Chapter 226: Storm Approaches: Bai Fu’s Advance Preparation for 2.0
On Bai Fu’s way to rendezvous with Sui Xi, as Andras had said, the major factions began secretly poaching her followers.
Because she had already arranged countermeasures in advance, she remained perfectly calm.
Her recent performance had not only impressed NPCs like Andras, but also the players.
Additionally, the Digging‑Princess had posted a video hyping her “background,” to the point that in players’ eyes now, she was even more enticing than special titles that granted massive stat bonuses.
As a result, very few players had truly defected to other factions. Just as Bai Fu had hoped, most of them infiltrated those groups with undercover missions.
After all, the benefits of a title were clear and finite at a glance, while the benefits of following her...
Digging and digging on the tiny Bai Fu — how could the benefits ever run out?
In short, most players now believed that as long as they followed her, even if they didn’t win the five-million grand prize, just drinking the soup would be enough to make them full.
Take training a second class, for example.
Most players hadn’t even considered leveling a second class before following Bai Fu.
The cost of training an additional class was too high. Many players wouldn’t even reach the level cap for their first class by the end of a version.
But after joining Bai Fu, those players found that earning XP became significantly easier. Often, they reached the level cap for the current version midway through it.
Some players took the opportunity to start training a second class.
Bai Fu was more than happy to see this trend, and she actively supported it.
For instance, she set quest rewards to include Profession Knowledge Books for certain classes, enticing players to train a second class — especially Psionic classes.
One reason she did this was to strengthen her player followers. The other, of course, was to better squeeze them dry.
Two classes, double the needs, double the exploitation!
This wave was called proactively creating demand!
XP stored on the players never accrued interest, but stored on her — that was a different story. Once she got stronger, she could provide better services to the players.
In short—
Satisfaction guaranteed!
“Come to think of it, Version 1.4 is ending soon too.”
Bai Fu opened the official website.
Last night, the site had posted a notice about scheduled downtime for an update.
After nearly three years of grinding, the main storylines on all the Newbie Planets had mostly wrapped up, with only a few left unfinished.
The upcoming Version 1.5, just as everyone had predicted, would be a transitional one — so it wouldn’t last long.
“At this rate, unless the downtime between Version 1.5 and Version 2.0 is unusually long, it’ll be at most half a year before a wave of players enter the Starsea from elsewhere.”
“I need to quickly clean up the mess on the Secret Tower’s end, then find time to squeeze a few more Newbie Planets. These great players — how could I stand by and watch them get exploited by some other vile woman or man?”
Bai Fu nodded to herself.
In this vast Starsea, she had clearly become the earliest NPC to prepare for Version 2.0.
…
Sanctum Star.
This was Bai Fu’s first time at the headquarters of the Sanctification Order.
She had heard of this faction even before entering the Starsea.
Not long after her arrival in the Starsea, she had come into close contact with them.
But it was only now that she had the time to look up and admire the towering white spire before her.
A spire over a hundred meters tall pierced the clouds, standing like a sword planted in the earth — majestic and solemn.
“Thanks for the effort. We’re really glad you could come in person. We invited you here mainly because we feared the Secret Tower might eavesdrop if we discussed the plan over the Interstellar Network.”
Sui Xi walked over from a distance. Though she spoke words of gratitude, her expression remained as cold as ever.
Bai Fu was already used to her demeanor and waved her hand. “If you don’t have anything else to do, let’s get straight to business.”
Sui Xi nodded in agreement and led Bai Fu and Scarlet Leaf into the meeting room.
Inside, the Pope and Elron had been waiting, having received word in advance. Upon seeing Bai Fu, they immediately stood to greet her, their enthusiasm a sharp contrast to Sui Xi’s coldness.
After some polite exchanges, Elron began:
“Not long ago, we found a base of the Secret Tower through a special channel. To our surprise, the True Spirit Pillar we’ve been searching for may very well be located at that base!”
At this point, Elron couldn’t help but raise his voice several notches.
Oh ho, that was certainly some extraordinary luck!
Bai Fu nodded repeatedly, her expression a mix of seriousness and praise.
The True Spirit Pillar?
Unless the Secret Tower really had a second True Spirit Pillar, this news was a hundred percent false.
But Bai Fu didn’t expose it. She couldn’t possibly tell the Sanctification Order that the True Spirit Pillar had long fused with Yulia.
