Chapter 290: Crushing a Domination with One Hand, Bai Fu’s Protagonist Plan
The threat had failed, the interrogation yielded nothing, and after even being counter-threatened, the displeased Garcia directly gave the order to execute all the captured Players.
A few minutes later, the subordinates responsible for the executions returned to report the results, cursing nonstop.
“These natives are really stubborn, every single one of them. Even with death at the doorstep, they kept shouting that they would come back to send me on my way.”
Garcia nodded slightly. “Interesting. I thought they were just all talk, but it seems they truly carry the blood of warriors who fear no death. If there’s a chance to subdue this native civilization, it would be extremely beneficial for our development!”
At present, the Rayaas Exile Government managed a population of just over one million. In the vastness of the universe, that number could only be described as pitifully small.
To defeat the powerful Apostle Holy City and reclaim their lost lands with so few people was nothing short of delusion.
During their exile, the Rayaas Civilization had held multiple great debates to confront this cruel reality.
Everyone wanted restoration. But how could they restore their nation?
The moderates had proposed this path—
Step one: Seek out other civilizations defeated by the Apostle Holy City and unite to form an anti-Apostle Holy City alliance.
Step two: Vigorously develop mechanical and psionic technologies. These two technologies could temporarily solve the problem of insufficient population and, in the long run, would help them better contend with the Apostle Holy City.
Step three: Once the anti-Apostle Holy City alliance had a firm foothold in the universe, reach out to other civilizations that had not yet been attacked, and together form an even greater coalition against the Apostle Holy City.
One of the moderates’ representatives was Ruth, who had once been a governor of the Rayaas Civilization. Though her strength was mediocre, her standing in the Exile Government was extremely high.
In the debates, the moderates even presented a plan—a detailed program listing concrete methods of execution, countermeasures for potential problems, and the years needed to accomplish each step. It could not be called anything but thorough.
With both prestige and detailed planning, the moderates’ proposal gained recognition from most of the participants.
Yet, a small group still voiced dissatisfaction—because the moderates’ plan would take over a hundred years, if not more!
Their limited lifespans, coupled with the hatred boiling in their hearts, made many unwilling to wait that long.
One hundred years?
By then, flowers would have withered!
At this point, Garcia and his hardliners stood out, proposing—
The universe was nothing more than a game of “big fish eats little fish.” The Apostle Holy City devoured the Rayaas Civilization because it was the bigger fish.
So how did one kill a bigger fish in “big fish eats little fish”?
Simple—keep eating smaller fish until one grew bigger than the Apostle Holy City, then naturally one could crush it. To dream of uniting weaker fish against the Apostle Holy City, which was itself constantly devouring fish to grow stronger, was nothing but daydreaming.
The moderates and hardliners were fundamentally opposed, and thus quarreling had become the norm whenever meetings were held.
Why they hadn’t split yet was due first to the fact that they had only just escaped Rayaas together, and second, neither side wished to be branded the first divider.
But the balance was clearly on the verge of collapse.
Regardless of how the moderates thought, the hardliners’ behavior was becoming more and more overbearing, with Garcia as their prime example.
Dong dong dong!
Just as Garcia was pondering how to deal with the moderates, hurried footsteps and quarrels echoed nearby.
“Governor Ruth, Mr. Garcia is too busy to see you now. If you force your way in, we’ll have no choice but to take harsh measures!”
“Harsh measures? If you have the guts, kill me here. If you don’t, then get out of my way!”
Garcia turned, displeased. “Enough, let her through.”
“Ah, yes!”
Moments later, Ruth stormed in, her first words demanding to know where Garcia had imprisoned the Players.
Garcia spread his hands with a smile. “Sorry, you’re too late. I already had them all executed.”
“What?!”
Ruth was shocked.
Even rushing at full speed, she was still too late.
“Garcia, you madman! If word of this gets out, what civilization would dare cooperate with us again? You’re destroying our future!”
