Chapter 102: "Dingdong! Two thousand one hundred and forty-two million players have successfully loaded the game ......"

The sky is dark, with only a single thin star hanging in the east, close to the horizon in the vast night sky. Tang Mo withdrew his eyes at the first sound and looked towards Fu Wenduo. His fingers tightened and then slowly loosened.

Fu Wenduo: "Go in first."

Tang Mo: "Good."

The two men entered the service station quickly. Fu Wensheng was already on his feet, waiting for them by the door.

Every highway in China is built in a rural area, and the service station where the Tang Mo trio are currently staying is a small, old and unexciting one in a county-level city in Yangzhou. The station stands alone on a vast expanse of land, surrounded by farmland. The darkness hides everything, and once Tang Mo has made sure that no one is around, The black tower has begun to announce the rules for the new edition.

"Ding Dong! New rules for The black tower version 3.0 -"

"First, every other month, each of the ten regions of Earth will open a regional endgame. Starting April 2018, the last ten days of each month will be the endgame zone review period."

"Second, the mandatory Tower Attack game opens at 18:00 on March 31, 2018. Players who have not attacked the tower within three months must enter the tower attack game."

"Thirdly, The black tower game (retarded mode) is open, please explore at your own risk."

"Dingdong ......"

Suddenly, the clear, childlike voice came to a screeching halt.

Tang Mo was listening carefully to the update when the sound stopped, and Tang Mo's heart tightened. A sense of foreboding washed over him, and he looked up at Fu Wenduo. Fu Wenduo's hand was pressed against the black dagger. They were now more than sixty kilometres from The black tower in Yangzhou, but in the darkness they could see a small shadow, hovering silently in the sky.

The black tower is supposed to be tiny, but to Tang Mo's eyes it is unmistakable.

All over the world, in every area where The black tower is located, exactly the same thing is happening at the moment.

It's late at night in China, early in the morning in Europe and day in the USA. In cold Russia, the snow blocks everything out. It is snowing heavily in Moscow and a man as tall as a bear, wrapped in a thick cotton coat, walks to the middle of Red Square. The black tower hovers over St. Vasily's Cathedral, just south of Red Square.

On a snowy night, some players happened to be in the vicinity of Red Square and when they heard The black tower announcing the new rules they cautiously came over and hid in the shadows to observe. However, when the man approached, all the players around them widened their eyes in horror and then they turned their heads and left as fast as they could, not daring to stay even a second longer.

There was only one person left in the huge red field for an instant.

The only man to have ever walked up to The black tower, one foot in front of the other, in the thick snow. The snow was knee-deep with each footfall.

Finally he reached the door of St. Vasily's Cathedral and the man looked up at The black tower.

At this moment, the sound of The black tower stopping sounded again. Tang Mo's heart was pounding the moment that sound was heard. In every corner of the world, many players looked at the nearest The black tower with equal horror, and then they heard a thick, raspy male voice say, word by word -

"Dingdong! The third of the three iron rules of The black tower--"

"All players are invited to ...... Nu, Force, Attack, Tower."

The sound ended, and peace was restored to The black tower. Across the globe, however, players could no longer sit still. Commotion swept across the planet.

St. Vasily's Cathedral, Red Square, Moscow.

The tall, strong man heard the voice, and his blue eyes, buried in his hat, did not waver for a moment. Slowly he turned around and left the square. Just as he reached a street lamp, however, he suddenly struck out, plucking up the pole roughly with one hand and slamming it hard into The black tower behind him.

The iron pole flew straight out, literally leaping a hundred metres into the air and about to smash into The black tower. But just as the pole was about to hit The black tower, it went straight through The black tower and landed smoothly in a parabola. With a loud bang, the streetlight crashed into the cathedral below The black tower. Inside the church, dozens of other similar huge metal objects and stones fell to the ground, smashing the statue of Jesus made of alabaster in two.

Moscow was silent in the blizzard as the men trampled through the snow and left Red Square.

China Yangzhou, a service station.

Fu Wensheng was standing by the window watching The black tower from afar until The black tower finished announcing the new rules, and it was only after half a minute that he looked back, turned his head, and muttered, " The black tower ...... that is the voice of The black tower?"

Tang Mo looked calm: "...... Well, it's the sound of The black tower."

