Chapter 243: Plot Prophet, Bai Fu’s Heroic Road
Bai Fu carried N2’s corpse back to the spaceship.
Under Cypris’s guidance, Anya used the Needle of Sin and Punishment to string together the spiritual fragments from N2 that hadn’t completely dissipated.
Then, everyone under the shroud of violet light saw N2’s memories.
Just as shown on the previous attribute panel, N2 was indeed a Death Warrior cultivated by the Taim Civilization, and among his batch, he had performed the best.
Precisely because of this, he had been drawn into the center of the vortex and sent to assassinate the Spokesperson.
N2 had no past.
At least, that was what his memories showed. From the moment he truly had memories, he had already been in that Death Warrior training facility.
He didn’t know who his true handler was. Before he was qualified to go on missions, the only people he had ever met were fellow Death Warriors and instructors.
However, he had heard a voice.
It was during an extremely accidental occasion when he overheard an instructor conversing with some big shot.
Just two lines, and they weren’t particularly meaningful.
N2 hadn’t paid much attention to the voice.
He wasn’t the type who liked digging into the roots of things, and he carried the same attitude during missions—
"Don’t tell me all that useless crap. Just tell me where to go and who to kill. As for everything else, even if I knew, it’s not something a Death Warrior like me should concern myself with."
The only thing N2 cared about was whether he could survive.
Though bearing the title of a Death Warrior, he still wanted to live. With his strength, he could’ve lived quite well—if only not for the special mark planted on him, which ensured he would be found no matter where he fled. Because of this, he could only continue obeying orders.
A turning point appeared a year and a half ago.
Members of the Glorious Forces suddenly contacted N2 and told him that they were his true handlers. They gave him an extremely important mission, and if he completed it, they would not only remove the mark from his body but also send him to the Supernova Battle Group, allowing him to take charge of his own future from then on.
The content of the mission, naturally, was to assassinate the Taim Civilization’s Spokesperson during the “Veterans’ Assembly”.
It made perfect sense that the Glorious Forces wanted to assassinate the Taim Civilization’s Spokesperson.
And it made perfect sense that they were in such a rush to send him to the Supernova Battle Group after the assassination, fearing the operation might be exposed.
Therefore, N2 didn’t have any doubts about the setup.
His only concern was that the mission was too difficult—he might be killed before even reaching the Spokesperson—or that the Glorious Forces, wanting to eliminate all loose ends, might quietly dispose of him after the mission.
The Glorious Forces saw through N2’s concerns and explained that they weren’t really asking him to assassinate the Spokesperson. Expecting a low-level Calamity to kill the Spokesperson was pure fantasy.
This was a warning!
This was meant to stir up conflict between the factions within the Taim Civilization!
They also told N2 not to worry—the pursuit afterward would just be for show. It was all an act. They had already reached an agreement with someone within the military to ensure nothing would go wrong.
After wrestling with it for a while, N2 ultimately accepted the mission.
It might have been his only chance.
Time flew.
The Veterans’ Assembly proposed by the Spokesperson of the Taim Civilization was soon held officially.
N2, under the Glorious Forces’ arrangements, charged at the Spokesperson.
Everything happened just as the Glorious Forces had said. The assassination appeared thrilling on the surface but was actually procedural. The guards and psionics in his path made a lot of fuss but didn’t truly harm him.
He made it all the way to a spot relatively close to the Spokesperson, threw out a few techniques, and then planned to pretend he had been outmatched and retreat.
But then, something no one expected occurred.
The Spokesperson shouted a line—not loudly, and to someone beside him.
Perhaps due to the urgency of the situation, he hadn’t used the “public-facing voice” he usually employed with the public, but rather spoke in a very casual tone.
Yet it was precisely this casual tone that struck N2 as unusual.
That voice—it sounded familiar.
While escaping afterward, N2 finally recalled.
Wasn’t that the voice of the big shot who had once spoken to his instructor?
So, the one who had truly cultivated him, the person behind the Glorious Forces… was actually the Spokesperson!
…
"Looks like quite the shocking secret."
After seeing N2’s memories, Bai Fu narrowed her eyes.
Since she intended to get involved in the Taim Civilization’s internal struggle, she had naturally investigated the Spokesperson.
Back when N2 was still in training, the current Spokesperson hadn’t yet assumed the position—he was just the Prime Minister of a regional federated government.
Two major incidents had occurred during his Spokesperson campaign.
The first was an attack by the Glorious Forces on his state and a neighboring Colonial Governor District. The governor of the latter panicked and went into hiding, but somehow the Glorious Forces still found and killed him. Meanwhile, when his own state was attacked, the future Spokesperson rushed to the frontlines and fought valiantly with the guards against the Glorious Forces. Though the state still suffered heavy losses—the military factory was destroyed and countless civilians died—compared to the cowardly governor who was eliminated, his stature appeared much grander.
