Chapter 144: Time Revolution

"Who the hell are you!"

A roar of anger echoed through the courtyard, a sound of disbelief and panic. Li Chaocheng stared at the three men in front of him with wide, deadly eyes, as if trying to see through them. Tang Mo and Chen Shanshan, however, listened to his words without a change in their expressions. Jackass, on the other hand, had not yet understood the meaning of the other man's words, nor had he given any particular reaction.

Tang Mo looked coldly at the terrified "transparent" player, outwardly calm, but his mind had already flashed through a myriad of thoughts.

Transparent people don't know the world is merging either!

The black tower has always been fair, but this time the two worlds have suddenly merged and the black tower has not informed us, while the transparent people can come and go between the two worlds. This is not fair to the surviving players.

It took half a month for even Tang Mo to learn the truth about the Time Rankings and the disappearing players from Bai Ruoyao, and it must have taken even longer for the unorganised players to find out the truth. These players didn't know anything, even when they met the Transparent, were called "meat pigs" and killed, they didn't understand who killed them and why they killed them.

Originally Tang Mo thought that The black tower had deliberately created such an injustice.

Tang Mo doesn't know what happened to the six billion people who vanished six months ago, and whether they too have been challenged to play The black tower and attack it. But a time chart alone shows that these six billion people must have faced a much harsher world than the survivors.

They have survived six months in a brutal and horrific world, and now that The black tower 4.0 is about to be updated, the two worlds will merge and the Transparent People will seemingly be able to return to Earth. They have already suffered a great injustice (they didn't succeed in loading the game because of bad luck), but now The black tower is giving them another kind of justice: the surviving players don't know they exist, so that's compensation.

It turns out that The black tower is still fair game.

Tang Mo put his hands in his pockets and whispered, "Luck is still a form of strength, and never unfair."

At these words, the middle-aged man turned his head quickly, looking at Tang Mo. The sun shone brightly on the young man's face, and there were no numbers around his neck, but Li Chaocheng felt a sense of oppression that he had not felt for a long time. It was a feeling he had experienced once before in a copy when he had met the madman who was 36th on the Time List.

Li Chaocheng's mind worked fast, he had made it to the Time Rankings, not only had he killed a lot, he was not a fool. Almost instantly he understood what Tang Mo was saying, yet the truth made him tremble with shock, surprise and horror in his eyes, and he blurted out, "You ...... are not the Returners! You are the 400 million lucky, damned ones!"

Jackass: "Returners?"

Li Chaocheng immediately shut up as he looked at Tang Mo with a strange look in his eyes, then at Chen Shanshan and Jackass.

The middle-aged man suddenly burst into wild laughter. His facial muscles twitched like convulsions as the scar over his eye seemed to come to life, twisting and writhing on his face from this insane laughter. He laughed and said, "We're back? We're back already?" Before Tang Mo and the others could answer, Li Chaocheng's laughter stopped abruptly and he suddenly said, "No, we're not back yet, we'd have been notified by The black tower if we were. There's no notification now, could it be ......"

Li Chaocheng opened his mouth wide: "Is it because of Mu Huixue?!"

Without Tang Mo having to give an answer, Li Chaocheng repeats to himself, "Yes, it must be because of Mu Huixue. Half a month ago, The black tower gave her a briefing and she went through the fourth floor of The black tower. So it was the fourth floor of The black tower, the key to returning. But that pass didn't quite work, so ...... we're not quite back yet?"

After saying this, Li Chaocheng's eyes widened as if he understood something.

He knows where he stands now.

It was only a few minutes, and Tang Mo didn't tell him anything at all, but with the smallest of words and the minimal reactions of Tang Mo's expressions, Li Chaocheng almost sensed the truth of what was going on. When he knew the truth, he simply shut his mouth and an extremely odd smile appeared on his face.

As he thought about the truth, Li Chaocheng tried hard to untie the rubber rope that bound him. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it off. After half a minute he simply gave up.

The short, thin, middle-aged man sat on the ground, looking at the three humans in front of him and smiled sinisterly.

He just smiled and didn't say anything, and there was malice in that smile.

Jackass couldn't help but say angrily, "What are you looking at."

