Chapter 106: Who in the world doesn’t know Fu? Hidden Main Storyline Acquired!
The muzzle that suddenly stretched out from the shadows nearly scared the previously smug Pratt into wetting himself.
Luckily, he was an experienced actor. In terms of acting skills, he wasn’t any worse than the rising star Bai Fu from Beyond the Stars, and in some aspects, even surpassed her. So aside from the initial dilation of his pupils, he showed no abnormality.
He never imagined Bai Fu would actually appear here.
Before sneaking out, he had specially confirmed that Bai Fu was asleep, and Hei Fu was busy tinkering with cards—otherwise, how would he have dared to act recklessly?
Could it be that all of that was an act, that Bai Fu had already suspected him, and secretly followed after seeing him leave?
Pratt shook his head silently.
No, that couldn’t be.
After arriving here, he had spent a long time probing the area with mental power, confirming there was nothing abnormal before contacting the people at the camp.
From that perspective, even if Bai Fu overheard his words, it could only have been a fragment from the latter half. Most likely, Bai Fu hadn’t heard a single word—she was just trying to put pressure on him to get him to talk.
Thinking of this, Pratt slowly calmed down.
“Palace... Palace Master, allow me to address you like this for now. I’m a bit confused about the current situation.”
Bai Fu said, “You don’t need to understand much. Just tell me what you want the Obsidian Shard, the so-called Sacred Relic, for.”
Pratt’s face grew anxious. “You’re suspecting me? I already explained before—the Sacred Relic is to cure the sick in the camp. If you don’t believe me, you can investigate. If you still don’t believe me, you can come with us to the camp yourself and see how we use the Sacred Relic. If you find even the slightest issue, you can execute me on the spot!”
Bai Fu smirked faintly. “That’s not the kind of canned response I want to hear. What I want is to know what you want the Obsidian Shard for.”
Pratt’s heartbeat skipped a beat.
How could he say such a thing aloud? If he really did, Bai Fu wouldn’t even need to lay a hand on him—those people in the camp would tear him to pieces.
He could only continue to deny it: “I want the Sacred Relic solely to cure the sick in the camp. There’s no need for us to argue here. If you don’t want to help us, then either let us go or kill us directly.”
As he spoke, he put on a look of heroic self-sacrifice.
Bai Fu didn’t mind Pratt’s posture. She directly opened her Personal Terminal and contacted Dallas right in front of him.
“Help me investigate Pratt’s private ties to the Old Republic. The faster, the better. If you can’t find anything, post a bounty for me. Let’s start with five hundred thousand—I can afford that. If five hundred thousand isn’t enough, raise it to a million. Whoever completes the bounty will also receive my friendship.”
Dallas chuckled in reply, “As an S-rank Certified Assassin and the new Dark Web Queen, your friendship alone is worth more than five hundred thousand. If the family didn’t prohibit members from accepting commissions on the dark web, I would’ve taken the mission myself.”
Smooth talker.
Bai Fu raised an eyebrow slightly. When she looked up again, she noticed Pratt’s expression had changed.
“Dallas Makarov?”
“You know him?”
“Heard of him.”
Pratt had interacted with the dark web several times. Though someone of his status had no way of directly contacting someone of Dallas’s caliber, he had heard plenty about how formidable Dallas was.
Dallas was the Chief External Liaison of the dark web, a key figure of the Makarov family, and a well-known smiling tiger. His personal strength was not necessarily inferior to some S-rank Certified Assassins. Yet in front of Bai Fu, he acted with the calmness of an old friend—no, this wasn’t how one treated an old friend. When facing Bai Fu, he even deliberately lowered his stance.
For someone to make Dallas lower himself... Bai Fu’s terror likely far exceeded his imagination.
Pratt’s heart began to sink.
He had never heard of anyone named Bai Fu before. He didn’t know whether it was because his rank was too low or because Bai Fu had only emerged in the past few months while he had been holed up in the camp.
