Anyone who had been following Alarm the People Squad recently would know that the rookie in their squad was dead.

Because their squad had been going full throttle through dungeons lately.

Records scored in a run only took effect after a one-month waiting period. They still had more than twenty dungeons left uncleared, and if the timing was managed properly, they could potentially fulfill the requirement of “clearing all dungeons and breaking at least one record” the very moment the record became active.

Taking their time was always an option, but a 895-point record sitting there for a month without anyone breaking it was one thing — what about two months? Three? Half a year? The longer it sat, the less stable the situation became.

Nick stood at the courtyard gate, lip curved into a smile, unhurried. “Our squad has 27 dungeons left uncleared. I trust I don’t need to spell it out — the squad most likely to claim a quota this year is, in all probability, ours. So… whoever joins us will be the one to secure a quota.”

He tucked a slip of paper between the railings, swept his gaze over the five people in the courtyard, then, as if something amusing had crossed his mind, smiled again, and turned and walked away.

The people in the courtyard were left thoroughly puzzled by his words and manner.

A’Da stepped forward and pulled the slip of paper off the railing, and found that it did indeed have a phone number written on it.

He was completely at a loss. “What the hell, who does he think he is? Why would the quota ten-to-one go to his squad? I’m so irritated right now.”

A’Da turned around and saw Yuri standing there in a daze, and immediately frowned. “Hey! Captain, you’re not actually taking him seriously, are you? Even if their squad really does have a vacancy, they’d go find someone they know — there’s no way they’d sincerely invite people they’ve had beef with to join!”

Bai Youwei was a little surprised — she hadn’t expected A’Da to be so sharp beneath all the clowning around, cutting straight to the key issue in an instant.

“No, it’s just a little strange…” Yuri turned it over in his mind. “At a time like this, coming to invite us — and their squad currently only has one vacancy, one slot… and he’s telling that to five of us…”

“He wants to stir up infighting?” Natasha said, puzzled. “But this kind of approach… there’s no way it would work — no one here is that naive.”

A’Da shook the slip of paper. “So what was the point of him coming here today? Is he just out of his mind?”

Bai Youwei thought for a moment and said, “Maybe… what he said just now was deliberately meant for someone else to hear~”

A’Da froze, and looked at Bai Youwei. “What do you mean?”

“Think about it — before their squad brought in a rookie, their original lineup was four people, right?” Bai Youwei said. “Now that the rookie is dead, they’ve gone from five back to four. From a personnel standpoint, that’s not a shortage at all. If they don’t need anyone, there’s no reason whatsoever to invite an outsider in.”

A’Da blinked, still not quite following. “…So?”

“So, to put it simply — he wants to create the impression that their squad is short-handed and looking to recruit.” Bai Youwei shrugged. “I’d guess he’s not only notified us — every squad with any chance of competing against them has probably received this message. And even if we don’t take the bait, what about people in other squads? At least some of them will be tempted — and then, those squads will end up doing what we just did, overthinking and doubting each other.”

A’Da suddenly understood. “Oh! He wants to throw us all into disarray — mess with our heads so we can’t focus and end up unable to pull off a higher score than them! Damn! What a devious piece of work!”