Tang Mo paid two coins for the exact location of the pier from a big, burly man in a flowery dress. The Circus of Oddities were holding a surprise night in seven days' time, and they had rented the best part of the Kingdom of the Underlanders, setting up their tent in the most crowded square in the centre of the Kingdom. The pier, however, was five kilometres away.
After twenty minutes of walking, Tang Mo looks up and sees the canvas of the dockside boats hanging high. He turns his head to Fu Wenduo and the two men nod. Tang Mo pulls his mask tightly around him, and with his hands in his pockets, he walks briskly towards the pier. Fu Wenduo disappears at his side.
Tang Mo walks towards the pier, keeping his eyes on the surrounding area. He is constantly on the lookout for possible players, but as he watches the people around him, he doesn't see any that look like players. All is calm and Tang Mo manages to make his way to a huge ship. He glanced at the words 'Circus of the Weird' prominently displayed on the canvas and stepped out onto the deck.
"Is this the Strange Circus boat?"
At the sound of the words, two circus members working on the deck turned their heads to look at Tang Mo. As soon as they saw the letters hovering above Tang Mo's head, they hurried over to him. One said in annoyance, "How long has it been, and why are you here now? We've paid you, Mr B. Don't be lazy, where's Mr A?"
Tang Mo said lightly, "He had a stomach ache and went to the toilet."
The tall circus member waved his hand: "Hurry up and take that monster away, it's so noisy that it hasn't let anyone sleep all night. The troupe leader had gone to the palace to send invitations to the honourable king and queen, and before he left he instructed that the disgusting creature should not be brought into the circus until the surprise night. The regimental commander has received information that the thieves have been trying to steal the creature, and they have set many traps near the circus."
Tang Mo frowned, "You can't take the monster to the circus for seven days?"
The shorter circus member interjected, "Of course, the thieves have already set up a net in the square, you're in a hurry to deliver the monster."
"So that means I have to be on the seventh day before I can send the monster to the circus?"
The Tall Man: "The seventh night to be exact."
Shorty "Not a second earlier."
Tall man: "Here, the cage where the monster is kept you see, it's right there. Let me remind you nicely that this monster it is afraid of the light, terrified of the light. If you leave it in the light for ten minutes, it will die of dehydration. You don't want to let it die, the chief said he would dissect it himself."
Tang Mo: "I know."
Tang Mo strides up to a horse-drawn carriage.
The huge carriage was about three metres high, two metres wide and four metres long. It was heavily set up on the deck of the sailing ship and Tang Mo tried to pull on its yoke, and with a fifth of his strength he managed to pull only half a metre. As he did so, there was a dull thud from the carriage, as if something had stupidly hit the wall of the carriage.
Tang Mo ponders for a moment, turns his head and asks, "Where are the horses?"
It is said to be a carriage, but it does not even have a horse, only wheels and a black cage placed on top, covered with a black cloth.
At these words, the taller member became angry instead, "Wow, you want a horse? You're lucky to have a cart, you don't need a horse!"
The short man pulled him back: "Ignore him, he's just a detective who can't lift his hands, can't even pull a wagon, and doesn't know why the chief hired them at a high salary to watch over this monster. If you ask me, we should be allowed to keep watch. It's just a monster, how can we let it get away? If someone really comes to steal it, I'll smash my fist through the bridge of his nose."
The two circus members finished their bragging and left Tang Mo alone to talk about a night out for drinks at the Banana Tavern.
Tang Mo was not interested in them either, as he pulled up the carriage with both hands and gave it a slight push, the heavy weight hitting the wall twice more in the cage. Soon Tang Mo steadied his speed and pulled the wagon step by step off the boat.
Because the monster was so heavy, Tang Mo didn't walk very fast. Each step he takes leaves a footprint half a centimetre deep on the ground. The wheels slide across the ground, two deep ruts burned into the mud. Once Tang Mo gets used to the weight, he gradually picks up speed and walks out of the dock.
Along the way, many people looked over curiously, as if they wanted to see what was contained in such a large cage.
