The Earth is Online Chapter 116-117

Chapter 116

A minute ago, Tang Mo said that the black rabbit was a black tower boss because he didn't know the rules of the game. The Russian black rabbit doll was more familiar with the truth clock than Tang Mo. It knew how to start the game and how to enter it smoothly.

The entry password given by the black tower was: he is a human player.

After thinking about it, Tang Mo could only give a similar answer to the logic of the black rabbit: it is a black tower boss.

Obviously, this wasn't the truth.

He just needed to give a truth and he would enter the truth clock game.

Truth was the key to entering the game.

Tang Mo roughly twisted his clothes and stared coldly at the black tower on the other end of the clock. His gaze was drawn from the round head of the black rabbit to the bottom of its clumsy cylinder. He looked calm like he was thinking of something. He watched for a while before smiling, releasing his clothes as he sat on the floor.

Tang Mo's smooth entry into the game made the black rabbit angry. He didn't want this human to enter the game. It would've been best if the human had directly died at the beginning. The black rabbit was stunned and then angry when Tang Mo suddenly sat on the ground. "You stinking human, don't think you can win just because you entered the game. I have eaten countless of your kind on the truth clock."

Tang Mo looked at it quietly without opening his mouth.

"A self-righteous human like you can never survive three rounds on the truth clock."

Tang Mo still didn't talk.

The black rabbit, "…"

The black rabbit was furious. "Human, what the hell are you looking at?"

"You really can't leave?"

The black rabbit was startled. Just now, this human already knew that the rabbit was trapped on the truth clock and couldn't move one step. So why was he asking this question again? The black rabbit's expression changed and it showed a sinister smile. "I can't go out or eat you…"

"You must be angry because you are envious of me. I can sit while you can only stand."

The black rabbit stopped speaking and stared blankly at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo looked up and smiled slightly. “It's not a big deal. I'm just pleased to see you angry.”

The black rabbit stared at him. Then after a full 10 seconds, it flew into a rage. "Human!!"  

The black rabbit jumped up angrily and slammed violently into the ground, causing the earth to shake constantly. Tang Mo's body was forced to rise and fall but he didn't show a single trace of worry. He smiled as his eyes stared intensely at the black rabbit doll in front of him. His smile became deeper as he saw the opponent's irritated and insane performance.

Yes, after understanding the game, Tang Mo's first strategy was to anger the black rabbit.

In the process of conversing with this black rabbit, Tang Mo discovered that it was very grumpy. It kept talking about eating him and would jump up and down when angry. If the truth clock hadn't blocked access, Tang Mo did not doubt that the other side would directly rush over to eat him.

However, this was the truth clock game.

Every 10 minutes, 2~58 items would appear on the truth clock. These items could be divided into groups of two and each group must have a truth separate from the other groups.  Players needed to find items with independent truths and eliminate them.

This was a game that required rational analysis. To put it bluntly, it was the truth clock version of the pattern matching game. Violence did not affect the result of the game. Tang Mo couldn't kill the black rabbit and the black rabbit couldn't kill Tang Mo. The only thing they could do was individually crack the truths, eliminate objects and advance in the squares.

“The player who is caught will fall into the black hole of truth…" Tang Mo muttered and raised his head to find that the black rabbit was no longer so angry. It stared at Tang Mo with red eyes, its thoughts unknown. Tang Mo thought for a moment before shouting, "Don't you want to eat me?"

The black rabbit's red eyes were angry again. However, it just sneered. "Human, I know what you are thinking."

Tang Mo asked calmly, "Then what am I thinking?"

The black rabbit just casually retorted and hadn't expected Tang Mo to actually ask.

Tang Mo waited a few seconds but the black rabbit didn't speak again.  Tang Mo's lips curved and he answered. “I was thinking, your nose is a bit big.”

The black rabbit, "…"

The black rabbit slammed into the ground but it wasn't as angry as before.

One person and one rabbit faced each other. Tang Mo looked down at the blue clock under his feet but the black rabbit's gaze was always on Tang Mo. 10 minutes passed and then there was a sharp sound. Tang Mo squinted and saw six beams of blue light flashing in the centre of the truth clock.

The light became brighter and brighter until Tang Mo and the black rabbit couldn't open their eyes. The lights dimmed and Tang Mo saw six objects. He was shocked after he saw them clearly.

Meanwhile, the mechanical voice filled the black space.

"The time is 0:10. Location: the truth clock. Six objects rich in truth have appeared."

"After one minute, players 0 and 6 please eliminate the truths."

These words fell and a loud sound was heard at Tang Mo's feet. He looked down and saw that the second hand suddenly started to move. The second hand moved in a clockwise direction. Every time it moved, the six items on the truth clock trembled.

