Chapter 260: The Head of State Living in Bai Fu’s Shadow
The investment company from the Rebirth Empire was called Dimensional Capital.
Although in terms of both scale and strength, it was far inferior to the Eternal Investment Fund—developer of the famous card battle game Cosmic Web—it was still considered a top-tier investment company.
While chatting with Dimensional Capital’s representative, Bai Fu unexpectedly discovered something amusing.
After news of the Battle of Tieliu Mining Planet spread, one of Dimensional Capital’s senior partners became very interested in her. But since he had no way to contact her, he reached out to the Head of State, asking him to play matchmaker.
“Emmm…”
Bai Fu found it hard to comment on this matter.
Good grief, does the Head of State have a part to play here too?
The look on the Head of State’s face when he received that senior partner’s request must have been absolutely priceless.
After further discussion with Dimensional Capital’s representative, Bai Fu obtained even more intriguing information.
The Head of State had indeed defected to the Rebirth Empire, but he had not gained the support of the entire Senate—only a certain faction among the Radicals backed him.
The other factions in the Senate excluded him partly due to factional struggles, and partly because some simply disliked his personality.
【Far too unscrupulous】
As one of the Empire’s pillars, the Transcendent-level 【Annihilation】 had commented on the Head of State this way during an internal Senate meeting.
He felt that instead of cooperating with an old fox like the Head of State, it was better to nurture a new force in the Edge Worlds—at least one raised from scratch would be more trustworthy.
Bai Fu was thoughtful.
For Dimensional Capital to share this kind of intel with her now, they likely had a deeper motive.
“You want me to perform well enough to catch 【Annihilation】’s attention, so that I become a target for the Empire’s support?”
The representative shook his head. “【Annihilation】 isn’t an ordinary Transcendent. Even among Transcendent II, he stands at the very peak—his standards are extraordinarily high. Madam Whitney’s investment in you is actually for another major matter.”
Bai Fu looked curious. “What major matter?”
The representative smiled. “It’s related to Psionic Prayer-users and the Ten Saints Council, but I can’t tell you the details yet. With your current strength, you’re not qualified to take part in that contest. Madam Whitney hopes you’ll continue to work hard.”
A game notification sounded in Bai Fu’s ears.
【This quest will trigger once you advance to Domination-level】
A quest that only triggered at Domination-level?
She nodded calmly, indicating she understood.
In fact, she wasn’t far from Domination-level.
If all went smoothly, she would advance in another four months, and then she could find out what medicine Madam Whitney was selling in her gourd.
“The supplies you requested—I’ll have someone send them over as soon as possible. Oh, and one piece of advice: don’t get too close to the Head of State. He’s far beyond what you can imagine.”
Before ending the conversation, the Dimensional Capital representative gave Bai Fu a friendly warning.
Bai Fu smiled innocently.
As if she didn’t already know the Head of State was dangerous?
But she wasn’t some pushover either!
The first batch of supplies she demanded from Dimensional Capital wasn’t just for developing the Garden of Silence—it was also to prepare in advance against the Head of State.
Upon learning that she had been the one to eliminate the Glorious Forces first, the Head of State would surely fly into a rage. Whether he would retaliate immediately was uncertain, but it was still best to prepare ahead of time—one should never place hope in an enemy’s mercy.
To that end, Bai Fu planned to build an advanced detection tower and a special stargate each in Ulysses and the Second Base.
She had money—what she lacked was technology.
Dimensional Capital’s appearance solved the technology problem for her.
“Good. Now let’s see what move the Head of State makes next.”
…
Four months—long yet short.
Ever since the end of the Battle of Tieliu Mining Planet, Bai Fu had led her legion to garrison near the Taim Civilization and had not gone anywhere else.
Her daily routine consisted of chatting with various visitors and monitoring the progress of the Taim Civil War—this leisurely life lasted for half a month.
Half a month later, the Head of State began to move again.
He came up with several pretexts to lure Bai Fu in, including but not limited to: “The Glorious Forces were urgently replenishing weapons lost in the Battle of Tieliu Mining Planet, contacting arms smugglers for a purchase, but accidentally exposed themselves in the process” and “A series of heavy losses sparked fierce internal conflict within the Glorious Forces, with some high-ranking members seeking to earn merit by informing on others.”
In the face of the Head of State’s advances, Bai Fu remained utterly composed.
