"You discovered the weakness of the Ultra-Star Rank monster?" Du Heng exclaimed in shock as they gathered in Mo Bai's room.

This was practically a direct challenge to his ability.

Back when Du Heng was still a low-level player, he had relied on his skill, Weak Point Detection, to defeat stronger opponents time and again. It had saved him from countless life-or-death situations. He had absolute confidence in that ability and in his own judgment.

In fact, when Mo Bai said that she wanted to take a look at the Ultra-Star Rank monster, Du Heng had already felt it was unnecessary.

Mo Bai didn't possess any ability to see through a monster's weak points, and she even planned to move together with the Phantom Butterfly. It was dangerous and, in his view, completely redundant.

Du Heng wanted to protest and tell Mo Bai not to waste time and energy. But Mo Bai had already become the spiritual pillar of the team. He knew he couldn't stop her and could only let her act as she wished.

But now, she was telling them that she had found the Ultra-Star Rank monster's weakness. It felt like a harsh slap in the face, turning the ability he took such pride in into a joke.

So Du Heng refused to believe it.

Mo Bai understood his pain. She knew he wasn't doubting her. He was just afraid that his own ability might be invalidated. A player's ability was their final trump card for survival inside an instance. Mo Bai herself trusted her own abilities completely, so how could she not understand him?

So before Sheng Yan, the team's hothead, could jump up and start arguing with Du Heng over his attitude, Mo Bai reached out and pressed him down. Then she spoke gently to Du Heng.

"Your ability isn't wrong. The Ultra-Star Rank monster I saw today truly has no conventional weak points. Just like you said, it's incredibly powerful. It has absorbed countless evolved monsters, possesses a wide range of abilities, has tremendous vitality, and even multiple brains and hearts. Unless all those vital points are destroyed at the same time, it won't die."

"Then why did you say you found a weakness?" Du Heng said, confused. "Risking your life to scout the monster, that's a sign that you don't trust me."

"I don't distrust you," Mo Bai replied calmly. "I just think that there are major inconsistencies here. Let me explain."

When Mo Bai had questioned Du Heng and Phantom Butterfly about the monsters in the research institute, a faint doubt had already formed in her mind. After learning about the progress of the fusion experiments involving the split monster, that doubt deepened.

Something wasn't right.

After seeing Professor Yang in person, the situation felt even stranger.

Professor Yang was, without question, an ordinary human. Perhaps hatred had twisted his mind, and his mental state was far from normal. But he had no special abilities, and his body was fragile.

Standing behind him, Mo Bai had felt that a single, light slash would have been enough to kill him. Du Heng had reached the same conclusion: Professor Yang was full of openings and weak points everywhere. A frail academic, weaker than an average man, who any player could crush with ease.

If not for the concern that killing him might cause the Ultra-Star Rank monster to go berserk, Mo Bai might have acted then and there.

So the question was: how did someone so weak become the leader of the research institute?

He engaged in severe and unethical practices, treating both humans and evolved monsters as subjects of experimentation. Without any hesitation, he placed them in perilous situations that ultimately led to their demise.

The researchers could be explained. They were his followers and students who were willing to create a god alongside him. But what about the A-rank monsters guarding him?

They had once been test subjects themselves, evolving through a survival-of-the-fittest gu-breeding process, just like the Phantom Butterfly. At any moment, Professor Yang could feed them to the Ultra-Star Rank monster, so why would they obey someone so twisted and violent?

Even assuming Professor Yang controlled them through drugs or extracts from the Ultra-Star Rank monster, what about the monster hidden deep underground?

The creature was incredibly powerful, and if it perished, Professor Yang would also die. However, if Professor Yang died, the creature would survive. The clear advantage lay with the monster. So why didn't it simply consume him? Why remain hidden underground, allowing him to nurture it, and waiting for the day he would merge with it and erase its consciousness to gain control?

It made no sense.

Mo Bai concluded that unless the Ultra-Star Rank monster had some unique trait that set it apart from ordinary Schizophrenics, there must be a weakness. This weakness would explain how Professor Yang was able to completely dominate the monster, preventing it from acting independently or resisting him, and forcing it to serve as his enforcer.

Based on that reasoning, no matter how flawless Du Heng's ability was, Mo Bai had to see the monster with her own eyes.

"Then what weakness could it have?" Du Heng murmured after hearing her explanation. "It has devoured so many creatures and gained so many abilities. I truly didn't see any weakness."

Mo Bai smiled faintly. "Is it possible that what you consider its strengths are actually its weaknesses?"

Everyone was taken aback.

"Even humans get indigestion when they overeat," she continued. "That monster has been force-fed so many species, organisms with completely different genetic structures, and so many brains. It's still an incomplete lifeform, so can it really digest all of that perfectly?

