She focused her mind.

And the description appeared.

Bai Li turned the card over slowly, her fingers still slightly trembling from everything that had just happened, and the moment her eyes landed on the text written on it, she froze completely. For a second, she didn’t even breathe. The words seemed to sink in one by one, and the more she read, the more unreal it felt.

"Abyssal Genesis Serum..."

Her lips moved faintly as she read the name out in a low voice, and even just the name alone carried a strange weight to it, something heavy and mysterious, like it didn’t belong to this world at all. It didn’t sound like something simple or harmless. It sounded dangerous. Powerful. Like something that could either change everything... or destroy it completely.

Below the name, the description continued.

"A-grade Card. A relic-tier biological serum extracted from abyssal organisms that exist beyond conventional space. This serum restructures the host’s genetic framework, breaking natural human limitations and rebuilding the body from the cellular level. Upon successful fusion, the consumer will undergo a complete physical evolution, enhancing strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, and cellular regeneration to levels far beyond human capacity. In rare cases, the serum may also awaken latent biological abilities tied to unknown evolutionary pathways."

Bai Li’s eyes widened slightly.

"...What the hell is this..." she muttered under her breath.

She kept reading.

"Warning: The fusion process is extremely unstable. The body will undergo violent rejection responses including extreme fever, organ stress, neural overload, and cellular mutation. Survival is not guaranteed. Failure may result in total biological collapse."

"Disclaimer: The interdimensional market’s barrier ability would have an increased time of 1 hour for the accommodation of the consumer to ensure their safety and a good experience when consuming the potion and going through the transformation."

Silence.

For a moment, Bai Li didn’t move at all.

Then she let out a slow breath.

"...Of course..." she said quietly.

Of course there was a risk.

Nothing this strong would ever come without a price.

Still... her lips curled slightly.

"...A-grade..."

That was already far beyond anything she had hoped for.

And yet....

A faint irritation still lingered.

"...Seriously..." she muttered, glancing sideways at Yan Cijin. "You just tap once and get this?"

There was even a bit of helplessness in her voice now.

After everything she went through... all those useless draws... and Yan Cijin just casually pulled out something like this.

"...This is unfair."

But that thought passed quickly.

Because right now, there was something more important.

She looked at the card again.

Then at the rooftop.

Then at the massive horde of zombies still pushing against the invisible barrier.

"...No choice."

Not taking it meant death.

Taking it... at least gave her a chance.

And Bai Li had never been someone who backed away from a gamble when it mattered.

With a single thought, the card in her hand flashed.

The next moment, it transformed.

The thin card disappeared, replaced by a sealed test tube resting in her palm. Inside it was a half tube of glowing liquid, a deep green color that almost looked alive. It wasn’t just glowing, it was... shifting slightly, like tiny currents were moving within it, faint streaks of darker green swirling inside the brighter liquid. The glass itself felt slightly cold, almost unnaturally so.

Bai Li lifted it slightly, studying it.

"...Looks dangerous," she said quietly.

Yan Cijin watched from the side, her gaze steady, but her eyes slightly deeper now. She knew what this kind of item meant. She had seen similar things before. Powerful. Risky. But worth it.

Bai Li took a slow breath.

"No turning back now."

She removed the cap.

For a second, she brought it closer to her nose, expecting something sharp, something chemical, something unpleasant.

But there was nothing.

No smell at all.

"...That’s even more suspicious," she muttered.

She swallowed once.

Then again.

Her grip tightened slightly around the tube.

"Whatever."

And without hesitating any longer, she raised it and drank it in one go.

The liquid touched her lips first.

Cool.

Then it flowed into her mouth.

It didn’t taste bitter.

It didn’t taste sweet either.

It was... empty.

Almost like drinking cold water, but with a strange, smooth texture that lingered slightly as it went down her throat.

She swallowed.

And waited.

"...That’s it?" she said, blinking slightly.

For a moment, nothing happened.

No pain.

No reaction.

No change.

Then....

The system’s voice rang out.

"Dear, you have consumed the Abyssal Genesis Serum. Initial parameters detected. Strength increased. Speed increased. Agility increased. Endurance increased. Cellular fusion process has begun. Please remain stable during integration."

Bai Li stood there.

"...Huh."

Still nothing.

"...Did it fail?" she muttered.

But just as that thought crossed her mind....

It started.

A faint heat.

At first, it was just a small warmth in her chest.

Then it spread.

Fast.

Her entire body started heating up from the inside, like something was igniting deep within her cells. Her skin began to flush slightly, her breathing becoming heavier without her noticing.

"...Okay..." she muttered, her brows tightening. "...Here it comes."

The heat intensified.

Her heartbeat sped up rapidly, pounding harder and harder against her chest like it was trying to break out. Sweat began forming almost instantly on her forehead, sliding down her temples, her neck, her back.

Her muscles tensed.

Her fingers curled slightly.

"...Damn..."

It wasn’t unbearable.

But it was uncomfortable.

Very uncomfortable.

Like her entire body was being pushed to its limit from the inside.

