“Those companions you mentioned — you mean these two?” The big-bearded man looked at Tan Xiao and Su Man and chuckled. “That girl there fights with some method to it, sure. But this guy… he looks like a gullible youngster. With such weak teammates holding your points, can they even protect them?”

Tan Xiao’s eyes went wide with indignation. He puffed out his chest, ready to retort — but Shen Mo spoke first: “Think about the rules. At the very least, they can protect half your score.”

Players with under 10 points lose 1 point when defeated,

Players with under 20 points lose 5 points,

Players with under 30 points lose 10 points,

Players with under 50 points lose 20 points.

Setting aside the 50-point rule for now: at 29 points, if someone deliberately loses to transfer 10 points to Tan Xiao, plus Tan Xiao’s own 5 points, that’s 15 points total. Even if Tan Xiao loses the very next round, he’d only drop 5 points.

The big-bearded man listened to Shen Mo’s explanation and asked skeptically: “So the remaining 5 points — will they also be returned to me?”

“Correct.” Shen Mo gave a slight nod. “If it’s 5 points, the best time to return them is when your total reaches 25. That way you can immediately reach the passing threshold and claim a Battle King seat.”

The big-bearded man thought it over.

This arrangement was clearly all benefit and no risk for him. Not only did it ensure his safety during the high-score danger window, it also drastically reduced his risk of losing points. The sole condition for this partnership was that when Shen Mo was on stage, he couldn’t intervene.

Naturally, when he was on stage, Shen Mo couldn’t intervene either.

A win-win situation.

If the two of them fought each other to the death in the brawl arena, the only ones who’d benefit would be the rest of those scoundrels.

After thinking it through, the big-bearded man nodded in agreement. “You’d better keep your word. If you pocket my points and don’t return them, you should know the consequences.”

Shen Mo smiled lightly: “Same goes for you.”

Just then, a commotion broke out from the front rows of the spectator area. They looked up to see a player on the stage who had been badly beaten — and even after the countdown ended, he refused to leave. He seemed to have had his real temper ignited, and was screaming:

“Again! One more round! You little punk, I wasn’t ready that time! You think I actually can’t beat you?!”

The winner was a boy with a slightly darker complexion — he looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, very young. He stood on the stage with an expression of utter contempt: “Old man, a bag of aging bones like you should stop embarrassing yourself up here.”

This made the other player even angrier. He charged over, fuming: “You little— …”

The Jester Inspector, waddling its round and chubby body over, wedged itself between the two and said with a grin: “Now, now~ Only the winning player can remain on the stage. The losing player has to step down~ Step down~”

“You just wait!” The player stormed off the stage in a fury.

Nearby, other players murmured: “That kid’s punches are incredibly fast.”

“Yeah, and the angles are really tricky too…”

Perhaps out of caution, no one stepped up to challenge for a while. After all, the game had no time limit; they had plenty of time to think it over.

Shen Mo watched the boy on the stage, pensive: “A good seedling, actually. Excellent skills.”

“I didn’t see him go up before,” Su Man remarked.

Tan Xiao immediately chimed in: “That’s because our Mo-ge is so powerful, he scared that kid into hiding! Now that only the small fries are left on the stage, of course he’s jumping out to grab points! If he’d waited for Mo-ge to go up, he wouldn’t have had a chance!”

Su Man’s expression was complicated.

She admired Shen Mo too, but that groveling tone of voice — she really couldn’t get used to it.

Shen Mo watched the stage and said slowly: “Quick reflexes, explosive power, and a keen eye for opportunity… This boy might complicate our plan.”

“He’s just a brat,” the big-bearded man said lazily, crossing his legs again and closing his eyes to rest. “Skinny arms and scrawny legs — his stamina clearly isn’t up to scratch. He’ll win two or three rounds at most…”

Shen Mo said: “There are five spots. We’re still one short.”

The big-bearded man’s eyes snapped open: “You want to bring him into the partnership too?”

—