Tang Mo takes Luo Fengcheng’s ID in shock.

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This is a silver card that feels like it’s made of metal. There is no picture on it, but in the top right corner, there’s an electronic chip, and on the left side of the card, there are three simple lines of text.

[Name: Luo Fengcheng]
[Division: Shanghai A Team]
[Position: Team Leader]

After Tang Mo finishes looking, he gives the card to another person. Each of the six people looks at it, and then the card makes its way back to Luo Fengcheng.

“Why did you say you were a game designer?” Li Bin asks.

Luo Fengcheng puts the card away, expressionless, and says coolly, “Everyone has their own secrets. You hid your ability because to you, your ability is important and special. My identity is a bit special. I didn’t want to be exposed right at the beginning. Can’t you understand?”

Luo Fengcheng looks at the crowd and continues. “No need to suspect the truth of my identity. You all know that this tower-attack game began very suddenly. From the moment the announcement was made, we only had three minutes to prepare. It would have been impossible for me to prepare a fake card in advance to impersonate a Black Tower researcher.”

Lin Qiao considers for a while, then suddenly seems to think of something. She’s about to speak when Luo Fengcheng looks at her. “There’s also no need to suspect that I’m using an ability to create a card. If I really had that kind of ability, why would I create a Black Tower researcher ID? I could create a game designer business card. Then you wouldn’t suspect me at all and instead maybe even trust me.”

Luo Fengcheng successfully renders everyone speechless.

At last, he looks at Tang Mo. Tang Mo’s face is expressionless and calm, but his gaze hardens slightly.
Luo Fengcheng says, “I’m a Black Tower researcher, no need to suspect this. The Black Tower has descended for half a year already, and you should all know that the researchers are being protected, completely cut off from the outside world. In those three days, I was researching this tower in Shanghai. I had neither the chance nor the reason to kill someone. Also…” He pauses, putting his hands into his pockets. “If I really wanted to kill someone, I wouldn’t have to do it myself. Someone would do it for me.”

Everyone shivers, but Tang Mo looks steadily at Luo Fengcheng. He understands what he means. Before the Earth went online, there was discussion on the internet saying that the scientists running around the towers were actually not doing anything useful. The real researchers were all being protected by the country. The public researchers were in charge of collecting data, but the real research happened in secret.

Other than the remote mountains and the open sea, if a Black Tower shows up in a city, it must be at the center of the city. If the country really built their research institutions next to the towers, that would be a live target broadcasting where their headquarters are to the world.

No country has ever officially confirmed this theory, but many people believe that it’s true.

Tang Mo believes that Luo Fengcheng is a Black Tower researcher. He secretly used a lot of strength to try and break the card, but whatever material that card was made of, it didn’t budge at all. Tang Mo has super-strength right now and can singlehandedly move cars around, yet he couldn’t bend this card at all. It must, then, be a very special card.

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In addition, it’s exactly as Luo Fengcheng said. If it really was his ability, he wouldn’t have created this kind of card. The identity of a Black Tower researcher is much too striking, and since the stowaway most definitely wants to hide their identity right now, he wouldn’t have been so flamboyant.

Other than the confused chef and middle school student, no one else suspects Luo Fengcheng.

If this kind of person wants to kill someone, he might actually not have to lift a finger. It’s very unlikely that Luo Fengcheng is the stowaway.

Everyone has to talk about what they did during those three days. Setting aside Tang Mo and Li Bin for now, it’s Lin Qiao’s turn.

“When the Black Tower said the Earth came online, I think I was in class. What class was it… oh right, that was a Wednesday, the 15th. On Wednesdays, my first two classes in the morning are calculus. Because the Black Tower suddenly spoke, we didn’t end up having class, and everyone went back to the dorms. The school even sent out an announcement telling us to keep calm and wait for official news.”

Lin Qiao carefully recalls what happened. “Actually, I’m ‘Pro-Black Tower’. I like to play survival-type games, and I’ve played all of the popular games that came out recently, so at first, I didn’t think the Black Tower was dangerous. After going back to the dorms, I talked with my dormmates about the Black Tower for a long time, until nighttime, maybe? Anyway, we didn’t go to class for the entire three days, so I just stayed in my dorm and played video games. The cafeteria closed too, so I just ordered takeout. I didn’t even leave my dorm.”

Li Bin: “That’s all?”

