Chapter 87
In the big turkey’s reality instance, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo took the initiative to violently expose his own name. In fact, Tang Mo’s name wasn’t very important. He wasn’t famous in Nanjing and the black tower hadn’t published his name to the world. He might’ve been the first to clear the black tower in difficult mode but the black tower reported the name as ‘Momo’ and only the world’s most powerful players had heard it.
But Fu Wenduo’s name was different.
He was the first to open the tower attack game, pulling all Chinese players inside. He was also the first to clear the black tower’s second floor, causing his name to fill the hearts of players around the world. Finally, he was a stowaway.
If it wasn’t for the turkey egg and becoming familiar with Fu Wenduo in advance, he would’ve looked at Fu Wenduo through tinted glasses when they first met. Through a previous agreement, they first exposed Tang Mo’s name and determined there wasn’t any problem with Xiao Jitong trio. Afterwards, they slightly mentioned Fu Wenduo’s name.
As Xiao Jitong said, the big turkey seemed like players could survive by killing their teammates. However, everyone understood that when there was only one person left, the game wouldn’t be cleared. Killing teammates absolutely wouldn’t win the game. No one knew why it was impossible to win with this method but Tang Mo and Xiao Jitong’s cautious personalities meant they wouldn’t take the chance. If it wasn’t necessary as a last resort, they wouldn’t give up on their teammates, let along kill their teammates.
That’s why Xiao Jitong decisively used the Banana Wine to save the short-haired girl. This was also one reason why they pretended not to know anything after hearing Tang Mo’s name. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo knew that the Nanjing Strategy Group had a 50% chance of being trustworthy.
At the very least, the trio wouldn’t expose their names. This probability increase to 60% after learning that Ningning was a stowaway. Once their names were exposed, Xiao Jitong led the five people to the base of the Nanjing Strategy Group.
Xiao Jitong laughed while walking. “The situation in Nanjing must be different from the outside. I haven’t left Nanjing after the earth went online but I can guess that cities outside haven’t established a good order. In any stage, a regular social order can only be established when the ruling class has a strong and irresistible force.”
Tang Mo heard the other meaning behind Xiao Jitong’s words. “Nanjing has such a powerful force?”
Xiao Jitong nodded. “In fact, it doesn’t necessarily have to be too strong. It just needs to be enough to make some people feel it isn’t good to take action. This isn’t confidential information. You don’t know it because your time in Nanjing is too short. If you had spent a few more days in Nanjing, you would know the specifics.” It wasn’t a big deal to say it so Xiao Jitong didn’t hesitate. He spoke directly, “Have you ever wondered why Xiao Qiao has so many props?”
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo looked at the little blond boy who proudly raised his chin.
Xiao Jitong recognized Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo’s identities so the young boy no longer doubted them. He saw Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo looking at him and confidently spoke. “The strength of each member of the Nanjing Strategy Group might not be as high as yours but our props and weapons are definitely much more than yours.” The little boy stretched out his hands and tried to make as big a circle as possible.
Xiao Jitong explained, “We do have a lot of props and there are more props at our base. Most of the props weren’t obtained by us from black tower games.” Xiao Jitong remained silent to highlight the climax.
Tang Mo carefully thought about the meaning of these words. He vaguely caught a bit of truth when he heard a deep voice from his side. “Your props were given by others?”
Xiao Jitong agreed. “Yes. Our props are from all the players in Nanjing.”
Tang Mo raised an eyebrow with surprise.
Xiao Jitong continued the explanation. “Previously, I said that Nanjing has a strong reserve player who established an organization, telling the information of all instances while also acting as a deterrent to indiscriminate killing in Nanjing. This organization has no direct relationship with our Nanjing Strategy Group and is called the Nanjing Group.”
Xiao Jitong smiled as he explained the situation in Nanjing to Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo.
Soon after the earth went online, Tang Mo discovered that there were three major players in the world: official players, reserve players and stowaways. Official players and stowaways must have abilities, while reserve players can have abilities and they would become official players after clearing the first floor of the black tower. This didn’t mean that reserve players couldn’t have abilities.
Chen Shanshan was a reserve but she had a powerful ability that made even the abilities book sigh. The same was true for the reserves in Nanjing.
Xiao Jitong said, “His ability is very powerful. In terms of strength, Ningning isn’t his opponent at all. But there are pros and cons. The Nanjing Group’s leader only has strength. He can’t do anything when he encounters an instance that can’t be cleared with strength or if he meets a black tower monster stronger than him. He isn’t very good at playing games.”
Xiao Jitong used the phrase ‘his body is developed but his mind is simple’ to explain the most powerful reserve player in Nanjing.
