Spring is here and everything is coming back to life. The elfin grasslands are in mating season again. The sun is shining brightly on the turquoise grasslands and the green grass reflects a light golden colour. The elven savannah is picturesque and everything is peaceful and beautiful. Behind the hillside, a kangaroo is burying its head in the ground and eating the grass. Suddenly, the kangaroo lifts its head and looks into the distance with its arms hanging over its chest.
Boom!
The fire rises from the ground, over the hillside, and lights up half the sky.
The little kangaroo's eyes widened in terror, and he ran. A black figure leapt up from the back of the hill and slammed to the ground. Tang Mo didn't even hesitate when he hit the ground as he frantically ran forward. Behind him, a sea of fire soon followed. Hundreds of grassland animals also fled as fast as they could.
If you look down from above, the fire looks like a flood. The animals fought their way out in front of them, while the flood of flames rolled in from behind.
Mosaic's big match is that once something is lit, it must be burned clean before the flame will go out. Tang Mo wasn't sure if the fire would actually burn down the entire Elven steppe, but he couldn't afford to bet on it. And as he expected, he'd been in the third floor of The black tower for two hours, and he'd been running since he'd entered the game, and the fire hadn't stopped until now.
Tang Mo gradually became aware that his strength was decreasing.
With his previous strength, he would have been exhausted after 20 minutes at most. Now he's run for two hours, and he's sprinting against the flames, so it's rare that he's made it this far.
Tang Mo estimated his strength and said, "Another half hour at the most and we'll definitely be overtaken by those animals behind us. If they catch up with us, we will soon be caught up by Mosaic's fire."
Things definitely can't go on.
Tang Mo has not seen Mosaic since he entered the game. Mosaic should be hiding behind this sea of fire.
Grassland fires and forest fires also occur regularly on Earth. Such fires are deadly, and even though they can be doused without the causal effect of a Mosaic match, it is still very costly to stop them. The most common method is to create a containment zone.
"They just said that Mosaic has set fire to the meadow again. Again, that means it's not the first time Mosaic has done this." Tang Mo pondered as he ran quickly, "Since they've done it once before, these The black tower monsters must know how to solve the problem."
Yes, Tang Mo had never heard of this elfin savannah. No sooner had he arrived and had no time to check out the terrain than he was forced to run by Mosaic's fire. His best option was to follow the fleeing animals. The latter had experience and would certainly know what to do.
Ten minutes later, however, Tang Mo cursed through gritted teeth, "They have better stamina than I do!"
At these words, a giant brown and black patterned sideburns leaps past Tang Mo. As it passed Tang Mo, it ran with its head in the air, but suddenly it seemed to notice something and looked back at Tang Mo in surprise. The sideburns muttered, "Eh, a subterranean? Or a human?" He then had no time to think and continued his escape.
First a giant sideburn dog overtook Tang Mo, then several four-legged monsters from The black tower did the same.
This time it was Tang Mo's miscalculation. He hadn't realised that the black tower monsters might indeed know how to escape Mosaic's fires, but they were far more physical than Tang Mo. Perhaps if they ran at full speed for four hours they could escape the flames and find a suitable containment area. But Tang Mo won't last four hours.
One by one, The black tower monsters overtook Tang Mo, and when the last of the golden gophers swished under his feet, Tang Mo was the last of the pack. The flames behind him were still two kilometres away, and the black tower monsters in the grassland ran off into the distance, becoming tiny black shadows.
Three minutes later, these The black tower monsters disappear into the sky. Tang Mo narrows his eyes and in the next second, he suddenly stops in his tracks and turns back with a brush. Tang Mo pulled out his small parasol and quickly recited an incantation, pointing the tip of the parasol at the ground and drawing a large circle ten metres in diameter. Then he stomped his feet and, without resting at all, drew another large circle of twenty metres in diameter with the same centre.
By the time he had finished drawing the two concentric circles, the fire was already approaching a kilometre ahead.
Tang Mo dropped his small parasol and pressed his hands to the ground. With a cry of anger, he exerted all his strength and used the powers he had received from some power-enhanced player. A black glow shone between his hands as Tang Mo grabbed the layer of turf and yanked. A ring of turf was plucked from the ground.
Tang Mo flung this turf into the middle of the small circle and three seconds later the fire came roaring to life.