Or perhaps, with multiple brains, each brain operates independently. Maybe it doesn't even possess a unified, autonomous consciousness.

Professor Yang is mentally connected to the monster. His primary ability seems to be the capacity to use this connection to help control the chaotic consciousnesses within it. While the monster may resist allowing him to absorb its power, it also seems reluctant to completely let him go, fearing that it would be left as a mindless, uncontrollable abomination.

For that reason, it allows Professor Yang to borrow its authority, like a fox flaunting a tiger's might, and become the ruler of the institute."

"But as long as Professor Yang is alive, the monster will support him," Du Heng said. "If he dies, the monster will completely go out of control. Even if we know this weakness, what does it change?"

"It changes everything," Mo Bai replied. "We're going to face the Ultra-Star Rank monster eventually. So what if we divide it? What if we cause its different brains to split apart and turn on one another? As long as the enemy isn't united internally, we have a chance at victory."

"Do we even have an ability or card that can do that?" Du Heng asked.

"I originally planned to propose the strategy first, confirm its feasibility, and then search for the appropriate ability," Mo Bai said. "But when I saw the monster in person, I realized the situation is better than we imagined.

It hasn't fully evolved. It's unstable. That instability means neither it nor Professor Yang has complete control over the body.

Through the Prying Lenses, I saw several powerful self-consciousnesses inside it. These consciousnesses fluctuate in strength through some force. After my ability upgrade, the Prying Lenses is nearly an S-rank item. Through them, I uncovered a secret: on a certain specific day, not even Professor Yang can suppress those riotous consciousnesses.

On that day, the Ultra-Star Rank monster will completely split into several S-rank monsters. That will be our only chance to kill it. I believe the cycle is monthly, meaning there's one day each month when we have the opportunity to eliminate it."

Her words set her teammates' blood boiling. Sheng Yan rubbed his hands eagerly. "Which day?"

Mo Bai glanced at Du Heng. "That depends on him."

"Me?" Du Heng pointed at himself. "I didn't see any such weakness. The day I went, it was absurdly strong and impossible to defeat."

"Exactly," Mo Bai said. "So the day you went must have been carefully chosen by Professor Yang. It was the monster's most stable and powerful day, when nothing could go wrong. He was afraid you might notice its instability. Therefore, the corresponding day to yours is when it's at its weakest."

Du Heng scratched his head. "But every day in a month is basically the same. What corresponding day?"

"There is something that changes every single day within a month," Mo Bai said, pointing to the sky. "It hangs above us, and its gravity controls the tides. Its phases influence human emotions. At night, people grow sentimental and unstable in ways they aren't during the day. I believe human consciousness, and biological consciousness in general, is easily influenced by it. Thus, Professor Yang constructed the institute underground to conceal the Ultra-Star Rank monster deep below, reducing interference from it."

Once Mo Bai explained, everyone understood.

The moon.

Du Heng slapped his thigh. "That's right! The day I went, it was the first day of the lunar month!"

"The first day is the new moon, and that's when the moon isn't visible," Mo Bai said. "If that's when the monster is strongest, then the corresponding day, when the consciousnesses riot, is the full moon on the fifteenth day."

Liu Congyi immediately flipped through a calendar. "Time flows the same in the instance world and the Infinite World. Today is the twelfth day of the lunar month…"

"I've already calculated it," Mo Bai said. "Today is the twelfth, and three days from now, which is the fifteenth, is the night of our second injection of the extract."

"Three days…" Du Heng murmured. "But Professor Yang knows that day is crucial. Security will be tight. We won't just face a weakened, split Ultra-Star Rank monster. There'll also be a group of B-rank monsters, and five extremely powerful A-rank monsters."

"I'm support-type," Liu Congyi said. "At best, I can handle two or three B-rank monsters."

"Don't rush," Mo Bai said. "We're not launching the attack immediately. We still have three days to prepare."

Then she turned to Sheng Yan. "We''l use your new ability to catch the research institute off guard."

Sheng Yan clenched his fist as a battle-hungry grin spread across his face. "Finally, it's my turn."

He had just advanced to the Intermediate level as a nature-type ability user, and he has the fire element, which is considered the strongest when it comes to offense among nature types.

He had been holding himself back for far too long.

Before leveling up, Sheng Yan already had the strength to take on a group of A-rank monsters by himself. After leveling up, his power became even more terrifying.

He could now create three types of bombs.

The first type was a Remote Bomb (遙控炸彈 - Yáokòng Zhàdàn). He could seal his fire-element ability into an object and turn it into a concealed bomb that couldn't be detected and could detonate whenever he chose.

This was the kind of bomb Mo Bai planned to use.

Each bomb possesses a power equivalent to Sheng Yan's full-force strike at the beginner level. When it detonates, it releases intense flames and heat, strong enough to demolish an entire room. The resulting shockwaves can also injure anyone within dozens of meters.

