Chapter 324: Fireworks Blooming over the Apostles’ Holy City
“Do not retreat. Even if you meet an enemy ten times your number, you were not to retreat. You must hold the temporary stargate tight. If anyone dares to run now, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
After issuing the order to send reinforcements, the Chief of the Tribunal hurriedly warned the servitor he had left to guard the temporary stargate.
He no longer had time to wonder why the location of the temporary stargate had been exposed.
The urgent matter was to do everything possible to keep this new route they had expended great effort to open.
If this new route were destroyed, their large-scale offensive against the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations would have to be postponed by months.
A few months might not sound long, but with a monster like Bai Fu on the other side, his heart immediately tightened.
Who knew how much stronger Bai Fu would become in a few months!
Therefore, they had to seize this chance, break the backbone of the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations and that mysterious organization in one stroke; even if they could not break their backbone, they must at least drag them into the mire.
Without those allies, even if Bai Fu fully recovered the peak strength she had as an Apostle, she would have no way but death when facing the Supreme Apostle.
After scaring the remaining servitor until his face went pale, the Chief of the Tribunal did not forget to toss out a red jujube.
“You will not have to guard for long. His Excellency the Supreme Apostle contacted me not long ago and said he had already sent all servitors from Cathedral Number Three to reinforce you. If everything went smoothly, you only needed to hold on for a dozen or so minutes before relief arrived. Afterwards, whether you succeeded in holding the temporary stargate or not, I would personally petition the Supreme Apostle on your behalf and ask him to grant you entry into the Apostle High Rank!”
The Apostle High Rank was a special psionic cosmic treasure forged by the clan to which the Supreme Apostle belonged.
After hearing the Chief of the Tribunal paint such a tempting picture, the servitor’s fear had immediately diminished by more than half under the lure of reward.
“I will do my utmost!”
“Go.”
The Chief of the Tribunal waved his hand, then paced inside the ship.
Danger had come, but after danger there was also opportunity.
“As long as the garrison can stall until the people from Cathedral Number Three arrive, then I can coordinate with Cathedral Number Three to hit them from front and back. With some luck we might use this chance to severely damage the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations!”
The thought of such a future thrilled him just to imagine it.
The Chief of the Tribunal quickly contacted the Supreme Apostle.
On one hand he reported the situation; on the other he tried to get the Supreme Apostle to send more help.
“I understand. Wait for my word.”
The Supreme Apostle nodded at the Chief of the Tribunal with an expression of calm.
However, the instant the transmission ended, his entire face contorted as if someone had pinched his skin and twisted it several times.
There was an internal traitor — it had to be an insider who had passed the information to Bai Fu!
Many knew he had sent the Tribunal and the Ten Saints Council to open the new route, but the number of people who knew where the new route actually lay in the entire Apostles’ Holy City did not exceed fifty at most.
Was it someone in the Tribunal?
No—he did not need to doubt the Tribunal people’s loyalty!
Was it someone in the Ten Saints Council?
No—if the Ten Saints Council had a traitor, the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations would never have been put on the defensive today; they would surely have prepared in advance, and Titan Industries would never have lost a Domination and a Transcendent in this assault.
【Cathedral Number Four · Liet】
That name suddenly popped into the Supreme Apostle’s mind.
When Cathedral Number Four had been attacked by Bai Fu last time he had already harbored suspicions about Liet; now, with another leak, it was hard for him not to suspect Liet’s hand.
He immediately contacted the Hall of True Spirits.
After the attack on Cathedral Number Four he had instructed the Hall of True Spirits to dispatch people to monitor all servitors of Cathedral Number Four.
But the reply from the Lord of the Hall of True Spirits left him profoundly disappointed.
“No abnormal movements?”
The Supreme Apostle frowned.
To arrest a Candidate Apostle without direct evidence was to challenge the rules of the entire Apostles’ Holy City; even he would not dare to do that.
However…
“Did you think you’d hide so well that I could do nothing to you?”
The Supreme Apostle sneered coldly.
He immediately ordered Cathedral Number Four to go and support the Tribunal and the Ten Saints Council, and at the same time told them that this mission was extremely important: they had to try to hold the new route while drawing as much attention from the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations as possible.
“When all their attention is on you, that will be the perfect chance for another force we sent from the Tub Galaxy to depart and take Origin Star, Bai Fu’s base!”
In truth the Supreme Apostle had no intention of actually ordering an assault on Origin Star.
