Tan Xiao froze.

And froze again…

After freezing for a full half minute, he slapped Cheng Weicai on the chest: “Why didn’t you say so earlier! Calculate it now!!!”

Teacher Cheng nearly had his chest split open. “Cough, cough, cough cough cough cough!…”

Tan Xiao quickly rubbed his chest: “Old man, you’re way too fragile. I didn’t even use much force… Were you serious about what you just said? Can you really calculate it?”

Teacher Cheng shook his head and waved his hands: “Cough, cough cough cough…”

“What do you mean?” Tan Xiao’s eyes widened. “You can’t? Didn’t you just say you could! Hey! Can you calculate it or not? Give me a straight answer!”

Teacher Cheng covered his chest: “I can’t…”

Tan Xiao: “Then were you just talking nonsense?!”

“I meant theoretically…” Teacher Cheng gasped, trying hard to explain. “Theoretically, knowing the starting point position and the serving angle, we can calculate the landing point.”

Tan Xiao grabbed his shoulders and shook him: “Then hurry up and calculate it!!!”

Teacher Cheng felt dizzy and disoriented: “I… I teach Chinese…”

“Who cares what you teach? You’re still a teacher! You must have studied math!” Tan Xiao shouted urgently. “I never passed elementary school math! You’re better than me, right?! Right?!”

Cheng Weicai’s ears nearly went deaf from his yelling, suffering greatly. However, as these words spun in his ears, he found some truth in them.

In the current situation, any method should be tried. Perhaps this was a thread of hope for survival.

Teacher Cheng struggled to steady his mind, taking a deep breath. “When people have times to defy heaven, heaven never cuts off all paths for people. Fine, fine, fine—today I’ll give it a try! Little Tan, help me out!”

Tan Xiao rolled out of the shell and bent down to help Cheng Weicai out.

The frog, having found no bugs to eat, had already left after staying idle for a while. The cavern was now dim and silent, with only densely arranged snails visible at a glance.

Teacher Cheng shakily pulled out a fountain pen from his chest, didn’t uncap it, and directly used the pointed tip of the cap to write and draw on the mud-covered shell, listing formulas.

The others also gradually emerged from their snails.

They’d probably heard Tan Xiao and Cheng Weicai’s argument earlier, so now everyone’s eyes held both hope and doubt as they looked at them.

“Can it really be calculated?” Houzi asked.

“Whether it can be calculated or not, we have to try first!” Tan Xiao proudly lifted his chin, seeming to feel that since Cheng Weicai was his “brother,” his tone carried an inexplicable sense of shared glory.

Everyone fell silent, watching Teacher Cheng’s back with only partial understanding.

They couldn’t help with this matter at all.

Shen Mo looked thoughtfully at Bai Youwei.

——She was watching Hui Ge and Houzi.

Seeming to sense his gaze, Bai Youwei turned her head slightly, then looked at him with an innocent and puzzled expression.

Shen Mo looked away, wondering if he had misunderstood…

Soon it was the seventh round. With no deaths for two consecutive rounds, the golden ball’s tone became lazy and listless:

“Current game failure, surviving players eight, now entering the seventh round of ‘The Frog’s Golden Ball.’ Please prepare, everyone (yawn)… Hey, the frog needs to work harder.”

It said this, then began the countdown: “59, 58, 57…”

Bai Youwei unhurriedly climbed into a snail.

Shen Mo remained outside, his deep black eyes watching the golden ball, thinking about the true purpose of this game, or rather, what meaning did it have?

If it wanted to kill people, it could just kill them directly. Why go through all these fancy tricks? Even if doomsday really came, aliens arrived, Earth was invaded—whatever it was—there should be a reason, right?

Why did the doll game exist?