Chapter 128
Fu Wenduo finished inspecting the surroundings and returned to the abandoned building. Tang Mo and Fu Wensheng had finished packing their things and were waiting for him to leave. Fu Wenduo looked at Tang Mo and his stupid brother before saying, "There are no problems. Let's go."
The three people left the building.
Suddenly, Fu Wenduo turned to look at Tang Mo. Tang Mo immediately looked away.
Fu Wenduo raised an eyebrow.
…Something seemed to be wrong?
The bright sun shone on the ground, covering it with a faint layer of gold. This building was very close to the address given by Luo Fengcheng. Fu Wenduo's home was known by the Tian Xuan organization and Fu Wensheng's home wasn't safe. Xiao Fu's father worked in the government and was quite famous in Beijing. Even if Tian Xuan eventually lost the ability to locate Tang Mo's coordinates, they could find Fu Wensheng's home from the government's information and set up an ambush there.
Thus, the trio were going to find the research materials from the United States that they heard about from Luo Fengcheng before going to search Fu Wensheng's home.
The three people walked quickly through the streets, covering their bodies with the lush trees. Tang Mo took out a few pieces of paper from his backpack and determined the direction from the figures and letters. This was the map given to them by Luo Fengcheng before leaving. Beijing had two black tower research institutes. One was in the Seventh Ring and the other was in Chaoyang District. Luo Fengcheng didn't know the exact address, only that they were transformed from national advanced secret research institutes. The research institute that contained the data was likely the one in Chaoyang District.
"There are 17 advanced scientific institutes in Beijing and two in the Chaoyang District." Tang Mo looked at the simple picture on the paper for a long time before sighing softly. "If we are lucky, we should be able to find the institute within three days. If our luck is bad, we might be looking for a long time."
Luo Fengcheng's drawn map was too abstract.
He marked the locations of several key scenic spots in Beijing and then drew 20 letters on the map. According to him, these 20 places might be research institutes. Luo Fengcheng had only come to the institute once and he sat in a car. He fell asleep at the time and had no impression of how he entered the institute. The basis behind these locations were based on the time it took to get off the plane to the institute, as well as a few places he visited in the days he was in Beijing.
There were 20 locations, with the farthest distance being tens of kilometers. It would take a lot of time to search all of them.
Fu Wenduo pointed to the map. "Let's first look for Location C." Location C was three kilometres east of where they were.
The man suddenly came over to point to the map. Tang Mo's heart jolted and he couldn't help looking up at Fu Wenduo. Their eyes met in the air. Then Tang Mo calmly said, "Yes, let's go around here."
Three figures in black walked among the skyscrapers at a great speed. They was passing by a building when Tang Mo suddenly stopped. His body stuck close to the wall as he stared warily at a crossroads not far away. He saw two middle-aged men carefully crossing the road.
"They aren't from Tian Xuan." Fu Wensheng whispered.
Once the two players left, the three of them set off again.
Luo Fengcheng's map was too abstract so they drew a circle that had a three kilometre diameter based on the Temple of Heaven. Then they would search all suspected research institutes within that circle.
Fu Wenduo said, "The black tower research institutes are generally disguised as ordinary university experimental research institutes. This hides its true identity and protects the researchers inside. For example, the black tower institute in Shanghai was transformed into an ordinary marine biology laboratory. However, these type of places are generally heavily guarded and there is a clear isolation zone around them."
Tang Mo listened to Fu Wenduo and gave up on ordinary office buildings.
There were many office buildings hidden through the city and no one would think that a secret black tower research institute would be set up in such a place. However, there were too many people in office builds and it was easy for people in the same building to find abnormalities. His goal were the isolated small buildings.
In the evening, Tang Mo passed an alley and saw an old three-storey building bathed in the setting sun. He exclaimed, "How about here?"
Fu Wenduo glanced over and nodded. "It is possible."
The trio crossed the road and headed for the small building. They were just about to leave the intersection when Tang Mo's footsteps slowed. He turned to look at the other end of the intersection. This was a very narrow area where two one way roads converged to form a small intersection. The two sides of the road were surrounded by walls, making it impossible for Tang Mo to see the other three directions when he came from the south.
