Chapter 232: Bountiful Harvest: From Pawn to Player
“So, this Frank actually came for the True Spirit Pillar?”
Bai Fu was slightly surprised.
She didn’t understand how Frank had discovered that the Secret Tower Headquarters was located here.
Had this guy been colluding with the Secret Tower from the beginning, or did he possess some highly specialized tracking method?
While Bai Fu was puzzled, the three Calamity-rank members of the Alliance had already started chatting with Frank.
Frank’s strength wasn’t necessarily much higher than theirs, but his status and position were far from ordinary. The peak combat strength of the Taim Civilization he belonged to couldn’t compare to the Star Covenant, but he was backed by the Supernova Legion and actively participated in major events across the Edge Worlds. His influence in the Edge Worlds was significantly greater than that of the Star Covenant.
Because of this special background, even if the three Calamity-rank members of the Alliance didn’t want to curry favor with Frank, they at least had to go over and greet him, lest they provoke Frank unnecessarily and bring negative consequences to their own factions.
Bai Fu didn’t join the crowd.
It didn’t matter.
From the moment she chose to side with Andras, she and Frank were no longer on the same path, and she had no need to show him any courtesy.
In terms of strength, she wasn’t weaker than Frank; in terms of background, in a critical moment, she could always bring out the Star Covenant banner.
“Let’s search the Secret Tower Headquarters and see if there’s anything good.”
She glanced around and instructed Yulia, who had already left her body, to go check on the upset Cersia. Then she herself began leading the Players in the scavenging.
The Secret Tower was a massive base, and there was bound to be a lot of valuable items inside.
First come, first served!
The Players who received the scavenging mission were all excited beyond words.
Hey, wasn’t this their specialty?
Back when they were Brave Souls, they’d always loot every jar, bottle, and chest in the villagers’ homes. Now they could loot freely—of course they wouldn’t be polite!
Nearly two million Players quickly swept through the Secret Tower base and soon brought back a trove of valuable goods to Bai Fu.
First was a video call from the Dark Domain Insect Queen.
The Dark Domain Insect Queen was nearly driven mad with rage.
She had dispatched another avatar to the Secret Tower Headquarters in an attempt to mark Bai Fu. This way, no matter where Bai Fu hid in the future, she could use her innate ability to track her down for revenge.
But before she could even see Bai Fu, her avatar was blown apart by Frank in coordination with the few Calamity-rank members of the Alliance—utterly unlucky.
“Bai Fu, this isn’t over! I’ll be back!”
On the virtual screen, the Dark Domain Insect Queen was in a frenzied rage.
Yeah yeah yeah, you’re basically Grey Wolf, right? Of course you’ll come back!
Bai Fu immediately cut off the video call. She wasn’t interested in watching a deranged bug go insane.
Next, the Players brought her the Dissociative Agent Base Samples that the Secret Tower had recently recovered.
Bai Fu distributed all the Dissociative Potions to the Players and fed the Base Sample directly to Sypris, boosting Sypris’s strength further and completing a wave of task rewards for helping Sypris recover her power.
After that, the Players uncovered more valuable items from various Secret Tower storage rooms.
Such as potions, blueprints, materials…
Since these items were found by the Players, Bai Fu didn’t feel right about outright taking them. She didn’t have enough task points to trade them directly either, so she offered a decent price to buy them.
She’d ask Andras for help later—she could probably earn a fair bit from it.
“They say I’m a Succubus, but clearly I’m not charming enough. If only I could wave my hand and make Players hand over all their money and XP willingly.”
Bai Fu sighed regretfully.
Of course, she knew that wasn’t possible. Even that master who mastered the [Say you like him and make him top-up another 500.jpg] secret technique couldn’t pull that off—how could she, an NPC?
As they continued searching, suddenly, news came in from a Player saying they had found another True Spirit Pillar.
“Another one?”
Bai Fu’s heart instantly burned with excitement.
The power of the True Spirit Pillar was clear just from observing Yulia. If she could obtain one herself, her strength might shoot up to Upper Calamity in an instant.
“I’m coming right away!”
One minute later, at the entrance of a special laboratory, Bai Fu, Scarlet Leaf, Anya, Elron, Sui Xi, and others all looked up at the “pillar” floating in the center of the room.
“A True Spirit Pillar. The Secret Tower really did have one!” Elron’s eyes sparkled.
Bai Fu shook her head.
Come on.