She closed her eyes briefly and focused on her breathing.

"In... out..."

"In... out..."

She steadied herself.

Didn’t panic.

Didn’t move too much.

She just endured it.

Time passed.

Minutes.

Five minutes.

Ten.

The heat didn’t go away.

Instead, it kept rising in waves.

Her body felt lighter in some moments, heavier in others. Her senses sharpened slightly, then blurred, then sharpened again. It was unstable. Like her body didn’t know what it was becoming yet.

Sweat soaked through her clothes.

Her hair stuck slightly to her face.

Her breathing grew heavier.

But she didn’t fall.

Didn’t collapse.

She stayed standing.

Then slowly... she crouched down.

Then sat.

Then leaned slightly forward, resting her elbows on her knees.

Still breathing.

Still enduring.

Yan Cijin watched all of it quietly.

She didn’t interrupt.

Didn’t speak.

Her eyes just followed every small change in Bai Li’s condition.

Time continued to pass.

Twenty minutes.

Thirty.

Gradually...

The heat began to fade.

Her heartbeat slowed down.

Her breathing stabilized.

The overwhelming pressure inside her body slowly eased.

Bai Li opened her eyes again.

Her vision was clearer now.

Sharper.

She could feel it.

Her body...

Was different.

She reached for her backpack, took out a bottle of water, and drank it in one go without stopping.

The cold water flowed down her throat, and she exhaled deeply afterward.

"...That was..."

She paused.

"...Not fun."

But when she stood up slowly...

There was something new in the way she moved.

Lighter.

Stronger.

More controlled.

Her fingers flexed slightly.

Her legs shifted.

Her body responded instantly, smoothly, without resistance.

Bai Li looked at her own hands for a second.

Then clenched them.

"...Yeah..."

Bai Li stood there quietly for a few seconds after the heat inside her body finally settled down, her chest still rising and falling slowly as she caught her breath. At first, she didn’t move much, almost like she was afraid that if she did, something might feel wrong. But then she lifted her hand slightly, curling her fingers into a fist, and the moment she did that, her eyes changed just a little.

"...What..."

It felt different.

Not just a little different.

A lot.

She slowly tightened her grip, feeling the strength in her fingers, in her palm, in her entire arm, and it was like her body responded instantly, smoothly, without any delay or stiffness. It wasn’t just strength, it was control too. Every small movement felt precise, clean, and natural, like her body finally matched what she wanted it to do.

She stood up fully this time and took a step forward.

Then another.

Her body felt lighter, but at the same time, stronger. There was a strange balance to it, like she had lost weight but gained power. Her muscles weren’t bulky or exaggerated, but she could clearly feel the force hidden underneath them, like something was quietly waiting to be used.

"...This is... not normal," she muttered under her breath.

She bent her knees slightly and pushed off the ground just a little.

Her body lifted higher than she expected.

She landed and paused.

Then looked down at her own legs.

"...Yeah..."

There was no doubt about it.

This wasn’t just a small improvement.

It felt like everything about her had been pushed to another level. Strength, speed, reaction... even her balance felt better. If she had to compare, she felt at least three times stronger than before, maybe even more in some aspects.

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"...Not bad."

Just then, the system’s voice rang out in her mind again, sounding a little more energetic than usual.

"Congratulations, dear! Your body has successfully completed the initial fusion with the Abyssal Genesis Serum. Your base stats have increased significantly! Strength +3, Speed +3, Agility +3, Endurance +3. Your overall physical capability has exceeded standard human limits. You are now officially entering the early stage of evolved humans!"

Bai Li blinked slightly.

"...Early stage?"

But she didn’t dwell on that part too much.

Instead, she focused on something else.

She paused for a second, then frowned slightly.

"...Wait."

She looked at her own hands again, then at her body, then closed her eyes briefly like she was trying to feel something deeper.

Nothing.

No strange energy.

No weird sensation.

No special ability.

She opened her eyes again.

"...That’s it?" she asked in her mind. "No... abilities? No power or anything like that? I don’t feel anything different except my body being stronger."

The system responded almost immediately, its tone turning a bit more calm this time.

"Dear, awakening a superior evolutionary ability, also known as a biological mutation or what you call a ’superpower’, is extremely difficult. The probability is very low, even with high-grade items. Most individuals will only gain physical enhancement during early evolution. Special abilities require either extraordinary luck, repeated evolution, or extremely rare materials."

Bai Li listened quietly.

"...So basically, I didn’t get one."

"Correct, dear."

There was a brief silence after that.

Then Bai Li let out a small breath.

"...Tch."

A little disappointed.

But not too much.

She stretched her arm slightly, feeling the strength in it again, and then clenched her fist once more.

"...Whatever."

A faint, confident look appeared in her eyes.

"Even this is enough for now."

But just then, Bai Li suddenly felt a bad feeling crawl up her spine, the kind that made her pause without even meaning to. The strange, solid sense of power she had been feeling a moment ago seemed to slip away all at once, like someone had reached into her body and quietly pulled it out. Her fingers tightened slightly, her brows drawing together, and she looked down at herself with a faint sense of loss. Something was wrong. Very wrong. She could clearly feel it. The strength that had been surging through her body just a second ago was gone now, and in its place was the familiar state she had been in before drinking the serum. It was as if all that improvement had never happened in the first place, which only made her feel more confused and a little irritated.

