Chapter 320: Fa Fuli, Aren’t You Going to Say Thank You to Sister Fu
“Bai Fu isn’t dead?!”
After hearing the assistant’s report, the Supreme Apostle was so shocked that the cup in his hand trembled.
He hurriedly questioned the Number Four Apostle.
“You said you were one hundred percent certain that both Bai Fu’s body and soul had already been destroyed by you—so what is going on now?”
The Number Four Apostle’s voice echoed eerily in the Supreme Apostle’s mind.
“I am very certain. And you should also be very certain. As for why she is still alive now, either the Rebirth Empire is putting on a show, or during the time we went our separate ways, that fellow, the Number Three Apostle, mastered an ability I don’t know about.”
The Supreme Apostle burned with fury, but he could not simply unleash his anger on the Number Four Apostle, so he could only sit with a sullen face and rage silently.
As he fumed, he suddenly thought of a problem.
When the people from Cathedral Number Four had cried for help, they had said that Bai Fu’s intrusion into Cathedral Number Four was as if she were returning home.
Logically speaking, this was impossible. But Bai Fu had managed to do it. This meant that someone must have given her a map of Cathedral Number Four—and that someone was very likely inside Cathedral Number Four.
“Wait, something is wrong!”
The detective-like eyes of the Supreme Apostle suddenly grew sharp.
Given Bai Fu’s identity, there was no way she had broken into Cathedral Number Four merely for the dark-energy cutting-edge knowledge and those supplies stored there.
Saying it was a swap-raid tactic to force Cathedral Number Four’s followers in the Tub Star System to retreat was unreasonable too. She had already planted an insider within Cathedral Number Four; if she had wanted to force their retreat, she had countless methods to do so—why would she need to take such a personal risk by storming Cathedral Number Four?
“So Bai Fu’s operation this time must have had another purpose. Her purpose was…”
The Supreme Apostle recalled that moment when Bai Fu, braving countless attacks, had struck Litte head-on.
Her real aim was to kill Litte?
Impossible. If she had wanted to kill Litte, she could have done it in the Tub Star System. There was no need to deliberately run all the way to Cathedral Number Four.
“Could it be that her real target was actually me and the Number Four Apostle—but upon realizing my power far exceeded her imagination, she shifted at the last moment to deal with Litte?”
The more the Supreme Apostle thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. He really could not think of any other purpose for Bai Fu to storm Cathedral Number Four.
Fortunately, his skills were superior.
If his strength had truly only been a little higher than Litte’s, and he had fallen into Bai Fu’s chain of attacks, then his end would not have been any better than Litte’s. Once gravely injured, the Holy City of Apostles would have certainly fallen into chaos, and it was entirely possible his position as Supreme Apostle would have been snatched away.
“Only one’s own mighty strength is the true foundation of striding through the world.”
A vicious glint flashed in the Supreme Apostle’s eyes.
Who was the insider?
Could it be Litte himself, deliberately colluding with Bai Fu to put on a show, so as to clear his own suspicion?
The Supreme Apostle immediately issued two orders.
One was to the Tribunal.
“Since the route is already open, then act quickly. Don’t the people of the Rebirth Empire love to laugh? Then I’ll make sure they can no longer laugh!”
The other was to the Hall of the True Spirits.
“Send people to keep watch on all followers of Cathedral Number Four.”
At the very moment the Supreme Apostle was suspecting Litte, Litte himself, upon receiving the news that Bai Fu was not dead, began suspecting the Supreme Apostle.
“Didn’t he swear up and down that Bai Fu was already dead? What on earth is this now?!”
In truth, Litte had already been conducting a secret investigation.
The temporary commander had said that Bai Fu’s intrusion into Cathedral Number Four had been as if she were returning home. If that wasn’t an insider, then it was truly a ghost.
At first, he had suspected Senlan and the others who had been with him in the Tub Star System. But now, his thoughts shifted.
“Could it be that the Supreme Apostle himself secretly leaked the information to Bai Fu, with the goal of weakening Cathedral Number Four?”
Very possible!
Otherwise, why had the Supreme Apostle been so confident that Bai Fu could not escape?
“Damn it!”
Litte, fuming, sought out Senlan. He did not directly say he suspected the Supreme Apostle but instead remarked that there was something fishy with the Tribunal and told Senlan to investigate carefully.
“Is there really an insider?”
“How could there not be?”
Litte sneered coldly.
Senlan could not help feeling panicked.
Litte suspected an insider. And he wanted to investigate the insider. Out of everyone, why had he chosen Senlan?
Could it be because Litte suspected him, due to that encounter with Bai Fu near the Black Hole? Although Bai Fu indeed had tried to recruit him then, he had truly not agreed.
But…
If Litte truly became convinced, there would be no way to explain this away.
