As the purple drug entered Mo Bai's body, she tightly clenched her teeth, yet she did not use the serum.

Mo Bai knew this drug was extremely dangerous, but she still wanted to personally experience its effects.

She had a strong feeling that this mission was closely tied to this toxin. She needed to understand what this toxin does before she could formulate her next plan of action.

If she immediately used the serum without knowing anything about the toxin's effects, she wouldn't be able to clear this instance.

More importantly, Mo Bai felt that she could endure the first injection.

There had been two batches of investigators before them. Those two batches managed to pass along some information, proving that investigators didn't immediately lose contact the moment they entered the game.

The serum had been developed based on the mutations observed in the second batch of investigators. In other words, there had been no serum before that.

Those two batches of investigators who didn't have serum still managed to hold on for some time, so Mo Bai felt that she could do the same.

There were three treatment phases in total. She needed to preserve the serum for the most critical moment.

The cold drug flowed into her bloodstream, and Mo Bai realized that she could actually feel it moving.

A chill ran from her carotid artery straight to her heart. In that instant, Mo Bai felt as if her heart was about to freeze.

Even so, she endured it and still didn't use the serum.

As long as she was still conscious, she would keep holding on.

The cold sensation in her heart lasted only a moment. The next second, Mo Bai felt that chill split into two streams inside her heart, flowing separately toward her legs.

When the drug reached the main arteries in her legs, she felt the cold spread through her blood vessels, instantly flooding both of her legs.

It felt as if her legs had fallen into an ice cellar, completely losing all sensation.

But in the next second, the freezing sensation turned into intense itching and stabbing pain, as if countless ants were biting her legs at once. It was itchy and painful at the same time.

Mo Bai had an exceptionally high pain tolerance, yet even she couldn't endure this kind of pain and itch. She fell from her wheelchair, clutching her legs and trembling uncontrollably on the floor.

Even so, she still didn't use the serum.

Because she remembered that when her external injuries had healed after her car accident, it had felt just as itchy but not as painful.

She had a feeling that her legs were recovering.

After about five minutes of suffering, the pain finally subsided. Mo Bai, drenched in sweat, struggled to her feet, feeling as if five years had passed.

She sat back in her wheelchair and secretly tried stamping her feet. The strength coming from her legs shocked her.

Her legs actually felt stronger than her arms!

Mo Bai hurriedly asked in her mind, "Xiao Qi, what's my Agility value now?"

Xiao Qi replied, "The player's Agility value isn't forty... Huh? The player's Agility value has become 83! And it's still increasing! It stopped at 90!"

"What about the Constitution?" Mo Bai asked again.

Xiao Qi said, "Constitution is… 87!"

Mo Bai asked once more, "Any other changes?"

Xiao Qi said, "Appearance is 108. Player, you're even prettier now. But Mental Power dropped to 86, and Endurance fell to 52. What's going on?"

Mo Bai only cared about one thing. "Will the change in Mental Power affect my energy value?"

Xiao Qi checked and said, "That's strange. The player's mental power didn't affect your total energy value. Then where exactly did it drop?"

Mo Bai didn't answer. She already had a rough guess about these stat changes.

She believed that Mental Power probably consisted of two aspects: strength and stability.

Having strong mental power didn't necessarily mean being stable. Some people were very smart, with excellent memory and comprehension, but emotionally unstable and prone to anger. That couldn't really be considered strong Mental Power.

Mo Bai's Mental Power determined her energy value. Since her Mental Power decreased, but her energy value didn't change, it meant her overall mental capacity hadn't changed. It just became unstable.

It was like the difference between a dormant volcano and an active one. A dormant volcano was stable and safe, while an active volcano could erupt at any time.

Unstable Mental Power meant that Mo Bai's control over her abilities might no longer be as precise as before.

Her physical strength had clearly increased, yet her Endurance had dropped significantly. This meant that the drug had made her body's internal structure more fragile, making it easier for her to collapse from the inside.

But no matter what, Mo Bai felt that these changes were still within a controllable range.

What a terrifying instance. It actually contained drugs that could alter a player's base stats. No wonder the system had rated it as mutated-level.

Just thinking about the two remaining injections made Mo Bai feel uneasy.

Now that she had recovered, she had time to check on her teammates.

They were all in the same group and lined up in the same row of glass rooms. Sheng Yan was directly behind Mo Bai.

