Lu Ang placed his hand on top of Yan Qingwen’s, laughing: “We’ve played so many rounds of these games — this is nothing new!”

Tan Xiao extended his hand as well: “Me, Lucky-Star Xiao, can’t lose! We’ve got this!”

Yu Yaqing looked at them, then extended her own hand without hesitation, and said with gravity: “Last daytime, everyone — let’s do our best.”

Shen Mo smiled faintly, said nothing, and placed his hand on top.

Shen Fei, seeing his older brother put his hand in, quickly rushed to join.

All that was left was Bai Youwei…

Bai Youwei looked at these people.

They were also all looking at her.

Some eyes held expectation, some mouths curved in a slight smile, some mouths seemed on the verge of speaking yet held back… all kinds of gazes landed on her.

She felt incredibly awkward. In the end, she steeled herself and slowly… extended her hand.

The moment it went in, someone’s hand gripped hers tight!

All the hands pressed down together with force, then rose as one —

“We will win!!!” Tan Xiao shouted the rallying cry!

Bai Youwei’s brow furrowed into a tight knot. The complaint came out before she could stop it: “…This is so childish it’s ridiculous!”

Everyone burst out laughing!

The pressure was released, the tension dissolved, and the bright, cheerful laughter spread to each and every person — as if this were nothing but a game.

Nothing to do with life or death. Nothing to do with the world.

Just a game, and nothing more.

Bai Youwei looked at them in bewilderment, unable to understand this kind of emotion.

Although it looked like nothing more than a few people putting their hands together, she understood: something had changed — become different…

Like a force growing toward the light. Bright, and reaching upward.

But where did this force come from?

Confused, she looked toward Shen Mo.

Shen Mo was smiling too — his thin lips slightly curved, his gaze carrying a faint, gentle warmth.

He raised his hand and gently ruffled the top of her hair. “I’ll take you to the clock tower.”

Lu Ang balled both fists, full of fighting spirit: “Right then — time for us to start setting up the traps!”

Yu Yaqing smiled softly: “We’ll go find the cover positions.”

Everyone began moving.

Shen Mo pushed the wheelchair forward. That the wheelchair had survived the great fire truly was a miracle.

Before long they arrived at the base of the clock tower. Shen Mo carried Bai Youwei on his back and stepped inside. The staircase spiraled upward — like a towering colossal screw rising to receive them.

Each flight of stairs was higher than the last, layer upon layer, seemingly without end.

Bai Youwei rested her chin lightly on Shen Mo’s shoulder and asked: “What’s your plan?”

“Yan Qingwen is going to use a lasso.” Shen Mo climbed steadily upward, his voice low and deep. “He’ll handle Mary, I’ll cover him. Lu Ang, Yu Yaqing, and Tan Xiao will handle the cat. Whichever one gets caught first, drag it away immediately and separate Mary and the cat.”

Bai Youwei was quiet for a moment after hearing this, then said: “Yan Qingwen is quite capable — no matter what situation arises, he always manages to come up with something.”

“Mm.” Shen Mo smiled. “Some of his ideas are quite interesting.”

Bai Youwei agreed with this point.

Lying on his back thinking it over, she murmured: “The cloth doll’s field of vision has a limited range. As long as you can find the blind spot in the doll’s vision, you can lasso them while Mary and the cat are asleep… but cutting off the head is still going to be quite difficult.”

“It really is.” Shen Mo gave a slight nod. “Without someone to coordinate, it’s completely impossible for a single person to kill Mary or the cat.”

— Killing the cat: no matter how much you hit the metal skeleton, it can’t die. And at night, Mary will re-sew its body back together.

— Killing Mary: chop off one section of her arm and a blade grows in its place. She also carries a cloth doll on her back — effectively growing eyes in the back of her head. No way to strike.

Bai Youwei was thinking things through when she suddenly made a strange “hmm?” sound.

Shen Mo’s footsteps paused. He asked: “What is it?”

“Something’s a little odd…” Bai Youwei said, staring off absently in thought. “If we hadn’t brought in that batch of swords and knives, there would have been absolutely no weapons in the amusement park at all. Making players fight targets like these bare-handed… is that fair?”

—