Chapter 174
Darwin’s Test had a total of 12 questions. The correct answer gave points and answering wrongly didn’t deduct any points.
At the beginning, Wang Xiaotian didn’t say that there was a punishment for answering wrongly. In theory, pressing the buzzer in advance wasn’t a problem. However, it was a big risky. This wasn’t in line with Tang Mo’s cautious character. Yet when Tang Mo retracted his hand, Fu Wenduo and Chen Shanshan also quietly took back their hands.
“Your grabbed the chance but you might not necessarily answer it. If you are wrong and there is a punishment…” The young man whispered.
Tang Mo glanced lightly at the man.
Wang Xiaotian’s mind recovered and she looked at Tang Mo with a strange expression. “Then I will continue. The first question: After the earth went online, the black tower divided it into several zones. Please answer how many there are!”
All three returnees were stunned. Xiao Fu’s mouth opened with amazement and the young man directly cried out, “So simple?”
Wang Xiaotian rolled her eyes and replied, “This is the first question. What difficulty do you want?” She looked at Tang Mo and impatiently said, “Hey, this isn’t a multiple choice. Answer quickly stinky human. You are really annoying.”
Tang Mo’s lips curved. “There are a total of 10 zones.”
Wang Xiaotian nodded. “The answer is correct. Player Tang Mo gets one point.”
The three returnees, “…”
It could be played like this?
The three returnees glanced at Tang Mo with a hint of envy. The young woman frowned with some suspicion but didn’t say anything. Tang Mo was used as a precedent. Wang Xiaotian couldn’t finish the second question when all hands pressed the buzzer. This time Tang Mo wasn’t particularly nervous as he calmly looked at Wang Xiaotian. As soon as the other party opened her mouth, he would press the buzzer. He already got one point and was ahead of the others. It was the other people who needed to be nervous.
The young woman secretly looked at Tang Mo and whispered to herself, “Is it a coincidence…”
It was too smart. There was no punishment for answering a question incorrectly and the first question was so simple that Tang Mo got it right.
No one answered her.
Wang Xiaotian soon gave the second question. She failed to finish it as the buzzer was pressed. This time it was the young man who grabbed the chance. Wang Xiaotian complained, “This routine isn’t fun at all.” Then she asked the second question in a depressed manner. “Please listen! The second question: Who is the black tower’s favourite player?”
This was a simple question. The Earth survivors might need to think a bit but the returnee didn’t hesitate. “Mu Huixue!”
Wang Xiaotian clapped her hands with no interest. “Congratulations, you answered correctly and got one point.”
The young man showed a smug expression.
This way, the seven people answered questions using their skill. After eight consecutive questions, Chen Shanshan and the young woman had slow reactions and couldn’t grab any chances. They had 0 points. The young man got two chances but only answered one question correctly. He got one point like Fu Wensheng. The middle-aged man and Tang Mo each answered two questions and got two points. Fu Wenduo answered three questions and got three points.
There were still four questions left.
Wang Xiaotian was ready to speak when she seemed to hear something. “The ratings are so low?”
The group froze as Wang Xiaotian jumped off her carriage and paced back and forth angrily. She walked for a while before running to the seven players and placing her hands on her waist. “You forced me to do this, you stinky humans! Wang Xiaotian has presided over the Happy Question and Answer for so many years and it is the first time the ratings are so low! You stinky humans, I have to increase the difficulty. I will take out questions from the bottom. Don’t be mad at me!” The beautiful girl stomped her feet and the ground trembled fiercely. No one expected this seemingly soft Cinderella to have such strength.
At this time, a calm voice was heard. “Will there be a punishment if we get the next question wrong?”
Wang Xiaotian didn’t react for a moment as she stared at Chen Shanshan. “No, this is part of the rules of the black tower game.”
Chen Shanshan maintained her calm tone. “Oh, then you should increase the difficulty. In any case, I won’t die if I can’t answer it.”
Wang Xiaotian, “…”
Why did she open this live show?
Sure enough, the next four questions that Wang Xiaotian asked were a lot more difficult. The seven people answered in turn and finally only one question was correctly answered. In the end, Fu Wenduo had three points, Tang Mo and the middle-aged man had two points, Fu Wensheng, the young man and Chen Shanshan had one point while the young woman had zero points.
Wang Xiaotian held her skirt and angrily ran into the carriage. She opened the curtains and cursed, “I never want to see you bastards again. Clear the game and get the hell out of my room!”
