The Earth is Online Chapter 9-10

Chapter 9

The weather was cold in late November and Tang Mo was wearing a wool sweater and a coat. A cold and sharp object was pressed against his lower back, poking a small hole in his thick clothes.

Tang Mo maintained his bent position without moving. He realized that it was a knife.

The man couldn't wait. "Dammit, give me your wallet! Quickly! Otherwise, I'll cut you up!"

Tang Mo said quietly, "If you pull the knife back a little bit and let me stand up, I will give you my wallet."

“Stop speaking nonsense." The man moved the knife back a little bit.

Tang Mo stood up, sensibly not turning around as he handed over his wallet. In just a moment, his wallet was taken away. The rough male voice yelled, "Fuck, is that it? That car is yours, is the key in it?"

"It is in."

"Don't move or I will hack you to death."

Tang Mo didn't turn around as the knife was removed from his lower back. He heard the other person open the door and try to start the car. After confirming that it would start, the door was slammed shut.

Tang Mo asked loudly, "My baggage is in the trunk. Can you let me take it?"

The car started for a moment before stopping again. The man said impatiently, "How can you speak about such trifling matters. Your baggage is also mine, fuck off."

"It is getting colder. Let me take some clothes. Brother, I will freeze to death on such a cold night. Just one piece of clothing is good."

The man swore a few times before opening the place, placing the knife against Tang Mo's waist again and said coldly, "Hurry up and take a piece of clothing. Otherwise, I will be forced to kill you."

Tang Mo turned around and saw this person clearly.

The man had greasy hair and there were grey spots and stains on his clothing. After discovering that Tang Mo was looking at him, the man seemed like a frightened animal that didn't want others looking at him. He gulped and said, "Hurry and take your clothing." He had used the knife in the past.

Tang Mo nodded.

This man was a thief.

Tang Mo walked to the trunk and opened it.

“What is this thing? A match?" The man asked with a strange expression.

Tang Mo leaned over to take his suitcase and his hand ended up slashed by the lock on the trunk. The sharp lock crossed the delicate skin of his palm, leaving only a shallow mark. Tang Mo's eyes narrowed and his left hand directly grasped the match, forcibly swinging it behind him.

"What is this match? You…ah!"

The giant match slammed into the man's head, causing blood to flow out.

Tang Mo didn't expect this match to have such great power. In his hand, the match wasn't heavy and it felt like an ordinary wooden match. But there was that loud noise just now and it felt like an iron stick was in his hand. Listening to the man's voice, he seemed to be feeling great pain.

It was likely that a normal man's head would've been smashed. The man just staggered back and raised a bloody face, looking angrily at Tang Mo. "I will slice you apart!!!"

He raised the knife and rushed over.

Tang Mo's chest was tight as he escaped to the right while raising his left foot, slamming it into the man's belly. The man cried out and the knife slashed at Tang Mo's lower leg. His pants were instantly cut but the sharp blade only left a shallow, fingernail-like mark on Tang Mo's skin. The knife made a creaking sound, like it had hit something hard.

The man clutched his stomach and rushed over again.

Tang Mo reacted very quickly, raising the match to meet it.

The sharp blade and the wooden match collided with each other and there was a loud sound.

The knife broke in two.

Tang Mo, "…"

The man, "…"

Tang Mo didn't think that the match had such great power, but he quickly recovered and waved the match at the man. The man was very close to Tang Mo due to the previous slashing action and he couldn't escape from the stick. However, just as the match was about to hit his head again, countless red bills suddenly fell from the air.

Tang Mo had never seen so many 100 yuan bills. It was like a small hill. The countless hundred yuan bills fell from the sky, forming a wall between the match and the man. It served as a buffer for the man and he was only knocked to the ground.

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me…"

The man trembled and begged for mercy.

Tang Mo stopped the action of a blow. He lowered the match and leaned down to touch the money.

“Where did you get so much money? Where did they come from?"

These were real hundred yuan bills!

The man looked at the giant match with fear and explained, "I am a thief. This morning, all the people on the streets suddenly disappeared and I stole a lot of this. This afternoon, I ran to a bank and…took all the money that could be found."

This wasn't what Tang Mo wanted to know. "Where did you hide the money?"

The man raised his right hand and showed him a light blue tattoo on the wrist. "I took it out from here. I…When I stole the money, I found that I could place the money in this tattoo. I've had this tattoo for a long time and can only store money in it. Just now, I was almost killed by you and subconsciously took the money out of the tattoo…"

Tang Mo nodded and looked down at the tattoo on the man’s wrist.

There was a flash and a half-foot long knife emerged and headed straight for Tang Mo's eyes.

"Die for me!"