“What future? That so-called future of yours should have been torn apart long ago!” Garcia roared. “I’ll be honest with you—originally, I hadn’t planned to act. But then someone calling herself the Master of the Night told me to kill those captives. With her saying so, if I hadn’t acted, where would my dignity be? Ruth, if you’re smart, you’ll leave now, and I’ll forgive your insolence. Otherwise…”
“Otherwise, you’ll kill me? I’m not afraid of the Apostle Holy City. Do you think I’ll fear you, Garcia?”
Ruth shot back without hesitation.
Furious, Garcia raised his right hand, ready to use gravity to send Ruth to her death. But at the last second, he suppressed his anger.
Killing her outright would cause massive backlash, unfavorable for seizing true control of the Exile Government. Better to scheme, perhaps even frame her death on the native civilization.
“Heh.”
Garcia sneered.
“Take her away. Lock her in the Prison Pod.”
At his order, a group of elite warriors surged forward. Ignoring Ruth’s protests, they dragged her into the Prison Pod by force.
Soon after, Garcia commanded the fleet toward a nearby planet. He had Ruth’s pod dropped to the surface and ordered subordinates to pilot the stolen Player ship down, awaiting further instructions.
Once all was in place, Garcia contacted the rest of the Exile Government.
“Something’s happened. Ruth was attacked by the natives on her way to me. I’m rushing to save her now. If you’re free, hurry and come too!”
A stone cast into water sent waves across the Exile Government.
Nearly two thousand ships scattered across the star system immediately turned toward the coordinates Garcia had sent.
Garcia looked smugly at the Prison Pod on the virtual screen.
He hadn’t planned to move against Ruth so soon, but since she had sought trouble herself, she could not blame his ruthlessness.
With Bardan’s situation already grim, adding Ruth’s death would certainly ignite everyone’s fury. He could then use the chance to seize full control of the Exile Government and strike at the natives in one stroke.
As these thoughts played out, Garcia suddenly recalled Bai Fu’s earlier words: “I’ll be at your doorstep soon.”
Could it really be?
No.
Impossible.
It had to be nothing but words meant to scare him!
If the Master of the Night truly appeared before him now, he would swallow himself whole!
“Do it. Be quick. Leave half her body intact—her upper half. Don’t mess it up and leave just the lower half. I want her death to be visually impactful!”
Garcia gave the command.
Arms crossed, he stared with relish at the virtual screen.
But minutes passed, and the ship he had sent remained silent.
Garcia’s brows furrowed. Delay meant risk—by the time others arrived, tampering would be far harder.
“Why aren’t they acting yet?”
Unexpectedly, his question sank without a trace. No response.
Something had gone wrong!
Garcia roared, “All ships, turn your cannons and aim at that stolen ship!”
At that moment, a voice echoed from his communicator—one he knew all too well.
“Took you this long to realize something was wrong?”
“It’s you!”
Garcia shouted.
Yes, the one speaking now was none other than the Master of the Night, who had frightened him earlier.
She had come. She had really come—and without him noticing at all!
That kind of power…
Garcia’s heartbeat surged, nearly bursting from his chest.
He realized he and Bardan had been wrong. The so-called “native civilization” they encountered might very well possess strength far beyond Rayaas. To this “native civilization,” perhaps Rayaas themselves were the true “natives.”
Reconciliation… maybe reconciliation was still possible.
No matter what, he was still a Domination. Killing a few S-Rank Espers was not some unforgivable crime. As for seizing the Ice Crystal Mine—that was Bardan’s doing. He had merely given tacit consent, but it had not been his direct order.
Garcia’s lips turned pale. His subordinates had not yet noticed his abnormality and one after another asked him: “Domination Lord, should we fire now?”
“Fi… no, stop, all of yo—”
Garcia never finished the word “stop.” His eyes widened as rolling smoke suddenly erupted above the stolen ship. The next second, a terrifying white tide surged out of the smoke, rushing toward him at the speed of light.
“Run!”
Exclamations rang out, and with them came shrill, maddening warning sounds from every ship.
【Energy level exceeding threshold, evacuate this area immediately!】
【Detected…】
If I could leave, wouldn’t I?! But—it was already too late!