Boom—
The pumpkin carriage drove out the door and it slammed shut, leaving the seven players in the room.
Fu Wensheng wondered, “Darwin’s Test is over? How do we change the balls?”
The child wasn’t confused for long. He saw seven small balls flying out of the players’ pockets one by one. The seven balls floated in the air and gathered together. The next second, the balls flew in different orders towards different players, gently kissing the number on each player’s cheek.
After the kiss, the number on Fu Wenduo’s face changed to a four, Tang Mo and the middle-aged man became a three, Fu Wensheng and the young man became a two, Chen Shanshan and the young woman became a one.
Tang Mo grabbed the ball and turned to his teammates. “Should we first go to the room to check the clues?”
The group nodded. “Okay.”
Tang Mo’s group directly entered their rooms to check the clues. The three returnees also glanced at each other before going to their rooms.
Tang Mo closed the door and didn’t immediately look at the clue inside his ball. He found pen and paper from the table in the room, wrote several names on the paper and connected he names on by one.
“Shanshan’s ball is in my hand, Xiao Sheng has Xing Siqi’s ball, Fu Wenduo has Du De’s ball…”
His fingers gently tapped on the seven names for a long time before Tang Mo opened the small ball. He took out the note, flipped it over and read the words ‘Tang Mo finally became a man standing at the top of the food chain…’ HIs eyes widened and Tang Mo stared at the text on the note. He read it carefully three times, his eyes become brighter.
Five minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
Tang Mo opened the door and saw the short-haired girl standing outside. Chen Shanshan looked up at him. “Brother Tang Mo, are you optimistic about your clue?”
Tang Mo nodded and saw Fu Wenduo waiting in the middle of the room for him. Chen Shanshan knocked on Fu Wensheng’s door and brought him out. The four people four a secluded corner and the three returnees hadn’t come out yet.
Chen Shanshan looked at everyone. “This time the four of us are on different levels in the food chain. When the seven balls flew into the air, I observed two small balls. The ball I have now is Brother Tang Mo’s and he has my ball.”
Chen Shanshan’s physical fitness hadn’t improved and her dynamic vision could only observe two balls at a time.
Fu Wenduo added, “Xiao Sheng has that woman’s ball.”
Chen Shanshan nodded. “Good. Apart from Xiao Sheng, we can now roughly talk about the clues we got.”
They couldn’t clearly say their clues but they could mention one or two simple things. Chen Shanshan’s clue was simple and didn’t have much value. Fu Wenduo thought for a moment before saying in a low voice, “According to my clue, I should really be located on the third level in one food chain.”
Chen Shanshan immediately recorded this clue. “You are on the fourth level and the third level at the same time.”
Tang Mo said, “My clue is somewhat important.”
The group turned to look at Tang Mo.
Tang Mo considered the wording and carefully stared at Fu Wenduo. “…I’m not in your food chain.”
Fu Wenduo was startled and quietly stared at Tang Mo.”
“Not in his food chain?” Chen Shanshan was shocked. The short-haired girl’s pen stopped, the round nib leaving a shallow mark on the paper. The next moment, Chen Shanshan suddenly stared at Fu Wensheng. There was a happy smile on her face but her eyes were extremely serious. She told him, “Xiao Sheng, I have a question to ask you. You have to answer it carefully. When you answer it, forget the words in your clue and concentrate on answering the question. Completely forget that clue.”
Fu Wensheng sat up straight. “Yes, Sister Shanshan can ask.”
Chen Shanshan said, “My question is…”
Five minutes later, Chen Shanshan closed her book and sighed with relief.
“Cinderella attends three parties and we have a total of three nights. However, Darwin’s Test only occurs twice. The next Darwin’s Test is our last chance to change the balls. However, this time I hope you do something in this Darwin’s Test.”
The four people came closer and Chen Shanshan whispered, “In the second Darwin’s Test, I guess that it will be harder than the first time. In this test…”
Tang Mo listened to Chen Shanshan’s words and nodded. Once she finished, Fu Wensheng carefully remembered what he had to do. Then he recalled something. “Sister Shanshan said that based on Cinderella’s personality, she will deliberately make the questions harder in the second Darwin’s Test so that we can’t answer them and her ratings will improve. Fortunately, there is no penalty for answering incorrectly or it would surely be the end for us.” There was a pause as the child thought. “Oh Brother Tang, you are lucky. You grabbed the first right to answer. It wouldn’t be good if there was a punishment. IT was fortunate that the question was simple and there isn’t a punishment… why are you looking at me like that?”
