"Phantom Butterfly," Mo Bai called its name and reached out, gently patting its head as if petting a puppy.

The Phantom Butterfly was very familiar with that gesture.

Mo Bai was not the first person it had fallen in love with.

It had fallen in love many times before, with both men and women.

Those powerful mutants would sometimes stroke its head with complicated expressions and pull it into their arms.

Whenever they did that, the Phantom Butterfly knew it had succeeded.

The person it had lured had fallen in love with it. Next, that person could suffer for it, even die for it.

The Phantom Butterfly never thought that there was anything wrong with treating those who deeply loved it this way.

Its love was sincere. Its pursuit was sincere. It would also grieve when its lovers died.

It felt no guilt about it.

Mo Bai made the same gesture toward it. By all rights, that should have meant success, but something felt off.

Mo Bai's touch was gentle, yet it lacked possessiveness.

Love carried possessiveness, and Mo Bai did not feel that way toward it.

The Phantom Butterfly was uncertain about Mo Bai's feelings.

Mo Bai asked, "Phantom Butterfly, if I died and you successfully devoured my soul, what would you do next?"

The Phantom Butterfly had intended to brush the question aside with some comforting lie, but Mo Bai's gaze stopped the lie before it could form.

There was no point in lying to Mo Bai.

No matter what form it took, Mo Bai could always pick it out of a crowd with perfect accuracy. No matter what lies it invented, Mo Bai could always see through them to the true motive beneath.

To be honest, when Mo Bai recognized its identity, it had felt the fear of being exposed, the reassurance of as expected, and even a little happiness.

It had disguised itself to visit its lovers before, and naturally, none of them could recognize it.

Some would be seduced by its new appearance and painfully find themselves in love with two different people. They'll be burdened by guilt toward both. Faced with such people, the Phantom Butterfly suffered. It thought love must be a lie. Otherwise, how could betrayal exist?

Others would righteously reject it, declaring that they loved only one person. Faced with such people, the Phantom Butterfly also suffered. It thought love must be a lie. Otherwise, how could they fail to recognize its soul simply because its appearance had changed?

But with Mo Bai, it had no such troubles.

Mo Bai remembered its personality, its preferences, its soul. No matter what it became, even a blade of grass by the roadside, a tiny flower, or a little butterfly, Mo Bai would recognize it.

Of all the lovers the Phantom Butterfly had ever encountered, Mo Bai was the most perfect.

Except for one thing: Mo Bai did not love it.

Other than that, everything was perfect.

The Phantom Butterfly was not afraid of difficulties. It had absolute confidence in itself and believed Mo Bai would eventually fall in love with it.

After all, it had never failed before.

Instinctively, it felt that answering Mo Bai honestly would earn Mo Bai's favor.

So it said sincerely, "I would look for another person, fall in love with him or her, and then make him or her fall in love with me."

There was no end to it. As long as the Phantom Butterfly lived, it would continue.

Looking at Mo Bai, it thought, Will Mo Bai be jealous when she hears that I'll fall in love with someone else?

Its intuition told it no.

Mo Bai's way of thinking was impossible for it to predict. Every step she took lay beyond its expectations. The Book of Love it had painstakingly compiled was completely useless when it came to Mo Bai.

It eagerly awaited her reaction.

After a moment of thought, Mo Bai answered, "Phototaxis."

"Hm?" The Phantom Butterfly was not highly educated. It vaguely understood the term, but could not explain it. After all, it was only a moth.

Mo Bai said, "It's a moth's biological instinct to continuously chase sources of light, forever pursuing brighter and brighter illumination. Even if it eventually dies in the light, it doesn't matter. That is your instinct. Phantom Butterfly, love is your light."

The Phantom Butterfly had once been imprisoned in the same cage as the mutants.

It should have died then. At that time, it had been no match for them.

Using its ability to sense emotions, it had extracted from one mutant's mind the image of the person most important to him, mimicked that person's appearance, and thus devoured its first mutant soul. From that moment onward, it gained intelligence.

