Chapter 161: Origin Star, Your Queen Bai Fu Has Returned!
On her way to Ulysses Star, Bai Fu reviewed the gains from this mission.
After settling the commission, she now had a total of 100,000 Credit Coins. For ordinary people, this was a fortune, but for someone like her—already a gold-devouring beast—especially since she also supported another gold-devouring beast, Yulia, this amount was somewhat insufficient.
Bai Fu shook her head, then took out the dissociative elixir she had obtained from Singularity Company.
She entrusted the base formula to Yulia, who had considerable achievements in medicine; at this moment, Yulia was already interrogating some researchers they had casually captured.
Dissociative Elixir (Purity 56.2%): after use +5 Mental Force, +3 Intelligence; has a chance to trigger Mental Mutation.
Note: After four more uses, it will no longer provide attribute increases.
Without hesitation, Bai Fu injected herself with four doses of the elixir. She gained a total of 20 Mental Force and 12 Intelligence—but nothing else changed.
“I’m not a Mental Esper, so fusion rate must be very low. I need to find an item that increases the success rate.”
She called Anya over.
Also using the elixir, Anya—being a Mental Overclocker—gained 6 Mental Force per injection. Moreover, after the fourth dose, a new Talent appeared in Anya’s Talent List: Mental Mutation.
This Talent gave Anya an additional 10% Mental attribute bonus, and her Mental Shock now came with ripple vibration effects.
But that was not the strongest aspect of this Talent: Mental Mutation, like a racial evolution, had countless evolutionary branches. Breaking this limit meant Anya had more evolutionary possibilities. If she could roll a good evolutionary branch, combined with her original Mental Overclocker template, her Talent rating could instantly surge.
“Not easy,” Bai Fu murmured. Back when she and Anya could barely get enough to eat, now their progress on the path of evolution far outpaced many others.
At dinner, Bai Fu invited Fei Ye to eat together, but Fei Ye declined.
“S+‑rank Psionicist don’t need to eat? Or don’t trust my cooking, plan to rely on those nutrient gels that taste like nothing?”
Fei Ye shook her head. “Normal S‑rank Psionicists still need to eat. But I’m not normal. Void blood flows through my veins. The reason they call me Void Valkyrie is related to that.”
Void?
It was the first time Bai Fu heard that term in the game. She immediately thought of some Void Daughter. Thinking it over, with Fei Ye’s strong legs, wearing high‑shine leather pants like some KDA Void Daughter might look cool.
“Is Void related to Virtual Ladder Realm?” she humbly asked.
Fei Ye explained: “Virtual Ladder Realm is the supreme realm of Psionic faith. Void is an unknown space—perhaps a higher dimension, perhaps another universe. Life born of Void is unpredictable. I was infected with Void blood, which altered my racial traits. I exist between energy and matter. I can sustain myself by draining Void energy, so I don’t need to eat.”
Bai Fu had an epiphany. Nearby players listened with great interest—Fei Ye was the first S‑rank Psionicist they had encountered, and now they were extremely curious.
Several players tried to interview Fei Ye before dinner. This unexpected enthusiasm flustered Fei Ye.
Fei Ye didn’t mind, but as her loyal retainer, Green Sludge felt he should do something—
At least he should make these immortals respect their supervisor. After all, they were, nominally, her subordinates.
So after dinner Green Sludge sought out Bai Fu and told her about the players.
“Their nature is just like this. I’ll remind them to be more mindful,” Bai Fu said.
Green Sludge nodded. “Since you’ve officially joined Star Covenant, I’ll fill you in on Star Covenant and our supervisor. Compared to the other two transcendental forces in the border world, Star Covenant’s management is much looser. That relates to the personality of the Oathmaster—she likes staying home meditating, so her management is quite hands‑off. Oh, and one thing important: our supervisor was personally brought into Star Covenant by the Oathmaster. At that time the supervisor encountered a crisis, and the Oathmaster saved her.”
Then he explained Star Covenant’s internal structure and Fei Ye’s position.
Fei Ye belonged to the Operations Department of the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster under Star Covenant. That department had seven supervisors, each leading a team that carried out external missions. The supervisors had a semi-cooperative, semi‑competitive relationship.
“Supervisor Fei Ye has background and strength. By joining now, I’ve gained a massive benefit,” Bai Fu said with a smile.
She had returned, and it felt like everything had returned—from the time the Truth Society’s president died, she hadn’t felt the warmth of the ranking first male or female players in a long time.
However, Green Sludge’s reaction was strange. After being complimented, his expression grew peculiar.