Mo Bai realized that she was the first in the team to recover. The others were still struggling in pain.

Sheng Yan's entire body had turned fiery red. He was clutching his clothes and rolling around on the floor, as if enduring the pain of severe burns.

Liu Congyi was kneeling on the ground, retching as she coughed, occasionally spitting out mouthfuls of blood mixed with white and black specks.

Zhuang Xiangyang's hair and skin were continuously peeling off. Beneath the sheded bark, Mo Bai could see that new human skin was growing.

Mao Juncai sat cross-legged on the floor with a solemn expression while pressing one hand against his shoulder. Something bulged out from his shoulder from time to time, and he forcefully pressed it back down.

The teammates all seemed to sense that this drug could improve various problems within their bodies. None of them used the serum, choosing to endure instead.

Mo Bai turned back to look at Sheng Yan and saw that smoke was already starting to rise from his brows, as if he was about to catch fire. She suddenly realized that the system didn't intend for Sheng Yan to die.

Even if Sheng Yan hadn't teamed up with her, the system would have thrown him into this mutated instance anyway, just like the others.

This instance was indeed full of danger. It was far more terrifying than an ordinary B-level instance, but it was also full of hope.

For ordinary players, this instancewas a disaster. But it was an antidote for players stuck in abnormal states.

The main system really did operate exactly as Xiao Qi had said: strictly following the rules and assigning suitable instances to each player.

At first, Mo Bai had thought the main system wanted her dead. Now, she felt that it might truly be assigning dungeons based on her abilities and personal qualities.

Her ability needed rapid growth before it could truly be used in combat.

At the start of the game, she could only alter one cubic decimeter of the environment. That ability was honestly quite useless and had a very limited application. Even in the Count's Castle, if her teammates hadn't given her all their Basic Nutrient Potions, her ability wouldn't have been very effective.

In the Count's Castle, Mo Bai had repeatedly used Basic Nutrient Potions and overdrawn her soul just to barely make her ability work.

But because she had challenged an instance beyond her level, Mo Bai had gained a large amount of experience. That was why her ability had reached Beginner-7 and was no longer limited to altering a fixed object but truly starting to influence "environment" and "rules."

The pressure imposed by the system had become the catalyst for her growth.

Of course, the process was extremely dangerous. Nine chances out of ten to die.

But even in real society, risk and reward went hand in hand. High risk brought high returns, and the Infinite World was even more so.

The more dangerous it was, the more opportunities there were.

If this dungeon hadn't been so dangerous, they wouldn't have had a chance to recover at all.

After observing her teammates, Mo Bai turned her attention to the others.

Thanks to her increased constitution, Mo Bai's eyesight had improved significantly. She could actually see people inside the farthest glass rooms.

Thinking of the two players who still hadn't shown themselves, Mo Bai began carefully observing the other test subjects.

She discovered that most of them were suffering from illnesses. Some were blind, some were missing limbs, and others looked normal on the outside but were likely deaf, mute, or had tumors or rare diseases inside their bodies.

Mo Bai noticed that test subjects with physical disabilities had mostly recovered to normal with the help of the drug. The subject who had lost his left arm and entered the glass room earlier was now excitedly waving inside, repeatedly using his left hand with evident joy.

Mo Bai herself belonged to this category. They were the fastest to recover.

The second category of test subjects died the fastest.

Every test subject with tumors, without exception, was consumed by their tumor. The drug didn't increase their physical strength; instead, it enhanced the tumor's strength.

Cancer cells were already mutated cells that could divide endlessly. After being enhanced by the drug, they gained vitality and continued to divide even after the host died.

All such test subjects were burned. But before that, the mechanical arms would cut a small piece from them.

The third category of test subjects showed no apparent changes before or after injection. Mo Bai only felt that those closer to her looked slightly healthier and rosier. She suspected that these subjects suffered from diseases other than cancer, such as heart weakness, diabetes, uremia, or other forms of organ failure. Essentially, they were the same as physically disabled subjects, except the latter had external limb damage, while these had internal organ damage.

The fourth category underwent dramatic changes. Mo Bai even saw a mutant almost identical to Dad in a glass room two rooms diagonally above.

This person looked normal when he entered the glass room. But within ten minutes of injection, he grew several dozen centimeters taller. Newly grown muscles swelled so much that they even tore through his skin, which then healed rapidly, just like Dad.