The second incident involved a prominent candidate being assassinated on his way home after a rally. Caught off guard, he died on the spot.
The first event drastically boosted his approval rating. The second removed a threatening competitor.
Combined, these two events made his election inevitable.
"Looking back now, it was the Spokesperson himself who ordered the Glorious Forces to carry out those attacks. He planned the whole thing just to boost his own reputation. Ruthless. That incident killed millions of civilians. Who knows—maybe he even leaked the hiding governor’s location to the Glorious Forces."
"As for whether he sent someone to assassinate that rival…"
Bai Fu recalled some comments she’d read in the news.
When the assassination first occurred, some did suspect the current Spokesperson, but that theory was met with widespread rebuttal. According to prior polling, he had been clearly leading; there had been no need to take the risk. If it had been a clean kill, maybe. But if anything went wrong, he’d only be handing his enemies a weapon.
Now, nine years had passed, and the assassin’s identity remained unresolved.
From N2’s memory, Bai Fu couldn’t tell either, so she decided to assume it had been the Spokesperson’s doing.
That bird-man Spokesperson was already so shady, wasn’t it only fair to throw the blame on him too?
In the nine years since his rise, the Glorious Forces had set fires all over, assassinating six Colonial Governors.
Many believed the Spokesperson was just unlucky, since the Glorious Forces often sabotaged his policy plans during these assassinations.
These policy failures, combined with the Glorious Forces’ growing power, had dragged his approval ratings to rock bottom several times. Though they eventually bounced back, the impact was severe.
"The most useless Spokesperson in Taim Civilization history."
"Useless? Maybe 'unlucky' is more accurate."
"Useless or unlucky, either way, he doesn’t deserve to stay in power."
Such terrible reputation made it nearly impossible for the Spokesperson to even secure a nomination for the next election.
Because of this, no one suspected him when speculating who was truly backing the Glorious Forces. After all, the whole operation had not only failed to benefit him—it had nearly destroyed him. It all looked like a joke.
But was it really that simple?
Now that Bai Fu knew the Glorious Forces were truly under the Spokesperson’s command—and that this bird-man showed no hesitation in killing—she guessed he was probably playing a long game.
"There are three possibilities. First, those six governors were in his way, so he had to eliminate them even at the risk of tanking his approval. Second, it was intentional—he wanted to hide his link to the Glorious Forces while lowering others’ guard. Third, he wanted both."
Bai Fu rubbed her brow.
She felt that the Spokesperson was likely a central character in the Taim Civilization’s main storyline, maybe even the final boss.
But whether that was true still required close observation—to see if he carried a Luck or Strong Luck buff.
If he did…
Bai Fu’s eyes shifted. She seemed to already glimpse the Spokesperson’s plan.
"If all goes normally, he’ll step down next year. But if war suddenly breaks out in the Taim Civilization before then, he could use that as an excuse to cling to power. Of course, no one would take him seriously at first—everyone sees him as a weakling. Yet, as the war drags on and the situation worsens, if he suddenly performs a few heroic feats, then his reputation… his approval would soar. He could ride that momentum, accuse Gustav and the others of war crimes, and openly eliminate them all."
Speaking of heroic feats—sacrificing the Glorious Forces would be a major act that could rally public sentiment during wartime.
"A chess game this deep couldn’t exist without support. So which of the three major interstellar civilizations is backing the Spokesperson?"
As far as Bai Fu knew, the Supernova Battle Group should be on Gustav’s side. Titan Industries was likely Nerys’s backer. Then… could it be the Rebirth Empire?
Bai Fu closed her eyes and pondered for a moment.
Then, she smiled.
If her guess was correct, she might really strike it big this time.
Since she had already seen through the Spokesperson’s future, all she had to do was grasp the timing, and she could easily steal the Spokesperson’s life!
Thief Saint Fufu, reporting in!
To give an example, if the Spokesperson wanted to establish himself as the "hero who ends the war" by eliminating the Glorious Forces, she could just get ahead of him and eliminate the Glorious Forces herself, then take the Spokesperson’s place as the hero.
Granted, this would anger the Spokesperson—but since she had decided to intervene in the Taim Civilization’s main storyline, conflict between them was already unavoidable.
As long as the benefits she gained allowed her to grow quickly, it didn’t matter how furious the Spokesperson became.
Maybe the Spokesperson would complain to the Rebirth Empire and try to use them to suppress her—but it’s not like she had no backing either. Titan Industries was a solid partner.
