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Chapter 105

The rain intermittently fell, the ground was wet and there was an almost invisible drizzle.

When Tang Mo emerged from the bungalow, his hair was quickly wet from the misty rain and slightly stuck to his forehead. He first looked up at the gas station across the road and couldn't see Fu Wenduo or Fu Wensheng's figures. It was estimated that they had entered the gas station together to find petrol.

Tang Mo didn't think too much as he held the snacks and crossed to the other side of the road.

There was a newsstand there.

This was a crossroads and the gas station was at the northeast corner. It was directly opposite the bungalow and the diagonally opposite intersection had the deserted newsstand. Finally, there was a small restaurant located at the northwest corner. It had long been emptied and there was obviously no more food.

Tang Mo was heading to the newsstand when he suddenly stepped into a puddle. Tang Mo looked down but his eyes fell on a hidden part instead of his wet shoes.

Tang Mo coughed and continued to move forward.

He completely crossed the road and officially saw the newsstand. The snacks and water sold at the newsstand were all stolen, leaving only the newspapers and magazines that no one wanted behind. There were thick stacks of newspapers on the shelves and the words November 15th were on the front page. Tang Mo looked at the stacks of newspapers and went around to the rear. He planned to enter the newsstand from the small door and look for a map.

He was just walking behind the newsstand when he paused, his eyes falling on a burnt shelf.

This was a small bookshelf on the outside of the newsstand. Many newsstands would place well-selling magazines and newspapers outside for small people to choose from. This shelf had been placed on the other side and Tang Mo hadn't been able to see it from the gas station or the bungalow. It was burnt back, the books that had been placed on it burned to ashes on the ground.

The light rain falling made the charred shelf stand out compared to the surroundings. Tang Mo glanced at it before looking away. His eyes were calm as he placed his hands in his pocket, continuing to walk towards the newsstand. Tang Mo's figure disappeared into the small newsstand. But the moment he entered…

Bang!

At the gas station, Fu Wenduo rushed towards the small restaurant in the northwest corner. Simultaneously, Tang Mo's figure rushed out of the newsstand and went straight to the bungalow in the southeast corner. Their movements were too fat and everything happened too suddenly. The giant match slammed into the wall, the four men hiding behind it staring at Tang Mo with horror, unable to react.

One second later, the middle-aged man screamed with reddened eyes, "Fuck! I'll fight with you!"  

Tang Mo didn't expect that there would be four people. He moved to avoid a bullet and then rolled backwards to avoid the middle-aged man's fist. On the other side, Fu Wenduo determined there was no one in the restaurant. He turned towards Tang Mo's direction and found that Tang Mo was already fighting four people.

Tang Mo had just escaped a bullet and then bent down to avoid a flying knife.

He raised the big match, blocking behind him. The red match head collided with a black knife, causing both of them to take three steps back. There was a shallow white trace on the big match. Tang Mo watched the man holding the knife in a vigilant manner and found that the other person was looking at him with eyes filled with hatred. The next second, the man struck with his knife and Tang Mo waved the big match to meet him.

Only three seconds had passed since they encountered each other. Tang Mo escaped their sneak attack and fought on equal terms with the knife wielding man. Once Fu Wenduo rushed to the scene, the middle-aged man and short man immediately rushed out to block Fu Wenduo.

The strong man shouted, "Old Jiu, run!"  

The moment this was head, the thin man about to attack Tang Mo turned to run. Tang Mo rushed to seize him but a black knife blocked his way. Tang Mo's palm turned over and a hot flame emerged, slamming into the other person. The man easily moved sideways and dodged it.

"You won't leave so easily!"

Tang Mo's eyes narrowed as the big match and black knife continued to collide, causing metal sparks. In just 20 seconds, two people have collided several times. Tang Mo kept finding opportunities to attack this man. However, the man escaped the flames, checkmate and the fierce offensive.

He suddenly seized a chance to kick Tang Mo's leg from the side. Tang Mo dodged it only for a knife to come from the other side. "Die for me!"

Boom!

A huge stone suddenly appeared in front of the man and the knife cut the stone. The man's eyes opened with horror. At this time, he discovered that Tang Mo had deliberately exposed a flaw. As he was hitting the stone, Tang Mo had rushed a few metres and was chasing after the escaping Old Jiu.