Xiao Qiao smiled while listening to his words. Ningning’s expression was unchanged as she spoke calmly, “If the Chai team heard that you called him stupid, they won’t stop.
Xiao Jitong seemed to have heard nothing. He didn’t blink as he continued, “In summary, the Nanjing Group is indeed strong. However, they need an organization that provides information about the black tower, advising them and telling them how to play the game according to the black tower’s preferences. This is our Nanjing Strategy Group.”
Tang Mo roughly guessed the truth. “You are in an employment relationship with them. You will clear the very dangerous games, such as the big turkey game, reducing the danger to Nanjing players. At the same time, the information of the game will be sold to the Nanjing Group, letting them know more about black tower games.” Tang Mo paused and asked, “…The currency for the sale is props?”
“Yes.”
Now Tang Mo completely understood.
This was why Xiao Jitong’s group entered the big turkey’s instance despite knowing it was very dangerous. It was because the instance was so dangerous and more than 100 people died that the Strategy Group entered. The little boy prepared a lot of props early on just for the sake of clearing the instance. The Nanjing Strategy Group could easily get props from other people but they couldn’t avoid danger.
They made a living dancing on the edge of the blade.
Then Tang Mo learned from Xiao Jitong’s mouth that the Nanjing Group didn’t release information to the players for free. Like a tax, every one month, players had to hand over a certain number of props to the Nanjing Group as a protection fee. The more information they received, the more props they would have to hand over. Information about the entrances to normal instances didn’t need to pay with props, they could be obtained free of charge. It was only some important information that required a protection fee.
The Nanjing Group got props from thousands of players and the Nanjing Strategy Group received props from the Nanjing Group.
The five people kept walking and gradually moved away from the prosperous urban area in Nanjing. The black tower was suspended about the statue of Sun Yat Sen in Xinjiekou, heavily pressing against the earth. The five people turned their backs to it and moved to a sparsely populated place. In the distance, Tang Mo saw a large food processing factory and recognized the golden characters outside the factory.
At this time, Xiao Jitong smiled. “We’ve arrived.”
The black tower’s second floor, Snow White’s small forest.
Two skinny middle-aged men were running with all their strength. They moved through the branches and thorns in front of them, the sharp tree needles stabbing in the backs and cutting their bodies. But they didn’t stop to look as they kept running forward.
Once they reached a giant cedar tree, Wang Yinggui stopped first. He placed one hand on the stout cedar trunk and gasped for breath. “No, no… Old Niao, I can’t run anymore. I will die if I run anymore… you run away. I can’t run, I definitely won’t run.’
After listening to this, Old Niao sat down directly. His face was red from running and his dry lips were white. He leaned against the trunk and said, “I can’t run either. Yinggui, you run… let him kill me. It’s okay if I die, I won’t run away anymore.”
The two people disregarded anything else and directly sat under the tree to rest.
However, they were still afraid. After resting for three minutes, Wang Yinggui and Old Niao looked at each other before quickly finding a secluded bush and hid in it. The defense vegetation blocked their bodies. They held their breaths and cautiously watched.
A cold wind blew through the forest and the leaves rustled. The sun was slowly rising in the sky and night was dispelled, revealing the bright morning. They waited for half an hour before Wang Yinggui’s heart was filled with joy. He couldn’t help asking, “He… did he leave?”
Old Niao also trembled. “We are just two unimportant people. He finished the tower attack game and no longer wants to chase us?”
The people looked at each other and found that it was highly likely.
Wang Yinggui swallowed the saliva in his mouth. “We are teammates and humans. He might be a stowaway but clearing the black tower’s second floor is probably more important than killing us. He must be gone, surely…”
“Hehe, I’m not a stowaway.”
Wang Yinggui nodded. “He doesn’t look like a stowaway but he is so fierce…” His voice stopped. Wang Yinggui felt the blood inside him stiffen as he looked up slowly. Old Niao also paled and raised his head.
On the cedar tree, the pale-faced young man was sitting on the branch and smiling down at them. No one knew how long he had been sitting there. The Wang Yinggui duo looked at each other while the baby-faced youth cocked his head and giggled. “I am an official player.”
The next moment.
“Ahhhh!!!!”
Wang Yinggui and Old Niao screamed and ran out of the bush at the fastest speed.
But Bai Ruoyao was faster than them. A silver light swept through the air, as graceful as a flying butterfly. The slender silver knife cut Wang Yinggui’s left cheek and then Old Niao’s right ear. Bai Ruoyao’s seemingly gentle move caused a thin line of red to appear on Wang Yinggui and Old Niao’s faces. This scar was a bit funny, as if someone had stood Wang Yinggui and Old Niao side by side, drawing as straight line from left to right.
