Chapter 179: Star Sea's True Heroine Appears? Or Is Baifu More Popular!
Cersia — to most of the people at Shijing Corporation, this name was extremely unfamiliar.
It wasn’t an especially rare name in itself, but none of Shijing Corporation’s major clients had it.
So when a woman dressed in a tight-fitting cocktail dress, wearing a wide-brimmed black lace hat and black lace gloves — a look quite reminiscent of the Rebirth Empire’s style — appeared at Shijing Corporation’s front desk and claimed to be their most important guest, the receptionist was utterly baffled.
Who?
“This lady, we…”
Cersia reached out, her fingers gently sliding across the receptionist’s cheek.
“You don’t need to question anything. Just inform your board of directors that I’ve arrived.”
The chill from her fingertips spread rapidly, making the receptionist shiver. In that moment, she felt her mind slip into a dazed stupor, with only one thought left in her head—
Big Sis Cersia is heaven itself. I must obey Big Sis Cersia!
So, she stepped forward and pressed the reception button, reporting Cersia’s arrival.
Several minutes later.
Inside Shijing Corporation’s boardroom, no one dared to even breathe loudly. All eyes were nervously fixed on the woman sitting at the head seat, one leg casually crossed over the other.
She had a face none of them recognized — but appearances didn’t matter. One of the Night Mother’s greatest traits was her ability to alter her appearance at will, a power derived from her precise control over life and flesh.
After a long while, Chairman Simor of Shijing Corporation cautiously asked,
“What instructions does the Chief Steward have this time?”
Shijing Corporation had become one of the most renowned security firms in the Sea Lion Galaxy, thanks in no small part to the backing of the Secret Tower. That was why Simor didn’t dare oppose the Secret Tower’s will.
Cersia tossed out the plan the Chief Steward had given her. “I’m here in the Sea Lion Galaxy to retrieve the Original Sample that Singularity Corporation lost — and to complete a few minor tasks while I’m at it.”
Simor took the plan, scanning it quickly. “That would be the Original Sample that’s likely in Baifu’s hands now?”
Cersia nodded lightly.
Simor frowned slightly. “There’s something I haven’t had the chance to report yet. The True Spirit Pillar that went missing over a century ago might have returned — and Baifu seems to be somewhat involved.”
He promptly relayed everything to Cersia: Fragment Star’s return to the Sea Lion Galaxy and his threats of revenge, as well as the fact that members of the Holy Blessing Cult had approached Baifu, hoping she would let her undead subordinates investigate Fragment Star’s movements.
“Hmm?”
Cersia uncrossed her leg and sat up straight.
Just now, she had suddenly thought of a plan. If it succeeded, she could recover both the True Spirit Pillar and the Original Sample — and also exact a brutal revenge on that wretched pair, Baifu and Hiye.
“Send a commission invitation to Baifu. Ask her to help us find Fragment Star.”
Simor was momentarily stunned. “Given Baifu’s righteous and unbending character, if she’s reached an agreement with the Holy Blessing Cult, I’m afraid she’ll stop paying any attention to our commission — especially since we’re at odds with them.”
Cersia propped her cheek on her right hand. “Who knows if she’ll really refuse? And even if she does, it doesn’t matter. This excuse just gives me the perfect reason to approach her with a brand-new face.”
Righteous to the core?
That’s just her type.
If it weren’t for that, Cersia wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to get close to Baifu.
Simor nodded vaguely in understanding. The Night Mother had spoken this much — all he had to do now was follow orders.
……
At the same time.
On a desolate planet near Ulysses Star.
Two ships landed one after the other beside a molten red surface. In the clearing between the vessels, Baifu met the representatives sent by the Holy Blessing Cult.
There were eleven of them in total.
The leading man and woman were dressed completely differently from the others.
They wore white, ankle-length robes with wide sleeves, trimmed in gold. Around their necks were gold X-shaped pendants, and three small golden light pillars floated behind their heads. The man wore trousers and tall, laced boots, while the woman wore creamy-white thigh-high stockings tucked into her robe — the exact style unclear — along with pointed black leather shoes studded with small golden rivets.
This was Baifu’s first time meeting them, but she already knew their names and identities. In the days she’d spent waiting for the Holy Blessing Cult’s arrival, she had scoured the internet for related information.
The man was Elron, the Holy Son of the Holy Blessing Cult, a vertical-pupil demi-human. The woman was Sui Xi, head of the Sacred Music Ensemble of the Cult, from the Tide Civilization — her skin was a clear, pale blue, almost like water. She looked quite like a water spirit, incredibly graceful.