The giant moved quickly through the air. Tang Mo didn't block as he broke the knife. The red matchstick moved in an arc and struck the man's head. There was the sound of something breaking and the man's eyes were huge, as if he couldn't believe Tang Mo and the match in his hands. Then the heavy body crashed to the ground.

Tang Mo's face changed as he touched the man.

"…He's dead."

Tang Mo watched the dead man with a complicated expression. He stared for a moment before raising the man's right hand and carefully examining the pattern on the wrist.

The night was too dark and he had been a bit far away. Tang Mo didn't notice until now that the tattoo was a '￥' symbol. Then he picked up the man's left hand and found that the tattoo on the wrist was that of a knife.

Tang Mo watched for a moment. Suddenly, the tattoo disappeared and two knives appeared on the ground. His heart jumped and he looked at the man's right hand. The '￥' had also disappeared and there was another pile of 100 yuan bills on the ground.

Tang Mo headed to the car and took out a book.

He turned to the second page and as expected, new lines of text appeared on it.

[Ability: I have a worst spiritual field than a protagonist]

[Owner: Qian Sankun (Stowaway)

[Type: Special Type]

[Function: Seal the object in contact with the body and present it in tattoo form.]

[Grade: Level 2. Can store two types of inanimate objects]

[Limit: Only objects of the same type can be stored and no bodies can be stored.]

[Remark: Qian Sankun never imagined that not only was his spiritual field worse than a protagonist's, he would die from a match!]

The words were all black and at the bottom, there was a line of red words.

[Tang Mo version usage instructions: Disposable items. Only the same type of object can be stored. Not replaceable. Friend, think about what you want to store?]

"Stowaway?"

Tang Mo stared blankly at this word for a long time but couldn't think of anything. He could only temporarily give up.

He might want to slap the book but this was his ability. Tang Mo quickly understood the man's ability and how to use it.

Qian Sankun was a thief and he also awakened an ability. His ability was to store inanimate objects in his body that could be used at any time. As long as they were the same item, the number of storage capability was unlimited. Tang Mo didn't know what the ability grade was, but it was assumed that this ability could be upgraded. Qian Sankun could only store two types of objects.

He chose money and knives.

Truly a short-sighted money. In this situation, money had no effect and was just a waste of paper. However, Qian Sankun was reluctant to give up money.

Qian Sankun was a bit clever. He knew how to deceive Tang Mo by saying his money was stored in a previous tattoo, not revealing his own ability. This gave him the chance to attack Tang Mo with the knife tattoo. Fortunately, Tang Mo had never relaxed his vigilance.

Unfortunately, if the second object that Qian Sankun was another type of weapon instead of money, he might've had a chance to survive.

Tang Mo looked at the cold corpse of Qian Sankun on the ground and then the knife and money. He didn't hesitate to press the giant match against this wrist. There was a red flash of light and the match disappeared. Then a small matchstick tattoo appeared on Tang Mo's left wrist.

The power of the giant match was beyond Tang Mo's expectations. Storing the match meant it could be used as a hidden weapon. It would be less threatening when he later met people like Qian Sankun.

Tang Mo looked down at read the book.

The name of Qian Sankun's ability had become—

[Ability: I have a worst spiritual field than a protagonist (Used)]

He turned to the first page again. The first page recorded his own abilities and nothing changed from before. But Tang Mo didn't give up. He stared at the book. After five minutes, a line of text slowly appeared.

[Remark: Tang Mo clearly knows that when he killed that man, he ate everything from the other party and didn't give any money.]

Tang Mo's eyes became smaller and the fingers holding the book trembled.

"Is it really only murder…"

A minute later, another line of words was seen.

[Note: But how can I tell Tang Mo that he could get other people's abilities without killing?]

Tang Mo, "…"

Bang!

A book was mercilessly tossed by its owner into the pile of money.

Three minutes later, Tang Mo coldly picked up the book. He grabbed a handful of bills and buried Qian Sankun in his favourite thing, money. After completing all of this, he took the book and continued driving to Shanghai.

————-

The author has something to say:
Tang Mo: Can I apply for a change in abilities? (/= _ =)/~┴┴

Ability Baby: You can't╰(*°▽°*)╯ ~~~

Fu Wenduo: When do I get to come out ?_?

————-

Haha, let me give you a bit of an explanation. 'I have a worst spiritual field than the protagonist.' Qian Sankun's ability can be regarded as a spatial power, but unlike the characters of other stories, his ability can only store inanimate things. His field doesn't allow him to farm and grow rich.

Chapter 10

The road from Suzhou to Shanghai was blocked. Before accelerating to a high speed, Tang Mo had to push two vehicles that were blocking the road.

Yes, he pushed the cars away alone.

After the black tower incident, Tang Mo discovered that his physical condition and psychological qualities had greatly improved.