Li Chaocheng looked over at him and sneered, not speaking.

Jackass: "You ......!"

Jackass was furious, he couldn't understand how this man had changed so much in a matter of minutes. A few minutes ago he was frustrated and panicked because he had been caught by the Tang Mo trio and was tied up and unable to escape. But after a few minutes, the expression on his face kept changing to this unconcerned look at the end.

His ugly smile stung in the sunlight.

Tang Mo stares steadily for a moment, slowly crouching down, his eyes level with the man. The two men stared at each other in silence, neither speaking. After a minute, Tang Mo curled his lips and his voice was calm: "So you are called the Returners. Is that what The black tower calls you, or is that what you call yourselves?"

Li Chaocheng was startled, but he hid his emotions instantly and asked rhetorically, "What returnee, I don't know what you're talking about."

Chen Shanshan's calm voice rang out from the sidelines, "You're not a fool, and neither are we. You've said it all, the time charts, the Returners, if he's the only one around, he might actually be fooled by you." The little girl pointed at Jackass and then added, "What you can think of, we can think of too. Even though you know the truth, you are now caught by us as well. We would very much like to know one thing ...... time chart what is going on."

When his own words were revealed, Li Chaocheng didn't even get nervous. He sneered: "Time charts? You're not stupid. You don't need to ask me about such things. You already know about the Time Ranking, so you can ask me what number I am on it."

"You get ten minutes of base time for killing someone, and an additional half of that person's time if they have extra time themselves."

Li Chaocheng turns his head and looks at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo raised an eyebrow, "All this common stuff, we surviving players ...... aka those damn lucky 400 million humanoids you speak of have known all about it for a long time. It's a completely open secret on Earth."

Li Chaocheng's eyes narrowed: the surviving players all knew about their returnees?

But the next second he reacted, "Impossible, you lied to me! Even I only now know of our imminent return, how could you stupid humans living in The black tower's mother's cradle possibly know!"

Tang Mo said lightly, "It is indeed an open secret, you can choose to believe it or not." The voice stopped and Tang Mo smiled, "So ...... do you believe it?"

Li Chaocheng: "You ......!"

The middle-aged man clenched his teeth, looking red with anger at Tang Mo and out of his mind. In fact his heart was clear and his mind kept thinking. How could those damned 400 million idiots have found out about the information about the merging of the two worlds before their returners? Could these 400 million people be that smart?

No, I don't think there are more than a few tens of millions of people left after six months on Earth. The remaining tens of millions should all have cleared at least one level of The black tower, and that's a tiny bit of strength. Are they really that strong that everyone has discovered the truth ...... is stronger than him?

Li Chaocheng's reason told him that this youth must be lying to himself, how could each of those 400 million humanoids be stronger than himself. But he was not sure of his judgement. If those four hundred million players were really that strong, it would be no less than a disaster for their returnees.

Li Chaocheng lowered his head, hid his expression and stopped talking.

Jackass was furious and annoyed when he suddenly gave up. He was about to say a few words to scold the guy who had been so arrogant earlier when Tang Mo stopped him: "What's with the time charts."

Li Chaocheng immediately looked up at Tang Mo: "Don't all you surviving idiots know what it is."

Tang Mo laughed: "As I said, we know what it means and how to get the time. But how did it appear, did The black tower give it to you directly, or was it some special prop? Or maybe ...... psychic powers?" Tang Mo has seen a lot of strange and unusual powers, and it's not impossible that the time chart is a power. There was once a teenager called Taotie who had a psychic ability that could strengthen the physical qualities of others.

Li Chaocheng taunted, "Why should I tell you?"

Tang Mo pointed to the rubber rope tying him up, "You're tied up by us now."

Li Chaocheng laughed: "Just because of that? I thought you were the best of those 400 million players, that you were supposed to be smart, but that's all."

Tang Mo is unperturbed: "I've only cleared one level of The black tower and I'm at the bottom of the 400 million players."

Jackass' eyes fluttered at that. Chen Shanshan is, after all, young enough to understand that Tang Mo is putting psychological pressure on the man, but she is not thick enough to resist giving Tang Mo a look.

