Chapter 214
The flood was like a raging beast. It had irresistible momentum as it slammed against the wall of the labyrinth.
The walls that the players and monsters couldn't destroy were like paper under the impact of the flood. The walls slowed the flood slightly but more and more water came from outside the maze. In the blink of an eye, they swallowed half the maze.
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were in the lead, followed by Mu Huixue, Bai Ruoyao and Andrei.
As they moved to the centre of the maze, they saw many humans rushing towards the centre. Tang Mo could see a magnificent ship in the distance. The ship was made of gold when gems inlaid in the mast. The cabins were also made of jade.
The ship was firmly situated in the centre of the maze, as if it was a seductive apple tempting humans to take it. If they just entered then they could definitely avoid the terrible flood.
They saw it and a name emerged in everyone's mind.
Noak's ark.
However, once Tang Mo looked down and saw the heads surrounding the ark, his heart suddenly sank.
The muscular Grandmother Wolf was crawling on all fours, the green eyes full of hunger as she looked at the humans in front of her. Santa kept driving the sleigh in a circle around the ark. The bottom of the sleigh contained blood and flesh.
There was also the Strange Circus leader, the Queen of Hearts, Peter Pan and Schrodinger.
There were a total of six black tower bosses surrounding Noah's ark, watching the incoming players like they were ants.
The players stopped.
Behind them, the water was still flooding towards the centre of the maze. All the players could survive in the water for more than an hour and some players even had props to survive in the water. However, they didn't dare to take the risk.
Mu Huixue said, "The side mission is to let us leave the maze. The exit of the maze is obviously here." She pointed to the ark surrounded by monsters and continued, "The water behind us can wash away the maze walls we couldn't destroy. The quest is if it is actually water or not. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo, do you want to cooperate?"
Tang Mo turned his head to look at her. "In this, I think Grandmother Wolf is the strongest and Santa Claus never kills humans."
Fu Wenduo said, "He just doesn't kill personally with his own hands. He is probably stronger than the circus leader."
Bai Ruoyao smiled and asked, "What about Peter Pan and Schrodinger? I can say that Peter Pan's strength isn't as high as Santa Claus and Schrodinger is definitely the weakest one. I once encountered Schrodinger when I entered an instance. He is really, really weak."
Andrei said sullenly, "However, the cat has many harmful props."
It was so easy when attacking the tower with advanced players.
Among the six black tower monsters, Peter Pan was the only one Tang Mo hadn't encountered but Bai Ruoyao and the others had met him. Mu Huixue had faced the Queen of Hearts while Andrei and Schrodinger had played against each other. The five people combined information and came to a conclusion. "Breakthrough Schrodinger!"
At the same time, the players in other regions also found their own targets.
Tang Mo looked around and said, "Lian Yuzheng, Ruan Wangshu and Ning Zheng haven't come. They might've died or left the game." He just spoke when a figure appeared. Tang Mo cried out with shock, "Lian Yuzheng?"
Her body was covered with blood and there was a wound on Lian Yuzheng's face.
Lian Yuzheng saw Tang Mo's group and quickly came over. She opened her mouth and said, "Leader left the game. We met the Queen of Hearts and she was too strong. We weren't her match at all. Leader was almost killed by her and left the game with a prop. At this time, she saw the six black tower bosses gathered under the ark. Her eyes narrowed and she looked at Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. "Leader said that if I meet you then I should listen to you. I hope that we can cooperate."
Lian Yuzheng's strength was also very good. Six people would be able to better deal with the black tower monsters.
At this time, a total of 22 players were concentrated in the centre of the maze. Maybe there were players who still hadn't come but the flood was approaching and players had no time to wait for newcomers.
The 22 players had already joined teams. The black-haired, black-eyes Asians stood together while the Westerners formed a team. They seemed to have chosen the targets they wanted to attack and didn't plan to join hands with anyone. There was only one thing they could do.
"Go!"
The 22 players launched an attack at the same time.
There were six monsters and 22 people. An average of three or four players joined together to deal with a monster. However, everyone wanted to attack the weakest monsters so Peter Pan and Schrodinger were the breakthrough part. Upon seeing this, the other black tower bosses moved. The situation was very bad and it suddenly became a melee.
Schrodinger was held in the hands of his housekeeper and kept throwing various props at the players. The black cat yelled angrily as he threw them, "How can you treat a cat like this? Dammit, I didn't want to come here. If it wasn't for the black tower then who would want to come here? I want to be in my fortress!"
Then the black cat saw Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. The big round eyes widened and Schrodinger screamed, "Santa Claus, if you kill them for me, I will immediately make you a pure gold toilet with an automatic flushing function, pure gold!"
Santa Claus was originally aiming his sleigh at two European players. After hearing this, his eyes brightened turned to Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo.
"Hohohoho, Merry Christmas!"
Tang Mo raised his right hand and steel needles appeared in the air. He waved his right hand and the steel needles shot at Santa Claus. On the other hand, Fu Wenduo directly rushed to Schrodinger. The black weapon slammed into the black cat and the mechanical butler raised his hand to block Fu Wenduo's strike.
The sound of metal collisions rang in the maze.