Given her current strength, she no longer needed to fear the Sanctification Order, but less trouble was better than more.
Bai Fu placed her hands on the table, fingers interlaced, patiently listening to Elron explain the plan to seize the True Spirit Pillar.
The plan was actually quite simple: just like the operation in the Tide Galaxy, they would split into two teams — one attacking externally, the other infiltrating internally.
Their previous cooperation with Bai Fu had gone exceptionally well, so they immediately thought of her again when planning this new operation.
However, this time differed slightly from the last. This target was a base — more heavily defended and far more complex than the previous secret lab.
Thus, in Elron’s plan, the Sanctification Order would be responsible for distracting the Secret Tower, while Bai Fu would infiltrate the base to retrieve the True Spirit Pillar.
In his words, Bai Fu’s strength was sufficient to handle any emergencies.
Considering the immense risk of infiltrating the base, Elron offered a generous reward to persuade her.
“Three million + a set of Blessing-type Prayer Card blueprints!”
Bai Fu looked at the mission interface that popped up before her.
Three million?
That wasn’t a small number.
A set of Blessing-type Prayer Card blueprints?
These Prayer Cards were of little use to someone like her, already approaching Calamity-level, but selling them to players or other NPCs would be a fantastic way to rake in profits.
Besides the reward Elron offered, completing the quest would also grant her ten million experience points in the game.
After some thought, Bai Fu accepted the quest.
Judging by the amount of experience, the quest didn’t seem too difficult.
Since that was the case, why not put on a show with the Sanctification Order? She could even take the opportunity to get back at the Secret Tower.
The only issue was that this quest couldn’t be delayed. If the game version update hit and players were forcibly logged off, her plan to let them run the quest for XP — and then exploit them — would go up in smoke.
Elron said, “Can we move anytime? Then let’s set it for the day after tomorrow. We need a bit more preparation.”
Bai Fu had no objection. “That works.”
With that, the meeting ended. Bai Fu and Scarlet Leaf left the conference room. After escorting them to their guest rooms, Sui Xi returned to the lab. The Pope and Elron were still there, waiting for her return.
Bang!
The moment the door closed again, Elron placed a metal sphere on the table. Soft white light radiated from the sphere, enveloping the entire room.
The metal sphere was highly effective at preventing outside surveillance — its performance was exceptional.
“Bai Fu has accepted the commission. It’s time to contact that Great One and have their side begin preparations.”
Sui Xi casually grabbed a chair and sat down, expressionless as always.
Elron said, “Don’t worry, I already sent the meeting summary over. That Great One said everything will be set up within two days. Now it’s our turn to perform. I believe as long as we successfully draw the Secret Tower’s attention, Bai Fu’s strength will easily allow her to infiltrate the base and retrieve that fake True Spirit Pillar. After that...”
He paused, a smile spreading across his face.
“Just watching how Bai Fu handles the fake True Spirit Pillar will tell us whether she’s truly following the Vow Master’s orders to find the True Spirit Pillar.”
Sui Xi nodded.
Not long ago, she had received an order from the Sanctification Order’s Backer, instructing her to investigate Bai Fu’s connection with the Vow Master, and determine if the rumors were true — that Bai Fu had come to the Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster under the Vow Master’s orders to seize the True Spirit Pillar.
But Bai Fu had been running non-stop. First, she performed a physical feat of tanking ship’s cannons on Shudun Star, then teamed up with Scarlet Leaf on Red Ring Star to take down a Calamity-level of the Secret Tower.
Bai Fu’s strength had far exceeded their expectations. Trying to get close and probe her using abilities wouldn’t work anymore.
Left with no other option, they came up with a new plan: lay a trap to test her.
The Secret Tower’s base was real, but there was no True Spirit Pillar inside. The so-called True Spirit Pillar was a fake one they had secretly planted with the help of that Great One.
The fake pillar had been specially marked. Once Bai Fu picked it up, observing how she dealt with it would reveal whether she was connected to the Vow Master.
If there was no connection, they could continue working with Bai Fu and rely on her strength to seize the real True Spirit Pillar from the Secret Tower.
If there was a connection, then things would get complicated. The involvement of a Transcendent-rank Psionicist would make the situation completely uncontrollable.
…
During the two days of preparation on the Sanctification Order’s side, Bai Fu was anything but idle. She spent her time either playing cards with Scarlet Leaf or conducting experiments in the spaceship lab with Yulia.
