It was an ordinary exit sign, the kind seen everywhere inside various city buildings.
A black light box, with the Chinese and English words “Emergency Exit” and “EXIT” carved in white in the middle; once connected to power, the characters would glow with a green light. Beside them was a simple graphic depicting a small figure stepping through a doorway, ensuring that regardless of literacy, anyone who saw it would clearly understand that this sign represented the direction of the exit.
At this moment, it hung quietly above everyone’s heads, highly conspicuous.
Was this truly the exit? Could they leave this ghostly place simply by heading in the direction it indicated?
Although Chen Mo had previously been able to flatly refuse the so-called Divine Messenger’s attempts to sow discord and recruit him—standing firmly by his two companions and maintaining a united front—his resolve became less steadfast the moment he saw this exit sign.
Ever since entering, he had been thinking about leaving this place as soon as possible. Having been missing for so many days without word, he didn’t know how worried his family must be.
Yet, at the same time, he knew very well that doing so seemed somewhat inappropriate.
Though Shen Junyao hadn’t said it explicitly, Chen Mo could guess that the so-called God of the Inner World—the entity behind that messenger—had been backed into a corner by them. Physical attacks could do nothing to them, and the attempt to trap them using the Inner World’s environment had failed once they deduced the internal rules of transformation.
If things continued this way, this mysterious supermarket Inner World would hold absolutely no secrets from them.
As long as they persisted with their current line of thinking, the two captains from the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs would likely investigate the Inner World thoroughly, find all the trapped people, and perhaps even uncover the ultimate boss controlling everything behind the scenes.
The consciousness of the Inner World was clearly aware of this, and thus, it was desperate.
First, it sent a messenger to drive a wedge between them and Chen Mo, attempting to trigger internal strife. When that plan failed, it simply delivered all the people they were looking for right to their doorstep.
The exit was also within arm’s reach.
It was as if the world was pointing directly at their noses and saying: Go, go, go, leave quickly! I can’t afford to mess with you!
In fact, stopping here would not be unacceptable for the two captains. They were from Shanghai, and their jurisdiction was in Shanghai; finding the missing persons from Shanghai seemed like enough to complete their mission.
But Chen Mo also knew in his heart that they would not stop there.
Whether they were from Shanghai, from other places, or even foreign friends—besides the twenty-five people behind them, every other trapped person in this place, however many there were, would be their rescue target.
If they left now, all their previous efforts and investigations would go to waste.
So, should he go back alone and leave these two to stay inside and continue their mission?
The moment the thought flashed through his mind, Chen Mo couldn’t help but despise his own betrayal of faith.
Though the three of them had only been together for a few days, he considered himself to have fought side-by-side through life and death with these two captains. Regardless of the situation they would face outside, they had to advance and retreat together for now.
Chen Mo fell into a long silence.
His inner conflict was noticed by Shen Junyao, who walked to his side and said softly, “Do you want to go out? Then go. It’s okay.”
“How can that be okay?” Chen Mo immediately protested. He bit his lip, and though still conflicted, he said, “Wouldn’t leaving now be… a bad deal? We could stay and investigate this place to the very bottom, and rescue everyone.”
As for his home, since he was personally safe and sound, returning now or returning in a while wouldn’t make much of a difference.
He would have to face his mother’s “Lion’s Roar” either way.
Shen Junyao smiled softly, patted Chen Mo on the shoulder, and said, “I’m serious, we can go out. Leaving temporarily doesn’t mean it’s over. If we can get in once, we can get in a second time. For the next phase of the work, relying on just the three of us is too inefficient; we need to call in some colleagues to help.”
Chen Mo: “?”
He clearly didn’t believe it. “Our entry before was purely by chance. How can you be so certain we can get in a second time?”
Shen Junyao’s eyes flickered slightly as he reluctantly admitted a portion of the truth: “Actually… it wasn’t a coincidence that we were able to enter that day. We just didn’t tell you at the time.”