Either way, the current situation was very unfavorable for him.
Seeing Pratt remain silent, Bai Fu dialed Su Li’s number.
She got straight to the point: “Do you have an intelligence network in the Old Republic?”
“Bai Fu?”
Su Li was briefly stunned upon receiving the message, then burst out laughing without restraint.
They hadn’t seen each other for days, but now Su Li held absolutely no grudges toward Bai Fu. If Bai Fu were in front of her, she would have pounced and planted a few loud kisses on her face.
Before the assault on the Marine Biology Research Institute, she had spent years doing missions just to climb from a minor grunt to a core member of the Railway Guild’s intelligence division. After that operation, she relied on the methods she had secretly learned from Bai Fu to pacify the Undying Ones, and in just half a month, she had become the Deputy Director of a new department solely responsible for managing the Undying Ones. In terms of rank, she now surpassed her previous direct superior by half a grade.
Pure bliss!
“When you’re free, drop by the Railway Guild. I’ll show you some fun things～”
Cunning woman!
Bai Fu rolled her eyes. “Let’s talk business first.”
“Of course we do. Apart from the Truth Society, whose headquarters we still can’t locate, all the other Four Major Factions have spies embedded within each other. What do you want me to look into? If it’s something minor, I can arrange help myself. But if it’s major, I’ll have to submit a request through my former superior, Minister Zhou Hailong. Don’t worry, the higher-ups value you greatly these days.”
“It shouldn’t be anything major. I just want to check whether Pratt from the Holy Spirit Cult has any secret dealings with the Old Republic.”
Su Li blinked. “That I can handle myself. What’s up, did the Holy Spirit Cult cross you? If you want to deal with them, just let me know. I know plenty of people, both on and off the record. Taking down one Holy Spirit Cult is no problem. If you don’t want to get involved personally, get that little fanboy of yours, Bugfather Ferreira. He’ll make sure all the evidence is wiped clean.”
Bai Fu: “……”
These intelligence people really were ruthless—barely a decent one among them.
After hearing Su Li’s words, Pratt was utterly paralyzed.
Though he hadn’t heard of Su Li, he had heard of Zhou Hailong, Minister of the Railway Guild’s Intelligence Division, and one of the Railway Guild’s Four Elites.
These days, the world was in chaos, and the status of intelligence personnel had skyrocketed compared to before the war.
Bai Fu not only knew Dallas, but also Zhou Hailong? Damn it!
Pratt now just wanted to slap himself twice. Every single word that the person he once captured said was true. This really wasn’t someone he could afford to provoke. Hell, even looking at her the wrong way might get him blown to bits.
How did he end up running into Bai Fu?
At this point, the only option left was to stall—just keep stalling.
Bai Fu smiled at Pratt. “It’s fine if you want to hide it. With the intelligence capabilities of the dark web and the Railway Guild, I believe I’ll find what I want sooner or later.”
Pratt had no choice but to keep repeating that he had no personal agenda and was simply misunderstood.
While he was still babbling nonsense, his Personal Terminal suddenly rang. It was the same person he had contacted earlier.
Crap. Was this a follow-up check? If Bai Fu heard his plan herself...
Pratt’s expression changed.
“Answer it.”
Bai Fu only spat out one word slowly.
Pratt could only bite the bullet and press the accept button: “What is it?”
The person on the other end of the Terminal was clearly panicked: “It’s Major Declan from the Old Republic. I just contacted the Old Republic, and Major Declan said he wants to speak with you, so I transferred the call.”
Pratt looked at his Personal Terminal, then glanced at Bai Fu beside him.
Upon hearing it was someone from the Old Republic, he actually breathed a sigh of relief and even felt a bit smug.
Bai Fu was powerful and highly ranked, but no matter how powerful or highly ranked she was, she couldn’t compare to the Old Republic. As long as the Old Republic spoke a word for him, he’d survive today’s crisis.