Everyone inside the ships, Garcia included, could only watch helplessly as the white tide engulfed them.
This was a Psionic torrent.
This was judgment day.
Shields, armor, battle armor, flesh and blood—
All melted away beneath the impact of the torrent.
Garcia frantically summoned the power in his body to form new energy shields.
As they shattered and reformed again and again, he felt as if his very body would be torn in half.
No one knew how long had passed. When he thought he could no longer endure, the white torrent finally dissipated.
“I… survived?!”
Garcia looked around in delight—only to see empty space, a void with nothing left.
Dead.
Every one of his subordinates, even those of Calamity-class strength, was dead.
Everything he had painstakingly accumulated was destroyed in that torrent, leaving only his battered body.
Rage overtook fear.
“Master of the Night, I’ll fight you to the death!”
“You should be glad it wasn’t my true body that appeared here. Otherwise, that one strike of the Phantom Torrent would have been enough to send you to your grave.”
Through the Apostle’s Body talent, Bai Fu had “descended” a colossal Da Da Hei Fu, who suddenly appeared before Garcia via Void Shuttle.
No sooner had the words fallen than a massive fist smashed down on Garcia’s head.
Garcia resisted with all his strength, but he was already gravely injured. Under the corrosion of dark-attribute psionics and the Eye of Sorrow, his body could not recover in time. Against the furious assault of the Descended Da Da Hei Fu, he spun like a top.
Were it not for being a Domination, he would already be dead. He only lasted until members of the Exile Government, alerted by his message, rushed to the scene.
But Garcia would have preferred death—because others now witnessed his disgrace.
Bai Fu controlled Da Da Hei Fu to extend a right hand, five fingers spread, gripping Garcia’s skull like a chick.
Then Da Da Hei Fu turned, facing the growing number of ships in the starry sky, and spoke in an icy voice: “I intend to kill him. If you object, speak up. If not, keep your mouths shut.”
“……”
Even the loudest hardliners dared not utter a word.
Da Da Hei Fu resembled a giant plush doll—but who would truly mistake her for one? What kind of doll could toy with a Domination like a chick?
The comms fell silent for twenty long seconds.
At last, a leader of the moderates spoke up, his voice trembling as he tried to plead for Garcia.
Though they were at odds, Garcia was still the strongest of the Rayaas Exile Government. If he died, their survival would be even more difficult.
“The blame for this conflict lies wholly with us. We attacked your fleet first, and then seized your mine.”
Bai Fu said: “You are sure you want to plead for him?”
“I…”
“I think you should hear her out first.”
Bai Fu directly pulled Ruth forward.
Though confined in the Prison Pod, how could someone once a governor not know what Garcia was scheming?
At this point, leaving Garcia alive would cause far more harm than killing him.
On one hand, Garcia already harbored ambitions of seizing power.
On the other, if he were not eliminated, it might provoke the Master of the Night—and the Rayaas Civilization could no longer withstand new turmoil.
Thus, Ruth laid bare everything: her capture, Garcia’s plans.
The members of the Exile Government were dumbfounded.
Some seethed with fury.
Some broke out in cold sweat.
But whatever their reactions, no one pleaded for Garcia again.
The Master of the Night had shown them respect by letting Ruth speak instead of striking immediately. If they still failed to grasp the situation, the Master of the Night might “grant them dignity” next.
Bang!
Da Da Hei Fu crushed Garcia’s head in one hand.
A game prompt sounded.
Bai Fu ignored it and swept her gaze around.
In truth, she had already maneuvered Da Da Hei Fu nearby when Garcia and Ruth met.
Though Garcia had promptly shifted his fleet’s position, he never realized his ship had long since been infiltrated by the Virtual Heart.
Once Bai Fu confirmed their location, she had Anya use a Da Da Hei Fu card, allowing her to control Da Da Hei Fu to Void Shuttle right into Garcia’s vicinity.
Her original plan had been to smash both Garcia and Ruth to death.