Tang Mo was startled. It had already started!

There was no time to hesitate. Tang Mo quickly turned to look at the six items on the clock.

On the huge clock that was shining blue, six seemingly ordinary things were placed firmly in the centre. From left to right, it was a TV set, an old-fashioned desk lamp, a table, an owl, a longbow and… a bowl of half-eaten soup.

Tang Mo looked at the TV set and lamp and had a vague answer in his heart. He also guessed something when looking at the table and longbow. Finally, his eyes fell on the bowl of soup and the owl.

Tang Mo looked at the owl and the owl looked back at Tang Mo.

The two looked at each other until the owl slowly tilted its head. "Hoo."

Tang Mo, "…"

What truth could exist between a bowl of soup and an owl?

The second hand at Tang Mo's feet ticked away. 30 seconds had passed. Tang Mo's eyes continued to linger between the owl and the soup. The owl was a very ordinary owl. The bowl of soup was too far away so Tang Mo couldn't smell it, taste it or see what was inside.

Tang Mo stared for a while before suddenly looking up at the black rabbit opposite him.

The black rabbit was also staring blankly at the bowl of soup and the owl. It noticed Tang Mo's eyes and a glimmer of panic flashed on its face. It exclaimed, "Human, what are you looking at?"

Tang Mo licked his lips.

Once the time actually arrived, the black rabbit was no longer so stupid and it didn't make a mistake.

One minute was too short. Once the second hand pointed to the 0 o'clock position, a blue transparent wall appeared in the air. It slammed into the centre of the truth clock, just above the owl's head. The owl didn't react at all. It just stared at Tang Mo before twisting its head to look at the black rabbit.

"Player 6 o'clock, please eliminate the truths."

Tang Mo looked through the blue wall and saw that the black rabbit was opening its big mouth to say something. But Tang Mo couldn't hear anything. This wall insulated the sound of both sides to prevent cheating.

Tang Mo spoke in a calm voice, "The TV and old-fashioned lamps are electrical appliances. The single truth between them is that they are created by humans and must use electricity to function."

A blue light flashed around the TV and lamp.

Tang Mo continued. "The truth between the table and the longbow is that they are made by humans, are available to be used and are wood products."

The table and the longbow glowed blue.

At last, Tang Mo looked at the bowl of soup and the owl. He took a deep breath before breathing out lightly. The next second, Tang Mo calmly said, "The single truth between the bowl of soup and this own is… this is a bowl of broth. There is meat on the owl and there is meat in the soup. The television, lamp, table and longbow, none of these four items have meat.  Meant is only found in this bowl of thick soup and the owl."

Tang Mo stared at the owl and soup while talking. Slowly, a blue light shone on these two objects. The owl found that it was flashing blue and let out a scream, but it was trapped in an invisible cage and couldn't fly out.

The blue wall gradually faded away and all six objects disappeared from the truth clock.

The second hand stopped moving and the massive hour hand under Tang Mo's foot slid clockwise to the left.  At the same time, the minute hand under the black rabbit's feet also moved counterclockwise.

Both of them looked at this scene with amazement.

Initially, Tang Mo and the black rabbit were separated by 30 squares. Now the two of them had moved clockwise and counterclockwise, each sliding one square.  The minute and hour hands under their feet suddenly had a distance of 28 squares.

“Players 0 and 6, please go to the right square according to the hour and minute hand direction.

Tang Mo walked into the position indicated by the hour hand. He stared at the floor, his brain working quickly.

The truth between the TV and the lamp was undoubtedly correct. The truth between the table and the longbow was also simple and shouldn't be wrong. According to this, the only way he could make a mistake was with the owl and soup. Every successful elimination of a pair of items allowed the player to advance one space. If the truth used to eliminate the items was a fallacy, then they would move back one square.

Right now, he only moved one space, indicating there must be something wrong.

“The TV and lamp, the table and longbow, these two were correct, so I moved two squares forward. The truth between the owl and thick soup is wrong and I moved back one square. That's why I ended up only moving forward one square.” Tang Mo secretly thought in his heart. However, the next second, he jerked his head and looked at the big rabbit.

He saw the black rabbit jumping to the new square, causing the ground to shake. It saw Tang Mo looking and showed a weird smile on its ugly face. It licked its sharp teeth and said, "Hey, I will eat you."

Tang Mo's eyes widened.

This was wrong!

The questions were so simple. Why did the black rabbit answer wrongly?

Tang Mo moved clockwise but the black rabbit moved counterclockwise. He smoothly stepped forward while the black rabbit stepped backwards. The situation might be that the black rabbit answered two truths incorrectly and one correctly, forcing it to take a step back. This allowed the distance between the two squares to shorten.