Both of them held extremely high status within the Holy Blessing Cult. Baifu never expected they’d be the ones leading the negotiations — but what surprised her even more was that, after using Psionic Perception on Elron and Sui Xi, she discovered both of them had the [Lucky Star] trait.
Based on her experience on Primeval Star, and her recent forum stalking, she was now more than 95% certain that NPCs with this trait were actually [Protagonists] from major storylines.
Well, damn.
It would’ve been surprising enough to run into one protagonist — but both at once?
She wasn’t sure if they were hidden storyline protagonists like Pratt, or accessible main storyline characters like Xia Shi.
While Baifu was secretly speculating, the players who’d come along with her to watch the scene — as well as those watching via livestream — burst into amazement.
[Whoa, those floating light pillars behind their heads are so cool. I want that kind of special effect too!]
[Dammit, the official store only sells name and title tags. Can’t they put out something nice like this?]
[That alien beauty is stunning. That skin, that tone — I’m seriously in love!]
[White robes, white stockings, black leather shoes — tsk, she’s a tasty little ice cream cone!]
[Foot stink incoming, run for it!]
[Wait, Advanced Reconnaissance just lit up. All other data is question marks, but…!]
Suddenly, Plague Dragon dragged his scan data into the center of the livestream.
Among the mess of question marks, the red characters [Lucky Star] stood out vividly.
All at once, the watching players grew even more excited — this was the first time they had seen NPCs with the Lucky Star trait in the Star Sea.
[So those floating light pillars above their heads are protagonist auras, huh.]
[No way — Version 2.0 hasn’t even started and you guys already ran into protagonists?]
[Wait, if Treasure Digger and crew complete the main quest early, does that mean we’ll only have hidden storylines left to do?]
[Stop! Just stop! Don’t you dare take their quests — I’m begging you, don’t!]
Some players started to go berserk in the comments.
The Star Sea main quest they couldn’t even touch — yet Digging Princess and her gang were casually toying with it…
Damn it, it was infuriating! Truly infuriating!
Some players had begun to notice something strange.
Not long ago, Digging Princess had released a full video of the Sky Lake Star War in the latest episode of [Roaming the Star Sea with Fufu]. The footage didn’t just feature earth-shattering battle scenes — it also included interviews she conducted with numerous NPCs during and after the war.
——Who is the most dazzling figure in the Sea Lion Galaxy?
——Hmm? Baifu.
——Depends on the situation, but I’d say the Savior Saint Baifu.
——Probably Miss Baifu? If you include the older generation and those no longer in the Sea Lion Galaxy, the result might differ.
Based on those interviews, Digging Princess boldly speculated that Baifu was the protagonist of the entire Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster. She wouldn’t have dared say that when she first entered the Star Sea — but Baifu’s stellar performance on Sky Lake Star was just too brilliant.
Our big sis Baifu has protagonist potential!
[Believe it or not, I, Digging Princess, believe first and foremost. If I’m wrong, I’ll bark like a dog on stream!]
Many players believed her. But now, looking back, something didn’t quite add up.
If Fufu was the protagonist, then what were those two who had just appeared?
Could it be that the Star Sea storyline featured multiple main plots and multiple protagonists? Or maybe Digging Princess had it wrong and Baifu wasn’t the protagonist of the Initial Gate?
Players began fiercely debating the matter. Arguments flew in all directions, but overall, it worked in Baifu’s favor — because players had noticed something surprising: Baifu, Elron, and Sui Xi were all Mental Espers.
If all the protagonists followed the Psionic Perception Path, didn’t that suggest it was a highly promising career path?
Some new players — and others long dissatisfied with their current classes — clenched their teeth and switched to the weaker early-game Psionic Perception Path, betting on future gains.
Whether they’d actually gain anything remained to be seen — Baifu only knew she now had a fresh crop of premium chumps to harvest.
In a cheerful mood, she began discussing the commission with the Holy Blessing Cult representatives.
The Cult members were quite amiable — all except Sui Xi. Elron, despite his sinister appearance as a vertical-pupil demi-human, turned out to be sunny and talkative. Sui Xi, a member of the Tide Civilization, looked gentle as water, but was in truth colder than ice cream — like an unmelting block of ice. Compared to Yulia, whose hair was entirely icy blue, Sui Xi was even frostier.
Baifu, having interacted with Yulia many times, knew she was cold on the outside but warm within. But Sui Xi...
Her coldness felt more like arrogance — the kind that looked down on everyone equally.
That surprised Baifu.
If Sui Xi only looked down on her, it would’ve been understandable — Baifu was from the Dark Zone Insect Swarm, essentially a "country bumpkin." But Sui Xi’s attitude seemed to suggest even Hiye wasn’t worth her notice.
