“Aaaaahhhhh!!!”

Suddenly a sharp scream rang out—both servers’ trays went flying at once!

The pristine ceramic dishes shattered everywhere, and the instigator was not done—she grabbed two bottles of red wine and poured them over the servers’ heads, drenching them from head to toe!

All the guests stared in astonishment, baffled as to why Fu Miaoxue was throwing such a fit.

“Too comfortable in your jobs, are you? Or has your brain short-circuited?” Fu Miaoxue, draped in black gauze, her voice crisp and clear, snapped out: “Goodness me, we fight for our lives out there in the battles, and you stand here gossiping! Having a great time, aren’t you!”

The harassed servers didn’t dare fight back, standing hunched with heads bowed and trembling, wine trickling down their hair strand by strand…

“Your hearts are soft, you’re not calculating—so impressive! Why not join me in the games next time? Let’s see if the overseers are moved by your kindness and just hand you the win!”

The wine was poured dry. Fu Miaoxue grabbed the empty bottles and rapped both of them on the head—thunk, thunk, thunk.

“Think the game is some charity event? Ridiculous! Without us being ruthless, who knows where you’d have wound up dead!”

Du Lai called out quietly, “Miaoxue.”

A hint: ease up. These were ordinary people—they couldn’t take many more knocks.

Fu Miaoxue pursed her lips and stopped, reporting her grievance: “They started it with verbal violence, you know.”

The two servers seethed but didn’t dare say a word.

The cafeteria manager came over to apologize to Fu Miaoxue.

Fu Miaoxue pointed past him, toward Bai Youwei. “What’s the point of apologizing to me? Go apologize to her—without her puzzle pieces, do you think your peaceful days fell from the sky?”

Bai Youwei sat at her table eating, her expression calm, as if all of it had nothing to do with her.

The manager led the two servers over and apologized carefully and humbly.

“Life’s been too comfortable lately, so they got a bit carried away. They spoke without thinking, please don’t take it to heart—everyone in the base knows your contributions.” The cafeteria manager was measured in his speech and kept his posture low. “As for these two, I’ll handle them by the rules.”

By the rules?

…What rules? There were no rules in the base against idle gossip. At most they’d get a scolding and a reassignment.

But Bai Youwei wasn’t going to make a serious fuss over a couple of offhand remarks from servers.

She picked at the sweet corn kernels in her dish, popping them into her mouth one by one with an air of carelessness, and said, “It’s fine. They didn’t say anything wrong—I’m genuinely not a good person.”

At that, the manager and the two servers instantly tensed, terrified that Bai Youwei was about to press the issue.

Bai Youwei raised her eyes, her face perfectly composed. “I mean it. It’s fine. Friends chatting—no need to be nervous. Go change your clothes. Your hair and clothes are all wet; you’ll catch a chill.”

The manager nodded and began leading the servers away.

Bai Youwei called after them, “Wait.”

They stopped in their tracks and turned cautiously, looking at Bai Youwei.

“There’s something… I want to clarify.” Bai Youwei set down her fork. “Among Ye Chong’s eight people, one was trapped in the pit—Ye Chong decided he was useless and drove bamboo spikes through his throat. Another one, Hu Dashan, had several steel rods driven into his body by Ye Chong—he died horribly. Little Qi was made into a human balloon by Ye Chong and blew up. The remaining few were indeed eliminated by us—except that Ye Chong had given each of them only one puzzle piece, so after elimination, they had no pieces left to save their lives. They died too.”

The two servers listened to this account and seemed to envision the scenes—their faces paled, and they looked like they might retch.

“I’ve said what I wanted to say.” Bai Youwei picked up her fork again and resumed eating her sweet corn, kernel by kernel. “…You may go.”

—