Xiao Fu closed his mouth and suddenly felt very wronged.
“What did I say wrong? Big Brother, Brother Tang, Sister Shanshan, why are you… you…” Why were they looking at him with such pitying eyes!
Fu Wenduo glanced away from his silly brother just in case he became angry.
Chen Shanshan had a good temper and patiently explained, “Xiao Sheng, Brother Tang Mo didn’t casually press the buzzer. If he didn’t press it then Major Fu and I would also press it. Let me ask you, what do you think our level is out of the seven players?”
Fu Wensheng naturally wanted to say that they were stronger than the three returnees. There was his brother and Tang Mo. There was also Chen Shanshan. How could they be worse than the three returnees? Then he remembered that he seemed to be dragging them back. The child couldn’t guess his three teammates’ movements.
“We are strong!”
Chen Shanshan continued, “Yes, we are stronger. There are 12 questions in total but there are seven people. This shows a problem. We must be able to answer at least half the questions. Otherwise there will be many people with zero points and how can the positions be distributed? Will it rely on luck and do the random lottery again? Then the so-called Darwin’s Test will lose its meaning. It would be better to just do another draw off the bat.”
Tang Mo added, “Darwin’s Test is an evolution test. It is the key for the weak to evolve.”
Chen Shanshan nodded. “yes. This test has little to do with luck. It looks at the individual’s level because it is urging players to evolve. So even if there is a punishment, it won’t be a fatal punishment. Otherwise, how will the positions be distributed. In addition…” The short-haired girl glanced at the stunned boy and smiled. “Xiao Sheng, if there is a question that the four of us can’t answer, do you think the three returnees can answer it? It is highly likely they can’t answer it. Therefore, it is likely that Wang Xiaotian’s first question is something we can all answer. Do you want to give away a point?”
Fu Wensheng, “…”
Fu Wensheng doubted life and hung his head. Then a click was heard and a door opened.
The young woman saw that Tang Mo’s group had gathered in the room and her expression changed. She thought for a moment before calling out to the other two stowaways. Then she went towards Tang Mo’s group. The young woman didn’t hesitate to directly say, “Share the clues?”
Tang Mo raised his head and smiled. “Okay.”
An hour later, Wang Xiaotian returned to the room in her pumpkin carriage and she jumped off it. Her first sentence was, “You really embarrassed me! I am Wang Xiaotian, the gold medal host of the Underground Kingdom! This is the first time the ratings didn’t reach 1. It is all your fault! Wait for me. I will definitely have very difficult questions for you!”
The expressions of the three returnees fell slightly while Tang Mo’s group were calm.
This was exactly the same as what Chen Shanshan said.
Wang Xiaotian angrily placed her hands on her hips. This didn’t she didn’t open a live show or call the cameras. She directly jumped onto the roof of the carriage. “I don’t want to talk to you stinky humans who aren’t popular. Hurry and end the test. You are all bugs, all rubbish, all useless and stinky! Listen up, my first question…”
“Buzz!”
The young man excitedly pressed the buzzer. Wang Xiaotian was prepared and her lips twitched slightly. “Okay, this time you grabbed it. Listen to me well. My first question is… who is the smartest person in the Underground Kingdom?”
The young man’s smile froze.
Wang Xiaotian laughed viciously. “Say it quickly!”
The young man hesitated before tentatively replying, “Wang Xiaotian?”
He really didn’t know the answer so flattery should be right. A subjective question wouldn’t have standard answers so the young man took a risk. Unexpected, as soon as he answered, Wang Xiaotian grinned and patted the giant pumpkin under her. The giant pumpkin opened its mouth and screamed at the young man.
“Ahhh…”
The sound was sharp and terrible. The group quickly covered their ears. The young man felt like he had tinnitus and he was so off guard that he couldn’t cover his ears. He looked up sluggishly at Wang Xiaotian on the roof of the carriage. The beautiful woman’s mouth was moving but he couldn’t hear anything. There was only a dull buzzing in his shocked ears.
Wang Xiaotian stated, “Yes, there is no punishment and I won’t hit you. I just like my baby carriage burp. It had a full meal and it is normal to burp. I’m not punishing you. Come on, keep answering. There will be no punishment so casually answer. In any case, the ratings are low so there is no problem. Come on, answer.”
The middle-aged man couldn’t help shouting angrily, “You can’t punish us because the black tower rules states that there can be no punishment.”
Wang Xiaotian retorted, “I’m not punishing you. I’m just letting my baby pumpkin burp!”