At present, all of Sheng Yan's energy could produce twenty such bombs.

Mo Bai had already thoroughly mapped out the internal structure of the research institute. Over three days, both she and Sheng Yan could recover their energy six times. With her assistance, Sheng Yan could manufacture 120 powerful bombs. Based on the institute's layout, about sixty would be enough to collapse the entire facility.

At the same time, Mo Bai could designate several battle zones in advance and hide the remaining bombs there, using them to cleanse the large numbers of mutants and B-rank monsters inside the institute.

That way, they wouldn't be distracted by minor enemies.

Meanwhile, once explosions rocked the institute, the five A-rank monsters would undoubtedly prioritize protecting Professor Yang.

Because Professor Yang had an ordinary constitution.

In that chaos, the Ultra-Star Rank monster wouldn't die, but Professor Yang certainly would. Someone would have to safeguard his life.

At that point, Du Heng could wield the Scythe of Death, hide near Professor Yang, and harvest the lives of the five A-rank monsters with ease.

Liu Congyi would seize the opportunity to implant Psychological Shadow into Professor Yang to prevent him from fleeing. He would become their captive, and their shield.

After clearing all obstacles, they could bring Professor Yang to the fourth basement level and eliminate the split fragments of the Ultra-Star Rank monster one by one.

Du Heng and Sheng Yan would be the main force in that battle.

Sheng Yan's second type of bomb was the Blood Bomb (血液炸彈 - Xuèyè Zhàdàn). This one didn't consume mental energy, but it inflicted significant damage on his body.

When he released his blood, and it merged with any other liquid, it would form a liquid bomb. The more blood used, the greater the explosion's power.

The system's description of Sheng Yan's abilities was completely different from Mo Bai's. Mo Bai's ability description read like a riddle; she had to figure everything out herself. Sheng Yan's, by contrast, was like a user manual. It clearly stated how much blood he had, how much blood loss would be fatal, and how many milliliters of blood produced what level of explosive force.

Sheng Yan had about 5,000 ml of blood. Losing 2,000 ml would put him in critical condition, leaving him unable to use Blood Bombs.

At most, he could create bombs using 2,000 ml of blood. Of that, 500 ml was enough to deliver a fatal blow to an A-rank monster. The system even used Du Ying, a particularly powerful A-rank monster, as an example, stating that 800 ml would be sufficient to kill Du Ying outright, with absolutely no chance of regeneration.

A 2,000 ml Blood Bomb could inflict fatal damage on an S-rank monster.

However, the blood had to be fresh. If it remained outside his body for more than five minutes, it would lose its effect. That meant he couldn't draw blood in advance and store it. He had to bleed on the spot.

Fortunately, they had intermediate-level healing potions that could fully restore his injuries.

Sheng Yan had one bottle, and Mo Bai gave him hers as well. That meant he could use the 2,000 ml Blood Bomb at least three times, which is enough to take down three S-rank monsters.

Beyond that, Sheng Yan had one final bomb: the Soul Bomb (靈魂炸彈 - Línghún Zhàdàn).

When his blood was exhausted, and no potions remained, he could turn himself into a bomb. Its destructive power depended on the strength of his soul at that time. If his soul were sufficiently resilient, it could theoretically reach the level of a nuclear weapon.

But this move could only be used once.

Because Sheng Yan only had one life.

The system's manual advised him to use it only after becoming a High-level player, as this would unleash its maximum power and prevent wasting it at the Intermediate level.

Reading the description, Sheng Yan could only curse: "Damn it! Who the hell would ever use this move? Even at a high level, I still wouldn't use it!"

After Sheng Yan read out his ability manual, Du Heng and Liu Congyi turned pale.

"No wonder most nature-type players get stuck at the beginner level and can't advance," Du Heng said. "Your power spike after leveling up is ridiculously broken."

Sheng Yan proudly lifted his chin.

"So now you understand where my confidence comes from," Mo Bai said. "After Sheng Yan advanced to Intermediate, our combat strength skyrocketed."

The system had indeed granted them tremendous support by helping them reach the intermediate level.

"But Sheng Yan's ability is sealed," Liu Congyi said to Mo Bai. "You have to remove the restriction for him. When he uses his power, it also drains your energy. And our plan relies on your Environmental Rejection to work. Do you have enough energy?"

"With all my energy, I can barely use Environmental Rejection and Rule Optimization once," Mo Bai replied. "If I only use Rule Optimization, I can optimize two people's rules at the same time. During the preparation phase, my energy will be sufficient; it naturally recovers in twelve hours. But once the battle begins, all of us may run into severe energy shortages. That's when we'll need your help."