Fu Wensheng had not yet reacted, his heart was beating fast. But he noticed that Tang Mo and his elder brother were both very calm and did not show any signs of abnormality. After taking a deep breath to calm down, he calmly analysed the situation: "The black tower has always used a child's voice, which is more of a mechanical voice, for its announcements. Whether it's announcing news to the world, to China, or to individual players when they pass the game. But The black tower has also used other voices."

Tang Mo: "Yes, five months ago, Fu Wenduo ......" he turns his head to Fu Wenduo, "you pulled all of us Chinese players into the tower game for the first time, and that's when The black tower played you a song called 'Thanksgiving' with a female chorus. Since then, it has hummed 'Lullaby' with a female voice, but it has never used this male voice. And it said this time ......" After a pause, Tang Mo said, "It said, "Please ask the player to try to attack the tower."

Fu Wenduo looks at Tang Mo with raised eyebrows: playing me a song called "Thanksgiving"?

Tang Mo was thinking about the new rules that The black tower had just announced, and the gruff male voice that had sounded at the end, and what it had said. He didn't notice Fu Wenduo's eyes.

Fu Wenduo withdraws his eyes: "This is the third of the three iron rules announced by The black tower when Earth first came online."

"Yes, it's number three. All players are invited to work hard to attack the tower." Tang Mo said, "And the first rule of the new version it just announced, starting from next month, the endgame will be opened once a month. Then it says that all players should work hard to attack the tower. ......" Tang Mo sighed and concluded, "The black tower is saying that players should not forget this iron rule. It wants players worldwide not to slack off anymore and to keep strengthening their strength. So it didn't mention the other two iron laws again, only the last one ......"

Tang Mo did not say what he meant next, but Fu Wenduo and Fu Wensheng both understood what he meant.

The black tower no longer allows for things like the Nanjing group.

Tang Mo doesn't know if, apart from Nanjing, the other nine districts in China that were involved in the Last Man Standing game two days ago were also judged by The black tower to be Last Man Standing because of the presence of a powerful organisation. But there is no doubt that this update to The black tower version 3.0, apart from informing that the mandatory tower attack game will start at the end of March, is the most important message it will send.

"All players please work hard to attack the tower."

From now on, I'm afraid there will be no such organisation as the Nanjing group. The game of Last Man Standing, which starts once a month, is like a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of players, and no one dares to slacken off.

Tang Mo said: "But this time The black tower has also revealed another piece of information: the world is divided into ten regions, and it will find ten last-place areas in each region to start the last-place game. This means that players from other countries are also participating in the 'Late Bloomer's Rubbish Sweeper' game that we participated in earlier, but The black tower has not released the information. It was communicated within each region."

Fu Wenduo suddenly said, "Five months ago, at 8am on the 15th of November it announced that Earth went live. After that, on the 18th at 8am, the global players went live." Tang Mo and Fu Wensheng looked at Fu Wenduo in unison, waiting for his next words.

Fu Wenduo whispered, "East 8?"

Fu Wensheng immediately responded, "Eh? Is it because of the 8th East District?" Xiao Jitong had always been in charge of the Nanjing and Raider groups, and probably because Fu Wensheng was still young, Xiao Jitong hadn't revealed much information to him, and he hadn't thought about it in that direction.

Tang Mo had already speculated about this, saying: "So the time of The black tower is based on Greenwich Mean Time. The second of the three iron rules is that the game is played from 06:00 to 18:00 every day. This time corresponds to the standard time for each region. If something like the Christmas copy happens again, there is a solution that can be worked out."

Fu Wenduo: "A race against time?"

"Well, a race against time. Surely ...... has that strength to go faster than the earth's rotation, might as well just get in the game."

At that, Fu Wenduo gave a low laugh. Tang Mo also shrugs.

Fu Wensheng stood by and watched in silence as his elder brother and Tang Mo talked. The two of them are extremely quick to think, and very often Fu Wenduo is able to think of something else without Tang Mo saying anything at all. Then he would say something and Tang Mo would follow his train of thought to the next step.

Fu Wensheng could only barely follow their thinking. It wasn't that he was slow or not smart enough, it was just that he didn't have the special understanding that these two had. Fu Wensheng looks at them and inexplicably feels a bit out of his depth. But luckily, before the children can think deeply about their role in the group, Tang Mo is talking about the second thing.