“Major Declan, it’s me, Pratt. You were looking for me…”
Pratt didn’t get to finish because a furious roar suddenly came through the Terminal.
“Idiot!”
That one word stunned Pratt completely.
“I…”
“What do you mean ‘I’? Have you stayed in that garbage pile so long that your brain’s rotted? It’s one thing if you got yourself involved with Bai Fu, but you actually thought I’d help you get rid of her?”
If Pratt were standing in front of him right now, Declan would have smashed his nose in.
Right now, who didn’t know Bai Fu was a harbinger of disaster that couldn’t be provoked? The Truth Society messed with Bai Fu—Bagaros Base and Black Hawk Base were gone. The Gene Primordials tangled with her, got slapped back hard, then got beaten twice by the Truth Society over the following months, and then a mysterious group wiped out the Marine Biology Research Institute. The Wanderers in the Goli Desert tried to cross her and ended up losing every single camp in the entire Goli Desert.
Of course, this wasn’t to say even major factions didn’t dare mess with Bai Fu. These powers could still stand on the scorched postwar earth not just because of their tech, but also because they each had top-tier powerhouses far stronger than ordinary S-rank Certified Assassins.
The problem was that the Truth Society was acting up everywhere, the Gene Primordials were riddled with issues, and the Undying Ones were popping up in large numbers. Every major faction was on high alert and had no spare capacity to deal with Bai Fu.
Dealing with Bai Fu either meant sending a top-tier expert or mobilizing a whole squad. Otherwise, even if Bai Fu lost, she’d escape, and once she escaped, they’d have to constantly guard against her returning for an assassination.
Killers of this level couldn’t destroy a major power head-on, but their unpredictability and assassination tactics were enough to give any faction endless headaches.
Declan hadn’t realized this at first either. He tried casually asking his superiors—and got a vicious scolding.
He was still a major after all, and couldn’t take the humiliation. He dumped all that anger onto Pratt.
“Next time, try using your brain before you act. Sure, your offer’s high, but who knows if it would even go through. If trouble starts, I’m not cleaning up your mess.”
Declan hung up furiously.
Pratt was devastated by the scolding.
Great. Now Bai Fu knew he wanted to kill her, and Declan had clearly shown he didn’t want to offend her over Pratt. He was completely isolated.
He looked up, no longer in the mood to act. His face was utterly dejected.
“I’ll talk. I’ll say everything now.”
In this situation, he didn’t dare hide anything.
Pratt began recounting the history of the Holy Spirit Cult. The Holy Spirit Cult was founded in the Goli Desert after the Cataclysm. At first, it was just a camp formed by a group of survivors, until one day, a man covered in wounds staggered out of the desert and collapsed at the camp gates.
The people at the camp saved the man and nursed him for a month. Although the man regained consciousness, his condition worsened over time.
Before dying, the man revealed critical information. He told them the Cataclysm in the Goli Desert originated from a research institute in the Goli region. The institute had been studying a force that couldn’t be fully controlled. As expected, the force went out of control. The test subject went berserk, the lab was destroyed, and the researchers either died or mutated. The leaking force from the lab caused the Cataclysm in the Goli region.
“That’s the power of demons. It’s the punishment brought by demons. Everyone will die—not just me, but countless others to come. All those who try to control that force will become its prisoners. Their vitality will become unnaturally strong—they might even gain immortality—but they’ll no longer be themselves!”
The man let out a wail and collapsed, never to move again.
His words threw the camp into a fury. Most of them had lived in the Goli region or nearby. Learning that their homes were destroyed because of a research institute—how could they not be furious?
Thus, the Holy Spirit Cult was born. Its mission was to avenge the masterminds who built those research institutes for personal gain and to restore the world to its original state.
“The reason I regard the Undying Ones as demons is because their trait of not dying is exactly like what that man described.”
Pratt interjected briefly, then continued his explanation.
The hatred made the Holy Spirit Cult members extremely radical—but that radicalism didn’t last long. After the generation who remembered the Cataclysm passed, the cult became much milder, especially after Pratt’s father became the priest.