The man was shocked. "Not good, he wants to kill Old Jiu!"

The middle-aged man was shocked when he heard this and was kicked away by Fu Wenduo. He refused to take care of his own injury and struggled to chase after Tang Mo. On the other side, the man with the knife also chased. The two of them tried their best to chase Tang Mo but it was too late. Old Jiu's speed wasn't fast. Tang Mo raised the big match straight towards him.

At this moment, a full 58 seconds had passed since Tang Mo emerged from the bungalow and stepped into the puddle.

The middle-aged man and the knife man saw that Tang Mo's match was about to split open Old Jiu's head and their eyes widened with fright. They shouted, "I'm going to kill you" while rushing towards Tang Mo, watching the giant match slowly descending towards the old man's head.

Time ticked away and Tang Mo's match fell.

It was just about to touch Old Jiu's head when behind Tang Mo, the anxious looking middle-aged man and knife man slowly revealed a sinister smile. Their small eyes filled with excitement but the anger and fear on their faces hadn't yet faded. They were like too weird clowns, looking both scary and excited.

The two men blinked just as Tang Mo's match was about to smash into Old Jiu's skull. When they opened their eyes again, the sound of a skull being smashed was heard from behind them. The middle-aged man, the man with the knife and Old Jiu stopped and stiffly turned around.

A light drizzle was falling from the sky. In the middle of the intersection, Tang Mo held the big match, his face calm as he cracked the head of the fourth man. When the middle-aged man and the man with the knife turned to save Old Jiu, Fu Wenduo directly followed them. Only this man had turned to flee. No one noticed his actions and he had been running away for three seconds.

Raindrops rolled off the leaves of a large tree by the road and slammed into the ground.

One minute had just passed.

Tang Mo stood in the middle of the crossroad, nearly 100 metres away from where he had just been standing. Even Fu Wenduo didn't see him move but Tang Mo was gasping heavily while holding the big match. The man whose skull was broken was lying on the ground, white brain matter flowing out and mixing with the rain.

Blood emerged from his open mouth. He looked at Tang Mo with disbelief, coughing blood as he struggled to speak, "Why… is it me?"

Tang Mo kept gasping. No one noticed the circle of white light shimmering around his eyes. Tang Mo looked at Old Jiu in the distance. In his vision, a faint aura of death rose from the ground and moved around his body. Old Jiu was pale as he looked at Tang Mo and his dying companion. Soon, the dead air completely blocked his face so that Tang Mo could no longer see his expression.

Tang Mo looked back at the man on the ground. His voice was calm as he said, "It is because he wasn't going to die."

The man lying on the ground glared. He couldn't understand because only Tang Mo knew what he meant.

Everything that followed was incredibly simple. After the first man died, the other three men fled in fear. They were very smart and ran away separately. There were three directions and Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo pursued one each. The last remaining middle-aged man ran in the direction of the gas station and found Fu Wensheng hiding inside.

The middle-aged man immediately ran inside. He was rushing towards Fu Wensheng when a cold voice was heard behind him.

The voice was so loud that it entered the ears of the middle-aged man despite them being separated by a road.. He looked behind him and saw the newsstand. Fu Wenduo was holding Tang Mo's hand while Tang Mo held a silver gun aimed at the forehead of the middle-aged man.

Tang Mo lightly said, "Destroy you on behalf of the stars… checkmate!"

Bang!

There was the sound of gunfire and a bullet entered the head of the middle-aged man.

There was thunder in the sky and rain poured down the moment the body of the middle-aged man collapsed. Tang Mo thought that it was currently March yet Beijing's spring rain was so heavy. He and Fu Wenduo dragged the bodies of these four people into the gas station but the bodies were wet from the rain.

After entering the door, Fu Wensheng looked at Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo with fright.

Tang Mo thought that perhaps the child was alarmed at suddenly seeing so many bodies. Yet hadn't Fu Wensheng seen more bodies before? He didn't feel that frightened during the Nanjing garbage cleaning game so why was his reaction so big now?

Tang Mo asked, "Should I drag them somewhere else?" He thought the child was afraid of these four bodies.