Fu Wenduo's eyes narrowed and he hit the housekeeper again. He knew that Tang Mo wasn't Santa Claus' opponent. He couldn't delay the time too long and had to be quick. On the other side, the Queen of Hearts was facing Mu Huixue Andrei, Bai Ruoyao and two American players. The five people joined forces and the Queen of Hearts gradually fell into a disadvantage.
Mu Huixue found time to wrap her whip around the ark and she prepared to fly towards the big ship.
The Queen of Hearts turned back and shouted, "Damn Grecia, stop kissing Noah's boat and help out. Otherwise, I will turn you into meat sauce to fertilize my flowers!"
Yes, only five black tower monsters had faced the players from start to finish. There was a black tower monster who hadn't acted. The leader of the Strange Circus had been hugging Noah's ark with obsessive eyes, madly kissing the cabin made of jade and touching the gold.
The Queen of Hearts blocked Mu Huixue's way and turned her head again to scold him. Grecia glanced at the ark before touching his hat and sighing. "Well, letting a lady wait isn't very polite, although you aren't a lady."
His mouth twitched and the next moment, a small and delicate cane shot at an incredible speed to the American player, piercing his arm. The American player let out a cry of pain.
The flood continued to destroy the maze and was about to reach the centre.
The black tower monsters didn't try to leave and madly fought the players. Finally a player was sliced by Grandmother Wolf. He still wasn't dead. He quickly took out a golden coin and wanted to leave the game before the wolf could completely kill him. However, he couldn't say anything before Grandmother Wolf opened his mouth and ate his head.
"Hehe, thank you for the gold coin."
Someone's death and the threat of the flood meant these strong players were no longer careless.
Originally, they planned to let the black tower monsters kill some players to reduce their competitors. However, someone quickly died and they finally realized they couldn't pass this side mission without cooperating.
A brown-haired, blue-eyed man spoke in English. "Attack Schrodinger."
The little cat was stunned. "Why are you always aiming at me!"
It was because he was the weakest!
All the players answered in their hearts before turning to attack Schrodinger. The joint attack of a dozen fifth floor players allowed Schrodinger to use them without any props. Once the line of defense was broken, players took out strange props and ran to Noah's ark.
By the time Grandmother Wolf and the others arrived, seven or eight players had already boarded the ark. Once they got on board, the black tower's prompt rang in their ears.
"Ding dong! The side mission 'Leave Noah's Fun Maze' has been completed."
Mu Huixue tied the whip around the ark and pulled herself and Andrei to it. However, Tang Mo was tangled up with Santa Claus and couldn't get away. Fu Wenduo's originally planned to deal with Schrodinger and board the ship. After seeing that Tang Mo couldn't leave, he turned without hesitation and the two of them dealt with Santa Claus.
Fu Wenduo gave up his position and Bai Ruoyao smiled. "Then I won't be polite." The baby-faced youth was about to board the ship when a black shadow suddenly rushed at him. Bai Ruoyao's expression changed and he jumped backwards.
He saw Grandmother Wolf licking her sharp teeth and looking at him wickedly.
"Human, your meat is stinky but you broke my dress. I want to eat you!"
Bai Ruoyao, “…”
Your dress was broken by yourself!
A player was pierced by Grecia's short cane and a player was forced by the Queen of Hearts to use a prop and leave the game. More and more players got on the ship and only Tang Mo, Fu Wenduo, Bai Ruoyao and two European players were left.
The flood washed against the last wall and headed towards the big ship in the centre.
Mu Huixue found a chance to throw the whip to Fu Wenduo and tied it around his arm. "Major Fu, pull Tang Mo to come up!"
The red whip wrapped around his arm and Mu Huixue held tightly to it. She screamed and pulled Fu Wenduo up. Upon seeing it, Andrei and Lian Yuzheng came to help. The three people worked hard and Fu Wenduo was quickly pulled up. He grabbed Tang Mo's arm and brought Tang Mo with him.
The water was right before their eyes. A European player was caught in the flood while the other European gritted his teeth and used a prop to fly into the air and into the ark.
As Tang Mo was dragged towards the deck of the ship by Fu Wenduo, his gaze fell on Bai Ruoyao. Bai Ruoyao was tangled up in Grandmother Wolf and looked at Tang Mo. Tang Mo subconsciously reached out and said, "I want to be the Pirate King." A rubber rope shot from Tang Mo's hand and tied around Bai Ruoyao's wrist, pulling him over.
The water rushed towards Santa's sleigh. Santa let out a disappointed "Ah" and the players on the ark saw that he and his sleigh was wrapped in a giant bubble and floated above the flood.
Similarly, Grandmother Wolf, Peter Pan, Schrodinger and the Queen of Hearts were covered in a transparent bubble as they were touched by the flood.
The red-haired loli queen sighed indignantly. "Bastard Noah, why isn't your maze bigger? If the bath water came slowly then I could've killed these stinky humans!"
The black tower monster was hit by the water and wrapped in a bubble, leaving the water. All the players on the big ship knew that they weren't lucky. No one wanted to test what would happen if they fell into the water.
Other players saw Mu Huixue's trio pulling Tang Mo's trio over and showed a strange expression. Some people wanted them to go forward to stop them from saving people, eliminating more opponents. Lian Yuzheng loosened a hand on the whip and stared at them coldly while playing with a silver dagger.
