I only just cleared the black tower’s first floor. I am at the bottom of the 400 million players.
The lie made Jack’s eyelids twitch. Chen Shanshan knew that Tang Mo was exerting psychological pressure on this man but her face wasn’t thick enough. She couldn’t help glancing at Tang Mo.
Li Chaocheng shouted, “I don’t believe it! How can you be at the bottom of the 400 million idiots?’
Tang Mo smiled. “You can choose to believe it or not believe it. So… do you believe it?”
“You…!” Li Chaocheng was so furious he had nothing to say.
Tang Mo repeatedly threw this question to Li Chaocheng. Li Chaocheng didn’t really believe what he said but was worried that Tang Mo’s words might be the truth. He closed his mouth and refused to answer Tang Mo’s question. Tang Mo asked him twice and Li Chaocheng refused to speak. Time passed before Tang Mo sighed and got up. “You feel that you will disappear sooner or later, returning to the world of the returnees. Thus, you don’t need to compromise with us to escape.”
This sentence was a definite sentence, with no traces of doubt.
Li Chaocheng looked up at Tang Mo with disbelief. He hurriedly retorted, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Tang Mo stated, “You guessed it correctly. You returnees are suddenly appearing and disappearing on Earth. The speed of disappearance is very fast and there are no signs before you disappear.” Li Chaocheng was a person on the time leaderboard and could guess this himself. The fact that he could still act angry when knowing the conditions were favourable to him reflected the man’s deep heart, making Tang Mo surprised. However…
“You can rest assured that the moment you disappear, I will definitely kill you.”
Li Chaocheng gritted his teeth and didn’t speak.
Tang Mo said, “I am telling the truth. You can choose to believe it or not believe it. Do you believe it?”
Li Chaocheng no longer wanted to negotiate with this unfathomable young man. He didn’t want to hear these words again and said directly, “Yes, I am waiting to return to my world. We haven’t fully returned since the black tower’s 4.0 version hasn’t updated yet. I can definitely go back. It doesn’t matter if I believe you or not. I thought you were very smart. Don’t you see that I have no reason to tell you the information I know?”
Tang Mo raised an eyebrow.
Li Chaocheng explained, “You said that you will kill me before I disappear. I’m going to die anyway. Why should I tell you what I know?”
Tang Mo pretended to be surprised. “I actually didn’t think of this problem? I was negligent.”
Li Chaocheng suddenly sensed that there was something wrong. His heart trembled as an unknown premonition filled his mind. The handsome young man turned and looked at the strong foreign man beside him. He raised his right hand and waved to the strong foreign man. On the slender right hand, the index finger was almost completely severed, leaving only a layer of skin still attached.
Li Chaocheng suddenly remembered that he had hit this young man’s finger with the needles but the young man hadn’t shown any pain at all when speaking.
Li Chaocheng’s sense of uneasiness grew stronger.
He heard the young man saying with a smile, “Jack, we can’t kill him yet but we have to pull out some useful information from his mouth. Help me hold down his right hand.” Tang Mo’s fingers moved and a silver knife appeared in his palm. The smile on his face was very bright. “Perhaps he will be willing to talk if I cut his fingers?”
Li Chaocheng’s scalp was numb and sweat flowed down.
Jack nodded and helped Tang Mo hold down Li Chaocheng’s right hand. Tang Mo’s first choice was Li Chaocheng’s index finger. Tang Mo’s finger already had a layer of pink meat growing, blood filling his hands and forming a terrifying sight. He placed the sharp blade against Li Chaocheng’s index finger. Li Chaocheng was pale but he still sneered, “Only this? It turns out that you 400 million idiots only have this much strength that you consider a few fingers to be important. Isn’t it just cutting off my finger? Just cut it?”
“Who said I would cut off your finger?”
Li Chaocheng was stunned.
Tang Mo looked at him. “I’m just going to slice it a little bit.”
Then Tang Mo lowered the knife and blood splashed. The knife cut through the meat, directly slicing off a thin layer of meat. Li Chaocheng’s body shook and a beast-like roar filled his throat. Tang Mo actually cut a layer of meat that was only a millimeter thick! Li Chaocheng hadn’t reacted to the severe pain when Tang Mo made a second slice.
