The Earth is Online

It was May going into summer and the sun wasn’t yet shining on the earth. The cool evening wind blew through the East Third Ring Road. The sky gradually whitened and soon became bright. However, the last of the sun hiding below the horizon didn’t appear.

Tang Mo chose a commercial building to the north of the road.

Xu Yusheng wasn’t a simple opponent. Half an hour ago, Tang Mo asked Fu Wensheng to hide in the distance and not come close. Chen Shanshan was also hiding in another building in the distance, separated from Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. Xu Yusheng’s goal was them and it was the same for all returnees hidden around the East Third Ring Road. The only thing they wanted was to kill Tang Mo, Fu Wenduo, Ruan Wangshu and Lian Yuzheng.

Tang Mo’s patience was great. He knelt on the roof of the building and didn’t move for an entire hour.

Time passed and Tang Mo lowered his voice. “She should’ve arrived a long time ago.”

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were the only ones on the roof of this building.

Fu Wenduo said, “Someone saw Xu Yusheng’s companions appear in Xicheng District yesterday. They came from the west. Chaoyang is Tian Xuan’s base and they wouldn’t choose to enter the East Third Ring Road from Chaoyang. This means she should appear from the south and set up an ambush on the south side.”

That’s why Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo came to this building and focused all their attention on the south.

The sunlight started shining on the ground as a layer of summer heat appeared. Tang Mo waited quietly. A moment later, he firmly said, “She won’t appear recklessly.” Xu Yusheng wouldn’t be stupid enough to appear alone. Tang Mo looked at Fu Wenduo and gripped his small parasol. “We will separate. I will go to the north side while you go to the south side. Keep in contact using the turkey egg.”

Fu Wenduo nodded.

Compared to other players, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo had the turkey egg.

This was more than just an archiver. It was also a contact device.

The two of them stared calmly at each other and didn’t say anything extra. Their eyes were filled with trust. Fu Wenduo had just placed one hand on the ground and was preparing to jump off the roof as quickly as possible when a crash came from the south.

Fu Wenduo quickly lowered his body.

The two of them looked south at the same time.

On both sides of the elevated road, more than a dozen players straightened and stared south with astonished eyes. This sound was actually very light and was the sound made by a ball hitting the ground. The ball was very elastic as it kept bouncing from the ground, the car and then back to the owner’s hand.

The faint sunlight caused a black shadow to stretch out on the elevated road. The girl roughly hit the ball and walked forward step by step. Suddenly, she used force to hit the ball towards a high-rise building to the left of the elevated road.

Boom!

The window was smashed and the ball moved through three walls, cracks spreading all over the walls in an instant. The next second, the ball bounced back from the broken building and was firmly grabbed by Xu Yusheng.

From the southernmost side to the northernmost side of the East Ring Road, the hundreds of players stretched over more than 10 kilometres of road were startled as they watched this gloomy young girl.

“Xu Yusheng?”

Chen Shanshan stared through the window using binoculars. She exclaimed, “How is this possible? How can she appear so blatantly?” The young eye’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. However, she calmed down after one second. Chen Shanshan put down the binoculars and quickly muttered, “It won’t be so simple. Xu Yusheng isn’t a reckless person. There must be a reason for her to appear. It is 4:56 in the morning and there are four minutes left until 5 o’clock. She deliberately selected this time to appear. She showed up directly and isn’t afraid of the sneak attack of other players. The thing she depends on is…”

Chen Shanshan picked up the binoculars again and stared at the red ball in Xu Yusheng’s hand.

At the same moment, Tang Mo saw the ball.

“What is that?”

What was it?

This question flashed through everyone’s minds at the same time.

In the sunshine, Xu Yusheng’s lips slowly curved, revealing a cold smile. She held the red ball and stood on the southernmost side of the East Third Ring Road. She could see the narrow road with one glance. The next moment, she opened her mouth and shouted four names. “Fu Wenduo, Tang Mo, Ruan Wangshu and… Lian Yuzheng.”

The whole road was so quiet that the sound travelled halfway.

Xu Yusheng laughed. She called the four names again before lifting the red ball.

“Congratulations.”

“—The game has started.”

Bang!

She punched the red ball and it slammed into the ground.