The players from other regions thought for a moment before staying on the sidelines, no longer going forward.
With Fu Wenduo, Mu Huixue and Andrei's strength, they could take on all 20 people aboard the ship. However, they were just about to bring Tang Mo and Bai Ruoyao up when a terrible force suddenly appeared. Mu Huixue was pulled forward and almost let go of the whip.
She looked up and her expression stiffened.
"Grecia Sykes!"
A black cane was firmly stabbed into the hull of the golden ship, so that the owner was suspended in the air and not touched by the flood. The water could touch the gentleman at any time but as long as it didn't touch him, he wouldn't be covered with a bubble.
The circus leader smiled and held the cane with one hand while holding onto Bai Ruoyao's leg with the other hand. He didn't do anything else. He just held on from the bottom and laughed as he watched Bai Ruoyao and Tang Mo. He was telling them: Give up your teammates and become hypocrites.
Bai Ruoyao's eyes narrowed. He wanted to kick this bastard down but couldn't do it.
It was clear that Grecia could kill Bai Ruoyao and Tang Mo at any time but he didn't do this. It was as if he was waiting for a good show.
Fu Wenduo, Mu Huixue and Andrei combined couldn't pull Tang Mo and Bai Ruoyao from Grecia's hands. They could only maintain the balance.
Grecia smiled softly. "Humans are so hypocritical. Dear Tang Mo, won't you give up? If you don't let go then I will act."
Tang Mo stared at Grecia silently before looking at Bai Ruoyao.
There was something wrong with Grecia's guess. He and Bai Ruoyao had never been teammates. He wouldn't feel guilty if he let go and let Bai Ruoyao fall into the flood. Of course, Bai Ruoyao would surely have a way to escape such as a king's gold coin.
Tang Mo didn't think much more. The one minute ability limit of the rubber rope was over. He could release the ability at any time and throw Bai Ruoyao down. He was about to start when a voice came from below. "Tang Mo, don't let go!"
Tang Mo was stunned and asked, "Why?"
Bai Ruoyao, “…”
It seemed like he really didn't have anything.
Bai Ruoyao was silent before saying calmly, "I want to clear the seventh floor. It is very important to me. If you save me this time, I will owe you a favour."
Tang Mo never heard this psychopath sound so serious. He looked at the other person with amazement and saw Bai Ruoyao staring at him.
In the end, Tang Mo didn't untie the rope. He sneered, "Remember, you owe me a favour."
He didn't let go. Tang Mo's relationship with Bai Ruoyao wasn't good but it seemed worthwhile to have this psychopath owe him. More importantly, he believed in Fu Wenduo.
Fu Wenduo would definitely find a solution.
Fu Wenduo looked at the situation below before releasing the hand holding the whip. The whip lowered again and Mu Huixue looked over strangely. Fu Wenduo pulled out a long silver object from his backpack. Mu Huixue's expression changed. "A M70 anti-tank grenade? You actually have this type of thing?"
Fu Wenduo pulled the button at the bottom of the grenade and threw it into the distance. He threw it so far that he couldn't blow up Grecia at all. However, once the grenade fell into the flood, a dull explosive sound was heard from below the water. Everyone instantly understood what was going on.
The flood waters soared in an instant.
The shockwave set off a wave ten metres high and hit Noak's ark.
The ship shook in the water and the water rushed. All the players onboard screamed angrily and found a place to stabilize their body, so they weren't washed away by the wave. The wave got closer and closer and Grecia noticed something wasn't right. He pulled Bai Ruoyao with one hand and removed the cane with the other, wanting to go around from below to kill Tang Mo.
He was only halfway when he was stopped by Bai Ruoyao. The baby-faced youth laughed dangerously. "Get lost." He kicked Grecia away.
The next second, Grecia touched the water and was wrapped in a transparent bubble. He slowly retracted his cane and looked up at Noah's ark.
In the final seconds, Fu Wenduo's group pulled Tang Mo and Bai Ruoyao onto the deck.
Inside the bubble, the Queen of Hearts exclaimed angrily, "Damn Grecia, if you were less obsessed with gold then I could definitely kill more than one human."
Grecia spread open his hands and smiled. "Blame me."
The red-haired loli scoffed.
Santa Claus regretfully touched his beard. "It is a pity we can't make trouble after this.
Behind the six black tower bosses, the raging flood waters madly washed against the big ship. After Tang Mo stepped onto the deck, the black tower's voice entered his ears. However, he didn't have time to think about it as the big waves came instantly. Every player moved up and down from the violent waves. They sighed with relief after everything subsided.
The battle against the black tower monsters inevitably injured everyone. After taking care of their wounds, the 17 players on the ark stared at each other vigilantly.
They all knew that the people standing on the ship were senior players who cleared the fifth floor. Most of them were mainly staring at Tang Mo and Mu Huixue while some looked at Lian Yuzheng.
Tang Mo's name had just been exposed and they naturally knew who Tang Mo was. In addition, the female with the Asian face was likely to be the first place on the time leaderboard, Mu Huixue.
Time passed as the big ship moved slowly on the sea. Suddenly, the door of the cabin opened.