"The third rule in version 3.0 opens up The black tower game in retarded mode. I wonder what this retarded mode will be like."

Fu Wensheng immediately said, "When I was dragged into the tower attack game by my big brother, The black tower had a notice that it was a tower attack game in retarded mode. Maybe this retarded mode is similar to the original one? Only this time The black tower only said that it was a The black tower game in retarded mode, not a tower attack game in retarded mode. Maybe it's just a normal The black tower game, not a tower attack game."

The three discuss the three rules of the game for this version of The black tower 3.0, as well as the male voice used by The black tower at the end and its cold words.

In the latter part of the night, Fu Wensheng rummages through the service station and finds a few empty mineral water bottles. His powers can fill up to 30 bottles of mineral water a day, so he never wastes the opportunity and diligently fills all 30 bottles every day. While Fu Wensheng is filling the bottles, Tang Mo walks out of the service station without a word.

Fu Wenduo looked up at him, and Tang Mo said lightly, "I'll be back soon." With that, he walked past Fu Wensheng. The child also looked at Tang Mo for a moment, realising that he had probably gone out to make himself useful. Fu Wenduo kept his eyes on Tang Mo's back until his figure disappeared, and the corner of his mouth curled up without saying anything.

Walking to a remote corner at the back of the service station, Tang Mo looked around. After making sure no one was there, he pulled a ruby out of his pocket. Tang Mo put Mario's hat on with an expressionless face, looked at the wall in front of him, and then ...... silently crashed into it.

Bang, bang, bang!

After three cries, Tang Mo collected the three items of rubbish that had fallen to the ground and returned to the service station.

Early the next morning the three continued on their way.

Fu Wenduo said it would take at most four days to get from Yangzhou to Beijing. But this time they had just set foot in Hebei when they accidentally entered a game of The black tower. Fu Wenduo and Fu Wensheng were all pulled into the game by coincidence, with only Tang Mo still sitting in the car. With a blink of an eye, Tang Mo was surprised to find that his two teammates had disappeared.

Tang Mo reacts quickly by reaching out and pulling the steering wheel from the passenger seat. After taking control, he steadily brought the car to a halt.

Three days later, a large and a small figure appeared on the highway.

Fu Wenduo had a few bruises, while Fu Wensheng was better, with a little blood from a scrape on his forehead. Throughout their game, Tang Mo had been communicating with Fu Wenduo using a turkey egg to find out how they were doing. Now that the two brothers were out, Tang Mo got straight into the passenger seat and the three of them drove on to the nearest service station.

Tang Mo found some supplies from the service station. He returned to the car and handed Fu Wenduo a bottle of mineral water: "Although you are fine and passed the game without any problems, it is already March 14."

Fu Wenduo took the water: "This is Handan. Drive to Beijing, no surprises, should be there by 00:00 tomorrow."

Tang Mo takes a map book out of his bag and opens it to a map of the north of the river. Pointing at the map, he said, "The map shows that this is about a hundred kilometres from downtown Handan. I've observed it before on the highway, and given the size of The black tower, it's not very far."

The two men looked at each other.

Fu Wenduo: "Go to Handan tonight."

Hebei Handan, 14 March, 23.30.

Fu Wenduo parked his car at the edge of Handan and found a hidden underground car park where he parked. He and Tang Mo got out of the car, leaving Fu Wensheng alone in the car, waiting to hear from them. The boy, who had a similar experience, sat in the car and said, "Don't worry about me. Brother, Brother Tang, you guys be careful. When The black tower version 2.0 was updated, the team leader and Xiao went straight to Xinjiekou to observe the changes in The black tower. But this is Handan. Watch out."

Tang Mo nods gently.

Fu Wenduo did not reply.

Fu Wensheng watches Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo leave. The two were fast, disappearing from the entrance to the car park in a matter of seconds. Fu Wensheng stares nervously at the only entrance and exit to the car park, gripping his props tightly and cautiously watching out for every possible player.

Neither Tang Mo nor Fu Wenduo had ever been to Handan before, but The black tower was the best signpost. The two men took separate paths along one side of the road, paying close attention to what was going on around them. Only when they reached the bottom of The black tower did they reunite. They found an abandoned clothing shop and quickly hid inside.

There was silence all around.

Fu Wenduo closed the door behind him as soon as he entered the clothing shop, and he had just looked up when he heard Tang Mo whisper, "Here, come here."