Tang Mo, wearing a mask, walks calmly through the gaze of so many people. Suddenly, he glances at a short, middle-aged man in the crowd. The middle-aged man did not expect Tang Mo to look at him out of the blue when there were so many people. His eyes changed and he turned and ran. Tang Mo pulled the carriage with both hands and curled his lips slightly as he looked in the direction of the man running away, a faint smile floating on his face under his mask.
In no time at all, the huge carriage leaves the pier. Tang Mo turns a few corners in the street and disappears into the winding alleyways.
Setting the wagon and cage in a small abandoned building, Tang Mo craned his neck, loosened his muscles and sat down to rest. He waited patiently and ten minutes later, two men were thrown to the ground. Tang Mo glanced at the two men and looked up at Fu Wenduo: "Just two?"
An eccentric knight in armour stepped out of the darkness: "His accomplice was the only one. He spared five minutes at the docks before he went to meet this accomplice. Then I brought them in."
Tang Mo Mo touched the mask on his face to make sure his face wouldn't be seen before walking up and kicking the two players on the ground. He was about to speak when he suddenly realised he had to act a little more like an Underlander. His mind flashed through various Underlander bosses such as Mosaic, Mario, Pinocchio, Father Christmas ... Finally Tang Mo had a flash of a player in front of his eyes and he was silent for a moment and decided to imitate this person.
Tang Mo's head tilted with an impish grin, "You're the thieves who are coming to steal the monster?"
Those two players were beaten half to death by Fu Wenduo, but they were in good physical condition after all and Fu Wenduo did not give them any fatal wounds. The two men glanced at each other with a twinkle in their eyes. The short, thin man said first: "What monsters, we are not thieves. Who are you and why are you beating people up and tying us up here? We are citizens of the Kingdom of the Underlanders, and you are violating our civil rights like this and are wanted by the Kingdom Guards!"
Civil rights in the Kingdom of the Underlanders?
Tang Mo had no idea that these two players knew so much. But they had already cleared the first level of The black tower, so it was only natural for them to know such information. Tang Mo continued to imitate Bai Ruoyao with a disgusted laugh, picked up a wooden stick on the ground and poked one of the players in the face: "You want to steal something, the first people the kingdom guards will catch are you, not us."
"Who are you to say we're going to steal?"
"Exactly! What did we steal from you?"
From the beginning to the end, the two players did not look at the top of Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo's heads. It was as if they couldn't really see the two letters hovering above Tang Mo's head and were just proper citizens of the Underlander Kingdom.
Tang Mo was about to speak, but Fu Wenduo said directly, "I can't let them go, they'll keep coming back for more. Viktor, kill them?"
Tang Mo froze. It took him a few seconds to realise that the word "Viktor" was a reference to himself. Suppressing the strange feeling in the back of his mind, Tang Mo said, "Then let's kill it, Donji."
The two players' eyes widened in horror and they said urgently, "Don't kill us, we really didn't want to steal anything, we're just ordinary citizens ..."
Bang!
Bang!
Fu Wenduo withdrew his hand and with two sharp, crisp slashes, he knocked the two players unconscious. After making sure they had passed out, Tang Mo breathed a sigh of relief and stopped acting like Bai Ruoyao was a snake. He turned his head to Fu Wenduo: "Are you hurt?"
Fu Wenduo: "No."
Tang Mo looked down at the two players and frowned, "I thought I would have caught a few more players, but I didn't expect just these two. The other players were too well hidden, and in all probability they were at the pier just now, quietly watching me, but they didn't show their faces. Only this one," Tang Mo took a look at the short, thin man who had passed out, "was too stupid to reveal himself."
Before entering the dock, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo split up, one in the light and one in the dark.
The reason for splitting up was, for one thing, that it would put psychological pressure on those 21 players. Tang Mo is a king's gold coin in his own right when he appears on the dock in a generous manner. If the 21 players had started out by trying to rob the monster and only saw Tang Mo alone, they might have stopped. Because there is another Mr A hiding somewhere, they need to be careful and alert. Secondly, because Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo wanted to take the opportunity to catch some players and reduce their own opponents.
Walking down the road to the docks Tang Mo realised that the news that the strange circus was about to smuggle the monster in two days had spread throughout the Kingdom of the Underlanders. All the Underlanders knew that the strange monster was about to arrive at the docks, and most likely, the 21 players had gotten the news as well.