Even if Origin Star were blasted to pieces, it would not affect Bai Fu in the least.
He had said it on purpose to fish.
He had only told Cathedral Number Four about the plan to strike Origin Star; if Origin Star made corresponding deployments afterwards, it would prove the traitor was indeed within Cathedral Number Four!
“Liet, don’t disappoint me!”
The Supreme Apostle narrowed his eyes.
Once Liet was confirmed as the traitor, he would not only be able to cut off one of Bai Fu’s arms, he could also play it up and openly suppress Cathedral Number Four to expand his own power.
While the Supreme Apostle brimmed with malice toward Liet, Liet was at the same time imagining the Supreme Apostle’s malice in the worst possible light.
“Support duty ended up falling to us? I thought after the last incident we were going to be sidelined.”
“Haha, good — this time I will surely wash away my shame and force Bai Fu to kneel!”
Looking at the servitors of Cathedral Number Four who stood nearby, full of fighting spirit, Liet could not help but secretly sneer in his heart.
How naïve!
This was by no means an opportunity to wash away shame; it was clearly a poisoned chalice handed to them by the Supreme Apostle!
The Supreme Apostle was willing to go so far as to deliberately leak Cathedral Number Four’s intelligence to Bai Fu in order to deal with them — that was beyond what “born” could describe.
“This bastard surely wants to use this chance to further weaken Cathedral Number Four!”
Liet had already guessed how the Supreme Apostle would betray him.
This expedition to the Explored Universe included the Tribunal, the Hall of True Spirits, the Ten Saints Council, and Cathedral Number Three.
Except for Cathedral Number Three, the other forces were all men of the Supreme Apostle; if the Supreme Apostle ordered these people to suddenly sell him out at a critical moment, leaving him alone facing Bai Fu, he would be done for.
If he died, what fate would befall Cathedral Number Four need not be imagined.
「Born, I would absolutely never let you have your way!」
Liet gnashed his teeth.
He had paid an enormous price, and only with great difficulty had he recovered from his severe injuries. This time, he absolutely would not fall for that dog Supreme Apostle’s schemes again.
Refuse.
No.
He could not refuse.
Merely refusing to carry out the order, merely causing the Supreme Apostle’s plan to fail, was not enough to vent the anger in his heart.
He had to use this chance to launch his own act of revenge!
「The Supreme Apostle and his dogs would never expect that I have already seen through them. This is my chance. They want to betray me at the crucial moment? Then I will turn their own trick back on them, and betray them first!」
Liet sneered coldly.
Only if a few of the Supreme Apostle’s dogs died would the anger in his heart subside.
Poisoning someone with venom, only to be poisoned in return—how amusing!
Of course, this was only the beginning of his revenge against the Supreme Apostle. Sooner or later he would drag the Supreme Apostle down and take his place as the new Supreme Apostle.
「Senlan.」
At this moment, Liet called to Senlan as he passed by.
Senlan’s heart tightened violently.
Unlike the other servitors, he felt extremely uneasy now.
He was no fool. Upon learning that the new route had been attacked by Bai Fu and the others, he had immediately realized there must be an insider who had secretly leaked the intelligence. Otherwise, how could Bai Fu possibly know the end-point of the new route?
Who was the traitor?
Senlan did not know, but he felt that perhaps everyone suspected him.
Ever since Cathedral Number Four had been attacked by Bai Fu, he had worried that others would suspect him of being the traitor simply because he had once come into contact with Bai Fu. Since then, he had constantly and cautiously observed those around him.
At first he had kept telling himself not to scare himself.
But after watching for a while, he really had noticed something strange!
Normally, people from the Hall of the True Spirits rarely visited other cathedrals. But recently he found that members of the Hall of the True Spirits were appearing in Cathedral Number Four with unusual frequency—so high it was abnormal, and most of the time they came secretly.
If they weren’t investigating him, then who else could they be investigating? Surely not the Fourth Candidate Apostle, Liet.
Liet and Bai Fu had never crossed paths directly in the Tub Galaxy. In fact, Bai Fu had almost killed Liet. To suspect anyone, no one would suspect Liet. So, those from the Hall of the True Spirits could only be investigating him.
【But I am really not the traitor.】
The pressure inside Senlan grew immense.
Many times he had wanted to explain things to Liet, but he did not know how to say it in a way that others would believe.
That he had only exchanged a few casual words with Bai Fu—would anyone really believe it?
Ah, what should he do?