The difference between him and Dad was that he was slightly shorter and his body was less stable. One arm was thicker than the other, suggesting that he still needed further adjustment.

The fifth category was people like Mo Bai's teammates. Their self-healing abilities had been activated by the drug, but they were fiercely fighting the restraints within their bodies. Their transformation took the longest, and they were still struggling even after twenty minutes.

Aside from her teammates, Mo Bai spotted a few others like this.

However, these people seemed to have originally been suffering from parasite-like diseases and didn't appear to be players.

In addition, there was the most special of the six categories. Looking around, there were only four such people.

The first was an ordinary-looking girl standing motionless in front of the glass, staring blankly like an idiot. This made Mo Bai suspect that her issue was mental, and that the drug hadn't resolved it. Her eyes didn't follow the movements of people in neighboring glass rooms, and it was unclear what she was actually staring at.

The second was an extremely handsome young man. He was so handsome that none of the male celebrities Mo Bai had seen on TV in her previous life could compare. More importantly, she felt that he almost perfectly matched her aesthetic tastes. When her gaze landed on him, she couldn't look away and ended up wasting a full minute staring at him. The young man noticed her gaze and even smiled back, giving her a friendly wave.

What concerned Mo Bai more, however, was that the mechanical arm above him hadn't retracted.

The purple drug inside the injector had already been fully administered, yet the mechanical arm remained, circling around the handsome young man as if unsure of what to do.

The third was a very average-looking man. He showed no visible changes, but he kept pointing at his neck and shouting toward the spot where the mechanical arm extended from the ceiling. The glass room was soundproof, so Mo Bai couldn't hear him, but from his unchanged lip movements, she could tell he was repeating the same sentence over and over.

The fourth was a woman so beautiful and refined that it was unsettling.

She was unsettling because she looked like she had stepped straight out of a photo-editing app. Every feature on her face was polished to absolute perfection, with no flaws at all. She had perfectly straight shoulders, an A4-sized waist, and long, chopstick-like legs. Yet when all these fashionable ideals were put together, they somehow felt awkward and unreal.

Like the first ordinary-looking girl, she stared quietly at the glass without moving her eyes, and her expression was equally vacant.

Mo Bai carefully memorized the numbers on their chest badges: 025, 193, 107, and 251.

After she finished observing and categorizing everyone she could see, half an hour had already passed.

Through the ceiling speakers, the researchers informed the test subjects that they could leave after blood samples were collected.

The mechanical arms extended again, drawing a tube of blood from each person's arm before retracting.

The glass doors opened, and everyone slowly walked out. The researchers counted the numbers. Before leaving, Mo Bai leaned close to Researcher No. 1 and overheard him say, "37 deaths. 263 test subjects remaining."

The moment Mo Bai heard that, Researcher No. 1's cold gaze fell on her. That look no longer regarded her as a person, but as a lab rat.

Seeing that he stopped speaking, Mo Bai casually turned her wheelchair around and left the experimental hall.

Researcher No. 1 stared at Mo Bai's wheelchair with a frown, seemingly puzzled as to why she was still using it.

This was also Sheng Yan's question. He came over and asked, "I saw that all those disabled people recovered. Why are you still in a wheelchair? Did you use the serum?"

"Let's talk back in the room," Mo Bai told him.

At that moment, Liu Congyi also came over with a bright smile, "Let's gather in my room later."

The test subjects' movements weren't restricted. Visiting other people's rooms was normal, and the researchers wouldn't interfere as long as everyone was present during scheduled check-ins.

After dispersing, the five gathered in Liu Congyi's Room 018. Liu Congyi asked first, "Did any of you use the serum?"

Everyone shook their heads together, and all eyes turned to Mo Bai. Liu Congyi asked, "Then why are you still in a wheelchair?"

Mo Bai smiled. "It's been with me for so many years. I've grown attached. I'll use it on one last instance."

Players often had strange quirks, so no one found it unusual and didn't press further.

Liu Congyi said happily, "I felt terrible after using the drug, but I had this vague feeling that it could save me, so I endured and didn't use the serum. I felt the drug reach my lungs and forced me to cough. I coughed up a lot of blood. At first, many black adult worms came out with the blood, then white eggs, and finally, no eggs at all. I felt completely recovered."