Li Chaocheng: "I don't believe you! How can you be at the bottom of the 400 million idiots!"

Tang Mo smiled slightly, "You can choose to believe it or not. So ...... do you believe?"

"You ......!" Li Chaocheng was once again left speechless with anger.

Tang Mo threw two questions at Li Chaocheng in quick succession. Although Li Chaocheng did not believe what he was saying, he was worried that Tang Mo was telling the truth. He kept his mouth shut and refused to answer Tang Mo's questions, and when Tang Mo asked him twice more, Li Chaocheng still refused to say anything. As time passed, Tang Mo sighed softly and stood up, "You think that sooner or later you will disappear and return to the world of your returnees, so you can escape without compromising with us."

The statement is an affirmation, without a hint of doubt.

Li Chaocheng looked up incredulously at Tang Mo, who hastily retorted, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

Tang Mo: "You guessed right, you returnees did suddenly appear on Earth and suddenly disappear. The disappearance was quick and there was no sign before it disappeared." Li Chaocheng was, after all, on the time chart, and it was a bit surprising to Tang Mo that he could guess this on his own, while the fact that he could still sink his teeth into the act after knowing this condition in his favour also showed the man's deep mind. However ......

"Don't worry, the moment you disappear, I'm sure I can kill you."

Li Chaocheng clenched his teeth and did not speak.

Tang Mo: "I'm telling the truth, but you can choose to believe it or not, so ...... do you believe it?"

Li Chaocheng didn't want to deal with this unpredictable young man any longer, he didn't want to hear it anymore and he said straight away: "Yes, I am indeed waiting for my return to that world. Now that we haven't fully returned and The black tower 4.0 hasn't been updated, I can definitely go back. It doesn't matter if I believe you or not, I thought you were smart, don't you see that after you said that, there's even less reason for me to give you the information I know?"

Tang Mo raises one eyebrow.

Li Chaocheng: "You've said that you're sure to kill me before I disappear. I'm bound to die anyway, so why should I tell you the information I know?"

Tang Mo pretended to be surprised: "I can't believe I didn't think of that? It was an oversight on my part."

Li Chaocheng suddenly sensed that something was wrong. His heart lurched and a sense of foreboding came over him. The handsome young man turned his head and looked at the strong foreign man beside him. He raised his own right hand and waved it towards the strong foreign man. On that slender right hand, the index finger was almost completely severed, leaving only a layer of skin glued to it.

Li Chaocheng remembered that he had just shot the young man through the finger, but he hadn't shown any pain when he spoke.

The feeling of unease in Li Chaocheng's mind intensifies.

Then he heard the young man chuckle and say, " Jackass, we can't kill him now, but we still have to pry some useful information out of him. You can hold his right hand for me." At these words, Tang Mo moved his fingers and a silver knife appeared in his palm, and he had a big smile on his face: "I'll chop off his fingers one by one, maybe then he'll want to talk?"

Li Chaocheng's scalp tingled and a cold sweat ran down his face.

Jackass nods and helps Tang Mo to hold Li Chaocheng's right hand. Tang Mo's first choice was Li Chaocheng's index finger. Tang Mo's hand had already grown a layer of pink flesh, and the blood that had flowed all over it had long since congealed into a bloody scar, a horrific sight. He pressed the sharp blade against Li Chaocheng's index finger, who, though pale, sneered: "Is that all you've got? So that's all you 400 million idiots are capable of, you even think it's important to break a few fingers, just cut my finger, feel free."

"Who said anything about cutting your fingers off?"

Li Chaocheng is stunned.

Tang Mo looked up at him, "I was going to, little by little, slice it."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Tang Mo slashed down and blood spilled out. The knife cut the flesh like mud, slicing off a thin layer of flesh straight away. Li Chaocheng's body shook and a beastly growl escaped from his throat. Tang Mo had only sliced off a millimetre-thick layer of meat! Before Li Chaocheng could react to the excruciating pain, Tang Mo made a second slice.

"AHHHH!!!"

It's a scene that even Jackass can't stand to watch.