As soon as they knew, they headed for the docks to see what was going on.
With two letters on their heads, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo couldn't possibly hide their identities, but they could. They could have hidden in the crowd at the pier and secretly watched their future opponents to get more information. Tang Mo can barely spot them, they can clearly see Tang Mo.
Only this short, thin man ...
"Everyone was more curious about the car I was pulling and wanted to know what kind of monster was in the cage. Except this guy." Tang Mo took off his mask, got some air and said breathlessly, "His eyes rested on me for a minute. He was more interested in watching me than the box, more interested in seeing what kind of strength I had in this King's gold coin."
Fu Wenduo said, "It's just a pity that he is the only one of those twenty-one players who is so stupid."
Tang Mo said, "What is the strength of these two men?"
"Not great. In terms of pure force, this man is slightly worse than Jackass." Fu Wenduo said indifferently, pointing to the tall man and then to the short man, "This man is very poor in force, and his psychic ability is a flying sparrow. His sparrows screamed very loudly and seemed to be a sound wave attack. I took care of them quickly so I wasn't affected by anything."
Tang Mo: "It looks like these two are not above average on the ground floor of The black tower." After a pause, Tang Mo looks at Fu Wenduo: "Aren't you going to take your helmet off to get some air?"
The bulky, odd silver helmet hid the man's face as Fu Wenduo's voice trailed off, "No."
Tang Mo: "There are no players nearby." He had just used "A Very Fast Man" to avoid being followed by players. He could only use it three times a day, but in order to get away from players who might be following him, Tang Mo used it to speed up to this small abandoned building.
Fu Wenduo: "... helmets are too heavy and not very good to wear." So simply don't take it off.
Tang Mo: "..."
The two players have passed out and it is getting dark. By this time, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo finally have time to see what the creature they are about to guard looks like. The two of them walk up to the huge cage and Fu Wenduo pulls one hand around the corner of the black cloth and turns his head to look at Tang Mo.
Tang Mo: "You open it."
The next moment, the black cloth was quickly lifted and the monster in the cage appeared in front of the two men.
In the dim light, a huge anaconda-like creature, bent over the cage, was foolishly pushing its head against the steel bars of the cage, as if that would break them. Suddenly the black cloth was removed and the silly creature froze in mid-air for five minutes before it reacted and dully lifted its head to look at the two underground men in front of it.
Tang Mo had been prepared for this and sighed mentally at the sight of the creature.
Fu Wenduo's gaze swept over the large earthworm's body, "An earthworm?"
Tang Mo: "Well, it's still a big earthworm."
Fu Wenduo nodded: "The worm is indeed a bit too big and has the capital to be a treasure used by the circus for display. But ..." the voice stops abruptly. Fu Wenduo paused for a long moment and said in surprise, "Did you just hear that sound?"
Tang Mo's face was expressionless: "Well, I hear you."
Sensing Tang Mo's speechlessness, Fu Wenduo said, "Do you know this big earthworm?"
Tang Mo looked longingly at the whimpering earthworm and said with hatred, "I've known him for a long time. Two months ago, I took part in an S-rank copy, a safe copy, named by Luo Fengcheng. The main task of that copy was to kill a circus member who was guarding this earthworm, and I ended up releasing the worm by hand."
Fu Wenduo: "Did you release this earthworm?"
"If there's no mistake, it did get released by me." Tang Mo looked at the large earthworm, "There shouldn't be a second earthworm as stupid as it is and as big as it is."
Fu Wenduo's voice was calm: "Tell me about the copy."
Tang Mo tells it like it is.
In the dark silence of the building, a large earthworm is crying and crying, crying out that he is hungry and wants to see his mother. If you look closely, you will see that the worm is crying like a worm, but it has not shed a single tear. But he cries as if he were real, and even as he cries, he pushes his big head against the cage, and when he gets tired, he rests on his back and continues to do so.
Having established that the monster he's guarding is still the Great Earthworm, Tang Mo certainly isn't hiding what's going on in his copy of "Kill Bill". Every detail in the copy could be important information, and he will share it with his teammates to avoid any misunderstanding over the next seven days.
Meanwhile, in a small hut by the dock.
