Chapter 117: Bai Fu: “You're right, I am the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night”
From the moment she intercepted Behim to when she beat him until he couldn’t move, Bai Fu spent only a dozen or so seconds in total—and that was because she didn’t call Hei Fu over for a tag-team.
If Hei Fu had joined her, the moment they met, within four or five seconds, she would have hit Behim with two full sets of Dark Burn and Psionic Burst, while also triggering the first explosion of Extra-dimensional Erosion.
That combo alone could deal over 2000 points of raw psionic damage. Even after factoring in damage reduction, it would still inflict at least 1500 to 1600 points of damage to Behim.
However, Behim’s HP bar had just over 1400 points. That meant if she really had brought Hei Fu along, that smooth little combo would leave Behim owing her a few hundred HP.
Of course, Bai Fu didn’t care about the "debt." What she cared about was that, at that point, she’d have to wail and beg Behim not to die.
If Behim died, the Recollection Fragment she had been obsessing over would be gone.
To avoid such an awkward scene, she deliberately didn’t let Hei Fu make a move.
After leaving the battlefield, Bai Fu discreetly scattered five Tiny Bai Fus, instructing them to hide in corners.
A minute later, a brawny man clad in heavy mechanical exoskeleton stormed out, scanning the surroundings in fury.
“Where is Behim?”
A few surviving agents quickly replied, “Deputy Minister Behim was taken! Taken by someone in black combat gear! That person was too fast—we couldn’t even see what they looked like!”
“A bunch of trash!” the muscle-bound man cursed, smashing a nearby street sign with one punch. “Which way did they go?”
“T-That way.”
The scolded agent didn’t dare utter a word in protest and could only point tremblingly in the direction Bai Fu had left.
They had no choice—after all, this was Satetsu, ace agent of the Old Republic. As mere small fry, they wouldn’t even be spoken for if they got killed for talking back.
Satetsu sneered, “Trying to snatch someone right under my nose? Dream on!”
He quickly deployed two small drones from behind and walked while contacting the Intelligence Department.
“We still don’t know the target’s true objective. I’ll intercept them as soon as possible and bring Behim back.”
“Relax—it’s just a scumbag too scared to show their face. I can crush him with one hand. Just block the roads out of the city—leave the rest to me. Prioritize reinforcements elsewhere.”
Satetsu grinned and stepped into a nearby alley, but before he could figure out what was happening, five long-prepared Tiny Bai Fus exploded on the spot.
Crush me with one hand?
I’ll blow your damn ass up!
Boom!
A series of five explosions left the surviving agents and everyone on the other end of the terminal completely dumbfounded.
Hey, hey, you alright?
Satetsu didn’t die, but the blasts had made his hair stand on end. He looked as furious as Fat Tiger getting roasted by Nobita for singing off-key.
I’ll kill you, I swear I’ll fucking kill you!
Just then, the signal receiver mounted on his exoskeleton beeped.
【Target Located!】
On the screen that popped up, a black figure dashed rapidly through the streets.
“You’re dead!”
The ground beneath Satetsu’s feet exploded, and leveraging the thrust, he soared onto a tall building like a missile.
With his engines at full throttle, his Agility had reached a whopping 81 points. His speed was so fast that his silhouette couldn’t even be seen—just a black meteor streaking across the skyline.
It took Satetsu just ninety seconds to catch up to the black figure the drone had detected.
He descended from the sky, shattering the cement ground beneath him. Crossing his arms, he sneered at the black figure who had just skidded to a halt: “Run! Why aren’t you running anymore?”
The black figure said nothing. She lunged forward and hurled two grenades.
Satetsu casually raised his hand and caught the grenades. Letting them explode in his palm, he kicked forward through the fire.
The black figure reacted instantly, blinking five meters to the left. She then drew two guns from her waist and began firing nonstop, but the bullets felt like tickles on Satetsu’s body.
“That’s all you’ve got?”
With a roar, Satetsu threw a punch. The force behind it was like a battering ram. But just then, he noticed a cloud of mist forming before his eyes.
A vision-blocking Esper power?
“Cheap tricks!”
Though he used mechanical tech, he was in fact a Qi-powered master. For Qi masters, locating targets by sound was one of the most fundamental combat skills.
Satetsu instantly drew two blades from his back. Using the aerial drones and the various auto-lock weapons on his exoskeleton, he launched a relentless assault on the black figure.
This was a one-sided slaughter.
No matter how she dodged, she couldn’t escape Satetsu’s attack range.
Finally, Satetsu slashed her right arm. The drone overhead seized the opportunity and fired a dozen custom bullets in quick succession, rendering her completely incapacitated.
