When the black tower cue was finished, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo had already left the Nanpu Bridge. As quickly as they could understand their situation, they didn't panic and started to take stock of their current surroundings.
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo split up and check both sides of the alley. They were in a narrow, dark alleyway, so narrow that only one person could enter and exit freely. Tang Mo checked one end of the alleyway and returned to say, "There is a small river over there, no one in sight."
Fu Wenduo also finished checking the other side: "I have a street there."
Tang Mo's eyes lit up.
"There were very few people, only three or four passing through. They don't dress like players, more like underground people." Fu Wenduo paused and looked up at the glowing letter above Tang Mo's head, "This letter looks impossible to remove." As he said this, he reached out and touched the letter 'B' on the top of Tang Mo's head, but his hand penetrated the letter completely and could not touch it.
Tang Mo: "You heard it just now, Fu Wenduo."
"Twenty-one players who have cleared the ground floor of The black tower, as well as you and me?" Fu Wenduo said, "I hear you."
Tang Mo looked at him steadily, "Those twenty-one players are all at the first level of The black tower. Last month, The black tower was forcibly opened on Christmas Eve, forcing many players to play the tower. According to my estimation, in the month and a half since Christmas Eve, there are at least a thousand players around the world who have cleared The black tower level one after another. This is the case with Chen Shanshan ... Chen Shanshan is a member of the Atak group. So it's not surprising that twenty-one The black tower level 1 players in Shanghai have made it to this rally."
Fu Wenduo: "At this stage, the standard of players varies."
Tang Mo nodded: "Yes. The two players I met when I was raiding the second level of The black tower were your brother and Bai Ruoyao. To be honest, your brother is very smart, but he's not particularly good, he'd be in the middle of the pack among the players on the first level of The black tower. But that Bai Ruoyao guy is different. I think he's a player on the first level of The black tower, but he's good enough to get through the second level of The black tower, he just didn't attack it."
There are many reasons for not attacking the tower, and the fact is that most players don't want to attack the tower. Even Tang Mo, who has the principle of not attacking the tower if he can, is forced into every attack by The black tower.
Tang Mo was noticed by The black tower for Mario's Monopoly game and had to play The black tower level 1. Then he was noticed by The black tower again for the Iron Shoemaker game, forcing him to play the second level of The black tower. Bai Ruoyao is very strong, but it is not impossible that he has never attacked the tower, as long as he stays out of the game and is not noticed by The black tower, he will not be forced to attack the tower.
Tang Mo is not afraid of the normal Tier 1 players who have cleared The black tower, he is worried about the Bai Ruoyao type of player who is far above Tier 1 but only Tier 1 status.
"Twenty-one players, if they are all at an average tier level, our chances of winning are already low. Suppose another one or two of Bai Ruoyao's level appear in there ..." Tang Mo's expression gradually gloomed.
Fu Wenduo curled his lips, "The king's gold coins are only two."
Tang Mo froze and looked up at Fu Wenduo.
Fu Wenduo pointed to himself, then to Tang Mo: "Twenty-one players, two kings' gold coins. There are many monks and little meat ..." Just after saying the word, as if he felt that there was something strange about comparing himself to meat, Fu Wenduo paused for a moment and continued, " Tang Mo, for those twenty-one players, they are not companions. "
There were only two King's Coins in total, but twenty-one players. In the Pinocchio game, the eight Tang Mo players fought over one King's Gold coin, killing one on the spot and sending three others to the Tower Attack game. Nowadays, it seems easier to get the king's gold coin, just kill them and you get it. But can those players come together in unison?
Only two gold coins.
Tang Mo understood what he meant and did not answer. He gave a sudden laugh, "Are we companions?"
Fu Wenduo looked calmly at Tang Mo.
Tang Mo: "Kill Mr. A and get one of the King's gold coins. Mr. Fu School, kill you ... I can get one gold coin of the king?"
Fu Wenduo, with a calm expression, asked rhetorically, "Kill Mr. B and I get a king's gold coin too?"
In the dark and dim alleyway, the two men looked at each other. After a long time, Tang Mo said, "2V21, fuck it or not?"
Fu Wenduo curled his lips: "Bottoms up!"
Having decided to accept this extremely unfair game, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo set out to leave the alleyway. First they tried everything to see if they could hide the two flashing English characters above their heads. Unfortunately, the light of the two characters could not be concealed, whether by covering them with their hands or by blocking them with their clothes.
Since this was the case, the two did not force the issue and, after carefully observing the surroundings outside the alley, left the alleyway in a big way.
Not many people were walking down the street and they didn't look at Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo, nor did they seem to notice the two glowing letters on their heads. Tang Mo walked up to a two-metre tall man and exposed the letter "B" on his head in front of his eyes. The man glanced at Tang Mo and walked around the side, clutching a jar of sweet honey.
Tang Mo: "They can't see the letters above our heads?"
Fu Wenduo observed for a moment, "It seems to be invisible. But that doesn't mean the player can't see it."