Next, Bai Ruoyao kicked the chests of the two players, directly forcing them to the ground.
Wang Yinggui was so frightened he couldn’t speak and tears emerged. He turned to look and saw that his good brother, Old Niao was already crying as he exclaimed, “Brother, Big Brother! We were wrong. We shouldn’t have plotted against you so please spare us. We will give all our props to you so please spare our lives.”
Wang Yinggui quickly learned from his companion and knelt down. “Brother, please spare our lives.”
Bai Ruoyao’s fingers moved, his knife disappearing between his fingertips. He looked at the two players shivering while begging for mercy. His lips twitched and he made a wronged expression. “But you really hurt me…” He placed his hand on his chest and made a heart shape. “I just entered the game with strangers. I wanted to cooperate and work together with my teammates. You don’t know how saw I was when you plotted against me. I was so good to you and we had no quarrel. But you clearly backstabbed me…”
Wang Yinggui cried out, “It was our fault, our fault. Big Brother, please…”
‘You are good to us. Mr. B, you are good to us? We have no quarrel?’
Wang Yinggui was so angry it felt like smoke was rising from his head.
When he and Old Niao teamed up to clear the black tower’s second floor, they opened their eyes and saw two strange players. One of them died from the black tower monster’s hand while the other player was the baby-faced youth who kept smiling. Wang Yinggui kept feeling like this man was familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before. Then once the youth spoke in his enigmatic voice, Wang Yinggui finally understood. “Damn, this is Mr. B who I want to kill with a thousand knives!”
Mr. A and Mr. B weren’t black tower monsters. The glasses man had already told this to all the players. Wang Yinggui hated that when he entered the instance, he was caught by Mr. B and thrown into the monster cage. He was a ball for the big mouse and was kicked around for three days and three nights!
Mr. A and Mr. B also stole all the rewards that belonged to players. This meant that Wang Yinggui and Old Niao were kicked around by the mouse for three days and three nights without receiving anything.
Mr. B might’ve covered his face with a mask but Wang Yinggui could never forget this type of strange laugh.
This was him, the perverted Mr. B!
At the beginning of the game, Bai Ruoyao had smiled while looking at the two players. He was curious as to why these two men suddenly felt such strong hatred towards him but didn’t ask for an explanation. He just watched them with relish and let them develop their plan. Finally, it developed into him chasing these two players.
Wang Yinggui and Old Niao bowed their heads and could only beg Mr. B to not kill them. After all, in the circus instance, Mr. B hadn’t kill them and threw them into the monster cage to act as a ball. Maybe Mr. B wouldn’t kill them this time?
“It is rare for players like you to be so naive. Hehe, perhaps you think that I’m not going to kill you?”
Wang Yinggui and Old Niao’s bodies stiffened.
“What makes you so helpful…um.. where did I give you this illusion and why do you hate me so much? Oh, is it because I’m too handsome?” Bai Ruoyao asked very seriously.
The Wang Yinggui duo didn’t dare refute it. They sweated as a cold knife suddenly appeared at Wang Yinggui’s throat. Wang Yinggui stared fearfully at Mr. B, his legs trembling. At this time, he heard Mr. B’s voice ask coldly, “Who did you mistake me for?”
Wang Yinggui was stunned.
Next, Wang Yinggui and Old Niao poured out everything they knew. They realized that this person really wasn’t Mr. B and mercilessly scolded Mr. B, hoping that the baby-faced youth would spare their lives. Bai Ruoyao heard that someone was actually imitating him. It wasn’t just his smile but his tone of speech and even a few commonly used phrases. Bai Ruoyao was stunned for a while before laughing.
Wang Yinggui gave him a detailed description of Mr. B’s height and body shape. If he really knew what Mr. B looked like, he would draw Mr. B’s face and hold it in front of Bai Ruoyao.
Once they finished saying everything, Bai Ruoyao was already smiling and turning away. Wang Yinggui and Old Niao thought he was sparing them and felt relieved. Suddenly, Bai Ruoyao asked, “What assembly instance? Was his name Zhao and where is he?”
“In Shanghai! It was an assembly instance in Shanghai!”
Bai Ruoyao touched his lips. “Then… what was his name?”
Wang Yinggui and Old Niao made a mistake. They deliberately didn’t remember Mr. A and Mr. B’s name and the black tower didn’t broadcast it again, so they weren’t clear who Mr. A and Mr. B were. But they knew that the name Zhao wasn’t present and one of the players was… “Fu Wenduo! He is Fu Wenduo! One of them was Fu Wenduo!”