Five players gathered around a square sandbox in the middle. A young woman with short hair smoothed this sandbox out and then picked up a branch and gently drew on the sand. She drew quickly, and within a few strokes she had drawn a line. The most amazing thing was that as she did so, a map of the kingdom of the Underlanders slowly appeared on the sand table.
This is not a complete map of the kingdom, which is presented in a long strip, starting from the docks and ending in a wide street.
Finishing the last stroke, the short-haired woman closed her hand and said, "This is where he disappeared. Mr. Li and I followed him here to make sure he had spotted us, but in the blink of an eye, he disappeared, out of thin air."
The middle-aged man called " Mr. Li" agreed, "Good, I promise I didn't blink, but he disappeared right in the middle of the main road."
In the middle of the five, a svelte man with eyes pondered for a moment and said, "I've met the fast The black tower monster before."
The short-haired woman looked at him, "So Captain, what next, we've lost them. I can guarantee that not only have I lost them, but the other three teams have definitely lost them too. Apart from us, there are three other groups following that Mr. B. A conservative estimate is that there are at least five teams present in this assembled copy of ours."
A young man wondered, "Five teams? Aren't there only four groups following that Mr. B?"
Mr. Li laughed, "You're being silly again. Little Chen, wasn't there a man found by Mr. B on the pier. I reckon he should have been taken care of by Mr. A and Mr. B. If he had a companion, it would be even worse. He might have gone looking for his companion, assuming A and B are smart enough not to catch him first, but will wait until he finds his companion and catch him and his teammate together. He'd be fine if he was just alone and not dragging his teammates down. But rally copies are rarely entered solo, we all enter in groups of one. I'm guessing their team has already been killed by those two Underlander detectives."
Little Chen rubbed his head, "Hey, what do I care about that. Just ask the captain and Sister Lin about this kind of stuff, I'm the one who fights."
Five people laughing away.
The man with the glasses slowly curbed his smile as he reached out and drew a circle on the sand table. The circle he drew was near the street where Tang Mo had disappeared, and after a moment's thought, he erased it and drew a larger circle. He said, "There must be a deeper meaning in choosing this place to disappear. Most likely, this is where Mr A and Mr B landed. Lin Yi, you follow up on the circus. They may have sent the monster to the circus. The others are with me, let's go around here tomorrow."
"Yes!"
The short-haired woman named Lin Yi lowered her head and looked intently at the circle drawn by the man with glasses. After a long time, she asked, "Are Mr. A and Mr. B really underground people? Captain, it just occurred to me that it's possible that they are players, just like us."
The man with the glasses narrowed his eyes, "That's far too unlikely."
Mr. Li said, "Xiao Lin, the rally copy 'Surprise Night at the Circus of the Weird' can only be entered by players who have reached the first level of The black tower. In other words, all 21 of our other players have cleared at least level 1 of The black tower, and there may be some big boys in there who have cleared level 2 of The black tower. No player in the world has managed to clear The black tower level 3, and the best players have only cleared The black tower level 2. If Mr. A and Mr. B were two players, they would be facing at least 21 players on the first level of The black tower. Even if they were all at The black tower level 2, they wouldn't have won."
Little Chen echoed the sentiment: "Yes, the captain said that one of the most important principles of The black tower is fairness. It's impossible for two players to play against 21 of us. Unless The black tower thinks those two players can beat 21 people, come on, that's not possible. Even if they were at The black tower's second tier level, that's not possible. Is the difference between second and first tier levels that big, I don't believe it."
Lin Yi nodded, "I'll just say it."
Mr. Li laughed, "A woman's sixth sense? You really don't say, it's good to have a woman in the team, hehehehehe ... ouch!"
The young woman retrieved her feet and left the hut in high spirits, diving into the night and heading in the direction of the circus.
Banana Tavern, a private room.
The smell of blood wandered through the dimly lit, cramped booths. Or rather, the entire Banana Tavern smells like it. As soon as it was dark, countless underground people flocked to this far-flung tavern to order a fishy, spicy banana drink. The tavern is full of the stench of men's sweat, with a hint of the stench of their feet.
