Chapter 164: True Female Lead Bai Fu Descends, Fourth Calamity VS Traditional Calamity
Tianhu Star was located at the tip of the 2nd spiral arm of the Sea Lion System. Although its location seemed remote, Tianhu Star was by no means an insignificant backwater planet.
On one hand, there was a wormhole near Tianhu Star. This wormhole used to be one of the most crucial channels for communication between various civilizations in the Sea Lion System, akin to the "Silk Road" of the Star Web Commonwealth.
On the other hand, when the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster broke out into a civilization war, the Star Web Commonwealth had once forcefully repelled the predecessor of the Truth Society, the Ghost Civilization, on Tianhu Star, protecting the galaxy from the ravages of war.
These two facts made Tianhu Star weigh heavily in the hearts of those in the Star Web Commonwealth.
Precisely because of this, upon learning that Tianhu Star was also suffering from a large-scale Flood Disaster, the Star Web Commonwealth Joint Council immediately dispatched an elite force for support and issued commissions to multiple universal powers.
The Star Covenant was one of them. Besides the Star Covenant, they also hired multiple renowned mercenary groups and Private Armed Companies, including the Red Moon Mercenary Group. This time, they had truly gone all in.
There was no other way. In recent years, the situation for the Star Web Commonwealth had been rather dire.
The Truth Society lurked in the shadows, eyeing them covetously, frequently jumping out to stir up small incidents. Although not highly destructive, it constantly exhausted them.
While the Truth Society caused chaos, the Flood Disaster's erosion of the Sea Lion System became increasingly frequent. In just the past fifty years, eight planets in the Sea Lion System had been devoured by the Flood Disaster, turning into paradises for Stellar Beasts and the Insect Swarm of the Dark Zone. And this was with their continuous efforts against the calamity — otherwise, the losses would have been far greater.
“We can’t let this situation continue. This time, our objective is to attract the attention of the Insect Swarm of the Dark Zone invading the Sea Lion System as much as possible on Tianhu Star, buying time for the main fleet to assemble secretly and strike down the insect nest hidden near the Sea Lion System in one fell swoop. Only by eradicating the bug problem can we gather enough strength to handle the increasingly frequent harassment by the Truth Society!”
Inside the temporary command center on Tianhu Star, the frontline commander of the Star Web Commonwealth, Manu, swung his fully mechanically modified right arm with force.
After completing the final mobilization, Bai Fu successfully triggered the Commission Quest through Hei Fu who remained at Fei Ye’s side.
【Like a Flood】
【Quest Description: Tianhu Star is currently being eroded by the Flood Disaster. You have accepted the Star Web Commonwealth’s commission and will fight for Tianhu Star!】
【Quest Objectives:
Fortify the Frontlines - Repel the first probing assault of the Insect Swarm of the Dark Zone. Rewards based on contribution;
Never Fall - Ensure all three lines of defense hold for ten days (Remaining Time: 239:59:59). Rewards based on duration and integrity of defense;
Glorious Battle Soul - Receive 200,000 XP for each mature bug slain;
Beast’s Demise - Defeat a biological warship of the Insect Swarm of the Dark Zone. Rewards based on contribution;
Buy Time - Gain time for the main fleet of the Star Web Commonwealth to assemble (Current Progress: 0%). Rewards based on your squad’s contribution】
【Hidden Reward: Unlock when Faction Reputation reaches 300】
“Good heavens!”
After reading the detailed quest description, Bai Fu couldn’t help but gasp.
She never expected this Commission Quest to be so formal — it had five regular objectives and one hidden one. What’s more, this quest involved all four major factions: the Star Web Commonwealth, the Insect Swarm of the Dark Zone, the Truth Society, and the Star Covenant. Its direction would largely determine the Star Web Commonwealth’s next moves.
A bold guess suddenly sprouted in her heart——
Let’s just say, isn’t it possible this Commission Quest is actually a prerequisite for the main storyline of the Sea Lion System in the upcoming Version 2.0?!
