Not long after Nik left, Bai Youwei stood up and went tapping upstairs to knock on Ada’s door:

“Ada — you also head to the service station. Post another thread on the forum.”

Ada was still catching up on sleep. At Bai Youwei’s voice, he immediately got up and began getting dressed, asking as he did: “What thread?”

Bai Youwei organized her thoughts briefly outside the door: “Mm…… something like — if another squad clears the dungeons before us, then wouldn’t the squads that already bought the strategy guides have to wait yet another year?”

Ada froze mid-dressing.

And who else could clear the dungeons before them? None other than the Crazy Elites squad.

People’s Commotion had around ten dungeons left. Crazy Elites had slightly more — probably around twenty-plus remaining now.

The only squad that stood a realistic chance of catching up was Jason’s group. If the unthinkable happened and Jason beat them to it, they’d have to wait until next year — and if next year’s slot were taken too, the squads that bought the guides would have to……

Wait yet another year.

Ada’s eye twitched.

That was ruthless……

Once this thread went live, not only would squads be competing to protect Nik — they’d also be competing to take out Jason’s group……

It was practically killing without shedding a drop of blood.

Jason could never have seen this coming. Scheming so carefully, backstabbing Yuri, deceiving Natasha — and in the end, still unable to claim the slot.

Would he be driven to despair?

Would he feel regret?…… Would he feel guilt for so recklessly ending the life of a former squadmate? If he’d known things would turn out this way, would he still have moved against Yuri?

Ada suspected the answer was no.

With that thought, he felt all the more wronged on Yuri and Natasha’s behalf.

He finished getting dressed, stepped out the door, and decided he was going to write this particular thread very, very carefully……

……

The news released like wind, sweeping through the entire competitive district and igniting with breathtaking speed.

Everyone knew that the People’s Commotion squad had a 999-scoring legend in their ranks. Everyone also knew that if Crazy Elites’ progress overtook People’s Commotion’s, there’d be no hope for next year!

Jason’s position became precarious overnight.

Suspicious individuals began appearing outside his safe house. Taking the subway was met with unprovoked attacks.

He was forced to act with even greater caution. Yet his heart was burning with anxiety — worried about Nik claiming this year’s slot, and even more worried about an army of 999-scoring squads emerging next year to compete for it.

Thankfully, the hospital’s security system was reasonably reliable. Unless Natasha was willing, ordinary people had no way of getting to her.

His greatest fear was something happening to Natasha and the squad disbanding as a result.

Seven in the morning. Natasha sat up in her hospital bed, taking her medicine. Her upper body had regained full mobility, though the bandages on her leg would need a few more days before they could come off.

She was almost completely cut off from the outside world, with nothing to do each day but follow doctor’s orders and recover as quickly as possible.

A puppet nurse walked into the ward with a pleasant smile and said: “A gentleman by the name of Augustus Ada Kraullier is here to see you. Would you like to meet him?”

Natasha was briefly taken aback. She was quiet for a moment, then said: “Show him in.”

The nurse nodded with a smile, turned, and left the ward.

After a few minutes, Ada arrived.

He was covered in grime, dirt-smudged all over his face — so much so that when Natasha caught sight of him, she stared for several full seconds.

“What happened to you?” she asked in surprise.

“Oh…… nothing, I just came out of a desert dungeon.” Ada brushed at his hair and a shower of sand fell loose. “You’ve probably heard — Jason’s been chasing us pretty hard lately. We were about ten or so dungeons behind before; now it’s down to five or six.”

Natasha pressed her lips together and said quietly: “He mentioned it a few times. He also said that if he couldn’t catch up, he was planning to make a push for next year’s slot — after all, it’s only two more months to wait.”

Ada fixed his eyes on hers. “And you? What do you think?”

“Me?” Natasha lowered her gaze. “I’m waiting. To see whether he’ll actually avenge Yuri or not.”

—