According to their earlier theory, mazes and games liked to appear in densely populated areas.

Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and similar cities had been the first to see dolls appear — by that logic, they should also be among the first to see mazes appear. So why was there no fog in Shanghai?

They gazed ahead. In the distance, high-rises and skyscrapers stood densely packed, elevated highways looping in rings around each other — exuding the dazzling vitality of a modern metropolis, as if the city had passed through this catastrophe completely unscathed.

Shen Mo said: “Shanghai has more people, so naturally it has more capable ones. As long as three separate groups have cleared the maze, the maze disappears.”

Just like Hangzhou.

The Hangzhou maze: Shen Mo’s group had been the third to clear it, Yan Qingwen’s group the second, and who the first group was and where they had gone — they had no idea.

That was also why Shen Mo had originally set their destinations at Jiaxing and Shaoxing.

If they wanted to compete for puzzle pieces, the second- and third-tier cities surrounding the major metropolitan areas offered more opportunities than the first-tier cities themselves.

The group set off again.

One vehicle was the imposing, heavily modified jeep. The other was a large, road-worn off-road vehicle.

They had been driving only ten or so minutes when a roadblock suddenly appeared ahead. Two people in uniforms flagged them down —

“Proceed in dispersed formation! Vehicles must maintain at least one minute of spacing!” the uniformed personnel said. “Those are the regulations!”

Dispersed travel was no problem — they could comply. But the reason behind it was worth clarifying.

Yan Qingwen got out of the vehicle to negotiate: “The road signs indicate the nearby game trigger count exceeds twenty. Our group count should be within the safe range.”

The other party was reasonably courteous and explained: “These are orders from our superiors! To prevent overly concentrated population density within a single square-kilometer unit, which could trigger new game instances, all vehicles entering the city must proceed in dispersed formation! We ask for your cooperation!”

Shen Mo, seated in the car, heard this, frowned slightly, and leaned out his head. “Your superior — which superior? I am the Special Operations Director of the National Security Bureau. I’m currently looking for a professor named Song Mingchuan. If possible, I’d like your assistance.”

He presented his identification.

The two uniformed people both froze. Their bearing and posture made it clear they hadn’t received formal training — they’d evidently been hastily promoted, and faced with an “official representative” like Shen Mo, they both felt somewhat nervous.

They turned his credentials over and examined them from every angle, then exchanged glances.

“We’re with the traffic division — we’re not quite sure about this…” One of them handed the identification back to Shen Mo and said: “You can go ask over at People’s Square. The headquarters people are all over there.”

“Thank you.” Shen Mo took his ID back and glanced at Yan Qingwen.

Yan Qingwen gave a faint smile, waved at both Shen Mo and Bai Youwei in the off-road vehicle. “Looks like the city’s quite safe. We’ll meet at People’s Square shortly, then.”

The jeep set off first.

A minute later, Shen Mo’s vehicle started up as well.

The road was smooth all the way. Occasionally they encountered pedestrians — not many, roughly one or two per kilometer, but far better than the situation in Hangzhou. Because these pedestrians, when they spotted a vehicle on the road, wore perfectly calm expressions.

That at least indicated Shanghai’s current state was stable, food and water were plentiful, and so the people here didn’t need to be living on edge.

Turning off Jiujiang Road into People’s Square, they found the numbers increasing.

About twenty or so people were clustered around a large notice board outside People’s Square. Several men wearing baseball caps were maintaining order.

Shen Mo was just about to get out of the car to take a look, when one of the men suddenly tipped up the brim of his baseball cap and shouted in delighted surprise: “Mo-ge!!!”

—