In the box, a bald man took a barrel of banana wine and gulped it down. When he finished the wine, the barrel revealed a broken hand, which actually had a ring on its middle finger. The bald man pulled this ring off and the pretty teenager next to him curiously went over to take a look and he laughed, "No frills, this banana tavern really isn't frills at all."
The bald man pushed the teenager away, "Get out of here, what are you looking at when I'm drinking. Don't you know you can't drink underage?"
The teenager licked his teeth, "I've killed people, and I can't drink?"
The bald man ignored him.
Four people sat in this booth, and all three ordered banana shots except for the teenager. A young woman picked up the glass of wine and took a taste before putting it aside in disgust. She said, "Is it really okay if we don't follow Mr B today? If he hides the monster and sends it to the circus on the last day, our chances of getting it are even lower."
"I thought there was a team to follow, four of them." The bald man tried to follow the example of the underground man and tried to take a bite of this human hand. But he only took a bite before he hurriedly put it aside. He still couldn't do something like eating a human, but drinking blood and wine was fine. "They go stalking just fine. They're following Mr. B. If we kill them, won't we know where Mr. B is?"
That made sense and the pretty teenager clapped his hands together and said excitedly, "So who are we going to kill tomorrow? I'm putting the bug on three stupid people."
"Whatever. Kill whoever you want!"
The woman clasped her arms and stared coldly at the three men in front of her as she said in a cold voice, "That Mr. B looks a bit familiar to me, I think I've seen him somewhere before."
The bald man looked to her, "You've seen this BOSS, in which copy was it?"
The woman thought for a moment, "I don't remember, I've been to too many copies."
The middle-aged man sitting next to him, who hadn't said a word, spoke up, "That Mr B showed half his face and looked okay, a Little Bai face. Gee, you can't see Little Bai face and not be able to do it, can you?"
The woman said angrily, "Get out!"
The bald man intervened, "Okay, okay, they don't look much different from humans, they may look like them. I think that Little Bai face has eyes like a former China star, what's his name ... anyway, he was a big hit with my old girlfriend."
The teenager laughed dangerously, "Just wait until you kill him, gouge his eyes out and take your time to see if they look like that."
The young woman gave the three men a stern glare, brushed herself off and left the box, walking out of the oozy Banana Tavern.
A similar situation is happening in many other places.
Some teams were three people, others were four. They gathered together to discuss their response for the next day.
The "One Very Fast Man" ability was so unbelievable that Tang Mo was able to shake off everyone's trail, and in tandem with Fu Wenduo, they caught two players directly. On day one, they managed to hide the big earthworm, catching 21 players off guard.
Fu Wenduo sat by his cage, looking down at the ground, wondering what he was thinking because he had improved his health and did not need to sleep. Tang Mo saw him not move for half a day and thought he had fallen asleep with his helmet on. He gingerly walked over to the cage and looked down at the huge earthworm.
The movement of the earthworm topping the cage stops and the big ugly, ugly earthworm turns his extremely ugly head towards Tang Mo as if he is looking at his face and trying to recognise who he is.
Tang Mo stood still and let the big earthworm look at him. The big earthworm cocked its head and just watched him for half a day. Suddenly, it rubbed its head against the steel bars of the cage, as if it wanted to touch Tang Mo.
It seemed to be recognized. Tang Mo reached out and touched the earthworm's head, while secretly thinking that if he got another tear from the earthworm, would it also be a prop that could heal wounds? Tang Mo was already thinking about how he could get another tear of the earthworm. But then a voice rang out in the room...
"Who is this underground man, looks a bit familiar. Oooooh my stomach is so hungry for food. His hands look quite tasty ..."
Tang Mo: "..."
Brushing back his hand, the big earthworm bites empty.
Tang Mo stares blankly at the big white-eyed earthworm in front of him. Tang Mo is not wearing a mask, it's only been two months and he can't recognise his saviour and has to eat his hand.
This time Tang Mo didn't hesitate any longer, he would just chop up the worm and get another worm's tear from it, no matter if the new tear could heal the wound, he had to make this guy cry! It was at this moment that a dull laugh came from his side. Tang Mo turned his head to look.
"... You didn't sleep?"
The oddly shaped Iron Knight wobbled and lifted his helmet and looked at Tang Mo: "Seven days without sleep is fine." The implication is that he's not going to sleep for the next seven days.