But then Garcia and Ruth quarreled, and one name surfaced—
The Apostle Holy City!
Bai Fu’s mind instantly grew sharp.
She suspected she had triggered a hidden storyline. So instead of acting immediately, she hid in the shadows and watched until Garcia realized something was wrong.
“Now that Garcia is dealt with, let’s talk about the Apostle Holy City.” Bai Fu spoke over comms to the Rayaas members. “It seems you’ve had contact with them?”
“What?”
The Rayaas were shocked. They never expected Bai Fu to already know of the Apostle Holy City.
Ruth cautiously asked: “Lord Master of the Night… are you enemies with the Apostle Holy City?”
“Enemies?” Bai Fu laughed. “The Apostle Holy City once dispatched several Transcendents, a mothership larger than a planet, and millions of ships to hunt me.”
A mothership larger than a planet—wasn’t that a God-statue-class mothership?
“Several Transcendents and a God-statue-class mothership failed to kill you?”
A moderate faction councilor of Rayaas blurted out in disbelief.
Bai Fu said calmly: “Perhaps I should reintroduce myself. I am Bai Fu, known as the Master of the Night, the Dark Master, Warden of the Silent Court, and strategic partner of the Universe-level Civilization, the Rebirth Empire.”
The Rayaas may not have understood everything else—but the term “Universe-level Civilization” they understood.
A civilization that could be called “Universe-level” must surely stand on the same tier as the Apostle Holy City.
Ruth grew excited.
She believed Bai Fu had no reason to lie about this—such a lie was too easy to expose.
Which meant… after traversing the dark domain, they had stumbled into another region of the stars rich with advanced civilizations?
Which meant… their plan to unite with other civilizations against the Apostle Holy City could begin sooner?
Ruth suppressed her excitement. “It is like this…”
She recounted the enmity between the Rayaas and the Apostle Holy City.
In truth, it was simple. The Apostle Holy City had discovered the Rayaas in their exploration and sought to bring them under rule, forcing them to accept their faith. Naturally, the Rayaas resisted.
War followed.
At first, the Apostle Holy City had not struck too hard—they did not want to inherit a ruined Rayaas. Instead, they fought while sowing dissent within, attempting to foster a puppet regime.
That plan had gone relatively well—until a month ago, when the Apostle Holy City abruptly shifted strategy, launching a full-scale assault and conquering the Rayaas Civilization outright.
“During our flight, I overheard some of their soldiers. Apparently, they lost something, a failure of some plan, and so the Supreme Apostle suddenly ordered the full attack on Rayaas.”
Bai Fu’s expression grew strange.
Lost something?
Could that be the Ark of Paradise?
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. The timing fit perfectly.
The Apostle Holy City had likely launched the blitz to clear its surroundings quickly and prepare for war against the Three Major Interstellar Civilizations.
Rayaas was merely the first to take the blow. Even if spared now, within two years, they would still be struck—the Apostle Holy City had already marked them.
Bai Fu nodded. “Since escaping Rayaas, where do you plan to go?”
Ruth replied: “We intend to unite with other civilizations attacked by the Apostle Holy City to fight them together.”
She briefly outlined the plan. As soon as she finished, Bai Fu received a quest prompt.
It was a sub-quest under the Dark Domain Exploration questline. The objective: assist the Rayaas Exile Government. The reward: dependent on their eventual development.
The difficulty was obviously high—and the rewards would not be trivial.
But Bai Fu’s attention was not on rewards. It was on Ruth’s plan itself.
Unite all civilizations attacked by the Apostle Holy City to form an anti-Apostle Holy City alliance?
She suddenly realized—this might be her chance to raise herself as the protagonist for the coming versions of Beyond the Stars, perhaps even as the true poster girl!
To achieve that, the first step was to become the leader of the anti-Apostle Holy City alliance.
Ha! Rayaas, you’re truly lucky to have run into Bai Fu, your timely rain!
Thousands of light-years away—
Anya blinked at the Bai Fu phantom beside her, who had suddenly broken into a strange smile.
Who was the boss planning to scam this time?