Mo Bai briefly recounted the grudge between her and the Phantom Butterfly, emphasizing that it was also a product of the Institute.

After listening, Du Heng was momentarily speechless. He couldn't decide whether to praise Mo Bai for being able to scheme against an A-class monster at such a low level, or to say that she really had a talent for being a troublemaker.

Mo Bai said, "In the last instance, I thought the Phantom Butterfly was a headache. But seeing it again in this one actually makes me happy. Just as I expected, it has an extraordinary understanding of this Institute. It even dared to come back after escaping. I'm certain the Phantom Butterfly knows more than we do."

"Alright. I'll go capture it right now," Du Heng said confidently, turning to leave.

Mo Bai grabbed his white coat. "Did you forget that you're only a beginner player?"

Du Heng froze for a moment before replying, "I can see the Phantom Butterfly's weak point. I just need a high-combat player to assist me."

Clearly, Du Heng was the support-type player, yet he said this with complete righteousness.

"No need," Mo Bai said. "You just have to take a look at it, find its weakness, and tell me through the wristband. I'll handle the rest."

"It wants to kill you, and you're still planning to face it alone? No matter what, it's still an A-class monster. You can't deal with it," Du Heng tried to persuade her.

Mo Bai smiled. "I used to be a little afraid of it. Now I actually find it… kind of cute. From the information I got before, the Phantom Butterfly toys with people's emotions. It makes them fall in love with it and feeds on despair and other negative feelings. This time, it has turned into something so perfectly aligned with my taste. I'm sure it wants me to fall in love with it, then reveal its true identity, savor my despair, and finally kill me.

"Following that logic, it probably won't hurt me in the early stages. On the contrary, it'll help me to create a 'suspension bridge effect,' so I fall for it. Isn't that the perfect opportunity to gather information?"

In this situation, pretending not to recognize the Phantom Butterfly would benefit her far more than exposing it.

Du Heng hesitated. "I've heard of it too. It's a very unusual instance monster that can travel between different instances and change into all sorts of forms. It's dangerous. And with its bewitching abilities, I'm afraid you might actually fall in love with it."

"So what if I do?" Mo Bai replied. "I actually think it would be more effective if I truly fell for it. It feeds on emotions, so it must be extremely sensitive to human feelings and might see through any act. If it has a way to make me genuinely fall in love, I'll get even more information."

Du Heng stared at her, observing her from top to bottom. Finally, he couldn't hold back. "Is there something wrong with your brain? If you truly fall for it, you'll be in pain as you lose yourself. You'll forget our goal and will only want to stay with it forever. In the end, you'll become its prey, and it'll devour your desperate soul."

Mo Bai looked at him in confusion. "What misunderstanding do you have about love? Love is just a byproduct of dopamine and oxytocin. Even at its peak, it only lasts two or three months. I believe everyone's emotional structure is fixed. If a person has 100% emotional capacity, some people might devote 90% of it to love, while for others, it's only 10%.

For those whose emotional component is 90% love, no matter who they fall for, they'll lose themselves. But for those whose love accounts for only 10%, then even at the height of infatuation, they can still stay clear-headed and remember what they want to do.

I'm not someone who yearns for love that much. In my heart, love probably takes up no more than 20%. It doesn't outweigh academics or career. It doesn't outweigh family or comrades who fight alongside me. I'd sacrifice myself for companions who strive together, but I wouldn't give up my soul for a love built on lies and deception.

Of course, truly falling in love might hurt. But compared to what I could gain, that kind of injury would be like a broken rib: not that painful and can be easily healed with proper rest."

Mo Bai knew that she was a calm and rational person. That had nothing to do with the car accident; rather, she had always been like this.

Back in high school, she had once liked an outstanding boy in her class. They sat near each other, and a beautiful young romance had begun to bud.

The feelings of youth were pure and moving, a truly beautiful time.

But once Mo Bai recognized how she felt, she applied to change seats and moved to the farthest spot from him.

Not because she didn't care for him, but because she knew that if she kept sinking deeper, her grades would decline.

University was far more important than the hazy sweetness of adolescent love.

After she moved away, the boy's grades steadily improved as well. In the college entrance exams, both of them had high scores and were admitted to prestigious 985 universities¹. Different schools, but in the same city.

After their placements were confirmed, the boy confessed his feelings to her, and she happily agreed.

If not for the accident, they would have been the best classmates, the best academic partners, and after graduation, the best career partners, with a perfectly matched love to go with it.

But Mo Bai was injured. When she learned she would be paralyzed for life and never recover, the boy naïvely told her that after graduating from university, he would marry her and take care of her forever.

Mo Bai told him she believed his feelings at that moment. She knew he was sincere and truly loved her. But love fades with time. At the university, he would meet healthier and more outstanding girls, and he might struggle between new love and old devotion. In the end, he might despise himself for his betrayal and hate himself for changing.

Mo Bai didn't want to be anyone's burden, nor did she want an excellent young man to be forced by fate into becoming what the world calls a scumbag. So she pushed him away with her own hands to preserve their love at its most beautiful moment.

She did not do it out of inferiority. She did it because only in this way could their love remain perfect, rather than watch it fade and wither over time.

In this world, youth passes swiftly. It seems only by turning something into a specimen can we preserve the beauty of a corpse.

Therefore, Mo Bai didn't mind following the Phantom Butterfly's script and falling in love with it. It wouldn't truly harm her and would even help her gather intelligence. Moreover, she could even enjoy the beautiful romance it fabricated, creating a new specimen of love. Killing two birds with one stone like that, so why not go with the flow?