Everyone became alert.
"Ding dong! Please enter Noah's ark."
The crowd looked at the door suspiciously and the black tower reminded them again. There was no other option so the players entered the ark. After entering the ark, everyone quietly looked at the people around them, recording everyone's information in their hearts.
While entering the ark, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were at the end with Bai Ruoyao in front of them.
Tang Mo's soft voice was heard. "Don't forget, you owe me a favour."
The footsteps slightly paused. Bai Ruoyao turned around and said sadly, "Tang Tang, is my life only worth a favour in your heart?"
Tang Mo raised his eyebrows. "Of course."
Bai Ruoyao, "…" Why did he feel that things were wrong?
The next second, Fu Wenduo stepped forward with Tang Mo and said, "Your human feelings aren't very valuable."
Bai Ruoyao, “…”
Tang Tang, Major Fu, you are bullying people!
Bai Ruoyao was the last one into Noah's ark. After he entered, the door slammed shut. Everyone stopped and stared at the door with disbelief. The black tower's childlike voice was heard.
"Ding dong! Successfully triggered the main mission: Noah's dinner on the ark."
Added a ko-fi for the people asking for an alternative to Patreon:
You can also join my discord channel to chat with fellow readers about the novels;
Chapter 215
In the dark cabin, three gongs were heard before lights suddenly turned on.
They were standing in a long and narrow wooden corridor while faint light shone from old, yellow wood decorations. Tang Mo stood at the end of the group. He reached out to the door behind him and said, "It won't open."
Fu Wenduo and the others didn't object to his words. Bai Ruoyao also smiled and watched. Several players from other districts looked coldly at Tang Mo and pulled the door handle one by one.
The door wouldn't open.
None of the players thought about using a prop to violently open the door. The black tower obviously wanted to keep them here. Everyone watched the players around them warily and walked along the corridor. Silence filled the entire corridor. Bai Ruoyao felt this wasn't interesting and suddenly laughed.
Everyone instantly turned to look at him.
The baby-faced youth blinked. "Noah's dinner on the ark… what is this dinner? The flood was obviously Noah's bath water and Noah should be very tall." He swished his hands. "Is he a giant? Then he won't eat people. My meat can't be eaten. Tang Tang, do you want your meat to be eaten."
Several players frowned and a blond, middle-aged man coldly demanded, "Shut up."
Bai Ruoyao wasn't the type to shut up because of words.
He hummed a small song, making the strong man very dissatisfied. However, this person didn't dare act rashly.
The people who could enter here were the top players in the world. They didn't know who Bai Ruoyao was but this person was absolutely strong. Everyone knew this.
Tang Mo's gaze swept through the 16 people. Apart from Fu Wenduo, Mu Huixue and the others who he knew, there were two young men with oriental faces, a strong black woman and nine white people. Apart from Andrei, the nine white people were divided into five men and three women.
Tang Mo's gaze moved slowly and stopped on one of the white men. The other person's gaze swept towards him and Tang Mo immediately looked away. He looked at Fu Wenduo and Fu Wenduo shook his head.
Fu Wenduo: I have never seen this person before the earth went online.
Tang Mo was silent for a moment.
This person was an old man.
After the earth went online, two groups were almost completely eliminated by the black tower. One group were children and the other were the elderly. Fu Wensheng and Chen Shanshan were no longer children. Fu Wenduo was 12 years ago and could protect himself. Children under the age of seven or eight were the hardest hit. Perhaps they all died in the first black tower game.
This was followed by the elderly.
Old people were physically inferior and their mental strength, speed and brain power were far less than young people. Moreover, elderly people were experienced but they were out of touch with modern culture In terms of playing games, they generally weren't as good as young people.
Tang Mo had played many black tower games and only saw an old person at the beginning in the monopoly game. In addition, he had never seen anyone who was over 60 years old.
However, this white male with white hair and wrinkles was at least 70 years old.
"He might be very strong, stronger than others." Tang Mo lowered his voice and spoke to Fu Wenduo.
Fu Wenduo gently hummed in agreement.
This person's innate qualities were worse than others but he could live to the present and become a top player. This old man was bound to be extremely strong.
The group silently walked, each having their own thoughts. Everyone was quietly observing other players, wanting to know more information. After five minutes, the black woman standing in the front stopped and spoke in English, "There is a door."
The group didn't say anything.
The black woman told them, "I will open the door."
No one disagreed. She grasped the door handle and gently opened the door.
The moment the door opened, the black woman jumped back and raised her weapon in defense. The door slammed open but there were no enemies. Instead, there was a strange smell.
Mu Huixue sniffed and raised an eyebrow. "Bread?"
Bai Ruoyao sucked the most amount of air into his nose. Then he glanced into the door and saw the things inside. Bai Ruoyao turned his head and spoke loudly, "Wow, there is the smell of egg tarts, cheese and cream. Hey, what is this scent… my favourite red wine? The Château Haut-Brion wine?"
Everyone spoke in English and didn't reveal their native language.
They carefully entered the room and Tang Mo looked around with narrowed eyes.
This was a two-storey castle.
