The monster's pitch-black body began to churn violently. After a moment, Professor Yang was pushed out by the creature's writhing mass.

Only his upper body was visible, while his lower half remained fused with the monster.

Professor Yang opened his eyes and roared with overwhelming fury at Mo Bai, who was suspended in midair. "Why weren't you absorbed?! Why!"

At this moment, the once refined and composed expression on his face was gone. The air of calm control that he always carried vanished completely.

Something bulged beneath his skin, as if something were about to grow out of his brain. Veins stood out on his forehead, and his expression twisted into a ferocious grimace as he struggled to suppress whatever was growing.

The four people below also stared at Mo Bai, unable to understand how she had survived.

Mo Bai said calmly, "Maybe I was just lucky. Or you could also think that the heavens simply don't want you to become complete, so it sent us to stop you."

Her body was already fused with the Ultra-Star Rank monster, leaving behind only a sliver of consciousness. She could hear Xiao Qi's voice, but she couldn't respond, nor could she gather the mental strength to use Blessing of the Puppets.

No matter how hard she tried, her consciousness kept slipping out of her control.

She maintained that state, letting Professor Yang believe that the Ultra-Star Rank monster had fallen completely asleep. Its body stopped evolving and splitting, settling into a stable condition, which prompted Professor Yang to begin merging with it.

Mo Bai knew when Professor Yang started the fusion. Now one with the monster, their nerves connected, and she could feel him trying to dominate the body.

She was anxious. She only needed a tiny bit of strength, just a sliver of awareness, to use the blessing card.

At that moment, Mo Bai sensed another consciousness inside the Ultra-Star Rank monster. It was one she was very familiar with: the Phantom Butterfly, whom she had dragged into the monster with her.

The monster had already absorbed four doses of serum, so it postponed devouring the Phantom Butterfly to consume Mo Bai first.

But after dissolving her, the Ultra-Star Rank monster fell into a deep sleep under the serum's effects. The Phantom Butterfly's luck was truly remarkable, so it survived.

Professor Yang also sensed the Phantom Butterfly's consciousness. Unwilling to allow any variables during his fusion process, he focused his energy on dealing with it.

He mobilized part of the body to digest the Phantom Butterfly, which provided Mo Bai a brief chance to catch her breath.

Just then, the three players arrived, and Liu Congyi threw a grenade at the monster.

Of course, the grenade couldn't truly injure the monster. But Professor Yang was in the middle of digesting the Phantom Butterfly while fusing with the monster. It was like someone performing a highly delicate work was suddenly pricked by a needle.

The prick didn't hurt much, but it disrupted the precision.

The damage from the grenade gave Phantom Butterfly a chance to use its ability to create an illusion, which caused Professor Yang to falter for a moment.

It was that single moment of distraction that gave Mo Bai a thread of strength.

With great difficulty, she picked up the card resting against her chest, gathered her mental power, and activated it.

With the help of Blessing of the Puppets, Mo Bai regained consciousness. Her feet rested on the golden threads; though suspended, she exuded an overwhelming presence, as if standing in midair.

She looked down at Professor Yang from above. Seeing his state, she smiled in satisfaction.

Two split beings: the human stabilized both consciousnesses, while the monster controlled both of their lives.

If the monster dies, the human's life will end. If the human dies, the monster will lose consciousness. This could cause the monster to either go berserk until its energy runs out and it perishes, or it may search endlessly for another consciousness to dominate, until it stabilizes once again.

They were two sides of the same entity. To kill them completely, they had to wait for the moment of fusion.

But the Ultra-Star Rank monster was too powerful. Once it was complete with human intelligence, it would be even harder to kill. How could it be weakened?

One way was to wait for the night of the full moon.

Another was to force the monster into internal conflict.

Why did Professor Yang refuse to fuse with the monster earlier and insist on waiting for five doses of serum?

Naturally, it was because the rejection between him and the monster was too severe. If the monster's consciousness were awake, it would instinctively try to devour him, like a secondary personality attempting to seize control of the body. Professor Yang lacked the strength, so if he fused with the complete monster, the one who survived would not be him, but a newly born secondary personality.

Therefore, he had to wait until the Ultra-Star Rank monster fell asleep before attempting fusion.

And once fusion began, it could not be reversed.

