“We discovered magnetic field anomalies… no, that's not quite right. To be precise, we not only found areas with magnetic field anomalies, but also areas with no magnetic field at all.”
Li Li paused, looking at everyone. Seeing their lack of reaction, he couldn't help but feel frustrated.
“Don't you understand? Earth is a giant magnet; the magnetic field should be everywhere! But the data we collected shows that many places have no magnetic field! It's as if it suddenly disappeared! Ceased to exist!”
“Those places are probably the mazes,” Bai Youwei said languidly. “Can you tell us something new?”
Li Li: “…”
“Yeah, Li Li,” Lü Ang said, “We don't understand the theoretical stuff. Tell them about the mazes.”
“Mazes…” Li Li thought for a moment. “Mazes are an undetectable, mysterious substance. At least for now, none of our instruments can do anything about them. They expand over time, and the areas with magnetic field anomalies near them—the doll games—are repelled by the mazes, like the same poles of a magnet, maintaining a certain distance.”
Pausing for two seconds, Li Li continued, “When we were evacuating, we used this principle to avoid the games and retreat along the edge of the maze. But… we miscalculated the maze's expansion time and range. I… I and several teammates from the special operations team were forced into the maze. They… they all sacrificed their lives.”
He looked at Zhu Shu. “Later, I met Zhu Shu in the maze. I was exhausted and thirsty, and she saved me.”
“That's not entirely true; it should be said that Li Li saved me.” Zhu Shu smiled faintly. “I was trapped in Nanchang with my manager. The fog came very suddenly. My manager said she was going to find help, but she never came back. Later, the driver also went to look for a way out, leaving me alone in the van. If Brother Yan hadn't brought people to rescue Li Li, I wouldn't have gotten out either.”
After she finished, she thought for a moment and hesitantly said, “As for myself… I'm 24 years old, I know foreign languages, and I'm good at… singing and dancing. I also know a little about fashion design and makeup, but these skills are probably useless now.”
She gave a self-deprecating laugh.
Tan Xiao asked in surprise, “Aren't you 20?”
“Oh, that…” Zhu Shu chuckled. “My manager changed my records. Being younger attracts more fans.”
Tan Xiao: “Oh…”
His expression fell again.
Bai Youwei curiously asked, “Which number maze was the Nanchang maze?”
Yan Qingwen said, “Number 8. The city turned into a desert, all the tall buildings became ruins, cars were stuck in the sand, and people either died of thirst or were buried in quicksand.”
Bai Youwei asked, “Compared to the Hangzhou maze, which one do you think is more difficult?”
The Hangzhou maze was Number 7.
Yan Qingwen frowned, thought for a moment, and said, “Number 7 is more difficult. Although the survival environment in Number 8 is harsh, there are no monsters that attack people. As long as you find the right direction and avoid the quicksand, you can find the exit.”
He paused, then asked Bai Youwei, “Do you think the maze numbers are related to their difficulty?”
“It's just a guess,” Bai Youwei shrugged. “We'll need to experience more mazes to be sure.”
The next person to introduce herself was Su Man.
She didn't have much to say, stating plainly, “The Su family and the Li family are old acquaintances. I've known Li Li since childhood. When I heard that something had happened to him, I came with Brother Yan. I'm good at… close combat and weapons.”
Teacher Cheng said, “I'm a teacher at Nanjing No. 13 Middle School. I teach Chinese. I've just reached the age of sixty, so please take care of me.”
Tan Xiao asked, “What does 'the age of sixty' mean?”
Teacher Cheng: “Cough, it means sixty years old.”
Tan Xiao: “What about twenty years old?”
Teacher Cheng replied in a refined manner, “That would be the age of weak crown.”
Tan Xiao's expression became complicated after hearing this: “…Very weak?”
He had originally wanted to use some more sophisticated four-character idioms, but now he thought better of it.