Chapter 240: Second Banner of Star Covenant: Bai Fu
Don’t be fooled by how goofy Scarlet Leaf usually acted—when it came to intelligence gathering, she was quite the expert.
After all, she knew a lot of people.
With her background and simple-minded demeanor, even if she just stood there, plenty of people would willingly approach to befriend her.
At times like this, Scarlet Leaf’s connections truly came in handy.
All kinds of intel floated to her like snowflakes, then were compiled and passed on to Bai Fu.
Bai Fu had the AI developed by Xia Shi onboard the ship reorganize the intel. At last, she had a preliminary understanding of the current state of the four factions sending her information.
The Free Star System Alliance was formed during the Taim Civilization’s expansion by dozens of small civilizations that had previously been suppressed by them. To this day, they had clashed—overtly and covertly—for over a thousand years. Both sides had victories and losses, but overall, the Taim Civilization had the upper hand. They were the traditional definition of blood enemies.
It was well known that the Taim Civilization was backed by the Supernova Battle Group, but the Free Star System Alliance was also suspected to be supported by Titan Industries. As for the Rebirth Empire, there were rumors that their ships had appeared in that star region, though their exact intentions remained unclear.
The Taim Civilization was currently deeply divided internally, due to years of accumulating tensions. The conflict reached a head during the last Leader election, where an assassination took place mid-process, resulting in the sudden death of a well-respected candidate. The assassin's affiliation was still unknown, but the fallout had already made reconciliation impossible.
Neris and Gustav were both strong contenders for the next Leader position. Their governance philosophies were entirely different: Neris was a moderate, while Gustav aimed to reshape the Taim Civilization into a “battle group” like the Supernova Battle Group. Naturally, the two never got along.
Beyond Neris and Gustav, the Taim Civilization had more than a dozen factions, though most were useless. Even when it came to Calamity-class espers, they might not outnumber those of the Silent Court.
The Glorious Forces, who stirred things up inside the Taim Civilization, had an unknown origin. They claimed to be liberating civilizations swallowed by the Taim Civilization, but to this day, no one knew what their leader even looked like. Many suspected that the Glorious Forces were backed by the Rebirth Empire.
“All three universal-class civilizations joined the fray—what is this, Romance of the Three Kingdoms in space?”
Bai Fu couldn’t help but complain.
This main storyline seemed massive in scale, after all, it involved the three universal-class civilizations.
However, Bai Fu wasn’t too flustered. With her strength, she could still make waves. In a proxy war like this, even if the universal-class civilizations got involved, they’d only provide intel, resources, and small rebranded troops. Sending their own top-tier experts into the field would defeat the entire purpose of a proxy war—it’d be simpler to just start an all-out war directly.
Bai Fu closed the virtual screen and looked back at the mission panel.
The newly triggered main quest 【Deep Sea Undercurrent】had now branched into five paths.
They were: join any one of the four factions that sent her invitations, or go find another faction to cooperate with on her own.
All five branches currently had the same rewards—
5 million experience + unlock faction favorability and faction-exclusive reputation.
Bai Fu immediately ruled out the option of finding a faction on her own. Without supreme-level strength, walking that path would most likely end with a broken leg.
She wasn’t interested in who would become the new master of the Taim Civilization. What mattered to her now was how to extract the most benefit from this war and ascend to the Sovereign rank as soon as possible.
“The Glorious Forces are also off the table. Cooperating with some mysterious group whose leader’s identity is completely unknown is way too risky. If they’re hiding some massive conspiracy, getting involved with my current strength might just get me killed.”
“Next, there’s Gustav. His political philosophy is all about control. Joining his faction would severely limit my freedom, which is bad for me and the players. Plus, rumor has it he’s tight with the faction Frank is part of. Pass, pass, pass!”
After narrowing things down, Bai Fu realized she was only left with the Free Star System Alliance and Neris.
She didn’t have any special preference between the two factions. It would all depend on who offered the better deal.
If she remembered correctly, both appeared in the 2.0 version promotional video. That meant they weren’t the kind of cannon-fodder NPCs who’d get obliterated the moment they showed up.
