Chapter 186: Shadow Queen Bai Fu Successfully Discovers the Second Beginner Planet
Although Cersia had never shown any malice, Bai Fu’s guard against her was fully up.
After all, her favorability had remained in the single digits, and she was from the Shijing Corporation.
Others might not know about Bai Fu’s feud with Shijing Corporation, but how could Bai Fu herself not know?
Therefore, after bringing Cersia into her room, Bai Fu quickly made an excuse about making tea and slipped into the kitchen. The moment she was out of Cersia’s line of sight, she used Shadow Doppelgänger to shift into Ethereal Form and escape. As the phantom was about to vanish, she hastily summoned Hei Fu.
When dealing with someone of unknown origin, it was better to let Hei Fu handle it. Even if Hei Fu got herself killed, she could be resummoned after 12 hours.
As for Hiye, while her strength was indeed formidable, she was deeply affected by her Ethereal Form. Using her power excessively might further her progression into the Ethereal, so it was best to conserve her strength.
“Try it. This is a flavor from my hometown.”
Hei Fu handed a cup of black tea to Cersia.
Cersia held the cup carefully with both hands. When she looked up at Hei Fu, she suddenly noticed something strange.
It had only been a few seconds, but Bai Fu seemed slightly different?
The Bai Fu from earlier had a pale complexion, dry lips, and looked dehydrated. Now she was glowing with health, clearly well-nourished.
Cersia quickly took a couple of sips of tea to hide the suspicion in her eyes.
Hei Fu sat down on the sofa and asked, “Now that there’s no one else here, Elsa, what do you want to say to me?”
Cersia put down the cup, paused for a few seconds, and successfully slipped into her award-winning actress mode.
“Sigh.”
Cersia let out a long sigh. She lowered her head, gripped her hair with both hands, showing five parts helplessness and five parts anguish.
“I came to confess. I’m actually not a business agent of the Shijing Corporation, but someone sent by their backer to monitor you. They wanted me to find a way to earn your trust, stay by your side, and when you came into contact with the Blessed Congregation, take the chance to steal the True Spirit Pillar and pin the blame on you.”
The room fell into sudden silence.
Cersia sneered secretly—gotcha! Stunned now, aren’t you, Bai Fu? Bet you didn’t expect that move!
After a while, Hei Fu suddenly asked, “Why confess now? Even if I suspected your motives, I wouldn’t find evidence any time soon.”
Cersia lifted her head and revealed a bitter smile. “Because you’re a good person.”
“?”
“At first, I thought your kindness, your gentleness, your passion, everything about you was fake. But in these past few days on Ulysses Star, I realized I was completely wrong. You weren’t pretending—you really are the Savior Saint!”
Cersia began rambling.
She said she had come to understand Ulysses’ past. She said she had learned about the present of the Ulyssians. She spoke of the insights she had gained through her conversations with them.
“If one hadn’t truly poured in love, how could they have received even more love from the Ulyssians?”
Bai Fu, the Saint among Saints, the ultimate benchmark of Saints!
At this point, a glimmer of hopeful light appeared in Cersia’s eyes.
“When I realized that, I suddenly remembered my own past. I was born on a planet that had suffered similarly to Ulysses Star.”
Cersia began recounting her childhood.
She spoke of the misery in her homeland, of how harsh life had been. From that time, she had yearned for a hero to descend from the sky and save her and her home. But she waited a long time. Even after her homeland collapsed, no hero came. In the end, she joined the faction she now served—a faction that prioritized profit over everything. It wasn’t a good force, but at least it gave her a place to stay, so she remained.
“I’ve stayed for ten years,” Cersia said with emotion. “Until I met you again. Aren’t you the very hero I once longed for? My homeland never saw its hero, but the Ulyssians did. I... I can’t hurt you. If I did, how would I be any different from those who destroyed my home? I wanted to confess days ago, but the faction I’m part of did save my life. I’ve been torn. If I tell you the truth, I’m betraying my savior, and I...”
As she spoke, Cersia sighed again. Her head was lowered, fists clenched on her knees, and her shoulders trembled gently—her emotions clearly overwhelmed.
Bai Fu: “...”
A tragedy competition?
Among all the people she had interacted with—like Anya, Xia Shi, Yulia, Hiye—“Elsa” really did seem to have the most tragic backstory.
But... was that story even real?
Cersia claimed Bai Fu was a hero, yet her favorability hadn’t budged. Still at 6 points?
So she’s just acting here?
Bai Fu instantly switched to her award-winning actress mode.
You get to act, “Elsa”, but I, Bai Fu, can’t?
