"Then I'll use my researcher privileges to question the other test subjects," Du Heng stood up to leave.

"No need," Mo Bai replied. "Your identity is too convenient; you have other things to do."

"What things?" Du Heng asked.

Mo Bai said, "My second approach is to gather all seven players, extract the serum from our bodies, and inject it into other test subjects. Essentially grafting the responsibility onto them and letting them fight the Ultra-Star monster for us.

"It's a cruel method. But in the first phase of the experiment, many people have already become Mutants. In the future, they'll become Instance monsters anyway: fighting players, killing players, or being killed by players. Choosing Mutants to receive the serum is simply using enemies to fight enemies."

"The method is feasible," Du Heng admitted, "but Mutants might not survive the second-stage drug. And the institute values player genetic data far more than theirs."

Mo Bai said, "That's why I have a third option. Inject all seven doses of serum into a single player, and have that person deliver sufficient serum directly into the Ultra-Star monster's body.

But both the second and third options share a common flaw: we'll only be fed to the Ultra-Star monster after being injected with the third-stage drug. But without the serum, we can't withstand the drastic changes caused by the third injection. Therefore, we need to find a way to avoid the upcoming drug injections.

"Finding the possibility of avoiding the injections, that's what you'll be working on next."

Du Heng said, "That's extremely difficult. From the beginning, the second batch of investigators didn't want to be injected either. They also discovered my player identity and hoped I could help them. I agreed.

I investigated the entire injection process. The extract is drawn directly from the Ultra-Star monster's body, then enters the various mechanical tentacles through pipelines. The entire process is mechanically controlled, so if even a single dose of extract goes missing, it will be noticed.

When they realized they couldn't extract the liquid beforehand, they tried using substitutes. Some used substitute-type item cards, having the mechanical arms inject the extract into the substitute's body instead. But afterward, the mechanical arms draw blood from everyone. If the extract concentration in the blood isn't up to standard, supplementary injections are administered."

Mo Bai said, "Who analyzes the blood test results? Surely that can't be automated too, right? If everything were fully automated, this research institute wouldn't need researchers at all. They could just replace everyone with intelligent robots."

"Another batch of researchers runs the analysis and submits it uniformly to the professor. We could indeed manipulate the data from their end, but this trick can only be used once at most. If used too many times, it will be discovered," Du Heng said.

"Once is enough. We just need to ensure we avoid the last injection," Mo Bai said.

Doing this would leave residual extract from the Ultra-Star monster in their bodies. No one knew what they might become in the future, but it was still better than dying in the Instance.

They could purchase blessing-type cards at high prices or search for solutions within other Instances. As long as they were still alive, there was hope.

"I can investigate their testing procedures and find ways to modify them. Fortunately, there are still six days until the third injection, so the investigation time is relatively sufficient," Du Heng said.

"One last thing. Go investigate these four test subjects: 025, 193, 107, and 251. Don't get close to 025 or 251, just observe them from a distance," Mo Bai said.

"Is there something special about those four?" Du Heng asked.

Mo Bai described what she'd observed and analyzed: "Subject 251 is so beautiful it looks like he was photoshopped. His beauty is unnaturally sickly. I think he's an Observer group player. He and Subject 025, that ordinary-looking girl, exhibited the exact same behavior. Both were standing still, staring blankly at the glass. That's why I suspect 025 is also a player."

"If they're players, shouldn't we get closer?" Du Heng asked, puzzled. "We need to gather all the players and collect the serum. We'll definitely have to contact them and persuade them."

Mo Bai said, "This instance has seven players with abnormal states. Of the five I've encountered, each has different issues. Only those two have exactly identical abnormal states. Don't you find that strange?"

Du Heng said, "It's possible to encounter the same abnormal state in the same instance."

Mo Bai said, "I know they might have been injected with the same drug, like in this instance, resulting in abnormal states while simultaneously surviving. But to me, whenever two identical abnormal states appear, it means there's a possibility that this abnormal state could spread. Even if there's only a 5% chance, I'll try my best not to take that risk."