Now that was just excessive.
Hiye was S+ rank in power, with a main class level total of 110. Sui Xi’s total was only 100. Hiye was a member of the Star Covenant, while Sui Xi belonged to a local Sea Lion Galaxy faction. In every way, Hiye should’ve been the more arrogant one.
Oh, but if we judged by chest size, five Hiyes stacked together still couldn’t match Sui Xi. The gods had opened many doors for Hiye, but forgot to give her headlights.
“We don’t yet know the target’s exact hiding spot, but through our ongoing investigation, we’ve found a few clues.”
As he spoke, Elron sent Baifu new information.
Baifu opened it. The source was an informant from the Chaos Starpath, who claimed that while exchanging intel with a pirate group, he noticed one of their members looked a lot like Fragment Star.
“We still don’t have details on this pirate group. There are many active in the Chaos Starpath, but identifying them shouldn’t be too hard. The Danger Zone in the Cape Spiral Arm is where pirates are most active — if we investigate there, we can likely uncover their true identity. The only issue is that it’s incredibly dangerous, with a high chance of no return. Plus, our identities are too conspicuous. If the target sees us, he’ll likely flee again. So we need to use your undead forces.”
Elron explained the current situation in detail.
Baifu nodded along vigorously.
Good — what a plan!
The only flaw was that Fragment Star was already dead. The guy who looked like him... just looked like him.
But so what?
Money’s money. Whether it’s true or not, if the Holy Blessing Cult wanted her to investigate, she’d investigate. And it gave her the perfect excuse to get close to Elron and Sui Xi and figure out what main storyline they carried.
If she could seize hold of the storylines tied to Vic, Elron, and Sui Xi before the players officially entered the Starry Sea, then even the ones who hated her would have no choice but to work under her.
Baifu was a generous person — as long as someone brought her value, she didn’t care if they cursed her in their hearts.
What could their complaints possibly take from her? Not even a strand of hair.
Baifu formally accepted the Holy Blessing Cult’s commission. Then Elron demonstrated a device for detecting the True Spirit Pillar.
It was only the size of a watch and could indeed detect the location of the True Spirit Pillar — but it had many limitations. For instance, the range was only several dozen kilometers, and it took two minutes to activate each time.
Baifu accepted the device and asked, “When do you want us to begin?”
Elron replied, “In the next couple of days, we’ll send people to the Cape Spiral Arm. Once they’re in position, you can begin your operation.”
“All right, I’ll wait for your notice.”
After signing the contract with Elron, Baifu received an in-game notification.
[You have triggered the mission [Holy Blessing Cult’s Missing Persons Notice]]
[Mission Requirements: ……]
[Mission Objective: Determine the origin of the pirate group mentioned by the Holy Blessing Cult]
[Mission Reward: 2,000,000 XP, Holy Blessing Cult Favor +100]
It was a fairly ordinary quest.
Two million experience points was like a toothpick to Baifu now — couldn’t even fill the gap in her teeth.
What she really cared about was the monetary reward from the Holy Blessing Cult — and, of course, Elron and Sui Xi themselves.
After the conversation ended, the Holy Blessing Cult members didn’t head for Ulysses. Instead, they quickly boarded their ship and left.
Onboard, Elron smiled at Sui Xi and said, “I know you don’t like talking to people, but always keeping that expression while we’re out gives others a bad first impression.”
Sui Xi remained expressionless. “Just a bunch of mortals crawling through mud. Their opinions don’t matter. I don’t need to concern myself with their feelings.”
Elron shook his head helplessly. “Even if they’re mortals, they’re still mortals who belong to the transcendent.”
“Can the transcendent compare to the Void Apostle?”
Sui Xi retorted, emotions flickering on her water-clear skin.
Well then.
Elron knew it was pointless to argue further and gave up. As long as they recovered the True Spirit Pillar, they didn’t need to worry about Hiye or Baifu.
...
After the Holy Blessing Cult personnel departed, Baifu also boarded her ship.
Along the way, Anya expressed clear dissatisfaction. “Wow, that woman named Sui Xi is really annoying. No matter when you look at her, she’s always looking down on people through her nostrils. What’s she so smug about? Boss, you’re a hero of the Star Web Commonwealth, aren’t you? Hmph, one day we’ll make her realize your strength and have her obediently kneeling at your feet to apologize!”
She used to think Yulia was super annoying, but ever since coming to the interstellar world, she had started finding Yulia pretty cute.
Though Yulia always clung to the boss, she never stopped Anya from approaching and even frequently spoke well of her in front of the boss. Compared to that, Hiye was way more annoying, always going barefoot trying to seduce the boss. Though lately, Hiye had been behaving decently — certainly much better than that irritating Sui Xi from earlier.