"Aren't you living a little too coldly and rationally?" Du Heng asked with mixed emotions.

"Don't misunderstand me. I'm actually pretty hot-blooded and a bit chuuni². I often act on impulse and get into unnecessary trouble. I'm just not brainless, and I have some sense of the bigger picture," Mo Bai sighed.

If she weren't passionate, she wouldn't be struggling with every instance to such an extent.

Looking at Mo Bai calmly dissecting the components of her own emotions, Du Heng vaguely felt a piece of his youthful heart shatter.

He shook his head. "I'll report the ward inspection results first, then we'll act according to plan. Contact me through the watch if anything happens."

"Okay." Mo Bai nodded.

After he left, she received messages from Liu Congyi and Sheng Yan.

Liu Congyi had already started knocking on other test subjects' doors, asking questions one by one. She disguised herself as a patient with lung disease and used shared illness to build empathy and make inquiries easier.

On the other hand, Sheng Yan was terrible at communication, so Mo Bai assigned him to provoke the researchers instead.

As long as they didn't try to steal the extract, didn't enter restricted areas, and cooperated with experiments, the researchers wouldn't harm them.

Sheng Yan's job was to constantly annoy the researchers with ignorant questions to test their limits and extract information from their outbursts.

His personality was perfect for the task.

With her teammates busy, Mo Bai wasn't idle either. She wheeled herself out for a stroll.

First, to study the Institute's layout and memorize the environment, making it easier to use her abilities. Second, to give the Phantom Butterfly a chance encounter.

If it wanted to seduce her, knocking directly on her door would be too suspicious, and falling in love under those circumstances would be hard even for her to justify.

So she thoughtfully decided to create the opportunity for it.

After making a round, Mo Bai grasped the structure of the Institute.

There were no windows anywhere. Air circulated through central ventilation, and even the ceiling wasn't visible. When she tried sensing upward with her ability, she detected rock and soil instead of the expected air.

From this, Mo Bai determined that the entire Institute was underground.

The first underground level, the topmost floor, was the subjects' residential area. They lived in single apartments, and outside were recreational facilities: a basketball court, gym, swimming pool, and arcade. Many subjects came out after inspections to relax, and Liu Congyi was active there, striking up conversations everywhere.

The second underground level was where the test subjects were injected with drugs, and it was also open to the public. Many intelligent robots operated here; some were cleaning, while others were busily transporting unknown items.

The third and fourth underground levels were the researchers' areas. Part of the third level was open to subjects where researchers conducted simple consultations. If a subject felt unwell, they would first go to the second level for blood tests and preliminary diagnosis by the robots. If the robots couldn't resolve it, the subject would be sent to the third level.

Sheng Yan's high fever gave him the perfect excuse to harass the researchers, so when Mo Bai reached the third floor, he was already repeatedly pestering one of them.

"Are your brains just for decoration? Do you see how high my temperature is? I could ignite white phosphorus just by blowing on it! I'm dying of discomfort! Can you fix this or not? Why is this happening? I swear I could snap my fingers and set your hair on fire. It's smoking! It's smoking! Your hair's actually smoking!"

His infuriating tone was driving the researcher crazy.

"How dare you start a fire in the important facility?!" the researcher roared as his hair genuinely began to smoke.

"Do you think I wanted this? Hurry up and solve it!" Sheng Yan roared back.

Besides the consultation area where Sheng Yan was causing havoc, another section of the third floor was restricted to subjects. Du Heng could move around there but couldn't enter highly confidential zones. He'd gathered so much intelligence thanks entirely to the Cloak of Invisibility.

The fourth underground level was the most classified area. Aside from a few professors and the five A-class monsters, no one else could enter. The most confidential research was conducted there.

Mo Bai could sense that even deeper below the fourth level was a vast space. But the barrier around it was so powerful that it exuded a clear warning: do not pry.

When she tried to slightly probe it with her ability, she felt as if an abyssal beast might swallow her whole.

Deeper beneath the fourth floor was most certainly the Ultra-Star Rank monster.

Ignoring Sheng Yan's antics, Mo Bai turned and saw Mao Juncai and Zhuang Xiangyang sneaking toward a restricted area on the third floor, so she promptly followed them.

Mao Juncai did have some skill. He glanced around and noticed Mo Bai trailing them. With a cold snort, he pulled Zhuang Xiangyang around a corner, and when Mo Bai followed, they'd already vanished. Who knew what method they'd used to hide.

Mao Juncai's audacity in stealing the extract meant he certainly had a way to hide.

Mo Bai glanced in the direction where they'd disappeared. Ahead was an archive room, and a "No Trespassing" sign was placed in the corridor.

As if she hadn't seen the sign at all, Mo Bai moved straight ahead.

But just as she was about to brazenly pass it, a hand landed on her shoulder.

A cool, pleasant voice entered her ear.

"Don't go. It's dangerous."

Mo Bai sighed inwardly.

The Phantom Butterfly was truly impressive. They had only met once, yet it had already figured out her preferences.

She liked the cool, abstinent, Little Dragon Girl* type of man.

And this guy even perfectly imitated the voice.

 

 

Author's Note:

Facing Phantom Butterfly’s seduction.

Du Heng: Mo Bai, you'll be deceived!

Mo Bai: A handsome guy delivered right to my door. Either way it’s a free, so I might as well enjoy it first and think later.

Phantom Butterfly: So not only am I being taken advantage of, but I'm also being tricked into revealing information?

Mo Bai: An A-rank monster, benefiting the players.

—

See you tomorrow at noon, mwah!