The first few rumors were neither here nor there. The monitors had always been emphasizing the benefits of winning to spur them all into battle — everyone knew that. The rumors had simply taken those “benefits” and made them more specific.

But the last one — that subjects could stage a coup in the later stages — was deeply malicious.

If subjects could really seize power, one could simply lie low within the King’s camp and then turn against them at the final battle! Every effort the King had poured in would be washed away — all of it done for someone else’s gain!

Under circumstances like these, how could allied teammates ever trust one another? And the direct result of distrust was: the King would second-guess every move, subjects would have low coordination, the whole team would lack cohesion, and ultimately collapse together — everyone losing the game.

“Do you know where the rumor started?” Shen Mo asked Yu Chaohui.

He and Bai Youwei often stayed in the Dollhouse — one coldly aloof, the other proudly standoffish — and had far less familiarity with the goings-on of the base than Yu Chaohui, who had arrived later.

“Supposedly from the Kings’ headquarters building.” Yu Chaohui said, and glanced into the distance. “That person over there is probably not unconnected.”

In the distance stood Yan Qingwen, holding a glass of wine and conversing with the other guests.

The city’s residents were gradually returning to normal life — there was no real reason for them to fabricate rumors about Kings and subjects, and even if they did, few people would believe them. But what if the rumors had been spread by a King himself?

Shen Mo picked up a glass of wine. “I’ll go ask him.”

Bai Youwei spotted Su Man and Zhu Shu at another table and pointed. “I’ll go that way.”

The two went their separate ways.

Su Man and Zhu Shu had also spotted Bai Youwei. They waved at her warmly and enthusiastically. The waving wasn’t enough for Su Man — she ran straight over, bursting with questions: “After coming out of the labyrinth, have your legs gotten any better?”

Her hand was healed just like that, so she’d been thinking about this ever since.

Bai Youwei smiled and nodded. “Mm, much better~”

“Can you walk?” Su Man stared at her legs.

“I can~ ” Bai Youwei raised and crossed her legs. “I can not only walk, I can cross my legs too.”

“Alright, put them down right now! You just recovered — take care of them!” Su Man lifted Bai Youwei’s legs and set them back down, then gasped. “Oh my, your legs are so smooth!”

Bai Youwei raised her chin proudly. “I just put on face masks. Of course they’re smooth~”

Su Man reached out curiously and felt her calf.

Bai Youwei slapped Su Man’s hand away without ceremony. “Go feel your own legs!”

Su Man covered her mouth and laughed, turning to Zhu Shu. “This girl actually puts face masks on her legs.”

Zhu Shu laughed. “Before applying a face mask, you should exfoliate first. I used to exfoliate once a month, then apply body lotion all over. Very comfortable.”

Bai Youwei and Su Man said in unison, “Exfoliate?”

Come on, let’s talk, let’s talk…

The girls chattered away, discussing skincare and beauty routines.

The men’s topics, on the other hand, were considerably more serious.

Shen Mo found Yan Qingwen and brought up the rumors. Yan Qingwen immediately admitted: “Yes, I’m the one who started those rumors — but that last one had nothing to do with me.”

Shen Mo’s brow furrowed. If not Yan Qingwen, then who?

He swept his gaze across the banquet hall, and it landed on Du Lai and Fu Miaoxue in the distance.

Yan Qingwen followed his gaze to those two as well, and said, “Should be those two. Among the four types of battles in the labyrinth war, every battle except Battle 1 requires at least five participants or more. They don’t have enough people, and Du Lai’s reputation at the base isn’t good — so they need a strong lure to draw people in…”

Every player who had ever entered a game with Du Lai had been burned by him at some point, which was why so far, Du Lai and Fu Miaoxue had failed to recruit a single subject.

Shen Mo watched for a moment, then looked back and asked Yan Qingwen, “What type are you picking for the next battle?”

—