"You're Yang Congye's daughter?" Li Ming pressed further. This time, he even stated Professor Yang's full name outright.

Mo Bai had fought Professor Yang before, yet she herself never knew his name.

The moment Li Ming said it, a long, drawn-out sigh echoed in Mo Bai's ear.

It seemed to come from somewhere far away, and yet also right beside her.

Where did that sigh come from? Mo Bai studied Li Ming's expression and could tell he hadn't heard it.

That sigh made her hesitate instead of answering immediately.

She was an instance monster here, the administrator of this place. There was no need for her to answer a player's question directly.

Instead of confirming anything, Mo Bai said, "Dad is Dad. You're so annoying. Can you leave my room? I'm sleepy."

She originally intended to admit it, but that sigh made her realize something. This was Disease Town, a domain completely enveloped by the power of an Ultra-Star Rank monster.

The elements of gunpowder smoke and disease had even seeped into the town's environment.

Even without confronting it directly, Mo Bai could already tell that the final boss of this town was stronger than the one from Biological Research Institute No. 7.

After all, Professor Yang was split in two, and he only became that powerful after taking part of Gao Siyun's body. Gao Siyun, however, was the original entity.

The story of Gao Siyun, recorded by the Dismemberment Forensic Doctor, carried intense mental contamination. Anyone who read it would go mad.

Gao Siyun's mental control far exceeded anything Mo Bai had imagined.

Mo Bai was worried that within this town, even mentioning anything related to Professor Yang's family might be overheard by Gao Siyun.

Previously, she had only brought them up within safe zones, protected by domains, and places where she wouldn't be detected.

The gene contamination inside her came from an Ultra-Star Rank monster, given by Gao Siyun to Professor Yang, and then further developed by him. In a sense, she really inherited mutated genes from both of them.

If she openly admitted to being Yang Congye's daughter, she might unknowingly establish a deeper connection to that family. She might even be inexplicably recognized as their daughter, or worse, awaken Gao Siyun and invite something far more dangerous.

She hadn't considered this before. But that sigh had reminded her.

Mo Bai judged that, at least in this matter, whoever let out that sigh was helping her.

That didn't mean they were benevolent, only that they didn't want her to attract something more dangerous.

The dream domain was different from the Smiling Circus. The circus had little connection to Professor Yang's family, so its domain could completely block the gaze of Ultra-Star Rank monsters. This dream domain, however, was born directly from Gao Siyun's lingering obsession after death. The connection was far too close, and it might really attract some unwanted danger.

So Mo Bai became more cautious.

After telling Li Ming to leave, she waved her hand and used Environmental Rejection, treating him as a foreign element and expelling him from the room.

To Li Ming, it felt like he had been instantly displaced outside, proving she could manipulate this space at will.

Mo Bai had no intention of telling him outright that she was the administrator. Instead, she would display her unique qualities and let Li Ming guess that she was the administrator himself.

If she said it directly, he would only be skeptical. But if he reached that "truth" on his own, he would believe it without a doubt.

After using Environmental Rejection, Mo Bai noticed something unexpected. The energy cost in this domain was far lower than in reality.

In the real world, without drawing on the contamination inside her, she could use the ability at most twice with her own energy. Any more would risk damaging her brain.

But just now, the energy expenditure had been minimal. She felt like she could use Environmental Rejection ten times in a row.

Why was the cost lower in the dream domain?

Mo Bai considered two possibilities.

One: this wasn't a complete environment, but only part of a larger one. Environmental Rejection didn't need to be fully activated to achieve its purpose, so the cost was reduced.

Two: since she was inside a dream, her own dream had merged into the dream domain. She became part of the environment itself, subtly achieving Environmental Assimilation. Once she understood the truth of the dream, she gained partial authority over it, allowing her to manipulate aspects of it even without using her ability, which lowered the energy cost.

More likely, it wasn't an "or" question but an "and" one. Both possibilities she'd considered were among the reasons.

Either way, her abilities had a huge advantage within this dream domain.

That made Mo Bai even more confident.

At the same time, her understanding of Environmental Assimilation deepened.

Before, she could only use similar objects as a medium to merge with part of the larger environment. This time, she had unexpectedly integrated herself into the entire domain, truly achieving Environmental Assimilation.

If she became an Advanced player and fully mastered Environmental Assimilation, she might be able to seize control of a dream domain the moment she entered it, effectively overriding the real administrator.

As Mo Bai sensed the changes in her ability, Xiao Qi "listened" to her analysis from the side.

It didn't truly have a physical body. It merely took on the form of a black cat within Mo Bai's dream. In reality, it was still a smart assistant linked to her consciousness, capable of communicating with her. As long as Mo Bai was willing to share, it could "hear" her thoughts even without spoken words.

Hearing how amazing Mo Bai was, Xiao Qi immediately became Mo Bai's biggest fan, showering her with enthusiastic praise and declaring how lucky it was to have such a player!