Bai Ruoyao’s eyes narrowed. “He isn’t Fu Wenduo. What is the other name?”
Old Niao spoke, “H-He doesn’t seem to be surnamed Zhao. I think his surname was Tang. The rest of his name, I can’t remember…”
Bai Ruoyao smiled and swept a gaze over the two people again, causing them to fall with fright. Bai Ruoyao’s eyes were as sharp as a knife as he stared at them. It was unknown how long he watched before he turned away. His laughter was like a nightmare, haunting Wang Yinggui and Old Niao’s minds and making it hard for them to breathe.
They seemed to hear someone laughing and saying, “It wasn’t Zhao Zhao. It was Tang Tang.” Wang Yinggui and Old Niao were paralyzed on the ground, soaked with sweat.
“Finally…we survived…”
The Nanjing Strategy Group’s base, Nanjing.
This was a food processing plant with a wide area. Tang Mo walked through the packaging area of the factory and saw many boxes piled up on the ground. The boxes all had famous food brands that he had heard of. Tang Mo glanced lightly and roughly got a map of the factory. He followed Xiao Jitong and Fu Wenduo into the factory.
The huge factory was empty.
Once the five people walked to the innermost part of the factory, Tang Mo heard someone talking. There was a ping pong sound and a young girl rolled down the stairs of the factory. Regardless of whether her body hurt or not, she quickly got up and grabbed Xiao Qiao. “If you are injured, quickly show it to Teacher. Ah, a wound! A big wound!” She kept speaking in a distressed manner.
Xiao Qiao muttered impatiently, “I’m not hurt” but he honestly let the young girl examine him.
After a while, the young girl discovered Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. She looked curiously at the two of them.
Tang Mo introduced himself. “I am Tang Mo.”
The young girl nodded and looked at Fu Wenduo.
Fu Wenduo’s voice was calm. “I am Fu Wenduo.”
The young girl’s eyes widened to the maximum. “Fu, Fu, Fu… Fu Wenduo?!!!” She turned to her captain in shock.
Xiao Jitong smiled. “Yes, that is Fu Wenduo.”
For the first time, Tang Mo realized how famous his teammate was in China.
On the way, Xiao Jitong stated that there were seven members in the Nanjing Strategy Group. Besides him, Ningning and Xiao Qiao, there was also a logistics person (this young girl) called Xiao Wei. The other three members were always clearing instances and they rarely returned to the base.
Fu Wensheng wasn’t a member of the Nanjing Strategy Group. He was part of the Nanjing Group.
If the Nanjing Group was the most powerful organization in Nanjing, then the Nanjing Strategy Group was a knife hired by the Nanjing Group. They were the vanguard army, walking in front of the Nanjing Group to find clues and avoid risks.
“The Strategy Group is in the most danger. There were very few young and strong players. Fu Wensheng was one of them and Xiao Qiao was another. They were around the same age, with Fu Wensheng being older than Xiao Qiao. It was understandable that he had a good relationship with Xiao Qiao. Xiao Jitong explained, “The Nanjing Strategy Group is too dangerous so we generally don’t accept children like Fu Wensheng. Of course, he wouldn’t be happy to join as well.”
If he could go to the Nanjing Group then why go to the Nanjing Strategy Group? The Strategy Group’s average strength was much higher than the Nanjing Group but the risk of death was much larger.
Tang Mo asked, “What about Xiao Qiao?” Xiao Qiao was younger than Fu Wensheng.
Xiao Jitong smiled. “Xiao Qiao was an accident. His ability is very important and very practical. In addition, his last family member is in our group and he wants to stay with Xiao Wei.”
Tang Mo didn’t ask anything else about other people’s private affairs.
On the other side, Xiao Qiao still didn’t believe that Fu Wenduo was really related to Fu Wensheng. This child was very clever but he was naive when it came to interpersonal communication. He said, “Fu Wensheng always told me that he didn’t know Fu Wenduo. How could you be related? Did he lie to me?”
Everyone understood why Fu Wensheng concealed his relationship with Fu Wenduo. Xiao Wei patiently explained to Xiao Qiao while Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo slowly walked away.
Xiao Jitong said he would call Fu Wensheng over. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo headed to an empty part of the factor and took out the small chicken’s nest from their pocket. Tang Mo looked at the effect of the prop.
[Prop: My Chicken Nest]
[Owner: Tang Mo]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Level: 3]
[Attack: None]
[Function: A space storage device that can store three inanimate items.]
[Restrictions: Can’t store props.]
[Note: In the spring, I planted an egg in the chicken nest and in the autumn, I can harvest a group of eggs!]