As Bai Fu mulled it over, she suddenly received a call from Silver Vermilion.
“The Oathkeeper asked me to thank you on her behalf for looking after Scarlet Leaf over the years. This is a token of her gratitude.”
The communicator beeped.
Bai Fu opened the file Silver Vermilion sent her. The moment she saw the title, 《Psionic Amplification Theory (Calamity Advanced Version)》, she was completely stunned.
This was Calamity-class advanced knowledge, strictly controlled by all major factions!
Psionic Amplification Theory could enhance the effects of psionic-type skills. At Lv1, it already provided a 50% boost, and when maxed out, it could reach 100%!
Once she learned this, her damage multiplier would increase from the current 3.08x to 4.08x—a nearly one-third boost.
Bai Fu’s breathing became rapid.
She had coveted this for a long time. A year ago, she had even asked Andras to help her acquire this knowledge, but had made no progress. She never expected to receive it today from the Oathkeeper.
Was this the hidden benefit of helping Scarlet Leaf?
No.
Not entirely.
If her leveling hadn’t been so fast and her recent performance not so impressive, the Oathkeeper wouldn’t have given her this gift—even if she was grateful. After all, Bai Fu wouldn’t have been able to use it for a while. It’d have been a waste.
“Please thank the Oathkeeper for her generous gift. She must’ve gone through some trouble to obtain this advanced knowledge, right?”
Silver Vermilion smiled. “The Rebirth Empire’s Illusory Realm Research Council owed the Oathkeeper a favor. This knowledge was purchased from them.”
Bai Fu fell into thought.
She had heard of that name before. The president of the Illusory Realm Research Council was a psionic-type top-tier esper.
Casually, she asked, “Did the Oathkeeper give any special instructions?”
Silver Vermilion replied, “Don’t worry. The Oathkeeper has no requests. This is purely a token of appreciation. However… I imagine you’ve recently received quite a few invitations—from the Taim Civilization side.”
“Technically, I shouldn’t interfere with your decision, since that would go against the rules the Oathkeeper established when founding the Star Covenant—unless in an emergency, never interfere with members’ personal development.”
“But as someone who grew up with the Oathkeeper, I personally hope that if you receive an invitation from the Free Star System Alliance, you’ll turn them down.”
Bai Fu asked curiously, “Is there something wrong with the Free Star System Alliance?”
Silver Vermilion explained, “They have a good relationship with the Allspirits Society, and the Oathkeeper has never gotten along with their president, Rufus.”
I see!
Bai Fu’s eyes flickered. She realized this was a perfect opportunity to raise the Oathkeeper’s favorability.
Currently, she didn’t have many ties with the Star Covenant. But if she could raise the Oathkeeper’s favorability and gain further support, then in this main storyline—manipulated behind the scenes by many Sovereigns and top-tier espers—she could truly go all out.
“I didn’t have a strong preference to begin with. But since you’ve said so, Secretary-General Silver Vermilion, as a member of the Star Covenant, of course I won’t assist the Free Star System Alliance.”
Bai Fu straightened her posture, putting on a show of enthusiasm.
Silver Vermilion couldn’t help but nod repeatedly, her favorability toward Bai Fu soaring.
Well done!
Someone this perceptive deserved nurturing.
Silver Vermilion had never fully agreed with the Oathkeeper’s philosophy for managing the Star Covenant.
Once you reached top-tier strength, unless you hid away in some remote corner, it wasn’t enough to simply say you wouldn’t compete—not competing wouldn’t mean you’d stay out of the fray.
But the Oathkeeper was the Oathkeeper.
Since she couldn’t change her mind, Silver Vermilion tried to strengthen the Star Covenant in other ways.
The Star Covenant needed a second banner beyond the Oathkeeper. Silver Vermilion’s strength barely qualified, but she had to remain by the Oathkeeper’s side. So she placed her hopes on others.
Over the years, she had chosen quite a few “second banner seeds,” but unfortunately, none of them developed as she’d hoped.
