Shen Mo walked over, greeted Zhu Shu who was standing beside Bai Youwei, and asked: “Where’s Yan Qingwen?”

“He said he went to have a cigarette just now — should be back soon.” Zhu Shu replied, “I’ll relay what Professor Song and Commander Chu said to him in a bit.”

Shen Mo nodded and said: “We need to decide on the roster as soon as possible. There’s only one month of time to gel as a team.”

Hearing this, Zhu Shu’s expression dimmed slightly.

Bai Youwei explained on her behalf: “Senior Yan chose Battle 1 — he’s planning to participate in the battle alone.”

Shen Mo was momentarily taken aback, pausing briefly, but didn’t say anything in the end. He only remarked mildly: “He probably has his own considerations.”

Zhu Shu managed a strained smile, glancing around, “…I’ll go find him. You two eat first.”

She turned and left the dining hall.

Shen Mo watched her walk away, then asked Bai Youwei beside him: “What about you — have you decided on your roster yet?”

— Bai Youwei’s next battle was Battle 10, which required eight participants.

“Let me think a bit more…” She picked an orange segment from her plate and slowly placed it in her mouth, her gaze drifting into the distance, surveying those she knew in the dining hall, and those she didn’t.

How to select these eight people, how to arrange them — she needed to think this through carefully…

Think it through some more…

…

That night, Bai Youwei, Shen Mo, and Pan Xiaoxin returned to the Dollhouse to rest.

Tan Xiao hadn’t come back. Ever since running into his old good brothers, he’d been spending every day hanging around with them — eating, training, trading jokes — always part of the noisiest group.

When getting ready to sleep, Shen Mo brought up the roster question again:

“The two of us, plus Tan Xiao, Yu Chaohui, Xiaoxin, Ashalina and Alon — that’s seven people total. We’re still one person short of eight. Tan Xiao’s friends have been eager to join all along. They’re not much at fighting individually, but they react fast and have plenty of nerve, and working alongside Tan Xiao, their actual combat effectiveness should be better than in training.”

“We won’t bring Xiaoxin this time…” Bai Youwei sat on the edge of the bed, kneading her legs one press at a time, speaking slowly. “The supervisor for Battle 10 is the Ball, and its games are usually very brutal — high demands on physical strength. Xiaoxin is a child; no matter how much her physical strength improves, she’ll still be somewhat behind an adult.”

She paused a moment, then sighed with a frown: “Of course Tan Xiao and his friends work seamlessly together, but I’m worried — if something happens to his friends during the game, will Tan Xiao act recklessly?”

Tan Xiao’s ability to follow orders was somewhat below average, and his temperament was impulsive. One could say he was the teammate most likely to create “surprises.”

These surprises could mean pleasant ones, or troublesome ones.

Bai Youwei weighed the matter from every angle and couldn’t make up her mind. She asked Shen Mo: “How many candidates did Chu Huaijin provide us?”

“There are 22 qualified volunteers recruited in total. About seventeen or eighteen with physical advantages. Of those, roughly four or five have had contact with Du Lai and Fu Miaoxue.” Shen Mo said, “If you want to choose from among these people, you’d better decide soon. The earlier we finalize the roster, the sooner we can work on team coordination and chemistry.”

When had Bai Youwei not understood this principle? Right now, Tan Xiao and his brothers had no problems working together, and Ashalina and Alon had no problems working together — but reshaping all these people into a single cohesive unit wasn’t something that could be accomplished by a single word of command from her.

Shen Mo studied her for a moment, then asked: “Has Yan Qingwen’s decision been influencing you?”

Bai Youwei glanced at him, and instead of giving a clear answer, let out a sigh: “Do you think Tan Xiao needs to participate in the battle?”

At these words, Shen Mo fell silent. After a while, he reached out and ruffled Bai Youwei’s hair.

“Don’t overthink it. I understand you want to keep everyone safe, but bringing a group of strangers into the game will definitely hurt our win rate — do you understand?

However reckless Tan Xiao gets, he’s at least someone you can trust. Yu Chaohui doesn’t respect you deep down, but when it comes to matters of principle, he won’t make mistakes. Ashalina and Alon aren’t from the same country as us — that doesn’t mean we can’t work together.

There are no perfect subjects, only useful ones and useless ones.”

—