Rather than revenge or restoring the world, Pratt’s father was more interested in making money. Years of extremism had yielded no results. Better to leverage the priest’s title to turn a profit.
Pratt also liked money, but unlike his father, he had greater ambitions.
That man had been found by his great-grandfather, who had learned more secrets while caring for him.
Like how the masterminds were actually the prewar major powers. Like how the man had a strange shard in his body. The Holy Spirit Cult claimed it was a Sacred Relic, that the shard protected him and led him out of the Goli Desert—but only his great-grandfather knew it was actually a product of the research institute.
Pratt didn’t want to remain a minor priest in a backwater camp. He craved the greater world.
After learning these secrets from his father, he started plotting. He played the good guy, gaining favor with the camp, while secretly contacting the Old Republic, which had once funded the Holy Spirit Cult, hoping to trade the cult’s secrets for a grand future.
But during the contact, he deliberately withheld the fact that he already possessed one piece of the Sacred Relic.
“I planned to use the Old Republic. Once I gathered all the Sacred Relics, I’d fuse their power.”
“You’re not afraid of losing control?”
Pratt shook his head. “I investigated thoroughly. The research wasn’t as simple as that man claimed. Although the Goli region’s lab went wrong, other labs in different areas seem to have had several successful cases.”
Bai Fu understood—Pratt was betting big. If he succeeded in absorbing the power of the Obsidian, he could ascend to the peak of Origin Star.
At that point, he could live out his fantasy of becoming the mastermind behind the labs, wielding invincible power and rising from a priest of an extremist cult to a savior of the world.
To reach that goal, he would stop at nothing. After all, once he became the savior, people would step up to whitewash all his sins.
What a plan.
Bai Fu figured that the original end to Pratt’s main storyline was for Players to help him a lot before discovering his true nature—then take him down as the world BOSS who once bore the protagonist title.
“You have one Obsidian Shard, I have another. Any clue on where the last one is?” Bai Fu asked.
Pratt nodded. “I spent a long time investigating and finally found a lead.”
With his explanation, Bai Fu finally triggered a new main storyline—
【Would-be Savior】
This main storyline was different from Regional Main Storylines like 【Elegy of the Watchers】—it involved the entirety of Origin Star.
【1. Hatred of the Old Days: The Old Republic was born from a prewar nation that led psionic research. Perhaps the complete member list of the Psionic Diffusion Committee can be found there】
【2. Test Subjects: It’s said the Truth Society absorbed some of the test subjects from the Psionic Research Institute. Clarify the situation】
【3. Buried Secrets: After investigation, Pratt located the Psionic Research Institute No. 3 Subdivision. Address: … However, the area is now controlled by the Gene Primordials. Find a way to infiltrate and uncover its secrets】
【4. Final Obsidian Shard: This task has been merged with [Obsidian Mystery]】
【Note 1: This is a chain quest. Completing any segment will trigger settlement and unlock follow-up quests】
【Note 2: This is a Hidden Main Storyline Quest. As a special commissioner, you may recruit more Players to join】
Bai Fu skimmed through the four quest branches. Most of the rewards were hidden—she’d have to wait for quest settlement ratings to find out—but each branch had generous base XP rewards.
Branch 1 offered 500,000 XP, while Branch 4, like Obsidian Mystery, gave 700,000 XP. Clearing all four would be enough to unlock her Advanced Class. Then she could tackle the Goli Desert’s Regional Main Storyline and leap straight to the peak of Origin Star.
“Well done.”
Bai Fu smiled and nodded at Pratt.
The quest was already settled. With that, Pratt was no longer useful.
He wasn’t a good person anyway. Might as well deal with him now to avoid complications later.
“What are you doing?”
Pratt sensed danger—but it was already too late to resist.
Bai Fu opened with a Battle Etiquette, then swiftly drew her Electric Knife and slashed toward Pratt.