Chapter 292: At This Point, Can She Reconcile with Bai Fu?
As soon as the downtime update arrived, Bai Fu heard the familiar notification sound.
This time, the list of corrections was far greater than the seventh one, mostly focused on revising the identity positioning of the Silent Court faction’s NPCs.
Characters like Ying Fu, the Black King, and the White King—whose positions had previously been ambiguous—were now officially recognized as named figures within the main storyline.
As for Bai Fu’s own corrections, there were even more.
First, her character strength was adjusted from 【Nightmare-level Challenge Boss (Edge Worlds)】 to 【World-class Boss (Explored Universe)】.
Then, her role in the story shifted from 【Important Main Storyline Participant and Initiator】 to 【One of the Version 2.3 Main Storyline Protagonists】.
This was the first time Bai Fu had encountered such a change.
Previously, she had been officially recognized as a protagonist multiple times, but those roles were always confined to certain regions or specific storylines. This time, however, she had directly become one of the protagonists of the version’s main storyline.
Although she was only one among several, this was still a qualitative leap.
“Is it because I firmly seized hold of the Rayaas Exile Government?”
Bai Fu laughed in delight.
If a name lacked legitimacy, then words would not be heeded; if words were not heeded, then deeds would not succeed.
Now, her name carried legitimacy, and everything she did would surely proceed much more smoothly.
Besides her strength and storyline positioning, Bai Fu’s functional role had also changed.
In the past, she had been a Psionic stream Player Mentor, just one among many, the only difference being that she was closer to Players. But starting with Version 2.3, she had become the sole 【Ultimate Mentor】 of the Psionic stream.
From now on, whenever she appeared before Players, unless they were in Immersion Mode, they would see a bright red tag above her head: 【Ultimate Mentor · Psionic】—a dazzling sight.
While Bai Fu’s positioning had changed, the status of the Silent Court within the game had also been strengthened.
But compared to such titles, what Bai Fu cared about most were the direct enhancements to herself.
This time, the Developers gave her two corrections:
1. Her exclusive Talent 【Exalted Moon】 was revised into 【Exalted Moon · Moon of the Silent Night】.
2. Her Psionic Attribute was opened onto the Path of Advancement.
The upgraded 【Exalted Moon · Moon of the Silent Night】 represented a clear and dramatic improvement over her original Talent.
From that moment on, Bai Fu and Hei Fu entered a “Psionic Entanglement” state. Hei Fu would benefit from all of Bai Fu’s enhancements, and no matter how far apart their two bodies were, they could freely exchange positions—or summon the other body to their side.
This effect could only be described as absurdly powerful.
With Bai Fu and Hei Fu able to freely swap positions, even without considering other uses, the most direct advantage was that during battle, Bai Fu could alternate between herself and Hei Fu when facing enemies. It was practically equivalent to adding another HP bar.
No—more than one, since the one switched out could still heal herself through various methods while the other fought.
“If I also activate that 【Spiral】 Talent unlocked earlier while reading Advancement Knowledge, then even if my recovery ability isn’t top-tier, my endurance difficulty would far surpass most tank-type transcendents!”
Bai Fu was exhilarated.
The only issue now was where she could gather the Dark Energy Advancement Knowledge needed to activate 【Spiral】.
The Empire, the Supernova Battle Group, and Titan Industries all had shallow understandings of Dark Energy. After thinking it over, she felt she should set her sights on the Holy City of the Apostles.
Dark Energy was said to be the counterpart of Psionics, complementary to it, forming the foundation of existence within the Ethereal Realm. As a Universe-level Civilization that revered Psionics, the Holy City of the Apostles might well have extensive research into Dark Energy.
Bai Fu decided to ask the Rayaas people about it later, but first, she reviewed the detailed explanation of her Psionic Attribute’s Path of Advancement.
This was not a direct strengthening but more of a reminder.
She had received a similar reminder during her third enhancement: “You have come into contact with the Psionic Attribute. Please collect more Psionic Knowledge to unlock the Psionic Attribute.” This current one was much the same.
“Could it be that Psionicists must master all Psionic Attributes to complete the Five Divine Metamorphoses?”
Bai Fu found it highly likely.
After all, the Divine Metamorphosis was a process of progressing step by step from imperfection toward perfection.
How could a Psionic Priest who had mastered only a single Psionic Attribute claim to be perfect?
If so, then she would also need to master all the Dark Energy Advancement Knowledge beforehand, or else it would not be true perfection.
“Good. I more or less know what I should focus on in Version 2.3 now.”