Or, she could go even further—kick the Spokesperson aside and take his place in negotiating with the Rebirth Empire.
In short, it was all maneuverable. Of course, these moves carried certain risks.
But the greater the waves, the more valuable the fish!
If one wanted to rise above the rest in this turbulent sea of stars, how could one not take risks?
Heehee.
"Spokesperson, I’ll be watching you, forever!"
Bai Fu took a moment to calm her excitement, glanced around, and said to Anya and the others, "Everyone got the situation clear, right?"
Anya said, "I didn’t expect that the one behind the Glorious Forces was actually the Spokesperson of the Taim Civilization."
Bai Fu said, "Don’t spread this around for now."
Anya and the others quickly nodded.
After warning Anya and the others, Bai Fu placed N2’s corpse into a cryochamber.
She had already promised to send Nerys a big gift—even though N2 was already dead, she’d still bring the corpse back for Nerys.
After sealing the cryochamber, she found a chair and sat down to tally the gains from this operation.
Counting the experience from the “Wrath of the Spokesperson” mission reward, she earned 190 million experience this time.
Aside from experience, she gained two major rewards.
First was plot exploration. After viewing N2’s memories, her exploration rate in the Edge World jumped by 0.5%, reaching 0.7%. Such a large increase indicated that this information was extremely valuable—and also meant she would likely receive a solid buff in the next version update.
Next was another reward from “Wrath of the Spokesperson”: “Random Psionic Skill (Calamity-class Exclusive)”.
Before opening this reward, Bai Fu deliberately washed her hands thoroughly and even played a song similar to “Good Luck Is Coming”.
"Open!"
The game’s notification sounded.
[You have obtained a new passive skill: Dark Desperation]
"Passive skill?"
Bai Fu paused for a moment, but once she read the skill description, a smile instantly crept across her face.
[Dark Desperation]: You have received the blessing of the Dark Apostle. For every 20% of HP lost, your base Strength, Agility, and Inspiration temporarily increase by 5%. This effect will disappear once HP is restored.
The increase was to base stats—meaning the boosted stats would receive bonuses from other skills too.
Currently, when she activated all her skills, her Inspiration stat reached 4851 points. If she used “Fictional Life” to activate a second HP bar, sacrificed that bar, then consumed 40% of her own HP, her base Inspiration could increase by an additional 15%. Factoring in all the bonuses, her Inspiration would skyrocket to 5531 points in one go.
"Damn!"
Bai Fu was shocked after doing a quick calculation.
That number… probably just barely reached the standard of a Dominator, right?
Of course, since she didn’t have a Domain or the various bonuses a Dominator possessed, she definitely couldn’t defeat a true Dominator—but against ordinary Calamity-class opponents? Who could stand against her?
Ten?
She’d take on twenty!
"Psionic builds are weak early on, sure, but once leveled up, they’re truly powerful. No wonder even the three major interstellar civilizations strictly control high-level psionic knowledge. If I want to advance to Dominator next, it looks like I’ll definitely need to build ties with one of the interstellar civilizations, or getting that advanced knowledge will be a nightmare."
Bai Fu closed her skill panel and sincerely expressed her gratitude to N2.
Bro, rest in peace. I’ll avenge you!
…
As the Silent Night sped out of the Dark Domain toward the Taim Civilization, every NPC in the Edge World who followed player streams went into an uproar.
Everyone was speculating whether Bai Fu could survive the siege of ten Calamity-class enemies. But Bai Fu? She took out three Calamity-class enemies while only losing one companion, and the remaining seven were beaten into a panic and fled.
What kind of Dark Domain Superman was this?
"I-I-I-I… ugh."
Hampton, who had been drinking in celebration of Bai Fu’s imminent demise, twisted his mouth, widened his eyes, twitched his hands, and collapsed at the table with a thud.
Bzz bzz bzz.
The nearby medical robot was so startled it immediately issued the highest-level alert.
Before long, all Origin Consortium high-level personnel nearby rushed over upon hearing the news.
After watching the surveillance footage played by the medical robot, they finally understood what had turned Hampton into this state.
[Is it curable?]
Andras had originally wanted to ask that.
But thinking such a question would seem inappropriate in this setting, he forcibly held back his laughter.
"Can he be cured?"
The medical robot replied, "Yes, but even if cured…"
Even if cured, he’d drool, right? Oh, and not just that. With the reason for his collapse now exposed, even with his thick skin, Hampton probably wouldn’t have the face to continue holding power within the consortium.
Once Hampton stepped down, Andras truly didn’t care about the cats and kittens that had rallied around him.
Problem solved.