Chapter 105: Chapter Your protagonist identity now belongs to me, Bai Fu【22】
A sudden cry disrupted the situation.
Pratt had already been prepared to die, but upon hearing the keyword “Sacred Relic,” he could no longer care about Hei Fu beside him and struggled to crawl toward the edge of the massive pit.
The explosion caused by Extra-dimensional Erosion threw the sandworms entrenched in the massive pit into complete chaos. Terrified, they scattered in all directions, exposing an area previously buried under the sandworms.
That area was covered in grayish-brown slime that had slid off the sandworms, looking incredibly disgusting. However, within that slime, one object stood out prominently.
“A black shard?”
Through Hei Fu’s perspective, Bai Fu clearly saw everything inside the massive pit.
She cast a Psionic Vision skill. The skill succeeded, and an item description interface popped up before her.
【Obsidian Shard】
【Quality】: Red
【Item Description】: A shard of obsidian, an extremely rare psionic item. Its use is unknown.
【Note】: After the Cataclysm, the obsidian researched by Psionic Research Institute No. 2 Subdivision shattered into three pieces. This is one of them.
After reading the description, Bai Fu’s eyes lit up.
After locating the -2 floor of the Psionic Research Institute, she triggered a hidden mission to find the obsidian. The quest reward was generous, but since the mission provided no additional hints, she had no idea where to begin completing it.
What she hadn't expected was that during the pursuit of Pratt, she would stumble upon a piece of the obsidian!
Pratt had the Great Luck talent, and she had the Lucky Talent. Great Luck + Lucky—this combo hit the jackpot.
“Didn’t expect obsidian to be red-grade.”
The game classified item quality into seven levels: gray, white, blue, purple, orange, red, and rainbow. The higher the grade, the rarer the item among its tier.
Although rarity didn’t directly correlate with power, seeing that the obsidian was red-grade still made Bai Fu very excited.
If just one obsidian shard could attract a horde of sandworms and rapidly trigger their evolution, then what kind of power must the complete obsidian possess?
She began to understand why the Psionic Diffusion Committee had established a separate institute to study the obsidian.
Bai Fu’s gaze landed on the ecstatic Pratt’s back.
These people knew obsidian. They might know where the other two shards were.
“Even if I can’t get a new main storyline mission from Pratt, as long as I figure out the locations of the obsidian shards, this operation will be totally worth it!”
Bai Fu was in a great mood.
They say girls who laugh often have good luck. Should she start mimicking the Uchiha Four Laughing Demons and laugh even more joyfully?
Her smile successfully infected the white-robed people around her. Just moments ago, Pratt and the others had been full of excitement, but now their bodies all stiffened.
Crap!
Finding the legendary Sacred Relic was certainly something to rejoice over, but right beside them were two women as powerful as ghosts.
If the Sacred Relic got taken away…
Pratt’s heart sank to the bottom of the sea.
“Who are you people?”
The Psionic Vision scan didn’t display Pratt’s faction. Bai Fu had to investigate on her own.
Pratt didn’t respond. A white-robed person beside him gritted his teeth: “Priest, let’s fight them! Even though they’re strong, if we all attack together and blow up with them, they might not be able to kill us all!”
The other white-robed people nodded repeatedly: “As long as one person survives and takes the Sacred Relic back, the rest won’t have died in vain!”
Pratt’s expression turned extremely grim. If they truly bet everyone’s lives without reservation, this plan might actually succeed—but it wasn’t something he wanted to see.
Before finding the Sacred Relic, dying was acceptable. But now that the Sacred Relic had been found, how could he die so easily?
After struggling internally for ten full seconds, Pratt did something that surprised everyone—he slid to his knees at lightning speed.
“I was wrong. I mistook you for the legendary demons, which is why I attacked. Fortunately, you can resurrect, so no unforgivable tragedy occurred. But I also know that even if you can revive, a mistake is still a mistake.”
“Pratt, what are you doing?”
Pratt’s actions made one of the white-robed people’s face darken like ink.
Pratt acted as if he didn’t hear him: “I’m willing to accept any punishment, but I have one request—I hope to be punished only after delivering the Sacred Relic back to the camp. Please, the people at the camp are still waiting for me to bring it back and save them.”
His eyes were sincere, his emotions heartfelt, and his voice carried a pleading tone.
The white-robed person who had just berated him sighed, immediately understanding that he was sacrificing his dignity to ensure the Sacred Relic could be safely returned to the camp.
The rest of the white-robed people also retracted their words and instead followed Pratt’s lead, each taking the responsibility upon themselves.
“The people in the camp have contracted a strange disease. Only the legendary Sacred Relic can save them.”
Bai Fu pinched her chin lightly. No new quest had been triggered. Was it the wrong way to proceed? Wait, maybe it was due to Favorability. Some quests were tied to Favorability as a trigger. She had Hei Fu beat Pratt half to death—perhaps that was why the quest wasn’t triggered.
She used Psionic Vision on everyone around, and the result was unexpected. Everyone had negative Favorability towards her, but the values remained relatively stable—except Pratt’s, which was fluctuating.
–
41, -47, -52……
As time went on, the value kept decreasing.