Zhuang Xiangyang's skin had also returned to normal. He removed his sunglasses and revealed his ordinary black eyes, "Same here. The symbiotic flower withered. But my hair all fell out. I don't know if it'll grow back."

He rubbed his head and laughed awkwardly.

Mao Juncai simply took off his shirt to show everyone, saying excitedly, "The human face on my back is gone! Is this drug some kind of miracle medicine? If we can find this drug in the instance and bring it back to Peach Blossom Land, we could sell it for a fortune!"

Zhuang Xiangyang's eyes lit up. "That's right! Maybe we could even buy a house soon!"

The two immediately hit it off and began encouraging the others to follow them to the researchers' labs to steal the drug and find a way to clear the dungeon at the same time.

Mo Bai disagreed. "There are still two more treatment phases. I think this drug is only in the first phase. There may be changes later. We shouldn't steal the drug yet. In the first stage, it's better to act cautiously. Build good relations with other test subjects, gather clues from them, and then—"

"I've seen it. Those test subjects are just NPCs," Mao Juncai interrupted.

Sheng Yan felt irritated. Mo Bai hadn't even finished speaking, and this guy was far too rude. He stepped forward, wanting to stand up for her, but Mo Bai grabbed his hand.

When she touched Sheng Yan's hand, Mo Bai frowned slightly.

His temperature was far too high, like red-hot iron.

She let go almost immediately and raised her hand to look at her palm. It was already red from the heat.

Sheng Yan's body temperature was high enough to shatter a thermometer. It was clearly far beyond what a human could withstand.

Didn't that hurt? Mo Bai looked at Sheng Yan in confusion.

However, Sheng Yan's expression looked perfectly normal, as if he didn't feel any pain at all.

Liu Congyi coldly looked at Mao Juncai and Zhuang Xiangyang and said, "This institute only needs to bring out one drug to treat our injuries. Who knows how many dangers are hidden here? I think little Mo is right, we shouldn't act rashly."

Zhuang Xiangyang hesitated, but Mao Juncai scoffed. "That's just because you're too weak. A woman, an observation group member, and the observation group's umbrella. When you do a forced instance, you just hide until the time limit ends, right? You only get more rewards by actually clearing forced instances. Have you ever cleared one?"

Mo Bai tugged on Sheng Yan's clothes, stopping him from acting impulsively. She stepped forward herself, lifted her chin, and said in an admiring tone, "I really haven't cleared a forced instance before. Have you? That's amazing!"

After using the drug, Mo Bai's appearance value had risen to an astonishing 108. When she looked at someone with sincere admiration and friendliness, it was hard for them to resist.

Mao Juncai said smugly, "You might not know this, but if you clear a forced instance through risky exploration, there's a chance to obtain an A-rank card! I'm not like you guys. No risk, no reward. Before this instance ends, I want to find more good stuff. Who wants to come with me?"

By revealing that he had information about A-rank cards, he was trying to recruit teammates.

Mao Juncai's gaze moved back and forth between Zhuang Xiangyang and Mo Bai. These were the two he had his eye on.

He thought Zhuang Xiangyang was someone without much backbone, easy to turn into a lackey. As for Mo Bai, it was naturally because she was beautiful.

Mo Bai retreated behind Sheng Yan, revealing only half her face. "I'll listen to him."

Sheng Yan also seized the moment to display a powerful aura and said arrogantly, "An A-rank card is nothing special. Have you ever heard of Natural-type ability users?"

"No wonder you can afford to carry around a useless observation group member. So you're a Natural-type ability user," Mao Juncai's expression darkened. He looked at Mo Bai and Sheng Yan with contempt, as if they were something filthy.

"Are you coming with me or not?" Mao Juncai said to Zhuang Xiangyang. "You don't really plan to follow this Natural-type ability user, do you? When danger comes, do you think he'll protect you, or that pretty one?"

Zhuang Xiangyang looked at Mo Bai, who appeared weak, pitiful, and helpless as she clung to Sheng Yan, then looked at Mao Juncai. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I also want to get my hands on that miraculous drug. Let's go!"

Mao Juncai took Zhuang Xiangyang with him. Before leaving, he said to Liu Congyi, "I'm not someone who hunts players, but don't get in my way. Anyone who ruins my plans won't be leaving this instance alive."