Based on the outside of Noah's ark, it was impossible to hide such an old castle in this big ship/ There were gothic coloured shards of glass and slender candles in black iron candlesticks. Dozens of candles illuminated the lobby and the middle of the lobby contained a long time with gold-rimmed white porcelain cutlery as well as a variety of delicious food.
The castle shouldn't appear inside the ship at all but everyone knew the length they just walked for five minutes far exceeded the length of Noah's ark.
"There a 12 chairs." A blond foreign man said. "There are 17 individuals."
The black woman looked for a moment before stopping on the middle of the table. "There are 17 small dolls."
Everyone followed her gaze.
The expressions of many people changed once they saw these 17 wooden dolls, apparently remembering a famous story. At this time, thunder was suddenly heard outside the castle. There wasn't the light of lightning, only the sound of thunder. Andrei went to the window and looked out. "It is dark outside. There is nothing."
He just finished when the thunder was heard again.
At this time, the black tower told a story in its childlike voice.
"When Noah lived to the age of 600, the black tower looked at Earth and found that humans were full of sin, all their thoughts endless evil. Greedy humans like to eat the pure black tower monsters, peeling them and swallowing them. Deceitful humans always trick innocent people and make them go bankrupt."
"Thus, the black tower said to Noah, "Build a ship and take away those who are truly good. That is real hope." Noah bowed respectfully to the black tower and prayed—"
"Omnipotent black tower, please allow me to take a shower, finish and meal and then select the kindest humans to lead them out of this sinful world."
The black tower told this story very seriously but all the players listening to it had different expressions.
Bai Ruoyao whispered, "Even I don't dare to speak such nonsense."
The black tower continued, "Players, please help Noah by preparing a rich dinner for Noah. A friendly reminded, a sinful black tower monster has disguised as a human and entered the interior of the ark. Grab the monster and turn its flesh and blood in to delicious barbeque. This is what Noah likes most."
Once they heard about the 'black tower monster disguised as a human', everyone looked skeptically at the players standing near them.
The story was over and the black tower announced in an unemotional voice.
"Ding dong! Successfully triggered the main mission: Noah's dinner on the ark."
"The rules of the game—”
"First, there are 16 players who have successfully entered the game and one black tower monster disguised as a human."
"Second, there are 12 rooms on Noah's ark."
"Third, in Noah's arc, every two hours is one day and one night. All players must leave their room during the door and all players must enter their room at night. The door of the room will be locked."
"Fourth, every day in the evening, three players who received the black tower's approval can leave the room. The identity of the three players is hidden. Even players in the same room won't know the identity of the three players."
"Fifth, the task of the black tower monster is to stop Noah from saving humanity. The human players' mission is to grab the monster, grill it and give it to Noah."
"Sixth, after the seventh day and night, Noah will appear. If he can't eat the grilled monster then he will eat all humans."
"Seven, in the last minute of each day, players have the right to vote. Each room as one vote to select the target they think is a monster. The target voted by most players will be restricted and all abilities and props won't be available."
"Eighth, in this game, players' abilities are restricted to varying degrees. The specific restrictions are determined by the black tower. All props are unavailable."
"Noah thinks that barbequed monster is delicious and that humans are delicious. In any case, he can eat all of them so he will eat."
Boom—
Thunder appeared once again, shaking the whole castle.
Tang Mo's vision turned towards the dark window. His fingers tightened as he uttered, "Snowstorm villa."
Meanwhile, Beijing, China.
After Tang Mo's group entered the game, the Tian Xuan organization controlled the area around the Forbidden City's black tower. Chen Shanshan, Li Miaomiao and the others temporarily stayed in a small building nearby. The first one to appear was Ning Zheng, who was badly injured. Chen Shanshan was stunned when she saw the other person and her gaze stayed on the other's long hair for a few seconds.
Fu Wensheng directly looked at Ning Zheng's chest and the child didn't hold back. "What a surprise!"
Ning Zheng's left leg was bitten by something and bleeding badly, while his right hand was broken. He struggled to get up and leave, the situation obviously being very bad for him. Chen Shanshan didn't stop him. After all, Ning Zheng was one of the most powerful returnees in China. No one knew if Ning Zheng had any trump cards and they didn't have a grudge with him.
Fu Wensheng probably thought that Ning Zheng's situation was too bad and embarrassing. He hesitated before pulling out a bottle of mineral water and handing it to Ning Zheng.
Ning Zheng looked at him and took the water.
After a while, Ning Zheng left the black tower.
One hour passed and Ruan Wangshu appeared under the black tower. He was luckier and could move on his own. Leaving the game with the king's gold coin exhausted all his strength but Li Miaomiao was fortunately there. Li Miaomiao rushed up and pressed her hands to Ruan Wangshu's wounds, transferring them to her.
Fu Wensheng muttered, "What game is so difficult? Ning Zheng… is it Ning Zheng? Ruan Wangshu has also become like this. Is it a powerful black tower monster on the level of the circus leader?
The guess was good but the amount was wrong.
It was six monsters on the level of the circus leader.
Shanghai, China.
Luo Fengcheng sat in a black car and looked at the black tower in the distance. When Tang Mo heard the black tower announce the rules of they game, he didn't know that on Earth, the black tower also issued a notice.
"Ding dong! Europe District 9 official player David Conrad has failed to clear the instance."