So what would happen if the Ultra-Star Rank monster awakens during the fusion process?

The two consciousnesses would battle endlessly until one is defeated by the other.

When the monster fought itself, its power would naturally be greatly reduced. Mo Bai and the others didn't even need to act; its own body attacking itself would already weaken it.

More importantly, there were still four doses of serum inside it.

Mo Bai had used the serum herself and had also been fused with the Ultra-Star Rank monster. She clearly understood the effects of the serum and the player's Positive Flow.

When she used Environmental Rejection, her own color was white while the monster's faction was black. She didn't understand what the two colors meant.

But after being devoured and using Environmental Rejection inside the Ultra-Star Rank monster, she finally understood.

White represented Positive Flow, while Black represented Negative Flow. And positive could neutralize negative.

But Positive Flow required a medium to neutralize Negative Flow. In their case, that medium was the serum.

At this moment, the Ultra-Star Rank monster already contained four doses of serum. Eighty percent of the Negative Flow within it had been neutralized, and its strength was weakened by eighty percent.

If Professor Yang successfully completed the fusion, his consciousness would have reinjected Negative Flow into the body. Though he wouldn't be able to fully control it at first, the body's defensive capability would at least remain at the Ultra-Star Rank level.

And the serum's effects would only last for three days. After that, Professor Yang would be able to fully dominate the body once the effects wore off.

But now, Professor Yang failed to complete the fusion. Not only could he not fully control the body, but he was also locked in constant internal conflict. The Ultra-Star Rank monster's power had been suppressed below ninety percent, so it was merely an S-rank monster at most.

It could be killed.

Mo Bai shouted to the people below, "Does anyone have an extra nutrient potion?"

Her energy was completely depleted, and she had already finished the bottle Liu Congyi had given her. She urgently needed replenishment.

Sheng Yan was just about to take out his intermediate nutrient potion for her when Du Heng moved faster.

Du Heng threw out a bottle of deep-blue potion. It was no longer liquid but flowed like luminous sand inside the bottle; it looked unmistakably high-quality.

"High-rank!" Du Heng shouted. "Just drink one-tenth! Any more and you won't be able to handle it!"

Mo Bai caught the nutrient potion and took a small sip.

Abundant energy surged through her limbs and body, refilling her reserves.

She raised her hand and used her ability to cover Du Heng and Sheng Yan.

Rule Optimization!

Du Heng's ability returned, and he immediately activated Weak Point Detection. He instantly saw the Ultra-Star Rank monster's weak point.

The brain and heart that he had previously identified were now concentrated in Professor Yang's upper body. Professor Yang himself became the monster's weakness.

Du Heng roared, "Kill Professor Yang! As long as we shatter his body, we can kill the monster!"

Without hesitation, Sheng Yan sliced open his carotid artery. He couldn't use a Soul Bomb, but he still had Blood Bombs that could severely wound Professor Yang.

Du Heng extended his hand toward Sheng Yan. "Give me the Blood Bomb. Your throw might not hit Professor Yang's body directly. If I use Fatal Strike to throw it, it'll hit with 100% accuracy."

Professor Yang was at least S-rank now. The damage Du Heng's Fatal Strike could deal to an S-rank monster depended entirely on the power of the attack.

He currently had no powerful weapons on hand, and only Sheng Yan's bomb was at their disposal. At least he could guarantee that no matter where it hit, it would one hundred percent injure Professor Yang's body.

Sheng Yan's blood was rapidly draining away. He condensed the flowing blood into a sphere and handed it to Du Heng.

Seeing what they were doing, Professor Yang's face twisted with rage. With tremendous effort, he managed to release a tentacle from the monster's body to attack them.

But how could Mo Bai allow him to harm her companions?

She turned her left hand into a blade and slashed down.

The Spatial Blade was now an S-rank weapon enhanced by Mo Bai. Its attack range had expanded several times over, and it was no longer limited to the length of an arm.

A massive spatial blade tore through space, severing the tentacle attacking the group.

The Spatial Blade was a weapon that guaranteed a result once activated. No matter how strong the opponent was, unless they possessed spatial abilities, they would be struck by the spatial rift.

Its only flaws had been its small range and the tendency for the glove to slip off. By temporarily upgrading it, Mo Bai had compensated for those weaknesses.

As the tentacle fell, Du Heng threw the Blood Bomb onto Professor Yang.

