Chapter 184: The Villain's Nightmare, the Savior Saint Bai Fu’s Intimidation!
When he had just received the news that the Star Web fleet had appeared, Foster was so furious his hair nearly stood on end.
He had already spent three hours chasing down members of the Holy Blessing Cult. The infuriating part was, even after cornering them to a dead end, he still couldn’t capture them alive.
The Holy Blessing Cult, a native force of the Sea Lion Star System, was slightly stronger than the Stone Crystal Company under the Secret Tower, but not by much, since neither had a Domination-level presence.
That was Foster’s initial impression of the Holy Blessing Cult. But now he realized he was wrong—
Stone Crystal Company was not even worth a single strand of the Holy Blessing Cult’s hair!
Though he didn’t know exactly how they did it, the Holy Blessing Cult’s Holy Son Elron had suddenly erupted with the power of an S+ level Esper. Fortunately, Foster had strong willpower; otherwise, he would have fallen into Elron’s Holy Illusion and been brainwashed.
Foster’s eyes were bloodshot.
As a commander of a fleet under the Secret Tower, when had he ever been so humiliated?
To be honest, even if Elron had erupted suddenly, he was just an S+ level Esper. In a standard confrontation, not to mention one S+, even a few more wouldn't withstand his fleet and would be easily blown to bits.
Never underestimate the power of technology. What truly frightened him were the beings above Domination-level, those no longer human.
However, the Chief Steward had given him the task of securing the True Spirit Pillar, not killing people. He couldn’t rely on warships—he had to depend on his own hands.
A fight?
Wasn’t this kind of mission supposed to be handled by that monster Cersia?
“Commander Foster, if we don’t leave now, we might be surrounded by the Star Web fleet.”
Beside him, someone urged.
Foster’s face was grim. He shouted toward the distant Elron and Sui Xi, “We’ll leave the item with you for now. Don’t count on being so lucky next time!”
After throwing out this threat, he immediately withdrew with everyone around him.
Aircrafts soared into the clouds and soon returned to the ship suspended high in the sky. As soon as he entered the cockpit, Foster began asking about Bai Fu’s situation.
The mission had failed. He would definitely be scolded by the Chief Steward. To vent his frustration, he could only start by killing Bai Fu.
“Bai Fu, she…” one of the captains scratched his head and briefly explained the situation, “There were just too many of them, so we couldn’t…”
Goddammit!
Foster, who had hoped to relax a little, became even more agitated upon hearing this.
Bai Fu, Bai Fu, Bai Fu!
He slammed the nearby control panel with a bang and immediately contacted Cersia.
“The Chief Steward told you to deal with Bai Fu, and this is how you deal with her? Aren’t you good at exploiting people? Then go exploit her!”
Without waiting for a response, he unleashed a tirade, then threatened her.
“I don’t care what method you use next—kill her, imprison her, or use your power to squeeze her so hard she can’t stand—just make sure she never appears before me again!”
Cersia frowned but didn’t retort.
Foster was an “old-timer” of the Secret Tower, well-connected and deeply rooted. She was just a “monster” whom no one liked apart from a few higher-ups. Arguing with Foster would only worsen her position within the Secret Tower.
But she still clenched her fists.
"Squeeze her, you say squeeze her like we’re best friends on chat or something."
If she drained Bai Fu’s life force, causing her to become listless and weak, she’d be exposed in no time. Then how could she recover the Original Sample?
Cersia only nodded silently toward Foster, but she had already etched his name into her mental grudge book.
If one day she completely devolved into a monster, the first thing she would do was kill everyone listed in that little book!
Shortly after ending the conversation with Foster, Cersia received a message from the Ulyssians—
Ulyssian Star was under attack. The situation was urgent—she should go into hiding!
Go into hiding?
She was the one who orchestrated that attack!