"On June 18th, 2018, 16 players from six regions have successfully entered the sixth floor's main mission."
"There is one person from East Asia, one person from Southeast Asia, one person from Russia, two people from Europe, four people from the United States and seven people from China."
Jack was puzzled. "So many people entered the main mission together. Doctor, this is the first time I'm seeing this type of game. What game is it? A big fight? A melee? The main mission hasn't started yet and so many people have been eliminated." The black tower's sixth floor was terrible…
Luo Fengcheng's lips slightly curved. "16 people… in fact, there is a game quite suitable for this."
Jack asked curiously, "What game?"
Luo Fengcheng laughed. "Snowstorm villa." (TL: a common model found in mystery novels and TV shows. Refers to when a number of people gather in a relatively closed space. They can't get in touch with the outside world or leave the environment. Then several people are killed and the murderer is among them)
Added a ko-fi for the people asking for an alternative to Patreon:
You can also join my discord channel to chat with fellow readers about the novels;
Chapter 216
Thunder roared and the entire castle shook.
The dim candlelight caused a mottled yellow light to appear on the wall. After the black tower announced the rules of the game, the 17 players stood around the long table and no one spoke. After a long time, a white woman said, "There are only 12 chairs but we have 17 people."
Yes, there were 17 small dolls in the centre of the table. The black tower also said that there were 16 players and a black tower monster in the castle. However, there were only 12 chairs.
Andrei opened his mouth. "There are names on the chair. The black tower has divided us into groups."
Everyone immediately went up to look at the chairs.
Under the dim lights of the candle, they could see distorted names carved on the backs of the quaint chairs. Everyone's name was in English. The black tower was humane enough to help players hide their identities. Tang Mo looked around and his eyes narrowed when he saw the name on the last chair.
The only black woman present sneered. "Is there any need to use English names? It will be exposed anyway since you know each other."
Among these 12 chairs, there were four that weren't engraved with the name of just one person. There were three chairs engraved with the names of two people and one chair had three English names.
Fu Wenduo, Tang Mo… and Bai Ruoyao.
The baby-faced youth blinked with surprise. "Wow Tang Tang, Major Fu, I'm actually in a team with you."
Tang Mo's heart sank as he looked at the chair next to him. It had 'Mu Huixue' and 'Andrei' written on it. Another chair belonged to two foreign men and the last chair belonged to a foreign man and woman.
The black tower had obviously decided that the nine people knew each other and the information was disclosed to all players.
In fact, it was well understood that there were 17 players in the game. The seventh rule of the game stated that in the last minute of every day, they could use the right to vote for a target considered to be a monster. The target of the vote was restricted and all abilities and items wouldn't be available.
There were 17 players and everyone had equal voting rights, but Tang Mo, Mu Huixue and the others knew each other. Once they worked together, they would vote for a certain player and win the majority vote, making it unfair to other players. The black tower took these measures and directly teamed them up to forcefully reduce the number of votes.
The other players stared at the owners of the four chairs. The nine of them looked calm and not embarrassed at all about their relationship being exposed.
Boom!
There was another roar of thunder and the candles in the castle started shaking. The candlelight cast shadows on the building and Tang Mo suddenly became alert due to the strange sound of a gear turning. Every player grabbed their weapons and looked around.
They saw that in the middle of the long table, one of the 17 dolls seemed to have its gears activated as it moved forward on the table. The players stared coldly as the little puppet swayed and moved before saying in a strange and ethereal voice, "Stephen Teslav looked at me and pulled out his dagger."
The words finished and the puppet suddenly pointed to a blond foreigner. The foreigner's expression changed and he put away his dagger.
There was another loud sound and the group looked behind the small puppet. They saw a second small puppet move forward before stopping in front of a black woman. "Lena Jokel looked at me and wanted to kill me."
At this time, how could any player not understand what was happening?
One after another, the small puppets moved in front of each player and shouted their names. It was impossible to disguise their name or exchange names with their teammates. The puppets spoke the name and almost exposed the nationality of some people.
However, being from the same region didn't mean they knew each other. Tang Mo was surprised to see a small puppet run towards a foreign woman and shouted, "Xia Li."
She was a Chinese player?
The short-haired, blonde woman who had her named called looked coldly over Tang Mo's group.
Once all the puppets were in place, they were silent for a moment before singing a song.
“17 small puppets encountered a flood. There was no way to save one and only 16 were left."
"16 small puppets, everyone was on guard against each other. The fire burned one to black charcoal, leaving 15."
……
"One small puppet, its soul was frightened after seven days. No one cares about it being scared to death and there are no puppets left."
“La la la, la la La…"
“Hey, Noah is coming! Noah is here!"
"Noah eats the small puppets. The small puppets are dead."
The weird song came to a halt and the small puppet in front of Tang Mo suddenly opened its mouth. "Noah's dinner table has only 12 guests."
Fu Wenduo's little puppet said, "There is a white ticket in front of the chair. Sit on the chair to write a name."
Lian Yuzheng's small puppet continued, "Every guest can vote once a day, no more."
The old foreigner's puppet was next. "12 chairs, 12 votes, no one is allowed more."
"The result of the vote should be kept secret. No one can know it."