Others might not know, but she certainly did.
This was another Fake Pillar. Compared to the Fake Pillar stolen from the Sanctification Order, this one didn’t resemble the real pillar as closely, but it still possessed some of the real pillar’s functions.
“Even if it’s a fake, it should fetch a good price, right?”
Bai Fu pondered.
Just as she was about to step forward to retrieve the Fake Pillar, a milky white light suddenly burst out from behind her.
Whoosh—
The light exploded.
In an instant, a terrifying force surged forth.
“Watch out!”
Bai Fu instantly blinked to Anya’s side, pulling her tightly into her arms.
The surging Psionic Burst slammed into her back, and a string of damage numbers floated above her head.
81, -97, -85…
This was… scraping!
A few seconds later, Bai Fu flashed out of the blast zone with Anya in tow. At this point, Scarlet Leaf stood unscathed beside her. Only Elron and Sui Xi hadn’t come out.
Those two…
Bai Fu looked up and realized there was no need to search.
Elron was standing right in the center of the explosion, laughing wildly. That unbridled laugh could rival the Four Mad Uchiha.
“After all this effort, the True Spirit Pillar is finally in our hands, hahahahaha!!!”
Not just Elron—even the usually icy and detached Sui Xi revealed a rare joyful smile upon seeing the Fake True Spirit Pillar in Elron’s hand.
After waiting so many years and outlasting one Pope of the Sanctification Order, they had finally obtained the True Spirit Pillar.
Now, their dream could finally be realized.
Oh, no—this wasn’t the time for gloating. Savior Saint Bai Fu was still watching them.
Elron stopped laughing and cleared his throat. “Thank you, Lady Saint, for your help all this time. Without you, we couldn’t have obtained the True Spirit Pillar so smoothly.”
Bai Fu hadn’t even spoken yet when Anya, still held in her arms, was already furious.
“Wow, you’re purebred bastards!”
The girl pointed at the smug Elron, unaware the True Spirit Pillar was fake and thinking Bai Fu had been duped, so her hair stood on end in rage.
“Boss helped you so much, and this is how you repay her? Hand over the True Spirit Pillar now!”
As she shouted, countless Psychic Tendrils shot out from Anya’s body. At the same time, she began secretly channeling the Needle of Sin and Punishment, ready to jab Elron full of holes.
Strangely, the moment the Psychic Tendrils touched Elron, they dissipated before they could even exert force.
“Huh?”
Anya froze, confused.
Bai Fu, however, understood instantly.
A special barrier!
Just moments ago, a special barrier with 30,000 Shield Value had appeared on Elron’s body—strong enough to block even psychic attacks!
Elron shouted, “Lord Frank, if you don’t act now, this hard-won True Spirit Pillar might be taken by Bai Fu!”
“With me here, no one will take this True Spirit Pillar!”
A deep voice rang out, and the next moment, Frank blinked beside Elron. Elron respectfully handed him the True Spirit Pillar, and Frank calmly stored it in a box.
The white light faded.
With a tearing sound, a large group of people arrived.
They all looked awkwardly at Bai Fu and Frank.
“What’s going on?” Manu looked around nervously.
An NPC who had witnessed everything explained quietly, and everyone present immediately felt immense pressure.
This…
Neither Bai Fu nor Frank were people they could afford to offend.
All they could do now was watch and hope that Bai Fu and Frank didn’t actually fight.
No one was more anxious than Manu.
In the battle against the Secret Tower, Bai Fu had helped them tremendously. Now that she was in trouble, he ought to stand with her—but the opponent was a Calamity-rank from the Taim Civilization. A galactic-level civilization like the Starweb couldn’t withstand retaliation from the Taim Civilization. Just one Taim Mothership could send the Starweb running.
Manu gritted his teeth. He figured he had to contact the Initial Gate Branch of the Star Covenant right away. If he could reach the Vow Master, that would be ideal.
Just as he was about to act, Bai Fu suddenly spoke.
“I’m very curious—how did you find the Secret Tower Headquarters?”
Frank sneered. “Do you remember that True Spirit Pillar you stole from the Secret Tower? That was a Fake Pillar I created. I embedded a tracking device inside and deliberately left it at the Secret Tower base. Originally, I just wanted to test whether you were searching for the True Spirit Pillar on behalf of the Vow Master. Unexpectedly, the Secret Tower snatched it and brought it here, inadvertently revealing the location of their headquarters. One way or another, I really must thank you.”