“Actually… how should I say it, supervisor she…”
“How so?”
Green Sludge hesitated for a long time, then told the truth.
In short, Fei Ye’s situation wasn’t as good as everyone thought. Because she was brought into Star Covenant by the Oathmaster, many people initially had high hopes for her and expected her to quickly break through to Catastrophe rank. But she remained stuck at S+ for several years, unable to make that crucial breakthrough. During that time, the Oathmaster—whether she grew distant from Fei Ye, or became addicted to staying home—forgot to contact her. Fei Ye became marginalized in Star Covenant.
Her cultivation had stagnated, and her career kept hitting roadblocks. She was loyal and protective, and seemed like a good boss, but she was terrible at management. Over time, many subordinates left, leaving behind only those who, like Green Sludge, had received her kindness.
The good news: now Fei Ye’s remaining subordinates were brave and fearless, with full combat will.
The bad news: Fei Ye had very few subordinates now.
Bai Fu fell silent.
Just as well.
She had never expected Fei Ye to help her complete tasks. She joined Star Covenant mainly to leverage Star Covenant’s and Fei Ye’s banner to reduce unnecessary trouble, and perhaps gain resources harder to get when solo. Now the situation was great for her.
The more awkward Fei Ye’s position, the more important she and the players would seem. Then her freedom would be greater.
Moreover, the “Empress” position was weak. As her loyal but cunning minister’s schemes worked, one day she might overthrow the Empress.
……
Half a day later, the ship reached Ulysses.
To strike fear into those slave traders, Fei Ye deliberately made a flamboyant entrance with Vic at the starport.
Vic was moved to tears. If it weren’t for Bai Fu, he and the other Ulyssians would probably already have fallen into endless disaster.
In that moment, he fully accepted Bai Fu as his leader.
“I must do everything to protect her. Only if she lives can Ulysses have hope.”
Just as he pledged that vow to Bai Fu, Bai Fu received a new main quest mission.
Ulysses Glory Restored
This quest had several branches: rescue Ulyssians stranded outside, rebuild Ulysses, cultivate talent for Ulysses, and make Ulysses’s name renowned.
The quest types were diverse. Though rewards weren’t explicitly listed, judging by the difficulty they wouldn’t be few. Bai Fu didn’t plan to personally execute this mission—it would take too much time, especially the “rescue stranded Ulyssians” branch, which alone would cost a lot of time just traveling.
She planned to leave this quest to the players. As the quest sharer, as long as the players could complete it, she would get a share of the rewards.
Moreover, this would earn her some favorability from the players. She had just entered the Star Sea and hadn’t even figured out the situation, yet she was already feeding the main quest right into the players’ mouths.
This level of attentiveness was comparable to bottle-feeding a baby. If the players still didn’t show gratitude, it would be quite rude.
After the ship landed, Bai Fu and Vic were warmly welcomed.
On the way here, Vic had already informed his people that the Singularity Company had been wiped out.
The hospitable Ulyssians brought out their treasured food and held an extremely grand welcoming ceremony.
Bai Fu was already used to this kind of situation. She had experienced it many times back on Origin Star.
By contrast, Fei Ye seemed visibly uncomfortable.
“This is my first time.”
Her face flushed rosy. The oppressive aura brought by her status and strength faded slightly, replaced by a trace of youthful adorableness.
Bai Fu reassured her, “It’s normal to feel a little out of place your first time. You’ll get used to it after a few more.”
Fei Ye nodded and was just about to say something when her communicator suddenly rang.
“Herbert?” Her expression changed slightly. She hesitated but answered the call. “What is it?”
The hologram that appeared before them was a man with shriveled, bark-like skin and a frame as thin as a peach branch.
“There are only ten days left before the agreed time. What are you suddenly doing on Ulysses? Everyone else is already en route. As the host, you better not be late.”
“I won’t be late.” Fei Ye put on a carefree attitude. “I’ll set out tomorrow to meet up with you.”
“This time’s situation is different from before. If you mess up, it won’t just affect your monthly rating, it’ll also tarnish the image of Star Covenant.”
“Alright, alright, I know that already.”
Fei Ye gave a short snort, looking relaxed, but Bai Fu noticed her toes clenching tight enough to snap a blade of grass underfoot.
Whoa. That fierce?
“If you understand, then good.” Herbert nodded and ended the call.
Bai Fu asked, “A quest?”
