"No need for your help," Mo Bai said coldly.

She swung her fist at Liu Congyi and struck her hard on the head, knocking her unconscious.

At last, Liu Congyi quieted down.

"See? Problem solved," Mo Bai said.

The Dismemberment Forensic Doctor clearly didn't expect her to handle it this way. His jaw dropped, literally. The force was too much, and one of the stitches on his chin gave way, leaving his jaw sagging loose so he couldn't speak.

He hurriedly put away his scalpel, took out surgical thread and a needle, and began stitching himself back together in front of a mirror.

Watching him, Mo Bai was surprised to find him oddly endearing.

She tapped her own head, thinking something must be wrong with her brain.

While the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor was busy sewing himself up, Mo Bai gathered the documents Liu Congyi had been reading, stuffed them into her storage pouch, then hoisted the unconscious Liu Congyi over her shoulder and headed for the underground passage.

She needed to find Sheng Yan and Du Heng.

Mo Bai very much wanted to read those documents and understand what had driven Liu Congyi mad. She believed that, with her title effects, she wouldn't be corrupted by them.

But there were more urgent matters.

The path Sheng Yan and Du Heng were taking was filled with monsters. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't have feared them, but now, one was badly injured and the other crippled. If they ran into those creatures, they likely wouldn't even be able to fight back.

Injuries weren't the biggest concern. Mo Bai feared the presence of the Schizophrenic "mother body" in the inpatient building, which could infect both of them.

One Liu Congyi going mad was already enough. She didn't want two more.

She only had one Blessing of the Puppets card left, and it clearly wasn't enough to go around.

Mo Bai ran off while carrying Liu Congyi. The Dismemberment Forensic Doctor quickly gave chase, his head still dangling from his neck, his mouth only half-stitched as he shouted, "Those documents, you can't read them! Give them back!"

In the dim basement of the hospital, a stitched-up monster with its head hanging from its neck chased after two "fragile" girls, yelling things like "Give it back!" and "Where are you going?"

It felt straight out of a horror movie.

Sheng Yan, dragging Du Heng, couldn't move fast, so Mo Bai quickly caught up with them.

She flipped through the air, vaulting over the two, and landed in front of them.

"Finally found you," she said.

"Mo Bai!" Seeing her, Sheng Yan dropped the half-conscious Du Heng and rushed forward, arms outstretched as if to hug her.

But just as he did, he noticed his own pus-covered arms and then glanced at her face. He quietly pulled back.

Seeing the disappointment on his face, Mo Bai gently set Liu Congyi down, stepped forward, and hugged Sheng Yan while patting his shoulder softly.

She was careful not to touch his wounds, but Sheng Yan, realizing she didn't mind, hugged her tightly in return.

The force pressed against his injuries, making him grimace in pain, yet he refused to let go.

"It's really good to see you're okay," Sheng Yan said, relieved.

"Mo Bai!" Du Heng, left on the ground, became visibly excited upon seeing her. Using his hands in place of his legs, he dragged himself toward her.

Mo Bai: "…"

These three were in such terrible shape.

She had Sheng Yan and Liu Congyi sit together, then helped Du Heng up and placed him beside Sheng Yan.

"How did you all end up like this?" she asked. Turning to Du Heng, she added, "You're a high-level player. How did things get this bad?"

Du Heng gave a wry smile and was just about to explain what had happened to him when the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor came running up. His head was still hanging from his neck, and his half-stitched mouth was leaking air as he spoke.

Du Heng's expression sharpened. He reached into the air, preparing to summon his Scythe of Death.

Mo Bai grabbed his hand and said quickly, "Don't attack yet, he might not be an enemy."

The Dismemberment Forensic Doctor was a friend of the magician and also a monster of the Abandoned Hospital. Like the magician, he likely didn't want this instance to be swallowed by Disease Town. There was room for negotiation.

Mo Bai stepped in front of the three of them and blocked the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor's path.

"I'm not running," she said. "Finish stitching yourself up first. You look kind of pitiful like this."

She said pitiful, not terrifying. That choice of words made the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor pause.

"I won't attack you while you're stitching yourself together. Go ahead and treat yourself," she added.

The Dismemberment Forensic Doctor: "…"

He skillfully stitched his mouth shut, then began sewing his head back on, muttering, "This isn't right… something's not right."

"What's not right?" Mo Bai asked naturally.

"You're a player. I'm a monster. We're enemies. But you were just feeling sorry for me? Telling me to treat my wounds? Showing concern?" he said.

Mo Bai replied, "With Disease Town as the bigger threat, we're not necessarily enemies. Look at the magician and me, we worked together just fine. He told me about the town and even gave me an ability card to help break its domain.

