Su Man’s eyes went wide.

Even knowing that Bai Youwei always went against the grain, hearing her say she was choosing 20 still caught Su Man completely off guard.

That was *20* — a battle requiring 20 puzzle pieces staked all at once!

What shocked her even more was that Shen Mo didn’t hesitate for even a second, nodding and answering: “Alright, 20 it is.”

Su Man’s eyes grew wider still.

Yan Qingwen and Lu Yuwen beside her had only paused for a brief moment, showing no particular surprise.

“Qingwen Ge…” Su Man’s expression was complicated. “Weiwei, she — she wants to choose, *twenty!*”

Yan Qingwen gave a quiet “mm” and glanced toward Bai Youwei and Shen Mo. “The two of them are probably planning to exercise their one surrender opportunity. At this stage, I doubt any other king will choose 20, so there’s a good chance they’ll end up matched together in that battle — just not sure who’ll be surrendering to whom.”

He hadn’t made any effort to lower his voice, so Bai Youwei and Shen Mo heard every word clearly.

Bai Youwei turned toward them with a smile. “Qingwen Ge is as sharp as ever. So — do you want to choose 20 as well?”

Yan Qingwen smiled. “We can’t. We don’t have nearly enough pieces.”

Su Man did the math quietly in her head.

She and Lu Yuwen had collected 5 pieces total in the labyrinth, and then during the qualifying round she had picked up 6, Lu Yuwen and Yan Qingwen had each gotten 4, plus the 1 piece Yan Qingwen had originally — all of it combined was just barely enough to reach 20.

How were those 20 pieces to be distributed?

First, 2 were needed for territory.

Second, for Su Man and Lu Yuwen to participate in battles, each would need to hold at least 1 piece;

And finally, to ensure neither of them immediately became commoners if they lost, each needed an additional 1 piece as a buffer.

That meant Yan Qingwen, as king, would only have 14 pieces he could actually use.

Su Man was confident that the other kings were in no better a position than Yan Qingwen.

So where on earth had Bai Youwei and Shen Mo found 20 pieces?

Her expression must have been too obvious, because Bai Youwei laughed and explained: “Yu Chaohui and I each earned 14 pieces in the qualifying round, and Tan Xiao and Xiaoxin also got some — so the count is more than enough.”

“14 pieces?!” Su Man was stunned.

This time even Yan Qingwen and Lu Yuwen showed surprise. “How did you get that many?”

They had all won the qualifying round, yet they had only received 4 pieces each — Su Man a little more at 6 — while Bai Youwei and Yu Chaohui had each received 14.

The gap was simply enormous.

Bai Youwei considered for a moment, then explained: “It might be because of that ‘Doctor.’ He seems to have accumulated quite a few pieces, and after he lost his king status in the qualifying round, his pieces and items were split among those of us who won.”

Yan Qingwen and the others understood at once.

The qualifying round itself was fair, but because players started with different numbers of pieces, the rewards naturally varied.

Just as everyone assumed the topic was drawing to a close, Yu Chaohui, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke:

“There was another reason.”

Everyone paused and looked at him.

Yu Chaohui lowered his gaze, his expression subdued, and said quietly: “Because… in the end, only three people won. Prizes meant for five people were divided among three — of course it seemed like a lot.”

For some reason, once those words were spoken, the air went cold.

Shen Mo frowned slightly but said nothing.

Bai Youwei watched Yu Chaohui in silence. She understood what was going on inside him, but had no desire to say it aloud.

At that moment, the inspector’s voice rang out again:

“The first battle will begin in one month. Please, kings, maintain your health during this time and actively recruit subjects. If needed, you may return to the rest hall at any time — I will open labyrinth access for you individually.

This will continue to be the case going forward. Before each battle begins, you will each have one opportunity to enter the labyrinth. I hope you make good use of it.”

—