Shen Mo glanced at his companions and replied, “No fixed time. We might take Hanghai Road. We probably won’t run into you.”

“Hanghai Road?” Yan Qingwen raised an eyebrow. “Seems your direction is heading south. What’s your destination? Jiaxing? Or Shanghai?”

Shen Mo frowned slightly, wariness in his eyes.

“Don’t misunderstand.” Yan Qingwen immediately raised his hands to show he had no hostile intent. “We’re heading to Shanghai. If our routes align, even if we don’t travel together this time, we’ll probably need to coordinate on future roads to avoid triggering games due to too many people. I believe you don’t want to get pulled into doll games for no reason either, right?”

After hearing his explanation, Shen Mo’s wariness eased slightly. His tone was flat. “We’re going to Jiaxing. It’s not far from Shanghai—we might go take a look on the way.”

“May I ask the reason?” Yan Qingwen asked.

Shen Mo didn’t answer after hearing this. His gaze swept over the three people’s faces. “What’s your reason? Why are you going to Shanghai?”

“Delivering something.” Yan Qingwen explained simply and concisely. “One member of my team is from a research institution. He has maze investigation data that needs to be delivered to the Shanghai research branch.”

“Research institution?” Shen Mo’s brow furrowed. “SCO?”

Yan Qingwen froze. “You know about SCO?”

Shen Mo frowned as he looked at him.

Yan Qingwen looked Shen Mo up and down, his questioning tone already carrying three parts certainty. “Are you from the special task force? Responsible for escorting the research team to Shanghai?”

Shen Mo looked at him. After a long while, he answered, “I’m from the National Security Bureau. I received orders from superiors—because all eight special task force teams lost contact, they dispatched an additional team to rendezvous at the SCO research institute. But when I arrived at the institute, I didn’t find anyone.”

Yan Qingwen was stunned. After a moment, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, his expression showing helplessness. “National Security Bureau… No wonder, no wonder…”

He sighed and supported his forehead, slowly shaking his head. “All eight special task force teams lost contact because the network signal suddenly collapsed. Actually, Professor Song was safely delivered to Shanghai by one of the teams long ago. You arrived a step too late…”

Shen Mo frowned and asked him, “You’re from the special task force?”

“No, I’m…”

Yan Qingwen was about to explain when Tan Xiao and Pan Xiaoxin suddenly jumped down from the tree!

“Mo Ge! That group is chasing after us!”

That group?

Yan Qingwen was puzzled. He heard the sound of vehicles approaching from the distance—more than one, driving very fast and very loudly.

He and Shen Mo walked to the middle of the road and discovered the vehicles looked somewhat familiar.

Looking more carefully, Yan Qingwen finally recognized them—they were the group he’d done business with.

The leader was called Fei Ge.

“How did you provoke them?” Yan Qingwen asked in surprise.

Shen Mo looked ahead and said flatly, “We robbed them.”

Yan Qingwen: “…”

Lu Ang and Zhu Shu beside him also: “…”

Vehicles stopped before their eyes one after another. A large group got out—about twenty-some people, seven or eight of them with bruised faces from yesterday’s lesson by Shen Mo and Tan Xiao.

Leading them, Fei Ge was in the worst shape, his head still wrapped in bandages, but his imposing aura wasn’t weak. His face was full of menacing flesh, showing a fierce expression.

He held a knife, pointing it at Shen Mo. “I know you’re formidable. You can take on ten people—today I brought twenty! Can you still win? If you’re smart, return what you took yesterday. Otherwise… hmph!”

At this point, he raised the knife higher, pointing it straight at Shen Mo. “Otherwise, none of you—not one—will leave!”