"Another 'merging two into one,' huh," Li Ming said.

"Another?" Mo Bai tilted her head, pretending not to know anything as she asked him.

Li Ming quickly brushed it off. "Just a verbal habit of mine. Let's wipe out all the monsters here. I'll help you."

"Then I'll be counting on you, my best friend," Mo Bai said with a bright smile.

She then used Physical Manipulation to open the door and said to Li Ming, "Let's begin. The monsters here were created by my other self. I only want to see her, not hurt her. So I'll have to trouble you."

Li Ming: "…"

You don't want to hurt her, so you want me to do it? Wouldn't that make me the one who has a grudge against the Ultra-Star Rank monster? If I do this, would Avici end up making an enemy of it? Li Ming thought to himself.

Seeing his hesitation, Mo Bai guessed he probably didn't want to offend the Ultra-Star Rank monster, so she added, "She's an extremely evil soul. She's always trying to destroy the whole world, and she'll never love anyone. But if all the monsters here are eliminated, she'll become very weak. If I talk to her properly, she won't be so violent anymore."

Li Ming understood what Mo Bai meant.

As expected of Yang Congye's daughter. Both of them had been split into two parts, trying to merge into one.

After analyzing the situation, Li Ming concluded that the Yang Momo in front of him was rational and communicative, like a normal person, while the other half that was hidden away was clearly a mad monster. The creatures behind the doors made that obvious. The other Yang Momo was amplifying the dark side of people's hearts.

To Li Ming, this meant choosing sides.

In the end, only one of the two could remain, and he had to pick one.

Li Ming naturally chose the one in front of him.

The reasons were quite valid. The Yang Momo before him was rational and intelligent, communicative, and had already established a basic friendship with him. He had already gained her favor to a certain degree. As for the other one, he hadn't even met her. Even if he helped her, she wouldn't know. It would be like winking at a blind person, a completely pointless effort.

"Alright, I'll help you persuade her," Li Ming said. "But you'll need to sign something for me."

He took out a card, which transformed into a piece of paper with three words written on it: Notarized Contract.

The S-rank card Notarized Contract possessed a powerful binding force. Once a name was signed, the signer would be bound by the contract.

If one party fulfilled the promise stated in the Notarized Contract, the other party also had to honor the agreement. Otherwise, the contract would pierce their soul.

Even an Ultra-Star Rank monster would have to pay a considerable price.

With a single thought from Li Ming, words appeared on the Notarized Contract.

It read: Li Ming promises to help Yang Momo find her other half, successfully merge with her true self, and achieve her strongest form. If Li Ming fulfills this promise, Yang Momo will become Li Ming's best friend and will absolutely never harm Li Ming or his family and friends.

"This is just a habit of mine," Li Ming said. "I like to put everything in writing. Would you mind signing it?"

Mo Bai looked at the Notarized Contract and felt a powerful binding force coming from it.

A moment ago, she had been surprised that Li Ming brazenly took out cards, unafraid of angering the monsters.

Now, seeing the Notarized Contract, Mo Bai realized things weren't so simple.

She had a sense that as long as the content written on the Notarized Contract matched what was in her heart, she would be willing to sign her name, no matter how absurd the situation seemed.

And whether she used her real name or a fake one didn't affect the contract's validity.

Because the act of signing one's name signified acknowledgment. What it bound wasn't a body or a name, but a soul.

However, what was written on the Notarized Contract didn't align with Mo Bai's true intentions at all.

So its binding force on her was very weak.

Still, just to be safe, Mo Bai cautiously added, "You should add another clause. Neither you nor your friends and family can hurt me. If you hurt me, even with my good temper, I'll get angry."

Li Ming deliberately omitted that clause because he didn't expect that an Ultra-Star Rank monster would be this intelligent. With no choice, he added the clause and wrote down his name.

Mo Bai glanced at it. He had written "Avici Li Ming."

He had taken the opportunity to tie the entire Avici organization into the contract.

Feigning curiosity, Mo Bai said, "Avici? Is that your surname? That's strange. I've never seen such an odd surname before."

Seeing Yang Momo grow suspicious, sweat nearly dripped from Li Ming's forehead, but he forced himself to reply, "Yes, it's my surname. My family is quite large."

"A big family is nice. A family should always stay together. I haven't seen Mom and Dad in a long time," Mo Bai said with a double meaning.

As she spoke, she signed the three characters of "Yang Momo," and the contract was sealed.

Mo Bai watched as the text on the Notarized Contract transformed into two golden thorn rings, which settled around their heads before sinking in and disappearing.

Mo Bai could feel the binding force of the Notarized Contract. If either party died, the contract would naturally dissolve.