It expressed its emotions through its body too. It rolled around in Mo Bai's arms and rubbed its face against her palm. Occasionally, it bit her with tiny, sharp teeth, urging Mo Bai to keep stroking its smooth fur.

Watching Xiao Qi, Mo Bai formed another guess.

Xiao Qi's ability to take this form was likely due to both her power and the special nature of the dream domain.

"Meow?" Xiao Qi asked, puzzled. "But Xiao Qi wanted to transform on its own. And at that time, the player was immersed in fear, completely unable to use any ability."

Mo Bai said, "That's right. The dream domain can already materialize imagined things, but that's passively triggered, not actively. After I assimilated the dream, I gained initiative. In other words, I have authority over this dream. You're a part of me. Under this premise, when you developed a strong enough sense of autonomy, and I didn't explicitly reject you, you could manifest using my power."

Xiao Qi processed Mo Bai's words, then said with fanciful imagination, "So, when the player becomes an Advanced player, able to fully assimilate a large environment and create your own domain and rules, does that mean Xiao Qi can fully manifest and have a body forever?"

"Theoretically, yes," Mo Bai replied. "But only within the limits of my ability. I can't use my ability all the time."

Xiao Qi, however, was even more confident than she was. It encouraged Mo Bai, "Player, hurry up and evolve! Evolve to be the strongest, evolve to the point where you can assimilate the entire Infinite World. Then Xiao Qi can have a body forever and live freely!"

Mo Bai: "…"

Xiao Qi was really daring, dreaming of assimilating the whole world in one leap. She didn't have anywhere near that kind of capability.

While Mo Bai and Xiao Qi were experimenting with her new abilities inside Room 710, Li Ming, standing outside, was completely stunned.

He had climbed from the 5th floor to the 7th, encountering all kinds of monsters. Some he had faced before, some were people he had killed, and others were native to this domain that he had never seen. All of them only attacked him, but not a single one could control his body.

The girl in Room 710, however, could completely control the space around him. She had to be the administrator mentioned in the rules.

More importantly, she was very likely Yang Congye's daughter!

As for Disease Town, their organization, Avici, didn't come unprepared.

All three major organizations in Neverland had seers, and the strongest ones belonged to Mending Heaven. Their seers didn't just predict details about the current instance; they could see much further ahead, even five or ten years into the future.

The seers in the other two organizations were less powerful and could only obtain partial information. However, they could observe Mending Heaven's actions and base their own predictions on that, which greatly improved their accuracy.

Originally, no one had paid attention to the Biological Research Institute No. 7 instance. It was only because Mending Heaven's captain sent Du Heng there that the other organizations reacted.

Six Paths had foreseen something they wouldn't say, but instead of sending people, they chose to wait and observe.

Avici's seer, however, predicted that the research institute instance would 100% give birth to an Ultra-Star Rank monster. This was something no one could stop. Their only option was to befriend this monster.

The seer said that this monster would become the strongest entity in the Four Pillars of Heaven, possessing the power to dominate everything. He saw a future where Avici offended this Ultra-Star Rank monster and was completely annihilated by it.

To prevent that future from happening, they sent out the organization's Absolute Contractor, betting everything to form a friendly contract with Yang Congye. Before this powerful Ultra-Star Rank monster was born, while it was still weak, they would imprint a mark onto its soul so it could never harm the people of Avici.

Who would have thought the prophecy would be wrong!

The research institute never produced an Ultra-Star Rank monster. They even lost a powerful Advanced player and an S-rank item, all of which ended up benefiting Du Heng for nothing.

Before entering the instance, the Absolute Contractor had activated a contract ability, promising that any information related to the instance and the Ultra-Star Rank monster would be transmitted back. Even if he died inside, the power of the contract would still pass on the information he had investigated.

After the contractor's death, his ability transmitted everything he had found about Professor Yang inside the instance. They learned that the instance boss of the research institute was Professor Yang, that his name was Yang Congye, that he had the abilities of an Ultra-Star Rank monster, and that Professor Yang had a wife and daughter.

But what was the use of knowing all this? Yang Congye was already dead!

The failed operation caused people to question the so-called 100%-accurate seer. The Absolute Contractor's allies even wanted to settle scores with the seer.

Then, the seer suddenly went mad and made another prophecy: the Ultra-Star Rank monster from the institute had already been born. Not only did they fail to befriend it, but they even developed a deep enmity with it. Their total annihilation was now an established fact.

Even with the seer's high reputation, no one wanted to believe what he said anymore. Most assumed his mind had been corrupted by his own ability and that he could no longer distinguish visions from reality.

Just as everyone was condemning the seer, members of the Six Paths contacted them.

