“A plan…” Bai Youwei thought for a moment. “Not at the moment.”
Ada: “…”
Was she really this unabashed about it?
“There are two things we need to establish first.” Bai Youwei held up one finger. “First — is the person behind this working alone, or as part of a group? If it’s a group, how many people are involved?”
Ada asked: “And the second thing?”
“The second thing…” Bai Youwei held up a second finger. “Whoever planned and carried out this attack will inevitably join Natasha’s team. Since Yuri and Natasha have no personal enemies, the only possible motive for targeting them is the scoring record.”
Natasha, listening from the hospital bed, shifted slightly. “What you mean is… whoever joins as the new team member is the one who killed Yuri.”
“That much is certain,” Bai Youwei said. “They didn’t plant a bomb for the fun of it — they won’t stop until they’ve achieved their goal.”
“Jason promised me his teammate would come with him tomorrow.” Natasha’s breathing quickened. “The person who delivered the package — that was definitely his teammate! I want them dead. They all deserve to die!”
Shen Mo frowned slightly and asked Natasha: “If the person who delivered the box were to appear again, could you recognize them?”
Natasha froze.
At the time, she had been the one to open the door — she was the closest to the delivery person. And yet now, trying to recall it… why was everything so blurry?
Her attention had been entirely on the box…
She only remembered that the person had been wearing a loose grey hoodie, the wide hood pulled forward to conceal their head, long bangs hanging over their eyes. They had kept their face lowered the whole time, placed the box in her hands, then turned and left immediately without a moment’s hesitation.
She couldn’t remember their face at all.
Even if that person appeared again — a different hairstyle, a different outfit, and she’d have no chance of recognizing them.
The realization hit her like ice water. Her heart plummeted — straight down into a frozen pit, cold flooding in from every direction, her blood seemingly turning to ice.
Shen Mo studied her expression and slowly said: “We still don’t know how many people are behind him — whether it’s a full team, or a few fixed partners. If it’s a full team of five… over this coming month, they won’t just take my and Youwei’s spots. After that month is up, they’ll take yours as well.”
Natasha bit down on her lower lip, drew a slow breath, and said with quiet, deliberate force: “I would rather disband the team than let them benefit.”
Ada’s expression was complicated. “That’s their goal, isn’t it? Either steal our records, or make sure… we never leave at all.”
Bai Youwei thought for a moment, then slowly said: “I have a plan…”
Ada turned to look at her. “You just said you had no plan!”
“I didn’t have one then. I do now.”
Ada: “…Fine. Let’s hear it, then. What’s the plan?”
Bai Youwei said: “Since their goal is the scoring record, we’ll give them a scoring record. And then we create a new one — higher score, faster completion — and make them feel threatened. At that point, they’ll definitely resort to the same tricks again.”
Shen Mo listened, then furrowed his brow slightly. “That’s not easy to pull off. Even if the three of us form a new team, we have no advantage whatsoever when it comes to clearing instances.”
A hundred or more instances — getting through all of them was no simple matter.
“That’s why we need to join a team that’s almost done with their instances and urgently needs a high score.” Bai Youwei looked at them and reminded them: “Remember? Startle the People — they’ve suffered heavy casualties recently.”
“Nick’s team?!” Ada’s whole face scrunched up. “That guy only ever plays games with us! There’s no way he’d genuinely welcome us onto his team!”
Bai Youwei shrugged. “Doesn’t matter — we’re not genuinely joining anyway.”
Shen Mo said: “We don’t have their contact information.”
Bai Youwei said without missing a beat: “I know where to find them. Grand Avenue, number 23.”
Shen Mo: “…”
Bai Youwei: “Dear, why are you looking at me like that?”
—