She had Hei Fu stand up and walk over to Cersia. Cersia heard the footsteps and saw the rosy-white feet wrapped in open-toed heels. As she was wondering what Bai Fu would do, she suddenly felt a pair of slightly cool hands press against her cheeks, gently lifting her head.
Then she saw a face so pitifully beautiful, with eyes like clear autumn water radiating a tender affection that could melt hearts.
Cersia was hard-stunned for several seconds.
“Thank you, Elsa. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be in the dark. On one side is your life-saver, and on the other is your original self. You must be in a lot of pain right now, aren’t you?”
Cersia: “...”
We’re just talking—why are you suddenly touching my face?
Suppressing the urge to complain, Cersia went along with Hei Fu’s act.
“Since I’ve made my decision, no matter how hard it is, I must follow through. Besides, I believe I’ve made the right choice.” She gave a bitter smile, but quickly returned to normal. “Let’s not talk about me anymore. Let’s talk about what we should do next. I have two suggestions. The first is to arrest me and inform my backers that you’ve seen through their plot.”
Hei Fu immediately shook her head. “I won’t arrest you.”
Cersia said, “I knew it. That’s why I came up with a second plan—let’s work together and put on a show to deceive the faction behind me. I don’t know how long we can stall, but every second counts. Things can’t get worse.”
Hei Fu said, “That’s not a bad idea. The only problem is, if the faction behind you realizes you’ve betrayed them, they won’t let you off easily.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore.” Cersia paused. “Aren’t you curious who my backers are?”
Hei Fu let go of Cersia’s cheeks. “They’re your saviors. I won’t ask. You’ve already done enough for me. I won’t put you in a difficult spot.”
Cersia slightly opened her mouth.
How was Bai Fu this good with words?
No wonder those Undying Ones followed Bai Fu so devotedly. Compared to Bai Fu, who radiated sacred brilliance from head to toe, she really was just like what others said—an ugly monster.
Cersia’s original plan had been to earn Bai Fu’s favor through a “self-explosion,” then slowly uncover the location of the Original Sample. But now, she could hardly suppress the emotions threatening to overflow.
How could Bai Fu be this perfect? She was like a mirror that reflected the depths of the human heart.
So enviable.
So jealousy-inducing.
So much so that one couldn't help but want to tear her apart, piece by piece.
That way, her own ugliness wouldn’t be exposed.
“I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t want to say which force I belong to, it’s that I can’t. There’s a curse on me. If I utter that name, everything happening here will be known by that force,” Cersia lifted her head with a hint of grievance.
Hei Fu expressed understanding: “No need to force yourself. And no need to apologize. If anything, I should be the one apologizing.”
The room once again fell into silence.
Cersia and Hei Fu met each other’s gaze, their eyes locked and sparked a subtle warmth.
Moments later—
“Elsa!”
“Bai Fu!”
The two embraced tightly, expressing their friendship this way.
Cersia even began admiring her own acting—how could she act so convincingly that Bai Fu was utterly fooled?
But this was about as far as it would go.
She couldn’t hold back anymore. With perfect Bai Fu in her arms, how could she possibly endure it?
Devour her. Devour her hard.
Wasn’t this all about finding the Original Sample? Simple—just use her mind-control powers to make Bai Fu spill it. If that didn’t work, then torture her. If even torture didn’t work, then extract everything from her until she was drained, and only then use her powers again to control her.
After executing this combo, she refused to believe she wouldn’t find the Original Sample.
What? You’re asking what if that still didn’t work?
She didn’t care.
Cersia now only wanted to consume Bai Fu completely. Her eyes had already turned into Bai Fu’s silhouette.
As the two embraced, black mist suddenly billowed from Cersia’s body, and dark markings emerged from under her clothes, resembling full-body fishnet.
At that moment, Cersia’s right hand landed on Hei Fu’s waist. Her fingertips softly traced the tender skin...
Hmm?
She suddenly froze.
This texture didn’t feel right. It was smooth and tender, yes, but completely lacked that enticing softness.
Refusing to believe it, Cersia fully unleashed her power and reverted to her original form. The “spider legs” extending from the “black full-body fishnet” snapped out and locked Hei Fu in place. With a slight squeeze, Hei Fu was lifted just enough that her toes couldn’t touch the ground.
With the target immobilized, what came next was, of course, life extraction!
Wait, what?
Hei Fu’s eyes widened in shock, her face full of disbelief.
Cersia smiled. “Didn’t expect that, did you? Blame yourself for being too perfect—so perfect that I couldn’t control myself. Otherwise, I could’ve kept acting along with you for a while longer.”
She thought Bai Fu was shocked by her betrayal, but in truth, what shocked Bai Fu was her ability.