“?”
Bai Fu’s expression didn’t change. She decided to probe. She deliberately said, “Interesting. I’ll have to investigate first. If what you said is true, I can allow you to take the Sacred Relic back to the camp for now. But if you’re lying—don’t blame me for getting murderous.”
Investigating the true identities of Pratt and the others wasn’t difficult for her. The first person she thought of was Dallas Makarov, the dark web contact who once acted as a lobbyist for the Railway Guild.
Bai Fu had Hei Fu summon the Player and escorted Pratt and the others to the Research Institute first.
She didn’t immediately take the Obsidian Shard. Once the shard was taken, the Spawn Box would stop functioning. Might as well let it work a bit longer.
“Miss Silver Moon, what brings you to me so late?” Dallas’s voice was full of energy over the Terminal.
Bai Fu said, “Help me check a few people.”
She sent over photos of Pratt and the others.
The dark web’s efficiency was terrifying. In just twenty minutes, Dallas had already collected intelligence.
【Pratt, priest of the extremist religious group Holy Spirit Cult, 31 years old, mild-mannered, responsible, highly respected within the Holy Spirit Cult. Took over his father’s position two years ago to officially become the new priest of the Holy Spirit Cult.】
【Holy Spirit Cult, an extremist religious group located west of the Goli Desert and south of the Old Republic. Founded after the World War. Rumored to have received funding from the Old Republic during its development. They rarely interact with the outside world. According to assassins who had contact with them a few years ago, a mysterious disease seems to be spreading in their region.】
Bai Fu flipped through the intel. It appeared that what Pratt had revealed was true—but that didn’t mean he wasn’t lying.
After being ambushed by the Gene Primordials, her vigilance had increased significantly. No matter how persuasive someone sounded, if the Favorability value was off, then something was definitely off!
After returning to the Research Institute, Pratt immediately came to her, saying he wanted to contact the camp to report his safety.
“Do as you like.”
Having received permission, Pratt dared not delay. He quickly contacted the Holy Spirit Cult. Fearing Bai Fu’s suspicion, he deliberately made the call where many Players were present.
“We’ve found the Sacred Relic, all thanks to Bai Fu.”
“You may not have heard of her, but she’s no ordinary person. Not only is she top-tier in strength, her identity is extraordinary. In that organization, although she’s not the undisputed leader, she’s a core member who’s earned the recognition and reverence of most people in many aspects. Don’t worry, she’s someone with a clear sense of right and wrong. I’ll bring the Sacred Relic back as soon as possible.”
After ending the call, Pratt turned and gave the nearby Players and Hei Fu a faint smile of goodwill.
His words caused quite a stir among the Players.
Did this Pratt just leak some info about Fu Fu’s identity?
And he said he didn’t know Fu Fu—this guy was definitely playing dumb!
The Players couldn’t have guessed that this was actually a case of domestic propaganda turned inside out. Pratt, clueless, had actually believed that the title First Warden, used by Fragrant Fried Fish, was something lofty—so he described Bai Fu as a core member respected in many aspects.
The Players, unaware of Pratt’s misunderstanding, thought he knew some insider secrets.
This double misunderstanding created a truly fascinating scene.
【High-level NPC confirmed, Fu Fu’s true identity is shocking!】
Many Players started speculating about Bai Fu’s background based on Pratt’s words, unexpectedly boosting her popularity again.
“You people are really good at making things up!”
Bai Fu twitched the corner of her mouth.
She had secretly planted a large number of Eye of the Dark Moon devices around the Research Institute. When midnight arrived, Hei Fu, who had been ordered to monitor the feed from the Eye of the Dark Moon, called Bai Fu up.
Bai Fu focused her gaze and saw Pratt sneaking out of the Research Institute. He didn’t go far but hid behind a sand dune just out of the Research Institute’s view—unaware that there were also Eye of the Dark Moon devices buried under that dune.
“I’ve gained Bai Fu’s trust, but that’s only temporary. Sooner or later, she’ll realize I won’t return to be punished.”
“The Sacred Relic must remain in our hands. To solve this problem once and for all, contact the Old Republic immediately. I’ll find a way to lure her to the camp and have the Old Republic send her on her way!”
“That’s all I have to say. If I stay away too long, I might raise suspicion. Hanging up now.”
In the cold wind, Pratt exhaled slowly.
He’d said all he needed to. Even if caught now, he could just claim he came out to use the bathroom. As long as he wasn’t caught red-handed, it was nothing.
He was in a rather good mood. Bai Fu would never suspect he harbored murderous intent—that was the advantage of masterful acting.
Bai Fu’s eyes flashed.
No one said a protagonist had to be a good person. She was now the Regional Protagonist and was called the Cyber Bodhisattva by the Players. But did people really think she’d treat Players with a Bodhisattva’s heart?
In fact, the fact that Pratt wasn’t some righteous person suited her just fine. That way, she could take his main storyline mission without any guilt.
“I think we need to have a proper talk. I’m quite interested in your identity!”
Just as Pratt emerged from behind the sand dune with a smile, Bai Fu suddenly appeared and aimed her gun at his forehead.