Love was the source of the Phantom Butterfly's evolution beyond its species.

It was also the light it had been chasing all along.

"So that's what it is. I learned something new today. Mo Bai, you really are the person who understands me best in the whole world." Looking up at Mo Bai, the Phantom Butterfly knew that Mo Bai liked it when it acted obediently.

It saw a tolerant, affectionate expression appear on Mo Bai's face.

Then it heard Mo Bai say, "Phantom Butterfly, you'll never find a lover better than me."

"Why?" the Phantom Butterfly asked.

It admitted that Mo Bai was the most special person it had ever pursued. Mo Bai was incredibly difficult to deceive, difficult to kill, and could recognize its soul at a glance.

But that alone was not a reason for her to be better than everyone else.

"Mo Bai, you may be powerful, but when it comes to love, you're not as good as I am," the Phantom Butterfly said. "You're beautiful, intelligent, and strong. Those are your strengths. Falling in love with you feels wonderful. That's beyond doubt.

But there are also qualities like gentleness, tsundere charm, thoughtfulness, tolerance, and patience. Love built from those qualities is equally special."

Every romance possessed its own unique beauty.

The Phantom Butterfly refused to be manipulated by PUA tactics; it was a clear-headed romantic.

Unexpectedly, Mo Bai smiled and said, "No, that's not what I mean.

What I mean is that your essence isn't love. It's the pursuit of love. Once you catch it, it stops being love and becomes energy.

But I'm different because you'll never catch me. You'll spend forever chasing me."

"Who says so?" the Phantom Butterfly replied confidently. "I've already spread my web of love. You're trapped in my domain and can't escape. I'm about to catch up to you."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Mo Bai asked.

"There's no point in deceiving you. You always figure out the truth anyway," the Phantom Butterfly said. "This Love Amusement Park consists entirely of romance-themed games. Some are sweet love stories, while others are tragic romances filled with suffering.

It has merged with my Butterfly Cottage and gained the ability to mimic.

When people enter the instance, Butterfly Cottage extracts memories related to love. The original instance monsters then transform into the visitors' most beloved people, allowing them to relive their deepest memories together.

At that point, the instance monsters are also considered visitors. They must obey the rules, and they genuinely love the other person. The visitors won't feel deceived.

I also tell them that if the two of them work together and accumulate enough Love Value, they can obtain whatever they desire.

They cooperate to clear the stages, deepening their feelings throughout the process.

For the final stage, I send them into a level where they must kill each other.

Their Love Value becomes the sharp weapon that they can use to kill one another.

If a visitor is willing to sacrifice themselves and is killed by the instance monster, then they truly die.

But if a visitor refuses to sacrifice themselves and instead personally kills the instance monster, then they have killed the love within their own heart. Love is a part of the soul. Once love is killed by one's own hand, that part of the soul is lost as well. A damaged soul is far more vulnerable to corruption.

Players corrupted by the instance will endlessly pursue love and eventually become new instance monsters.

And throughout this process, I obtain the souls of those who die for love, as well as the love that is killed within the living. Both are forms of energy that I enjoy.

This instance is wonderful. Once I unfold it, I could obtain an endless stream of energy."

"What an instance, perfectly in character for you," Mo Bai remarked admiringly.

It was also an extremely terrifying instance.

Under these rules, no one could survive. No matter what choice was made, it was the wrong one.

"You actually told me the secret of the instance outright?" Mo Bai asked in surprise.

The Phantom Butterfly said, "Because you were never planning to follow my script in the first place! I recreated your romantic experience, and to make you fully immerse yourself in the game, I even brought in another player. I wanted to trigger your competitive spirit so that you would work hard to earn Love Value and defeat that player.

But you never play by the rules. I also know the arrangements I prepared afterward won't work on you either.

Although violence is forbidden in this instance, I'm sure you'll come up with some strange and unexpected way to clear it. So rather than hide the truth from you, I might as well tell you directly.

The final reward of this instance is the heart you want. You'll have to clear the stages with me, play through the games of love, and make it all the way to the final stage.

