Early the next morning, Shen Mo took his phone and went to find Chu Huaijin.

Professor Song had been declining in health more and more recently, with fewer and fewer lucid hours, so Chu Huaijin handed the matter over to the research division—and it happened to be their acquaintance, Li Li, who was assigned to handle it.

Apparently there was a technology that could use satellite maps to compare architectural clusters against photographs and locate approximate positions, after which human review would narrow it down further.

In any case, one thing could now be confirmed: Wang Jingxian was not in the Arctic, because the Arctic could not possibly have such a dense concentration of buildings.

This matter would take several days to resolve, and the third battle was already pressing close.

Bai Youwei set the matter aside for the time being, got her gear in order, and prepared for her third battle.

Her third battle was under the jurisdiction of the Clown Inspector and was designated as Battle 1. The rules set a minimum of one participant, with no upper limit.

With the deaths and injuries from the “wildlife safari” still fresh in her mind, Bai Youwei brought only Shen Mo this time.

The two arrived at the rest lounge.

The war had worn on so long that the numbers had fallen sharply. Bai Youwei swept her gaze around and spotted Fu Miaoxue and Du Lai, spotted Yan Qingwen, and spotted that Willard she had encountered back at the Tomorrow Hotel… roughly fifty or sixty people, scattered sparsely through the lounge.

The Clown, the Ball, the Comic Man, and the Robed Elder—all four Inspectors stood as they always did before the glowing square, waiting for the kings to enter the battlefield.

The Rabbit Head Gentleman stood in the center and announced in his warm, courteous manner:

“The third battle is about to begin. The total number of participating kings is 8.

2 kings have chosen Battle 1,

2 kings have chosen Battle 5,

4 kings have chosen Battle 10,

0 kings have chosen Battle 20.

Each battle may not be chosen a second time. Once all four battles are completed, the deciding tournament will begin.

With that, please enter the battlefield—”

Eight kings. That was all that was left.

Bai Youwei felt her heart tighten.

Only eight. Not counting Yan Qingwen and Fu Miaoxue, who would surrender sooner or later, her real opponents numbered only five—she was drawing ever closer to that final victory.

The kings confirmed their wristwatch information with their subjects, then stepped into the glowing squares.

Bai Youwei took a deep breath and stepped inside as well.

In the white space within the square, a 3D holographic projection of this round’s opponent appeared, along with their relevant information.

【Enemy King. Age 37. Height 181 cm. Weight 85 kg. Blood type A. Region…】

【Do you choose to surrender?】

Bai Youwei declined to surrender, then stood in quiet waiting for the countdown to finish.

…5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.

Everything before her disappeared.

Bai Youwei found herself in a square white room. Shen Mo was there too. Aside from the two of them, the room also held the opponent for this round—an unremarkable-looking middle-aged man.

A square jaw, a broad forehead, a high nose bridge, brownish-red hair, perfectly ordinary features, but his body was unusually powerful and solid—giving him an oddly disproportionate appearance.

He noticed Bai Youwei’s gaze and showed her a bland, friendly smile—the kind a stranger might give—then walked over and extended his right hand: “Hello. I’m Hans. It seems you’re my opponent this time.”

Bai Youwei raised an eyebrow slightly, looked at his outstretched hand, and didn’t move.

Shen Mo extended his own hand and gave the other man a brief handshake, saying evenly: “Hello.”

The other party showed no hostility and continued trying to make conversation with Bai Youwei: “I come from Bacharach—have you been? It’s a small town in Germany. It’s very beautiful there. If you ever go, I’m sure you’d fall in love with it.”

Bai Youwei’s frown deepened. She couldn’t quite follow this man Hans’s line of thinking.

Excuse me, she thought—they were currently life-and-death enemies. What was the point of talking about any of this?

Hans seemed to read what was on her mind. He smiled—an open, unpretentious smile—and said: “Whichever of us wins in the end, it will restore peace to the world, right? So even if you lose, in a certain sense, you’re also a winner—a champion fighting for the world.”