Satetsu slowly put his blades away, frowning slightly. “With your strength, how did you subdue Behim in such a short time?”
The black figure sneered, “Is it possible that it wasn’t subduing, but him cooperating with me in a performance? You arrived just in time—but it’s too late. Everything is already too late.”
Satetsu’s face darkened. Just as he was about to speak, the black figure raised both her arms.
“Even if consumed by fire, truth remains eternal and indestructible!”
“Let the storm come even fiercer! Hahahahaha!”
Amid peals of laughter, the black figure suddenly exploded into fragments.
“You…”
Satetsu hadn’t expected a self-detonation. He dodged repeatedly. Though he himself was unharmed, the drones nearby were obliterated by the blast.
“Trash!”
Staring at the devastated battlefield, Satetsu’s eyes burned with rage.
The Truth Society—it really was an attack by the Truth Society?
Fuck the Truth Society!
And fuck Behim too!
So Behim’s background really was like the rumors—colluding with the Truth Society and even putting on a show with them? Despicable! He deserved to die!
Satetsu hurriedly contacted the Intelligence Department and reported everything that had just occurred.
The Intelligence Department still found it hard to believe that Behim had truly defected to the Truth Society in secret, but if that wasn’t the case, many things simply couldn’t be explained.
“Keep watching. Don’t jump to conclusions just yet.”
The Minister of the Intelligence Department issued the latest order.
Take your time and keep watching.
Bai Fu, who had seen all this through a Tiny Bai Fu, couldn’t help but laugh aloud.
Thanks to the Truth Society putting pressure on the Old Republic from outside, and thanks to Satetsu being confident enough to think he didn’t need reinforcements, she had managed to shake off the pursuers using just one Hei Fu and five Tiny Bai Fus. Otherwise, it would have been impossible. It would also have been far harder to convince the Old Republic that this attack was the work of the Truth Society.
Bai Fu’s gaze landed on Behim, who was tied to a chair.
Alright. With no more interruptions, she could now torture Behim at her leisure and complete the quest.
“Wake up, wake up.”
Bai Fu slapped Behim across the face twice, waking him up instantly.
Behim shuddered. “Bai Fu, you…”
Bai Fu asked, “I heard you’re in charge of the Archives Division in the Old Republic. Tell me, is there any information in the Archives Division related to the Psionic Diffusion Committee?”
Behim sneered. “You tell me.”
“That attitude means you really plan to oppose us, the Truth Society, to the end?” Bai Fu shrugged.
“Truth Society?” Behim’s expression changed dramatically. “Since when were you a member of the Truth Society?”
Bai Fu said, “When did you think I wasn’t?”
Behim’s pupils dilated. For a moment, many details about Bai Fu flashed through his mind. From the moment she appeared, she had always been entangled with the Truth Society—but that didn’t prove she was one of them.
However…
If Bai Fu truly belonged to the Truth Society, and the Truth Society caused chaos from the shadows while Bai Fu openly gathered a large number of Undying Ones and successfully gained the trust of the Railway Guild and the Dark Web, then this pairing of light and shadow in coordinated action… this spelled serious trouble!
Sweat poured down Behim’s back.
“To be honest, I have many ways of making you talk. You’ve probably heard of our Truth Society’s Mutant technology, haven’t you? It’s not just physical alteration—it’s a mental one, too. Once the transformation is successful, no secret you hold will remain hidden.”
Bai Fu paused and saw a hint of panic in Behim’s eyes.
“I won’t lie to you. Unless absolutely necessary, I don’t want to use transformation techniques—they’re too slow for interrogation. You’re in intelligence; you know that intelligence work depends on timeliness.
“Oh, and there’s one thing you probably didn’t know—right now, the outside world already believes you’ve colluded with our Truth Society. You actually have no way out. Even if you say nothing, you’ll never shake the label of being a Truth Society lackey. So, will you die with your mouth shut, rejected by both sides, and finally become a thoughtless Mutant, or will you cooperate and tell us what you know, join the Truth Society, and become a high-ranking member? It’s your choice. I’ll give you half an hour to think it over.”
Bai Fu smiled and sat down opposite Behim.
She crossed her legs and leisurely began to read a book.
That casual posture made Behim extremely nervous. He tried to analyze her words for loopholes or lies, but in this closed, dimly-lit room, with his body heavily injured, he simply couldn’t calm down.
Ten minutes passed before Behim finally spoke.
“If I confess, can I really join the Truth Society and become one of its leaders?”
Bai Fu sneered. “Even Carlisle from the Watchers Camp managed to become a high-ranking member of the Truth Society by selling out the Watchers Camp. You, Deputy Minister of the Intelligence Department of the Old Republic—don’t you think you’re more qualified?”
That hit a nerve.