Lin Qiao thinks harder, trying to dig out all her memories. A while later, she shakes her head. “All four of us in the dorm are from Shanghai, but my dad passed away a long time ago, and my mom was on a business trip to Nanjing. After the Black Tower Incident, my dormmates all went back home, so there was only me in the dorm. That morning, I got up and was brushing my teeth when I heard the Black Tower announce something again. I didn’t know what was happening until I wanted to play a video game and realized there was no internet. Afterwards, I went to my neighbor’s dorm and that’s when I realized… everyone was gone.”

Here, this brave college student can no longer hide the fear in her heart. She swallows nervously, trying her best to stay calm. “I really just stayed in my dorm and played video games. I didn’t kill anyone, I’m really not the stowaway. After everything, I wanted to go find my mom in Nanjing, but I hadn’t even left Shanghai before being pulled here. Please believe me, I’m really not the stowaway!”

Li Bin nods and looks at Tang Mo and Luo Fengcheng.

They don’t have any complaints. Li Bin walks to the next person.

Rich boy Li Wen looks at Tang Mo, takes a deep breath, and says, “The first day, I went to Nanjing to hang out with a friend. The second day, we were still hanging out, I think mostly at a bar. The second night, my dad called me and said he wanted me to go home. I had been drinking all night so I couldn’t drive, so I planned to go home the next morning. But I got tailgated on the highway and fell off the road. After I woke up, I saw Tang Mo. I don’t know anything about the Black Tower, everything I know comes from Tang Mo telling me. That’s when I realized that I was tailgated because the other drivers disappeared. I’m not the stowaway, I’ve never killed anyone.”

Everyone looks at Tang Mo.

Tang Mo nods. “The first time I met him was on the highway. His car was tailgated, but I’m not sure about anything else.”

Li Bin furrows his eyebrows. “Why is your story so simple? Tell us in more detail.”

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Li Wen grimaces and thinks for a while. “I was already trying to remember, but I was mostly just hanging out with friends those three days, drinking and stuff. We didn’t do anything special. I don’t have to say specifically what we did, right? It was just some normal stuff, not really interesting… drinking? Playing basketball? Uh, fine, my friend brought over a few celebrities too…”

No one listens anymore. Lin Qiao shoots him a judgemental look.

Li Wen says helplessly, “Hey, it was you who wanted to know. What else would we even do…”

When Li Wen was talking, Lin Qiao had already explained the situation to the chef. Right now, he’s very nervous. Sweat beads on his forehead and he stands as stiff as a plank. When everyone looks at him, he immediately says, “I… I’m just a chef, but in the six months after the Black Tower appeared, my boss ran away, so I lost my job. Afterwards, I delivered takeout to earn money. During those three days, I was just delivering takeout like normal, but because people stopped working, I didn’t have as many customers as before. There… there wasn’t anything too special, I just delivered takeout. The third morning when I went to work, I saw a bunch of people suddenly disappear off the street, and I was so scared I ran home.”

Li Bin says, “Can you be more specific?”

The chef nervously wipes his sweat. “Let me think… oh right, I remember I delivered to two high-end communities. One was near Jingan Temple. The security guard wouldn’t let any motorbikes in so I had to walk. The other one was near Renmin Plaza. Anything else… what should I say? What do you think I should say? If you ask, I’ll tell you. I really never killed anyone, really! I’m not that stowaway person!”

The chef keeps trying to make eye contact with everyone. Tang Mo looks at him thoughtfully, then walks over to the little girl.

Peng Yuwen[1] stands next to Lin Qiao, looking fearfully at everyone else.

Lin Qiao says, “Don’t be scared, Wenwen. Just tell us what you did during those three days. The real stowaway can’t hide from us…” Her gaze sweeps over Li Bin and Li Wen. “Don’t worry, just tell us.”

The little girl nods, then says in a small voice, “I’m not the stowaway either. I never killed anyone. Like jiejie[2], our school didn’t let us go to class, so I’ve been staying home. My dad had to keep working, but my mom didn’t, so she stayed home with me. She was worried that my grades would fall so she kept telling me to keep studying. My mom taught me subjects at home. From 7 to 11 in the morning, I would learn Chinese and math, then nap at noon, and start studying English at 2, then at 6 she would do homework with me, and help me correct my wrong answers. Then…”

The little girl’s eyes turn red. “Then on the third day, she disappeared. I don’t know what happened, she just disappeared.”

Lin Qiao holds her hand, softly comforting her.