Reality was harsh.
From Calamity to Sovereign, and from Sovereign to top-tier, these two steps had stopped countless individuals. Otherwise, those universal-class civilizations wouldn’t have only a dozen or two espers at Sovereign level or above.
Bai Fu, now one of the brightest stars in the border worlds—could she grow into a towering tree?
Silver Vermilion didn’t know.
Only time would tell.
“This is my private number. If you ever encounter trouble you can’t handle, I might be able to help.”
Perfect.
Bai Fu nodded inwardly.
First win over Silver Vermilion. Once she started whispering sweet nothings beside the Oathkeeper every day, winning over the Oathkeeper would become much easier.
After the conversation ended, although she had decided to cooperate with Neris, Bai Fu didn’t rush to contact him.
If she appeared too eager, she wouldn’t gain much benefit—and might even come off as suspicious.
So, she would leave them hanging for a while, then act like she was still considering her options and reach out to each faction a little. Once the timing was right, she’d formally negotiate with Neris.
The spaceship continued its voyage. Several days later, the fleet finally arrived at Ulysses Star.
As soon as she disembarked the ship, Bai Fu gathered Anya, Xia Shi, Vic, and the “protagonists” she had invested in, and handed each of them a Rose Blossom Potion.
During the return journey, Yulia had concocted dozens of potions, so there was no worry about running out. After distributing them, Bai Fu picked out a bottle from the remaining stash and awarded it as a bonus prize to the player who had first spotted Bloodthorn during the hunt.
At first, the other players were merely envious upon seeing the Rose Blossom Potion.
But half a day later, their attitudes completely changed.
【Damn it, that lucky bastard! If I hadn’t been distracted by that busty thunder NPC on the roadside, I would’ve been the one to discover Bloodthorn first! Curse those big boobs!】
【Let’s all congratulate this guy! (through gritted teeth)】
【Your mom’s groceries always go up in price, and your grandpa always gets criticized when playing chess】
No one could blame the other players for being jealous. After all, the player who used the Rose Blossom Potion gained over 180 attribute points. If it weren’t for his average mechanical skill, even Starfish, who ranked first in the Arena, would’ve been crushed by him with raw stats.
【Damn it, will there be more quests like this next time?】
【The Silent Court's benefits are insane! I’m speechless! Why does the rookie planet we're on connect to a different star sector? Fu Fu, can you stop being so good to them? Squeeze them dry, treat them like slaves, trample them beneath your feet!】
【Trample me too】
“With this wave of publicity, I bet that Bai Fu Foundation I established is going to be swamped with work.”
Bai Fu beamed with joy.
She urgently convened a meeting to begin preparations for building a second base.
Since Dark Moon Tide would be operating near the Taim Civilization for a considerable time, to avoid running back and forth, it was necessary to purchase a planet near the Taim Civilization to establish a second base.
In addition to the second base, Bai Fu proposed deepening cooperation with Starweb, mobilizing players to help clean up the outlaws active along the Chaos Star Route.
On one hand, this was to craft a public image, strengthening the public perception across the galaxy that “Bai Fu is a saint.”
Only when everyone believed she was a kindhearted saint could she better screw people over in secret.
On the other hand, it was to give players something to do, letting them earn more experience while subtly luring them into buying her Prayer Cards and 【Legion】 gear.
Lately, Silent Court players had made quite a profit by defeating Bloodthorn with her help. It was time to funnel all that money into her own pocket.
Initially, Bai Fu had planned to host a festival to profit from the players, but realizing that the last festival was less than a year ago, she changed her plan.
Better to release a quest involving high-level monsters—players would voluntarily come spend at her store in order to complete the quest.
This method was slower than hosting a festival but had the advantage of not requiring discounts and wouldn’t make players feel like she was always trying to milk them for money.
Exploiting players was just like exploiting Cessia—it required not just skill, but a diverse and strategic combination of skills.
If she didn’t change her tactics, just like with medicine, they could develop resistance!
