After Shen Mo finished speaking, Tan Xiao, Cheng Weicai, and even Bai Youwei—all three remained silent.

Shen Mo’s gaze swept across their faces one by one before speaking again: “Based on my experience, there are only two possibilities for why the rescue boats haven’t returned—

One: the rescue boats encountered trouble and can barely protect themselves;

Two: the rescue boats are fine, but the refuge has limited capacity, so the remaining people were abandoned.

Regardless of which scenario, we have no need to keep waiting.

Moreover, I also learned at Yangzhou Port that this fog doesn’t only exist in Yangzhou—Shanghai and Hangzhou have it too. We might as well boldly hypothesize: could it be that cities with larger populations all produce white fog? Yangzhou’s population wasn’t originally that large, but recently, a huge influx of outsiders gathered here, so it also generated white fog?

If this hypothesis holds true, and the white fog keeps expanding and growing, rather than passively being forced into a corner, we should take the initiative and go in to see what’s there.”

This speech contained too much information. Everyone fell silent again for quite a while.

Shen Mo wasn’t in a hurry either. He turned his head to look at Bai Youwei, somehow certain in his heart that she would agree with his suggestion.

“What do you think is inside the fog?” Shen Mo asked Bai Youwei.

Bai Youwei’s eyes rolled around, and she imitated his manner of speaking: “Based on my experience, there are two possibilities—

One: the game map has expanded. We’re all inside one game, and the white fog’s effect is similar to that frog—touch it and die instantly;

Two: the game map has split. The white fog is a reality game instance with some differences from the games we encountered on the road.”

The corners of Shen Mo’s mouth curved into a smile.

Tan Xiao asked her, half-understanding: “So… we have a fifty percent chance of dying?”

Bai Youwei glanced at him sideways: “Considering that the first violates the principle of game fairness, I believe the second possibility is greater.”

“Oh…” Tan Xiao nodded.

He was someone without his own opinions, habitually believing that Shen Mo and Bai Youwei’s words made sense. He hesitantly asked: “So, when do we go?”

Shen Mo looked toward Old Teacher Cheng: “You stay here and wait for us…”

“I’m going too.” Old Teacher Cheng’s expression was sorrowful, but his tone was very firm. “I’m just a bag of old bones. Staying here is useless. Better to go into the fog and look around—maybe I can see my elderly parents at home one more time.”

Bai Youwei was silent for a moment before saying: “If we’re really going… better to go early and come out before dark.”

Shen Mo made the final decision: “We leave after eating.”

If Tu Dan were still here, she would probably cough up blood and die. She had agonized for days without making up her mind, yet these people decided to set out after just a few casual words.

…

The white fog was dense and thick.

From a distance, it looked like endlessly stretching spider webs. Up close, it resembled evaporating frost and snow.

With fog this heavy, there was no way to drive. The four people formed a line and walked forward. Shen Mo pushed the wheelchair.

The fog was very quiet.

An extremely thorough kind of quiet.

No birdsong, no insect calls—even the sound of wind stopped here.

Under these circumstances where they could neither see the path ahead nor hear any sounds, they walked for about three to five minutes. Then the fog began to thin.

Sunlight penetrated the white fog, illuminating everything brightly—

The four people who had come through the fog almost simultaneously widened their eyes and froze.

All the buildings were combined and stacked in bizarre forms, piling up into massive walls before their eyes, forming countless winding passages!

The city had turned into a giant maze!

Tan Xiao stepped forward a few paces in astonishment and reached out to touch the “wall” made of utility poles, trees, steel reinforcement bars, flat-roofed tiles, and vending machines twisted together. He turned back dumbfounded and said to Cheng Weicai: “Old Cheng… I’m afraid you won’t be able to find your way home.”