Bai Fu swiftly closed the enhancement prompts.
While Version 2.3 had not yet launched, she planned to establish the framework for the anti–Holy City of the Apostles alliance.
Her first step was to find Ruth.
At that moment, Ruth was still reeling in shock at the sudden, collective disappearance of the Players.
The residents of Origin Star and the Empire’s Expeditionary Army were already accustomed to such events, but it was the first time the Rayaas had witnessed something like this. It was only natural that they were astonished.
Bai Fu briefly explained the situation, then asked her about any intelligence regarding Dark Energy.
Ruth said: “Dark Energy—I think I’ve heard of it before. Ah, that’s right, the main engines of the Holy City of the Apostles’ God-statue-class Motherships are called Dark Energy Engines.”
“They’ve already created Dark Energy Engines?”
Bai Fu’s eyes lit up.
If this Dark Energy was the same as what the Rebirth Empire and others had been studying, then the Holy City of the Apostles must certainly possess the Advancement Knowledge she sought!
This gave Bai Fu even more reason to get involved in the struggles between the Holy City of the Apostles and the Three Major Interstellar Civilizations.
“Come on, come on, there’s no time to lose. Let’s go find those civilizations you mentioned that were also struck by the Holy City of the Apostles!”
“Eh, this soon?”
Ruth was taken aback by Bai Fu’s enthusiasm, feeling a little embarrassed. She repeatedly said she could not simply freeload off Bai Fu’s generosity and insisted she must repay her kindness right away.
“What repayment? Don’t say such alienating things in the future.”
Bai Fu grabbed Ruth and pulled her along.
Ruth said: “I heard from Yulia that you’re studying the body of a transcendence-level Stellar Beast. I think our Rayaas might be able to help you in that regard.”
“!”
Bai Fu halted in her tracks.
Ruth continued: “Our Rayaas Civilization has no great talent for combat, but in fields like biotechnology, we have unique insights. The Holy City of the Apostles never placed much emphasis on that, so when they invaded Rayaas, they didn’t particularly target the researchers in that area. When we fled Rayaas, we managed to rescue quite a few such researchers. As for contacting other civilizations next, those researchers can’t really help. It would be better to let them assist you in your research. At least that way they’ll have something to occupy themselves with—these days, they’ve been pestering me constantly, hoping I’d ask you to hear them out.”
Bai Fu immediately agreed. She would have been a fool to refuse such a good thing.
After arranging for the Rayaas researchers to join Yulia’s laboratory, working alongside researchers hired from the Edge Worlds and the Empire, Bai Fu led Ruth and the others on a journey to find other civilizations that had been forced into exile by the Holy City of the Apostles.
This process was destined to be long and tortuous.
Fortunately, Bai Fu had obtained a fast starship from the Oathmaster, which saved them a considerable amount of travel time.
The main difficulty of this journey lay in the fact that every civilization struck by the Holy City of the Apostles was extremely difficult to approach.
The internal situation of the Rayaas Exile Government was already complicated enough, but the internal affairs of these other civilizations were several times—or even over ten times—more complicated.
The longer their exile, the more hardships they suffered, and the more restless individuals there were who gave rise to unrest—the very root of turmoil.
Under the guidance of the Rayaas people, within the short month after the Players had logged off, Bai Fu had come into contact with two exiled civilizations.
The first civilization she encountered was the Federation of Myriad Phenomena, an Esper Civilization.
When she arrived at the location provided by them, the Federation of Myriad Phenomena had already broken into civil war over resource allocation.
Some of the Federation’s powerful administrators tried to embezzle resources, which provoked fierce opposition from others. Their disputes escalated, eventually erupting into civil war.
The Federation of Myriad Phenomena had originally been in better condition than the Rayaas Civilization, but once civil war broke out, everything changed.
The second civilization Bai Fu encountered was the Core Mechanica Civilization, a Mechanical Civilization.
Though no civil war had erupted there, their situation was even worse than the Federation’s, for some members had grown weary of exile and began plotting to sell out their compatriots and fully surrender to the Holy City of the Apostles.
By the time Bai Fu arrived, this faction had already built an Ultralong-range Communicator capable of contacting the Holy City of the Apostles, while the rest of the Core Mechanica remained completely unaware.
Had the Rayaas people gone to contact these civilizations alone, who knew what kind of disaster might have ensued?
But with Bai Fu accompanying them, the situation was entirely different.
Force could not solve everything, but force could solve quite a lot—for instance, problems born of force!