Now was the time for her to step forward and display herself. She intended to use this chance to boost the favorability of the Ulyssians, Hiye, and Bai Fu, then smoothly blend into Bai Fu’s small group. Once she gained Bai Fu’s favor, she could manipulate her however she pleased.
...
About ten minutes after the Secret Tower fleet’s retreat, the Star Web fleet appeared in the sky.
This time the fleet was led by Bai Fu’s old acquaintance, Manu. Upon discovering the Secret Tower fleet had already fled, Manu didn’t continue the pursuit. He sent people to pick up Bai Fu, the surviving players, and members of the Holy Blessing Cult onto the ship, then promptly organized the fleet’s return.
The cosmic environment around the Stellar Graveyard was extremely complex. If they chased recklessly, they could fall into a Secret Tower ambush. The Star Web was already significantly weaker than the Secret Tower. If this fleet were wiped out by an ambush, the gap in strength would only widen.
“What did you all do to provoke the Secret Tower into sending a full fleet to hunt you down?” Manu asked curiously.
Elron didn’t think he could hide the truth and replied, “Because of the True Spirit Pillar.”
Manu was stunned. “The True Spirit Pillar?”
“That’s right!”
Bai Fu nodded seriously.
This was a great chance to pin the blame on the Secret Tower—how could she miss it?
“I accepted a commission from the Holy Blessing Cult to help them find someone. After locating that person, we followed the trail all the way here and unexpectedly found members of the Secret Tower. These few from the Holy Blessing Cult interrogated the captives and learned that the True Spirit Pillar, which vanished a hundred years ago, had fallen into the hands of the Secret Tower. We don’t yet know what they plan to do with it, but it’s definitely nothing good!”
Manu’s expression also turned serious. “Hold on. I’ll immediately report what happened here to the Joint Council.”
Go ahead, go ahead.
Bai Fu didn’t stop him. She walked alone to a corner, found an empty seat, and sat down.
Her mind had been tense for hours. Now it was finally time to rest. While resting, she pulled out the advanced knowledge Elron had given her earlier.
[You begin reading “Prayer Insights of the Holy Blessing Cult”...]
A few minutes later, the reading progress bar was filled, and a system prompt sounded in her ear.
[You have comprehended the new skill “Heart of the Apostle”]
[Heart of the Apostle]: Pray devoutly to the Apostles of the Ethereal Realm to receive their blessing.
Bai Fu opened the skill’s detailed description. For NPCs, this prayer was a real prayer. But for her—an NPC with a player panel—and for players, it meant spending Psionic Energy to accumulate [Prayer Gauge]. For each full gauge, she would receive one layer of the Apostle of the Ethereal Realm’s blessing.
The effect of this blessing was direct and brutal—it simply boosted Inspiration.
The first layer grants 5 points of Inspiration, and each subsequent layer grants double the Inspiration of the previous one. It can stack up to seven layers, with the seventh layer providing an additional 320 points of Inspiration.
These numbers looked quite exaggerated, but the Psionic Energy required for each level also increased drastically.
"The advanced knowledge description says this was a method devised by the sages of the Holy Blessing Cult to break boundaries, transcend the mortal, and ascend to Domination. It's extremely difficult to cultivate. Even ordinary NPCs might not be able to fully stack seven layers of blessings even after ten or more years."
Bai Fu nodded quietly.
She checked the Psionic Energy cost required for each level. Let alone NPCs, even players would likely need to grind across two or three game versions, maybe even more, to fully stack seven blessings.
Fortunately, she was a special case among both NPCs and players.
On one hand, her Psionic Bar was exceptionally long—far longer than that of a Psionic Priest of the same level. On the other hand, she had Yulia, a super cheat who could recharge her energy. With both advantages, her rate of accumulating Prayer Gauge could only be described as rocket speed.
"This is a massive win!"
Bai Fu grinned.
When Elron gifted her this knowledge, he surely hadn't expected she’d be able to stack so many layers, right?
To Elron, it was just a decent—not amazing—reward, but to Bai Fu, it was a divine skill.