"Hey, there is a red ticket. What is that?"
The group immediately looked at the table. After the puppets spoke in turn, 12 white tickets appeared on the table and then 12 red tickets.
Ander’s little puppet said, “I know, I know. It is to grab the sixth, grab the sixth."
"White tickets are endless but there is only one red ticket."
"There is only one red ticket per person, only one.
“The white ticket can be used to vote every day, the red ticket can only be used to vote once. Who do you think is the bad monster?"
The voice of the 11th puppet suddenly became sharp. "Write their name, write their name! Write their name and you will win, you will win!"
"What if you're wrong? What if you're wrong?"
The 13th puppet laughed strangely.
The 14th puppet spoke in an innocent voice, "The one who writes the wrong name won't grab the six and won't receive a clue."
The 15th little puppet ran two laps around the red and white tickets.
The 16th puppet said, "Write their names and note your teammates."
The 17th puppet sang excitedly, "Grab the six, grab the sixth!"
The final 'grab the sixth' was sharp and harsh, like nails scratching on glass and causing the players to frown. After saying all of this, the puppets stopped talking. They were like soldiers as they turned around and marched back to the centre of the long table. Then they stared at each other with strange wooden eyes.
On the other side, there was a bang and the huge clock on the castle's wall shook. Its second hand ran at a speed six times the normal speed and one minute only took 10 seconds.
Sunlight entered through the window. Andrei, who had been standing by the window, looked out and said, "There is no sun but it obviously daytime right now."
The 17 people looked at each other in turn before someone sat down. One by one, the players sat in their chairs. Players who were divided to the same chair chose on person to sit down.
Andrei let Mu Huixue sit while Bai Ruoyao looked at the chair and grinned. A moment passed before Tang Mo said, "You sit."
Bai Ruoyao turned to look at him. "Tang Tang, did I hear wrong? You are letting me sit?"
Tang Mo nodded. "You sit."
The players sitting on the chair had the right to vote. Bai Ruoyao never thought that he could grab the right to vote from Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. Apart from revealing that these players knew each other, the black tower's actions also lead to another thing: only one player sitting in the chair had the right to vote.
No matter how well the players discussed it before the vote, the only person who could vote was the one sitting in the chair. For example, Tang Mo, Fu Wenduo and Bai Ruoyao had a good discussion and decided to vote for Mu Huixue. Bai Ruoyao promised in advance but in the end, he betrayed them and voted for Tang Mo. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo would have no way to stop him from doing this.
Bai Ruoyao originally thought he wouldn't get the chance to vote and now he was being sent to the chair. Bai Ruoyao suddenly had a rebellious mind. "I won't sit. Tang Tang, I feel sorry for you. You should sit."
Fu Wenduo lowered his gaze. "Sit down."
Bai Ruoyao, “…”
After considering his chances if he fought with these two people, Bai Ruoyao shrugged and sat down with a smile.
In any case, it was good that he could sit.
Once Bai Ruoyao took his seat, there was someone in all 12 chairs.
A middle-aged man looked at everyone and said, "The black tower said that the monster is disguised as us. I think that even if we ask things that only humans will know, the monster will certainly be able to answer it.
No one refuted his words.
The middle-aged man continued, "I want to say one thing first. The names of the 17 players here, almost all of them have been globally announced by the black tower. I know who you are. You also know who I am."
Mocking laughter was heard. "We naturally know that your Russian region was forced to attack the tower."
The middle-aged man's expression sank and he slammed his hand against the table. The table shook and a deep handprint was branded into the table. The white male who ridiculed him didn't look nervous at all. He looked at the handprint and said, "Brute force, is that why you were so slow to clear the fifth floor?"
"Okay, stop quarrelling. I don't think anyone here has thought about working together."
The group turned to look at the black woman and saw her sitting coldly in the chair. "Don't speak nonsense. This is the first day and first night. It is obviously unrealistic if we want to catch the monster now. The grab the sixth mode means we won't work together. Everyone is their own team and it isn't realistic to attack the sixth floor together because no one knows who the monster is. There is just something I hope you can all do."
Tang Mo asked, "What is it?"
The black woman stared at Tang Mo. "Anything that people say during the day, be sure to say it to everyone at this table."
Some players frowned while most players had a 'of course' expression.
Bai Ruoyao gave a deep smile. "The monster must be among these 17 people. It is difficult to catch the monster but we can't let others catch it first. In the evening, we are stuck in the room and can't come out. During the day, if the 17 people act together then at least everyone's words and deeds are transparent and no one will be finding clues in private. Wow, are you not confident in your strength? Do you feel that if we separate, other people will find clues that you can't?"
The black woman's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
Bai Ruoyao was ready to provoke her again but Fu Wenduo held down the back of the chair. "We agree with this proposal."
Bai Ruoyao shut his mouth and didn't talk anymore.
"I also agree."
"I agree."
Out of the 17 people, 15 of them agreed.
Two people disagreed and the black woman asked them, "Are you disagreeing because one of you is the black tower monster?"
The two men glared at the black woman, saying his words were rubbish. Then they agreed.