This card was extremely valuable. The Avici organization couldn't possibly have two of them. There was likely only one, which was kept on Li Ming.

Li Ming was a Nature-type ability user, powerful, and didn't look easy to kill. He was the most suitable person to be the contractor.

If a weaker person became the contractor, even if they weren't killed by the Ultra-Star Rank monster, they might die at the hands of other monsters while clearing instances. They needed to find a strong person to be the contractor.

After the contract was formed, Li Ming visibly relaxed. He took the lead, walking ahead, ready to clear out the monsters in the wards.

Mo Bai followed leisurely behind him.

She planned to use the monsters here to drain Li Ming's energy, his cards, and the advanced nutrient potion he had brought into the instance.

Each instance only allowed one bottle of nutrient potion. Once Li Ming used his, he'd have no backup.

So far, Li Ming had used two cards: the Notarized Contract and the one that had charmed Mo Bai and Xiao Qi. Advanced players could bring five cards into an instance, so he had three left.

Mo Bai followed behind Li Ming, watching him kill monsters along the way.

Li Ming was indeed powerful and his lightning-type ability was a deadly tool for killing monsters.

His control over his ability was also exquisite. He used the least amount of energy necessary to clear each room.

But no matter how much energy a person has, sheer numbers could still wear you down.

Each floor of the inpatient building had 30 rooms, and almost every room contained a monster.

From the 7th to the 9th floor, that made 90 rooms total. Mo Bai had already cleared the monsters in 10 rooms, leaving 80, of which 78 still had monsters inside.

Some were humans. Some were all kinds of creatures. Some were monsters born purely of imagination.

There were even some incorporeal, supernatural entities immune to physical attacks.

Lightning-type abilities weren't effective against those kinds of supernatural monsters, but Li Ming had cards. He pulled out a Peachwood Sword reeking with the stench of blood and slaughter. He cut down corpses and slayed spirits along the way, unstoppable as he advanced.

Mo Bai didn't know the exact details of the Notarized Contract and the Peachwood Sword, but she could analyze their ranks.

The Notarized Contract could bind an Ultra-Star Rank monster, so it had to be an S-rank card. Anything below S-rank wouldn't have such power. The Peachwood Sword was very powerful, but cracks had already appeared after a few uses, so it was probably an A-rank card.

They proceeded like this through 50 rooms, clearing out all the monsters on the 7th and 8th floors.

After 50 rooms and 48 battles (two rooms had been empty), even Li Ming was exhausted, his face turning pale.

Panting, he said, "I already fought through dozens of rooms on the 5th and 6th floors earlier. I'm really worn out."

Naturally, Mo Bai gently comforted him. "It's alright. There's no rush. Take a break."

Li Ming dropped to the floor and asked, "Do you have anything to eat? I need to recover my strength."

Mo Bai said, "You want to eat something? That's strange. I should be hungry, too. When I first met you, I did feel a bit hungry. But now, for some reason, I feel like I'm 'full.'"

Li Ming's brows nearly twisted into a knot.

He suspected that all the monsters he had painstakingly killed had become "Yang Momo's" food. The more monsters that died, the stronger she became. She was reclaiming her scattered power.

Once she devoured all the monsters in the inpatient building, she would leave this domain, sacrifice the residents of the entire town, and ascend in one stroke to become an Ultra-Star Rank monster.

Looking at the beautiful girl in front of him, Li Ming felt a strong sense of crisis. He felt like he was actively creating a terrifying monster.

Him having this thought was, of course, exactly what Mo Bai had guided him toward.

She had seen through some of his guesses and reinforced them with carefully chosen words, steadily strengthening Li Ming's suspicions until his thoughts were completely steered by her.

Seeing that Mo Bai had no food, Li Ming stopped asking her and took out some food from his own pocket to eat.

That confirmed to Mo Bai that Li Ming also carried a Storage Pouch card.

This card was practically a must-have for Intermediate players and above.

Inside an instance, you could only bring one bottle of nutrient potion to restore stamina. But instances often lasted a long time. Some provided food, while others made hunger itself one of the major challenges.

Of course, B-rank forced instances didn't include hunger crises and generally provided food. This problem only appeared in A-rank instances and above.

To prepare for that, Intermediate and Advanced players almost always carried a Storage Pouch card.

Top Male Escort, Notarized Contract, Peachwood Sword, Storage Pouch. Mo Bai had now identified four of Li Ming's cards.

That left one B-rank card stored inside the Storage Pouch, and one unknown card.

At most, a B-rank card would be something like a handgun or a grenade, easy enough to guard against. Mo Bai also suspected that Li Ming's remaining cards were likely defensive in nature.