Tang Mo sat on this thick layer of turf, holding a small parasol, and watched expressionlessly as the fire continued to burn around this improvised barrier he had created. The fire forms a circle around Tang Mo. No one would have guessed that there was a human player sitting silently in the middle of the fire in the Elven Savannah, wiping his sweat and drinking water.
Two hours passed and the flames dwindled. After another half hour, the fire was completely extinguished.
As Tang Mo had reckoned, there was indeed a certain barrier in the Elven Savannah where he could run to avoid Mosaic's fire. Tang Mo wanted to run there with The black tower monster, but circumstances changed and he had to make another choice - to create a barrier of his own.
Without The black tower monsters, Tang Mo would have chosen to do so at the beginning. But with those monsters in place, he couldn't do so. Because once he offered to make the barrier, when it was finished, the black tower monsters would not be facing Mosaic's fire, but a fresh human player.
Being surrounded by hundreds of The black tower monsters is not a good experience. So Tang Mo waited until all the monsters had left before he was left alone in the quarantine zone.
"These The black tower monsters do seem a bit silly."
Tang Mo wiped the sweat from his face. His skin was red from the fire and his body temperature had exceeded 40 degrees. As the fire died down, Tang Mo's body temperature returned to normal. He finally had time to check his surroundings.
The whole of the Elven steppe, except for the circle ten metres in diameter where Tang Mo was, was scorched to black with flames.
The fire that Mosaic set was not without its benefits for Tang Mo. Without it, he would have had to face hundreds of The black tower monsters upon entering the game.
Tang Mo takes a few more sips of water to moisten his dry lips. His hair, damp with sweat, rests in tufts on his forehead, and Tang Mo pulls it back with his hands.
Since he entered the game, The black tower has not given any hints about the mission.
The fire burned the grassland to a crisp, and every place looked exactly the same. Tang Mo looked at the position of the sun in the sky and decided to walk in the direction of the sun. This way at least he would not get lost.
Tang Mo set foot on this black scorched earth.
Every ten minutes he walked, he carved a pentagram into the ground as a marker. He walked for a long time without seeing a single person. Walking on this scorching ground, Tang Mo gradually felt the soles of his feet burning. He lifted his foot and saw that the sole of his rubber shoe had been burned with a black mark. Tang Mo ponders for a moment and pulls a pair of boots out of his backpack. He took the sneakers off his feet, threw them to the ground and replaced them with the boots.
This is a shoe repaired by the iron cobbler for Tang Mo.
With these shoes, the hot soil no longer burns the soles of the shoes.
Tang Mo makes his mark as he goes along. When he reached a burnt-out dead tree, he knelt down to carve his 135th mark. Tang Mo wiped the sweat from his forehead and was about to get up when suddenly a chill ran down his spine and came from behind. He quickly turned his head to look behind him, only to see a pair of small black eyes peeking out above the scorched earth, staring straight at him.
Tang Mo's hand was pressed against the handle of the small parasol, keeping a wary eye on the eyes. Soon, however, his eyes swept aside. Around the small eyes, the soil squirmed gently, as if something was about to come out of the ground.
Almost instantly, Tang Mo realised what it was and he ran.
Boom!
The dirt was lifted and a huge black stink bug leapt out of the ground. A sharp whistling sound emitted from its mouth, which reached Tang Mo's ears and caused a pain in his brain. It was as if a tiny needle had pierced his brain through his eardrum and Tang Mo bit his lip so hard it bled. The stinging sensation brought him to his senses and he ran again with all his might.
But just as he ran, one soil-breaking sound after another rang out from behind him. Pair after pair of tiny black eyes poked out of the ground. Dozens of black stinkbugs screamed shrilly as Tang Mo, hands over his ears, leapt over the obstacle and ran with all his might. Behind him is a dense swarm of black insects.
One bedbug he might be able to handle, but with so many, no matter how strong they are, Tang Mo doesn't want to take them head on.
What is unknown is dangerous. This is the third floor of The black tower, and no monster is too strong to be underestimated.
Tang Mo ran forward as hard as he could, leaping over a hill and a gully. The insects seem to have identified him, wriggling their eight long legs and running towards him screaming. Suddenly, a crack of wind comes from behind Tang Mo. Tang Mo subconsciously sidesteps it and he rolls on the ground.
A beam of black liquid fell on the spot where he had just been. The liquid splashed onto the ground, eroding the earth in an instant. Tang Mo's eyes slowly widened as he watched the scene.
"... Shit!"
Tang Mo turns his head and runs again.
