Bai Youwei had Shen Mo deliver the item and then put the matter out of her mind entirely — gathering information, organizing her equipment, preparing for the third battle.

Even so, even without her paying it any attention, the news that was spreading everywhere found its way to her ears on its own.

The entire headquarters building, top to bottom, was buzzing with talk — Du Lai had put out a bounty within the base.

Anyone willing to enter Maze No. 1 and bring Fu Miaoxue back would receive every item Du Lai possessed as well as all his intelligence, transferred freely. And on top of that, he would provide a full walkthrough of the maze at no cost, guaranteeing the other person’s safety.

His collection of items was genuinely tempting — but unfortunately, not a single person was willing to go into the maze.

Everyone knew the mazes were dangerous. Who in their right mind would trade a perfectly comfortable life for a thrill like that?

And besides — the ones who truly needed those items were either kings or subjects. There were only so many kings and subjects in the entire base right now. If none of them were willing to go, who else could there be?

Unless Yan Qingwen changed her mind, there might still be a sliver of hope.

—

That evening, Bai Youwei stayed in her room and laid out all her remaining items in several rows, considering whether these unremarkable pieces, beyond their stated functions, might have other uses she hadn’t yet discovered.

Urgent footsteps came from outside.

Then a knock pounded against the door.

Zhu Shu called from outside: “Weiwei! Go have a look — Du Lai is recruiting someone to go into the maze, and the person he’s recruiting is Shen Mingyuan!”

Bai Youwei walked over and opened the door, frowning in confusion. “Who is Shen Mingyuan?”

Zhu Shu blinked. “You don’t know? Shen Mingyuan — one of the major shareholders of the Shen Group. Also Shen Mo’s father.”

Bai Youwei was stunned, her eyes going wide. “That’s absurd! Even if Du Lai couldn’t recruit anyone else, he shouldn’t be picking him!”

Shen Mingyuan was in his forties! He had never entered a game! Let alone a maze!

Was Du Lai out of his mind?

…No, wait — was Shen Mo’s father the one who had lost his mind?!

“You should go down and take a look,” Zhu Shu said anxiously. “Shen Mo is there too. He looks… not great.”

Bai Youwei changed her shoes and went downstairs with her. In the elevator, they happened to run into Shen Fei, who had come looking for Bai Youwei.

When Shen Fei spotted Bai Youwei, he stuttered: “Third Uncle asked me to… to come find you — to talk my brother into not stopping Third Uncle from going into the maze…”

“He wants to enter the maze and you’re all just going along with it?!” Bai Youwei said as she stepped into the elevator. “The maze is dangerous — Shen Mo would never agree to this!”

“Du Lai said he’d provide a walkthrough…” Shen Fei hesitated. “Apparently there won’t be any danger. They say that if you go in once, you come out with improved physical conditioning, and any items you get can be given to you all — to help with the battle.”

“And if the walkthrough is useless?” Bai Youwei said helplessly. “Anything can happen inside a maze. The moment Du Lai’s walkthrough stops working, your uncle will be trapped inside and no one can save him. You’re all just creating more problems!”

She turned and fixed Shen Fei with a direct look. “Once we’re down there, I’ll hold Shen Mo’s attention — you get your uncle out of there and away from Du Lai. Got it?”

“…Huh?” Shen Fei’s expression froze. He’d come down as Third Uncle’s advocate — how had Bai Youwei turned him into her errand boy?

When they reached the ground floor, Bai Youwei, Zhu Shu, and Shen Fei headed outside and quickly found Shen Mo.

Sure enough, he was in a standoff with his father. Both of them wore extremely dark expressions. A handful of onlookers had gathered nearby.

Du Lai sat to one side with a face completely devoid of emotion, cold and detached.

When he saw Bai Youwei approaching at a quick pace, he raised an eyebrow.

—