“You…!”
It was sometimes good to bully a black tower boss but the bullying couldn’t be too excessive.
The middle-aged man didn’t understand it at all. This Wang Xiaotian was so easy in the last round of the Darwin’s Test and he hadn’t been worried at all. Why was it now like this? She had clearly been angry at Tang Mo in the previous round but she didn’t rush towards him. This time the person with the bad luck was the young man, not Tang Mo. The young man’s resilience was extremely strong and the tinnitus slowly disappeared. However, he couldn’t say anything. He could only grit his teeth and swallow the words.
Now they were playing Cinderella’s game. Wang Xiaotian wasn’t going to be bullied anymore and they didn’t dare say a word.
Wang Xiaotian saw that they weren’t speaking and cried out, “Answer. None of you know the answer to this question? Big idiots…”
“Buzz!”
Wang Xiaotian turned her head to look at the person.
Fu Wenduo stated calmly, “Schrodinger.”
Wang Xiaotian froze before she scoffed angrily. “Congratulations, you answered correctly and gained one point. The second question…”
Now people no longer casually pressed the buzzer. No one knew what method Cinderella would use to punish the players next time. A small punishment like the tinnitus was okay. It wasn’t worth it if she had a special means to carry out a terrible punishment within the black tower limits.
The players also found that this Darwin’s Test was more difficult than the last round. There was a high probability that the answer wasn’t correct so people were no longer in a desperate rush.
Wang Xiaotian said angrily, “The tenth question… hey, you better not end up in my hands. This is a special Happy Question and Answer show. The real Happy Question and Answer has punishments. How terrible the punishment is… you should ask Fu Wenduo. He knows since he almost died in it.”
The young man stared at Fu Wenduo with a startled expression. “You’ve had experience!”
Fu Wenduo placed his hands in his pocket and didn’t answer.
Wang Xiaotian wasn’t angry. She grimaced at Fu Wenduo before continuing. “The tenth question, among the seven players present, who is the one that Wang Xiaotian wants to eat the most… Hey? The black tower’s question is actually related to me?” Wang Xiaotian spoke sweetly, “It can be like this. Hey, who does Wang Xiaotian want to eat the most? This question is so simple.”
“Buzz!”
The seven players pressed the buzzer at the same time. Wang Xiaotian looked at the lights in front of everyone before focusing on Tang Mo. “You answer it.”
Tang Mo retracted his hand and stared at Wang Xiaotian. “I want to ask something before giving the answer. Can you answer the question?”
Wang Xiaotian stared at Tang Mo with narrowed eyes. “Why should I answer?”
“Feel free if you don’t want to. I just want to ask a question. You previously said that Darwin’s Test will change everyone’s position and not the food chain?”
Wang Xiaotian stared suspiciously at Tang Mo. She thought about it and there didn’t seem to be a trap in the question. It was part of the rules that the black tower asked her to tell the players. “Yes, Darwin’s Test changes your position in the food chain. It doesn’t change the original food chain.”
Fu Wensheng whispered, “What change in position? If you are slow to respond and can’t grab a chance to answer then there is no way to get points. You will always be in the first level.”
The young woman heard this and her gaze moved towards Fu Wensheng.
His words were right. The questions might be a bit hard and people weren’t in a rush to answer but the young woman, Chen Shanshan and young man still hadn’t got a point. The young man answered incorrectly while the two females couldn’t grab a chance to answer. After the earth went online, everyone’s physical fitness had improved. The young woman couldn’t improve her physical fitness due to her special ability. Thus, she couldn’t press the buzzer first.
This way, her chances of staying on the first level were extremely high.
The young woman’s expression sank and she stayed silent.
“Will the questions become harder?” Chen Shanshan suddenly asked.
Wang Xiaotian wondered, “Why? Do you want it to be harder?”
Chen Shanshan nodded. “If it isn’t harder then I will find it hard to get points. I also want to know something. In the last round of Darwin’s Test, me, Xiao Sheng and him…” She pointed to the young man. “All three of us got one point but they are on the second level while I am on the first. Why? Is it a random draw?”
Wang Xiaotian replied, “Of course it isn’t random. Darwin’s Test has nothing to do with luck. Who told you to evolve late? Of course you will be behind them.”
Chen Shanshan speculated, “In other words, right now there are three of us with zero points. It is me, Xing Siqi and Du De. There are three more questions. If all three of us answer one of them correctly, our ranking will be according to the order of who answered correctly first. What if the three of us don’t answer correctly?”