Intercept! Deflect! Redirect!
A smooth little combo, and all his advances were cleanly neutralized.
Arms smugglers exposed?
Then she would use the Virtual Heart to disguise herself as one of the smugglers’ employees and pass news of the leak to the Glorious Forces, turning the tables and making the Head of State think there was a spy from another faction planted by his side who had leaked the information to the smugglers!
Internal conflict, with a high-ranking member seeking to inform?
Then she would use the Virtual Heart to pose as another Glorious Forces high-ranking member, then contact Lister, claiming she wanted to inform as well, drawing in the eager-to-boost-his-reputation Lister and completely derailing the Head of State’s plan!
After four consecutive attempts failed to hand over the Glorious Forces’ headquarters location to Bai Fu in a reasonable manner, the Head of State’s composure cracked.
“Damn it, why does it feel like the whole world is against me?”
No.
Impossible.
His luck couldn’t possibly be that bad—something had to be wrong somewhere!
The Head of State opened the news broadcast and stared hard at Bai Fu, who was being interviewed by reporters.
On camera, Bai Fu looked utterly exhausted. Red veins streaked her eyes as if she hadn’t slept for many days, her whole demeanor giving off a “fragile” impression.
With that look—and her naturally pitiful face—even the Head of State felt a flicker of sympathy for a moment. Needless to say, other viewers watching the broadcast felt it even more strongly.
“I’m sorry.”
Bai Fu spoke in a muffled voice.
“After the Battle of Tieliu Mining Planet, I received a lot of praise. Some even called me the savior of the Taim Civilization. I think that’s an exaggeration—I’m far from worthy of such a title. But at that time, I couldn’t help but get carried away. I thought that although I failed to save that Glorious Forces member who had defected, I had made a good start, so it shouldn’t be long before I could wipe out the Glorious Forces… but…”
Bai Fu paused, then painfully tugged at her hair.
Dejection, self-blame, bitterness—all plain to see.
“I was wrong. Over these three months, there were many times I thought I was already very close to the Glorious Forces. But when I truly got near, I realized it was just an illusion—I was still far away from them.”
“These past two days I’ve read a lot of comments and talked with a lot of people.
Maybe this is simply because I’m not capable enough, maybe it’s because we have a mole among us who keeps leaking information to the Glorious Forces, maybe it’s because our luck has been unbelievably bad.
Whatever the real reason, the fact remains—I failed to wipe out the Glorious Forces in a short amount of time.”
The reporter never expected Bai Fu to say something like this. She hurriedly said, “Saint Bai Fu, you don’t have to—”
Bai Fu shook her head, cutting her off: “I’m not trying to make excuses for myself. I’m sorry. This is my second time saying sorry. To express this apology, from now on I won’t accept even a single credit coin in commission fees. I’ll fund the operation myself to lead the members of Dark Moon Tide Company in continuing the hunt for the Glorious Forces until we locate their headquarters.”
“???”
In that instant, the reporter interviewing her, the onlookers nearby, the viewers watching the livestream—and even the Head of State—were all stunned.
If, after hearing the earlier parts, they still suspected Bai Fu of putting on an act, by this point more than half of that suspicion was gone.
No matter how good your acting is, you wouldn’t go so far as to refuse commission fees and personally spend your own money to lead your people against the Glorious Forces until you found their headquarters, right?
Who knew how long that would take?
Even if it were only a few months, the loss would be huge.
If it took years, a decade, or even longer, the entire Dark Moon Tide might collapse because of this move.
Many people now felt deep respect for Bai Fu, but just as many thought she had been driven to reckless extremes by repeated failures.
Do you even know what you’re doing?
Among her investors, Yin Zhu—who had the closest relationship with Bai Fu—contacted her immediately.
Coming out with such a statement now… are you not satisfied with how much you’re already being discussed online?
Sure, plenty of people will sympathize with you right now, but if you fail to wipe out the Glorious Forces for too long, that sympathy could easily turn into criticism and mockery!
Yin Zhu earnestly laid out the drawbacks of that speech.
The biggest impact, of course, would be on Dark Moon Tide’s development. Many who had been thinking of joining might now be scared off by Bai Fu’s stubbornness, and those who had already joined—though they might be fine in the short term—could start wanting to leave over time.
“I know, but…” Bai Fu looked innocent, “This is just the way I’ve always walked my path.”