When Bai Fu made her move, the Federation of Myriad Phenomena’s resource-hoarders fought with all their strength, but were swept aside like dry leaves by her overwhelming might.
When Bai Fu appeared, the traitors within the Core Mechanica, no matter how cunning, were dragged out and nailed to the Pillar of Shame, never to rise again.
“I refuse to accept this! You’re colluding with outsiders!”
“Slander, she’s slandering me!”
As Bai Fu’s defeated foes were pinned to the ground, they shouted loudly, a mixture of fear and defiance.
They should not have ended up like this—it was all Bai Fu’s fault!
“Should we kill them all?” Ruth asked Bai Fu.
Bai Fu shook her head. “Killing them all would be bad. Let’s see if we can reform them, make them turn back from their path.”
Reform?
Ruth had not expected Bai Fu to say that, but on second thought, it made perfect sense—this was exactly the kind of thing Bai Fu would say.
People called Bai Fu a Saintess; asking her to order the execution of all traitors would be far too much.
But what could truly change such traitors?
Ruth felt that, in the end, nothing would change them.
Even so, she respected and understood Bai Fu’s decision. If not for Bai Fu’s merciful heart, she would never have trusted her so deeply.
With that thought, Ruth and the other members of the Rayaas Exile Government explained Bai Fu’s intentions to the Federation of Myriad Phenomena and the Core Mechanica.
This was Bai Fu, and they hoped everyone could understand.
The people of the Federation and the Core Mechanica were stunned.
Could such a thing be true?
Soon, they began to think the same as Ruth and the others.
Yes, Bai Fu was overly saintly, but such a personality was actually good. At the very least, it meant she would not stab them in the back—they could fully trust her!
The captured traitors of the Federation and the Core Mechanica had still been cursing Bai Fu, but when they learned she did not intend to kill them, instead planning to “reform” them, they were all shocked.
They still had a chance to live?
Unbelievable.
Maybe they should not have cursed Bai Fu so viciously.
Some cunning ones were already planning to feign compliance during “reform,” pretending to have been corrected, in hopes of escaping punishment.
Their schemes sounded good in their own heads, but they completely failed to notice the strangeness in Bai Fu’s smile.
Reform?
She would throw them all into the Ark of Paradise and make them work alongside the Beast God!
Most of those captured were between S-rank and Calamity-class in strength, far weaker than Bai Fu. Even if she killed them all at once, she would gain little XP.
No bonus quest rewards, low kill rewards—the only way to squeeze value out of them was to toss them into the Ark of Paradise as companions for the Beast God.
Although they were not like the Beast God, whose efforts could enhance Players’ strength, they still had their uses.
The most valuable could help ease the Beast God’s soul fatigue, extending his working time and improving efficiency. The lesser ones could assist with producing various machines and gadgets. The least useful could simply chat with the Beast God to keep him entertained.
Gold could shine, and even dung could fertilize fields.
In her mental labor camp, Bai Fu truly achieved the ideal of making use of everyone!
When they first boarded the starship bound for Origin Star, the captives sneered in secret, laughing at Bai Fu as a fool.
But once their souls were cast into the Ark of Paradise, they realized they had been deceived.
“Damn you, Bai Fu, you bastard!”
“Bai Fu, you’re sour as hell!”
The Beast God, who had been resting ever since the Players logged off, lifted his head. Seeing these new inmates who still had the strength to curse Bai Fu, he smiled.
“Oh, finally, I’m not alone anymore.”
“Newcomers, I’ll be sure to treat you well!”
……
As Bai Fu continued approaching civilization after civilization, the Beyond the Stars officials finally released the official promotional video for Version 2.3.
Bai Fu opened it immediately.
Hard work never failed those who persisted.
In this trailer, she alone occupied more than half the screen time.
On the official site for the new version, her portrait became the background image of the webpage, while her chibi version, alongside two other characters, decorated every button on the site.
In promotional materials published across media platforms, her character image was also a central highlight.
【The Beacon in the Silent Night—Bai Fu】
Now Excavation-Princess did not need to come up with wild guesses; every Player knew that in the upcoming Version 2.3, Bai Fu would be the protagonist.
“?”
Wait—this wasn’t right.
After watching the trailer, Wind Rises Among the Stars was dumbfounded.
In Version 2.2, he had exhausted all efforts to successfully side with Bai Fu’s mortal enemy, Sui Xi. Now in Version 2.3, the officials suddenly announced Bai Fu as the protagonist, making him the enemy of the protagonist.
Tch. At this point, could he reconcile with Bai Fu?