With a thunderous boom, half of Professor Yang's body was blasted into charred remains.

He howled in agony. The enormous body trembled violently, and the ground began to shake.

The Ultra-Star Rank monster's body was the foundation of the research institute. If it collapsed, the entire facility would cave in.

Mo Bai was lowered to the ground by golden threads and reunited with Du Heng and the others.

The puppets' phantom figures waved at her before dissolving into golden motes of light and scattering into the air.

The moment Mo Bai landed, she said to the others, "Run! The research institute is about to collapse. Once Professor Yang completely loses control, we still won't be strong enough to defeat him."

From that last strike, she had roughly gauged his strength. As expected of an Ultra-Star Rank monster, even with ninety percent of his power suppressed, they were still no match for him.

"Can we really just run?" Du Heng asked. "Our mission isn't finished yet. We'll be buried here along with the institute."

"How is it not finished?" Mo Bai shot back. "Didn't the system tell us to prevent the birth of an Ultra-Star Rank monster? Was one born? Look at him, does he still count as Ultra-Star Rank?"

"At most, he's an S-rank elite," Du Heng said. "If people from Neverland came, they could wipe him out easily."

"Exactly." Mo Bai dodged a falling chunk of stone and said, "System, did you hear that? Our mission is complete. Please teleport us out immediately, and within three days, send Neverland's elites. I guarantee you'll be able to eliminate this monster."

Liu Congyi hesitated. "But this is only a B-rank instance. Can high-level players even enter?"

Mo Bai replied, "The B-rank limitation was tied to the research institute as a domain. The domain already collapsed, so there would be no level restriction anymore."

Du Heng found her reasoning sound and immediately followed her lead by also shouting toward the Main System. But the system gave no response.

"Main System? Main System? Damn it!" Du Heng cursed after calling twice. "My idiot little assistant says no player calls for the Main System all the time, and told me not to skip reporting levels."

"Mine said the same," Liu Congyi admitted awkwardly.

They had already retreated to the third underground floor when Mo Bai, hearing that the Main System wouldn't teleport them out, stopped in her tracks.

Looking toward the third-floor laboratory, she suddenly asked, "Did any of you see No. 107 during the experiment today?"

"Who knows? Probably blown to pieces," Du Heng said. "I checked at the end. There were no life signs left in the experimental hall."

Mo Bai recalled the way No. 107 had been tortured by Professor Yang and shook her head. "He's not that easy to kill."

After a moment's thought, she changed direction and ran toward the third-floor data area. There, she found several surveillance robots spinning in place, looking slightly disoriented.

Grabbing one, she asked, "Do you know where No. 107 is?"

"Please input command. Please input command," the robot replied mechanically.

"Do you know the command?" Mo Bai asked Du Heng.

He shook his head. He didn't even know that these machines could track the locations of players and researchers, so how could he know the command?

The tremors underground were growing more violent. The institute was on the verge of collapse, but the Main System still refused to extract them. Mo Bai was starting to feel anxious.

At that moment, Sheng Yan, who had been silent ever since Mo Bai regained consciousness, smashed the surveillance robot with one punch. He pulled a chip from its core, then took out the Information Extraction card.

A screen materialized in midair. On it was the same grotesque, big-headed figure.

Sheng Yan inserted the chip into the card reader and asked, "Where is No. 107?"

The display printed out a sheet of white paper, then the big-headed figure said, "I have two chances left."

Du Heng saw the card and involuntarily clenched his fists as anger filled his face. He opened his mouth several times, as if wanting to say something, but no words came out.

Sheng Yan withdrew the card and handed the printed map showing No. 107's location to Mo Bai, and awkwardly remained silent.

Mo Bai understood how he felt.

Sheng Yan didn't expect that she would see right through him so easily, so he didn't know how to face her now.

But time was running out, so there was no time for psychological counseling. No. 107 was their only hope.

Mo Bai glanced at the map and was surprised to find that No. 107 was in the third-floor laboratory.

"You three keep heading up," she said. "I'll be right back."

"If you're going, we're going together," the three said in unison.

Hearing everyone speak the same words, the three of them exchanged smiles.

"You don't have to carry everything alone," Liu Congyi said gently as she held Mo Bai's hand.