Fei Ye shook her head. “A commission from the Star Web Commonwealth. They need help resisting a Flood Demon. You all don’t need to worry about this one. I can handle it myself. Since you’re new here, go get familiar with the situation under Green Sludge’s guidance first.”
With that, she stood and called Green Sludge over.
Through Green Sludge, Bai Fu gained a deeper understanding of the situation.
Not long ago, the Star Web Commonwealth issued a commission to Star Covenant, hoping for assistance in fending off an increasingly intense Flood Demon.
The Operations Department of the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster immediately dispatched five supervisors to handle the crisis.
The two people earlier were among them.
On the surface, this commission wasn’t a competition and emphasized cooperation.
But since it was an official operation, the supervisors’ performances were bound to be ranked.
Due to a serious lack of subordinates, Fei Ye had consistently ranked last out of the seven supervisors for the past seven months.
This deeply frustrated her. She had been holding it in, hoping to turn things around spectacularly during this Star Web Commonwealth commission.
Bai Fu was confused. “If she wants a comeback, why not involve us in the operation?”
“Resisting a Flood Demon is no easy task—it has an extremely high casualty rate. Supervisor likely didn’t want to scare you off by assigning such a high-risk task right from the start, just like the others before. Supervisor has been seriously reflecting on her shortcomings, it’s just…” Green Sludge looked worried.
And who wouldn’t be?
She was probably going to end up at the bottom again this time. The more times she ranked last, the more pressure she would face, and that pressure was leading her down a spiral of anxiety. It was becoming a vicious cycle.
“I see.” Bai Fu nodded. “Although the Flood Demon is terrifying, my followers are immortals. I think they could make significant contributions to this commission.”
Green Sludge shook his head regretfully. “They may be immortals, but against a swarm of bugs covering the sky, their numbers are far too small. It’s hard to make a real impact right now. They still need to grow.”
Bai Fu couldn’t help but laugh.
True, those ninety-some players were few—but who said that was all she had?
“What if I can bring more immortals?”
“What?” Green Sludge was stunned. “More immortals? You mean that’s not all of them?”
“That’s right. As long as you can lend me a ship capable of withstanding Twisted Space incursion, I can bring a steady stream of immortals from my second homeland!”
Bai Fu was full of confidence. She realized this was the perfect opportunity to go to Origin Star and bring more players into the Star Sea, so she went all in.
Green Sludge asked instinctively, “How many can you bring?”
Bai Fu raised two fingers.
“Two hundred?”
“No, given enough time, I can bring at least 200,000 immortals!”
What the—?!
When he heard the number 200,000, Green Sludge was completely dumbfounded.
He suspected either he had gone mad and was hallucinating, or Bai Fu had gone mad and was spouting nonsense.
Damn it, 200,000 immortals weren’t 200,000 pigs!
Gathering that many immortals—even if they were all just C-rank Psionicists—would form a force capable of overturning everything!
Green Sludge’s intense reaction caught Fei Ye’s attention as she hesitated nearby.
She quickly ran over, afraid Bai Fu and Green Sludge had quarreled and split on bad terms.
“What happened?”
Bai Fu explained the situation before Green Sludge could.
What the—?!
Fei Ye was dumbfounded too, though her thoughts were a bit different from Green Sludge’s.
Two hundred thousand?
She couldn’t even manage 200 properly. If 200,000 immortals showed up at once... she would break.
“I’ve no reason to lie about something like this.” Bai Fu smiled. “It’s easy to verify. From here to my second homeland, with a fast enough ship, it only takes six or seven days round-trip. You might worry I’d run off with the ship. How about this—I’ll leave most of the immortals here. Oh, and my sister Hei Fu too. While I’m gone to pick people up, I’ll have her stay behind. That way you don’t have to worry about me taking the ship and fleeing.”
Fei Ye paused. That was indeed a very reassuring arrangement.
But the real issue wasn’t that. She had just recruited Bai Fu and already ran into a trust issue.
If Bai Fu disappeared like those others did, she would really cough up blood.
“A single ship isn’t a big deal. With my rank, I can authorize it. I trust you. There’s no need to leave a hostage.”
Fei Ye showed magnanimity.
Green Sludge grew anxious. He kept winking at Fei Ye, but she acted as if she didn’t see it.
In the end, Bai Fu stood up and insisted on leaving a hostage, because that was the sincere thing to do.
Looking into Bai Fu’s clear eyes, Fei Ye felt she truly had incredible luck, and Green Sludge also showed deep respect.
What openness and integrity.
“Right, earlier you mentioned that your second homeland experienced a great catastrophe due to Psionic overflow.”