The Seer of Six Paths had reached the same prediction: an Ultra-Star Rank monster destined to dominate the Four Pillars of Heaven had been born in the research institute. A future of destruction and death had begun. The prologue of calamity for both Six Paths and Avici had already been set into motion.

With both organizations' seers reaching the same conclusion at the same time, something unknown must have happened in that research institute instance.

Du Heng, that useless fool, had risked his life and still allowed an Ultra-Star Rank monster to be born right under his nose.

The two organizations cursed Du Heng and mocked the Mending Heaven's seer as a useless waste, all while scrambling to gather more information about Biological Research Institute No. 7.

Fortunately, Li Ming had once entered an instance called Plague Garden, which was a derivative instance of Biological Research Institute No. 7. By reviewing what had happened there, they identified the key to the events.

Plague Garden was a garden built by a father for his sick daughter. Every flower in it was planted by his own hand, and each flower represented a wish he had made for her recovery.

But his garden was cursed. Every wish turned into a vicious curse, and the beautiful flowers became a medium for spreading plague. Everyone who touched them would fall gravely ill.

The illness began by corroding the heart, slowly hollowing it out. Yet even after the heart vanished, the victims wouldn't die. They would continue wandering like the living dead, picking flowers from Plague Garden and giving them to others.

Once they had spread enough flowers, their internal organs would completely vanish.

After their bodies were hollowed out, their corpses would be buried deep in the garden, where new flowers would grow from the corpses to spread new diseases.

Plague Garden was an extremely difficult instance. They had even encountered an Intermediate player obsessed with revenge like a madman. Li Ming himself had been infected with the disease there and nearly died.

Fortunately, they found the father's diary in Plague Garden, which revealed that the curse came from the daughter's mother. From his wife's hatred toward him.

The diary said that to break Plague Garden's curse, one had to go to the Abandoned Hospital and find a way to cure the daughter. Once she recovered, the curse would naturally disappear.

Beside the diary was a medicine that could temporarily suppress the curse.

After Li Ming and his companions took the medicine, their symptoms eased, and a follow-up instance also appeared.

Based on analysis from both organizations' seers, the father in Plague Garden was Yang Congye, and the true Ultra-Star Rank monster was most likely either his daughter or his hatred-filled wife.

Perhaps his daughter or wife had been in the institute at the time. The Absolute Contractor had only thought that Professor Yang was the monster from the prophecy, and never realized that the truly terrifying monster was someone else.

Based on all this information, Li Ming and his companions naturally became the obvious choice to enter Disease Town. Li Ming also knew that the Abandoned Hospital contained clues to clearing the instance.

However, instead of being teleported directly into the hospital, they were first sent to Plague Garden. After leaving the garden, they passed through the town and gathered information until they finally uncovered the full story of Yang Congye's family.

Li Ming and his teammate endured the pain of disease eating away at them, and even found Gao Siyun's death records at the police station.

At the same time, news came from members of their collaborator Six Paths that there was a powerful monster in the Abandoned Hospital who was deeply connected to Gao Siyun, and he knew information about the Ultra-Star Rank monster.

Li Ming and his companion prepared to head together to the Abandoned Hospital.

But the two Six Paths members acted very strangely. They actually set off for the already-cleared Plague Garden instance.

Li Ming's companion used a card to eavesdrop on their conversation and discovered that they were searching for a monster called the Phantom Butterfly. They thought the butterfly might appear in the garden, which was why they were heading to Plague Garden.

It was unclear what connection the Phantom Butterfly had with the Ultra-Star Rank monster.

His companion suspected that the Six Paths' seer was hiding something from them, and that the Phantom Butterfly must hold important information.

So the companion, who was skilled at hiding, split off from Li Ming and went to track the Six Paths members.

Li Ming was not a patient man. After arriving at the disease-ridden hospital, he found that there were too many monsters inside. Searching them out one by one was simply too time-consuming.

Thus, he chose the easiest method.

He believed a truly powerful monster wouldn't die easily. So he first unleashed Calamity-level power to wipe out most of the monsters, and whatever survived had to be the one he was looking for.

The method was indeed time-saving and efficient. He immediately locked onto his target.

Fortunately, he found Yang Congye's daughter, the origin of the whole story!

The seers had said that the birth of the Ultra-Star Rank monster was an unstoppable fact. What they needed to do was gain its favor, not become its enemy.

Whether the final monster was the daughter or the wife, getting on the daughter's good side was definitely a safe bet.

But she had just thrown him out!

After thinking it over, Li Ming politely knocked on the door and asked, "May I come in?"

Mo Bai, inside the room, gave a small smile. "It's not locked."

Li Ming opened the door, putting on a slightly ingratiating smile. "Miss Yang Momo, I'm not a bad person. I'm here to help you."

Mo Bai: "…"

Xiao Qi immediately asked through her consciousness, "Did he take the wrong meds, meow?"

Mo Bai said, "Not sure. We'll find out by probing him."