Two hours quickly passed. During these two hours, everyone sat around the long table and watched the players. On the first day, everyone didn't really speak and never exposed any secrets. In the silence, they remembered the information of the other people in the bottom of their hearts. They waited for the two hours to pass, until the last minute arrived.
"Ding dong! On the first day of voting, please write the name of a player they wanted to vote for on the white ticket."
The old man opened his mouth for the first time. "I propose that everyone writes their own name. No one can find the monster on the first day and there is no meaning in writing someone else's name."
The rest of the players looked at the old man with a thoughtful expression. The old man looked indifferent and bowed his head to write a name. He seemed to really write his own name and then placed the white ticket upside down on the table.
Everyone started writing names.
Tang Mo looked down as Bai Ruoyao wrote a name on the piece of white paper.
[George Ansoni.]
This was the name of the old man.
After writing the names, everyone got off their chairs and went to the second floor.
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo walked at the end of the crowd. As all 17 people went upstairs, Tang Mo looked back at the long table. He saw 12 white tickets turned over on the table, the candlelight swaying and the 17 puppets standing quietly in the middle of the room. Tang Mo suddenly saw a small puppet move and his heart tightened as he took a closer look.
There were no movements.
Night fell and the 12 groups of players each entered their own room.
Tang Mo, Fu Wenduo and Bai Ruoyao entered the door with their names. The inside contained three beds.
There was a note on the door stating: Please find your own bed.
Tang Mo went to his bed. It had the note: Please lie down, pull up the quilt and calmly sleep. He turned to look at Fu Wenduo and both of them nodded.
Bai Ruoyao's exaggerated voice was heard as he complained, "How can there be three beds? Shouldn't we sleep together?"
He said this but Bai Ruoyao was very honest in following the black tower's requirements as he climbed into bed and pulled up the quilt.
Tang Mo entered the quilt and found that he wasn't forced to fall asleep by the black tower. However, once they entered the room, there was dead silence around it. They couldn't hear anything despite their enhanced senses, as if they were isolated from sound.
Tang Mo said, "The black tower told us that three players can leave the room every night and that players in the same room can't discover it." Tang Mo didn't doubt the black tower's game rules and he even guessed that the black tower wouldn't allow players in the same room to communicate with players who were selected to go outside. He said, "Tonight, maybe someone among the three of us has the right to leave the room."
Being qualified didn't mean they had to leave. But…
"This is the only chance to get in contact with other players." Fu Wenduo said.
Bai Ruoyao smiled. "It is also possible to get in contact with the monster."
Tang Mo opened his mouth. "If any of us are qualified to go out, we will tell the other two people during the day. Let's discuss countermeasures together."
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were teammates and naturally wouldn't hide things from the other person. He was talking to Bai Ruoyao.
Bai Ruoyao smiled like he didn't hear it. "I will sing a song for you. I haven't slept in a room with other people for a long time and didn't expect to actually sleep with Major Fu and Tang Tang. I'm really lucky. Tang Tang, what would you like to hear?"
Tang Mo didn't pay attention to him.
Bai Ruoyao added, "Major Fu, what do you like to listen to?"
The two people ignored him. Bai Ruoyao wasn't angry and spoke to himself. "Then I will sing."
An out of tune song started to fill the room.
Tang Mo turned his head with a blank expression and looked in Fu Wenduo's direction. Fu Wenduo quietly watched him.
In the room, Bai Ruoyao's harsh song continued while Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo stared at each other. A long time passed before Tang Mo's quiet voice was heard. "Okay, stop singing. We are sure that you're not a monster." This unpleasant voice and attitude, if it wasn't Bai Ruoyao then who could it be?
Bai Ruoyao's song stopped and he made a wronged expression. "Tang Tang, what do you originally think of me?" He didn't seem convinced and sang a second song. "I obviously just want to sing a lullaby for you."
Tang Mo sneered.
At this point, Tang Mo had clearly identified the status of three people.
Himself, Fu Wenduo and Bai Ruoyao.
The three of them weren't monsters in disguise.
Needless to say, he knew this person was Victor and not the monster as soon as he saw Fu Wenduo. He believed the same was true for Fu Wenduo.
Two hours passed quickly and it was a sleepless night.
The sunlight shone through the window and the three people pulled off the quilt at the fastest speed, getting out of bed. As Tang Mo opened the door, Mu Huixue and Andrei were just walking in front of it, obviously in a hurry.
Tang Mo's heart sank and he also walked out the door. As he walked, he asked, "What happened?"
Mu Huixue stopped and glanced at him and Fu Wenduo, as well as the fast moving Bai Ruoyao at the end. She was ready to explain but she shut her mouth after a moment. She just raised her hand and pointed in front of her. Tang Mo followed the direction of her fingers and froze once he saw it.
He saw a black woman lying in a corner of the second floor corridor, her eyes opened and staring in front of her.
Her clothes were soaked, as if she had drowned. Her skin was pale and there was some white foam in her nose and mouth. Under her body, the wooden floor was dyed dark with water. The old man lived in the room closest to the stairs and was the first to discover the body. He bent down, checked the body before turning to look at the remaining 15 players.
Under his pale white hair, the old man calmly said, "She is dead from drowning."
Added a ko-fi for the people asking for an alternative to Patreon:
You can also join my discord channel to chat with fellow readers about the novels;