Bai Fu trembled all over with excitement, her toes curling involuntarily from being too thrilled.
It had arrived, that familiar feeling!
A main quest on a Beginner Planet had already earned her a fortune. What kind of generous rewards would a main storyline spanning a whole star system, or even a galaxy cluster, bring?
Just thinking about it almost made Bai Fu faint.
Among the factions commissioned by the Star Web Commonwealth, the lowest in reputation and strength were on par with the Crystalite, like the Red Moon Mercenary Group. And she, the leader of a Private Armed Company that had only completed one commission, in the eyes of the Star Web Commonwealth, wasn’t even qualified to drive a Mazda — more like someone riding a three-wheeler. Normally, she’d never have had a seat at the table.
“Good thing I accepted Fei Ye’s invitation.”
The top-ranked Big-sister leader was finally going all out!
If she wasn’t afraid of being kicked into orbit by Fei Ye, Bai Fu would’ve rushed up and planted a kiss on her right then and there.
“You… are you okay?”
Just as Bai Fu was overwhelmed with excitement, Yulia’s voice rang out.
It was quite bizarre.
She had been standing perfectly fine just a moment ago, then suddenly started trembling. Anyone would’ve thought she and Yulia were doing some experiment together — but clearly, Bai Fu hadn’t done a thing.
Bai Fu waved her hand carelessly. “What could happen to me? You, on the other hand, make sure to keep your body in top condition. This commission is extremely important. I’ll likely be relying on your healing abilities quite a lot.”
“News came in from that side?” Yulia asked.
Bai Fu nodded. “Gather all the Undying Ones. It’s time to explain the situation to them.”
Yulia did as told. A few minutes later, all the Players gathered in the ship’s mid-level recreation hall. Bai Fu stood on the stage, scanning the room, feeling like a principal giving a Monday flag-raising speech.
She cleared her throat, then relayed what Manu had just said. While doing so, she shared the Commission Quest she had received with the Players.
“Whoa, we’re starting off with something this big?”
The Players were stunned. They had high hopes for this journey across the Star Sea, but getting such a lucrative advanced quest right off the bat still caught them off guard.
When some of the Players posted screenshots of the quest on the Community, it immediately sparked heated discussions.
These discussions were brimming with jealousy.
【Holy crap, I worked my ass off all day on my main storyline quest, and compared to Bai Fu’s casually-issued mission, mine’s trash】
【So this is what a high-level map looks like. The protagonist who entered the Star Sea really is stronger than those who didn’t】
【I want to join the Star Sea Win Party too! Damn it, next time I’ll definitely win win win!】
Seeing the replies, the original poster laughed heartily.
Jealous, aren’t you?
But tough luck — only those who won during the test could join this party. From now on, just watch how we follow Fu-fu’s lead and win big at the grand Win Party personally hosted by Fu-fu!
A single quest effortlessly stirred up the emotions of Players aboard the ship, on Origin Star, and elsewhere — this was Bai Fu’s strength.
As the Succubus of the Star Sea, Bai Fu’s skills at enticing Players went far beyond this.
Wagging a little tail or wiggling her toes were just basic moves. Her real killing blow could make Players’ blood boil instantly.
Why do Players play games?
To feel awesome!
What a coincidence — she could now let the Players feel awesome.
Appearing suddenly with the Players while Fei Ye was scrambling for manpower had two advantages.
The first was that she could boost Fei Ye’s favorability and highlight her own importance. The second was that it would greatly enhance the narrative immersion for these Players who had just left a Beginner Planet and knew nothing about the Star Sea.
To be able to participate in a major quest right after arriving in the Star Sea, and even play the role of a savior in the mission, be surrounded and praised by NPCs — this extraordinary gameplay experience, if it didn’t make Players’ blood boil with excitement, Bai Fu would perform a live juicing of Yulia on the spot!
“In this day and age, there really aren’t many NPCs like me who think about the Player experience at all times. Developers better take a few more looks at me during the next update. I’ve bled for the popularity of this game!”
