Collecting all the puzzle pieces allows you to clear all the games—
This means escaping the nightmare-like games forever, so puzzle pieces are naturally extremely precious and rare resources!
But for most people, the value of puzzle pieces only lies in that one immunity.
Shen Mo said, “If we really want to do this, information transmission is a problem.”
“As long as there are people alive, the message will definitely get out.” Bai Youwei wasn’t worried at all. “Teacher Cheng saw lights on in some places today, so there must be people living in the city. As long as we spread the word that we’ll trade items for puzzle pieces, I don’t believe anyone wouldn’t be willing.”
“Huh?” Tan Xiao was shocked. “Trade items? Won’t that be a bit of a loss?”
“Of course not one-for-one.” Bai Youwei pondered. “I’d like to trade one for ten, but I estimate not many people have extra puzzle pieces now. One for five, one for three—both are acceptable.”
She looked up at everyone. “What do you all think?”
Shen Mo thought for a moment and replied, “I have no objections.”
In the short term, items were important, but in the long run, puzzle pieces were naturally more valuable.
Cheng Weicai also agreed: “Collecting all puzzle pieces requires perseverance and determination. I have no objections either.”
Tan Xiao looked at Shen Mo, then at Cheng Weicai, puzzled and confused: “Do we have that many items to trade… I only have one badge whose use I don’t know…”
[Friendship Badge: Having helped the princess find her lost golden ball, you have become the princess’s friend.]
The use of this item was unclear because no one knew what being the princess’s friend meant.
Bai Youwei patted her “wealthy” canvas bag. “I still have many. If it’s not enough, we can go earn more in games! Better than making trip after trip into the maze—how exhausting.”
Tan Xiao: “…”
My dear sister~ I really think playing games isn’t much easier than running mazes!
Shen Mo glanced at the time and said to everyone, “It’s getting late. Let’s all go back to our rooms and rest. Tomorrow morning we’ll look around and understand the situation. If there are no problems, we’ll enter the maze tomorrow afternoon.”
Everyone looked at each other and nodded in unison.
Bai Youwei reminded Shen Mo: “Don’t forget to pick loquats before entering the maze.”
“…” Shen Mo looked at her helplessly. “Don’t worry, I won’t forget.”
…
The next morning.
Shen Mo’s group packed their luggage and drove, slowly traveling along the streets outside the fog’s perimeter.
They occasionally encountered people on the road.
Unlike Yangzhou, where almost everyone had gathered near Yangzhou Port waiting for rescue, people in Hangzhou seemed scattered throughout the urban area, cautiously maintaining a certain distance from the fog in the city center.
When they saw Shen Mo’s car, they all showed vigilant expressions, standing in place, faces full of wariness, as if Shen Mo’s group were unwelcome intruders.
“These people are so strange.” Through the car window, Tan Xiao spotted two more people collecting supplies by the roadside and hesitated. “Should we get out and ask?”
“No rush.” Shen Mo’s gaze swept over them lightly, looking straight ahead. “These people’s mental states are too tense. I’m afraid before our car even stops, they’ll have already run away. Let’s go ahead and look.”
The SUV continued forward.
After driving another stretch, passing by an intersection, Shen Mo saw more than a dozen people gathered by the roadside, sorting and packing things from a store and loading them onto tricycles.
All men—teenagers, twentysomethings, and men in their thirties and forties, all working.
When they saw the SUV, though their eyes were also vigilant, perhaps because there were many of them, they didn’t show fear or nervousness. Their movements loading cargo didn’t stop at all.
Shen Mo parked the car across the street, got out, and called Tan Xiao to come with him to ask for information.
Teacher Cheng worried they might get into a conflict and stood nervously by the car watching.
Bai Youwei also leaned by the window to watch—