Nick seemed to have anticipated her answer; not a trace of disappointment crossed his face. He turned instead to look at Ada —

“Agile, bold yet careful, with a great sense of adventure. You’ve been in the competitive zone for six months, having switched teams 17 times in total — that’s an average of one team every nine days. Wide connections, yet not a single close friend… This time is the longest you’ve stayed anywhere, isn’t it?” Nick smiled as he watched Ada, then continued, “Stayed this long — you must be getting bored. Care to consider switching to our team?”

Ada’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Impressive — you actually had everyone’s situation investigated this thoroughly…”

“You flatter me.” Nick raised his brows playfully, his gaze sweeping over, landing briefly on Bai Youwei and Shen Mo. “If the two newcomers are interested in joining, we’d be equally delighted.”

Bai Youwei and Shen Mo said nothing. Ada started laughing first: “You’re really quite greedy — inviting everyone one by one! But save your energy. With that score of yours, your bragging rights end here — because we’re about to surpass you. Understand?”

Nick smiled faintly, with undisguised contempt in his eyes.

He didn’t believe it.

And because he didn’t believe it, he felt no particular irritation at Ada’s boasting. He replied mildly: “Is that so. Good luck.”

The subway arrived; the two groups boarded in separate cars.

Ada got on the subway still brooding over Nick’s arrogance, and asked Yuri, “We’ll definitely surpass them this time, right?”

Yuri sat with his head lowered, hands clasped together, knuckles tight. “…Yeah. Probably.”

……

The subway stopped and started, a few passengers disembarking at each station.

There was still some time before the stop nearest to the Queen’s Nest. The wait was terribly dull; the view outside the windows was pitch black — not even a scrap of scenery to look at.

Bai Youwei unwrapped a mint candy. She’d originally meant to eat it herself, but seeing Shen Mo sitting beside her in unbroken silence, a mischievous impulse struck her — she abruptly pressed the candy into his mouth.

Shen Mo startled, then tasted mint sweetness.

“What are you thinking about? You’re so focused~” Bai Youwei leaned in front of him, grinning. “You’re not thinking about some other woman, are you?”

Shen Mo laughed. “No.”

He glanced over at Yuri, thought for a moment, then pulled Bai Youwei closer and said in a low voice: “I’m thinking about the team.”

Bai Youwei didn’t particularly care about such things, but Shen Mo had lowered his voice — so she played along conspiratorially, matching his hushed tone: “Oh… you weren’t swayed by that Nick, were you? Thinking about switching teams?”

Shen Mo shook his head lightly. “I wouldn’t go to that side. But if we keep failing to get satisfactory scores, we really do need to consider switching teams.”

Bai Youwei paused, caught off guard.

Shen Mo said with a faint smile: “What’s wrong? Switching teams here is normal. You heard it just now — Ada used to switch teams every nine days on average. He’s only been with this team for one month himself. There’s no deep loyalty to speak of; it’s just that cooperation has been smooth, and the scores have been decent, so he stayed. At the end of the day, everyone is bound together by shared interests…” He paused. “Yuri understands this too. He must be under enormous pressure right now.”

Shen Mo glanced toward Yuri in the distance. “If we keep failing to score high, the team falling apart is only a matter of time. After all… everyone is desperate to leave this place. No one can afford to wait indefinitely.”

The reason they were still holding together now was because they still had hope. But if they kept, and kept, failing to score high?

“We’ll get a high score this time.”

Bai Youwei suddenly said so.

Shen Mo startled, and looked at her.

Bai Youwei held the candy in her cheek, one side puffed out, giving her the adorable look of a child. Yet her curved brows and eyes held a foxlike slyness.

“Trust me.” She grinned and patted Shen Mo on the shoulder. “A woman’s intuition tells me — this time’s score will definitely be very high.”