Now, not only was Chen Mo shocked, but Zhang Tao was also stunned. He couldn’t help asking, “Not a coincidence? Then what happened…”
Shen Junyao interrupted his question in time: “We can talk about these things slowly later. For now, shouldn’t we discuss the matter of going out?”
The trapped people from Shanghai behind them had been lost in the Inner World for a relatively short time.
Not everyone had heard the legends regarding the exit. Seeing the exit sign, they didn’t show any particular emotion, assuming it was just a common fixture within the supermarket.
When they learned that the sign in front of them actually led to the exit of this world, everyone became restless.
“Is it true? We can leave?”
“You can try.”
The first person walked toward the sign with doubt. As they reached a certain spot, it felt as though white light flashed around them—or perhaps it didn’t—and then a door appeared before them.
It was a very ordinary-looking pair of closed wooden doors. Combined with the exit sign above them, it easily brought to mind the kind of fire door that leads to a staircase.
Everyone’s expression changed, and the person at the door was also extremely shocked. He tentatively pushed the door open. Outside the door was a dense fog; nothing could be seen clearly. The person hesitated for a moment, then stepped through the doorway. Everyone noticed that a look of surprise and joy seemed to appear on his face.
In the next second, the person disappeared into the doorway, nowhere to be seen.
“Did he really go out?”
“It should be so. I saw his expression; he was clearly smiling.”
“Should I try too?”
“Me too.”
The trapped people were eager to try, lining up to walk toward the door.
Because some were standing very close, they caught a glimpse of the scenery outside the moment the person ahead passed through the doorway. They couldn’t help but exclaim: “He really went out! I think I saw a parking lot in the distance, and the person who just left—a lot of police and people in black uniforms are surrounding them.”
Hearing this, Chen Mo thought to himself that the people in black uniforms must be from the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs.
They had been guarding the outside all this time; seeing people come out, they would certainly come over to show concern.
It seemed that everyone was indeed leaving successfully through the exit.
The twenty-five trapped people quickly all went out, but the remaining three did not follow immediately.
Shen Junyao looked at Chen Mo, as if asking: “Why aren’t you leaving?”
Chen Mo smiled sheepishly and said, “Shouldn’t we also inform the people at the base?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the door ahead seemed to flicker, as if issuing some kind of silent protest.
The God of the Inner World was only willing to let the missing persons from Shanghai and the three of them go. As for the others, it seemed very reluctant.
However, Shen Junyao simply looked over quietly, and the door stopped flickering, remaining still in place as if nothing had happened.
“Fine, we’ll do as you say. We’ll go back and inform them.”
“However, our station at the base is easy to find, but Yan Heng’s side is a bit troublesome.”
Because when they left Yan Heng’s base, they hadn’t yet fully calculated the transformation rules. Now, trying to find their base wouldn’t be so easy.
Chen Mo had no objection to this. He was only responsible for the people who followed him; as for the others, he would leave them to the police and the Bureau.
Marking the location of the exit, the three of them rushed back toward the base.
It was nearly ten o’clock at night. The people at the base had all returned, gathering in the central clearing to prepare for the monster attacks tonight.
Chen Mo looked at everyone, roughly estimated the numbers, and after confirming everyone was there, he loudly announced that they had found the exit.
He said, “The door is right over there. If we set out now, we can get out before the lights go out.”
Everyone was stunned by this news.
However, the expressions of the crowd thereafter were not as excited or longing as those of the missing persons from Shanghai.
The people in this base had survived in the Inner World for at least six months, and some had even lived here for several years.
Chen Mo’s previous guess was correct: not everyone was that eager to leave.
Of course, some people showed joy upon hearing news of the exit—such as Cheng Wei, or the mother and daughter Chen Mo had rescued from the monsters. Others, however, showed expressions of bewilderment, like Chen Zhiyuan and his daughter. Their experiences were nothing significant in the Inner World, but after returning to normal society, what happened during this time could very likely become a lifelong nightmare.
And of course, a significant portion of the people actually didn’t have such a good life on the outside.