Tang Mo nodded: "Let's go to the Strange Circus first. Our mission is to make sure the monster is not stolen by the players within seven days. First we have to find the monster." Tang Mo took out a thin advertising leaflet from his backpack. Fu Wenduo looked at it curiously and Tang Mo said, "This is the advertising paper for the Strange Circus that I got with props earlier, it has the map to the Strange Circus on it."
Tang Mo points to a crude hand-drawn map in the bottom right-hand corner of the advertising paper, and the two quickly recognise the way and follow it to the circus.
This piece of advertising paper was created when Tang Mo used Mario's hat to bang out during a 'fun game of gopher in Monster Valley'. The stinky hat gave Tang Mo a lot of weird junk to bang out, except for some useless pegs and a half-eaten stinky pie, but Tang Mo kept all the other useful-looking items in case he could use them later.
Fu Wenduo looked at the map thoughtfully, and then at the top of Tang Mo's head. It was as if he had guessed something, but in case his teammate, whom he didn't yet know well, really flipped out in anger and turned to the 21 players, he just hooked the corners of his mouth and didn't say what he guessed.
With this map, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo managed to find the Cirque du Freak.
As they stood in front of the magnificent circus, Tang Mo's eyes widened in amazement at the huge dome tent that exceeded his expectations. It was a huge tent that was about to cover the sky, just like the tents every circus likes to use, with colourful ribbons tied around it, and the breeze made the ribbons flutter in the children's favourite bright colours.
Yet the tent was too big. It no longer even looked like a tent; it looked like a building, a huge building. Compared to it, anyone becomes a tiny insect.
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo stood at the entrance of the circus and looked at each other. Without speaking, they both understood what the other meant -
Look for an opportunity to sneak in.
Before the two could move, however, a shrill voice came from behind them, "Oops, you're finally here!"
Tang Mo's hand quickly presses on the handle of the small parasol, and Fu Wenduo turns without a word to look at the short midget who is jumping and running towards the two men. The dwarf runs up to Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo, less than a metre tall and reaching Tang Mo's thighs. He was wearing a green hat and saw Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo. He opened his mouth wide to speak, but before the words could come out, "Ah ... Ah Qiu!"
A huge green snot bubble appeared on the dwarf gnome's nose, and he sucked back the disgusting snot with a strong gulp. Wiping his nose, the short midget crossed his arms and said discontentedly, "Mr. A, Mr. B, we paid for this too, what is the point of you dilly-dallying and not arriving until today!" With that, he opened those big bronze eyes and gave Tang Mo and the others a vicious glare.
Because he was so funny looking and the way he sucked his nose was so disgusting, Tang Mo didn't find his glance to be very damaging., , and
Tang Mo ponders for a moment, "You know who we are?"
The dwarf bounced hard on the ground, "Is there anything else in the kingdom of the Underlanders that I don't know about as a sneezing spirit? Aren't you Mr. A," he pointed at Fu Wenduo, "and aren't you Mr. B?" Then he pointed to Tang Mo. The Sneezy said proudly, "You think I'm blind for writing such big words, I just love sneezing, it's not like I can't read. It's written clearly above your heads."
Fu Wenduo's eyes flinched as he played it cool: "Oh? You can read the words above our heads."
Sneezy: "That's for sure."
"But the other people on the street, they don't seem to see it."
Sneezy was suddenly furious: "Can those stupid people be compared to our weird circus employees? We're all on the public payroll and have proper occupations! Is it anyone's privilege that only our circus employees can see the words on your heads in the entire kingdom of the Underlanders?"
Fu Wenduo: "Only you?"
"Of course there's only ..." The voice stopped abruptly and the sneeze goblin said resentfully, "Well, that and the big bad guys who are coming to steal the monsters, they can see the writing on your heads too."
At these words, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo narrowed their eyes, their minds each spinning rapidly.
Without further ado, Tang Mo began, "Where is that monster? You take us to it." They had to find the monster before those players did.
Sneezy: "Ah, it's not here."
Tang Mo: "What?"
"The chief only caught it yesterday and hasn't even managed to smuggle it over from the monster world yet. It's today that it's going to be secretly sent back to our circus. Speaking of which, Mr. A, Mr. B, why don't you guys hurry up and pick up the monster from the pier? If we let the bad guys steal the monster ...," the sneezing spirit's eyes widened in horror, as if remembering something horrible, "It's over, it's over, the ringmaster will kill, the ringmaster will kill us all!"
Sneezy ran around Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo three times in a panic. After three laps, the sneezing spirit looked up and was surprised to find Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo still in the same place, "Why don't you go to the pier and pick up the monster?
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo have no idea where the pier is. They stood still, quietly watching the sneezing spirit and hiding their emotions.
When the sneezing spirit saw their appearance, his face changed and he shouted some more, asking Tang Mo and the two of them to hurry up and fetch the monster. But they did not move. The Sneezy finally couldn't help himself, he turned red and took out five copper coins from his pocket: "I'm so mad at you, you just want money! Here, this is the deposit the headmaster asked me to give you, so go and fetch the monster, don't let the bad guys snatch it away!"
Tang Mo took the coin. The two men still stood still.