A tiny human runs ahead in the vast elven grassland, followed by dozens of stinkbugs. Tang Mo is not as strong as these The black tower monsters, and after an hour of running he is overtaken by the lead black stink bug. The sturdy foot swung hard and struck Tang Mo in the chest. Tang Mo reacted quickly and opened his parasol to block it.
The black foot hit the parasol and Tang Mo was knocked off his feet. With this force Tang Mo tries to run again, but another giant stink bug is already in front of him. Dozens of giant bedbugs soon surround him, and Tang Mo looks at them calmly. The next moment, his mouth opens and he takes a deep breath as a violent storm erupts from his mouth.
The powerful hurricane winds blew the bugs out of the way. Tang Mo seized the opportunity to escape again, but the force 8 winds only caused the bugs to take two steps back and attack again. Tang Mo bent down to avoid one foot, but a second one came swinging at him. He opened his parasol and dodged through them.
The sound of clanging metal was heard one after the other. There were so many of them that Tang Mo was struggling to avoid them. He kicked one of the insects in its hard shell and jumped into mid-air. He flipped his left hand and a huge match appeared in his palm. Tang Mo bellowed angrily and the match head slid hard into the shell of the bug. Sparks erupted as Tang Mo used the big match to light up the bug's body. But just as the match touched the bug's shell, Tang Mo's eyes widened and he looked at the match head in disbelief.
A huge insect foot slapped Tang Mo out of the air and threw him to the ground, where he rolled to avoid the attack.
... Mosaic's matches won't light this bedbug!
Tang Mo's heart sank for a moment. As he deflected the bedbugs' ample attacks and dodged their venomous jets, he thought about what to do. All his powers went through his mind, and considering that the big matches had failed to do any damage to the bugs, Tang Mo gritted his teeth and came up with one last power.
"No need for 'a soon man' until the last minute ..." Tang Mo rolled over to avoid a blow.
On the grassland, dozens of stink bugs are frantically attacking the humans in the middle of the encirclement. Tang Mo can only dodge the stink bugs with his thin figure, and while these bugs are terrifyingly strong and hard shelled, their downfall is obvious: they are too big. Trying to catch a tiny human is no easy task for them either.
The wind blew across the scorched earth and, not far away, a few dark patches of mud slowly loosened. Before long, however, the dirt was dug up and two huge, slimy heads appeared beneath it.
These are two giant earthworms.
They looked blankly at the distant battle, cocking their heads and making strange hissing noises.
"Hiss, are the stinkers killing the groundlings."
"It's human, it's human."
"A human? I can't believe it's a human, hiss, he's so miserable, the bedbugs must have eaten him."
The two large earthworms hissed and whispered a few words before intending to return to the earth and leave it alone. However, after burying their heads back together, they hesitated to dig a hole and leave. After a long time, the hissing sounded again.
"... hiss, why do I think that human is so cute and want to save him so badly."
"Hiss, I want to save him too ..."
"Hiss Hiss Hiss ..."
On the other side, Tang Mo struggled to avoid the two stink bugs. The situation was urgent and he gritted his teeth and decided to use one of his very fast man powers. But just as he was about to use his powers, a digging sound came from beneath his feet. Tang Mo heard the sound keenly and alertly ducked aside. Before he could duck far enough, the soil broke open and Tang Mo was about to flee with a glare from his feet, when a huge round head knocked him off his feet.
Tang Mo's eyes widened in shock and when he looked back he was pinned to the back of a huge earthworm. The two large earthworms grab Tang Mo, twist and turn and run underneath. Before the stinkworms can react, they have already carried Tang Mo a few dozen metres.
The stinkbugs let out an ear-splitting roar as they pushed hard on their eight feet and began to dig.
In a few moments, however, a figure had disappeared from the grassland and dozens of large craters were left on the ground.
Tang Mo held on to the link of this large earthworm for dear life. The two large earthworms hissed as they ran. Tang Mo listened carefully for a while not understanding what they were saying. And he certainly didn't know that the two big earthworms were in the mood to say as they ran away -
"Hiss, he's so cute, I'll carry him, okay."
"Hiss me to carry it, you go away."
A faint pink glow is shimmering beside the large heads of two large earthworms.
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The author has something to say.
Tangtang: Why do I have an ominous feeling that I've just left the tiger's mouth and entered the wolf's den ...
Earthworm One: Hiss, he's so cute~!
Earthworm #1: Hiss, he's cute, I want to carry him!