Bai Fu secretly smirked.
Of course, the reason she racked her brain to improve the Player experience was far from altruistic. It wasn’t because she was some saint who liked handing out goodies. Her main goal was to shape this group of Players into a model — to send a message to the rest:
Watch closely — this is how awesome it is to follow Fu‑fu!
That way, when Version 2.0 launched and other Players entered the Star Sea, they would instinctively compare their own experiences with those of this group.
And how would the comparison go?
Bai Fu had absolute confidence that they wouldn’t measure up. By then, her popularity would surely explode again. What she needed to do before that happened was to boost her reputation and presence in the main storyline as much as possible. Once that happened, just let Ji dig up and promote it a couple of times, and many Players would come to believe she was the protagonist not only in the Sea Lion System, but also in the edge worlds.
With that recognition, everything else would go much more smoothly.
“Everyone, get ready. We’re heading out to provide support at any moment!”
After instructing the Players, Bai Fu flashed into her room to make final preparations.
And by preparations, it really meant observing the situation on Tianhu Star through Hei Fu and the livestreams of the Players on site.
The reason why the disasters triggered by the Insect Swarm of the Dark Zone and the Stellar Beasts were called Flood Disasters was mainly due to the fact that once the Insect Swarm launched an assault, they came down like a mountain flood — fast and overwhelming.
With massive numbers, fearless combat will, and bizarre, ever-changing abilities, these combined to become a nightmare across the Star Sea. Let alone the Star Web Commonwealth — even the Three Universal Civilizations had to flinch when facing an ultra-S-class Flood Disaster.
The best way to deal with a Flood Disaster was to deploy a massive mechanical force. The Star Web Commonwealth did have a large mechanical force, but as a normal star-system-level civilization, the mechanical forces at their disposal — in both grade and number — were insufficient to overwhelm the Insect Swarm of the Dark Zone. But the real issue wasn’t that — it was that this Flood Disaster had erupted in multiple locations simultaneously, forcing the Star Web Commonwealth to allocate more mechanical troops to places without mercenary presence.
As a result, the primary combat forces on Tianhu Star ranked, from strongest to weakest, as follows: mercenaries hired from various regions, military fortresses, elite interstellar warrior legions, and the local garrison of Tianhu Star.
“Attention, we have no reinforcements — no reinforcements! We must hold out for half a month without any!”
“We can’t retreat anymore. If we give up Tianhu Star today, we might abandon our birthplace tomorrow. We must stop the Flood Disaster here!”
“Unless absolutely necessary, the fleet will not move. We have to wait — wait for the Insect Swarm’s biological warships and brain bugs to get impatient and show themselves before we strike. We must not let them escape, or they’ll return in no time!”
Manu was giving his final mobilization. His every gesture exuded confidence, but truthfully, even he — let alone the supervisors of the Star Covenant — couldn’t guarantee this commission would succeed.
“The Star Web Commonwealth never said this Flood Disaster would be this huge. Even a brain bug showed up.”
Brain bugs were intelligent Insects of the Dark Zone.
After the mobilization, Fei Ye climbed onto the mechanical wall of the first defensive line. Looking into the distance at the densely packed swarm of bugs that resembled a moving wall, even she, who normally popped champagne at halftime, felt her heart sink.
It wasn’t that she feared being killed by those bugs. She was S+ rank, after all — unless one of those disaster-class bugs was hiding in the swarm or she was overwhelmed in a tight spot by dozens or hundreds of adult bugs at once, she could easily retreat even if she couldn’t win.
The problem was that this commission wasn’t about running fast — it was about defending well.
How to defend?
Fei Ye had a headache.
She glanced behind her. There was only her, Green Sludge, a dozen old subordinates, Hei Fu, and a few dozen Undying Ones.
This few people couldn’t even fill up the wall. Defending against a flood-like insect wave with this was pure suffering.
“At this rate, I won’t be able to go on the offensive at all. The moment I leave, this section of wall will fall for sure.”