If you become corrupted by the instance along the way and fall in love with me, then I win.

If you hold out until the end, I'll give you the heart. You'll be able to use it to defeat the boss of Disease Town, and all of the domains trapped within Disease Town will gain freedom.

At that point, my Butterfly Cottage will become an S-rank domain, constantly capturing new players and gaining new energy. That would also be a win for me.

And throughout the process, I'll have been honest with the one I love. In terms of love, I win there too."

After hearing this, Mo Bai almost felt like applauding.

Leveling up really did make a difference. This butterfly that endlessly pursued love had actually come up with such a perfectly balanced, open strategy.

"I only have one question," Mo Bai said. "If your answer satisfies me, I'll do as you ask and clear the instance with you."

"Ask away. I won't lie to you," the Phantom Butterfly replied.

Mo Bai said, "There were two players who stole the heart, right?"

"Yes."

"If I'm not mistaken, those two should be high-level players from Six Paths. They were capable of stealing the heart from the Plague Garden and temporarily sealing its power. Their strength must be extraordinary. How did you get the heart from them?"

"They came to me and made a deal," the Phantom Butterfly said. "Someone on their side had prophetic abilities and knew that I possessed mimicry powers. They wanted me to hand a certain person over to them. If I succeeded, they would give me the heart."

"Give it to you?" Mo Bai's voice rose sharply.

The Six Paths players had gone through enormous effort to obtain the heart of an Ultra-Star Rank monster. It wasn't for the sake of sealing it, destroying it, or trying to form a contract with it like Avici had.

They had simply handed it over?

What were they trying to do? Who could possibly be worth trading away the heart?

The Phantom Butterfly nodded.

"That heart continuously releases disease. They temporarily sealed it with an item, but the seal couldn't last long.

They wanted to destroy the heart, but they lacked the strength to do so. And if they awakened it, it would only accelerate their own deaths. So they decided it was better to give it to me. I could create a beautiful dream for the heart and let it sleep a little longer.

But they didn't expect that when they handed the heart over to me, one of them would end up trapped inside my instance. Only the other one managed to escape."

The Phantom Butterfly pointed at Pang Mian.

That unfortunate fellow was still trapped inside the instance, struggling to clear it.

"Who was the person they wanted to find?" Mo Bai asked.

A bad feeling was rising in her chest.

"The person they wanted was named Gu Tiandong. They wanted me to disguise myself as a player and trick Gu Tiandong. The three of them together were difficult to deceive. I had to try twice before I finally managed to lure Gu Tiandong away."

The blood drained from Mo Bai's face.

"Why were they looking for Gu Tiandong?"

"How would I know? I wasn't interested," the Phantom Butterfly replied.

"Where did you send the three of them?" Mo Bai asked.

"To the Organ Trade Market. That's another instance, but they might not necessarily die there."

The Phantom Butterfly named a place Mo Bai had never heard of before.

"That's not one of the town's safe zones," Mo Bai said through gritted teeth.

Her fists clenched tightly. If violence had not been prohibited in this instance, she would already have torn the Phantom Butterfly's wings to pieces.

"Of course not. That place is one of the town's original instances, not one of us who were swallowed into it later," the Phantom Butterfly said, looking at Mo Bai.

"You're agitated. You're angry. You care a great deal about that person, don't you?"

"The three of them are my companions," Mo Bai replied.

"No wonder all of them carried your scent. Especially the one called Gu Tiandong. He must have spent a very long time with you. The scent belonging to you was strongest on him. I was a little jealous, actually."

Mo Bai suddenly stood up.

Looking coldly at the Phantom Butterfly, she said,

"Fine. Let's clear the instance together."

"Really?" the Phantom Butterfly asked joyfully.

"I'm in a hurry. I want to finish this as quickly as possible," Mo Bai said.

"Besides…

I'm very interested in the final stage."

She very much wanted to turn her Love Value into a sharp blade and drive it straight into the Phantom Butterfly's chest.