"Looks like I’ll need Yulia to recharge me more often in the future!"
Although the recharging process was tiring, the thought of stacking more layers and boosting her Inspiration left Bai Fu eager to start.
Yulia?
I already game ten hours a day!
After dismissing the system prompt, Bai Fu performed her first prayer. She spent 20 minutes and successfully filled the first layer of Prayer Gauge, happily gaining 5 points of Inspiration.
While she was praying, Manu had already reported the information.
Upon learning that the Secret Tower not only secretly built a fleet base near the Sea Lion Star System but also somehow acquired the True Spirit Pillar, the Star Web’s Joint Council immediately panicked. They hurriedly dispatched professionals to search for the base and informed other powers in the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster that the True Spirit Pillar was in the hands of the Secret Tower.
What? The Secret Tower got the True Spirit Pillar?
Although no one knew exactly what the Secret Tower could do with the True Spirit Pillar, its value to them had to be extremely high. Otherwise, why would they have frantically deployed a fleet to hunt down Bai Fu and the Holy Blessing Cult?
Damn it, the Secret Tower must not succeed!
After deliberation, the various civilizations of the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster issued a joint statement. They first condemned the Secret Tower’s invasion of the Sea Lion Star System, then emphasized that the True Spirit Pillar was in the hands of the Secret Tower.
This news spread quickly and soon reached the Chief Steward of the Secret Tower.
“???”
Staring at the headline news on the site, the Chief Steward was dumbfounded.
Wait, when did the True Spirit Pillar end up in the Secret Tower’s hands?
Slander—this was pure slander. Damn it, the True Spirit Pillar was clearly with the Holy Blessing Cult!
"Hurry up and release a public statement to clarify things. We absolutely cannot let the Holy Blessing Cult get away with this!"
The Secret Tower responded swiftly. Barely half an hour after the joint announcement was released, they issued a reply, fiercely denouncing the Holy Blessing Cult as shameless—claiming that despite clearly having the True Spirit Pillar, they still pretended not to, and worse, accused the Secret Tower of having it instead. Absurd! If the Secret Tower really had the True Spirit Pillar, would they have needed to deploy a fleet to hunt down the Holy Blessing Cult?
Upon seeing the Secret Tower’s response, Elron was fuming.
The True Spirit Pillar is in our Holy Blessing Cult’s hands?
Why don’t you go ahead and say the Secret Tower is actually just a subordinate of the Holy Blessing Cult too? Utter shamelessness.
So, within ten minutes of the Secret Tower’s statement, Elron published another article. In it, he detailed the crimes of the Secret Tower, helping everyone recall their past actions and lies.
The back-and-forth between the two parties entertained onlookers immensely. For example, Bai Fu, fighting on the frontlines of the gossip battlefield and even offering feedback on Elron’s post; the many gossip-hungry citizens of the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster; and the mischief-loving players.
Yes, yes, fight, fight hard! The protagonist and the villain should be at each other’s throats!
Even Bai Fu herself hadn’t expected things to get this wild, but she had to admit the current situation was perfect. With the Secret Tower and the Holy Blessing Cult drawing fire up front, who would suspect that the real True Spirit Pillar was actually with Yulia?
On the journey back to the Star Web’s capital, Azure Sky Star, with Manu’s fleet, Bai Fu spent the entire time enjoying this drama.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Elron even invited Manu to perform a body search.
Once they disembarked, the situation escalated further.
The Secret Tower and Holy Blessing Cult—either one of them drew immense attention in the Sea Lion Star System. Throw in the True Spirit Pillar and the super popular idol Bai Fu as catalysts, and the buzz was impossible to contain.
After disembarking, Bai Fu once again experienced the fervor of Star Web reporters.
She was surrounded.
“Savior Saint Bai Fu, can you tell us about your experience being hunted by the Secret Tower?”
“Saint, Saint, who do you think holds the True Spirit Pillar?”
