A black cat, a white cat — the one that catches mice is a good cat.

Shen Mo was clearly a pragmatist.

Bai Youwei closed her eyes, then sighed: “Alright, alright, I get it…”

Shen Mo looked at her. “You, me, Tan Xiao, Yu Chaohui, Ashalina, Alon — and we’ll pick two people from Tan Xiao’s friends.”

Bai Youwei pursed her lips slightly. “…Then you handle the arrangements.”

Shen Mo smiled, reached out to pinch her cheek. “Get some sleep early. Tomorrow I’ll talk to each of them individually and get a sense of where they stand.”

Bai Youwei still felt unsettled inside, but she didn’t know what arrangement would be best. She hesitated for a long while without speaking, and in the end simply buried herself under the covers and slept.

She spent the whole night half-dreaming, half-awake.

One moment she dreamed something was chasing her and she was fleeing, the next she dreamed Tan Xiao was standing before her covered in blood — her sleep was troubled throughout.

She woke up before six the next morning, unable to fall back asleep, so she simply got out of bed and went to check on the incense burner downstairs and its associated items —

The number of uses on the mud had increased by 1.

The growth time for the flower seeds had extended by 16 hours, and the firefly’s illumination range had expanded to 2,000 cubic meters.

It seemed the incense burner wasn’t without effect — the effects were just showing diminishing returns. If she wanted the mud’s number of uses to keep increasing, she would probably need to burn incense for a longer time.

Bai Youwei thought it over and set the mud down.

That was fine — she had enough time.

When the battle game’s starting day arrived, she would distribute these four pieces of mud to her companions, giving them additional chances of survival.

Bai Youwei let out a quiet breath, feeling considerably lighter.

The nameless weight that had been pressing on her heart since yesterday had lightened considerably because of the mud.

She walked to the doorway to watch the early morning sunlight.

The greens in the back garden stretched their lush leaves; the pumpkin vines had crept all the way from the fence down toward the base of the hill; the corn planted several days ago had grown yet another joint seemingly without anyone noticing; and then there was the pond that Tan Xiao had dug out with great effort, shimmering and glittering in the morning light.

A sudden, incongruous rooster crow rang out — clear and full of rhythm.

Bai Youwei couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

In that instant, she felt herself to be immeasurably wealthy.

…

If Bai Youwei was the King, then Shen Mo was like her prime minister — arranging personnel for her, deploying troops at her disposal.

While Bai Youwei recuperated at the Dollhouse, Shen Mo drafted training plans for each team member. He’d originally intended to bring along some of Tan Xiao’s brothers, but unexpectedly, those men turned down his invitation.

They had just recently brought mud over as a gesture of goodwill toward him and Bai Youwei, wanting to join the team — yet now that Shen Mo formally invited them, every single one declined.

Changing one’s mind midway didn’t seem all that strange either. After all, this was a matter of life and death; being cautious was entirely normal.

Shen Mo didn’t dwell on it. He channeled all his energy into integrating the new members.

A full month of training — long runs, rock climbing, mountain hiking, and sparring, along with organized competitive sports for everyone: soccer, basketball — activities that could subtly and gradually build team coordination.

A month can seem long; a month can seem short.

A brood of chicks hatched in the Dollhouse — and at the same time, the day of the new battle finally arrived.

Every King began summoning their subjects. With flashes of light one after another, they were transported one by one to the rest hall.

Bai Youwei came out in her wheelchair. Standing outside the door were the team members Shen Mo had drilled for a month — they had been waiting for some time.

Compared to the mysterious masked woman (Fu Miaoxue), the unsettling white-gloved man (Ye Chong), and the steady, sharp-minded Yan Qingwen, Bai Youwei was the most harmless-looking of all the Kings, and the most at ease.

“If you’re having second thoughts now, it’s still not too late — want to withdraw?”

She asked with a bright smile, as though the journey ahead wasn’t a life-or-death struggle but a pleasant trip.

Everyone looked at one another.

Tan Xiao immediately said: “Don’t joke around — if we withdraw now, wasn’t this whole month a complete waste of effort?! Weiwei, let’s get going already!”

The others all nodded in agreement as well.

Bai Youwei tilted her head, her gaze sweeping across each of their faces one by one, then smiled and gave a small nod: “Alright then — we set out~”

—