Bab 82: Chapter 82 - Companion-slaying game conceals a major customs trap
With its tiny eyes fixed on Fu Wenduo, the big turkey looked at Fu Wenduo for two seconds before it cooed and smiled sinisterly, "Is there a second question?
The look on the Great Turkey's face and demeanour when he asks this question is exactly the same as when Xiao Jitong asked it before, and no one can tell what has changed. Yet it is clear to both Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo that the question of the eagle catching the chick is just as important to the big turkey as the correct way to get through the game is to the puzzle. Perhaps even more important.
Tang Mo looks at the big turkey, lost in thought.
He didn't notice it at first, but when Fu Wenduo asked the question, he too noticed a hint of something wrong.
During the hour-long game of Eagle Catch, all six players except Xiao Jitong, who was very well hidden, had a head-to-head encounter with the big turkey. The turkey seemed to be attacking each player fairly and brutally, but the person it was really targeting the most was Ningning, the cold-faced long-haired woman.
This is most clearly shown in the final wave of the Great Turkey's counterattack. The turkey is caught in a series of traps designed by the boy and almost killed by the blue drops. When it is free, it does not attack the boy, who almost killed it, or Fu Wenduo, who wounded it with a dagger, but turns on Ningning, who stands at the back of the five.
He should not have attacked Ningning, either in terms of hate value or position. Instead, he took a paw at Ningning's chest and cut off a piece of flesh.
It is in response to Ningning.
This fact hints at a very important clue: there is something very wrong with the game of eagle catching chickens.
Tang Mo thought carefully about how to ask the second question, and before he could come up with the most appropriate one, a male voice rang out from the side: "... Second question, where does George Edward come in? "
Tang Mo's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the man who had spoken. It wasn't just him, Fu Wenduo frowned and looked at Xiao Jitong as well. Even his teammates Ningning and Little Qiao stared at him in amazement, wondering how he could ask such a question.
The first question was posed by Fu Wenduo: is there a deeper meaning to the game of the eagle catching the chick?
The second question was posed by Xiao Jitong: where did his teammate George Edward come in.
The question was selfishly obvious, although knowing only one person's ranking would have no bearing on the final outcome, and even if the boy knew where he was ranked, he would still be pulled into the game of eagle and chicken if the other six were in the wrong place. But Xiao Jitong did ask the question out of the blue, and it seemed like a wasted opportunity to ask it.
Tang Mo quickly calmed down and pondered Xiao Jitong's reasons for asking the question. He believed that the latter would not ask such a question so recklessly, perhaps after some consideration. Unfortunately, he had so little information at the moment that it was difficult to understand why he had done so.
The big turkey also had some surprise when it heard the question. Soon it laughed: "My sweet boy, you actually forgot your place?" It walked over to the little boy and stretched out its wings to try to touch his head. Blood was still dripping from its wings, which Fu Wenduo had just cut. The little boy wanted to slap the disgusting chicken wing away, but he held back and stood beside Xiao Jitong without saying a word, somewhat aggrieved.
Tang Mo: "So what's the answer?"
In any case, the question has been asked and they now need the answer.
The big turkey flapped its wings, "Where is the deep meaning in the game of eagle catching chicks, it's just a disgusting eagle trying to catch my lovely children. Don't worry my children, mummy is here and mummy won't let that disgusting eagle take your coo." After a pause, the big turkey continued, "As for your place in line kid ..."
The big turkey stroked the little boy's head and laughed, "Coo-coo, you came in second place my sweet boy, did you even forget that?" With those words, the big turkey gave a heated laugh as it stood up and looked at the high school girl who had fallen to the ground. It looked meaningfully at the dying girl, and the next second it twisted its massive body around to look at the big green bug on the ground that had completely broken off.
An ear-piercing scream rang out. As if just realising the problem, the big turkey roared with poor acting skills, "Gobble gobble gobble!!! Why is this worm dead! How can I give a dead worm to my children, they'll get diarrhoea if they eat it. Damn worm, can't you live a little longer, why did you die. Now mummy has to go and find food for the children again."
The big turkey turned his head and looked sympathetically at all the players, "My children, are you hungry?"
Xiao Jitong nodded, "Mum, we are very hungry."
The big turkey exclaimed, "Mama's gonna get you guys some food coo!"