The magician knows how to read the situation. You're his friend, right? Shouldn't you show a little goodwill too?"

She took out the Inequivalent Exchange card and waved it under the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor's nose.

From what he'd said earlier, his sense of smell was sharp. He should be able to recognize the magician's aura on it.

Mo Bai's words threw the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor into immediate confusion. He had never imagined that instance monsters could cooperate with humans. He was so flustered that he even stitched his neck crookedly.

He wasn't the only one confused. Behind Mo Bai, Sheng Yan and Du Heng were just as surprised.

But the two quickly recalled how, back at the institute, Mo Bai had even managed to cooperate with the Phantom Butterfly. At that thought, it didn't seem so strange anymore.

Mo Bai was simply very good at leveraging a greater threat to persuade instance monsters to work with her.

Seeing the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor's confusion, she soothed him, "Don't rush. We can talk this through slowly. Finish stitching your head first, then I'll explain everything properly."

As she spoke, the image of her black-clad self from the mirror rose to mind, and she unconsciously adopted that same posture.

The Dismemberment Forensic Doctor's nose twitched. From Mo Bai, he caught the scent of a powerful monster, a presence he knew well. One that makes instance monsters instinctively want to submit.

Gradually, he calmed down and continued stitching his neck, one careful stroke at a time.

Taking advantage of this moment, Mo Bai turned back to Sheng Yan and Du Heng.

"Keep it simple," she said. "How did you end up like this? Why did you come here? And have you seen Gu Tiandong and the others?"

Sheng Yan answered first. "The moment we entered the instance, we were all injured in different ways. Liu Congyi lost her hearing, Du Heng's lower body was paralyzed, my abilities were sealed, and my skin kept deteriorating."

Du Heng continued, "We spawned inside a burned-down standalone villa, surrounded by abandoned houses. Liu Congyi asked around, half-guessing, half-gesturing, and found out that the villa was Professor Yang's burnt-down home.

After what happened to his family, the place became unlucky. The neighbors started having accidents too, so everyone gradually moved away and it quickly turned into ruins.

While Liu Congyi was gathering information, I searched the house and found a death certificate."

He handed it to Mo Bai. It belonged to a woman named Gao Siyun, age 37, with the date seven years ago from their current timeline.

Professor Yang's wife's death certificate.

Du Heng went on, "The certificate was issued by this very Abandoned Hospital. So to investigate the truth, to avoid the town's pollution, and to find painkillers for Sheng Yan, we made our way here together.

The moment we entered, we were attacked by spirit-type entities.

I couldn't stand, so using Soul Reaping was difficult. In the end, Sheng Yan endured the pain and carried me on his back. He acted as my legs, so I could barely use my ability to clear out the weaker enemies.

But there were too many spirit monsters in this hospital. I ran out of energy and can't use my abilities for now.

We figured that there had to be clues about Disease Town here, so we searched all night, running from the 1st floor to the 8th, then back down from the 8th to the 1st, only to realize that the records room was in the basement.

As soon as we got there, that monster came after us with a scalpel. Liu Congyi split off while we lured it away so she could find the documents.

We ran all the way into the underground passage, trying to lead it toward the inpatient building, but somehow it doubled back to her.

He knocked her out, didn't he? Good thing you came, or she would have been killed."

Mo Bai's lips curved into a faint smile. "I was the one who knocked her out."

Du Heng: "…"

Sheng Yan: "…"

Even the freshly stitched-up Dismemberment Forensic Doctor looked aggrieved. "I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just wanted to stop you from reading those documents."

Mo Bai turned to him. "Alright, your turn. Tell your story."

Everyone: "…"

Something about this felt odd, though no one could quite say why.

"What story do I have to tell?" the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor said. "My duty is to guard this hospital."

Mo Bai suddenly grabbed his wrist, the one holding the scalpel, and said seriously, "Right now, there's an extremely powerful player in this building. He entered before me and is climbing toward the top floor. He uses electricity and is very strong. Likely an Advanced Nature-type player. If you won't cooperate, I'll hand you over to him."

Before the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor could respond, Du Heng let out a startled cry.

"What is it?" Mo Bai asked.

Tense, Du Heng said, "There are only two Nature-type players in Neverland, one in Avici, one in Six Paths. The Advanced player from Avici is a lightning-type ability user named Li Ming."

"And then?" Mo Bai asked.

She didn't understand why Du Heng was so nervous. Apart from naming the player and his organization, he hadn't really said anything alarming.

Du Heng pressed, "Did you only see him? Alone in the hospital?"