"You're worried they've contracted the same contagious virus? That's certainly possible," Du Heng said. "I can observe them from a distance. Maybe I can discover issues with them by checking their weaknesses. What about the other two test subjects? Subject 193, the one who was shouting at the mechanical arms, definitely has problems, but what about Subject 107, that handsome young man? He doesn't seem to have any issues, right? He's just good-looking. You're pretty too, so it's quite normal for him to see you and greet you."

At this point, Du Heng's face flushed slightly red as he explained sheepishly, "I confirmed the identities of five players, but I specifically chose you as my follower partly because you're attractive. I wanted to spend more time with you, maybe even take a little advantage or something."

"Aren't you being a bit too candid?" Mo Bai said.

Du Heng said, "You're so smart. You must have guessed my little scheme anyway. There's no need to hide it, right?"

Mo Bai sighed and said, "There's a difference between guessing and actually hearing it said aloud. For example, which is more hurtful: me thinking 'I look down on you' or me openly stating 'I look down on you'?"

"You don't really look down on me, do you?" Du Heng's face turned pale.

Just as Mo Bai had said, he did feel he couldn't measure up to her. Mo Bai might think he was a high-level player who'd muddled his way through somehow, but actually hearing Mo Bai speak those words would still be deeply painful.

"I don't look down on anyone. Everyone has their own strengths. Your ability is so powerful that even at the beginner level, it can be extremely useful. Why would I look down on you? I just wanted to clarify things to prevent you from overthinking," Mo Bai said.

Seeing Du Heng's complexion improve a little, Mo Bai continued discussing Subject 107: "Greeting me isn't a problem, being handsome isn't a problem either. But everyone who receives the drug injection suffers pain and struggles to adapt to the medication. Under such enormous strain, he still has the mood to greet me, and he just happens to match my aesthetic preferences perfectly. Don't you think there's something fishy about him?

I think he's immune to this drug, or simply wasn't injected with it at all. Or else, he wouldn't have the mood to flirt with me.

And coincidentally, the mechanical arms behaved abnormally around him, circling him incessantly. Why do you think that happened?"

"The mechanical arms never circle the test subjects. They only malfunction in one situation, which is issuing an alarm when the extract goes missing," Du Heng said.

Mo Bai said, "This is just a hypothesis. If the mechanical arm simultaneously senses both that it has already injected the drug and that the drug is missing, what would an AI do? Report it or conceal it?"

Du Heng wasn't an artificial intelligence, so he had no way to answer this question.

However, Xiao Qi in Mo Bai's mind spoke up: "Artificial intelligence only acts according to its program. If it cannot determine whether the extract is missing and doesn't have a definite result, it won't make the judgment to issue an alarm or replenish the extract. In the situation you described, the program would malfunction, repeatedly confirming whether it has injected the medication, continuously performing the injection motion until it obtains a definite result before acting according to its code.

That's why some robot vacuums and delivery robots get stuck in certain areas and don't move. They think they should move forward, but the path ahead encounters situations outside their program, complexity beyond their algorithmic capabilities. At that point, they repeatedly perform a certain action, standing still like they're mentally challenged."

Xiao Qi's answer confirmed Mo Bai's suspicion.

Mo Bai continued, "So I believe Subject 107 used some method to make the mechanical arm perform the motion of injecting the extract, but prevented it from sensing the extract being injected into a human body. For example, the mechanical arm's visual system 'saw' the extract entering Subject 107's body, but the needle's tactile system felt different from other people's injections. It couldn't sense the resistance of blood, giving the sensation that the extract had been drained away. This is what caused the mechanical arm's program to malfunction."

Du Heng said, "Among the second batch of investigators, there's still one player who never showed themselves from beginning to end. I don't know their identity or where they're hiding. I only know that they're not dead, or else the system wouldn't have raised the survival rate to 25%. Twenty-five percent of nine people is two people. The system data proves that two members of the second batch of investigators are currently alive. Could this Subject 107 be the other player hiding in the instance?"

Mo Bai sneered, "If he hadn't waved at me and hadn't looked so perfectly aligned with my aesthetic preferences that made me momentarily lose focus and freeze for dozens of seconds, I might have suspected he was another player.

But he fits my taste too perfectly, and showed far too much interest in me. He also acted too flamboyantly, and clearly knows the institute well enough to disrupt the mechanical arms and avoid injection.

There's only one person who fits all these conditions... It's my old friend Phantom Butterfly."