Fu Wenduo also turned to look east.
Fu Wensheng had taken two steps forward when he found that something was wrong. He followed Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo's gaze. After seeing the situation clearly, Xiao Fu's eyes widened and he rushed back to Tang Mo's side. Fu Wenduo waited 10 metres away and listened carefully to the noises. He determined that the person who had fallen to the ground wasn't an ambush and strode forward.
Fu Wenduo checked the situation and turned to them. "Dead."
On the narrow road, a middle-aged woman was lying on the ground and not breathing. Bright red blood flowed out of her body and down the sloping road to the sewer grates on both sides. Then the blood solidified, leaving dark brown marks on the ground.
Tang Mo crouched down and touched the woman's neck. The temperature hadn’t completely faded. His expression sank and he looked up at Fu Wenduo. The two immediately understood what the other person meant.
Fu Wenduo declared, "It has been less than five minutes since death. She died quickly. The knife cut through the carotid artery while cutting the vocal cords at the same time. The fatal wound is the stab to the forehead. The enemy should've stabbed this place first before cutting her neck. This technique is very sophisticated and they should've killed a lot of people."
Fu Wensheng asked, "Perhaps someone from Tian Xuan?"
Fu Wenduo shook his head. "I'm not sure but it isn't likely."
Tang Mo said, "The key points is that she only died five minutes ago."
Five minutes ago, the Tang Mo trio had arrived in this area to look for the black tower institute. When the middle-aged woman died, they had been no more than 200 metres from here. Yet neither Tang Mo or Fu Wenduo found a suspicious figure. Thus, Tang Mo was surprised when he suddenly saw the woman's body.
After the earth went online, there were players who killed randomly, even during daytime. There were many reasons for killing. Most of the time it was to steal props and resources. Some abnormal stowaways didn't need a reason to kill and just wanted to vent their emotions. This time, the woman died under Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo's noses and the murderer wasn't discovered.
The murderer seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
After examining the middle-aged woman's body, Tang Mo ordered, "Be careful."
The trio became even more wary, always alert to the possibility of a sneak attack by the Tian Xuan organization. If anyone could kill people under Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo's noses then they were likely from Tian Xuan. Half of Beijing's most powerful players were in the organization. Perhaps this player had the ability to instantly move, killing people before disappearing into thin air. No matter what, they had to be careful.
Tang Mo entered the small building with trepidation and looked around for a while. He determined that it was just an ordinary bookstore, not a black tower institute. He checked the C mark on the map, made sure there were no enemies around and headed to the next place.
In three days, the Tang Mo trio walked more than half of Chaoyang District and found 11 locations. Without exception, none of the 11 places were the black tower institute.
On the fourth day, they found a robotics lab. Tang Mo looked at the name outside the building with bright eyes.
This robotics lab was located in a secluded little courtyard surrounded by ordinary cottages. The two- storey building looked old and wasn't noticeable at all. But the yard was big enough for people to see outside the yard.
Tang Mo pushed open the door and found several robot models in the hallway of the small building. The entire floor was an ordinary robotics research lab. On the second floor, the three people searched and finally stopped in a small room on the innermost side of the corridor. Tang Mo reached out and tried to open the door. He pressed and found that he actually failed.
He looked at Fu Wenduo.
Fu Wenduo changed his right hand into the triangular weapon. The sharp weapon cut through the thick iron door and it was unexpectedly still a robotics laboratory inside! Tang Mo didn't give up. He had a hunch that something wasn't right. His eyes swept through every corner of the room and finally stopped on a bookshelf against the wall.
There are many robot-related books on the shelf. Without exception, every book was very new and looked like they had never been read.
Tang Mo ordered, "Push this bookshelf away."
Fu Wenduo also noticed it and pushed the bookshelf. Fu Wensheng was startled. "Is there something behind the bookshelf?" Then he ran over to help.
With Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo's current strength, they used 50% to push and the bookshelf actually only moved a five centimeters. This was more proof that the bookshelf was unusual. Once the bookshelf was completely pushed away, a dark staircase was revealed behind it. The bookshelf was completely pushed open and looked like it had been broken by brute force.
Tang Mo planned to go down the stairs first when Fu Wenduo stopped him. "I will go down first."
Tang Mo was startled. He looked into the man's dark and calm eyes before nodded. "…Okay."
The trio headed down the stairs. The stairs were long and they seemed to have gone underground. Tang Mo took out his flashlight to illuminate this strange place. In front of them was a half open door. Fu Wenduo opened the door and entered, revealing a long-abandoned laboratory.
There were a variety of black tower models and strange equations on the blackboard, all revealing the true identity of this place.
The trio showed no surprised and immediately searched around the black tower institute. Most of the data didn't differ from what Fu Wenduo saw at the Shanghai black tower institute. It was obvious that both sides had exchanged information. Tang Mo had heard from Luo Fengcheng that the majority of these data were wrong.
In the past six months, the world's major countries tried their best to study the black tower and they all failed.
They made numerous assumptions and conjectures, ranging from physical phenomena, optical reflections, cosmology and particle theory. No one could make a black tower. It was from a civilization that didn't belong to humans. Humans were helpless to understand it with their current scientific means because it far exceeded the scientific limits that humans could understand.
Tang Mo was looking around when Fu Wensheng suddenly shouted, "Eh, what is this?"
Everyone immediately went to look.
They saw a child carrying a black safe from the corner as well as a box that contained blue glassware. The water in the glassware was cloudy. Five months had passed and the water was already unclear. The black safe and glassware were placed in the corner and weren't conspicuous.
Tang Mo took the glassware and observed the traces inside. He was keenly aware of the fingerprints on the outer wall of the glass, which were layered together. This glassware had obviously been picked up and observed by more than one person. There were more than a dozen different fingerprints that Tang Mo could distinguish.
Tang Mo had an answer in his heart. He used the flashlight to illuminate the black safe and then glanced at Fu Wenduo. "There was definitely something in this glassware. If we open the safe then the data should be inside."
Fu Wenduo had already taken out a dagger, long prepared to open the safe. It was the black knife he used against the big turkey. The dagger was just about to stab the safe when Fu Wensheng interjected, "Is this really the precious research data that we're looking for?"
Fu Wenduo suddenly stopped his actions.
Tang Mo was startled. After a long time, he spoke quickly, "If it is precious data, it shouldn't be possible to easily take it from the safe. There might be traps."
Fu Wensheng was surprised. "Traps?" The child didn't think the words he casually spoke would be so important.
Tang Mo immediately looked at Fu Wenduo. "We have to manually open it instead of using brute force."
The author has something to say:
Tang Tang: You see how calm I am~ What about Victor? The more important thing is to find the data~
Old Fu: …Please don't be so calm.
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Chapter 129
Fu Wenduo placed his ear against the metal wall of the safe. One hand gently struck the side of the box while the other hand constantly turned the password lock, listening to the sounds inside. Tang Mo was holding the flashlight on the side. The trio held their breaths softly, so that only the clatter of the key seals turning was heard in the room.
They were afraid but it was just in case.
The black tower institute was hidden underground and was visually protected by the robotics lab. The black safe was placed in an inconspicuous corner and shouldn't have extra protection methods. They should be able to use brute force to directly open it. However, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo decided to act carefully.
The safe had a total of eight digits and one hour later, Fu Wenduo had four digits.
The trio were very patient. After another half an hour, there was a clear sound and Fu Wenduo looked at Tang Mo. The two of them nodded. Fu Wenduo straightened and opened this heavy safe.
The light from the flashlight entered and revealed there weren't any measures to prevent it from being forcefully opened. Tang Mo took out a thick pile of documents, a dense amount of English entering his vision.
[Texas Institute of Marine Life.
