Quite a few players who had made it through the maze were gathered in the rest hall, clustered in small groups of two or three, exchanging information among themselves.

Bai Youwei didn’t see Yan Qingwen anywhere.

She had no way of knowing whether he hadn’t made it out of the maze yet, or had already returned to the base with Su Man and Zhu Shu.

Everyone exchanged a few words — a simple way of letting each other know they were safe — then prepared to head back to base.

A small incident occurred in the middle of all this.

Per their agreement, Bai Youwei gave Ashalina and Alon two puzzle pieces each, and the moment she did, the light-sensing wristbands on their wrists changed immediately — a King’s Territory icon appeared on them.

In other words, from that point forward, they were bound to Bai Youwei. They could only switch between the rest hall and the King’s Territory; they could no longer leave to go anywhere else outside of the King’s domain.

On Bai Youwei’s end, a new column of information appeared on her King’s wristband — she could now see Ashalina and Alon’s profile icons, as well as the number of puzzle pieces each of them held.

Current display: Ashalina held 4 puzzle pieces; Alon held 3.

This told Bai Youwei that in the maze reward settlement just now, Ashalina had received 2 puzzle pieces, and Alon had received 1.

This feature was probably designed to make it convenient for the King to keep track of their subjects — the number of puzzle pieces each subject held was visible at a glance, making it impossible for anyone to hide anything.

Bai Youwei gave Pan Xiaoxin 1 puzzle piece.

The subject portrait on the wristband added one more entry: Pan Xiaoxin, 2.

With the recruitment business settled, the group left the rest hall and returned to the base.

A new problem immediately arose.

Once they were out of the maze and the game, back in the real world, that marvelous “simultaneous translation” function vanished. The Thai that Ashalina and Alon spoke was unintelligible to everyone.

Fortunately, the two of them knew a bit of English — heavily accented, but enough to get the gist across — so this problem was, for the time being, considered solved.

Back at King Headquarters Tower, Chu Huaijin was overjoyed. He warmly arranged rooms for Ashalina and Alon, urged everyone to rest well, and said that as soon as Yan Qingwen returned, they would hold a grand victory celebration for them.

It was only then that Bai Youwei learned Yan Qingwen had still not come out of the maze — and neither had Su Man, Zhu Shu, or Lu Yuwen.

Perhaps because her legs had healed, Bai Youwei’s mood was bright and clear, her entire disposition positive and sunny. Even knowing Yan Qingwen might be facing danger, she wasn’t particularly worried — instead she optimistically believed they would certainly turn the situation around and return in triumph.

Coming out of the maze had left everyone exhausted. Almost as soon as they returned to headquarters, people went off to wash up and rest.

Everyone, that is, except Bai Youwei.

Her emotions were running high, excitement barely contained beneath the surface. She quietly asked the front desk staff where there was a shoe store nearby.

The front desk staff had been specially trained and treated each King candidate with complete deference.

“Are you looking for shoes? If you tell us your size, style, and color preferences, we’ll do our best to fulfill your request…”

“No need. Just tell me the location — I’ll go pick them out myself.” Bai Youwei said.

The staff member replied, “There are a few shoe stores along Nanjing Road. It may rain tonight — shall I arrange a car for you?”

Bai Youwei nodded, then added, “Don’t tell anyone else that I’m going to a shoe store.”

She wanted to give everyone a surprise.

Of course, she mainly wanted to give that one particular person a surprise. That face that was always cool and composed — would it show an interesting expression for once? She was looking forward to it.

The driver took Bai Youwei to Nanjing Road and pulled up specifically in front of a sporting goods store.

Bai Youwei had no interest in athletic shoes. She had the driver keep going until, finally, they stopped in front of a luxury goods boutique —

Inside, row upon row of elegant, exquisitely crafted high heels were on display.

In this transformed world, they were like gorgeous and fantastical soap bubbles — beautiful in a showy, impractical way — and so the store had few customers, remaining almost exactly as it had been before the world changed.

Bai Youwei picked out a pair of champagne-colored stilettos.

—