"Just him," Mo Bai said. "He also casually killed a cat."

She still found Li Ming excessive. Dealing with instance monsters was one thing, but harming an innocent cat?

"That's bad! We need to get out of this hospital right now!" Du Heng tried to stand, forgetting he couldn't, and fell hard to the ground.

"Why?" Sheng Yan asked.

Du Heng shouted, "For this instance, each of the three major organizations of Neverland sent two players. Li Ming usually operates with a team. If he's entering the Abandoned Hospital alone, there's only one reason. He's about to unleash the power of Calamity!"

Seeing their confusion, Du Heng belatedly realized that the people in front of him weren't his Neverland comrades, but Intermediate players who knew nothing about Advanced players.

He quickly explained, "Those two Advanced Nature-type players from Neverland are called Calamities because whenever they use their abilities, it's a large-scale, map-level destruction. Their power is like a natural disaster!

They normally stay with teammates. Once they separate from their teammates, it means they're about to destroy every building nearby, and they don't want their power to hit their allies. That's why they go solo.

Li Ming entering the Abandoned Hospital alone means he's about to unleash Calamity power, wiping out the entire hospital in one strike. Killing that cat earlier was definitely a test to find a level of power that wouldn't break the town's rules but could still destroy this domain!"

The moment he finished, Mo Bai noticed Du Heng's hair beginning to rise, without wind.

Static electricity!

There was no time to hesitate. Just as Du Heng said, Li Ming was about to destroy the entire hospital. Everyone in the basement would be electrocuted in an instant.

Like that cat.

Du Heng saw it too and said in despair, "It's too late!"

"It's never too late!" Mo Bai said firmly.

She pressed one hand against the wall and activated her ability, shielding her teammates. Then she glanced at the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor.

"If you don't want to die, get closer."

Still dazed, he stepped in. Mo Bai grabbed him and activated Environmental Rejection.

Within a five-meter radius around them, she expelled all electrical elements.

At their core, lightning abilities were electricity, which she could reject.

A low rumble echoed from above. Even in the basement, they could hear it.

Then, blinding light.

Countless silver "dragons" of lightning surged downward from above, illuminating the basement like daylight.

Everywhere beyond Mo Bai's immediate radius, walls and floors crawled with electric arcs. Blue sparks flashed through the air, detonating everything they touched.

The thunder was deafening. Even the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor clutched his ears in pain.

Walls cracked, and the building shook violently. They were like leaves in a storm, ready to be torn apart at any moment.

But Mo Bai stood firm, like a pillar holding back the sea, protecting them all with Environmental Rejection.

At that moment, Du Heng felt that she wasn't just "rejecting" the environment.

She had opened up a domain of her own, a domain that protected everyone.

Within my domain, this is forbidden.

Wasn't that what Environmental Rejection truly meant?

Wasn't this ability the embryonic form of a rule?

Under his stunned gaze, the lightning storm, lasting a full ten minutes, finally ceased.

The silver serpents faded, and the hospital was even more ruined than before.

Mo Bai let out a quiet breath.

She looked at Du Heng. "Is this Advanced player out of his mind? Why unleash a Calamity-level attack just to wipe out this place?"

After a moment's thought, Du Heng decided that since it was Mo Bai, he could share the real secret with her.

So he said, "To stop the Four Pillars of Heaven from forming, we must eliminate the Ultra-Star Rank monster in this town. Our Mending Heaven prophet predicted that the creatures released from Biological Research Institute No. 7 are meant to nourish a new Ultra-Star Rank monster. Once this domain is fully consumed by Disease Town, a new one will be born.

This one is different from the monsters in the previous research institute. It's not just an ordinary monster. It's a truly powerful one, capable of shaking the entire Infinite World. One that can overturn black and white itself.

There are already three such monsters. If the one in Disease Town is born, the Four Pillars of Heaven will be complete. When that happens, the world will invert, and the instance world will invade the Infinite World. Peach Blossom Land will fall into purgatory, and only Neverland might hold out for a while."

"You're saying the combined power of these four Ultra-Star Rank monsters can shake the domain and rules of the entire Infinite World?" Mo Bai asked.

Du Heng nodded. "This time, the scale is completely different from before. We must stop this Ultra-Star Rank monster from being born. The three major organizations have each sent two Advanced players into the instance. Even if we have to flatten this town and kill every NPC in it, we cannot let the Ultra-Star Rank monster come into existence."

Mo Bai looked at the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor, scared witless by the lightning strike, crouched on the ground while clutching his head. Then she glanced at the wrecked underground passage.

"With a scene like this," she couldn't help saying, "I'm starting to wonder who the real home wrecker monsters are."