Flames began to flicker in Fei Ye’s eyes. For someone who loved charging into fights, being forced to stay in the rear was absolute torture.
So the thing that’s torturing you is not being able to attack, only defend?
Hearing Fei Ye’s words, Bai Fu rolled her eyes.
But truth be told, that wasn’t the only thing tormenting Fei Ye.
“Want me to lend you some people?”
“I trust your strength. I believe you’ll hold this wall just fine. And you can rest assured — we’ll take care of any adult bugs trying to approach midway.”
Several supervisors, including Herbert, looked at Fei Ye with eyes full of confidence, occasionally saying things that seemed caring or approving.
But Fei Ye wasn’t just a straightforward person — she knew she wasn’t busty or brainless. She understood very well these people were mocking her.
Ahhh—
Forget it.
Fei Ye swallowed it back. What else could she do — beat them up now?
She could probably win a duel with any of those supervisors, but she wasn’t the type to damage the harmony within the Star Covenant over personal grudges.
She had been brought into the Star Covenant by the Oathkeeper. The Oathkeeper hadn’t contacted her in a long while — maybe he had forgotten her. But she hadn’t forgotten the favor he had shown her. As long as the Star Covenant remained the Oathkeeper’s Star Covenant, she wouldn’t do anything to harm its interests.
“Guarding a wall is nothing. Easy. But you guys, don’t come begging me for help later after talking so big now.”
Fei Ye huffed and turned away.
Herbert and the others chuckled. As if that would ever happen — just play your role as a support pillar.
Since the Flood Disaster was coming in strong, they didn’t linger long around Fei Ye.
Watching their retreating backs, Fei Ye deliberately gave them a vicious glare, then sat down.
“Let’s guard then. With me here, unless the Flood Disaster scales up again, this place is rock solid!”
The Players nearby looked at each other. If Fei Ye wasn’t going on the offensive, they’d be stuck sitting on the wall watching the show too.
No denying it — the insect-type disasters were truly terrifying.
Upon closer inspection, Players realized these bugs weren’t ordinary carbon-based lifeforms. They were many in number, wildly diverse. Some excelled at digging, others at flying. Some had shell defense, some excelled at melee assault. And some absurd bugs could even battle the Star Web Commonwealth’s aerial bombing units just by “spitting”.
“One spit took down a flier? What the hell kind of spit is that?”
“Damn! That interstellar warrior got sliced in half — armor and body both — by a single scythe!”
“That thing looks like a tentacle monster — and it drinks blood too!”
The battle against the Insect Swarm of the Dark Zone was extremely fierce. After all, it was the first round of confrontation between both sides. Even though the Star Web Commonwealth had reserved a lot of backup forces, they still held the upper hand in the fight. Yet, the bloody nature of this battle was already apparent.
The elite interstellar warriors possessed formidable individual strength, capable of sweeping through large swathes of bugs in a single strike. With the aid of various laser blasts and firepower, they became even more aggressive. However, no matter how fierce they were, if they slipped up even once or got unlucky and let a single bug slip past, the result would be a tragic end of face-hugging kills or being torn to shreds.
Blood and insect mucus mixed into a stew — disgusting with a hint of dread.
“No wonder they all say the Flood Disaster is terrifying!”
The Players standing on the front lines looked extremely serious. In a short time, they had discovered that the bugs possessed terrifying near-death methods like parasitism, venom-spitting, and self-detonation, often dragging nearby NPCs to death with them. Facing such monsters, perhaps the NPCs could remain brave at the start, but over time, their mental defenses would inevitably be severely tested.
“To deal with a calamity, you need another calamity!”
Watching the battlefield through Hei Fu, Bai Fu commented after glancing at the bugs and the Players.
Finally, her gaze landed on Fei Ye.
She observed very carefully — every time a Player commented on the battlefield, Fei Ye’s brows would twitch, sometimes her body would shudder slightly. That intense and tense posture reminded Bai Fu involuntarily of holding in a full bladder.