She used only 10% of her strength. This 10% strength caused the ball to directly break through the road and it formed a 10 metres deep pit. An unknown feeling entered Tang Mo’s heart. This premonition was even stronger than Chen Shanshan’s premonition. However, it was too late.

As the ball smashed into the ground, it burst and caused a violent explosion. The sky suddenly turned dark.

Then a child’s voice was heard.

“Ding dong! Schrodinger’s Dodgeball has been activated. Asking the player to choose a map.”

Xu Yusheng laughed loudly and stepped onto the road. “This elevated road!”

“Ding dong! The map has been confirmed, loading…”

“The players information is loading …”

“The elevated road of China District 1’s East Third Ring Road has been loaded. May 25th, 4:59 a.m., 41 official players, 28 stowaways and 56 returnees have officially entered the map.”

The black tower’s emotionless voice rang over the entire East Third Ring Road. Tnag Mo’s eyes widened as he stared straight at the road in front of him. On the dark ground, a faint layer of red film was slowly rising from both sides of the road. It was like a shell that covered the entire East Third Ring elevated road and the buildings on both sides of it, including the building where Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were located.

The film climbed higher and higher until it joined in the sky as a dome.

Once the eggshell was completely formed, a bright red glow shone from the centre of the eggshell.

Bang!

Fireworks exploded in the sky and countless ribbons fell from the red flow. At the same time, cheerful music was played. The child’s voice sang together and the happy song filled the East Third Ring Road. Against this delightful back ground music, the black tower’s mechanical voice seemed vivid.

“Ding dong! The large-scale personal game Schrodinger’s Dodgeball has officially opened.”

“The rules of the game—”

“First, the game time is one hour.”

“Second, all players can only touch the dodgeball with their elbows (and below) and knees (and below).”

“Third, those who are hit in other parts by this dodgeball have failed and need to use a frog jump to leave the field in one minute.”

Fourth, friendship is first, the game second.”

“The great Schrodinger hates people saying that cats like to play with balls. Thus, he made a magical red dodgeball. You like to play ball then the whole family should be players!!! This was said by Lord Schrodinger.”

The black tower’s voice stopped but the ribbons kept falling from the sky.

Shocked cries were heard from both sides of the road and there was the sound of one or two fights. However, both the cries and fights ended quickly.

The players who dared to come here were among the best, regardless of whether they were survivors or returnees. They had confidence in the strength. However, no one imagined that they would be pitted by Xu Yusheng alone!

No wonder why she set it for the last hour of the game. It was to give herself a way out but also for this time-limited game!

No wonder why she set the located at the East Third Ring Road. It was because it wasn’t easy to hide on this elevated road and it was easier to play the dodgeball game!

The music was still playing and ribbons were constantly falling. As the cheerful music played, Tang Mo’s expression gradually became ugly. He looked at Fu Wenduo and Fu Wenduo looked back. The two of them stared at each other before standing up together, no longer hiding. Above their heads, a red sphere kept flashing.

This red sphere was incredibly obvious in the darkness.

One red light after another appeared from the south side of the elevated road, as if they were turning on.

The red spheres were scattered on both sides of the elevated road.

The nearest red sphere came from the building next to Tang Mo. The man hid on the 17th floor and looked at them after discovering Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo had the lights above their heads. He saw that there were two people and there wasn’t a chance of winning. He didn’t hesitate to turn around and run.

Tang Mo looked at the red sphere above his head and then the one above Fu Wenduo’s head.

The glaring light penetrated through the wall and was dazzling.

…This was all calculated by Xu Yusheng!

A moment later, Tang Mo smiled angrily. “I’m afraid that not even Shanshan would expect Xu Yusheng to have this prop.”

Still, Tang Mo wasn’t in a hurry. The dodgeball game involved all players on the elevated road, including him and Fu Wenduo. It was still unknown who would lose. In addition, Xu Yusheng might not be able to find them. There were so many people and the game time was only one hour.

“Xu Yusheng is over there.” Tang Mo turned his head and stared at the black dot in the distance.

Fu Wenduo moved his wrist and his right hand immediately became a black, sharp weapon. “Sneak up to her.”

“Okay!”