With his head bowed and his face expressionless, Tang Mo presses Li Chaocheng's right index finger, slicing off thin layers of meat with his knife. He seems to be slicing vegetables, concentrating carefully. There is no expression on his face, and only he knows what is on his mind.

Jackass finally couldn't resist, "No, Don, I can't stand it any more."

A hand was pressed on Li Chaocheng's wrist and Jackass looked on in surprise as Chen Shanshan calmly said, "I'll do it."

Jackass: "...... good."

Who would have thought that Jackass would be the first of the three to suffer, instead it was Chen Shanshan and Tang Mo. One pressed the hand, the other cut the flesh. By the time Tang Mo reached the middle of Li Chaocheng's index finger, the middle-aged man was in a cold sweat, panting heavily, his face as white as a drowning man's as he hissed in pain, "I tell you, I tell you! I'll tell you everything!"

Tang Mo pauses in his meat-cutting motion, he looks up at Li Chaocheng and the knife moves, this time chopping off his index finger.

Tang Mo: "It would have been better if we had done this earlier."

Chen Shanshan nodded and wiped the blood from his hands, "I wish I had done that earlier."

Jackass: "......"

Li Chaocheng: "......"

He's now a little convinced that those 400 million players are really scary as hell!!!

Next, Li Chaocheng reluctantly told Tang Mo what he knew.

"Three months ago, on January 12, 2018, I had just cleared the second level of The black tower and was resting during my break. I got to the eighth minute of my break when The black tower suddenly made an announcement ......" With a slightly raspy voice, Li Chaocheng seems to be recalling the scene.

"Dingdong! South Asia I player Dijan Galava has successfully cleared the copy of 'The Back of the Truth Clock', opening the Time Ranking."

"Dingdong! South Asia I player Dijan Galava ......"

A clear child's voice rang out loudly in the ears of over two billion humans. Three times in all, the people's expressions were numb as the voice rang out, their bodies all covered in wounds, their faces in blood, their clothes in blood. Stains rubbed their entire cheeks as if they hadn't bathed or rested properly once in three months, and their eyes were bloodshot. Even when the voice rang out, they all just heard it and did not react.

After hearing The black tower's announcement, they dragged their walking bodies through the game again, slowly, lying on the ground staring at the sky with wide eyes, resting greedily.

This time, however, after three announcements, the sound of The black tower didn't stop. It played an upbeat music.

On that day, 12 January, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were battling against twenty-one players on the ground floor of The black tower in the assembly copy of 'Circus Surprise Night'. On that day, 12 January, the 100 million or so surviving players on Earth did not yet realise that on another world, a reformation was about to begin.

On Earth, if The black tower had announced the name of someone three times and played a song just for them, all the players would have stopped what they were doing and listened to The black tower's announcement. In that world, however, the players go about their business indifferently, as if they can't hear The black tower's voice or the cheerful music.

Half a minute later, the music came to a screeching halt and the loud voice of The black tower rang out--

"Ding Dong! The Time Ranking rules are as follows-"

"First, consistent with now, each player has a ten minute break at the end of each round as an initial time."

"Second, killing a player with initial time takes away ten minutes of the opponent's time as an extra rest period."

"Thirdly, the extra rest time will be displayed on the neck with a specific number."

"Fourth, kill a player with extra rest time and gain half of the opponent's extra rest time in addition to the opponent's ten minutes of initial time."

"Fifth, before each new game, players can view instant information about the time leaderboard."

"Sixth, there are a total of one hundred spots in the Time Ranking. Kill the first hundred players and receive a fifty minute break; kill the first fifty players and receive a one hundred minute break; kill the first twenty players and receive a five hundred minute break; kill the first ten players and receive a Fine quality prop; kill the third player and receive the privilege of forfeiting any game of The black tower; kill the second player and receive One rare quality item."

"Seventh, kill the first player and receive a chance to respawn. This chance will revive any player who dies in The black tower game."

"Dingdong! Please ask players to work on attacking the tower and returning to Earth!"

This is the time revolution of the returnees.

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The author has something to say.

Mr. Fu: My Tangtang's hand! Mr. Fu: My Tangtang's hand!

Tangtang: Cut the meat, cut the meat, cut the meat~ [indifferent face]!