Experiment time: November 15th, 2017
Subjects: XX jellyfish
……
Class A reaction: 141 experimental samples died…』
The thick materials were placed on the table for the Tang Mo trio to read together. There were too many scientific terms in this data. It was normal for Fu Wensheng to not understand when he was so young. Tang Mo was good at English during university but he only had a rough understanding. He tried to read all the data but it was very confusing.
Tang Mo turned back to the first page and looked at the lines above.
"…Is it a jellyfish?"
Fu Wenduo repeated in a low voice, "It is the immortal jellyfish."
Tang Mo turned to look at him.
Fu Wenduo stated, "This experiment is studying the immortal jellyfish. These jellyfish generally inhabit the waters of Central America and have recently died in large numbers. The black tower institute in the US found this strange and brought samples to China. The two countries were discussing it together. This experimental anomaly was found on November 15th and the American researchers came on the 17th. The two sides didn't have time to study it properly before the earth went online."
Tang Mo muttered, "I seem to have heard about the immortal jellyfish somewhere."
Fu Wenduo didn't know about this. In order to read the data, good English wasn't the only thing required. They also needed a certain amount of knowledge. This wasn't the specialty of the two people. Perhaps Luo Fengcheng could understand it but he was far away in Shanghai.
Since there was no other way, the trio once again carefully examined the laboratory. They determined there was no other abnormalities and took the data and blue glassware. The water in this vessel had been stagnant for five months and was already cloudy. Tang Mo caused that originally an immortal jellyfish was placed inside here. It was only when the earth went online that all animals in the world disappeared and only humans were left.
The trio took the information and quietly left the institute.
Tang Mo found a Xinhua bookstore and used his experience as a librarian to easily find a thick English dictionary on marine life. The three of them looked through the book, which was extremely thick. After a day and night, they finally figured out what the data meant.
The immortal jellyfish, which inhabited the Caribbean, spread to Spain and Japan in recent years.
They were small jellyfish that were transparent and had a red digestive system in their heads. The whole body was around 5mm long and they were only the size of a human fingernail. Jellyfish were generally sensitive to various reactions in nature, just like dragonflies flying low before rainy days or worms crawling out of the soil. Jellyfish reacted much more keenly to nature than humans. After the black towers appeared, the Texas Institute of Marine Life in the US collected more than 200 species of jellyfish around the world for research, including immortal jellyfish.
"Immortal jellyfish are the only creatures in the world that can transform from an adult body into an infant…"
Tang Mo saw this introduction line and was shocked.
From an adult body to an infant… this meant that the creature could achieve rejuvenation. Tang Mo guessed something in his heart and looked down again. Sure enough, the immortal jellyfish was actually immortal!
After the sexual maturation stage, the immortal jellyfish would change back to infancy after breeding. Then they would grow from an infant to a sexually mature body. This process of change didn't have a limit on the number of times it could be used. In other words, if there were no external forces killing these jellyfish, they could repeatedly become young and then grow into sexual maturity, truly realizing immortality.
Tang Mo looked at the empty blue glassware. There was originally an immortal jellyfish in here but it disappeared after the earth went online. Before it disappeared… it was dead.
The trio finished reading all the data. The reason why the US black tower institute crossed the Pacific Ocean and came to China to discuss the immortal jellyfish experiment was because the immortal jellyfish died in a safe environment. There were 201 experimental samples and 141 died, which was nearly two-thirds.
Tang Mo thought, "The information says that these immortal jellyfish didn't die from external forces but died from reproduction. Every time they asexually reproduced, they should turn back to their young body. However, on November 15th, these immortal jellyfish reproduced and didn't regain their young bodies. Like other jellyfish, they directly died."
Fu Wensheng said, "November 15th is the first day that the black tower spoke. Three days later, the earth went online. The death of these jellyfish must have something to do with the black tower. The jellyfish are more likely than humans to detect changes in nature. Perhaps they became aware of something before they died?"
There was some truth to this.
November 15th was so special that it was hard not to think about the black tower. The jellyfish were very sensitive creatures. It was likely that the immortal jellyfish were aware of some changes before they died. Still, it didn’t make sense.