He was clearly being sarcastic.
But Bai Fu didn’t take the bait. In fact, she was secretly delighted.
So that’s how it is!
Bai Fu finally understood everything.
Because of her earlier moves, both the Secret Tower and the Sanctification Order mistakenly believed the True Spirit Pillar was in the other’s hands. They stole from one another, each treating the other’s Fake Pillar as the real one, never realizing the real True Spirit Pillar had already fused with Yulia.
How amusing.
Since Frank thought he had struck it rich, Bai Fu had no reason to reveal the truth.
Let him think that—it was better than exposing Yulia and drawing unwanted attention.
Time to play her role in this performance!
"Honestly, I’m not that interested in the True Spirit Pillar. But just now you said, ‘With you here, no one can take it’? I want to see whether it’s your mouth that’s tougher or my Prayer Card!"
A stack of Prayer Cards suddenly appeared in Bai Fu’s hand.
Standing behind her, Scarlet Leaf was also eager to fight. "The Taim Civilization is that impressive? If I kill you here today, I’d like to see whether the Taim Civilization dares to charge into the Star Covenant to come after me for it!"
Frank wasn’t intimidated.
"I don’t have time to waste on you now. After I deal with the True Spirit Pillar, whether you’re Hei Fu or Bai Fu, once you fall into my hands, there will only be one outcome—
Death!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a vortex suddenly appeared around his body and instantly swallowed him, Elron, and Sui Xi whole.
"Hahahahaha…"
In the empty ruins of the laboratory, only Frank’s laughter remained.
Flaunt and flee—what a thrill!
As the vortex completely vanished, Scarlet Leaf looked at Bai Fu with concern. She feared Bai Fu would be upset over the True Spirit Pillar being stolen by Frank.
"Bai Fu, the True Spirit Pillar…"
"It’s fine."
Bai Fu shook her head, her gaze resolute.
"I won’t be defeated so easily. Whether it’s Frank or the Taim Civilization, I’ll take back what I’ve lost with my own hands sooner or later!"
As she made her bold declaration, she swept her gaze around, knowing she was saying this for the crowd to hear.
If you’re going to perform, go all in. Just because the main audience, Frank, had left didn’t mean she could drop the act.
When her gaze swept over them, Manu and the others didn’t dare meet her eyes.
Ashamed!
Bai Fu had helped them so much, but all they could do earlier was watch helplessly as Frank snatched her prize. If word of this spread, their reputations would surely...
Sigh.
Manu clenched his teeth.
He felt this couldn’t just be brushed off lightly. The Starweb truly needed Bai Fu’s friendship and had to provide extra compensation beyond what was originally agreed upon.
Even if it didn’t fully ease Bai Fu’s dissatisfaction, it was still far better than doing nothing.
With that thought, Manu immediately ordered the capture of the Sanctification Order Pope and personally contacted Starweb’s rotating chairman, Claville, to share his plan.
His proposal received unanimous support from the Starweb Joint Council members.
While Manu took action, the other three civilizations in the Alliance also moved independently.
They didn’t coordinate with one another, but they all reached the same conclusion.
Compensation—Bai Fu must be compensated!
Thus, while the Alliance was clearing the battlefield, Bai Fu suddenly received compensation plans from all four civilizations.
"A total of 20 million Credit Coins, 20 ships seized from the Secret Tower, an interest-free loan for constructing the Onandi Base, and building materials at cost?"
What the hell!
Bai Fu was stunned by the list.
Her performance had mainly been to show her stance and quietly remove herself from the True Spirit Pillar struggle. She never expected such a windfall.
Let alone one Fake Pillar—even ten of them couldn’t be traded for what was on this list under normal circumstances!
Bai Fu chuckled.
Frank, oh Frank, thank you very much!
"This gift is really too generous, I..."
Manu shook his head and cut her off. "Lady Saint, this is what you deserve. Without you, we never could have completely wiped out the Secret Tower. So, you must accept these things!"
Such kindness couldn’t be declined.
Seeing that Manu had said so much, Bai Fu could only "reluctantly" accept the generous gift.
Perfect—just like that, she had instantly transformed into a rich woman.
Now, with enough ships under her command to form a small fleet of 50 ships, her next moves would become much more manageable.
Bai Fu closed her bank account panel and then opened the Quest Panel to tally the gains from the Secret Tower campaign.
