“Last week, ten people entered Game #21. The only survivor was a person wearing white gloves. Although the white-gloved individual this time is not the same as the one from before, we cannot let our guard down because of that.”

Shen Mo looked at them and continued:

“Do we accept him and enter the game together? Or do we decline, and evacuate from here?”

Yu Yaqing’s brow creased deeply.

Yan Qingwen leaned against the table, thinking quietly.

Bai Youwei studied the shifting expressions on their faces and spoke first: “Let me share my view.

My recommendation is to decline. Inside the game, dealing with the inspectors’ interference and the rules’ tricks is already enough to drain every ounce of mental energy. Adding a teammate whose loyalties we can’t determine on top of that would be too great a risk — accidents become far too likely.”

Shen Mo glanced at her. “Let me share mine.

My recommendation is to accept. The entire base knows we’re only one person short of a full count. Now that we’ve finally filled the numbers, there’s no reason to suddenly back down at the last moment. Those who don’t know the reason will only think we lost our nerve — which would have a very damaging effect on the whole base’s morale.

On top of that, in the games ahead, we’ll always encounter people with hidden agendas. Their items will be concealed, impossible to guard against — but this time, the white gloves are in plain sight. In a way, that’s actually a kind of warning.”

Yan Qingwen laughed despite himself, looking between the two of them. “How are we supposed to choose? You two are split — one against, one for. Whichever side we take, we offend the other.”

Yu Yaqing laughed as well, then gave a calm answer: “I’ll go with accept. I think Shen Mo has a point — we’ll always encounter people with hidden agendas. Someone with white gloves will never disappear from our lives. We can’t let the sight of them make us flinch and retreat.

There are twenty-four games around this base. Only this one has never been cleared. White gloves or black gloves — I want to try.”

Bai Youwei pressed her lips to one side, staring at Shen Mo with a slightly wounded expression, and said nothing.

Yan Qingwen thought for a long while, then spoke: “I’ll go with accept as well. I’ll tell Lu Ang to be careful around the man.”

He looked at Shen Mo. “But for Shen Fei’s side of things, you’ll have to handle that yourself. That kid seems to trust him quite a bit.”

“I will.” Shen Mo gave a quiet nod.

Bai Youwei asked him plaintively: “After we enter the game — if Shen Fei and I both fall into the water at the same time, who do you save?”

Yan Qingwen: “…”

Yu Yaqing: “…”

Shen Mo pressed his hand to her head. “Stop making trouble.”

Bai Youwei continued her plaintive line of questioning: “Do you absolutely have to bring him? I think he’s utterly unreliable. I’d rather bring Xiaoxin than him.”

Shen Mo said helplessly: “Don’t be biased against him. Shen Fei has been through two games — he moves well. He’s not as unreliable as you think.”

Bai Youwei closed her eyes and sighed. “Fine. Let’s do it.”

Shen Mo looked at her, then at Yan Qingwen and Yu Yaqing.

Both nodded at him — the decision was final. Shen Mo walked to the bedroom door and opened it.

The people outside were still waiting for the result of their discussion; a few had already shown signs of impatience.

Shen Fei couldn’t wait to ask: “Done talking? Can I go? Ge! My dad agreed — you have no reason to stop me!”

Shen Mo ignored him. His gaze swept past Shen Fei’s face, and settled on the group at large.

“If no one has any objections, everyone can go back and make your preparations. Tomorrow morning at nine, we meet at the entrance to Game #21. I hope that every single one of you will be there.”

*Let the game begin.*

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