Bai Fu’s proposal was met with unanimous approval, and Starweb was excited. They had long wanted to deal with the Chaos Star Route troublemakers, and now that Bai Fu offered to help, they had no reason to refuse.
After finishing all these matters, Bai Fu had some temporary downtime.
Her daily routine consisted of visiting the factory in the morning to check on the Little Hei Fus at work, making a public appearance in front of players at noon, and spending evenings in Yulia’s lab stacking layers of the Apostle’s Heart.
During her occasional free time, she would listen to Cypris nagging.
“Bai Fu, Bai Fu, when are you going to help me recover my strength?”
“Soon, soon. This year for sure.”
At such a critical time, how could Bai Fu spare the effort to deal with the conflict between Cypris and the Dark Domain Zerg Queen?
Scarlet Leaf and Cessia also wanted a piece of Bai Fu’s free time, but the two of them monitored each other so closely that in the end, neither got anything, and all the time was taken by Yulia.
“Not fighting is also a form of fighting.”
Yulia “sat high” above the laboratory, completely composed.
Two days later.
“Two pieces of good news. Which one do you want to hear first?” Yulia raised her communicator.
Bai Fu said, “Since they’re both good news, there’s no need to choose. Say whichever one you like.”
Yulia nodded. “The first good news is from the Undead. One of them, called 【Falling in Love with Trains】, claims to have found an alien suspected to be the assassin from the Taim Civilization. The location is on a Dark Domain planet named 【Bury】. The second good news is that Neris has proactively contacted us again. This time, his tone is extremely sincere. He wants to invite you to visit his governor district.”
Bai Fu shot up from her seat. “Definitely good news. If the conversation goes well, we’ll be busy again soon.”
She quickly took out her communicator and contacted Neris.
“I’d be delighted to visit your governor district, Mr. Neris, but I would like you to answer one question.”
“What question?”
“The assassin who attempted to kill the current leader of the Taim Civilization—was it someone sent by you or your faction?”
“I can’t prove it to you, but my answer is: no.”
“Since you’ve said that, then before I visit your governor district, I intend to send you a welcome gift.”
Bai Fu had her own way of telling whether Neris was lying.
Once she captured that assassin, she only had to observe Neris’s favorability toward her. If it plummeted, then he had lied.
After ending the call with Neris, Bai Fu immediately left the laboratory to gather her team and set off for Planet Bury to catch the target.
This was an opportunity not to be missed.
If they delayed too long, the assassin might get captured by people sent by the Taim Civilization’s leader—or flee somewhere else.
While Bai Fu was busy, things on Neris’s end were also hectic with arguments.
“Bai Fu’s really being difficult. Governor Neris has invited her three times, and she’s still using some welcome gift as an excuse to delay.”
“Could she have already formed an alliance with someone else?”
“Maybe she just doesn’t want to get involved in the Taim Civilization’s internal struggle.”
“Or maybe she really is preparing a welcome gift?”
The room was in uproar. Most thought there was no need to continue contacting Bai Fu.
Without Bai Fu, couldn’t they still fight Gustav and the others?
It didn’t make sense.
They too had support from a universal-class civilization, and everyone present was a prominent figure with power and prestige. Bai Fu’s recent popularity—well, they’d had their moments too. It was just that time had passed, and they no longer held the spotlight like Bai Fu did.
Neris rubbed the scar above his eye.
He could understand what these people were thinking.
If a Calamity-class esper wasn’t arrogant, were they still Calamity-class?
But he still wanted to win over Bai Fu as much as possible.
Bai Fu’s individual strength wasn’t enough to shift the overall situation. After all, there were multiple Sovereigns active beneath the undercurrents. But the millions of Undead under her command were a different story.
Neris had done his research. The Undead didn’t die, and their power grew rapidly. Some of them could already hold their own against weaker Grade-A espers.
If he could gain the support of Bai Fu and her Undead, then once war broke out, he could quickly establish a foothold and seize dominance in the chaos.
“With Bai Fu’s character, she probably isn’t stalling. So what will the welcome gift she sends me be?”
Neris began to look forward to it.