Wang Xiaotian grinned, revealing her cute tiger’s teeth. “The points from the last round of the Darwin’s Test will be used.”
Chen Shanshan nodded in understanding.
It was fair. This method looked at strength and not luck.
Fu Wensheng said, “This is the last chance to change the order. I must cheer for Sister Shanshan or you will always be in last place.” The child continued, “I have one point this time. Perhaps I will still stay on the second level. Sister Shanshan, I don’t have a clue about the food chain but you can rest assured that I won’t eat you. You are the first level and I am the second level. I’ll just eat her. If I’m wrong then you will still be alive and will have a chance.”
The young woman turned to look at Fu Wensheng.
The child was startled. “Why are you looking at me?”
The young woman stared at Fu Wensheng before sneering. “You Earth survivors, you have a good relationship with your teammates.”
Fu Wensheng confidently replied, “Sister Shanshan and I are teammates. If I’m not good to her then should I be good to you?”
“Your ball is the one that used to belong to me and her ball is the one that used to belong to you. She is in your food chain and you can eat her. Are you stupid?”
Tang Mo’s voice was heard. “However, you weren’t 100% sure that he is in your food chain. The probability was just high.”
The young woman smiled. “If Fu Wenduo hadn’t placed his knife against my neck then I would’ve already eaten the little boy’s ball. Would he have lived to the present?”
Fu Wensheng’s face flushed and he glared at the young woman. “I won’t eat Sister Shanshan. I’ll only eat you.”
The young woman stared at the boy’s angry appearance before shifting her gaze, no longer caring about him. “Do whatever you want.”
Chen Shanshan’s eyes brightened.
Tang Mo’s lips curved and he raised his head to see Fu Wenduo looking at him.
The two men tacitly told each other, ‘Good job.’
Wang Xiaotian sighed loudly. “Hey, you still have to answer the question. Hurry and answer it!”
Tang Mo replied, “Wang Xiaotian wants to eat Fu Wenduo the most.”
Wang Xiaotian licked her lips and stared at Fu Wenduo. “Correct. The 11th question…”
Sure enough, it was as Chen Shanshan guessed. By 12 questions ended and Chen Shanshan, the young woman and the young man didn’t get any points. Wang Xiaotian touched her chin. “Stupid humans.” She didn’t pay any attention to them and jumped into the carriage, prepared to go to the ball. She was just about to enter the carriage when a male voice was heard. “Will our balls only change after you leave?”
Wang Xiaotian stopped and glanced at Tang Mo. “You can change them now.” Wang Xiaotian didn’t think too much. She clapped her hands and Tang Mo felt the ball in his pocket move. However, a hand slammed against the ball.
“What are you doing?” Wang Xiaotian stared at Tang Mo with surprise before glancing at Fu Wenduo, Fu Wensheng and Chen Shanshan.
The three returnees were also startled and they quickly became alert.
Tang Mo firmly grasped the constantly moving ball. He touched the number on it and smiled. “If I’m not wrong, the current ball should still belong to me. I am in the third level?”
In the Darwin’s Test just now, Tang Mo had the highest score and he should win the fourth level.
Wang Xiaotian didn’t understand Tang Mo’s meaning. “Yes, your ball hasn’t changed. It is of course the third level.”
Tang Mo asked, “Then the four of us, we are still in the same levels as before?”
“Yes.” Wang Xiaotian wondered, “What do you want to say?”
Tang Mo slowly looked up, his eyes calm. “Players who find a complete food chain that they belong to can win. Do you want me to say the food chain in public or should I tell you privately?”
Wang Xiaotian muttered, “Whatever, you can tell me privately…” Her words stopped and Wang Xiaotian’s eyes widened. “What did you just say?”
“He said…”
A low magnetic voice was heard. Fu Wenduo stood behind Tang Mo, leaning over slightly so that his chin was close to Tang Mo’s shoulder. This posture made him look like Tang Mo’s spokesperson. Tang Mo didn’t feel any discomfort from this closeness and the group didn’t feel there was anything wrong with it.
A warm breath hit Tang Mo’s ear, causing him to raise an eyebrow.
Fu Wenduo smiled. “He said, we have decided… to clear the game now.”
The author has something to say:
Old Fu: So close, I seem to smell Tang Tang…
Tang Tang: Oh, I remember one night when I was sleeping, I accidentally put my head on someone’s shoulder and then that person… [Pushes someone’s head away with no expression]
Old Fu: …