“Isn’t this too passive?” Luo Bin, who had been silent up until now, couldn’t hold back any longer. “We have a full six hours tonight — are we really just going to sit around doing nothing? Why don’t we test their strength right now!”

Luo Bin was a sports student, and looked every bit the hot-blooded young man. He clenched both fists, itching to charge straight at the carousel and go head-to-head with that enormous stuffed cat.

Yu Yaqing furrowed her brow and looked toward Bai Youwei as well. “Youwei, are we really not doing anything tonight?”

Passive waiting didn’t suit Yu Yaqing’s style either.

Bai Youwei gave a helpless shrug. “If you want to probe them now, I have no objection. But I should remind you — according to the game rules, anyone who wakes the cat during the day becomes the cat’s attack target, and the attack continues until the cat falls asleep again. So — I can’t endorse provoking them before we’ve gotten a clear read on the situation.”

“Then don’t give it the chance to wake up!” Luo Bin said coldly. “We go for its life while it’s still asleep!”

Yan Qingwen glanced at him. “That’s exactly what it says in the game records too. That previous group of players tried to make their move against Mary while the cat was sleeping — but somehow, no matter how careful they were, the moment they got close, the cat jolted awake.”

Zhao Mingdeng hesitated. “Could it be that they accidentally…?”

Bai Youwei said coolly, “The only survivor from that group was Du Lai — and his greatest specialty is approaching targets without a sound. I’m willing to bet that no one here is as nimble and light-footed as he is.”

At that, everyone fell silent.

The cat being startled awake must have had a reason.

Either the cat’s alertness was far beyond what they had imagined, or there was some critical detail hidden in all of this that no one had yet noticed.

Either way, it wasn’t in their favor to launch an attack on Mary and the cat right now.

Yan Qingwen considered for a moment, then said, “How about this — let’s set up some traps near the carousel first. Tonight, when Mary and the cat wake up, the people nearby can use them to observe how they react to the traps. It might help us find a weakness in the cat or Mary.”

“Can the traps separate Mary and the cat?” Yu Yaqing couldn’t help asking.

The topic had looped back around again.

Yan Qingwen smiled wryly and shook his head. “To separate them, the traps would need to be much more precise — just like Youwei said before: we’d need to know the target’s height, length, build, as well as weight and speed. Without that information, we’d need people to operate them manually, with multiple people coordinating and adjusting the mechanisms on the fly.”

Yu Yaqing understood now.

Manually operated traps would expose their position — and nighttime was when Mary and the cat came out for their game of hide-and-seek. Everyone had to stay hidden.

Exposing their position was tantamount to suicide. Who would be willing to do that?

She let out a low sigh and said to Yan Qingwen, “I got ahead of myself. I’m sorry.”

Yan Qingwen smiled faintly.

……

The ten of them discussed a while longer, then each began to act.

Setting up mechanism traps was something Bai Youwei couldn’t help with. She wheeled herself away in her wheelchair, intending to climb to the top of the clock tower to get a bird’s-eye view of the entire amusement park and survey the layout.

Shen Mo wasn’t at ease letting her go alone. Watching her wheel herself farther and farther away, he waved Shen Fei over and instructed him, “Go keep an eye on her. If anything happens, come get me right away.”

Shen Fei wasn’t particularly willing. “Don’t we need people for the traps?”

“Just go. We don’t need you here.” Lu Ang said cheerfully. “But your brother has to stay — there are some things only he can handle.”

Yu Yaqing glanced at Shen Fei. “Would it be better if I went instead?”

Shen Fei felt a flash of irritation.

Why couldn’t that woman just stay put?! She always had to make other people fuss over her one after another!

“I’ll go, I’ll go!” Shen Fei said, his brow furrowed. “You all get started here — I’ll head over and keep an eye on her.”

Zhao Mingdeng looked up. “One person is enough, isn’t it? We’re already short-handed here for the traps. Hey — where did Jiang Hao disappear to?”

Shen Mo swept his gaze across the area, his eyes darkening slightly.

—