At the conference table, Fu Miaoxue pursed her lips. “If you put it that way… it’s obvious that whoever goes into the maze with us is just going in to die. Who would agree to that?”

Du Lai looked around the room and probed carefully, “But if we don’t go into the maze and just participate in the third battle directly, what are our actual chances of winning?”

Yan Qingwen leaned back in his chair with an air of relaxed ease and said, “I’ll be surrendering in the third battle—winning doesn’t matter to me. As for my subjects, if they want to enter a maze, I won’t interfere with them.”

Chu Huaijin froze, staring at Yan Qingwen in shock. “You’re going to surrender?”

Yan Qingwen nodded. “Yes, I’m going to surrender.”

Chu Huaijin’s expression showed incomprehension and regret. “You’ve worked so hard to win two battles—you only need to hold on for two more and you’d make it to the final tournament… Is it because you’re shorthanded? The base can provide you with people! We can help you find items too, just say the word…”

To Chu Huaijin, every additional king meant one more chance at victory, so naturally he wanted as many kings as possible.

Zhu Shu stood up and cut Chu Huaijin off. “It was me who told him to surrender.”

“What’s the reason?” Chu Huaijin frowned, a trace of displeasure on his face. “The base has poured all its resources into helping you—suddenly announcing a surrender, there should at least be a reason, shouldn’t there? If Yan Qingwen withdraws, then we’ll only be left with… only Miss Bai and Miss Fu—two women competing for a spot in the finals.”

Chu Huaijin was deeply troubled and asked Yan Qingwen, “Have you really thought this through?”

Yan Qingwen was about to explain when Zhu Shu cut him off again.

“Let me speak instead.” Zhu Shu said calmly. “Yan Ge giving up on competing is a decision made with our best interests at heart. Although subjects who are eliminated in the game only become commoners, as the game’s difficulty increases, the death rate will also rise. No one can guarantee that their subjects will come out completely unscathed—so rather than carrying that kind of psychological burden and being torn between moving forward and holding back, it’s better to let go and give the opportunity to someone else.”

That last line was a bit pointed—it openly acknowledged that Yan Qingwen had a “psychological burden.”

Yan Qingwen looked at Zhu Shu, and smiled helplessly.

Zhu Shu didn’t look at him, and continued, “Actually, we also don’t want him to keep going, because the puzzle pieces we have are extremely limited.

After the qualifiers, Yan Ge and our combined pieces total 20. Occupying territory used 2 pieces; winning the first battle earned 10 pieces; winning the second battle earned 5 pieces—a grand total of 33 pieces. Of those 33 pieces, recruiting subjects took 16, and submitting the battle deposit took another 10—leaving only 7…”

Zhu Shu pressed her lips together and looked directly at Chu Huaijin. “If the third battle is lost, Yan Ge will die—because his remaining piece count is not enough to participate in a battle, which requires 20 pieces minimum. But if it were another king… if it were Weiwei—even if she lost both the third and fourth battles! As long as she’s still alive, she can still participate in the final tournament!”

Chu Huaijin was speechless for a moment. After a while, clinging to one last hope, he asked Bai Youwei, “Can puzzle pieces be transferred?”

Bai Youwei had the most puzzle pieces of anyone present.

“I’m afraid not.” Bai Youwei raised her wrist. “Even if I gave him my pieces, the count displayed on his wristband wouldn’t change at all.”

Fu Miaoxue glanced over and saw the puzzle piece count displayed on Bai Youwei’s wristband: 94.

“You’re insane!” She couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed. “That many pieces! Where did they all come from?!”

Fu Miaoxue had known Bai Youwei had a lot of pieces, but she hadn’t expected this many—nearly three digits!

Bai Youwei lowered her wrist indifferently and asked Fu Miaoxue, “What about you? If you lose the third battle, do you have enough pieces left to survive?”

Fu Miaoxue’s eyes darted around, and she smiled sweetly. “How many pieces I have left doesn’t really matter, because… maybe… I’ll also be surrendering.”

“What?!” Chu Huaijin finally couldn’t stay seated and shot to his feet!

—