Anya remained entirely unaware that her standards kept sinking lower and lower.
Baifu smiled and rubbed Anya’s head.
Alright, alright — with your height, doesn’t everyone look like they’re looking at you through their nostrils?
Though Sui Xi’s attitude was indeed terrible, it was enough to understand that. No need to say it out loud.
Once the ship arrived at Ulysses Star, Baifu used the gap before the mission started to browse for information online.
The Dissociative Agent had significantly boosted her and Hiye’s Mental Attributes, but it still wasn’t enough. She needed other ways to further increase her mental and intelligence stats. Only by raising the genetic compatibility with the Prophet to 90% or even 99% could she be at ease.
Wouldn’t you know it — there really were many methods. It’s just that most NPCs didn’t dare attempt them, fearing something might go wrong.
But for Baifu, that wasn’t a concern.
No matter if it was good or bad, she’d just use Psionic Perception to identify it first. If it worked, she’d use it. If not, she’d switch.
Most skills that enhanced mental and intelligence couldn’t be learned by ordinary NPCs, but she wasn’t worried. With a tap of her finger, she could see the prerequisite knowledge or skills required to learn them.
“Let’s take a detour and check while heading to the Cape Spiral Arm. If I’m lucky, I might pick up some good stuff from pirate fencing spots.”
While Baifu was deep in thought, she suddenly noticed a new alert on her Pan-Galactic Commission Platform dashboard.
“Another customer?”
She quickly opened the backend and saw that the applicant was Stone Crystal Corporation. The requested commission was identical to the Holy Blessing Cult’s — but the offered reward was significantly higher.
Well then, first the Holy Blessing Cult, now Stone Crystal Corporation — were they all taking the bait?
She obviously couldn’t take this mission. If news broke out that she was playing both sides, her hard-built positive public persona would collapse.
While many people loved a bad girl, a positive image was still more profitable.
Regretfully, Baifu had to reject the commission from Stone Crystal Corporation.
To her surprise, even after being rejected, Stone Crystal Corporation didn’t give up.
[I am Elsa, a business representative from Stone Crystal Corporation. I’m currently en route to Ulysses Star and will personally demonstrate our sincerity.]
“?”
Baifu was a bit stunned. So persistent?
Soon, Yulia noticed her unusual expression. “What’s up? You look pale.”
Baifu explained what had happened, lamenting the tens of thousands of credit points slipping through her fingers.
“That’s it?” Yulia dismissed it casually. “Easy fix. When someone from Stone Crystal arrives, I’ll give them a subtle hint. As long as they pay me, once we find Fragment Star, I’ll give them the news ahead of time.”
She didn’t care if others saw her as a bad woman.
She’d already experienced such things back on the Origin Star. A bit more wouldn’t matter now.
Reputation — good or bad — what did it change? It wouldn’t stop her from conducting properly matched experiments with Baifu, after all.
Baifu’s eyes lit up.
Brilliant — Yulia’s plan was genius.
She wasn’t worried that Stone Crystal Corporation might later confront the Holy Blessing Cult and expose Yulia, because Fragment Star was already dead. The investigation would lead nowhere. Without results, Yulia wouldn’t need to leak anything. Just take the deposit and be done with it.
“Let’s do it!”
Baifu gave Yulia a fierce hug, bodies tightly pressed together, peaks toppling.
A day later, Stone Crystal Corporation arrived on Ulysses Star.
Leading them was none other than Elsa, the mature and alluring business rep in a black hip-hugging cocktail dress.
Baifu carried out the plan and met with Elsa. After negotiations broke down, Yulia stepped in and successfully extracted a payment from Stone Crystal Corporation.
Everything went smoothly — except for one unexpected thing. After closing the deal with Yulia, Elsa refused to leave Ulysses Star. Her excuse was that she wanted to move Baifu with sincerity and persuade her to cooperate with Stone Crystal Corporation.
“What kind of act is this?”
Because the Holy Blessing Cult was urging her on, Baifu didn’t investigate further for now and instead personally led the players to the Cape Spiral Arm.
Not long after Baifu left, the disguised Cersia immediately contacted the subordinates assigned to her by the Chief Steward.
“Begin the operation.”
She intended to have them stage a fake assault on Ulysses Star while Baifu was away, then swoop in heroically to win favor with both the Ulysses locals and Baifu. With that goodwill and her fabricated identity, she could naturally stay by Baifu’s side.
A tactician entering the game with her own body — Baifu would never guess what she was up to.
Once Baifu was trapped in the dream she had woven, that would be the moment Cersia gave her a harsh lesson!