Its fat body has a nimbleness that does not match its appearance, and it quickly disappears into the supermarket, humming the odd rhyme "The chicken eats the worm, I eat the chicken". By now all players know that the big turkey is simply acting. One minute he is a loving mother chicken, the next he is a fierce, brutal eagle. It played the players for fools, acting itself but more like a joke to the group of players.
The out-of-tune song echoed through the supermarket and when the big turkey figure disappeared completely, the short-haired high school girl couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
This poor girl hugged her companion, whose life and death were uncertain, and let her cry out. After a few minutes of crying she gritted her teeth to hold back her tears and hugged her companion, feeding her water and calling her name softly, hoping she would wake up soon.
These two players were weaker and without a few of Tang Mo's men, they would have most likely ended up as these scraps of meat on the ground, torn apart by the big turkey.
After the two questions, making sure that the big turkey was far away, Tang Mo looked to Xiao Jitong and his voice was calm: "Its first question was a lie, then the second question was the right one. Mr. Xiao, I would like to know why you are asking this question."
Tang Mo doesn't know Xiao Jitong, but after a brief encounter he knows he's a smart guy. He had cleared the first floor of The black tower, a very famous and intelligent man in Nanjing. Such a person should not ask useless questions.
Xiao Jitong smiled, "I do have a reason for asking this question, as I have slightly more information than you do. But before that, I'd rather ask this ... Mr Donji." Xiao Jitong didn't break down Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo's pseudonyms, he looked at Fu Wenduo: "What do you think is special about this game of the eagle catching the chick?"
Fu Wenduo said lightly, "If you just want a penalty for queuing up wrong, you can just say 'queue up wrong, big turkey captures player for one hour', there's no need to design a spinoff game on purpose." Unless this game is a clue in itself.
Fu Wenduo didn't say the rest, but Tang Mo already understood. He looks at Fu Wenduo and laughs softly, "Yes, I have also thought about why we have to make a spinoff game 'Eagle Catching Chicks'. Just want to kill players, call it any game you want."
"And it had a killing aura. That killing aura is directed at her." Fu Wenduo pointed towards Ningning.
Ningning's body is mostly healed, but her face is still a little pale. She purses her lips and doesn't say anything.
The boy was displeased, "Why is it only targeting Sister Ningning? Does it mean that Ningning is a woman? Ah yes, didn't that sister also get scratched by it and still hasn't woken up yet. Is it really targeting women the most?"
"Of course not." Tang Mo shook his head, "The game of eagle catching chicks is very common and I'm sure most people have played it as children. The first is that there is an old hen who protects the chicks, and the second is that the eagle can only catch the chick at the end of the queue each time. We players have to line up in order, and the eagle-catching-chick game itself has an order - the eagle has to catch the chick from the last chick in line. "
The boy thought for a moment and suddenly exclaimed, "You mean that Sister Ningning is the last chick in line?" The boy was very clever and soon thought, "Wait a minute, Sister Ningning was in fifth place and he was in last place." He pointed to Fu Wenduo, "That big turkey is catching Sister Ningning, not him, does that mean it's not catching people in the order we players are lined up, it's catching the chick that's actually in last place, and Sister Ningning is correctly lined up last?"
There was no need to say much, and when the boy explained it, everyone understood what he meant. In fact, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo had already thought of this answer, otherwise Fu Wenduo would not have asked that question. Most likely, Xiao Jitong had guessed it too.
The big turkey is clearly aimed at Ningning, and given that it is lying and the eagle catching chick game is deeply meaningful, it is clear that the order in which it catches people has something to do with the correct order in which players line up.
Tang Mo: "Nine out of ten, this one ..." Tang Mo didn't know what to call Ningning and after a pause, he went straight to the point: "She should be in last place. Based on this clue, we can basically determine who the last player is, which is why we asked the first question. So now it's your turn." Tang Mo laughed, " Mr. Xiao, why did you ask that question, and what was the information you said you had that we didn't know?"
When Fu Wenduo found out that Ningning was being targeted by the big turkey, his first thought was the special rules of the game of eagle catching chickens. And when Big Turkey's answer backfired, proving that the game did have a deeper meaning, they were able to really determine where Ningning was in line.
I can't say for sure, but it's at least 80% likely that this female player came in last place.
So now it's Xiao Jitong's turn.
Fu Wenduo stood next to Tang Mo, who seemed to have little interest in Xiao Jitong and the others, watching calmly without saying anything. Tang Mo waits patiently for Xiao Jitong to give him a suitable answer.