Worried and anxious, Senlan forced a smile and turned his head toward Liet.
「Honorable Candidate Apostle, what business do you have with me?」
In fact, Liet did not have any important matter with Senlan. At this stage there was no longer any need for Senlan to investigate the Supreme Apostle.
He simply wanted to draw Senlan in and prepare for the future struggle against the Supreme Apostle.
The Supreme Apostle was too strong. To drive him from his position would require the strength of many combined.
Thus, after calling Senlan over, Liet chatted casually with him—mostly to offer comfort, talk about daily life, share complaints—and finally to shift to the topic of how he viewed the Supreme Apostle.
Liet regarded this as the normal process of drawing closer.
But in Senlan’s eyes, this was an interrogation.
Not good!
Asking him about complaints?
Was this trying to find out why he would act as a traitor?
Asking how he viewed the Supreme Apostle?
Was this probing whether he betrayed because he disliked the Supreme Apostle?
Senlan was drenched in sweat.
He answered Liet cautiously. Even after boarding the Icon-class Mothership bound for the Explored Universe, the weight in his heart did not lift.
He kept feeling as if everyone was watching him, as if everyone was questioning him.
【My state of mind has gone wrong. For a psionic Cleric, this is a grave taboo.】
The problem was, it was truly difficult not to falter at a time like this.
Inside the ship, each person harbored their own thoughts. Just like this, they entered the new route.
……
At the same time.
At the temporary stargate at the end of the new route.
The assault teams of the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations had already clashed with the Apostles’ Holy City’s forces.
At first, because their arrival had been so sudden, the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations quickly gained the upper hand.
But just as they broke through the Apostles’ defensive line with superior numbers and were preparing to set up equipment to destroy the hyperspace passage, the servitors of Cathedral Number Three happened to arrive in their ships.
The two sides collided suddenly, and without a word, they fought.
A new battle thus erupted.
Cathedral Number Three had six Transcendent servitors, making it the strongest of the seven cathedrals of the Apostles’ Holy City. But even so, faced with the combined assault of the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations, they could not withstand it and soon fell into disadvantage.
Thunderblade fell into ecstasy: 「Good, though there’s been a slight setback, as long as we press harder then…」
He did not finish his words.
Because just as he was about to press harder, the Tribunal and the Council of Ten Saints arrived.
The warp ability of the Icon-class Mothership was simply too broken.
Watching the chance to annihilate Cathedral Number Three slip away, the elites of the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations began to feel the pressure.
「If it were only these, we could still barely cope, but if the Apostles’ Holy City continues to send reinforcements…」
Damn it!
The Apostles’ Holy City could keep adding forces, but they could not.
While fighting the Apostles’ Holy City, they still had to leave troops behind to guard against a sudden offensive from the First Protocol.
「At this rate, not only will we fail to destroy this route, we might even die here!」
Thunderblade’s expression grew ugly.
Clearly, they had been just one step away from resolving this crisis.
But just as they were about to take that step, they had the misfortune of running into Cathedral Number Three’s arrival.
Was this destiny?
Some Transcendents and Dominations who believed in “fate” felt a trace of wavering in their hearts.
Soon, that trace of wavering widened into cracks as the joint forces of the Hall of the True Spirits and Cathedral Number Four arrived.
「Damn, I knew this operation wouldn’t be simple!」
After the emergency meeting, Bai Fu had received the main quest to destroy the new route.
The mission rewards were generous, with a maximum of fifty billion experience points, blueprints for a Dark Energy Engine, and a colorful-grade Prayer Card Advancement Card.
As expected, rich rewards meant high difficulty.
For the mission rewards, and to buy time against the Apostles’ Holy City, it was time to activate the psionic relay stations that Anya and Yulia had left in the Apostles’ Holy City.
Bai Fu drew a deep breath and pulled out several thousand Prayer Cards in succession.
Hyperspace delivery, go!
In the next second, the Prayer Cards vanished from her palm.
When they appeared again, they were already at the psionic relay stations established near Cathedral Number Four.
Accompanying them were countless little Black Fus.
These little Black Fus said nothing. They picked up the Prayer Cards before them, infused them with psionic energy, and activated them.
Their technique was so skillful, and so perfectly synchronized.
As the Prayer Cards dissolved into starlight in their palms, the star sector where Cathedral Number Four of the Apostles’ Holy City stood blossomed with a grand fireworks display such as its inhabitants had never seen in their lifetimes!