The table and longbow and the TV and lamp were so obvious.  Perhaps the black rabbit gave the wrong answers because it wasn't familiar with human society?

An unknown feeling entered Tang Mo's heart and his fingers tightened. Then he heard the voice of the truth clock again. “Player 0 has triggered the level three grey fallacy and Player 6 has triggered the level four false truth.”

"Player 0 had advanced  one square and Player 6 has moved back one square."

"Opening Schrodinger's punishment box."

Tang Mo's eyes were cold as he heard the phrase 'moved back one square." He didn't have time to reflect on what went wrong as a knife shot out from behind his head.

Silver knives suddenly appeared in the air. They fired at Tang Mo from every direction and were very fast. This narrow space wasn't suitable for using the small parasol, so Tang Mo used his quick reaction rate to dodge constantly. On the other side, the black rabbit's punishment also arrived. A blazing fire instantly swallowed up the black rabbit, burning its wooden body. The black tower gave a terrible cry. The black tower was obviously punishing it but it shouted, “Ah, I want to eat this human.” Then it rolled on the ground, trying to put out the fire.

On the truth clock, one tall and thin youth evaded the flying knives while one black rabbit doll rolled around in the fire.

Three minutes later, the fire went out and the flying knives no longer appeared.

Tang Mo's chest moved up and down as he gasped roughly. His forehead was covered with sweat and his whole body was taut from dodging the flying knives. Still, he didn't rest for a second as he immediately looked up at the black rabbit not far away. The fire blackened the black rabbit's body but it wasn't burnt up due to the unknown wood that it was made of.

The black rabbit rolled one more time to put out the fire before standing up. It looked at the silent Tang Mo and grinned. It deliberately looked at the gap between their squares and looked surprised. “Oh, why did I suddenly get so close?” There was a fake smile on its face as the black rabbit laughed hoarsely. “Hehehe… I said that I would eat you.”

At this moment, between Tang Mo and the black rabbit, there were only 28 squares left.

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Chapter 117

Bonus chapter due to meeting ko-fi goals. Thanks for all the supporters!

Tang Mo lowered his head and didn't speak.

…There was something wrong. There must be something wrong!

The truth clock confined Tang Mo to a square that was one meter. He simply leaned back against the invisible wall and bowed his head to think about the problem.

The TV and lamp, the table and longbow.

Between these two pairs of items, one of the truths that he found was wrong.

In this game, Tang Mo started at 6 o'clock and he was Player 6. The black rabbit stood at 9 o'clock and was Player 0. Just now, the truth clock said—

"Player 0 can advance one square and Player 6 has to move back one square."

The truth clock said that Tang Mo moved back one square.

It meant the direction this clock was moving in was counterclockwise. Going counterclockwise was the way to move forward. He had just moved clockwise, which meant he had moved back.  

"All the items on the truth clock are limited to a common truth between only two objects, in other words, there is one single truth." Tang Mo whispered to himself.

Just now, Tang Mo had moved back one square. This proved that the truth of four out of six items was wrong and only the truth of two items was correct. Among them, Tang Mo was most uncertain about the owl and the bowl of soup. However, he was confused about which two of the remaining four items were wrong.

Whether it was the TV and the lamp or the table and the longbow, perhaps the truth he found wasn't the only single truth. There were other separate truths between these two objects. There was no doubt that what he found was definitely a truth.

Tang Mo lowered his head, his face cloudy and uncertain.

In the end, he gave a long sigh. "The truth is determined by the black tower."

It could only be explained by this answer.

The individual truths that Tang Mo found weren't wrong, but they might be different from the truth recognised by the black tower. If that was the case…

Tang Mo looked up coldly at the black rabbit.

The black rabbit was humming with delight. The distance between it and Tang Mo was shortened. It shook its strong body excitedly, humming an unknown song. It looked like many black tower monsters that Tang Mo had seen, who liked to sing out of tune songs and wanted to eat players. It seemed stupid and was easily provoked. But it had moved forward one square while Tang Mo had moved back one.

Perhaps it was because the black rabbit was a black tower monster. It had a better understanding of the truth clock game and knew how to pass the game. This caused Tang Mo to pay more attention to it.

He couldn't underestimate every opponent.

Tang Mo put his hands in his pockets and rubbed the gold coin in his pocket. He wouldn't use the king's gold coin until he had to.

Five minutes before the next round of items appeared, Tang Mo once again sat on the ground and looked up at the black rabbit. The black rabbit saw Tang Mo sitting on the ground and its mouth slightly twitched. It snorted with disdain and turned to look in the other direction. Then Tang Mo asked lightly, "Which did you get wrong?"

The black rabbit didn't expect Tang Mo to ask it this type of question and sneered at Tang Mo. "Stupid human, do you think I will tell you?"

