The bespectacled man sat in the central position, seemingly indeed the “leader” they’d guessed.

However, this leader’s days couldn’t be going well, because his shirt had many wrinkles and his hair was greasy—he clearly hadn’t washed properly in several days.

Shen Mo asked: “What is information exchange?”

The other party gently pushed up his glasses, saying unhurriedly, “You can understand it as information sharing. Everyone must unreservedly share valuable intelligence so we can all discuss countermeasures together. If everyone’s evasive, expecting others to come up with ideas, we’ll never solve problems, right?”

This wasn’t wrong. Going it alone was far less safe and effective than group cooperation. Since ancient times, humans had solved countless problems through group cooperation—one of humanity’s greatest wisdoms.

However, once there were too many cooperating people, inevitably there would be freeloaders or people exploiting the situation.

Bai Youwei hugged her plush rabbit, speaking in a soft, delicate voice: “But we don’t know what kind of information counts as valuable…”

Her suddenly using such a coy voice startled Shen Mo, both hands gripping the wheelchair breaking out in goosebumps.

Yet she pretentiously raised her head, looking at him pitifully: “Big brother, do you know?”

Shen Mo: “…”

He was speechless.

Perhaps Bai Youwei’s appearance was too deceptive. The bespectacled man was quite receptive, explaining gently: “Don’t worry. Since you came from that direction, you should have encountered those dolls on the road, right? Anything related to dolls can be discussed. The more detailed the better. Even things you can’t figure out, sharing with everyone might bring new insights.”

Bai Youwei pressed her lips together, putting on a thoughtful expression.

“Mm… On our way here, we met a bald uncle driving a pickup truck. He drove right through a road section with dolls and nothing happened, so my brother and I followed behind him… But everyone after that turned into dolls. So I think… could there be a limit on numbers? If there are fewer people, maybe it’s possible to pass through safely?”

After speaking, she looked anxiously at the bespectacled man: “Does this… count as valuable intelligence?”

The bespectacled man’s expression became even gentler. “It counts. Your discovery is consistent with our recent observations. Come sit down.”

Bai Youwei’s face showed a relieved expression. She smiled gratefully at the bespectacled man.

Seeing her acting enthusiastically, Shen Mo had no choice but to passively play a “taciturn” older brother, silently pushing the wheelchair over.

People spontaneously made some space, letting Bai Youwei and Shen Mo sit in. This also indirectly demonstrated the bespectacled man’s leadership position among this group.

Shen Mo pulled over a chair and sat beside the wheelchair.

Bai Youwei raised her innocent little face and asked: “If fewer people means nothing will happen, then wouldn’t acting alone be safer?”

“There are all kinds of limiting conditions. Numbers are just the most obvious one—there must be hidden conditions. After all, the earliest batch of people who turned into dolls all suddenly transformed when alone, so this is hard to say for now.”

The bespectacled man stopped this topic and looked at the others. “Let’s continue with the earlier question. The companions who went out scouting today haven’t returned yet. What does everyone think we should do now? Keep waiting?”

People looked at each other, no one speaking for a moment.

The bespectacled man scanned the circle and said gravely: “If we just leave, there’s definitely risk, but the service area’s water and electricity could cut off anytime. We can’t hold out much longer.”

“How about…” someone hesitantly spoke up, “we send a few more people out to scout?”

This suggestion was immediately rejected: “Who’ll go? Those people haven’t come back—maybe they died on the road already! Who’d dare go? Will you?”

“…But we can’t just wait here to die either.”

“Maybe there’s no danger on the road and they just ran off!”

“Impossible. Their luggage is still at the service area…”