The Earth is Online

Chapter 108

The three people finished searching the bodies. Apart from the few props and weapons, they only found the weird note with the word ‘bread’ on it. Tang Mo put this piece of paper into his backpack.

Fu Wenduo soon found a can of petrol in a corner and filled up the car.

Outside the window, the rain fell down again, hitting the gla.s.s. Tang Mo went to the window and carefully observed the surroundings. He confirmed there were no more people and pulled down the curtains.

Fu Wenduo grabbed an oil pen and drew a brief map of Beijing on the whiteboard, clearly marking several landmark buildings. He drew a triangle above the Forbidden City and then a second triangle in the northwest corner. Next to this triangle, he wrote three words: The Yanqing District.

“On average, there is a black tower for every 10,000 square kilometres of land. There are two black towers in Beijing. One next to the Forbidden City and the other in the northwest of Beijing, the Yanqing District. Fu Wenduo said. “We have just arrived at Beijing’s Seventh Ring Road in the southernmost Daxing District. My home is next to the Forbidden City and Xiao Sheng lives in the Dongcheng District. I went to his house five months ago but I didn’t see anyone. Thus, I didn’t search it carefully. This is our destination.” Fu Wenduo drew a small circle in the Dongcheng District.

Before the earth went online, Tang Mo had seen the black tower above the Forbidden City on the TV. Beijing was much larger than 10,000 square kilometers so there were two black towers in the city.

Tang Mo’s eyes focused on the small circle that Fu Wenduo drew.

Fu Wensheng couldn’t help saying, “Since the Tian Xuan organization wants to kill Brother Tang and attack us, we don’t have to go into the city. Their base is in the Chaoyang District, which is very close to the Dongcheng District. I believe that if my parents are still alive, they would’ve definitely actively looked for Big Brother when they heard your name. It has been so long without any news. Thus, we don’t have to go to Beijing.”

Fu Wenduo looked down at the child. “Don’t you want to go see your house?”

Fu Wensheng shook his head. “No, it has been so long that I know my parents aren’t there.”

The child had followed Fu Wenduo and Tang Mo back to Beijing. Apart from following after his relative, he also wanted to go home to check. Fu Wenduo had been in a rush when he went home and hadn’t checked carefully for clues. Fu Wensheng couldn’t give up unless he checked himself. It was just like how Tang Mo came to Beijing, even though there was a 80~90% chance of his friend being gone.

Tian Xuan was the most powerful organization in Beijing. No matter the reason why they wanted to kill Tang Mo, Beijing was very dangerous.

The whiteboard in the gas station originally had the daily petrol price and other information. Fu Wenduo was using the whiteboard so Fu Wensheng wiped off the previous words. Now that there wasn’t enough room on the whiteboard, Fu Wensheng picked up the wiper and started to clean it. Tang Mo looked at the child’s quiet back and said, “We will still go to Beijing.”

Fu Wensheng turned his head with surprise. “Big Brother said that the Tian Xuan organization has rapidly developed in four months. Their leader even cleared the second floor’s hard mode.” They were very powerful.

Tang Mo looked at Fu Wensheng seriously, “You don’t just want to find relatives. You want to determine their whereabouts. I am also looking for a friend. That’s why I came to Beijing. Since they could sneak attack me, they must have a way of determining my location. They can find me wherever I go. But they don’t completely have the upper hand. They don’t know that Fu Wenduo is my teammate.” Tang Mo paused before adding, “There is also Fu Wensheng.”

Four months ago, Fu Wenduo had met the leader of the Tian Xuan organization and came to an agreement. If they knew that they would have to kill Fu Wenduo, they wouldn’t have sent only four people. The four stowaways had a means of retreat (reversing time) and could leave safely, but this was based on the premise that they only wanted to kill Tang Mo. If they knew Tang Mo’s teammate was Fu Wenduo, they wouldn’t have acted so easily.

Since he decided not to leave Beijing and to enter the city, the trio started to discuss their route.

“The Chaoyang District is their base so we will go around it. We will enter the Dongcheng District from the west.”

Fu Wenduo’s magnetic voice filled the gas station.

It was becoming dark and the rain was stopping only now. They decided to leave the next day. Fu Wensheng took a few empty mineral water bottles and ran to one side. Fu Wenduo was thinking about the situations they might encounter after entering Beijing. He looked down at the ground when the light in front of him was suddenly blocked. He raised his head.

Tang Mo was standing in front of him, his right hand in his pocket and rubbing a red gem.

Fu Wenduo raised an eyebrow. “You have to go out to do something.” His tone was certain and there was a hint of laughter in his voice.

Tang Mo was touching the ruby and thinking about how to talk to Fu Wenduo about the next thing. After hearing this, he was stunned. “...”

A moment later, Tang Mo spoke calmly, “Let’s go outside together.”

Fu Wenduo, “?”

“...I have something to tell you.”

There was a brief moment of surprise before Fu Wenduo’s lips curved. The two of them left the gas station together. They entered a small warehouse behind the gas station.