Fu Wensheng gulped and looked at his brother and Tang Mo with surprise. After a while, he turned his head and looked at Tang Mo. His tone was excited as he said, "What happened Brother Tang? What the hell is going on? My brother just suddenly rushed out. How did you know that someone was hiding outside and that they wanted to kill us? Why did you kill that man first? Was there something special about him? Brother Tang, what is going on? What the hell is going on?"

Fu Wenduo was dragging the body of the middle-aged man into the gas station and raised an eyebrow when he heard Fu Wenshengs words.

Fu Wensheng found that his tone was too excited just now. The temperature of the four bodies weren't cold yet so his excitement really wasn't good. Fu Wensheng coughed. "I'm curious about what happened just now. That… I didn't know anything when you both rushed out and killed the four people. It looks like they were waiting there to ambush us for a long time…"

Fu Wenduo grabbed the hand of the strong middle-aged man and slammed it into the ground. He said quietly, "Ask your Brother Tang."

…The child called Tang Mo 'Brother Tang' but why was Fu Wenduo calling him that?

Tang Mo was stunned by Fu Wenduo's 'Brother Tang' and knelt down beside the body of the first man he killed to check something. Finally, he looked up and said, "If I'm right, this man has an ability to… backtrack time."

The author has something to say:

Old Fu: Come on Tang Tang, I will hold you hand. Don't talk about one street, you can even shoot across 10 streets ^_^

Tang Tang: Fucking thank you!

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Chapter 106

Half an hour ago, the Tang Mo trio came to the gas station. Fu Wenduo went to find petrol while Tang Mo went to the bungalow across the road to find new supplies. After officially entering Beijing, the food that could be found would be less and less. The trio's current demands for food and water were extremely low but wasn't completely absent. Tang Mo wanted to prepare everything in advance to avoid incidents.

“The ability to go back in time is certain. They must've gone back in time. It is due to the charred bookshelf at the rear of the newsstand. The bookshelf was blackened from being burnt but on the shelf…" Tang Mo paused for a moment. "There was an intact magazine.'

The trio walked across the road and found the charred bookshelf.

The bookshelf really couldn't be seen from the bungalow where the four stowaways had been hiding. It could only be seen when they walked past the newsstand. The bookshelf was charred and was almost a steel shelf. There was a yellowed magazine on it that wasn't burnt at all.

How was this situation strange? There was the possibility that someone burnt the shelf and then put the magazine on it.

However, this was enough.

In an empty place, Tang Mo suddenly saw a charred shelf with a well-preserved book on it… what would he think?

Tang Mo didn't know what Fu Wenduo and Fu Wensheng would think but he felt that this was a deliberate hint someone left for him.

It was like in detective novels when a protagonist went somewhere and saw something abnormal. There must be a reason for the abnormality. He just didn't have time to guess what the clue was or what it was trying to say. He came up with one possibility. "The magazine might not be placed there after the bookshelf was burnt.

Fu Wensheng was surprised. "Why?"

The bookshelf was so burned that it would fall from a single touch. The magazine didn't have a single burn mark so it must've been placed later on. If it wasn't placed there after the shelf was burned… could it be on top of the shelf when it was burned?

Fu Wenduo raised an eyebrow at Tang Mo's words and looked at him. Previously, Tang Mo was in a hurry to take care of the four stowaways and didn't carefully observe the bookshelf. He stepped forward and crouched on the ground, taking down the magazine from the shelf. Due to his movements, the shelf quickly collapsed.

Tang Mo looked at the title and date of the magazine. He turned and waved the magazine. "This magazine is quite famous and is sold all over the country. The date on it is November 18th."

Fu Wensheng immediately had a thought. "The day that the black tower games officially began?"

Tang Mo nodded. "Yes. This type of bookshelf generally contains the popular magazines. The boss would place all the good things on the small shelf so that passersby could see. The magazine might've been on the shelf for a long time, probably at least five months."

Fu Wensheng still didn't understand what was going on but Tang Mo had it all figured out.

He previously suspected that someone was in the area due to the strange shelf. From beginning to end, he was unsure if someone was actually ambushing or the location they were ambushing from. He was just suspicious. Thus, after entering the newsstand, he used the turkey egg to communicate with Fu Wenduo and told him about the strange phenomenon. The two men made a decision at an extremely fast speed. One of them would search the bungalow while the other would search the restaurant. It was because these two were the best places to hide people.

