Bai Youwei paid him no mind and kept walking upward. She heard Nik call out again from below, eagerly: “Want to discuss our next dungeon later?”

“We’ll talk tonight.” Bai Youwei waved her hand dismissively and headed upstairs.

……

The second floor had only two rooms and a large terrace — bare concrete, like an unfinished shell apartment, with a layer of moss growing in the corner of the railings.

Bai Youwei placed both hands on the railing and looked out at the surrounding scenery.

Shen Mo came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, his chin resting naturally on top of her fluffy head, giving it a gentle nuzzle.

“This place isn’t bad,” Shen Mo said quietly. “The terrain around is flat with no cover — if anyone suspicious approaches, you’d see them at a glance.”

“Mm.” Bai Youwei responded softly, then released the railing and turned her palms over to look at them. “……It’s just, a little dirty.”

She turned around and wiped her hands on Shen Mo’s clothes.

Shen Mo glanced down at the dust on his clothes. His thin lips curved ever so slightly upward. He leaned down until his forehead touched hers, his voice dropping even lower — carrying a faint hoarseness. “You little troublemaker.”

She just laughed. She sensed a kiss was probably coming next — but then she heard Nik calling up from downstairs:

“How about pizza for dinner? I’ll order delivery — half seafood, half meat!”

Bai Youwei silently rolled her eyes inwardly.

Ada chimed in: “Grab a few cans of beer!”

“Bai Youwei! Shen Mo!” Nik raised his voice from downstairs. “What do you two want? If you don’t say anything I’ll just order whatever!”

Bai Youwei said: “I want durian mille-feuille cake, octopus takoyaki, thick-broth fish stew, caramel pudding, butterfly puff pastries, caramel macchiato, half-baked cheese tart, ice cream puffs…… Oh, and a glass of taro bubble milk tea, please.”

Nik: “Holy……”

He cut himself off mid-syllable, probably remembering that today’s score was all thanks to Bai Youwei’s relentless pushing — so he forced himself to swallow the rest.

“Fine.” Nik replied.

Bai Youwei leaned over the railing and asked below: “You’re not going to ask my husband what he wants?”

Nik was downstairs placing the delivery order. At this, he replied without much warmth: “With you around — would he ever go hungry?”

Bai Youwei thought about it for a moment, then turned back to meet Shen Mo’s deep, dark eyes.

Shen Mo had his arms around her waist, a faint smile on his lips. “He’s not entirely wrong.”

Bai Youwei looked away, a faint warmth rising in her cheeks.

……

Despite being out in the middle of nowhere, the delivery arrived quickly — probably because the puppet delivery couriers were extraordinarily efficient. It took less than half an hour.

The four of them gathered in the first floor living room for dinner. Nik brought up the topic of dungeon grinding again:

“Once we finish the remaining 16, we can finally get out of this god-forsaken place. I suggest we adjust our schedule for the next few days — rest during the day, and go clear dungeons at night when there are fewer people around. That way we avoid getting cornered at the subway station.”

“Does that sort of thing happen often?” Shen Mo asked.

“What won’t people do when they’re consumed by envy?” Nik chuckled, tilted his head back and took a long swig of beer, then continued: “The closer you get to the end, the more dangerous it becomes. But sending a bomb straight to someone’s front door…… Heh. That’s also a first for me.”

Ada paused. The food in his mouth suddenly lost all flavor.

Nik could barely contain his excitement: “Listen — whatever your original plan was, I need to tell you right now: as long as we keep working together and knock out the rest of these dungeons, this year’s slot is absolutely going to be the four of us. I can guarantee there won’t be anyone else.”

Bai Youwei lowered her eyes, one spoonful of pudding after another, and said with casual detachment: “The Crazy Elites squad also has a 999 on their record.”

“They still have a lot more dungeons left than us,” Nik replied, curling his lips into a smirk.

He finished, and then realized that Bai Youwei, Shen Mo, and Ada had all gone quiet.

He slowly caught on. Putting cause and effect together, he hazarded a low-voiced guess: “You two…… are trying to get revenge for your former captain?”

“Revenge?” Bai Youwei pressed her lips into a small smile. “That word sounds a little dramatic. It’s more like…… we just don’t want to let ourselves be played for fools so easily.”

—