Let's look at the change in physical conditions. His strength increased, his eyesight improved, his recovery capacity increased and his skin became as hard as iron.

When Qian Sankun allowed Tang Mo to open the trunk to get his clothes, Tang Mo had deliberately tested the hardness of his skin against the trunk's lock. The palm of the hand was one of the most delicate parts of a human body. The sharp lock moved across his palm but there was no wound or even pain. Therefore, Tang Mo decisively decided to fight Qian Sankun. It was precisely because of this increase in physical condition that Qian Sankun's knife failed to cut through his calf to his bones, only leaving a trace of blood.

In addition, there was the improvement in psychological quality.

Tang Mo had never won a certificate of merit as a student but he also never did anything bad. He wasn't a petty thief and was too lazy to cheat on exams.

This was the first time he had killed someone. It might be self-defense and an accident, but he had killed Qian Sankun.

Yet apart from the momentary panic and helplessness, he soon calmed down and thought about what to do next.

He didn't know whether he had become cold-blooded because of the change in his body or if this was actually him.

Tang Mo looked at the book in the passenger seat before shifting his gaze back to the front and continuing to drive.

Due to the need to clear the road, the one hour drive was stretched out. The sky was the white of dawn when Tang Mo just entered the boundary of Shanghai. He was two kilometres away from the toll station when he saw seven cars rear-ended and blocking the highway.

Tang Mo got off and touched a car.

Creak.

There was the loud and clear sound of tires moving across the ground. The seven cars were seriously collided. The front four cars had been crushed while the fend in the middle of the expressway was crooked. Tang Mo moved from the back car towards the front car. He exhausted half his strength and finally reached the first car.

“A luxury car?" Tang Mo laughed loudly.

The first car was a Maserati sports car. The fiery red body was smashed. A luxury car was hit like this. The tires were stuck and not rolling around.

The cold winter wind blew as Tang Mo forcibly pushed the Maserati. He prepared to open the door of his car when he suddenly stopped moving and turned. "Who?"

The only answer was the rustling of wind.

Tang Mo didn't open the door. He stood by the car with his finger pressed to the match tattoo on his wrist. He coldly asked again, "Who's there?"

There was still no one.

Tang Mo wasn't in a hurry as he stepped towards the pushed Maserati. He placed his feet lightly and his body was tense as he remained alert to possible changes. He placed his hand on the Maserati's damaged body and was about to pull it open. Then he heard a trembling voice. "Don't, I…I'm coming out. I'll come out myself. I mean no harm."

Tang Mo raised his head and looked at the young man who walked out from behind the Maserati.

It was a black-haired young man with a height of 180cm, wearing a thin white shirt and jeans. His clothes were torn and stained with blood. He had several injuries on his body but they were scarred and no longer bleeding.

In the cold wind, the man's lips were purple and his hands trembled as he raised them. He walked out of the car and watched Tang Mo in a horrified manner.

“I’m the owner of this car. I don't have any ulterior motives. I saw you earlier. If I was going to attack you, I would've done it when you were pushing the cars."

Tang Mo watched him for a moment before asked, "Why didn't I find you when I was pushing the car?"

The young man explained, "I was hiding under the highway. It is too cold here. The area with grass is a little warmer. I was driving back to Shanghai from Nanjing yesterday morning. I had just arrived in Shanghai when the car behind me suddenly crashed into me. When I woke up, I found myself thrown out of the car window. However, I wasn't dead. Then I discovered…" There was a hint of fear on his face. "I found no one in the rear-ended car. There wasn't even a drop of blood!"

Tang Mo looked at him indifferently and didn't relax his vigilance. "They have disappeared. You might've been unconscious due to the car accident and missed the black tower announcing the start of the game. Now there are less than 500 million people left in the world. The others…" Tang Mo pointed to the rear-ended cars. "They had disappeared."

The young man's eyes widened in fright and he froze in the cold. He looked at the cars who rear-ended him before looking back at Tang Mo and whispering, "My family is in Shanghai. You are going to Shanghai. You…can you take me? I saw that you are strong enough to push these cars out of the way. I will give you how every much money you want if you give me a ride."

Tang Mo heard these words and smiled softly.

The young man was bewildered.

Tang Mo replied, "I am going to Shanghai. It doesn't matter if I give you a ride. But do you think that money is still useful in this world?"

The young man was startled and his face gradually whitened. It seemed that he only just understood what type of world this had become.

Tang Mo got into his car and the young man got into the passenger seat. Tang Mo quietly lifted the book on the seat and put it on his side. He had just placed the book when it slowly disappeared. Tang Mo was a little surprised but quickly regained his calm. Then he drove with the youth to Shanghai.