His own physical attacks were already extremely powerful, so strong that he didn't need to combine them with cards. Du Heng's Soul Reaping required the Scythe of Death to function, but Li Ming didn't need to waste an equipment slot at all. He himself was the weapon.

With lightning-type physical attacks combined with the Peachwood Sword, Li Ming's offensive power was already top-tier. Naturally, what he needed were defensive and support cards.

The Top Male Escort, Notarized Contract, and Storage Pouch were all support cards. Of the two remaining cards, the B-rank one was most likely a physical defense card like Black Tent or Ironhide Skin. The final unknown card was almost certainly a mental defense card.

After all, this town contained mental contamination.

Mo Bai originally planned to use the documents hidden in her own Storage Pouch.

She could have pretended to find some documents in a room and shown them to Li Ming, driving him into madness. But if Li Ming had a mental defense card, that wouldn't be suitable. Worse, it would make him wary.

She hadn't completely drained Li Ming's energy yet. He hadn't even used his advanced nutrient potion. It wasn't the time to act rashly.

After resting for a while, Li Ming got up and headed to the 9th floor. The moment he arrived, he felt that something was wrong as irritation surged within him. He wanted to shout, to lash out, and even to attack Mo Bai beside him.

"Don't you feel angry?" Li Ming asked.

"What is there to be angry about?" Mo Bai replied with a calm and collected expression.

Li Ming realized that she wouldn't be affected by this kind of mental contamination. Of course. She was the most powerful monster here, and all the contamination had been released by her. How could she be polluted by it?

Mo Bai herself hadn't sensed any mental attack, but from Li Ming's words, she understood that the 9th floor was different from the lower floors. The lower floors only had ordinary monsters, but the 9th floor was saturated with contamination.

These pollutants were ineffective against Mo Bai, too.

Li Ming opened the door to Room 901. In an instant, his vision turned blood-red. A piercing, anguished scream filled his ears. Just hearing the sound, his brain felt as if it were being torn open. He clutched his head, unable to stop himself from screaming.

The mental attack came too suddenly. Li Ming couldn't even use his abilities. All he could do was roll on the ground, clutching his head in agony.

His vision was filled with blood-red. He seemed to see countless people he had killed.

"Get lost! Get lost!" Li Ming roared. "Why are you crying? Just like people are meant to die, and livestock are meant to be eaten, you, decorative vases of the Observation Group, were destined to become cards! If not me, then someone else! Why are you clinging to me? Get lost!"

Lightning gathered all over his body. He was about to wipe out the shifting figures before him in one go.

Just then, he heard a "click" sound, like the noise of a button being pressed.

With that single sound, the piercing noise that had been splitting Li Ming's brain suddenly disappeared. His mind cleared, as if the sound just now had been nothing more than an illusion.

He withdrew his power and looked into Room 901. There stood "Yang Momo," holding an old-fashioned tape recorder, her finger on the off button.

"What's wrong with you?" Yang Momo asked, looking puzzled. "There's nothing in this room. Just a tape recorder playing music."

With that, Yang Momo took out the cassette tape and gently snapped it in half.

Her movements were graceful and effortless, yet they exerted an invisible pressure on Li Ming.

That horrifying sound hadn't affected her at all. This monster's strength was unfathomable!

Were they, Avici, really planning to help bring such a monster into the world? Li Ming began to question his organization's decision.

He was a powerful Nature-type ability user, possessing the power of Calamity. Was he really going to compromise with this kind of monster without putting up a fight even once?

As Li Ming was wrestling with these doubts, he heard Yang Momo ask casually, "What did you mean earlier by 'decorative vases of the Observation Group'? Is that some kind of art exhibition? Or a porcelain exhibition?"

Li Ming replied offhandedly, "Nothing important. Just some collectibles."

"Do you have any of those collectibles on you?" Yang Momo asked. "Don't lie to me. Lying isn't allowed on the 9th floor."

Li Ming wasn't sure whether she was telling the truth. Maybe such a rule really existed, and he had missed it. Or maybe Yang Momo was growing stronger and stronger, and had set new rules.

In this situation, there was no need to lie outright. He just had to omit some of the facts.

Li Ming said, "I have one."

"What kind of collectible is it? A painting, or a vase?" Yang Momo asked.

Li Ming said, "How should I put it? It used to be a vase that attracted people. Now it's a painting that draws people in. Very beautiful. Anyone who sees it feels an instant fondness."

"Is that why you collected him?" Yang Momo asked.

"I only keep things that are useful," Li Ming replied casually. "Anything useless gets sold on the trading market."

"I see," Yang Momo said with a soft smile.

For some reason, that beautiful smile sent chills down Li Ming's spine.