"This..." Bai Li murmured under her breath, her expression turning slightly stiff as she tried to sense her own body more carefully. There was no mistake. She was back to her previous level. The strange lightness in her limbs, the clean force in her muscles, the extra edge in her reaction speed, all of it had vanished. For a moment, she even wondered whether something had gone wrong when she drank the potion earlier. The feeling was so sudden that she nearly wanted to ask the system on the spot. She was just about to do that when the system itself suddenly spoke up, its tone carrying a hint of awkwardness and bad news.

"Ohh... dear... it seems something unexpected has happened."

Bai Li’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she immediately communicated with it in her mind. "What happened?"

The system seemed to pause for a second before answering in that same reluctant, apologetic voice.

"Dear host, your luck really is getting worse and worse. Normally, after consuming the Abyssal Genesis Serum and absorbing its effects, you would be able to feel the changes right away. But in very rare cases, almost one in a hundred thousand, the host may experience a delayed reaction. In this situation, the serum’s effects will not fully appear for anywhere between two hours and twenty four hours. It is not that the serum failed. It is actually because your body is trying to absorb one hundred percent of its energy, which slows the integration process. In other words, the serum is taking longer to settle into your body, but once it is fully absorbed, the result will actually be even better than normal."

Bai Li remained silent for a second after hearing that, her expression complicated. So it wasn’t that the serum had failed. It was just delayed. That did make sense, but that did not make her feel any better. Right now, what she needed was strength, not a delayed promise of strength. Still, the system had at least given her an explanation, and that meant she wasn’t in any immediate danger from it.

Beside her, Yan Cijin had been watching her frown for a while and immediately sensed that something was wrong. She leaned slightly closer, her voice low and calm. "What happened? Is something wrong?"

Bai Li took a breath before answering her, then said in a slightly tired tone, "Hah... it seems the serum effect has been delayed for a while."

Yan Cijin understood what that meant almost instantly without needing any more explanation. Her expression changed only a little, but it was enough to show she had grasped the situation. That meant Bai Li would not be getting the full benefit of the serum right now, which also meant their descent would be much harder than expected. The thought made Yan Cijin frown slightly, though she didn’t show panic on her face. Instead, she just nodded quietly, her fingers tightening a little around the kukri in her hand.

So that was it.

The road ahead would be more difficult than normal.

And Bai Li, who had been ready to rely on her enhanced body, would now have to deal with everything using only her current strength. Yan Cijin didn’t know whether she would be able to keep her powers hidden any longer, but she understood one thing clearly. The next part of the escape would be far more dangerous now, and every step would require even more care than before.

..

..

Now wasn’t the time to think about that. Time was running out. The interdimensional market’s barrier would only last a few more minutes at best. Bai Li decisively took out the rope from her backpack.

Bai Li found two iron railings on the rooftop and secured one end of the rope. She was going to make a makeshift descent device.

Since this was the 14th-floor rooftop, Bai Li used a double-strand rope for safety. This way, even if one rope broke in an accident, at least the other would provide support.

Bai Li knew this method was risky, but at least it was under her control, and it was best to keep her life in her own hands.

Thinking this, she quickened her pace in tying the knot. Due to the rope’s length, the double-strand rope could only help her descend to the 9th floor at most, provided Bai Li’s stamina held up. If she exhausted herself halfway down, she and Yan Cijin might fall from the sky to their death. But there was no other way, she just had to endure at all cost.

After doing this, Bai Li pulled on the ropes with all her might to test their safety.

"Huu... Okay. Let’s do this." Bai Li thought in her mind as she made up her mind to the following task.

Yan Cijin stood behind her, watching quietly, her eyes carrying that same calm and unreadable look as always. But if someone paid close attention, they would notice the slight curve at the corner of her lips. She wasn’t worried. Not even a little. She had already seen Bai Li fight, seen her push through situations that would make most people collapse, and now that she had taken the abyssal gene enhancing potion, and even though the serum’s effect has been delayed, she still had this weird sense of trust in this woman that she would be able to get them out of here unharmed. Anyway, she would reveal her true self if push came to shove, on the off chance that Bai Li couldn’t hold out against their struggle.

But then again, she quite liked this feeling of being protected, cared for and also felt a little mischievous amusement hiding her true self like this and observing this interesting woman.

As she was lost in thought,

"Come here," Bai Li said, glancing back briefly, her tone calm but firm.

Yan Cijin came out of her thought and walked over without asking anything, her steps slow and composed,

Bai Li quickened her pace as she breathed, and after tying several knots around Yan Cijin’s body, she leaned over and put her arms around Yan Cijin’s waist. "Hold my back with both arms and wrap your legs around my waist, hurry up." Her arms wrapped around Yan Cijin’s slender waist,

.

.

.

To be continued.