"The 141 jellyfish should return to infancy after the asexual reproduction. They didn't change and died instead." Tang Mo's brow furrowed as his brain worked quickly. After a long time, he looked up at Fu Wenduo and asked, "Is this suicide?"
Fu Wenduo's different method of thinking had always been bigger than Tang Mo's. This time, he heard Tang Mo's words and were slightly stunned.
Fu Wenduo took a moment to think. "If they aren't affected by external forces, it should really be suicide."
A light suddenly flashed in Tang Mo's mind.
He seemed to have seen a creature similar to the immortal jellyfish. It wasn't immortal but was similar. He thought for a long time before finally finding the fragment of memory. Tang Mo immediately said, "I have seen such a lobster before but it was a product of genetic mutation. A lobster is a sexually reproductive creature but can also asexually reproduce. This means it can continuously clone itself, its offspring having identical genes. It is also immortal, similar to this immortal jellyfish."
Fu Wenduo gradually understood Tang Mo's meaning. "You mean, asexual reproduction, constantly cloning themselves, genes not changing…"
Tang Mo caught the next line. "Genes will never change, meaning there is no evolution."
Fu Wenduo grasped the key word. "…Evolution."
Yes, it was evolution.
Tang Mo turned to the information in the last 10 pages. In the experiment with the immortal jellyfish, the researchers gave 11 possibilities for the deaths. Three of them were most likely. The first was the influence of external forces. Even if the researchers determined that they accurately controlled the external forces on the experience, they were afraid that the jellyfish hadn't reproduced in complete safety. The second was that the immortal jellyfish had a special way of dying, which hadn't been discovered by humans. The third possibility was the evolution of species.
Asexual reproduction was a low-level form of reproduction. The stability of the genes made it difficult for asexual species to reproduce, such as jellyfish. Sexual reproduction was the mainstream of evolution.
Researchers in the US didn't believe that these jellyfish would suddenly evolve overnight. This was too inconsistent with biological theory. They probably never knew. Three days later, humans around the world were forced to enter the black tower game. Compared with the black tower, the sudden evolution of creatures seemed normal.
"They guessed it had something to do with the black tower but they didn't guess the black tower would cause all of this."
American researchers crossed the ocean but failed to reach a conclusion before disappearing. Still, they gave a clue to Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo five months later.
Everything the black tower did was for the evolution of humanity.
No one could prove whether this conjecture was correct or not. There were no immortal jellyfish left on Earth to prove this theory. Tang Mo's heart beat faster. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm himself down.
It was just a guess after all.
Tang Mo read all the data again and memorized it. For insurance, Fu Wenduo and Fu Wensheng also read it again. Then Tang Mo burned the data. This included the blue glassware that the jellyfish had been contained in. He threw the glass container into the fire.
After doing all this, Tang Mo looked up and found Fu Wenduo looking at himself.
The two people stared at each other quietly.
A long time passed before Tang Mo asked with a smile, "It doesn't seem so strange. If the black tower really compels evolution then it will act as a catalyst to inspire human abilities. Then why the human race?"
The immortal jellyfish evolved and then disappeared after three days. The last existences left on Earth were only humans.
In the quiet bookstore, Fu Wenduo asked, "What is the smartest creature in the world?"
Tang Mo didn't understand why he asked this question but then he thought of a movie. He was in a rare mood to make a joke and replied with a serious face, "A mouse."
Fu Wenduo, "…"
Fu Wenduo had also seen the movie. He said, "It is the black tower's choice."
Yes, everything was the black tower's choice.
Tang Mo didn't know why the black tower chose humans and if its purpose really was to force human evolution. However, there was no doubt that if this game continued, humans would surely evolve when they attacked the seventh floor of the black tower. Even the worst humans right now were smarter and stronger than they were six months ago.
The materials taken from the laboratory were all burnt and the sky was becoming dark. The three people planned to rest in the Xinhua Bookstore.
Suddenly, Fu Wenduo made a cold expression. He quickly got up and ran out of the bookstore. Tang Mo was startled and pressed a hand to the small parasol. He saw Fu Wenduo flashing outside the door. After 10 seconds of waiting, the other person didn't come back.