Oh no—wasn’t this Secret Tower’s Night Mother Cersia?
So she had transformation powers too? And not just transformation—after changing forms, even her Attribute Panel changed. What kind of cheat-level power was this?
Bai Fu imagined a horrifying scenario—she and Yulia were doing experiments, and suddenly Yulia transformed into Night Mother Cersia…
You damn life-sucking spider demon!
Bai Fu immediately called Yulia and the nearest group of Players and bolted to the spaceship.
Fight?
Fight your balls!
Night Mother Cersia was a menace even Hiye found troublesome. If Bai Fu went up against her now, it would be suicide. Better to flee first.
As the spaceship took off, Cersia was still confused.
What was going on? Why hadn’t she managed to drain anything from Bai Fu?
Impossible. Her powers hadn’t failed—so the problem must lie with Bai Fu herself.
Cersia gritted her teeth and decisively bit Bai Fu’s arm. She bit hard, but it felt like biting into a steel plate—not only did she not draw blood, there wasn’t even a bite mark.
“You’re not Bai Fu?!”
Cersia was shocked.
There was no doubt Bai Fu was carbon-based life. After all, she had attacked Bai Fu on Tianhu Star before.
While Cersia was reeling in shock, Hei Fu immediately activated an Advanced Force Field. Repulsive force surged from all directions. Then, a Heavenly Burial dropped from above. Cersia tried to dodge, but realized too late she was already engulfed in a silent darkness.
Left?
No—there was a sharp aura on the left.
Right?
Also sharp on the right!
The high-speed spinning Spinning Demon Blade completely messed with Cersia’s senses. She took a fully charged Heavenly Burial head-on.
Boom!
This move didn’t actually do much damage to Cersia. After all, the level gap between Hei Fu and Cersia was huge. Moreover, Cersia was a master of life-type esper powers—her durability far exceeded that of ordinary psionicists.
But she got hit!
Cersia instantly saw red.
She had acted all this time, thinking she had Bai Fu completely fooled with her masterful performance. She had been fantasizing about how she would exploit Bai Fu. But in the end, she realized Bai Fu had seen through her all along—everything she did was just monkey business in Bai Fu’s eyes. How could she stand that?
Enraged, Cersia charged at Hei Fu.
Against the monstrous Cersia, Hei Fu fought with all her might but was ultimately shattered with a single punch.
Watching Hei Fu disperse before her like vapor, Cersia was so angry her eyes nearly rolled back.
True Spirit Summon?
No wonder she had drained Bai Fu for so long and didn’t get a single strand!
Fake—Bai Fu’s gentleness, the compassion in Bai Fu’s eyes, her understanding nature... all fake!
If all of that was fake, then the image of the Savior Saint Bai Fu presented to the world must be fake too. She absolutely refused to believe a real Savior Saint could act so well.
“Bai Fu!”
Cersia roared and dashed out of the room.
She looked around but couldn’t see a single living soul. When she raised her head, all she saw was a massive spaceship disappearing into the clouds, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
A beam of black light shot out of her body, piercing through the cloud cover in an instant. But it was already too late. The ship had long since broken through the atmosphere.
“Aaah! Bai Fu Fu Fu— I won’t let you go! Even if you flee to the ends of the universe, I will catch you!”
“That was close.”
Watching Cersia’s reaction through the ground-based surveillance equipment, Bai Fu finally let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the Ulyssians had already been evacuated via Star Web; otherwise, this would have ended in disaster.
“That Secret Tower is such scum!”
Bai Fu decided to drop some heavy revelations after the civilizations in the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster finished digesting her previous article.
Sent Cersia to plot against me, huh?
Secret Tower, you’re done for!
Oh, and also the Shijing Corporation.
Thank goodness for Cersia’s little performance. Otherwise, Bai Fu would never have known Shijing Corporation was colluding with the Secret Tower.
Before coming to the Star Sea, she had triggered a mission to hand over the True Spirit Pillar to either the Shijing Corporation, the Blessed Congregation, or the Redmoon Mercenary Corps. Now she had a clue about what that mission really meant.
If she handed the True Spirit Pillar to Shijing Corporation, that meant taking the Secret Tower route. If to the Blessed Congregation, she’d be following the main storyline alongside the protagonist. As for the Redmoon Mercenary Corps, that probably tied into some other sub-storyline.
“This is a great chance to gain Contribution in the storyline mission 【Secret Tower Exposed】.”
Bai Fu thought of Manu.
She didn’t plan to deal with the Shijing Corporation personally. With her current strength, soloing them was still too much. Better to pass this information to Manu and let him coordinate a takedown. If lucky, he might even bait out some big fish from the Secret Tower. That would earn her far more Secret Tower Destruction Contribution than exhausting herself trying to fight Shijing Corporation alone.