Quest [Secret Tower Exposed] settlement.
[Quest Rating: Legendary (You deeply participated in the plot, playing the lead in the grand drama of the Secret Tower’s collapse. You are the Supernova of this starry sky!)]
Just as Bai Fu expected, after the quest settlement, she gained 3.11 billion XP in one go.
This was by far her single largest XP reward. The number wasn’t exaggerated—after all, she had contributed more than 40% in the operation to destroy the Secret Tower.
Besides the XP, she received three rewards.
First, the title [Supernova], which granted +7% to all base stats.
Second, a Psionic Construct Advancement Card*1, which could upgrade a Psionic Construct by one grade.
Without hesitation, Bai Fu used the card on [Psionic Construct - Fu II], upgrading Fu II into Fu III.
In an instant, the Combat Suit covering her body underwent a massive transformation.
First, the "material": though still made of psionic energy, Fu III felt soft and comfortable like a second skin in normal times, yet during battle, it could instantly harden to be several times tougher than metal.
Then the appearance: Fu III’s design was more complex, but not to the point of being overwhelming. Tasteful color blocks and lines highlighted Bai Fu’s curves even more elegantly.
Lastly, the functions: being an upgrade in quality, Fu III didn’t gain revolutionary new abilities, but its durability doubled, strength and agility bonuses doubled, physical damage reduction became -15%, and it gained a new effect that accelerated psionic regeneration. Though not as fast as Yulia’s Mana Recharge, it was still helpful.
Third, the rare Prayer Card blueprint [Eye of Lamentation].
This was a summoning-type blueprint that could summon the Eye of Lamentation. Its effect differed from all previously obtained Prayer Cards. It could summon only one at a time and had no direct offensive capability, but it could apply the [Lament] debuff to any hostile targets it saw.
Targets afflicted with [Lament] suffered greatly reduced recovery capabilities, lower Qi (Psionic Value, etc.) max, and accumulated a Lament Gauge. Once full, the gauge triggered abnormal behavior due to overwhelming sorrow—a dangerous factor in battle.
"Nice. This is somewhat like the [Domain] of a Domination-level Psionicist, just a much weaker version."
With this, Bai Fu’s combat power would significantly rise, especially in group battles.
Shua shua shua—
Bai Fu dumped massive amounts of XP to max out the Prayer Card, then began leveling herself up. With 3 billion XP, she successfully raised [Apostle Walker] from Lv1 to Lv27.
At this point, her base Inspiration had reached 2831, and during full burst, it could spike to over 3900.
"Raising 26 levels added nearly 700 base Inspiration. Though leveling up now costs many times more than before, the attribute gains are also several times greater. Once my main class reaches level 140, I’ll even get a new bonus."
Bai Fu was extremely satisfied with her gains from the Secret Tower takedown.
Now, just by raw stats, she was likely unrivaled across the entire Initial Gate Galaxy Cluster. The only drawback was her shallow accumulation—simply put, she lacked enough Calamity-rank skills and Prayer Card blueprints.
Filling that gap wouldn’t be quick.
"XP, XP—I need more XP!"
Bai Fu’s eyes glowed red.
Time to squeeze the Players a little more!
"Huh."
As Bai Fu was dreaming of milking Players, Yulia, passing by, suddenly stopped.
"Why do I feel a sudden aura of pressure from you?"
Well, of course—she had just leveled up 26 times in one go.
Bai Fu puffed out her chest.
After such long buildup, she finally didn’t have to keep holding back. She could boldly expand her influence now.
"From pawn to player. At least in the Edge Worlds, I can be considered a player on the board now."
On her way out of the Secret Tower Headquarters, Bai Fu received a message from Andras.
Andras first congratulated her on reaching Calamity-rank, then invited her to attend the next meeting of the Origin Consortium.
Bai Fu understood.
Looks like Andras was having a harder and harder time.
She asked for the time—it would be held six months later.
Six months?
That wouldn’t interfere with her plan to harvest Players on other Newbie Planets.
"No problem. I’ll definitely be there."
Bai Fu agreed readily.
After ending her conversation with Andras, her next task was to return to the Starweb with Manu.
The Starweb Joint Council had expressed their desire to host a grand celebration for the destruction of the Secret Tower and hoped she would attend.
Of course, Bai Fu wouldn’t miss such a golden opportunity to gain public favor and reputation. She also planned to use the chance to attract investment for the newly constructed Onandi Base.