In truth, with Yulia’s psionic recovery rate, even if Bai Fu pressed her for psionic power twenty-four hours a day to stack Heart of the Apostle layers, she still couldn’t drain Yulia dry.
But even machines suffer wear — let alone Yulia.
She had to give Yulia time to rest. If she accidentally broke her, that’d be a real headache.
Two days later.
The Sanctification Order finished preparations, and everyone set off on the spaceship, heading straight for the Secret Tower’s base.
Upon arrival, Bai Fu immediately handed all the players she brought over to Elron’s command.
Her mission was to infiltrate the base, so she obviously couldn’t bring players along. Better to let them follow Elron and earn some XP. With so many players supporting them, the Sanctification Order’s chances of successfully drawing the Secret Tower’s attention would also increase.
Once everything was ready, both sides launched into action.
Seeing the Sanctification Order storming the base, personnel at the Secret Tower base quickly contacted headquarters for reinforcements.
Reinforcements?
Reinforce your ass!
Right now, the top priority was dealing with Bai Fu and the Sanctification Order — everything else could wait.
“Abandon the base. Full retreat!” ordered the Chief Steward.
“Yes, sir.”
The Secret Tower base’s response completely threw Bai Fu, who was just about to begin her infiltration.
Were they planning a full-force attack on the Sanctification Order? Was their aggro-pulling ability really that strong?
Soon, she realized something was off.
She had already reached the innermost part of the base, yet still, no one had come back to stop her.
“What’s going on here?”
Bai Fu was baffled. She shook her head and looked at the “True Spirit Pillar” now in view.
Having seen the real True Spirit Pillar before, she instantly felt something was off. A Psionic Vision scan confirmed her suspicion.
【Fake True Spirit Pillar】
Whatever. Real or fake, as long as she delivered it to the Sanctification Order, the quest would be complete.
Bai Fu placed the fake pillar into the container the Sanctification Order had given her, then began to retreat. Halfway out, the Secret Tower finally noticed her.
“Holy crap, it’s Bai Fu!”
“Run for your lives!”
The base personnel turned green with fear.
Aside from a few from headquarters, most of the Secret Tower members had been nearly scared to death by Bai Fu after the battles on Shudun Star and Red Ring Star. Few dared to confront her. Confront? They didn’t even dare meet her eyes.
Morale was shattered.
This was precisely why the Chief Steward and the Master of the Secret Tower had decided to take a final gamble.
If it worked and they killed Bai Fu — and grabbed the True Spirit Pillar from the Sanctification Order — the Secret Tower could be revived on the spot.
If it failed, even without external threats, most peripheral members of the Secret Tower would abandon ship and flee.
To the Chief Steward and the Master of the Secret Tower, the Secret Tower was standing at the brink of life and death!
“Bai Fu — it’s her again!”
Upon receiving the emergency message from the base, the Chief Steward’s face turned grim.
Even he couldn’t stay calm now. Bai Fu had to die. Even if it meant perishing together, she must be killed!!!
“Initiate the plan. Release the bait.”
Elsewhere, watching the panicked Secret Tower members flee, Bai Fu frowned.
Something was wrong.
The Secret Tower seemed overly afraid of her. At this rate, once they learned she had advanced to Calamity-level, they might go out of their way to avoid her entirely — how would she continue farming contribution by eliminating the Secret Tower?
Looks like she couldn’t afford to be too flashy for a while.
With a flash using Prophet’s Mark, Bai Fu exited the scene and handed the fake pillar to Elron.
Elron thanked her profusely while secretly sighing in relief.
It seemed Bai Fu’s connection to the Vow Master wasn’t as the rumors claimed — that made things easier.
“Pleasure working with you!”
The two sides exchanged pleasantries and parted ways.
Back at her base, Bai Fu declined all commissions and focused on stacking layers. Two days before the 1.5 version update, she finally raised Heart of the Apostle to the fifth layer.
Her base Inspiration reached 2013 points — fully meeting the awakening conditions. She could ascend to Calamity-level anytime she wanted.
“At last, I have the power to transcend the board before the players enter the Starsea en masse.”
But Bai Fu didn’t rush to awaken. She had a surprise in store for the Secret Tower.
And so, two days passed quietly. At midnight, the 1.5 version server update arrived.