Fei Ye contacted the Operations Department and asked one of her other subordinates to bring the ship over, along with some instruments capable of purifying Psionic energy.
Bai Fu quickly expressed her gratitude. “I’ll definitely bring back enough immortals before the commission begins!”
Fei Ye replied, “No rush. Even if you can’t make it in time, it’s fine. Just don’t get into an accident from being in too much of a hurry.”
After saying this, the two of them locked eyes, emotions swelling—they both felt like old friends who should have met long ago.
Fei Ye: The people from the Dark Zone are so sincere. I’m touched.
Bai Fu: People from the universe are so sincere and easy to trick. I'm cracking up.
If Fei Ye ever found out that Hei Fu wasn’t really her sister, but just a True Spirit Bai Fu summoned who could resurrect even after death, she’d probably scream “Give me back my feelings!” while using her feet to choke Bai Fu to death.
After agreeing on a meeting location for when she returned, Bai Fu went to find Yulia, Anya, and Digging Chick to explain the situation.
“Going back?”
Digging Chick’s eyes lit up. She immediately opened the community interface, ready to announce the news.
Bai Fu stopped all the players who had similar intentions. “Don’t rush. A day or two won’t make a difference. Let’s not tell everyone on Origin Star just yet. When we suddenly appear, it’ll be a nice surprise.”
This was the perfect chance to stir hype and build popularity. Bai Fu certainly wasn’t going to treat it casually.
She had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
The first time she left Origin Star, she was a pioneer of the Star Sea Era, a spokesperson for the Galaxy Version. Those titles sounded impressive but didn’t mean much, because most players assumed her storyline had come to an end and that she was no longer the protagonist of the version.
But now it was different. When she appeared over Origin Star piloting a massive spaceship, what would players think?
Bai Fu: I’ve mastered the method to travel from Origin Star to the Star Sea. I’ve also prepared a full main quest in the Star Sea. Besides that, there’s also a tower defense quest about bug extermination. Tell me—am I the protagonist or not? Don’t I feel more like the protagonist than those who are still stuck on the newbie planets?
Currently, all the players were eagerly waiting for version 2.0. If they found out they could travel en masse to the Star Sea without needing version 2.0, the hype would be unstoppable. As the one leading this, her popularity would skyrocket too.
Right now was the perfect time to harvest a wave of player enthusiasm and push her level to the peak of A-rank in one stroke.
The next day, a spaceship nearly a kilometer long landed on Ulysses Star.
After completing the handover with Fei Ye, Bai Fu took Anya, Yulia, Digging Chick, and a few players who wanted to return, and set off along the route back to Origin Star.
This ship’s warp speed was several times faster than that worn-out freighter from Fragment Star. As a result, it only took them two days to reach orbit above Origin Star.
“It’s been two months. I wonder how much Origin Star has changed.”
The spaceship passed through the atmosphere and flew toward the Goli Desert.
Before long, the ship broke through thick cloud cover.
“Holy crap, a spaceship?!”
At the door of Anya’s Mysterious Shop, a player who was in the middle of shopping looked up, saw the spaceship, and fell flat on his back in shock.
He was completely stunned. Why was such a massive spaceship appearing here?
Within a minute, everyone inside their homes had run out upon hearing the commotion.
Not only that, news of the spaceship’s appearance spread quickly to the major factions: the Rail Union, Old Republic, Human Alliance, and the Dark Web. Leaders of each faction immediately held online meetings to discuss their response.
Players scattered around the world were also buzzing on forums and the world channel.
This was no ordinary incident. There was a real chance Origin Star was about to face an alien invasion—a planetary defense war could break out.
The problem was—could they even win?
They had barely managed to beat Fragment Star with Bai Fu’s help. Now Bai Fu was gone, and this incoming spaceship was dozens of times larger than the one from Fragment Star. How were they supposed to fight that?
Despair began to spread.
Just as Origin Star was thriving again, why were they facing another crisis?
While Su Li and the others were at their wits’ end, an even more explosive piece of news arrived in the meeting room.
It was a video that showed the spaceship landing just outside Bai Fu Town. Then, the hatch opened, a staircase lowered, and a foot wrapped in high heels stepped out.
It was a foot as delicate as a work of art, but no one paid it any mind now. All attention was on the owner of that foot.
“That face... Isn’t that Bai Fu?!”
The meeting room exploded.
No way.
That woman—that Queen of Origin Star—was back!
In just a few minutes, the news of Bai Fu’s return to Origin Star spread across the entire planet and throughout the player community.