It seemed to be a small room to store waste clutter. It was full of debris and there was less than two square metres of s.p.a.ce for people to stand. There was a small window high on the wall and moonlight shone through the window, illuminating a white spot on the ground.

Fu Wenduo looked at Tang Mo. “What is it?”

Tang Mo got straight to the point. “Why are you going back to Beijing?”

Fu Wenduo was silent for a moment. “I’m looking for clues about the black tower.”

Tang Mo had long guessed this. Three months ago, Fu Wenduo had traveled all the way from Beijing to Shanghai. He traveled thousands of miles so it couldn’t just be to see the sights. Once he arrived in Shanghai, he did only one thing. He found the Attack organization and contacted Luo Fengcheng, the two sides exchanging information.

As they had been talking, Tang Mo stood outside the door. He couldn’t hear their conversation but he knew that Fu Wenduo’s purpose in Shanghai had to do with the black tower’s mysteries.

“Four months ago, I found an email at the Black Tower Inst.i.tute in Beijing. At 10 in the evening of November 17th, the Shanghai Research Inst.i.tute sent an internal mail saying that they found four strange patients. Their four people had an extremely high heartbeat, were emotionally agitated and even self-harmed themselves. Fu Wenduo looked at Tang Mo. “The Shanghai Research Inst.i.tute’s study on the black tower is more profound than Beijing. Many of Beijing’s data were sent over from Shanghai. That’s why I decided to go to Shanghai for clues.”

It turned out that he went to Shanghai because of an email. Tang Mo asked, “Then why do you want to go back to Beijing now?”

“Dr. Luo told me all the information he knew. Basically, there was nothing important and you know the critical information. However, he did say something important. On the 15th, the White House sent a secret email to Beijing. Two American researchers would arrive on the 17th to exchange information with each other. The secrecy of this information was too high for even Luo Fengcheng to access. Still, he knew where these two researchers stayed after arriving in Beijing.”

Tang Mo immediately understood. “Then you are looking for this information?”

Fu Wenduo didn’t answer. He turned and looked through the narrow door towards the giant black tower in the distance.

“On the 17th, I attended a high level meeting. The information brought by the American researchers, I am sure that the high level government people didn’t know it. At least, it wasn’t reported to the country before that meeting. There are only two possibilities. One, the information was wrong and had no value, so there is no need to report it. Second, this information is very important and the inst.i.tute doesn’t dare report it casually. They need to verify it.”

“No matter the reason... it needs to be confirmed.”

Fu Wenduo calmly stated his purpose for returning to Beijing. Even standing in this crowded warehouse, his back was as straight as a pine. His eyes were firm as he stared at the black tower in the distance. He suddenly moved his gaze back and Tang Mo was caught off guard as their eyes met.

Both of them were a bit stunned.

The next moment, Tang Mo changed the topic. “The Tian Xuan organization can now be regarded as an enemy. They are very powerful and can clear the black tower’s second floor in hard mode. Their strength can’t be underestimated. I don’t know why they want to kill me or why the black tower is giving them information. Perhaps it is a task that the black tower has given them. In the best case, these four stowaways want to a.s.sa.s.sinate me and it has nothing to do with the Tian Xuan organization. In the worst case situation, the Tian Xuan organization wants to kill me and they will always know my coordinates. No matter where I escape, it won’t work.”

Tang Mo wasn’t saying these words to suggest that he should separate from Fu Wenduo and Fu Wensheng for their safety. Now that they were teammates, Tang Mo wouldn’t give up his companions so easily. He believed Fu Wenduo was the same. It was impossible to abandon a teammate just because of the Tian Xuan organization.

Fu Wenduo understood Tang Mo’s meaning and looked deeply at Tang Mo, waiting for his next words.

Tang Mo gritted his teeth as an awkward emotion filled his heart. Finally, he made up his mind. He raised his head and looked earnestly at Fu Wenduo. “From the garbage cleaning game to now, I haven’t seen your ability. Fu... Major, let’s formally take a look at your ability today. Knowing the functions and limitations of your ability will help deal with the Tian Xuan organization. I can also replicate the use of your ability to enhance my strength.”

Fu Wenduo didn’t expect Tang Mo to take him to this small warehouse because of this matter. He was surprised for a moment before smiling and holding out his hand. “Okay, it really is time to check my ability.”

Who would’ve expected that Tang Mo wouldn’t grab his hand? Only two seconds pa.s.sed but Fu Wenduo became aware of something strange. He frowned and was about to open his mouth when Tang Mo reached out and... touched him on the cheek.

Fu Wenduo froze, his eyes wide open and his smile was stiff.

Tang Mo had never seen this man look so shocked. Tang Mo suddenly felt calmer when he saw this person’s startled expression.

It turned out that this person’s brain wasn’t big enough to guess the real use of this ability.

Tang Mo smiled as he thought this. “Hrmm... I will touch your face this time.”

Fu Wenduo, “...?!!”

The author has something to say:

Old Fu: Hold hands~

Tang Tang: Touch face ~ [Smile]

Old Fu: EXM!!!!!!

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;