Liu Congyi forced out a sinister smile and said nothing as she watched them leave.

As soon as they were gone, she ground her teeth and said, "He acted all pitiful at first, begging for protection. The moment the negative status was gone, his true colors showed. What trash!"

This five-person team had been organized by Liu Congyi. She clearly wanted to be the leader by actively reaching out to teammates and sharing her experiences. Who would've thought Mao Juncai would just take someone and leave like that? It was a slap in the face that left her feeling utterly humiliated.

Liu Congyi really wanted to show leadership, especially after meeting Mo Bai. She desperately wanted to display her strength in front of her.

She felt that as long as Mo Bai was watching her, she was filled with power.

"Forget about them. It's already good enough that we won't interfere with each other," Mo Bai said.

After the two left, Mo Bai completely shed her earlier timid demeanor. She emerged from behind Sheng Yan, and her wheelchair somehow carried the presence of a dragon throne.

At this moment, Mo Bai's aura actually overshadowed Sheng Yan, the Natural-type ability user.

Liu Congyi rubbed her eyes, suspecting she was seeing things.

Mo Bai said, "I think I roughly understand the purpose of the first phase drug now. Its effect is to strengthen the test subject's native cells. This drug causes native cells to continuously regenerate and strengthen. In that case, those with illnesses are cured, while those without illnesses display power beyond that of normal humans.

People with missing limbs can regenerate limbs and organs. Those with foreign entities in their bodies can rely on their immune systems and vitality to expel them. Only tumor patients are different.

Cancer cells are mutated versions of our own cells. They're stronger than native cells, so the drug also works on them. That's why the guest ends up overpowering the host, and the tumor ultimately wins, turning the person into a living tumor.

I don't think harming people was the original intent of the first phase of the drug. Its purpose is to help us strengthen our bodies so we can better adapt to the second phase drug.

Since the institute prepared three phases, they clearly want most test subjects to survive until the third phase. So the first and second phases shouldn't be too worrying. The key lies in the third phase.

For the second-phase drug, as long as you can endure it, try not to use the serum."

Liu Congyi looked at Mo Bai as if she were a stranger and asked in confusion, "How did you get all this information?"

"I guessed," Mo Bai said calmly. "So it may not be correct. If you sense danger during the second phase, you should still use the serum."

Liu Congyi remembered what Mo Bai had said earlier and asked, "Aren't you angry that Mao Juncai and the others changed so suddenly?"

Mo Bai said, "What's there to be angry about? Mao Juncai wants to clear the game and increase everyone's survival rate, not kill other players to boost his own chances. That's already rare.

When people are weak, they seek help. When they have the ability, they look out for themselves. That's human nature, so it's not worth hating.

After you expelled the parasites from your body, didn't you also want to be the leader? A team can't have two leaders. Either one gets suppressed, or the team splits.

Humans are independent individuals. To gain someone else's trust, besides having similar values, you also need some luck and fate. Just because we don't have that fate with them doesn't mean we need to become enemies."

"You… you saw through me?" Hearing Mo Bai say she wanted to be the leader, Liu Congyi felt a guilty panic, as if her inner thoughts had been exposed. She quietly looked into Mo Bai's eyes.

There was no blame there. Only tolerance and understanding, vast like the sky and clear like open air.

In an instant, Liu Congyi felt that her petty thoughts were insignificant in front of Mo Bai.

She asked softly, "So what do you plan to do next?"

"Use your social skills and chat with the other test subjects," Mo Bai said. "I've already identified some safe ones and memorized most of their numbers. Give me paper and a pen. I'll write them down for you."

Mo Bai couldn't remember all the numbers, and Liu Congyi couldn't possibly talk to everyone either. Writing down a few dozen would be enough.

Mo Bai roughly explained the six categories of test subjects she had observed and pointed at the numbers. "These numbers are first and third category subjects. They're basically ordinary NPCs. Very safe and good to talk to. There are 37 second-category subjects, and all of them are dead. Fourth-category subjects are transforming into mutants and are hard to communicate with, so we must avoid them. Fifth-category subjects are us; I didn't remember the remaining few, so don't ask them for now. As for the sixth category…"

Mo Bai circled the four numbers, 025, 193, 107, and 251, and seriously implied, "It's best to avoid them for now. If you encounter them, steer clear. I think they're extremely dangerous."