Fu Wensheng said, "Brother should've discovered something but it isn't dangerous."
Tang Mo looked at the little boy. Indeed, it was impossible for the cautious Fu Wenduo to leave casually. He must've gone outside for some reason, but it wasn't an enemy attack or he would've definitely talked to Tang Mo.
Tang Mo thought about it and went outside with Fu Wensheng.
The two of them passed an intersection and suddenly saw Fu Wenduo. At this moment, Fu Wenduo also turned around, apparently to call to Tang Mo and Fu Wensheng. He stopped once he saw Tang Mo. Tang Mo's expression sank because he saw the body lying behind Fu Wenduo.
Blood was gushing from the other person's chest.
A young girl was lying on the ground, staring at the sky with wide eyes. Half her heart was destroyed and flesh and blood fell next to her body. The blood hadn't completely solidified and flowed to Fu Wenduo's feet, wetting his soles.
According to the time, the girl should've died when Fu Wenduo just arrived. If someone else saw this scene, it was natural for them to think that Fu Wenduo killed her, especially when Fu Wenduo's hand was stained with blood. Tang Mo just calmly came over and examined the body. He asked, "Did you see the murderer?"
Fu Wenduo replied, "No. When I arrived, her body hadn't yet fallen down. Her chest was broken and half her heart and ribs had fallen to the ground. I couldn't save her. I tried the mineral water but she died. The injury was too heavy and her physical fitness wasn't good enough."
She should be a less powerful reserve player. Fu Wenduo had arrived at the fastest speed but he couldn't save her.
Fu Wenduo's physical state was better than Tang Mo's. He should've heard the girl being attacked from the bookstore or it might be because he was more sensitive to this type of thing. He realized the girl was being killed and didn't have time to speak to Tang Mo. He ran straight out at the fastest speed. Unfortunately, he was still a step too late. He didn't see the killer and couldn't save the girl.
Tang Mo reached out and closed the girl's eyes.
"The last time it could've been considered as the person being thrown out of an instance. However, this time is even stranger." Tang Mo coldly and sensibly analyzed. "First of all, they must be killed by humans. The means of killing are cruel. This is the same point. There is also one thing in common. We didn't see the people who killed them."
Fu Wenduo knew that Tang Mo was talking about the body they saw on the road three days earlier. Like this time, that person seemed to have been killed by an invisible person. The two of them died differently but the murderer had never been found. Last time, they could say that it might be related to a black tower instance. This time, Fu Wenduo saw the girl falling down yet still failed to see the murderer.
This wasn't the style of the black tower games.
Night gradually descended. Without electricity, the street lights on both sides of the road wouldn't turn on and the world was dim. The three of them stood by the cold body, the wind entering Tang Mo's sleeve, as if the wind was sobbing. The girl’s blood slowly solidified and turned dark brown on the ground.
Tang Mo said, "It's getting dark. Let's first find a place to take her and examine the situation."
The three people prepared to leave.
Suddenly, cheerful music was heard. The lively and pleasant music sounded all over the world. Tang Mo quickly raised his head to look at the black tower. He saw that a line of white lights was moving from the bottom to the top of the tower. The white lights kept flashing and the black tower's music wasn't over.
Once 6 o'clock arrived, the music stopped and the bright lights also froze.
Players all over the world stopped to look at the black tower. 90% of the players had a look of fear on their faces as they trembled in horror. Some people wept while others begged for God to save them. However, the thing that showed up wasn't God but the black tower's extremely excited voice.
"Ding dong! March 31st, 2018, the first forced tower attack game is opened!"
There was a dull sound and Tang Mo saw the line of white light on the black tower slowly changing, finally becoming an eight digit number:
28,315,123.
Tang Mo seemed to understand something and turned to Fu Wenduo.
10 seconds after they were preparing to take away the girl's body, the number on the black tower changed to:
28,315,019.
Tang Mo's eyes widened.
…It was only 10 seconds!
On the huge black tower, the number was still changing.
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