The Earth is Online

China, Beijing, the National Museum.

Ruan Wangshu’s injuries were extremely heavy. After Li Miaomiao transferred some wounds to herself, Ruan Wangshu slowly woke up but his body was still weak. Fu Wensheng quickly took out the prepared mineral water and helped Chen Shanshan and the other Tian Xuan members with looking after his injuries.

A few hours later, Li Miaomiao returned to normal while Ruan Wangshu was still pale. He struggled to get up and asked which players had already dropped out of the game or failed.

Ruan Wangshu left the game and learnt that their tower attack game was being broadcasted live around the world by the black tower.

It wasn’t truly live. The black tower only informed them about the situation of the players in the game and didn’t disclose what game they were playing. Chen Shanshan heard from Ruan Wangshu that they had to face six black tower monsters on the level of the circus leader and finally understood why so many advanced players died in the game or quit.

Chen Shanshan said, “While you were unconscious, the black tower announced that out of 16 players in the main game, two are dead and there are 14 left.”

Ruan Wangshu frowned. “So many.” The difficulty of this game was beyond his imagination. “Tian Xuan has only one gold coin. After I used it, Yuzheng can’t come out. Perhaps I should’ve let her go in alone with the king’s gold coin from the beginning.”

Fu Wensheng said, “Are you exaggerating? I remember that Sister Yuzheng is very strong. Sister Shanshan praised her, saying that she isn’t worse than Brother Tang just based on combat ability.”

Ruan Wangshu was preparing to speak when the clear child’s voice was heard again. This voice spread all over the world and the players had long been accustomed to it. It was because they heard the black tower report this type of thing several times today.

“Ding dong! China District 1 official player Bai Ruoyao has failed to pass the instance.”

An abandoned shopping mall in Chaoyang, Beijing.

Ning Zheng was struggling to use the mineral water to heal himself. He suddenly heard this and stopped pouring water. After a while, he sighed.

Nanjing Road, Shanghai.

Luo Fengcheng looked at Jack with surprise and Jack was confused. “No, Bai Ruoyao, that psychopath? If he failed the instance… he is dead?”

The moment he heard this, Ruan Wangshu’s widened with astonishment and he turned to star at the black tower. Fu Wensheng and Chen Shanshan were even more shocked.

Ruan Wangshu’s understanding of Bai Ruoyao was actually very limited. He liked pestering Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo and wasn’t interested in Tian Xuan. Of the 16 players in the game, none of the Chinese players had died. Now that one suddenly died, many players in China felt cold.

Only Chen Shanshan and Fu Wensheng knew how deep the strength of the baby-faced youth was and that he was unfathomable.

After the brief shock, Chen Shanshan calmed down and started analyzing it, “Bai Ruoyao is a very careful person. I guessed with Brother Tang and Major Fu that he should have many life-saving props on him. The fact that he died in the game means it is possible the main mission forbids the use of props.” The implication was that Lian Yuzheng couldn’t use the king’s gold coin even if she had it.

Ruan Wangshu was silent for a moment before saying, “If he is dead then Lian Yuzheng’s situation is dangerous.”

They were outside the game and couldn’t help the people inside. Chen Shanshan twisted the cap of the mineral water. She turned her head and found that Fu Wensheng was looking down, his mouth slightly open and his expression dull.

Chen Shanshan asked lightly, “Xiao Sheng?”

Fu Wensheng’s spirit immediately returned. “Ah, Sister Shanshan.”

“What’s wrong?”

Fu Wensheng was silent as he held two bottles of mineral water. Then he said, “Nothing, I just feel strange. I hate that person. When he was pestering me, Brother Tang and Big Brother, I really wanted him to go far away from me and for him to die. Now that he’s really dead…”

The child remembered the hot pot store and the song that filled it. The hotpot store was nearby but Bai Ruoyao was dead.

The child murmured, “…I’m not happy.”

The sixth layer of the black tower, Noah’s ark.

The 12 remaining players came out of the room and saw the body on the stairs. There was no surprise as they went to check the body. Every player was mentally prepared.

Tang Mo concluded, “It is much better than the two bodies yesterday. This time is isn’t much damage. The fatal injury is the knife to the heart and there aren’t many wounds in other places, in line with the death method in the song.”

Mu Huixue went down the stairs and found the arm that fell near the table. “The arm is here. The incision is very smooth, like it was cut off by a weapon at a very fast speed.”

Tang Mo looked at the rest of the players. “Do you have any thoughts?”

The East Asian player Yamamoto, who had never spoke before, suddenly opened his mouth. “He is your companion?”

Fu Wenduo looked at him. “Yes.”

Yamamoto asked, “Did you know he left the room last night? The last three people who died were all alone in their room. Only this…” He thought for a moment. “This Bai Ruoyao shared a room with you.”

Tang Mo opened his mouth. “The black tower said that teammates won’t discover it when a player leaves the room at night. We didn’t know he was gone.”

Yamamato quickly looked at Tang Mo and said, “I have no problems.”

Tang Mo said, “Then let’s go to the attic.”