“My name is Li Wen." The young man wrapped himself in the coat Tang Mo lent him and said with a shiver, "Thank you. I just woke up less than two hours ago and ran to the front toll booth. However, no one was there. I didn't know what to do and returned to my car. It wasn't long until I saw you. You really have a lot of strength. My windbreaker was in the car but the car was crushed. I couldn't get it out and also died of being frozen."

"My name is Tang Mo." Then he asked casually, "You don't have a lot of strength?"

Li Wen shook his head. "It isn't very much. I can't push the cars away and I also couldn't take out my windbreaker."

"But you aren't dead."

Li Wen stared blankly at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo drove with one hand and spoke lightly, "There was a big car accident but you survived. You haven't lost your arms or legs. Don't you think something is strange?"

Li Wen was dumbfounded.

Tang Mo didn't say anything more while Li Wen looked down and didn't know what to think. However, his thoughts were revealed by the expression on his fact. Tang Mo glanced at him and knew this person must be thinking about what changes were happening in his body and how he was still alive.

Tang Mo seemed to be driving easily but his attention was always on Li Wen's body.

During these times, being alone might be safest but having a companion was a good thing. Li Wen should've participated in a black tower game like him and won. He couldn't take this type of person lightly. But based on his observations, Li Wen seemed to be a silly and rich second-generation son who wasn't a threat.

If he really let such a silly person stay on the highway, Tang Mo thought…this person might really die.

Li Wen spoke. "Can you tell me, what did the black tower announce while I was unconscious?"

Tang Mo briefly described the black tower incident.

"Are you going to Shanghai to find relatives? I am very familiar with Shanghai. Do you need help?" Li Wen asked.

Tang Mo had been to Shanghai several times but he wasn't a local person. It would be hard to find someone. He said, "I am going to the north to find a student. I only know her name and plan to find her file at her school. If she isn't at school, I will go to her home to find her." There was nothing he could do if she wasn't in any of these places. This was the only thing he could do for the huckster.

Tang Mo didn't mention that he was planning to find a friend. Everyone had something to keep back and he didn't want to have a heart-to-heart with Li Wen.

Li Wen asked, "The north of the city? It is in the Jing'an District. My home is there and I went to junior high there. I'll go with you."

Tang Mo looked curiously at Li Wen.

Was this person really silly or was he so shrewd that Tang Mo couldn't tell what he was thinking?

Tang Mo thought that it was likely to be the former.

Li Wen wore the coat and spoke a lot more once his body became warmer.

“We will go down the highway and pass through the city first. At that time, I will help you find the person. Do you know what class the child is in? If you know the class then it is easier to find the file."

"I only know her name. Yes, she is in the first grade."

Li Wen nodded. "That makes it a little easier to find."

Li Wen hesitated for a moment before asking, "Can I ask Tang Mo, do you know… what is happening with the black tower? Why did some people disappear and some people not disappear?"

He said so much when he just wanted to ask this sentence.

Li Wen had been unconscious until now due to the car accident. He missed a whole day and didn't have a lot of information. He offered to help Tang Mo for a reason. On the one hand, he wanted to thank Tang Mo for bringing him back to Shanghai. On the other hand, he wanted to obtain information about the current situation.

However, his question showed that he didn't participate in the black tower game.

Tang Mo frowned slightly.

People could survive without playing the game? He licked his lips and pondered for a moment, thinking about how to answer Li Wen. But as he prepared to speak, a loud and cheerful song rang out through Shanghai.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Let’s all say thank you.

We will all say thank you.

On this special day!"

The children's chorus sounded after the bright female voice. The pleasant and joyous song wasn't compatible with the dead city but they continued to sing. Tang Mo braked directly while Li Wen raised his head in a panic. They stared at the black tower hovering over the centre of Shanghai.

After the entire song of 'thanks' was sung, the flashing lights on the black tower disappeared. Tang Mo held his breath and stared at the black tower.

Then he heard—

"Ding dong! In China District 1, Stowaway Fu Wenduo has successfully opened the first floor of the tower. After three minutes, players in all of China's districts will begin to attack the tower!"

"Ding dong! In China District 1, Stowaway Fu Wenduo has successfully opened the first floor of the tower…"

"Ding dong! In China District 1, Stowaway Fu Wenduo has successfully opened the first floor…"

The black tower broadcasted the information three times.

Tang Mo's eyes widened as the phrase 'begin to attack the tower' constantly echoed in his ears." The next moment, his vision turned black and his entire body fell.

The author has something to say:

Black Tower: Thank you Fu Wenduo~! [Sprinkle flowers] ~o(*≧▽≦)ツ

Sugar Sugar: Who is Fu Wenduo?!!  I want to chop him up (╬￣皿￣)凸!!!

Fu Wenduo: #My wife wants to chop me up. What should I do?#

Chapter end