Perhaps no one was ambushing at all and the strange bookshelf was just a player's prank. Still, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo couldn't let go of any doubts.

There was something Fu Wenduo didn't know that Fu Wensheng did. Tang Mo said, "Xiao Sheng, don't you know what burned this bookshelf?"

Fu Wensheng was stunned. "I know it?"

"Yes, you know."

The little boy bowed his head and thought for a moment. Then he suddenly exclaimed, "…Your big match?"

That's right. It was Mosaic's big match.

Two months ago, in the Queen of Hearts' Gem Corridor, Tang Mo ignited Bai Ruoyao's arm with the big match and told him mercilessly, "You will be burned alive by this fire if you don't cut off your arm."

[Prop: Mosaic's Match]

[Owner: Tang Mo]

……

[Function: Flames that can't be extinguished. You can ignite the match at will. Once the match's flames burn an object, the causality effect means the object will be burned up. Extinguishing the flames is hard beyond imagination.]

The bookshelf was burnt down by this match.

It was a law of causality that only objects ignited by the big match would be burned.

"In a previous time that was reversed, I must've discovered this ability but didn't know how to remind myself that someone was waiting in ambush. Thus, I lit the bookshelf with the big match and took away one of the magazines." Tang Mo placed the magazine on the remnants of the charred shelf. "It is because the magazine was taken away that it wasn't burnt by the flames. Once time reversed, it returned to the shelf again. However, the bookshelf has been burnt."

Fu Wensheng looked at the shelf and magazine on the ground. "That's why on the burnt bookshelf, there was an intact magazine."

The cause of this matter was determined. The trio returned to the gas station to dispose of the bodies of the four stowaways.

Tang Mo reached out and pulled out his abilities book. He flipped to the last page and read the text.

[Ability: High Tide Always Comes Quickly]

[Owner: Zhao Kewei (Stowaway)

[Type: Atomic]

[Function: Reverse the physical state of all substances in a certain area. The state of all substances can be restored to one minute before.]

[Level: 3]

[Restrictions: The physical strength improvement is zero. From the moment the ability is used, you must go through 60 seconds of material change before you can use the reverse ability. When this ability is used, all living objects in the area will experience strong physiological needs. It can be used up to seven times a day. Restoring the physical state will consume the user's corresponding cell life and recovering the state of multiple living objects will consume many times more cells.]

[Note: High tide always comes quickly so savor it over and over again.]

[Tang Mo version usage instructions: Can be used once a day and consumes double the cell life. There is a 5% chance that the physical state of the living body can't be reversed. For Tang Mo, a minute of high tide… wait, can Tang Mo's high tide last a minute?]  

…It turned out that the strange impulse he felt when crossing the road was actually because of this ability?

Tang Mo had long been accustomed to the abilities book. His eyelids twitched but his eyes focused on the functions and limitations of this ability.

It wasn't a directly rewinding of time but restoring the physical state of all matter to what it was one minute ago?

Tang Mo thought, "This explains why the burnt bookshelf wasn't restored while the magazine and everything else was."

It wasn't time but the physical state of matter. The magazine that was removed returned to the bookshelf but the bookshelf couldn't be restored because of the law of causality.

"Did you get that man's ability?"

Tang Mo nodded. He reflexively wanted to hand over the ability book but he just held it out when he pulled it back. Tang Mo coughed and threw the book back into the air. He explained, "It isn't rewinding time in the objective sense. His ability…" Tang Mo sorted out his words and continued, "His ability is to restore the physical state of all matter in a certain area to what it was one minute ago."

It was like the rain in the sky. One minute ago, the rain was a mixture of condensed nuclei and water vapor. It slowly fell from the clouds towards the ground, blending into the puddle. However, everything was reversed with this ability. The physical state of the raindrop returned to the state of condensed nuclei and water vapor and its physical location was restored, returning to the dark clouds.

Tang Mo's science knowledge had never been good. He carefully recalled the explanations in the abilities book and finally came to a rough conclusion, "All in all, this can be considered a reversal ability but it can't reverse the laws of causality. For example, the shelf burned by the big match."