"There must be a reason why I asked that." Xiao Jitong looked at his teammate Ningning, then surprisingly directed his gaze at Fu Wenduo, who was standing next to Tang Mo. He let out a laugh and said, "Mr Donji, you're a stowaway, aren't you?"
Fu Wenduo looked unchanged and did not reply.
Tang Mo asked coldly in return, "Is that the message you're talking about, Mr. Xiao?"
Xiao Jitong: "I think you have misunderstood, I don't mean to target stowaways. I can see from the hour-long game of Eagles Catching Chicks that you didn't mean to kill anyone. There is an obvious loophole in this game, rule number 5 of the game, once a chicken dies, it triggers the 'sad, big turkey' effect and temporarily removes the schizophrenic state. In fact, this is saying that as soon as a player dies, the eagle-catching-chick game will immediately end. If you really don't want to be chased by a big turkey, there's a very simple way."
Tang Mo said lightly, "Kill and end the game."
Xiao Jitong: "Yes. But you guys didn't do it. I was at a distance when Ningning was being chased by that big turkey and I wanted to come and help, but I didn't make it in time and I saw you guys strike. There are different kinds of stowaways. Some stowaways kill like hell, and when Earth comes online they are even more unrestrained and go on a killing spree in any game they play. I've seen stowaways like that."
Tang Mo has also seen stowaways like that, with a total of ten dead players in the Circus of the Weird game. Four of those stowaways were killed by Tang Mo and others who teamed up to hang them, and six players were killed by those four stowaways.
Tang Mo said: "This loophole is more likely to be a trap. If it is true that killing can end the punishment, then one of the players who died here before must have made that choice. At the end of the day, there will only be one person left in the game. One person doesn't need to be in line, he is the line. But he did not pass this copy of reality. It may seem that you can pass the game by killing your fellow players, but in fact there must be a bigger trap hidden at the end ... Mr. Xiao, and maybe we didn't choose to kill because of that"
"I play any game of The black tower second by strategy and first by feel. I've always trusted my instincts, and every game I've played through has recognised my instincts." Xiao Jitong smiles, "A stowaway is not necessarily a bad guy, nor is a full player or a prepper necessarily a good guy. The fact that you said what you just said, Mr Viktor, is proof that you are not bad guys."
Tang Mo did not speak again.
Xiao Jitong continued, "I didn't notice Ningning being targeted at first, and it wasn't until this Mr Donji asked about the eagle catching chick game that I realised the clue. And that's when I thought of another question."
Tang Mo: "What's the problem?"
"First of all there is one thing that we all agree on, and that is that we all believe that there is a 90% chance that the queuing order for this game is not haphazard, it follows some sort of pattern. Otherwise it would be too difficult to win and lack a hint of strategy. Then the little girl from before said," Xiao Jitong looked to the short-haired high school girl sitting on the floor, "that this game might be ranked according to the number of tiers each of our players attacked the tower. So now it is known that these two girls have not attacked the tower, and Little Qiao is a player on the first level of The black tower. You, Mr Viktor, and your companion, Mr Donji, plus Ningning and me. We are all second tier players in The black tower."
Tang Mo immediately understood: "... By asking that little boy about the ranking order, you are ruling out the speculation that 'the ranking order is related to the number of tiers the player has attacked the tower'?"
"Not bad." Xiao Jitong laughed, "But there is something else that you don't know that I do. The biggest reason I asked this question about 'Little Qiao's ranking order' was because of this clue."
"What?"
Xiao Jitong looks to his companion. Ningning, a cold, long-haired woman, stands with her arms clasped, expressionless.
Xiao Jitong withdrew her eyes and said, "In this game, these two girls are reservists. I was a reserve and now I'm a full player, but technically I'm more of a reserve. Then Little Qiao comes in at number two. As long as he doesn't come in third place, this game is definitely not ranked in order of the number of levels players attack the tower. At the risk of asking ... Mr Viktor, are you an official player?"
Tang Mo's heart fluttered. His mind was running fast and he had understood Xiao Jitong's meaning completely. But this guess was not right, there was one last loophole. Unless ...
"She's a stowaway?!" Tang Mo looked over at Ningning in surprise.
Xiao Jitong smiled and nodded, "Yes. I'm a reserve, Little Qiao is an official player ... Ningning is a stowaway."
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The author has something to say.
Tangtang: Why say Mr. Fu is a stowaway? Mr. Fu is on a mission to kill people!
Mr. Fu: #Being pinned by all China players anyway, I'm not afraid of lice
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