Sneeze Goblin: "..."
A minute later, the sneezing goblin cried, "Okay, okay, all ten copper coins for you. That's really all the deposit the chief gave me. You guys go now, that monster can't be snatched by the bad guys!"
The Sneezy went straight for it, pushing Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo into the intersection. Before Tang Mo could say anything, Sneezy fled back to the circus and lifted the tent to get inside. Covering his heart in fear, he pulled a silver coin out of his pocket and smiled wickedly, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, I'm still the sneezing spirit who's clever enough to hide the big head in secret."
"Brush-"
The door to the tent was pulled open and the sneezing spirit's eyes widened in fear as he turned to look over.
Tang Mo was surprised to hear this, and Fu Wenduo stood behind him as he lifted the tent and looked at the dwarf. The sneezing gnome looked at Tang Mo dumbfounded, still holding a small silver coin in his hand.
Tang Mo looked down at the silver coin and said, "I actually came to ask you ... how to get to the pier?"
Sneeze Goblin: "..."
A minute later, Tang Mo took a silver coin and ten bronze coins from the sneeze goblin and walked to the dock.
Fu Wenduo: "The king's gold coins can discard the game, will the silver and bronze coins also serve any special purpose?"
Tang Mo shakes his head: "I'm holding these coins, and The black tower doesn't give me any hints. At least for the moment, we don't know what their special purpose is, so maybe they're just ordinary coins. Santa said earlier that even he only had eight of the king's gold coins, so special coins can't be that good, and I'm more inclined to think that these are really just coins."
Fu Wenduo nods slightly.
Tang Mo added: "I had also gotten coins from Granny Wolf before, but The black tower suggested that I could trade them for other items. In the eyes of The black tower, the coins are not as important as the other items."
Fu Wenduo caught the point: "You know Granny Wolf well?" Tang Mo didn't ask, and he never told Tang Mo what he had encountered in the Iron Shoemaker game.
Tang Mo thought for a moment, "... is kinda familiar?" He seems to be barely Grandma Wolf's granddaughter?
The two men did not dwell on the subject.
Halfway down the road, Tang Mo stops and looks at a tailor's shop on the side of the road.
Tang Mo: " The black tower still adheres to certain principles of fairness in the game. There are twenty-one opponents and only two of us. Before the game started, The black tower didn't disclose our names to the other twenty-one players, but told them that we were codenamed Mr. A and Mr. B."
Fu Wenduo added: "At the same time, they don't know whether we are players or underground people."
The two men looked at each other, turned together and walked into this tailor's shop.
Ten minutes later, a tall, handsome bard and a knight in armour emerge from the tailor's shop. A grey visor hides the lower half of Tang Mo's face, revealing only a pair of calm eyes. He wears a pointy grey hat with white feathers in the brim, tall leather boots wrapped around his legs and a piccolo tied around his waist, at first glance resembling a fairy-tale bard.
He turned his head to Fu Wenduo.
Fu Wenduo went even further, wearing a formidable suit of armour, silver in colour and tall and handsome. It is a handsome outfit, with a long sword tied around his waist, and if Fu Wenduo had worn it, it would have been very medieval, but he wore a silver helmet that completely blocked his face. This makes him look unconventional and odd, as if he were an eccentric knight, which is a bit funny.
Tang Mo thought that he had done a good job of hiding his face with his mask so that even if the players saw him, they wouldn't recognise him. But Fu Wenduo had this trick up his sleeve.
He looked at the eccentric knight with the armour on his head and iron attire and suddenly felt a little amused. He said, "They don't know we're players, so this will make them think we're Underlanders and be less defensive, and prevent them from running into players they know. But since we have to disguise ourselves as Underlanders, it's no longer convenient to call us by our names." Tang Mo thought for a moment and said, "How about your name is Donji?"
Fu Wenduo's face was hidden in his helmet and Tang Mo could not see his expression. He heard a low male voice ring out from the helmet, "Change your name, I take your surname Tang?"
Tang Mo knew he had misunderstood: "It's not the surname Tang, it's Donji from Donji Kord. You look ... quite a bit like him like that." Quite like the crazy, wacky knight.
Fu Wenduo pondered for a long time, "Your name is Viktor."
Tang Mo suddenly froze. He looked at Fu Wenduo, and his eyes widened slightly. In his chest, he heard his heart beating fast, and someone he had buried in his heart for a long time suddenly came back into his memory.
An indefinable emotion welled up in his heart and after a long time Tang Mo asked, "Why am I called that?"
Fu Wenduo's expression is blocked from his helmet, but Tang Mo can feel the man's gaze on him. Fu Wenduo answered quickly, faintly: "The end of another Christmas, red drenched in stars and stripes. Ode to Martial Law, for Viktor Voroskirsky. You're a bard, which suits the name."
Tang Mo slowly came back to his senses and he laughed, "Okay, I'll call Viktor then. Come on, Donji, go find the monster."
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The author has something to say.
Mr. Fu: We agreed to change our names, my last name is Tang, you can call me Viktor.
Tangtang: ... Who changed names with you?