The little girl chokes up for a bit, face pale and voice hoarse. “The night before she disappeared, my mom was talking to me. She said don’t be scared, as long as I’m fine, she’ll be fine. Mama… Mama disappeared…”

She can’t hold back her tears anymore.

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Out of all seven people, there are only two girls. Lin Qiao holds her tightly, patting her back as she continuously tries to comfort her.

Li Bin looks at them, his eyebrows furrowing. He opens his mouth, but before he can speak, Tang Mo says, “Li Bin, it’s your turn.”

Li Bin starts, then nods and tells his story. “I work at a public relations company and am in charge of planning sales. After the Black Tower Incident, our company required us to keep working. Personally, I’m not a fan of the Black Tower and wanted to use my vacation time to stay home, but we had a big project at the time and my boss wouldn’t let me, so I had to keep working. On the second day, I was pulled into a Black Tower game. It was called…” He hesitates for a long time, then makes a face. “It was called ‘Sheepy is so cute, why would you want to eat it.’”

Everyone: “...”

Li Bin raises his head to look at Tang Mo. “You should understand, I just suddenly got pulled into a very weird place. I didn’t even do anything. The Black Tower just announced that the game had started and listed a bunch of weird rules. I was in the game with three strangers, and after the four of us entered the game, we were suddenly wearing sheep costumes. The Black Tower said that we had to play hide and seek in a maze with a wolf. If we got caught, we’d be eaten. We had to find the special egg at the exit of the maze to win and defeat the wolf.”

As if he thinks this game is too childish, Li Bin lowers his head in resignation. “The four of us decided to split up. Since there was only one wolf, we had better chances of staying alive if we were alone. Then at least we wouldn’t all die at once. Afterwards, I heard two of my companions screaming. They were probably eaten by the wolf, so I ran away. But I hadn’t found the exit yet, and the wolf was chasing after me. I could tell it was very close by. It almost caught me when the Black Tower said the game had ended because my other companion had found the egg. And I don’t know what happened, but I won and returned back to the company…

“I wanted to tell everyone else, but for some reason, I couldn’t say anything about the game. As soon as I mentioned it, I would become mute. My colleagues thought I just overslept and came late, and I couldn’t even argue with them. I was so scared that I stopped going to work. I was going to go back to my hometown the next day, but everyone disappeared before I could leave.”

Li Bin raises his head to look at Tang Mo. “You were like this too, right? You couldn’t tell anyone? Really, I couldn’t even speak!”

Tang Mo shakes his head. “Very conveniently, everyone disappeared right after I finished my game.”

Li Bin says, “But I really am an official player.”

Luo Fengcheng’s calm voice suddenly speaks up. “Actually, there was a mistake in what I said earlier. It’s not just an unintentional murderer who will respond emotionally when exposed, but any murderer, even if they’d planned the murder, will respond in a certain way when they are exposed.”

Since Luo Fengcheng spoke right after Li Bin, Li Bin’s expression changes. “What do you mean? I really am an official player, not a stowaway. The stowaway is clearly…”

“He’s not talking about you,” Tang Mo says.

Luo Fengcheng glances at him. “Any normal murderer would react when that big mole defined the stowaways. There are only two types that might not. The first is antisocial killers. They don’t think that killing people is wrong, so they will not react any differently. The second is naive killers. Maybe they’re too young, or maybe they’re too ignorant and don’t understand the consequences of their actions. Even if their actions are exposed, they will not feel too pressured.”

Tang Mo nods slightly. “Actually, before you even said your first sentence, I was already suspecting you. But still, I hoped it wasn’t.”

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The tall, handsome young man walks over to the two girls and bends over slightly, looking at the frightened little girl.

“The first sentence you spoke had already exposed you. But you’re only fifteen. Who did you kill? Why did you kill?”

Li Bin says loudly, “You’re right, she’s the stowaway! I noticed before, too.”

The arm that Lin Qiao had put around the girl stiffens and she quickly lets go, moving far away.

Tears drip down the little girl’s face. She tries to shrink away from Tang Mo, saying in a choked voice, “I didn’t, I’m not… I didn’t kill anyone, I didn’t… I… I…”

Tang Mo’s voice is calm and decisive.

“You are the stowaway.”

Notes

[1]	Before this chapter, the little girl's name was Peng Yuwen (彭玉雯）but from this chapter on, her name became Peng Liwen (彭丽雯). I chose to keep what it originally was for clarity's sake.

[2]	Jiejie (姐姐) means older sister.

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