“…”
Yin Zhu was at a loss for words.
It was true—this was just who Bai Fu was.
If she weren’t this kind of person, Scarlet Leaf wouldn’t think highly of her, the Oathmaster wouldn’t be close to her, and those Undying Ones wouldn’t follow her to the death…
But… this personality had its drawbacks, and wasn’t this a perfect example?
Yin Zhu sighed helplessly. “I’ll try to help you look into the location of the Glorious Forces’ headquarters.”
Bai Fu thanked her.
In truth, she had known where the Glorious Forces’ headquarters was for a long time. But to mislead the Head of State and to stir up her own reputation, she had staged this performance.
No commission fees?
In another half a month, she would have her base Inspiration stat stacked up to 5000—by then it would be time to confront the Head of State directly. Why take commissions then?
But she couldn’t explain this to Yin Zhu.
If she did, everyone would know that she was actually “Hei Fu,” and that Hei Fu was actually “Bai Fu.”
That would never do.
She still planned to use this deliberately “whitewashed” Bai Fu persona to scam more people.
…
At the same time, Andras, Yuan Yi, Whitney, and others were also discussing Bai Fu.
Andras was worried, but when he recalled what Bai Fu had said before heading to the Taim Civilization, he calmed down a little.
Having interacted with her many times, he knew Bai Fu wasn’t stupid—there might be deeper reasoning behind this.
Yuan Yi tapped his index finger lightly on the table without saying a word.
The strength Bai Fu had shown when attacking the Tieliu Mining Planet defense belt made him increasingly certain that she was a Seeker.
But this Seeker seemed vastly different from the others, who were all known for being sly and cunning.
Did she hit her head during reincarnation, or was she just this unique?
Yuan Yi thought to himself that perhaps he could use the Glorious Forces as an inroad to draw Bai Fu in.
Whitney, upon receiving the news, was momentarily stunned, then shook her head.
“I thought that with the talent she’s shown so far, she could advance to Domination-level in a few years, and by then I could recommend her to the Ethereal Realm Research Society. Through that connection, I could get a share of the upcoming major event. But now… her advancement path might not be so smooth—foreign affairs are eating up too much of her energy. Even if she still reaches Domination-level, it’ll probably be later than planned.”
Whitney felt a bit of regret, but not too much.
She had met and invested in many geniuses, and most of them had failed to fulfill their potential for one reason or another. If she felt deep regret every time, she wouldn’t be able to do her job.
…
“Head of State, do you think the problem lies with Bai Fu?” The commander of the Glorious Forces asked him directly.
The Head of State stayed silent for a while before saying, “Originally, I was 80% suspicious of her. Now it’s under 50%. I’m more inclined to believe there’s a spy by my side, and someone by your side who’s truly had a change of heart.”
The commander asked, “So what do we do now—launch a full purge?”
The Head of State smiled slightly. “No need for that trouble. Since luring Bai Fu in has proven difficult, let’s take the initiative instead.”
“Huh?”
The commander didn’t understand.
The Head of State explained. Bai Fu’s speech had come at the perfect time—her reputation in the Taim Civilization was now at its peak. Therefore, it was time to harvest the fruit: have her die at the hands of the Glorious Forces. If they dragged things out, her reputation might stagnate or even decline.
The commander agreed wholeheartedly.
The Head of State continued: “Here’s my plan: you’ll send people to kidnap the senior leadership of the Taim Disaster Relief United Association, then make a public challenge for Bai Fu to come fight to the death. If she doesn’t show, kill them all. She just told the media what she did—she’ll have to respond, and we’ll use that chance to kill her.”
The commander asked, “What if she decides to protect her previous reputation and refuses to come?”
The Head of State sneered. “Then I’ll disguise myself as a member of the Glorious Forces and personally go assassinate her!”
It was a risky move, but he was done waiting.
The commander accepted the plan and took action immediately.
A few days later—
The senior leadership of the Taim Disaster Relief United Association was captured alive by the Glorious Forces, and news of their demand for Bai Fu to come meet her death spread quickly across the Edge Worlds.
“So you’ve finally made your move?”
Bai Fu glanced at her stats.
Base Inspiration stat: 4985—only a few days away from reaching 5000.
It was about time.
“Well then… it’s time I tore away your disguise!”
Bai Fu opened the map and locked onto the Glorious Forces’ headquarters.