Good heavens, that felt unexpectedly exciting. Now that she thought about it, this “bladder-holding play” of Fei Ye’s was something they were doing together. After all, if Bai Fu had charged in with the Players earlier, Fei Ye wouldn’t have had to hold back like this.
No rush — let’s toy with Fei Ye a bit more.
Wait until the insect tide got a little closer to the wall. Only then would unleashing the Players maximize their effect. Being closer to the wall meant being near the resurrection point — if Players died in battle, they could respawn and charge back immediately. If too far, the time lost running back would severely impact reinforcement speed and negate their advantage.
Bai Fu actually quite enjoyed watching Fei Ye holding it in — that little movement where her eyes would suddenly snap open to look into the distance, then quickly close again.
Time slowly passed.
Just as Fei Ye was about to burst, her hips constantly lifting off and dropping back onto her chair, Bai Fu summoned the Ship AI.
“Contact Green Sludge and the Star Web Commonwealth command on Tianhu Star. Tell them we’re here — prepare for landing!”
One minute later.
“What? Bai Fu is back?”
Green Sludge was stunned when he got the news. He genuinely thought Bai Fu had taken the ship and fled. He didn’t expect her to actually keep her word.
Fei Ye shot up. She raised her head and stared directly at the sky.
“Tell Manu to grant immediate clearance!”
Her body tensed up even more.
She didn’t know how many people Bai Fu had brought. If it was too few, it would solve nothing. Also, did those people Bai Fu brought really all have resurrection abilities?
Her mind was in a whirl — she had held it in too long, to the point of dizziness.
After receiving Fei Ye’s message, Manu did not make things difficult for Bai Fu. The ship slowly passed through the aerial control formation composed of numerous aircraft. As it traveled, the hatch suddenly opened.
“Hm?”
Fei Ye froze for a moment, unsure of what Bai Fu was planning.
Standing at the hatch, Bai Fu glanced at the many Players behind her.
“Follow me!”
I’ll take you to become dazzling heroes!
She turned around and was the first to jump out of the open hatch.
The next second, the Players onboard lined up and followed — one, two, three… Players jumped out of the ship one after another.
Die from the fall?
Impossible. They had all bought Wings of Freedom, the product Bai Fu launched in the store a while ago!
“What’s this?”
From afar, Herbert and the others noticed the change. They looked up in astonishment, clueless about what was happening.
Didn’t Manu say there were no reinforcements?
“They’re with the Void Valkyrie.”
Upon receiving Manu’s reply, they were dumbfounded.
Fei Ye?
Wasn’t she very protective of her subordinates and didn’t want to put them in danger? Why had she suddenly summoned them?
Very quickly, they realized something was off — too many people were jumping from the ship, one after another, seemingly endless.
These people could not possibly be Fei Ye’s original subordinates!
They slid through the sky like high-speed descending drop pods, gliding directly toward the insect tide about to hit the wall where Fei Ye stood.
Boom!
A violent explosion blasted countless bugs into the air, clearing a space. When the dust settled, everyone could finally see the figures that had descended from above.
They looked like ordinary humanoids of the cosmos. Their clothing was plain, not even uniformed. Their weapons varied. At first glance, they looked like a ragtag band.
But just as others were thinking that, they charged toward the Insect Swarm of the Dark Zone with war cries. They were even more fearless than the bugs, colder than machines. Every one of them was a peak C-rank Psionicist. As they swung their blades, the entire battlefield trembled. The insects at the salient began to retreat.
“Aren’t they afraid of death?”
Herbert and the other Star Covenant supervisors were stunned, fear flickering in their eyes.
At that moment, Bai Fu landed gracefully beside Fei Ye. A brilliant smile bloomed on her face. “I’m back. Leave this place to me. Director Fei Ye, you may now go all out.”
Fei Ye trembled with excitement.
Good. Very good!
After holding back for so long, she could finally let loose!
To her, Bai Fu was now bathed in holy light — a true goddess!