Yan Qingwen never made a losing deal.
Now joining the evaluation group, with familiar games around, an organized strategy guide in hand, a small amount of risk could lead to substantial returns. Plus, she could get the map from Professor Song.
But once the base moved somewhere else and all the games in the vicinity were unfamiliar and lacked strategy guides, dragging companions into such games would be akin to courting death. The loss would outweigh the gain.
Bai Youwei thought for a while and turned to Shen Mo, “Should we go to your dad’s first?”
Shen Mo pondered for a moment, then said, “We should head back first.”
“Huh?” She was puzzled, “Aren’t we going to see Uncle Shen?”
“We’ll go another day.” Shen Mo said, “I’ll let him know in advance next time so he’ll be prepared for the crowd.”
“Oh…” Bai Youwei replied.
Deep down, she was somehow concerned. She felt that Shen Mo was holding something back.
During the scorching afternoon, two men were leisurely smoking under the tree, occasionally glancing at the tall building behind them.
Their clothes were not exactly clean, and their bodies were covered in dust. However, they were both wearing a pair of white gloves, so white it was dazzling.
When they finished their cigarettes, they were finally greeted by the arrival of the person inside.
They quickly stepped forward and asked, “What took so long? Did those guys give you a hard time?”
The man who came out of the headquarters curled his lips, “With so many people dead, they had to question thoroughly. But rest assured, even if they suspect me, they have no evidence.”
“Those idiots, they probably couldn’t even figure out how they died!” His partner laughed triumphantly and impatiently asked, “How’s the loot this time? I heard that the team was full of base elites. They must have had plenty of items and puzzles, right?”
Another companion was equally excited, “Since they dared to enter the game, they must have brought some life-saving goods!”
The man frowned, unhappy.
He pulled out two items from his pocket, a piece of chalk and a colored string. Both were props.
“That’s it?” His partner couldn’t believe it, picked up the props in his hand and said angrily, “These two props are practically useless! You wasted our puzzle piece just to bring back this garbage?!”
The man instantly turned cold at his words, his expression becoming grim.
Seeing the man react negatively, the other partner quickly motioned to their companion, reminding him, “He didn’t know it would turn out this way, and you agreed to go to Game 21! Saying this now is useless!”
It seemed like both were nervous and cautious around the man. Even though they were dissatisfied, they dare not express their displeasure easily.
“I’m just anxious… I don’t mean to blame anyone…”
“Let’s get going. This time we were just unlucky… How stupid were they? They dared to enter the game with so few props. How absurd?!”
The man slightly raised the corners of his lips and whispered, “Stupid? I don’t think so.”
He opened his other hand, revealing three puzzle pieces.
“Is that a puzzle piece?!” His companion exclaimed, “Why didn’t you take it out earlier! We thought you failed this time!”
“Look carefully.” The man picked up one piece, and with a slight force, the metal puzzle piece broke in half.
“These puzzles are fake.” He discarded the broken pieces and gently patted his hand. His white gloves were still pristine.
His two companions exchanged confused glances.
“What’s going on? … Why would they bring fake puzzles into the game?”
“Deception, Fraud, Deception.” The man briefly glanced at them, “Before we made our move, the real puzzles were already swapped with fake ones.”