In the Inner World, although they faced fatal danger and excitement, as long as they survived the crisis, life during the day was actually quite good.
Someone even asked directly: “Why do we have to leave? Isn’t it fine to stay here all the time?”
Chen Mo had no intention of changing these people’s minds. He only said calmly, “In any case, the exit has been found. Those who want to leave, follow us.”
Those who chose to stay would have to bear the consequences themselves.
The two captains didn’t speak, but their posture standing behind Chen Mo clearly stated their position.
They didn’t say that after going out, they would send people back in to continue the plan for dealing with this Inner World.
In fact, no matter what these people chose, once the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs completely took over this place, everyone would have to leave.
If they were still alive by then.
After saying what needed to be said, Chen Mo gave everyone ten minutes to pack and organize themselves before they set out.
Within those ten minutes, some people were busy returning to their tents to pack their valuables—having stayed in the Inner World for so long, everyone had collected some precious items more or less, and they would take them along if they were leaving. Others were still conflicted, discussing in low voices whether or not to leave.
Everyone knew very well that without the protection of these three people, they likely wouldn’t be able to survive the night against the monsters.
There were also those who couldn’t help but hold onto a sense of luck, guessing that the exit must have vanished or moved long ago; after all, everything in the Inner World changed at any time.
The majority of people still followed along. It was only when they discovered the exit sign and the door beneath it that they truly believed.
They could really leave!
At this moment, the reality of being able to leave finally set in.
Some people couldn’t help but regret it, asking if they could wait a few more days because they wanted to collect more things to take out.
Some wanted to walk toward the door immediately, while others showed hesitation.
Time had been given previously; this time, the three of them—Chen Mo and his companions—gave no more chances to wait.
“Those who are leaving, line up here.”
The result was not much different from what was expected. About two-thirds of the people joined the line, while the remaining people hesitated in place, undecided.
Chen Mo did not interfere with anyone’s decision; it was their freedom. He said to the people in the line, “Then let’s go!”
This time, Chen Mo and his two companions stood at the end of the line and entered the door.
The moment he stepped into the door, a dazzling white light forced Chen Mo to close his eyes involuntarily.
In the next second, he felt as though things in front of him had returned to normal. Opening his eyes, he found himself actually standing at the exit of the supermarket.
Shen Junyao and Zhang Tao came out immediately after.
All the trapped people who came out were taken away collectively for questioning and would perhaps face processes such as memory wiping.
These were parts that Chen Mo couldn’t manage and didn’t care about.
There were many police and Bureau colleagues waiting nearby. Someone saw Shen Junyao and the others and cheered happily: “Captain Shen and Captain Zhang are out!”
“I knew it had to be them.”
“That’s great!”
“It looks like this case can proceed normally now.”
“It really hasn’t been easy.”
Some police officers wanted to take Chen Mo away too, but Shen Junyao stopped them in time, saying, “This one isn’t necessary; he is our companion.”
The word “companion” was ambiguous, and the police clearly misunderstood, thinking Chen Mo was from the Bureau. After apologizing, they walked away.
Chen Mo gave Shen Junyao a grateful smile, then looked at Zhang Tao beside him. “Well then, I’ll head home first.”
Zhang Tao actually still had many questions that hadn’t been answered, so he said, “Okay, let’s keep in touch.”
He glanced at Shen Junyao, smiled, and said, “Later, let the Captain tell us what exactly was going on.”
Chen Mo also looked at Shen Junyao, and the latter also smiled and nodded in agreement. “Alright.”
“Well then, goodbye.” Chen Mo waved to the two of them, preparing to go home.
Shen Junyao, however, said, “The roads in this area are all blocked. Without a pass, you can’t get in or out normally, and you won’t be able to find a taxi. I’ll give you a lift.”
Chen Mo froze slightly, his ears feeling a bit warm. He replied as if nothing was out of the ordinary, “Is that so? Then… I’ll have to trouble Captain Shen.”