Tang Mo bent down as he spoke, wanting to take Bai Ruoyao’s body to the attic. He had just leaned down when Fu Wenduo picked up the body. Tang Mo moved to his side while Mu Huixue followed with the arm.

Mu Huixue walked beside Tang Mo and said quietly, “I can’t say what I am feeling after seeing that Fox is dead.”

Tang Mo was silent before replying, “Me too.”

Tang Mo looked at Fu Wenduo and the corpse of Bai Ruoyao.

He knew this person and so did Fu Wenduo. The baby-faced youth saved the lives of Fu Wenduo and his comrades. Once they let him go, Tang Mo knew they wouldn’t kill each other. No one imagined that Bai Ruoyao would die and it would be in a black tower game.

Fu Wenduo opened the door of the attic and looked inside, the light in his eyes flashing. He placed Bai Ruoyao’s body on the ground and Mu Huixue placed the arm next to it. The rest of the players entered the attic in turn and Lian Yuzheng frowned. “Sure enough.”

Yes, the two bodies placed here were gone.

If the black woman who died on the first day still had the possibility of being alive, the bodies which had been burned or cut to pieces were absolutely dead and couldn’t recover. Yet their bodies were missing.

Li Xia stared warily at every player in the attic.

“Who stole the body? Is it the monster?”

No one answered her question.

Everyone left the attic with their own thoughts. Putting Bai Ruoyao’s body in the attic meant it would be stolen this evening. However, no matter where it is placed, it would surely be stolen. As Tang Mo walked past his room, he discovered that the Bai Ruoyao engraved on the door had been cut through with a sharp tool.

Every room in the castle could only be accessed by the owner of the room.

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo couldn’t put the body back in their room even if they wanted to.

The 13 people walked to the long table and pulled up the seven or eight chairs that had fallen.

In the dimly lit castle, pieces of glass were on the ground and some chairs had fallen over. The table, staircase and pillars all showed signs of fighting. It was clear that there was a fierce battle last night that ended in Bai Ruoyao’s death.

Bai Ruoyao’s name on the back of the chair had been crossed off and his small puppet fallen on the ground. Tang Mo wanted to sit on the chair but Fu Wenduo stepped up first. Tang Mo was startled while Fu Wenduo glanced at him with a certain expression.

Tang Mo didn’t speak.

Once everyone was seated, the old man opened his head. “It is clear that the man’s death last night is different from the other three. This time, there are many traces of fighting. They must’ve had a fierce battle. There are two possibilities. First, the player who killed the first three people isn’t the same as the killer last night. The latter’s strength isn’t as strong as the former, causing this type of struggle. There is a second possibility…” The old man looked at Fu Wenduo in the chair. “Your companion, is he very strong?”

Fu Wenduo joined his hands together. “He is very strong.”

The old man said, “Then it should be the second possibility. Due to his strength, the castle became like this when he fought the killer.”

The Southeast Asian player Abdullah’s cold voice was heard. “Since the two sides have fought a fierce battle, perhaps there are still injuries on the killer’s body.”

The group was surprised.

Abdullah’s dark eyes swept over everyone. “I propose that everyone be checked for wounds.”

“I agree.”

“I also agree.”

Most people agreed with the proposal but the European Lena Jophos sneered. “Do you want us to take off out clothes to be checked? I don’t agree. If you want to look then I will dig out your eyes and let you look slowly.

Mu Huixue suggested, “There are four female players here. I don’t mind if we go to the second floor and check each other.”

The four female players in the castle were Mu Huixue, Lian Yuzheng, Li Xia and Lena.

Lena folded her arms and leaned back in the chair. She said to Mu Huixue, “All three of you are Chinese. How do I know you won’t join hands to deal with me?”

Li Xia frowned. She wanted to say that she didn’t know Mu Huixue or Lian Yuzheng and it was impossible for them to join hands. Mu Huixue smiled and cupped her chin. “Deal with you? Say you have a wound on your body but nobody else sees it. Will they believe the three of us and think you are the killer?”

Lena gritted her teeth. “I agree.”

The European player was eccentric. From the beginning, she said that she wanted to kill Mu Huixue and she didn’t want her body to be checked. However, if she didn’t agree then she would seem suspicious.

The male players checked each other for wounds on the first floor while the female players went to the second floor.

Five minutes later, the group returned to the long table.

The old man opened his mouth. “It seems that no one is injured.”

Andrei nodded. “It isn’t surprising since we are all senior players. We might not be able to use players but we must be carrying simple medicines. Coupled with a strong self-healing ability, an hour is enough to recover as long as it isn’t a serious injury. Once everyone agreed to check for wounds, it was already impossible to find the murderer.”

Things suddenly fell into a deadlock.

Mu Huixue’s fingers tapped the table. “There has been no mention of it until now but I think everyone should’ve thought of it. It is the fourth day and four people have died. There are two days and three nights left before Noah arrives. If we don’t give him barbeque then he will eat us and we will fail the sixth floor.”

The blond American player, David Anders asked, “What do you want to say?”

Mu Huixue explained. “Nothing, I just have a question. Everyone here are players who have cleared the fifth floor and are strong. Now there are only two days and three nights left, which is 10 hours… Everybody, have you thought of a way to clear this instance?”