With that in mind, Bai Fu quickly contacted Manu.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already arranged everything for the Ulyssians’ relocation,” said Manu.
Bai Fu shook her head. “That’s not why I’m calling. I just received some information—the Shijing Corporation is secretly backed by the Secret Tower.”
Manu froze. “How do you know that?”
Bai Fu said, “I was attacked by the Night Mother. She accidentally let it slip.”
She wasn’t the least bit worried that Cersia would leak what happened just now, nor that it would harm her reputation.
Didn’t matter—Cersia was with the Secret Tower. Who would believe her anyway?
“I’ll report this immediately. Thank you for the intel.”
With that, Manu hastily ended the call.
He wasn’t sure if what Bai Fu said was true, but it was definitely worth urgent investigation. If they waited too long, they might end up with nothing.
Elsewhere, after informing Manu, Bai Fu began planning for the future.
After what just happened, returning to Ulysses Star anytime soon was off the table. She needed to find a new safe haven.
“Where’s the best place to lie low right now? Probably the Star Covenant’s division in the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster.”
Star Covenant was a Domination-level faction. No matter how much the Secret Tower hated her, unless they were crazy, they’d never dare stir up trouble at the Star Covenant’s division. Anger the Oathmaster, and he could crush the entire Secret Tower with a slap.
“Perfect. That’s where I’m going!”
Before setting off, Bai Fu contacted Green Sludge to get the lowdown on the division’s situation, since it was her first visit.
Green Sludge briefly explained that the current period was unusual. The division director Lemang was about to be promoted, so the subordinates were all scrambling to show off, working non-stop. As a result, the division was unusually quiet.
Green Sludge was getting anxious.
He had hoped that with Bai Fu and the Undying Ones joining, Hiye would become a strong candidate for the director role. But then Hiye’s situation took a turn—she couldn’t use her powers freely anymore. How was she supposed to compete now?
Bai Fu wasn’t bothered by Green Sludge’s worries.
Compete?
Only the weak need to compete.
Once she helped Hiye overcome her inner barriers and ascend to Catastrophe-level, no matter what tricks Herbert and the others pulled, the director’s position would still belong to Hiye!
Not convinced?
Tough luck!
With power comes freedom!
“Oh right, there’s one more thing I almost forgot to tell you,” Green Sludge suddenly said.
Bai Fu asked, “What is it?”
Green Sludge replied, “Didn’t you ask me to find someone to help calculate the coordinates of Dark Zone planets? The first planet’s location is ready—I’m sending it now.”
Seconds later, a string of numbers and a hand-drawn star chart appeared on Bai Fu’s communicator screen.
【Indigo Star】: Coordinate Location (……)
It’s here! Finally here!
After months in the Star Sea, she had finally found the location of the second beginner planet!
Bai Fu’s hands were trembling with excitement.
A whole group of pure, untouched Players—like fresh snow! How much experience could she extract from them?
Impossible to estimate, but she was already fantasizing about being submerged in a sea of experience!
More! More! People might think she couldn’t handle it.
But finding Indigo Star wasn’t just good for Bai Fu in terms of experience.
She had asked the Star Covenant specialists to calculate Indigo Star’s location first—not another beginner planet—because Indigo Star was the very world where the legend of the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night began!
Just showing up there would be enough to cement the idea in the Players’ minds that she was the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night.
“Green Sludge, I’m not going to the division just yet.”
“Huh?” Green Sludge was stunned.
Bai Fu said with confidence, “I have an urgent matter to deal with. If I handle it well, even ten Herberts combined won’t be able to threaten Supervisor Hiye.”
After putting away her communicator, Hiye walked over.
“Have you figured out how to deal with Cersia? If not, maybe we should turn back now. While she’s unprepared, I’ll use Void power to eliminate her.”
Bai Fu waved it off. “Wanna see my other hometown?”
Hiye was puzzled. “Other hometown?”
Bai Fu explained, “Indigo Star, a planet hidden within the Dark Zone. Let’s head there first.”
Cersia, huh?
Wait until I’ve farmed enough XP—then we’ll see who’s the one getting played, you cunning spider demon!
Bai Fu changed the ship’s navigation destination. She didn’t reveal the new location to the Players, planning to surprise both them and Indigo Star.
The main storyline of Indigo Star was far from over. Her arrival would let her rake in another wave of quest rewards under the identity of the divine maiden descending from the heavens.
What’s it like when an S-rank Psionicist descends upon a beginner planet whose strongest is just B-rank?