"My ability doesn't consume much energy," Liu Congyi said with a sigh. "I probably won't need nutrient potions. I'll give mine to you; you can use them to recover one extra time. Even if I save up for three days, I can only fully replenish one Intermediate-level player's energy. So use it wisely!"

"Sheng Yan's Blood Bomb costs physical vitality, not energy," Mo Bai said. "He doesn't lack energy. I'm the one who does. Just make sure my supply is secured."

"My energy can't be replenished by you anyway," Du Heng said. "But I have a high-level potion that can extend my endurance once."

The four of them reviewed the plan again, searching for loopholes and patching them one by one.

"It's a solid plan," Du Heng said. "We have a strong chance of winning. But the early preparation is crucial, and that process seems impossible without the Phantom Butterfly."

To plant bombs at key locations inside the institute, Sheng Yan needed Mo Bai to neutralize surveillance elements and the Phantom Butterfly's mimicry ability to deceive the institute's personnel.

"We'll need the Phantom Butterfly for three consecutive days," Sheng Yan said. "I don't trust it. It'd be better to turn it into a card."

Du Heng frowned. "But the Phantom Butterfly has four abilities: Mimicry, Scale Poison, emotion sensing, and Hallucination. If it becomes an A-rank card, it might retain only one or two abilities, and possibly with limited uses. It might not be as useful as keeping it alive."

"Let's use Psychological Shadow," Mo Bai suggested. "Make it hate the institute. Bind it to us with a shared objective, destroying the institute, rather than controlling it purely through threats."

"I can do that," Liu Congyi said. "But I'll need time to prepare. I'll talk to someone tomorrow morning. By noon, I should be able to implant the Psychological Shadow."

"My last card is Tracker (追蹤器 - Zhuīzōngqì)," Du Heng added. "I was planning to use it on a researcher to gather clues, but I never had the chance. Tomorrow, I'll place it on the Phantom Butterfly instead. We'll be able to monitor its every move. If it dares to betray us, I'll know immediately."

"Let's do that," Mo Bai said calmly.

Sheng Yan rarely paid attention to others' emotions, but this time, he sensed that Mo Bai wasn't entirely pleased. "You can't bear to turn the Phantom Butterfly into a card?" he asked.

"I can," Mo Bai said firmly. "If turning it into a card is more cost-effective, I'd do it myself. But it behaved well tonight. That made me feel a trace of guilt."

"Would guilt make you soft?" Du Heng asked warily.

Mo Bai gave a faint, almost cold smile. "This little bit of guilt isn't enough to soften my heart. People have to do things that go against their conscience to survive. Carrying a little guilt isn't a big deal, is it?"

Seeing Mo Bai's cold-hearted demeanor, Du Heng and Sheng Yan felt reassured.

Yet at the same time, they felt a strange sadness in their chests.

Mo Bai's heart was too hard. She could even use her own love and guilt as tools. Isn't that just tragic for anyone who likes her?

Unaware of their private thoughts, Mo Bai was concerned about something else.

"Du Heng, have you found the player who entered at the same time as you?" she asked.

"No," Du Heng replied. "It's strange. That person never appeared from the beginning. Where could they be hiding?"

"Are you sure they're still alive?" Mo Bai asked.

Du Heng nodded. "I even confirmed it with the system. The Main System has been cooperating with us this time. It gave a definite answer: the player is alive."

"If it's cooperating, did you ask where the last player is?" Mo Bai pressed.

"Of course," Du Heng said. "But the system said rule restrictions prevent it from telling."

Seeing Mo Bai's grave expression, Liu Congyi asked, "Are you worried our plan might accidentally harm them?"

Du Heng and Sheng Yan thought that Mo Bai was cold as iron, but Liu Congyi had noticed her gentleness.

She had never once mentioned using the four remaining players who were unlikely to survive much longer.

When choosing bomb locations, she had deliberately avoided the first floor where the test subjects lived.

Moreover, with the physical resilience of mutants and players, as long as they weren't at the center of the blast, they wouldn't die.

Mo Bai didn't just want to destroy the institute; she wanted to preserve every innocent life as much as possible.

So Liu Congyi guessed that she was worried about hurting the missing player.

"That's part of it," Mo Bai admitted. "But more than that, it's a sense of unease."

"We're all players. Everyone wants to leave the instance alive. No one wants an Ultra-Star Rank instance to be born, so they wouldn't sabotage us, right?" Du Heng speculated.

"I'm not worried about them harming us," Mo Bai said. "It's just that unknown variables always make me uneasy. I've gathered almost all the information in this instance, except for this one person's whereabouts. That makes them an uncontrollable variable."

"I'll keep searching for the next three days," Du Heng said.

Mo Bai nodded. With no other leads, that was all they could do.

She only hoped that this variable wouldn't be significant enough to affect their plan.