“Saint, there are rumors you’ve taken several sponsorships recently. Are you using your identity to cash in? What’s your response?”
Bai Fu answered every question seriously, especially the last one.
Cashing in?
Of course I’m cashing in!
Bai Fu was unapologetic.
If I don’t cash in, are you going to pay for all the things I need? If I don’t cash in, will you fund the development of my homeland, Ancestor Origin Star?
Of course, while this was her real attitude, Bai Fu still maintained her gentle and graceful persona and deliberately phrased her answer more elegantly.
“This might sound sentimental, but I personally don’t like owing others. Favors are the hardest to repay. I hope to change my homeland with my own power. Now that I have the means to earn money, I accepted a few sponsorships. I truly thank the companies that gave me the opportunity, and also the undying who came with me to the Sea Lion Star System.”
Bai Fu’s words drew massive attention and quickly won her a new wave of fans. Many people watching the news broadcast in the Sea Lion Star System flooded the comment section with “Let her take it,” and “This is a real Saint. Everyone should learn from her.” The reputation of the companies who hired her for ads also surged, and many other businesses began considering her for endorsements.
But Bai Fu had no time to enjoy the praise because during the interview, a reporter suddenly announced news that the Ulyssian Star had been attacked.
“What?”
Bai Fu was shocked.
The reporter said, “The attackers were reportedly from the Secret Tower. Fortunately, the attack wasn’t large, and by the time we received the news, the Secret Tower’s attackers had already been repelled.”
Bai Fu was furious.
Well, you bastards—since you couldn’t finish me at the Stellar Graveyard, you went to my stronghold for revenge?
She quickly apologized to the reporters and boarded the ship, flying straight to Ulyssian Star.
Her speed was astonishing. In just one day, she returned to Ulyssian Star, and along the way, she had already learned the details of the attack through Yulia.
In short, the people from the Secret Tower suddenly flew over in a battleship. Yulia, Hiye, and Vic organized players to launch a counterattack. Unable to break through the defensive line, the Secret Tower operatives attempted to target ordinary Ulyssians. At the critical moment, the Stone Crystal Company's tenacious business representative, "Elsa," stepped forward. With her help, the Ulyssians in danger turned crisis into safety. The final tally showed that none of the Ulyssians died in the battle, although some buildings constructed by players were destroyed. All in all, the losses were within an acceptable range—a fortunate outcome in the midst of misfortune.
The only concern was that if the Secret Tower launched a first attack, could there be a second?
This time they had Elsa, and they made it through. But next time?
Yulia's concern was exactly the same as Bai Fu’s.
They could no longer allow the Secret Tower to be so brazen. It was necessary to find ways to cause them more trouble.
Originally, Bai Fu had only planned to secretly fabricate a story to inform the public that the Secret Tower was scheming in the dark, including the long-ago attack on Ulyssian Star being part of a larger plot. But now she had changed her mind.
If a story was to be fabricated, it had to be a big one. And right now, with the Secret Tower under the spotlight, a well-crafted story would surely generate massive influence and restrict their actions.
After disembarking, Bai Fu checked on every familiar face.
Good news—everyone was indeed safe. She shared the Advanced Knowledge given by Elron with Yulia, then turned to glance at Cersia, who was operating under the alias Elsa.
Cersia smiled without speaking.
Bai Fu nodded at her solemnly and offered her sincere thanks. Along with her gratitude, she also gave Cersia a Psionic Vision skill.
The feedback showed that Cersia’s power had just crossed the S-level threshold. This was actually due to Cersia’s unique ability—it not only allowed her to change appearance but also control her own life signature, concealing her true strength.
But while Cersia could disguise her power, she couldn't fake her Favorability.
The Favorability System, originally designed to aid player-NPC interactions and enhance gameplay, had become a powerful cheat in Bai Fu’s hands.
"Favorability 1?"
Staring at the panel, Bai Fu was briefly stunned.
It wasn’t negative—that was good. But a score of 1 revealed a lot.