Tang Mo coughed twice: "Now we have hidden this earthworm. Those players shouldn't make too much noise for the first four days, they think we are the Underlanders, this is the Kingdom of the Underlanders, it's our territory, they won't do anything rash and will try to get as much information as possible. It won't be until the last day that it will be a real tie-breaker. There is no use hiding, on the seventh day we must deliver the big earthworm to the circus. By then, they will know where we are and will come to attack."
Fu Wenduo nodded, "Do you want to rest?"
Tang Mo can stay awake for a long time, but staying awake for seven days in a row is stressful for him. "I'll take a nap first," he says.
Fu Wenduo: "I'll keep watch."
Tang Mo walks straight to Fu Wenduo and sits down next to him, leaning against a crumbling pillar and closing his eyes to sleep. He needed to stay with his teammate, the closer the better, so that in case of a surprise attack, the two could move together.
In the darkness of the night, the large earthworm bumps the cage for a while and slowly falls asleep, snoring.
Tang Mo was originally sleeping against a pillar, with Fu Wenduo sitting on one side. He was fully armed and wrapped in armour so tightly that not a bit of skin could be seen. Suddenly, a head leaned on his shoulder. Fu Wenduo is slightly stunned. The next second, he calmly stretched out his hand and pushed Tang Mo's face back.
Tang Mo: "..."
Tang Mo actually woke up when he accidentally touched Fu Wenduo's shoulder. He had had enough sleep and didn't want to go back to sleep, but Fu Wenduo pushed his head back so straightforwardly that his eyes fluttered and he didn't feel comfortable waking up at this point, it was too embarrassing.
Tang Mo's head rests against the pillar, the corners of his mouth twitching as he continues to pretend to sleep.
Before the night passed and the sun poured down on the earth, Tang Mo rose with open eyes, took the black cloth from the ground and covered the cage directly.
The big earthworm's gurgle bubble broke at once, he was confused for a moment, then remembered his business and continued to top the cage over and over again, "Oooooooooooooooooooo hungry, ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ..."
Just because he tried to eat Tang Mo's hand before, Tang Mo won't give him anything to eat for 3 days, he has to stay hungry.
The next day came and Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo took a closer look at their surroundings. They did not find any sign of the players. It seemed that the players had not yet found the small building and had not discovered them.
Tang Mo: "The initial plan worked, no surprise, they won't find this place." It's so far from where Tang Mo disappeared that it's almost half a kingdom capital away. "What's really important in this game is not how to beat those 21 players, but to complete the mission and send the big earthworm to the circus while staying alive. The bottom line is how we get the big earthworm to the circus in six days."
In fact, Tang Mo never really wanted to go head-to-head with 21 players. He was confident that he could break out from the 19 players (two of whom he had already caught), but he was only 10% sure of defeating that many players. With the addition of a Fu Wenduo, he was 30% sure.
What he wanted all along was to win the game.
This game is halfway there, the last half being the seventh day.
Tang Mo has already come up with an idea: "When I was clearing that S-rank copy, I found that this earthworm has a feature. It is very good at drilling holes and hitting the ground very fast. In this way, in these six days we can ..."
A clear child's voice interrupted Tang Mo and he listened with dismay as his face slowly sank.
"Ding Dong! As the best detectives in the Kingdom of the Underlanders, the clever Mr. A and Mr. B played those stupid little thieves for fools. 21 human players were annoyed and angry, not realizing that Mr. A and Mr. B never put them in their sights. O foolish humans, is this your tactic?"
"Triggers the effect 'Disdain from a Famous Detective'."
"'Disdain from a Famous Detective': every third day, at 12 noon, 21 players can learn information about the location of the monster."
"Dingdong! O youngsters from Earth, bravely defeat the enablers Mr. A and Mr. B and save the poor monsters!"
Fu Wenduo: "..."
Tang Mo: "..."
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The author has something to say.
Tangtang: MMP, don't stop me, I want to kill that The black tower! I accidentally leaned on Mr. Fu's shoulder, and Mr. Fu pushed me away, but now The black tower wants to mess up too!
Mr. Fu: ... #I actually pushed my daughter-in-law's face