“Ah!!!”
Jack couldn’t watch this scene anymore.
Tang Mo lowered his head and looked at Li Chaocheng’s right index finger with a blank expression as he cut off a thin layer of meat. He seemed to be focusing carefully like he was cutting vegetables. There was no extra expression on his face and it was unknown what he was thinking.
Jack finally couldn’t help saying, “No Tang, I can’t stand it anymore.”
A hand pressed against Li Chaocheng’s wrist. Jack looked up with surprise and saw Chen Shanshan saying calmly, “I will do it.”
Jack replied, “…Okay.”
Who would’ve thought that out of the three people, Jack would be the first one who couldn’t bear it. Chen Shanshan and Tang Mo, one of them held the hand while the other one cut the meat. Once Tang Mo reached the middle of Li Chaocheng’s index finger, the middle-aged man was covered in sweat. He gasped with a pale face and roared painfully, “I will tell you, I’ll tell you!” I’ll tell you everything!”
Tang Mo stopped his actions and looked at Li Chaocheng. Then the knife moved and he directly cut off Li Chaocheng’s index finger.
He muttered, “It isn’t good that you gave up so early.”
Chen Shanshan nodded as she wiped off the blood that splashed on her hands. “This early isn’t good.”
Jack, “…”
Li Chaocheng, “…”
Now he believed that the 400 million players were really scary!!
Next, Li Chaocheng reluctantly told Tang Mo what he knew.
“Three months ago on January 12th, 2018, I just cleared the second floor of the black tower and was resting during my break. I had been resting for eight minutes when the black tower suddenly issued an announcement…” Li Chaocheng’s voice was a bit hoarse as he recalled this time.
“Ding dong! South Asia Zone 1 player Dijan Galava has successfully cleared the ‘Back of the truth clock’ instance and opened the time leaderboard.”
“Ding dong! South Asia Zone 1 player Dijan Galava…”
The clear childlike voice rang loudly in the ears of more than two billion humans. It rang for a total of three times. When it started, people’s expressions were number, their bodies covered with wounds and their clothes were bloody. Stains covered their faces, as if they hadn’t washed in three months. In addition, their eyes were bloodshot like they hadn’t rested. They just listened to the voice and didn’t respond.
After hearing the black tower’s notice, they dragged their bodies slowly to the game while others lay on the ground, greedily resting.
However, this time the black tower’s voice didn’t stop after three broadcasts. There was the cheerful sound of music.
On January 12th, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were facing 21 first floor players in the Strange Circus instance. On January 12th, more than 100 million surviving players on Earth didn’t realize that a reform was about to begin in another world.
If it was on Earth, the black tower broadcasting a name three times and singing a song would make all players stop what they were doing and listen carefully to the black tower. But in that world, players were still indifferently doing their own thing. They didn’t seem to hear the black tower’s voice or the cheerful music.
Half a minute later, the music stopped and the black tower’s loud voice was heard again.
“Ding dong! The time leaderboard’s rules are as follows–“
“First, in line with the present, every player gets a 10 minute break after each round of the game, as the initial test time.”
“Second, killing a player with an initial test time allows you to take the other person’s 10 minutes as extra time off.”
“Third, the extra time will show as specific numbers on the neck.”
“Fourth, killing a player with extra rest time will give you half of their extra rest time plus the 10 minutes initial test time.”
“Fifth, every time before entering a new game, the player can view real-time information on the time leaderboard.”
“Sixth, there are 100 places on the time leaderboard. Kill a top 100 player and get a 50 minutes break. Kill a top 50 player and get a 100 minutes break. Kill a top 20 player and get a 500 minutes break. Kill a top 10 player and get a good quality item. Kill the third ranked player and get the privilege of waiving any black tower game. Kill the second ranked player and get a rare quality item.
“Seventh, kill the first ranked player and get a chance to resurrect. This opportunity can resurrect any player who died in the black tower game.”
“Ding dong! Please try to attack the tower and return to Earth!”
This was the time revolution for the returnees.