Chapter 1: Dingdong, November 15, 2017, Earth is online.

When the library opens at 9:00 a.m., there are already seven or eight people waiting at the door, all of them gray-haired old people. Today is Monday, unlike weekends, when many parents bring their children to the city library to read books. The only people who will come to the library on weekdays are usually retired old people.

Outside the library was a world of laborious busyness, inside the library was silent, the swish of a page-turner resounding softly.

At ten o'clock, the number of people coming to the library grew.

Tang Mo sits in front of the computer to help punch in the cards one by one, his left hand constantly inputting the book number on the keyboard, his right hand pressing the mouse and clicking OK. After doing all this, he looked up, "It's been almost a month since I borrowed the last book, haven't you finished it yet?"

In front of her was a plainly dressed middle-aged woman who smiled and shook her head, "No, my son is slow to read. Does it matter if you don't return the book for a month?"

Tang Mo : "One month is free, after that there is a daily borrowing fee of 10 cents." After a pause, added: "If the book is lost, you have to pay the original price, which is 82 dollars."

The woman s face changed: "So expensive ah ...... well, I went home today and let that brat hurry to read the book." After saying that, he turned around and left.

Tang Mo watched the women stride away without much expression on his handsome face, and took the next man's library card to help him swipe it.

"Didn't finish it? I think I lost the book." A crisp female voice rang out.

Tang Mo swiped his card while saying, "Maybe."

There was a hint of disdain in the woman's voice, "A library card is fifty dollars a piece, and that book is eighty-two. I don't think she'll be coming back to our place."

"I also think it's not coming back." Director Wang, who was in charge of the receptionist work at the front desk, came over and patted Tang Mo's shoulder, "Xiao Tang, go and see what that godly man is doing again. I just watched him go to the corner, it's a surveillance dead zone, don't let anything happen."

Tang Mo nods softly and heads for the corner.

The Suzhou City Library is located in the center of the city and consists of three floors, with the third floor containing mostly books on humanities and history. Tang Mo walked from the service desk to the southeast corner, walked through more than thirty shelves, and searched again before finding the goddamned man.

November in Suzhou already has a few points of cold, outside the window whistling wind, shocked the window thumping, sunlight through the window to shine in but let a person warm. The clergyman sat cross-legged on the floor next to the window, five or six books placed beside him, just cluttered there, he himself did not read a book, his hands in his hair, already messy hair was rubbed even worse.

Tang Mo's lips pursed and resignedly walked up to pick up the books, "Mr. Chen, we have tables and chairs in the library, you can read over there."

"Read a book ...... read a book ...... what to read ......"

Tang Mo glanced at the brick book she'd just picked up, "Secrets of the Vanishing Mayan Civilization?"

The cleric suddenly looked up, stared with bloodshot eyes and said with horror on his face, "You know the secret of the disappearance of the Mayan civilization?"

Tang Mo faintly curled her lips, "I don't know, you know?"

"I know, of course I know." The clergyman came to life at once, climbed to his feet and said, "They have offended the Showers of God, and the Guguru Khan they believe in is a false god, not a Shower of God at all. They have offended God, and so they are all dead. God is One, Eternal, and offending God will lead to death!"

Tang Mo had heard these words countless times and did not take them to heart at all. The library was open to the community and had seen too many strange people, although this clergyman was strange enough, but he was not mentally ill, and could only be described as a fanatical religious person who could not be turned away.

Tang Mo said casually, "So where's the real God?"

The cleric's expression suddenly froze.

Tang Mo smiled, holding the pile of books with the intention of turning around and walking away.

This sentence he asked the god stick many times. A year ago, he began to come to the library often to read books, and all day long, he was so godlike that he had to find a seat in order to divine the auspicious position of each day. But once the staff asked him the question "Who is God?" he would shut up, like a wilted cabbage, and leave the library in a hurry.

Tang Mo turned to leave with the book in his arms, and just as he turned his head, he heard a low, mysterious voice ring out behind him, "God is there."

Tang Mo's footsteps abruptly stopped.

He turned to look.

The cleric stood by the window, pointing to the huge black tower that hovered over the city not far away, and gave a very clerical smile, "God is coming soon."

Tang Mo: "......"

It's good that you're happy.

The bus Tang Mo takes home from work every day goes through the city center, and he sits at the window wearing headphones and listening to a song. Just as a song was ending, the sound of two female high school students discussing on the bus entered his ears.

"Black Tower! I'll take a picture."

"You still shoot ah? What's so great about this stuff to shoot, no one even wants to look at it right now."

"Just take a picture, post it to your friends, and title it a day trip to the Black Tower."