Cold sweat poured down Senlan’s back.
Since there was no way to explain it—should he really defect to Bai Fu?
The Number Four Apostle was an Apostle, and Bai Fu was also an Apostle. Moreover, Bai Fu’s personality was exceptionally good, and she had the ability to guide others in advancing to higher levels. If he went to her, it ought to be a bright future… right?
Senlan wavered in his heart, but his face betrayed nothing.
“I’ll investigate right away.”
He nodded quickly and left in haste.
……
While the Holy City of Apostles was busy playing the game of “catch the insider,” Bai Fu was grinning happily, watching the reactions of all factions to her resurrection on the spot.
Almost the instant the news spread, Wind-rises-among-Stars, her number-one little hater, immediately pulled his head in, no matter how much Digging-Treasure @-mentioned him, he refused to come out.
【Tch, so fragile! Everyone, take note: being Fu-fu’s hater leads nowhere!】
But not every little hater shrank away as quickly as Wind-rises-among-Stars.
That Spaceman, who had always fought Wind-rises-among-Stars for speaking rights, was still stubborn.
【Rumors are just rumors. If Bai Fu is really alive, then why doesn’t she come out and show her face?】
Once, these words would have been quite damaging. But now, they had no effect whatsoever on the morale of the Fu Sect Players.
Show her face?
Why on earth should Fu-fu show her face for you?
The fact that the Garden of Silence faction had not disbanded was already ironclad proof that Fu-fu had not died.
“Forget it, I’m too lazy to argue with you all. Now’s the time to celebrate!”
Digging-Treasure posted a new thread, announcing that the Garden of Silence faction’s instance shop had new stock.
【Attention, attention! Fu-fu is giving out benefits! From now on, any Player of the Garden of Silence faction whose faction contribution reaches C-rank can purchase Dark Energy Knowledge in the faction’s instance shop without spending a single coin!】
This thread immediately drew massive attention.
【Whoa, there’s really such a good thing?】
【Fu-fu, I love you yeah!】
The Psionic stream Players of the Garden of Silence faction fell into a frenzy, while Players of other factions turned green with envy.
Damn it, when it came to benefits, the Garden of Silence faction was always ahead of everyone else.
All at once, countless Players rushed into the instance shop, starting a new wave of frenzied purchases.
With their push, the experience on Bai Fu’s body began to skyrocket.
One billion, five billion, ten billion……
By the time Bai Fu arrived at the Esper Garden, that number had already risen to 46.1 billion.
Sounds exaggerated, right?
But this was only the beginning!
It had to be known that the Garden of Silence had seven million Psionic stream Players in total!
Once all these Players raised their faction contribution to C-rank and bought Dark Energy Knowledge, Bai Fu conservatively estimated she could rake in three to four hundred billion XP. That should be enough for her to level up past 250, while triggering the third Divine Transformation only required level 245.
“This is what you call harvesting leeks. Grinding missions for XP is just pathetic!”
Bai Fu laughed cheerfully.
In truth, at this stage, Players had no real use for Dark Energy Knowledge.
With their measly Inspiration, the amount of Dark Energy they could manipulate was practically useless in battle. At the very least, they needed Inspiration raised to sixteen hundred or seventeen hundred before Dark Energy could show its true power.
By selling them Dark Energy Knowledge now, Bai Fu was essentially collecting several versions’ worth of future “Player tax” in advance.
Of course, this was voluntary. Bai Fu wasn’t forcing anyone to buy Dark Energy Knowledge. She had simply used the open-source Dark Energy cutting-edge knowledge as hype, then capitalized a little on the Players’ “buy everything they see” mentality.
She profited, and Players didn’t feel like they lost out either. After all, Players everywhere were saying she was “so full of conscience.”
【Hurry up and say thank you to Sister Fu】
Bai Fu’s conscience really was huge.
So Players wouldn’t learn Dark Energy Knowledge for nothing, she had also launched a matching service in the faction shop.
【Are you still troubled that low Inspiration lets you wield too little Dark Energy?】
【Are you still disappointed you can’t flaunt Dark Energy in front of other Players?】
【Eh! What a coincidence, I just happen to have freshly crafted Dark Energy Extraction Devices and Dark Energy Prayer Cards! For just a small fee, you can enjoy yourself all day long! What are you waiting for? Hurry up and buy! Products are just launched—buy now to enjoy a 20% discount!】
Now that was brilliant bundling.
She didn’t force you to buy, but if you didn’t, you couldn’t have fun. In the end, you still had to buy, and after buying you still had to praise her discount as “conscientious”!
On the spaceship.
The Oathmaster looked curiously at Bai Fu, who was smothering a laugh.
“Did something good happen?”