This woman... probably wasn’t a good person. She needed to stay extra alert.
Even as she thought this, Bai Fu put on an enthusiastic face, one that looked ready to smother Cersia in affection.
After greeting everyone, Bai Fu retreated to her room and began writing a smear story against the Secret Tower.
In the article, she revealed that the Secret Tower was secretly researching the Original Sample using a subordinate force. However, she didn’t explicitly mention the Dissociative Agent or the Original Sample, instead referring to it as a "mysterious object." Then, she claimed this mysterious object was a living tissue extracted from a certain lifeform.
So, from what lifeform had the Secret Tower extracted it?
This was where Bai Fu’s talent for nonsense came into play.
"In truth, this was extracted from the Dark Zone Insect Swarm’s Queen by the Master of the Secret Tower!"
"You ask how the Master of the Secret Tower managed to extract such a thing from the Queen of the Dark Zone Insect Swarm?"
"What I want to say is that the truth is shocking. You may not believe it at first, but I must emphasize—this is the truth!"
"The truth is—"
"The Master of the Secret Tower and the Queen of the Dark Zone Insect Swarm are in a relationship! Yes, you read that right—a romantic relationship!"
"Some might say the Dark Zone Insects are hideous, but the Master of the Secret Tower is no ordinary man. In his eyes, the Queen still has her charm!"
"If you think back to recent events, you’ll see what I’m saying isn’t absurd. Remember the war on Sky Lake Star? That war exposed how the Secret Tower could control Flood-level disasters and use Brainworms for remote delivery. Everyone wondered how the Secret Tower could achieve such feats. Now, it all makes sense, doesn’t it?"
"It’s because the Master of the Secret Tower and the Queen of the Dark Zone Insect Swarm are in that kind of relationship!"
"The Queen of the Dark Zone Insect Swarm is now firmly supporting her old flame, the Master of the Secret Tower. The things she gave him help the Secret Tower unleash terrifying floods across the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster. Oh, and by the way, recent news says the Secret Tower obtained the True Spirit Pillar. I won’t judge whether it’s true or not, but it certainly helps with their plans."
Bai Fu enthusiastically wrote a lengthy post. After reviewing and editing it several times to ensure there were no errors, she stored it away with satisfaction.
Post it?
Not now.
If the Secret Tower traced the article back to Ulyssian Star using technical methods, she’d become a target. That would be bad.
So Bai Fu assigned a task to her top PR go-to, Digging Princess. She had her carry a communication device with a scheduled post and go hang around a neighboring star system. When Digging Princess returned, the article had already been published.
As expected by Bai Fu, this “exposé on the Secret Tower” quickly drew massive attention due to its outrageous content.
"What the hell?"
"This is a thing?"
Many didn’t believe the story at first, but after reading Bai Fu’s analysis—especially the part about the Secret Tower manipulating Flood-level disasters—they began to buy into it. It did make sense. How else could the Dark Zone Insect Swarm be obeying the Secret Tower?
Damn, the Secret Tower was plotting all this behind the scenes?
Riled up by Bai Fu’s post, the factions across the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster gathered to hold a meeting to discuss how to respond to the Secret Tower’s attacks.
The Secret Tower’s reaction was intense.
The Chief Steward had thought the Holy Blessing Cult falsely claiming the True Spirit Pillar was with the Secret Tower was already extreme. He hadn’t expected a master of nonsense to emerge!
"Who wrote this? Who the hell wrote this?"
The Master of the Secret Tower did have dealings with the Queen of the Dark Zone Insect Swarm, but not that kind of relationship!
The Chief Steward nearly passed out from rage.
He keenly realized the Secret Tower had encountered a new enemy. In the past, the civilizations in the Galaxy Cluster had never attacked the Secret Tower with such absurd yet oddly plausible rumors.
Damn it!
He could already foresee the chaos this post would bring.
"Investigate. Find out who wrote this article!"