"Surely no one will like it. Eh, sitting in the window that man looks so handsome ah, you might as well shoot him, there must be a lot of people pointing at the likes, maybe even as a netizen, just call ...... the bus little brother! You quickly shoot ah."

The next song came on and Tang Mo raised his right hand without moving to shield his face and turned his head to look out the window, not bothering with the two girls. His eyes lifted slightly to the huge black tower suspended over Suzhou.

Between the tall buildings of the city, a huge black tower stood high in mid-air. This tower was in the shape of a four-pronged cone, similar to the Egyptian pyramids, but instead of gold, it was black. Its bottom edge spanned the entire center of Suzhou City, almost covering the city under its scope. The cold, clear moonlight shone through the black tower without any obstruction.

Half a year ago, this tower suddenly appeared in the center of Suzhou. Tang Mo had just started working at the library and didn't read the news in the morning, but when she went out on the street, the whole city of Suzhou was already in an uproar.

The buses are gone and you can't even stop a cab.

All the cars are driving frantically towards the center of town, Tang Mo is still a bit awake and confused, and when he looks up, he sees the massive black tower.

All sleepiness vanished in this moment.

Tang Mo almost thinks it's 2012 and the world is about to end.

How come it's so big!

I didn't see it last night when I left work, so how did it suddenly appear there?

At first, Tang Mo wondered if this was some kind of national construction. During that time, the Internet often boasted that the country's infrastructure was so awesome that an overpass could be built in a single night, so envious that foreigners' eyes were red with envy. Until he managed to get a cab to the city center, stood in the crowd and looked up: the tower was completely suspended in mid-air!

Fully levitated! At least a hundred meters off the ground!

How is it possible for human beings to make a tower in the air?

A large LED screen in the city center happened to be broadcasting the news: "At 8:00 a.m. Beijing time, 1,021 strange black towers appeared in the skies above our major cities as well as the oceans. It is reported that at the same time, black towers appeared in large areas around the world. Please don't be alarmed, the state has set up relevant departments to investigate the black tower incident. We have invited Prof. Luo from the Physics Department of Peking University to explain to us the problems related to the black tower incident, now connect with Prof. Luo ......"

World! World! The end! Day!

Everyone panicked. Tang Mo was unable to go to work for two days, and countless people fled to the countryside in their cars to get as far away from the Black Tower as possible. However, the state maintained the functioning of society well, and three days later, Tang Mo received notice to return to work, and after another week, many people returned when they saw that the Black Tower had not moved.

Until now, half a year later, these black towers have become some kind of tourist attraction-like existence.

A few months ago there were still people in white research suits coming under the Black Tower every day, carrying some very large instruments, not knowing what they were checking. Now basically, they would only come to check once every three days, and the stores near the Black Tower had resumed operations.

Tang Mo propped his chin on one hand, his gaze calmly looking at the black tower. The bus turned a corner and left the black tower behind, never to be seen again.

After a casual dinner in the evening, Tang Mo turned on her computer and logged on to □□□ and a chat box popped up.

[Victor: Sorry, I've been busy lately, I might not have time to play together.]

Tang Mo looked at the chat log. He sent a message last week and only replied today, so he did look busy.

[Grinding Candy: It's okay, we'll play together again sometime later.]

After sending the message, Tang Mo opened the bridge program, and this time Victor was online, so he got a quick reply.

[Victor: Want to play a game? There's just a little time.]

[Grinding Candy: Good [Chuckles]]

Tang Mo invites Victor into the room and soon the game begins.

Tang Mo has been playing bridge for five years. When he was a freshman in college, a roommate was very fond of bridge, saying that it was a game that tested his intelligence and was very impressive, so he dragged Tang Mo into the game as well. However, within a month, the roommate went on to other things, but Tang Mo quietly continued to play bridge for five years.

In the middle of the game, Tang Mo found a chance to make a deal. Before he could play his cards, Victor suddenly played a hand of kings of clubs. Tang Mo was stunned. With this hand, Victor killed his chance to make a deal.

Victor missed?

Bridge is a 2V2 game. Tang Mo met Victor online a year ago, and the two of them worked well together, with Victor's skill being no worse than Tang Mo's. But in the last six months, Victor has been very busy, and he hasn't even played again in the last two months. But in the last six months, Victor has been very busy, and he hasn't even played again in the last two months, so it's not impossible that he's gotten rusty.

Tang Mo took another look at the number of piers on both sides of the table and suddenly realized, "He wants a grand slam?"

The corners of her mouth curled into a faint smile as Tang Mo calmly played a card.

Half an hour later, the game is over, and Tang Mo opens the door.

[Grinding Candy: GJ, as good as ever.]

[Victor: GJ.]

