Bai Youwei gave up and went out with Shen Mo to find Tan Xiao predictably fiddling with the television.

“Why are you trying to turn on the TV? There are no broadcasts right now!” Bai Youwei said.

“Just trying it out.” Tan Xiao kept pressing buttons on the remote.

The screen showed a solid blue on every channel, one after another — until suddenly, there was a picture.

An anchor sat rigidly before the camera: “Newly arrived survivors — if you require assistance, please make your way to the Western District Safety Base, where we will provide you with medicine and shelter… Newly arrived survivors, if you require assistance, please make your way to…”

Tan Xiao’s eyes went wide. “Whoa~”

Bai Youwei: “…”

Shen Mo: “…”

What kind of luck was this?

If Tan Xiao hadn’t switched on the television, Bai Youwei and Shen Mo would never have thought to. Who could have imagined — in a time like this — the television would actually be broadcasting?

“Now we know where to find people.” Shen Mo laughed despite himself.

Bai Youwei couldn’t help laughing too.

With a specific location now in hand, they settled in here.

The Dollhouse had more than enough food — the vegetables and produce that Teacher Cheng had planted were beginning to yield their harvests one after another, and after their physical enhancements, they were far less susceptible to illness or injury. So the medicine and shelter mentioned in the broadcast held little appeal. But a base was always the best place to gather information.

Shen Mo began taking Tan Xiao to the Western District base to scout things out.

They didn’t rush into recruiting subjects. First, they wanted to assess the situation — whether there was a dedicated game evaluation group, whether there were subjects who had participated in battles, whether there were players interested in the battles, and whether anyone held special items, among other things.

The early progress was not encouraging. People were always somewhat guarded around new faces.

Bai Youwei wasn’t in a hurry. For the fourth battle, she planned to go with just herself, which would mean failing the participation threshold for player numbers. Given how many puzzle pieces she held, losing one battle would have no bearing on her position.

As for the final battle…

If they lost because of insufficient numbers, it would truly be a shame — after coming so far. But Bai Youwei thought it through carefully: the game system had always valued balance. The final battle, being the most crucial stage of all, surely wouldn’t put the King at a disadvantage purely on the basis of participant numbers…

Then again, thinking it over got her nowhere — nobody knew what the final battle would actually look like.

—

On a day when the winter snow was beginning to thaw, Shen Mo brought back good news: he’d made contact with several promising young people, all with game experience and genuine interest in the battles.

He would likely look for an opportunity to get to know them better soon — not just their combat ability, but their character and temperament as well, both of which fell within the scope of consideration.

While they were discussing this, there came a knock at the door. Everyone in the room startled.

Bai Youwei’s first thought was that the young people Shen Mo had mentioned had tracked them down. But she reconsidered immediately — Shen Mo was a cautious man; he would never carelessly reveal his address.

Tan Xiao ran to the door and peered through the peephole, then called out in surprise, “It’s Yan Ge! And the gorgeous Zhu Shu!”

“Yan Qingwen and Zhu Shu?” Bai Youwei was astonished. “How did they end up here? Open the door and see.”

Tan Xiao opened the door. Yan Qingwen and Zhu Shu stood outside smiling. “We were just going to try our luck — didn’t actually expect you to be here.”

Shen Mo smiled too. “How did you know this address?”

“I asked your father. He gave me your address, though he wasn’t sure you’d actually be living here.” Yan Qingwen said. “He asked me to pass a message: he and your family followed the main convoy from the base and migrated north. He doesn’t want you to worry.”

Shen Mo: “North?”

He and Bai Youwei exchanged a look. They hadn’t heard anything about this when they left the base.

Bai Youwei said: “Come in and we can talk properly.”

—