Bai Fu quickly stifled her smile and explained: “Yes, I just received word from the Rebirth Empire. Their interrogation of the insider has made new progress.”
This, she wasn’t lying about.
Dmitri and the others had worked on Bernard and another insider, reasoning with them, appealing emotionally, and physically persuading them, until finally they admitted that they and Srik, along with that group causing trouble in the Ethereal Realm, were all in league together.
They belonged to a mysterious organization called 【First Protocol】.
This organization was extremely powerful, possessing numerous Domination-level beings and Transcendents. It wasn’t necessarily weaker than the Holy City of Apostles. In fact, many of the Revolutionary Army forces currently stirring up chaos near the three Cosmic-level Civilizations belonged to this very organization.
However, when Dmitri asked who the leader of the First Protocol was, who its other members were, and what the true purpose of the organization was, Bernard and the other insider clammed up.
No matter what, they refused to speak. They only said: “Even if you kill me, even if you torture me with the most brutal punishments, I will never tell. If you want to know, investigate it yourself.”
Faced with that attitude, Dmitri and the others were helpless. They could only lock them up for now and think of another plan.
This information was still somewhat useful to Bai Fu.
That main quest she had taken, 【Beyond the Stars (I)】, required her to uncover the true identity and faction name of the Mentalist she had captured alive in the Ethereal Realm. Now, she was halfway there.
The Oathmaster listened to Bai Fu’s explanation, nodded, and didn’t continue pressing about what exactly had been revealed.
“We’ve already arrived at the destination. Do we act now?”
Bai Fu said: “Wait a moment.”
Before making her move, she planned to level up first.
Pouring in over forty billion XP, her level soared. Her main class level quickly rose from 220 to 228, just two levels short of the second Divine Transformation.
“Let’s go.”
The Oathmaster’s eyes widened suddenly.
She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Bai Fu’s aura felt noticeably stronger than just a while ago.
Standing still and you still level up?
Isn’t that too much of a cheat?!
After leaving the spaceship, Bai Fu followed the game map’s guidance straight ahead, eventually arriving at a seemingly ordinary ice giant.
“Is this really the entrance to the Esper Garden you spoke of?” The Oathmaster looked around but saw nothing unusual.
Bai Fu replied: “No mistake, it’s here.”
In truth, even with the naked eye and Apostle’s Psionic Vision, she couldn’t see anything unusual either.
But the game map’s marker and the faint sensing granted by her 70-link affinity with the Esper Garden convinced her she was in the right place.
The reason neither she nor the Oathmaster could see it was because the Esper Garden had disguised itself.
Unlike cosmic treasures such as the Paradise Ark, the Sacrificial Staff, or Eckhard’s Gun, the Esper Garden was, at its core, a colossal fortress named after a garden.
From the moment of its birth, it had been the headquarters of the Cosmic-level Civilization called the Esper Garden.
Thus, it was not only a cosmic treasure of the Esper side, but also carried many additional functions.
For example, interstellar travel. For example, super defense. For example, folded-space capabilities…
“It should have overlapped with this planet through folded space. That’s why, after defeating the Esper Garden civilization, the three Cosmic-level Civilizations still couldn’t find it.”
So that was it.
The Oathmaster looked at Bai Fu with even greater curiosity.
The three Cosmic-level Civilizations had no idea where the Esper Garden was—so how did you know?
Bai Fu extended her right hand, activating the ability attached to her 【Beyond the Black Hole】 title, opening a small stargate in the cosmos.
The next second, she received a game prompt.
【You have opened the path to the Esper Garden】
【Esper Garden】: Recommended Strategy Level 200–240.
“Level 240?”
Bai Fu clicked her tongue slightly.
Good thing she had played it safe. If she had rushed here right after advancing to Transcendent, she would already be a corpse.
As for now—she didn’t even fear the thrice-transformed Litte. Why would she fear this?
“Let’s go in.”
Bai Fu and the Oathmaster entered the stargate one after the other.
……
At the same time.
Somewhere in the Holy City of Apostles, before a massive stargate sealed in Dark Energy.
The Saint, Corona of the Shadow Storm, and Führer Cade exchanged glances, hearts surging with excitement.
After leaving the Explored Universe for so many years, now—they had finally awaited the day of return.
This time, they would bring endless calamities, appearing like ghostly fiends within the Explored Universe, making those still rejoicing that Bai Fu lived taste true terror.
True terror was this—even Bai Fu would be unable to stop the coming catastrophe!
“Depart. It is time to end the thirty-thousand-year history of the Rebirth Empire!”
With a shout, the Saint, Corona, and Cade followed the Holy City of Apostles’ Tribunal through the stargate.
When their journey ended, they would appear 17.31 million light-years from Titan Industries—and from there, they would strike at Titan Industries’ heart with the frenzy of beasts!