Shen Mo glanced at his companions and replied, "There's no fixed schedule. We might take the Hanghai route, so we probably won't run into you."
"Hanghai route?" Yan Qingwen raised an eyebrow. "It seems you're heading south. What's your destination? Jiaxing? Or Shanghai?"
Shen Mo frowned slightly, a hint of vigilance in his eyes.
"Don't misunderstand." Yan Qingwen immediately raised his hands to show he meant no harm. "Our destination is Shanghai. If our routes align, even if we don't travel together this time, we might need to coordinate later to avoid triggering the game due to a large number of people. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be dragged into a doll game for no reason."
After hearing his explanation, the vigilance in Shen Mo's eyes receded slightly, and he said indifferently, "We're going to Jiaxing. It's not far from Shanghai, so we might go there afterward."
"Would you mind sharing your reason?" Yan Qingwen asked.
Shen Mo didn't answer, his gaze sweeping over the three of them. "What about your reason? Why Shanghai?"
"Delivering something," Yan Qingwen explained concisely. "A member of our team from a research institution has investigation data on the maze that needs to be sent to the Shanghai research branch."
"Research institution?" Shen Mo's brow furrowed. "SCO?"
Yan Qingwen froze. "You know about SCO?"
Shen Mo stared at him, his brow still furrowed.
Yan Qingwen looked Shen Mo up and down, his questioning tone now three parts certain. "Are you from the special task force? Responsible for escorting the research team to Shanghai?"
Shen Mo looked at him, and after a long moment, replied, "I'm from the National Security Agency. I received orders from my superiors because all eight special task forces lost contact. So, they dispatched another team to the SCO research institute for support. But when I arrived at the research institute, I didn't find anyone."
Yan Qingwen was stunned. After a moment, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, his expression showing helplessness. "National Security Agency… No wonder, no wonder…"
He sighed, putting a hand to his forehead and slowly shaking his head. "The eight special task forces lost contact because the network signal suddenly went down. Professor Song was actually safely escorted to Shanghai by one of the teams. You arrived a step too late…"
Shen Mo frowned and asked, "Are you from the special task force?"
"No, I'm…"
Just as Yan Qingwen was about to explain, Tan Xiao and Pan Xiaoxin suddenly jumped down from the tree!
"Brother Mo! Those guys are chasing us!"
Those guys?
Yan Qingwen was surprised. He heard the sound of vehicles approaching from afar, more than one, driving very fast and very loud.
He and Shen Mo walked to the middle of the road and found the cars looked somewhat familiar.
Looking closer, Yan Qingwen finally recognized them. It was the group he had traded with.
The leader was called Brother Fei.
"They're the local gangsters. How did you provoke them?" Yan Qingwen asked in surprise.
Shen Mo looked ahead and said calmly, "We robbed them."
Yan Qingwen: "…"
Lü Ang and Zhu Shu beside them: "…"
The cars stopped in front of them, and a large group of people poured out, about twenty or so. Seven or eight of them had bruises on their faces, the ones who had been taught a lesson by Shen Mo and Tan Xiao yesterday.
Brother Fei, the leader, looked the worst. He had a bandage on his head, but his momentum wasn't weak. His face was full of flesh, and he looked fierce.
He held a knife and pointed it at Shen Mo. "I know you're tough. You can beat ten people, but I brought twenty today! Can you still win? If you're smart, return the things you took yesterday, otherwise… hm!"
He raised the knife a little higher, pointing it directly at Shen Mo. "Otherwise, none of you are leaving!"