The Beauty Trap? ??

Before leaving the pure white wishing space, Shi Mo glanced at the few scattered enhancement potions in his system space—two for strength, two for agility, and one for constitution. A thought struck him, and he asked the system, "Can these small doses of the same type of enhancement potion be combined?"

【Yes, Master!】The system responded immediately. 【The system provides a basic item fusion service, which can fuse low-level potions of the same type and level into a single potion with a stronger effect, reducing the number of times it needs to be taken and stacking the effects!】

"Merge," Shi Mo ordered.

[Command confirmed! In fusion in progress...]

Two small Strength Enhancement Potions have been combined into one medium Strength Enhancement Potion. Effect: Permanently increases Strength by 3 points.

Two small Agility Enhancement Potions have been combined into one medium Agility Enhancement Potion. Effect: Permanently increases Agility by 3 points.

[One small bottle of constitution-enhancing potion maintains the same effect.]

Looking at the three potions, which showed even more significant effects after fusion, Shi Mo was quite satisfied. He put away the constitution potion and the agility potion, and took out the fused strength enhancement potion (medium) separately.

With a flash of light, he returned to the Seventh Sequence Base, to his room. He was still wearing the same dark gray hoodie, his silver hair falling to his shoulders, as if he had just gone out for a walk.

He sensed the atmosphere within the base and discovered that the energy fluctuations of the core members were concentrated towards the conference room, and seemed to carry a sense of tension. He rose expressionlessly and walked towards the conference room.

Pushing open the conference room door, the atmosphere inside was indeed heavy.

Bai Xu, Bai Jin, Hong Yuan, You Ying, Lin Chen, and Tie Quan are all present.

Bai Xu stood in front of the main seat, his brows furrowed, staring at the snow and gibberish on the screen; Lin Chen's fingers flew across the control panel, sweat beading on his forehead; Hong Yuan and You Ying stood to the side, their faces serious; Bai Jin crossed his arms and paced anxiously; Tie Quan looked as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

"The signal is completely blocked! Not a single image can be transmitted!"

"The energy readings are extremely chaotic, making it impossible to analyze the internal situation!"

"The A-level dungeon 'Eternal Debt Supermarket'... truly lives up to its name, it's too bizarre!"

They were tense and worried because they couldn't detect Shi Mo's situation inside the instance. After all, this instance had a notorious reputation, and Shi Mo had entered alone.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and Shi Mo walked in unharmed.

In an instant, everyone froze, their eyes fixed on him in disbelief and astonishment.

"Shi Mo?!"

"You...you're back?!"

"How did you get out?!"

Hongyuan couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. They had thought the situation was likely dire and they might even have needed to start preparing for the worst, but the person involved appeared so casually.

The moment Bai Xu saw Shi Mo, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, but the worry in his eyes did not completely disappear.

He strode forward, his sharp eyes scanning Shi Mo's entire body, his tone carrying a barely perceptible urgency: "Are you alright? Are you injured? What happened inside?"

Shi Mo looked at Bai Xu's face as he drew closer, his eyes filled with concern and scrutiny. Suddenly, he found it interesting. A slight smile appeared on his lips as he raised his hand and lightly tapped Bai Xu's forehead with his knuckles.

"I'm fine." His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable certainty.

This intimate (or rather, casual) gesture startled Bai Xu, causing his ears to turn slightly red, and he awkwardly took a half-step back.

The others were even more dumbfounded, especially Iron Fist, whose eyes almost popped out of their sockets—the captain had actually been hit on the head?! And he hadn't even gotten angry?!

Unable to contain her curiosity, Hong Yuan pressed, "Shi Mo, how exactly did you beat it? That 'Eternal Debt Supermarket'... we couldn't detect anything inside!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Mo's face remained expressionless, but his eyes seemed to "seriously" consider the matter for a moment before he calmly replied in his usual tone, "The mall manager's daughter took a liking to me and gave me some small gifts, and that's how I got through."

The conference room fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone: "???"

A honey trap?

Clearing an A-rank dungeon just by looking good?!

This reason is absolutely outrageous!

Several people instinctively wanted to refute that it was impossible, that the rules of this instance could not be broken by beauty!

However, when they looked at Shi Mo's face, which was so handsome it was almost demonic, his unique silver hair and heterochromatic eyes, and his aloof and mysterious aura...

It seems...it appears...it's not entirely impossible?

After all, the rules don't say you can't make a living based on your looks! What if the person in charge's daughter is a hardcore looks-obsessed person?

This absurd idea actually swirled in their minds, leaving them speechless and unsure how to respond.

Just then, Shi Mo seemed to remember something, and with a flick of his wrist, he took out the fused [Power Enhancement Potion (Medium)] and casually tossed it to Bai Xu.

"I drank it."

Bai Xu instinctively caught it, looking at the azure potion in his hand that emitted a faint energy fluctuation, and asked with some confusion, "What is this?"

"Similar to what we had last time," Shi Mo said succinctly. "Drink it."

It was that same unquestionable tone again.

Iron Fist, seeing this, immediately panicked and hurriedly stopped him: "Captain! Don't drink it! Who knows what this thing is! What if it's some weird contraption brought out of the dungeon? He just came from that horrible place!"

However, Bai Xu merely glanced down at the potion in his hand, then looked up at Shi Mo's calm, unwavering, yet all-seeing heterochromatic eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he uncorked the bottle, tilted his head back, and drank the azure liquid in one gulp.

A familiar warm current surged through his limbs once more, and a slightly weaker sense of power filled his muscle fibers. He could clearly feel that his strength had significantly increased again!

Watching Bai Xu drink what Shi Mo gave him without hesitation, even closing his eyes to feel the increase in power without any discomfort on his face, Iron Fist felt that his weak heart had been hit by a powerful, ten-thousand-point critical strike.

He remembered how he had finally managed to get his hands on a bottle of supposedly high-quality milk that could replenish energy, and excitedly gave it to the captain. But the captain just glanced at it indifferently, said "No need, thank you," and put it aside without ever touching it again.

Why should I?!

Why did the captain drink what Shi Mo gave him without even asking?!

Is the milk delivered by his iron fist really that disliked?!

Iron Fist was inwardly in tears, looking at Shi Mo and Bai Xu, feeling like a pitiful child who was superfluous and not trusted.

This discrimination is so hurtful!