[Grinding Candy: [Smiles]]

Victor didn't answer for a long time, so Tang Mo guessed he was busy again and started a game of bridge by himself. When he came back from the game, he saw a message from Victor: "I remember you once said that there is a black tower next to your workplace?

[Grinding Candy: Well, it's about two hundred meters away. What's wrong?]

[Victor: Less frequent there lately. There may be some problems.]

Seeing this sentence, Tang Mo suddenly remembered the expression on the face of the magician this morning, who pointed at the black tower with a nervous face and swore that "God is coming soon". Victor and the God's Mouse ......

Tang Mo couldn't help but laugh out loud, and after half a day of laughing, he sent a message back: [I didn't realize you were a "Black Tower Dangerous"? But I work in the neighborhood, so I probably won't be able to go there much.

Victor didn't push it, and after a few more words, suddenly said he had something to do, and the two of them said their goodbyes and got off the line.

The next day, when the magician didn't show up at work, Director Wang was very surprised and pulled Tang Mo and said, "That magician didn't show up today? I saw that he clocked in more often than I did, so something didn't happen to him, did it?"

Tang Mo: "Maybe something happened at home."

Director Wang waved his hand, "Hey, what do you care, it's better if he doesn't come, or else you'll still have to find someone to watch him. Xiao Tang Xiao Zhao, you guys work a little harder today, find some time to organize the G class books."

Organizing books is a daily task for librarians, a position that is not as easy as outsiders might think. Xiao Zhao had to go on a blind date in the evening. The little girl looked at Tang Mo blearily, but Tang Mo said, "You go back first, I'll come alone."

Xiao Zhao said gratefully, "Thanks Tang Mo, next time I'll work overtime for you."

Tang Mo nodded softly and said nothing.

After working late until ten o'clock at night, Tang Mo left the library and took the last bus.

There were very few people on the last bus, except for the driver, Tang Mo and a middle-aged man. The man was sitting on a chair, sleeping soundly, and Tang Mo's cell phone was out of battery, so he stared out the window with his chin propped up in boredom.

Many shopping malls in the city center were already closed at this time, and the November night was so cold that there were very few people on the streets, and the moonlight was spreading down in a clear and cold way. Tang Mo looked at the neon signs flashing with colorful light, the bus turned a corner, and the large black tower suddenly came into sight.

After six months of watching the tower, Tang Mo, like many others, was no longer interested in the tower, but just looked at it calmly.

Suddenly, he saw a small bug, or maybe it was a small bird, it was too far away to really see. Under the moonlight, the little black thing fluttered in the air and flew towards the huge black tower. Tang Mo watched idly, watching the little thing fly next to the black tower, foolishly continuing to fly forward, headlong to the black tower.

Then, seemingly hitting something, he suddenly fell toward the ground.

Tang Mo just watched as the bus turned the corner again and the black tower disappeared behind it.

The name of the next stop rang out from the bus, and Tang Mo propped his left hand against the window, bored and wondering what he was going to eat tonight. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he quickly turned his head, pressing his whole body against the window to see the black tower again. But the bus had long since driven away, and the black tower was impossible to see with the bus behind him.

Tang Mo's heart was beating so fast that it was about to jump out of his throat. After a long time, he settled his heart.

"...... should be looking at it wrong, right? The black tower is a shadow caused by optical pollution, there is no entity."

This is the current mainstream of society, many people do not believe it, but at least the black tower really does not have any entity, can only be seen, can not touch at all.

Tang Mo closed his eyes, trying to forget that scene just now. But that scene kept replaying in his mind, and he couldn't forget it until he went to bed at night, causing him to have insomnia until most of the night before he drifted off to sleep.

The next day, I woke up at 7:30 am. Tang Mo grabbed the time to get up and brush his teeth to catch the eight o'clock bus. He quickly got dressed, grabbed his backpack and left, but the moment his hand touched the doorknob, a melodious and smooth sound of music suddenly rang out.

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells ......"

Tang Mo looks around in dismay, not spotting the source of the sound in the room, but the song "Jingle Bells" keeps ringing. There are no lyrics, but everyone knows what song it is.

Tang Mo listens carefully to the sound and can't find the vocalization at all; it seems to be coming from all directions.

In the next moment, Tang Mo's body froze, and he ran to the window with a speed he had never seen before, looking far away from the giant black tower located in the center of Suzhou City. Only to see the giant tower shimmering with colorful light, constantly changing with the tone of the children's song. When the last note fell, the colorful light disappeared and everything fell silent into darkness once again.

A childlike voice rang out, with the distinctive high pitch of a child's voice, shrill and loud.

"Dingdong, November 15, 2017, Earth is online."