Everyone’s eyes widened in shock!

The gold coin broke free from Tan Xiao’s hand, bounced high up, then traced an arc!

Landing on the ground—

Clink!

The gold coin spun rapidly on the ground like a top!

As it spun, the space behind Tan Xiao gradually tore apart! It split open into an oval-shaped gap, inside was bottomless darkness with astounding suction force! Without giving anyone time to react, it sucked in Tan Xiao and Li Li, who were closest to the gap!

Zhu Shu and Su Man instinctively reached out to grab Li Li, both grasped at empty air and were also sucked into that gap!

Shen Mo moved agilely, immediately grabbing Tan Xiao’s arm, but that suction force was astonishingly strong, pulling him in as well—

“Shen Mo!” Bai Youwei shouted anxiously, sliding her wheelchair forward to reach him.

Yan Qingwen grabbed her. “We’ll go rescue them. You stay here!”

“Don’t touch me!” Bai Youwei angrily shook him off, allowing herself and the wheelchair to be sucked into that black hole-like spatial rift!

Left were Teacher Cheng, Pan Xiaoxin, Lu Ang, and Yan Qingwen.

“Xiaoxin, let’s go in too!” Teacher Cheng hurriedly picked up his backpack and walking stick from the ground, rushing in urgently!

Pan Xiaoxin didn’t dare delay, also shouldering her backpack and charging inside!

Lu Ang frowned and asked Yan Qingwen, “Going in or not?”

The gold coin’s rotation speed on the ground was slowing.

The gap was also shrinking and narrowing, the plump oval gradually becoming elongated.

Yan Qingwen guessed that when the gold coin fell, this gap would completely close.

…Should they go in?

Inside there would surely be unimaginable danger waiting for them.

“Our mission is to escort Li Li to the destination…” Yan Qingwen gritted his teeth. “Let’s go!”

Time was pressing. The two had no time to retrieve their equipment, entering that narrow rift one after another—

The gold coin spun slower and slower.

Slower and slower…

Thud, it fell to the ground.

The rift disappeared.

At the same time, the gold coin’s luster completely faded, as if instantly coated with a layer of dust. Though still golden in color, it no longer had that dazzling attraction from before, but was dull and gray, just a small coin by the roadside.

A light breeze blew past.

The leaves rustled.

On the deserted street, it seemed as if nothing had ever happened…

…

In a pure white diamond-shaped space, enormous cubes were arranged in neat order.

A gray-robed supervisor stood before one of the cubic spaces, mysteriously murmuring in a low voice: “Ignorance and lack of knowledge are not the greatest obstacles to survival—arrogance is.”

Behind it, the rabbit-headed supervisor approached, holding a black top hat in its hands, asking politely: “This quote is from ‘The Three-Body Problem III: Death’s End,’ first published in human calendar November 2010, describing warfare between civilizations. Why the sudden sentiment?”

The gray-robed figure replied in a low voice: “Nothing much, just felt… this quote is quite fitting for this moment.”

The rabbit-headed figure looked at the cube before the gray robe, asking in puzzlement: “You’ve opened game number 7016… You know full well this copy is still under adjustment and won’t be put into use until next month. Current-stage players cannot handle the difficulty of 7016.”

The gray-robed old man laughed, its dry throat making rasping sounds.

“No matter. The few who went in are all players who’ve undergone secondary data upgrades. They need exactly this level of difficulty for training.”

The rabbit-headed figure fell silent. After a while, it asked, “Do you hope they’ll die?”

“Of course.” The gray-robed old man slowly nodded. “…If they don’t die, how will all this end?”