Another good thing about the dim sky was that it was easy to hide their figures. Tang Mo found Chen Shanshan and asked her to find Fu Wensheng and hide. Suddenly opening a dodgeball game was beyond their expectations. Tang Mo didn’t intend to let Chen Shanshan interfere. This clearly was a game that Chen Shanshan wasn’t suitable for.

The red sphere was very conspicuous. At first, everyone was afraid to move and watched the ball of light in the distance.

Tang Mo sneaked around for two kilometres and found a low building to hide in. At this point, he was only five kilometers away from Xu Yusheng and he could clearly see her closed eyes.

Tang Mo wondered, “What is she doing?”

Fu Wenduo looked quickly. “She is holding a ball in her hand?”

Tang Mo noticed the red ball in Xu Yusheng’s hand.

This ball fell from the sky into Xu Yusheng’s hand. It wasn’t the one she smashed in the beginning. Instead of throwing the ball, she stood where she was with closed eyes. She raised her hands and faced the sky. It was unknown what she was thinking.

“What is she doing?” Li Miaomiao whispered.

In the middle of the elevated road, there were 14 cars that rear-ended each other and a steel car that had been turned into a ball of iron. In the middle of this chaotic car accident area, there were three red spheres quietly waiting.

Li Miaomiao said in a depressed voice, “This Xu Yusheng actually had this type of prop. She exposed all of our positions. Then why the hell is she just standing there and not throwing the ball?” Despite being angry at being tricked by this 16 year old girl, Li Miaomiao remembered to lower her voice. “Leader, are we really not changing positions? These balls of light will expose our positions.”

Ruan Wangshu asked, “Is it useful to change positions?”

Li Miaomiao was speechless.

Lian Yuzheng spoke in a cold voice, “There is nowhere to hide. This light will penetrate through all substances and will be seen by others. Now what we have to do it watch and wait. There are three of us and an average person will be afraid to go against us.”

Li Miaomiao asked, “Leader, what do we do next?”

Ruan Wangshu said the same thing as Tang Mo. “The enemy is bright and we are dark. Everyone was pulled into the game. We were really pitted by Xu Yusheng but her situation is also bad. We…” Ruan Wangshu’s voice stopped abruptly as he stared in front of him.

He saw a middle-aged man running in a strange position, staring straight at the three red spheres in the middle of the cars. He was breathing hard, as if a drowning person was trying to gain air. The heavy gasps were very loud in the darkness.

Lian Yuzheng pulled out a silver knife and waited indifferently for the person to get closer.

The man had completely come over and leaned over, seeing the three people hiding inside. His eyes were bloodshot and his mouth twitched strangely. His whole body shook. He slowly opened his mouth and smiled strangely, his voice stiff. “Found, you…”

A silver light flashed as Lian Yuzheng’s knife cut the middle-aged man’s neck. Blood spurted all over the ground but the man was still smiling.

The next second, the unmoving Xu Yusheng opened her eyes and revealed a bloodthirsty smile.

“Ruan Wangshu, Lian Yuzheng.”

She looked ahead and grabbed the air with her left hand.

The hiding Tang Mo was surprised. “What is that?”

In the three buildings around Xu Yusheng, two players with red spheres suddenly fell to the ground and twitched twice. As they got up again, their postures became stiff and they ran out of the building straight towards the scene of the car accident three kilometers ahead.

At the same time, Xu Yusheng moved her right hand and the dodgeball was thrown forward by her.

Fu Wenduo and Tang Mo exclaimed in unison, “This is dodgeball?”

The red ball whizzed through the air, smashing towards the cars at a frightening speed.

Three kilometres in six seconds!

500 metres in one second!

The cars were directly smashed by the ball and steel flew around. The dodgeball brushed by Li Miaomiao’s side as she fell back and yelled, “How is this dodgeball? Even a bullet isn’t so fast!”

Her words hadn’t finished when the dodgeball hit a guardrail. The ball moved in an arc and shot back towards Li Miaomiao, as if recognizing her.

“Fuck!”

The moment Li Miaomiao dodged the ball, four players flew forward. The four people seemed to be manipulated puppets. Their movements were stiff but their actions were extremely decisive. They ignored Li Miaomiao and rushed straight to Ruan Wangshu and Lian Yuzheng.