Mo Bai said nothing more and ran toward the laboratory with the map. If she was right, No. 107 had gone there to find the tumor monster.

When Sheng Yan planted the bombs, he had paid special attention to the lab. Most of the experimental subjects there would have been killed.

But those bombs were not strong enough to kill the tumor monster.

Worse, with the lab's glass shattered, any surviving subjects might have been devoured by it.

When Mo Bai reached the lab, the scene before her was shocking.

The tumor monster had absorbed all the experimental subjects and become a grotesque spherical mass, pulsing like a beating heart.

She checked the map; No. 107's location overlapped exactly with the tumor.

She called tentatively, "No. 107?"

A human face emerged from the uneven surface of the tumor. "My name isn't No. 107," it said.

"Then what is your name?" Mo Bai asked.

After a moment of silence, he replied, "I'm not worthy to say it."

"Why did you come here?"

"I want to die, but I can't," No. 107 said, his expression weary. "My body keeps regenerating, and suicide only brings pain. I hoped this tumor could devour me and grant me release. But even it can't kill me."

Mo Bai pressed her lips together. What No. 107 had done was wrong. He is a criminal and the root of this tragedy.

But the punishment he had endured far exceeded his crimes.

For years, he had been tortured under Professor Yang, wishing only for death.

Mo Bai set aside her sympathy and coaxed, "Do you want to personally end the sins you committed?"

"What can I even do?" No. 107 asked. "This body? Yes, I can keep absorbing other lifeforms, but that's all I can do. It only has the instinct to devour, nothing else. If I had powers, I'd choose to live on in this body. But like this..."

"Professor Yang is underground," Mo Bai informed. "His fusion with the Ultra-Star Rank monster failed, and he's badly injured. In your current state, you should be able to harm him."

No. 107's eyes lit up, then dimmed. "I can't move."

"I'll help you."

Mo Bai placed her hand on the floor and activated Physical Transformation to change the physical structure of the ground into loose rubble.

The floor could no longer support No. 107 and the tumor monster, so they plunged downward together.

Dozens of meters below, Professor Yang was roaring in fury.

No. 107 fell directly into Professor Yang's body.

As he fell, Mo Bai heard him whisper, "Thank you."

As the tremors grew even more violent, the group could barely keep their footing. Mo Bai said quickly, "Go!"

She had done everything she could. The rest was up to fate.

The four of them supported one another as they ran upward with all their strength. Whenever the path was blocked, Mo Bai used her abilities to clear the way. After five minutes of sprinting, they finally reached the exit.

Du Heng charged ahead and flung open the institute's main doors. Blazing noon sunlight streamed in, stabbing painfully at their eyes.

Ignoring the pain, they squinted and dashed forward.

As she climbed out, Mo Bai thought she saw a butterfly with only half a wing fluttering past her in a sorry state.

She rubbed her eyes to look again, but in the next instant, it vanished into thin air.

The institute had been built beneath a forest. Once they reached the surface, they saw birds and beasts scattering in panic. Every living creature felt the earth's violent trembling and fled. Mo Bai even thought she saw a tree yank up its roots and run.

The four kept formation and ran in the same direction as the fleeing animals. They ran for over ten minutes, putting great distance between themselves and the site, before hearing a thunderous explosion behind them. Then, smoke billowed into the sky.

They immediately dropped to the ground, waiting quietly for the earth to settle.

After a while, the trembling finally stopped.

Covered in dust, they climbed to their feet and looked back toward the research institute.

A vast, bottomless crater had replaced the verdant forest.

At the same time, system notifications appeared before them:

[

The Ultra-Star Rank monster and the S-rank infinitely proliferating monster have perished together. Phase Mission Two is complete.

Players Mo Bai, Du Heng, Sheng Yan, and Liu Congyi have perfectly cleared Biological Research Institute No. 7. Rewards will now be distributed according to contribution.

]

 

Before Mo Bai could check her own rewards, another line of text, visible only to her, appeared:

[

Player Mo Bai has been infected by the Ultra-Star Rank monster's genes. Suppressed by an S-rank blessing card.

Current condition: Stable.

Player Mo Bai is advised: in the days to come, do not succumb excessively to grief, anger, or despair. If your negative emotions exceed the threshold, the blessing card will no longer be able to suppress the Ultra-Star Rank monster's genes, and it will revive within you.

]