Fu Wenduo flickered slightly and quickly padded over.

The shop is a one-room shop located in the shopping street next to Handan city centre. On the side of the wall facing the street, apart from a small door for a single person to enter, there is a glass window for displaying clothes. Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo squeeze their bodies into the shadow of the triangle formed by the windows and the wall, staring intently at The black tower not far away.

A minute later, a black figure flashed across the road and entered a nearby shopping mall to hide.

Tang Mo stares intently at the shadow.

After another five minutes of waiting, they didn't see anyone else except the man who was hiding.

A cool evening breeze whips up the dust on the road, hiding the dark red blood stains that have long since dried on the concrete floor. Through the glass window, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo look dead into the sky at The black tower. Tang Mo waits patiently as the minutes tick by.

At 00:00, a blinding white light comes on from The black tower.

Tang Mo did not expect to be caught off guard by the intense white light of The black tower update. His eyes ached and he subconsciously squinted. Before he could react, a hand covered his eyes, blocking out the white light.

Tang Mo breathes a sigh of relief.

The hot palm presses against his eyelid, the warmth passing along his skin. A faint white light shines through the gaps in Fu Wenduo's fingers. Tang Mo's lips were slightly parted and he did not speak for a long time. Three seconds later, the white light dissipates. Fu Wenduo puts his hand down.

A few moments later, Tang Mo said, "...... didn't expect it to be quite the same this update as last time."

Fu Wenduo: "The last time you went to see it?"

Tang Mo was still feeling a bit uneasy, with an unspoken feeling haunting him. When he heard this, he asked curiously, "You didn't check out the last The black tower 2.0 update?"

"I happened to get into a copy."

So that was it. Tang Mo says: "The black tower was glowing with a colourful light, probably similar to the kind of light ball you see in karaoke. Then it said something about a new version going live, and then the update was finished."

Fu Wenduo: "Is that all?"

Tang Mo: "It also says the total number of players worldwide at the time. In addition to this ......"

Tang Mo's eyes fluttered as he quickly turned his head and continued to look at The black tower.

At the top of The black tower, a tiny white dot of light flickers on and off. It was so small that it was imperceptible, and Tang Mo squinted as he counted the flashes over and over again. It pulsed so fast that it was almost beyond the limits of human vision. It flashed again and again, but unfortunately Tang Mo was too distracted to be sure he was counting correctly.

When the flashing reached its final stroke, the white dot of light stopped. Tang Mo whispered the number: "......9927 down."

Fu Wenduo also joined Tang Mo in silently counting the number of times the white dot of light flashed, and they did not have time to communicate. Fu Wenduo saw a second white dot of light suddenly appear below the one from earlier and start flashing again. This time it flashed a little slower and when it finished, Fu Wenduo said, "364 flashes."

Tang Mo vividly remembers that three months ago, the first white dot of light flashed only 62 times, and the second one stopped halfway up. He pursed his lips and was about to discuss the two white dots with Fu Wenduo. Suddenly, an extremely faint white dot of light came on again just below the second white dot of light.

Tang Mo's eyes widen.

In the darkness of the night, this third white spot of light glows so faintly that it is hard to notice. But it lights up.

It flickers faintly and stops slowly.

Three seconds later, it flashes again for a moment. Eventually, it stops permanently.

The next moment, a joyful child's voice rang out. The loud music echoes over Handan as countless children's voices hum an unknown nursery rhyme in unison. They sang happily, and as Tang Mo said, The black tower emitted a colourful glow, like a badly coloured ball of light from an old karaoke bar of the last century, which instantly illuminated the whole square city centre.

In the cold wind, the joyful song seemed to change its tune. By the time the song had been sung three times, a cold, mechanical child's voice rang out.

"Dingdong! Two thousand one hundred and forty-two million players successfully loaded into the game ......"

"Game archive in progress ......"

"Player data loading in progress ......"

"Game data loading ......"

"Archived successfully at ......"

"Loaded successfully ......"

"The Endbringer copy has been updated ......"

"Dingdong! On March 15, 2018, The black tower version 3.0 goes live, welcome players to the game."

"All players please make an effort to attack the tower."

"Ding dong! Happy gaming!"

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Author's comment.

The black tower: I'll let you two dog men give me dog food, damn it! I won't tell you how many times I blinked the first one.