Tang Mo looked at it calmly and didn't speak.

One human and one rabbit looked at each other silently. Five minutes passed and 16 blue rays flashed in the centre of the truth clock. Tang Mo was startled when he saw so many flashes of light and then his lips curved. Risk was accompanied by opportunities. The more items there were, the more squares he could advance if he succeeded in eliminating the right items.

"The time is 0:20. Location: the truth clock. 16 objects rich in truth have appeared."

"After one minute, players 0 and 6 please eliminate the truths."

The long second hand started moving again. Once the truth clock announced that the players should prepare to eliminate the items, he inadvertently looked up and found that the joy on the black rabbit's face was even more apparent. Its expression was astonished, followed by ecstasy and then relief.

Tang Mo frowned. Was there anything among these 16 items that it was familiar with?

There was no time to think about it. Tang Mo carefully observed the 16 items. The items that appeared on the truth clock this time weren't as simple. There were three things Tang Mo had seen before and one item he knew, but his face sank when he saw this item.

It was banana wine.

Tang Mo had once seen Tang Mo take out this banana wine to treat the short-haired girl who was near death.

The presence of the banana wine suggested that the items in the black tower world could also appear on the truth clock. Thus, it was even more unlikely for Tang Mo to find out the separate truth behind them. Time was limited. Tang Mo first looked at the 13 items he knew and quickly discovered the separate truth between several pairs of items.

Finally, he stared at the banana wine and the three strange items. The three items were:

-A grey mouse with a small horn on its head.

-A transparent blue stone with a red water droplet suspended in the middle.

Finally, there was a plushy thing that looked like it had a lot of fur.

A minute later, the second hand stopped at the 12 position and the blue wall slowly descended towards the head of the little grey mouse.

Tang Mo and the black rabbit gave their own answers. Whenever Tang Mo gave a response, the two items he mentioned glowed blue, showing they were selected. He finished with 12 items and his vision moved towards the remaining four items.

Tang Mo stared at the four items. His mouth opened before closing.

The blue wall slowly rose and Tang Mo looked at the black rabbit not far away. He found that the black rabbit's expression also wasn't good. He raised an eyebrow and waited for the truth clock's answer.

Click.

The clock hands at the feet of Tang Mo and the black rabbit started to move at the same time.

The hour hand under Tang Mo's feet moved two squares to the left, meaning he had to move back two squares. On the other side of the clock, the minute hand at the black rabbit's feet moved four times!  Tang Mo saw this situation and the corners of his lips curved. "You have to move back four squares?"

The black rabbit's expression constantly changed until it finally roared, "Shut up!"  

"Player 0 has triggered a level three grey paradox and Player 6 has triggered a level three grey paradox. Player 0 has moved back four squares and Player 6 has moved back two squares."

The moment the voice ended, a weak suction force appeared at Tang Mo and the black rabbit's feet.  The suction was hard to detect at first and Tang Mo only felt that his body was becoming heavier. By the time he discovered that something was wrong, he looked down and found there was a small dot on the ground that had become the size of a bowl.

The black dot grew larger and the suction force became fiercer. Once the black dot became a black vortex with a diameter of half a metre, the horrible suction pulled at Tang Mo's clothes. Tang Mo moved to the edge of the square and held the invisible wall with his hands, stabilising his body. The black rabbit's condition was worse.

None of them expected that the punishment given by the black tower would be this black vortex. The black rabbit's body was a Russian cylinder doll. It couldn't stabilise its body with its hands and feet like Tang Mo. It could only jump around the square in a disorderly manner, using the force created by the jumping to offset the suction.

The suction force became bigger and Tang Mo felt a burst of pain from his scalp, like his hair was being pulled out by the roots.

Finally, three minutes passed and the black vortex disappeared. Tang Mo picked up his pants with a blank expression and looked at the opposite side. The black rabbit was lying on the ground with a tired expression and couldn't move. At this time, Tang Mo was extremely thankful that the underwear he wore today was tight and it wasn't sucked off. He was glad that he attacked the tower alone. If there were other people such as Fu Wensheng and Fu Wenduo…

Tang Mo coughed and suppressed these thoughts.

In this round, Tang Mo moved back two squares and the black rabbit moved back four squares. It seemed like both of them were retreating backwards but Tang Mo's retreat was less than the black rabbit. Tang Mo said, "Ah, how are we suddenly so close?"

The black rabbit stared at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo's lips curved. "It seems that we have returned to our original point?"

Tang Mo stood on the 33rd square while the black rabbit stood on the third square. The distance between the two of them had changed back to 30 squares.

The author has something to say:

Tang Tang: [Pulling up pants with no expression]

Old Fu: …[Strongly demanding to attack the tower together!]  

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Chapter end