After Bai Youwei’s words, a brief silence fell over the conference room.

Shen Mo reflected for a moment, then said, “Weiwei makes a fair point. Before the Maze War began, I had cleared No. 2 and No. 7. Then the war started and all mazes were locked. When I next entered a maze, it unlocked No. 9.

Looking at it now, everyone’s situation is the same as mine—the mazes entered after the Maze War began have no overlap with any maze we’d previously encountered. Does this suggest that the system has an algorithm that can automatically determine which mazes we haven’t completed, and then specifically assign us those?”

Lu Yuwen wondered aloud, “If mazes you’ve already been through can’t be re-entered, then if all of us went in together, the maze we get would very likely be one none of us have visited—a No. 1, No. 4, or No. 5. Working backwards, if you want to avoid those three, the fewer people who enter, the better?”

—Suppose the person attempting a maze this time is Bai Youwei. Because she’s already cleared No. 2, No. 3, and No. 7, the system would assign her from among No. 1, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, No. 8, and No. 9.

But if Bai Youwei brings Shen Mo along, the range narrows to No. 1, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, and No. 8. Bring Yan Qingwen too, and it narrows further to No. 1, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6. Add Lu Yuwen, and it becomes No. 1, No. 4, and No. 5.

The more people you bring, the more likely you are to end up in a maze none of them know anything about.

Fu Miaoxue listened to all of this and looked uncertainly toward Du Lai, tugging at his sleeve. “Am I crazy, or… does what they’re saying actually make a lot of sense?”

She had originally come to poach people in order to improve her odds of winning, and now after going through all of this, she’d discovered that not poaching anyone at all was the best option?

Du Lai thought it over and said, “If we analyze it that way, you really can’t have too many people—but too few won’t work either. Take the No. 9 maze we encountered before: to make the crocodiles and the pythons meet, you had to open a sluice gate in the middle of the river. The gate was extremely sturdy; you needed at least four or five adults pulling together.”

Shen Mo said, “Maze No. 7 is the same—you need someone to lure the snake creature away while others ensure the small monsters keep gnawing through the fleshy membrane at a fixed location. With fewer than three people, it’s nearly impossible to complete those tasks. If you factor in casualty rates as well… five people is the optimal number.”

Lu Yuwen said, “Though Su Man and I cleared Maze No. 6, it would have been a lot less grueling with a few more companions. And we only made it out thanks to Su Man’s excellent swimming ability.”

Su Man’s swimming ability had come from eating the salmon the bear had brought—but not everyone in the world had eaten that fish the way she had.

Bai Youwei said thoughtfully, “Come to think of it… the No. 3 maze I cleared—once you knew the method, one person could technically do it alone, but without any clues to start with, casualties were unavoidable. You’d have to survive at least two attacks from the fish monster before you could figure out the pattern… so the minimum headcount for Maze No. 3 would be at least… three people?”

Bai Youwei’s words carried an implied meaning, and the conference room fell quiet as everyone began to form a vague idea in their minds.

Chen Hui asked, “Is the sequence number of each maze a hint for the minimum number of people needed to clear it?”

Fu Miaoxue’s eyes went wide. “Then what about Maze No. 1? Only one person goes in? Is that what this means?”

“Let’s set Maze No. 1 aside for now—after all, this is all just speculation.” Bai Youwei said, “If we’re only preparing for No. 4 and No. 5, the ideal headcount is around five.”

She paused, then added quietly, “Some mazes require people to die before you can work out the pattern. If we factor in casualty rates… we might want to add a few more.”

No one spoke.

Chu Huaijin’s expression turned grave as well.

It was a brutal reality: without any informational hints, it was often only after someone died that the survivors could pick up on the clues.

—