At this moment, flipping through the most crucial Medicine No. 8 document, Bai Mo read and thought, and from Medicine No. 8, he speculated on the overall project, formulating an opinion in his heart, his expression becoming peculiar.

"Su Yaoyao’s promotion, with the aid of these drugs... might be somewhat arduous.

"But the risk is at most ten percent, how could it be as dangerous as she boasts!"

...

Whirr...

At dusk, the car drove into the North Suburb Base.

Through the car window, one could see the small buildings on the base’s perimeter, already lit up and bustling. Occasionally, official vehicles carrying Immortal Technique Committee members came and went.

Inside the car, Su Yaoyao and Bai Mo sat side by side, sometimes speaking, explaining this new base.

Sitting in the back, Su Yaoyao was in the driver’s blind spot, surreptitiously holding Bai Mo’s hand as if accustomed to this.

"Now the North Suburb Base is divided into three circles.

"What we are passing through now is the outermost, the Outer Circle area, which houses the Immortal Technique Committee.

"Our task location is in the Middle Circle, which is a buffer zone, with some laboratories where the base’s researchers can cooperate with Immortal Technique Committee members on projects.

"The innermost Core Area consists of factories, workshops, lab buildings, and research centers. All personnel there are non-Immortal Seekers. Immortal Seekers are prohibited from entering."

Bai Mo cradled the white sock, holding Su Yaoyao’s soft and smooth hand, feeling peculiar.

Sister lied!

But the lie was only for holding his hand... this... he seemed not to lose out either?

...

When the car stopped, Su Yaoyao pulled Bai Mo out, letting the driver leave, then pointed ahead.

"Look!"

In the Middle Circle of the North Suburb Base, surrounded by workshops and office buildings, an enormous pit loomed black in the dusk.

"This is..."

Su Yaoyao gave a smug smile.

"Never seen it, right!

"Today, sister is taking you to broaden your horizons!"

She led Bai Mo toward the pit.

It turned out to be a newly unearthed relic, not a pit, but an underground arena!

All around were tiered staircase-like stands, and at the very bottom was a gladiatorial arena the size of a basketball court.

With the white sock on his shoulder, Bai Mo was already suspecting... Could this be the Ancient Celestial Dynasty’s Puppet Arena? Buried underground for millennia, freshly excavated?

Su Yaoyao took Bai Mo’s hand, in the twilight, found a dark corner on the tiered stands, sat down, hugged her knees, tucked her skirt, and leaned her shoulder against Bai Mo’s.

"Let’s have a chat!

"I’ll tell you about my past.

"So that when you miss Sister Yaoyao in the future, you’ll have memories to recall."

Her voice was gentle, yet clear on the stands.

Her eyes were bright, seemingly glowing in the dark.

"My hometown is in Beihai City.

"I was beautiful from a young age, famously pretty in our area..."

Bai Mo sat cross-legged on the steps, holding the white sock, stroking its slightly rising chubby belly.

With Su Yaoyao’s shoulder leaning against his, listening to her talk.

Even knowing she had lied about the promotion risk just to deceive him into romance, at this moment, Bai Mo heard immense sincerity in her farewell-like tone.

It was strange indeed.

"...But you must know, being too beautiful for a girl isn’t necessarily a good thing.

"Very beautiful girls get some conveniences.

"But they also face temptations, covetousness, and risks.

"After all, beauty is valuable, but I come from an ordinary family, with little ability to protect this value."

She feared Bai Mo wouldn’t understand, so explained further.

"Look around you, those very pretty girls, what future do they have?

"Falling into the dust, that probably happens rarely.

"Studying hard, even less so?

"Most are deceived by scoundrels, losing a few relationships and other things.

"Marrying an ordinary person... would surely be stifling inside.

"So marry a wealthy person? Spending a lifetime raising children and being a trophy.

"Or being a wealthy man’s mistress? A lifetime living unseen."

Is that so?

Bai Mo furrowed his brows, feeling the sentiment slightly skewed, yet somewhat sensible.

Su Yaoyao hugged Bai Mo’s arm, prideful.

"But your Sister Yaoyao, I’m different from them!

"Since elementary school, I’ve tossed back all the gifts from young boys!

"Growing up, I never dated! After all, my beauty cannot be cheaply given away.

"Plus, I studied very hard, aiming to excel!"

Bai Mo turned his head, seeing Su Yaoyao’s face extremely close, feeling her warm breath.

His eyesight was enhanced, allowing him to see clearly even in darkness, noticing Sister Yaoyao, outwardly calm, already secretly blushing under her wavy long hair.

"I was a diligent student... but with mediocre grades!

"Toiled through three years of middle school, wrote a roomful of exercise books, attended 800 cram sessions, just barely got into a key high school.

"Toiled through three years of high school, wrote ten rooms of exercise books, attended 3000 cram sessions, just barely got into a first-tier university.

"When choosing majors, I wondered if my grades could still lead to success?

"At that time, I held the major selection manual for three days and nights at home, leveraging my smartness to choose the most niche field, Veterinary Medicine!

"Top students dislike this; I joined the major and almost became the best talent, hehehe.

"Spent four years in college, but... failed the vet exam. My hands are clumsy, can’t perform surgeries.

"Without a vet certificate, how to succeed?

"Studied for three days and nights, took the postgrad exam!

"Smartly avoiding competition, chose a particularly niche research field, I studied peacocks!

"Spent two years in grad school, but... couldn’t publish papers, failing graduation requirements! The advisor said our field easily publishes papers, with low demands, but my academic level was too poor.

"Facing failure to graduate, unable to get a master’s degree, how to succeed?

"Amidst daily anxiety and worries, I found short videos seemingly trendy!

"Then you know the story, I succeeded as a top net celebrity, haha!

"In short, your Sister Yaoyao still lived a remarkable life!

"Always calmly smart and diligently striving for success!

"In the end, caught favorable winds, arose throughout, doing justice to my endeavors."

Bai Mo furrowed his brows, found a key point.

"So, you didn’t finish grad school? Didn’t get the degree?"

Night had completely fallen, in this arena’s seats, it was even darker.

Su Yaoyao rolled her eyes.

"That’s not the point!

"The point is remember, your Sister Yaoyao’s life always diligently smart, relentlessly striving for success!"

Bai Mo grinned, nodding, showing he remembered.

He gazed around, inspecting this Ancient Celestial Dynasty arena.

He saw hundreds of high circular tiered stands, while at the bottom, a circular gladiatorial arena.

"It’s really big."

Bai Mo could imagine that in the Ancient Celestial Dynasty, fallen immortals were cheering on the stands, their voices soaring higher! While the puppets burning their lives, were in life and death combat below, blood splattering five steps!

Beside him, Su Yaoyao’s expression turned peculiar.

Big?

What big?

Suddenly realizing, she was holding Bai Mo’s arm too tightly, leading to... quickly loosened her grip, rolled her eyes, clenched her teeth, very frustrated.

Bai Mo continued imagining... the Celestial Immortals of the Ancient Celestial Dynasty, with long robes elegantly flowing, carrying chains and bottles, appearing at the highest place on the stands, what expressions would those carnival fallen immortals, those puppet-controlling fallen immortals reveal?

"What expression?"

Beside him, Su Yaoyao felt even more frustrated.

What expression?

It’s so dark, he could see she rolled her eyes?

"Hmph, just this expression! Sister’s eye roll is also beautiful! If you’re unhappy, just hold it in!"