Fu Wenduo asked, "Is there a limit?"

Tang Mo said, "There are many restrictions, such as I can only use it once a day and that life will be consumed."

Fu Wenduo frowned, "Life is consumed?"

Tang Mo briefly explained it. There were abilities that consumed the life of the user, such as A Fast Man. Tang Mo tried not to use this ability as fast as possible. It was because the ability was too powerful. If he used it too much and became psychologically dependent on it, he would be tempted to keep using it.

Such abilities were too powerful. In the fact of this extreme temptation, Tang Mo didn't dare guarantee that he could resist using them.

"This ability is like poison." Tang Mo added, "I guess that players who use these abilities don't know the side effect. It is just like you and Xiao Sheng only knowing how to use your power but not the function and restrictions."

Fu Wenduo said, "It isn't know what my ability is yet."

Tang Mo was stunned and turned to look at Fu Wenduo.

Fu Wenduo was standing by the window, his head slightly bowed as he looked at Tang Mo.

Since leaving Nanjing and heading to Beijing, Tang Mo looked at Fu Wensheng's ability first. There was a three down cooldown for this ability and Tang Mo couldn't check Fu Wenduo's ability within those three days. After that, they tried to hold hands while Fu Wenduo was driving. The two people held hands for a full six hours before Tang Mo gave up and never mentioned this matter again.

"If it is so difficult to gain a person's ability, how did that woman get your abilities in such a short period of time?"

Tang Mo looked up at Fu Wenduo with surprise.

Fu Wenduo's dark eyes were staring at Tang Mo. Tang Mo vaguely felt that the other person might've guessed something. Fu Wenduo's thinking ability was excellent so it was possible for him to guess the truth. Tang Mo's expression didn't change. He calmly said, "The abilities that I cope are weakened. It is her ability so it is naturally more convenient for her to use it."

"I see." Fu Wenduo made a meaningful sound before saying, "In the one minute before that person used the reverse time ability… I felt that there was something wrong. Tang Mo, did you feel it?"

Fu Wensheng exclaimed, "Eh Brother, I also felt hot and strange. Did you feel it as well?"

Fu Wenduo spoke casually, "You are only 12 years old."

Fu Wensheng was surprised. "What? What does this have to do with me being 12 years old?"

He was 12 years old so he probably didn't feel those so sensations so quickly.

Tang Mo filled in Fu Wenduo's words in his heard. "…"

…Damn, this person was a dog! He could always smell it whenever something was wrong!

Tang Mo changed the subject. "Check their bodies. There might be some useful clues."

Fu Wensheng was preparing to ask what was wrong with his age when Fu Wenduo heard these words and turned to look at Tang Mo. He gave a low laugh and didn't say anything else.

As long as Tang Mo didn't admit it, Fu Wenduo was just guessing.

Tang Mo didn't understand how Fu Wenduo could make so many strange conjectures as a straight man and Fu Wenduo was always interested in the cheap abilities book. He probably guessed that some of the contents were very strange. Tang Mo thought of the cheap book and secretly decided. In this life, he absolutely couldn't let anyone see the contents of the book!

Tang Mo didn't think it was a coincidence that four strangers came to attack them.

"These people are weak. They aren't official players and almost all of them have abilities. There is a 70% chance that they deliberately waited here for an ambush. They might've been tracking us for a long time. They are very powerful if we can't find them. There is a 30% chance that they are just random players passing by. Tang Mo paused before adding, "Fu Wenduo and I will take these three bodies. Xiao Sheng, you go and check the body of that man."

Fu Wensheng nodded.

The three people split up.

Tang Mo examined the body of the man with the ability to reverse time.

On the icy concrete floor, the middle-aged man’s eyes were wide open as he stared at the sky. Since the earth went online, Tang Mo had seen many corpses and deaths that were much more horrible. He stared at the corpse's eyes with a blank expression before searching the other person's body.

Killing this person was an accident but it was also inevitable. If he didn't kill this person, the ability would keep being used and everything would start all over again.

The four players were smart. Once Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo took the initiative to attack, they understood that the ability to reverse time must've been discovered. The ability to reverse time wasn't from a prop. Therefore, they made the decision for three of them to delay Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo while letting their companion with the ability escape.

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