Bullshit. No way he was less capable than that Carlisle!
“I’ll talk.”
Behim began spilling everything he knew like beans from a broken jar. He included the full list of names from the Psionic Diffusion Committee, as well as the current whereabouts of those individuals, their descendants, and followers.
Most of the factions represented by those people had already collapsed in the world war and the century of time since. The rest now belonged either to the Old Republic or the Gene Primordials.
The situation on the Gene Primordials’ side was unclear, but the remnants in the Old Republic were still dreaming of restoring past glory. They had been secretly researching Mutant technology, psionic application techniques, and various genetic technologies. Releasing a virus in the Tongshan Camp was one part of those plans.
Originally, the Old Republic was still debating whom to experiment on. While they were hesitating, Pratt came knocking. Wanting the Old Republic’s support, he sold out the others in the Tongshan Camp and cooperated with the Old Republic to use the camp residents as test subjects. That was pure villainy.
Because they had all done such despicable things, when the Truth Society and Gene Primordials were locked in fierce conflict—and the Gene Primordials were repeatedly exposed for harboring dark secrets—the Old Republic had no strong reaction. After all, the pot couldn’t call the kettle black.
Besides this intelligence, Bai Fu also extracted some inside info on the Psionic Diffusion Committee from Behim.
Before the war, all the major countries had come together to form the Psionic Diffusion Committee. It had established one main facility and three subdivisions, each tasked with researching different items retrieved from alien spaceships.
The main facility’s research subject was unknown. Subdivision No.1 focused on Mutant technology. Subdivision No.2 researched obsidian. Subdivision No.3 studied psionic knowledge.
Of these, the largest investment was made in Subdivision No.1.
Before the war broke out, Subdivision No.1 had produced a batch of exceptionally powerful Mutants. But due to some unknown cause, those Mutants rebelled, nearly destroying the facility. Afterwards, the committee destroyed those Mutants and sealed off Subdivision No.1.
However, although the facility was sealed, the techniques for creating special Mutants somehow leaked out.
This leak was one of the key triggers for the mutual suspicion among nations and, eventually, the outbreak of war.
“Interesting little tale.”
Just as Behim finished speaking, Bai Fu received a game notification.
【You have completed the hidden main storyline quest [Would-Be Savior] Branch 1 [Hatred of the Old Days], reward: 200,000 XP, Origin Star Exploration +0.5%, Recollection Fragment +1】
“Thank you.”
Bai Fu walked up to Behim and suddenly pulled out an electric knife, stabbing it straight into his abdomen.
Behim’s face contorted in horror. “What are you doing? Didn’t you say if I talked, I could join the Truth Society and become a high-ranking member?”
Bai Fu said, “I lied.”
Everyone was calling her the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night now, and one of the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night’s souls loved lying. She loved lying too. Nothing wrong with that!
Bai Fu quite liked that idea and decided to steal it outright. She wasn’t going to admit it openly—she’d just keep shaping the narrative and let the players draw their own conclusions.
Behim tried to resist, but his body was far too weak. Under the electric knife’s stimulation, his HP bar quickly hit zero. He died with his eyes wide open.
【You have slain Behim. Contribution 100%. Adjusted for level difference, you gained 220,000 XP】
A massive profit!
Bai Fu was delighted.
Thanks to the Truth Society, and thanks to the Truth Society President—it was amazing to have a scapegoat who could also scare people!
After digging a hole and burying Behim, Bai Fu opened the game prompt and tapped on the mentioned Recollection Fragment.
【Recollection Fragment – Psionic Research Institute Subdivision No.1 – Mutant Uprising】
【Recollection Description】: Psionic Research Institute Subdivision No.1 was a secret lab responsible for researching Mutant technology. You will play as a Mutant and attempt to escape the sealed lab with other Mutants.
【Level Requirement】: Lv35
Just as Bai Fu had initially suspected, the Recollection Fragment was indeed a dungeon.
Perfect. With this, she could level up much faster.
Class level, skill level…
Once all of those were maxed out, she wouldn’t need to borrow the Truth Society’s name anymore. She was Bai Fu. She was the best in the world!
But now wasn’t the time to celebrate. Bai Fu packed her things and made a run for it.
As she ran, she glanced at the faction channel. Thanks to the meticulous planning, not a single player had been captured alive. Every participating player had self-destructed and returned to the respawn point after completing their mission.
After a whole night of chaos, the Old Republic gained absolutely nothing.
That was the terrifying thing about players!
Just as Bai Fu was about to close the faction channel, she noticed a player had posted a link.
【Major Leak for Version 1.2 Update—Go Check It Out!】
She tapped the link immediately. She cared more than the players did about every bit of new content in each update.