Chapter 335: Who Said Bai Fu Was a Saint?
While Rufas was plotting to approach Bai Fu, Bai Fu was together with the Oathmaster, disciplining the captured Death God Isaacs.
“Do you know why we caught you?”
Isaacs, with a blade against his neck, looked utterly bewildered.
Could it not simply be because he tried to act cool, slowed down a step, and ended up being caught as an example?
Thinking of this, Isaacs felt speechless.
He had always been blessed with good fortune throughout his life—so how did he stumble precisely at the most critical moment?
Truly, what a sin!
At this moment, the Oathmaster suddenly let out a cold laugh: “Isaacs, have you really forgotten me?”
“Forgotten you?”
Isaacs froze for a moment.
Having roamed through the Explored Universe, of course he knew of the Oathmaster, one of the three Transcendents of the Edge Worlds.
But judging from the Oathmaster’s expression and tone, her words carried the implication that they had once crossed paths, and a conflict had arisen from it.
However…
Isaacs racked his brains, but no matter how he tried, he could not recall ever meeting the Oathmaster.
The Oathmaster’s reputation was far from small, and his memory was not poor. If he had truly clashed with her somewhere, there was no way he would have forgotten.
So, was it that he had inadvertently done something that provoked her?
“Indeed, at that time your attention was entirely on those blocking your business, so how could you have remembered a nameless nobody like me?”
The Oathmaster glared at Isaacs with hatred, recounting the past.
She would never forget the despair when she saw her hometown reduced to dust by Isaacs’ casual strike in a battle with his enemies.
She would never forget the rage when she tried to confront Isaacs, only to be thrown out before she even got close.
Her talent was outstanding.
But her rapid growth had owed much to the fuel of hatred.
“So that’s how it was.” Isaacs suddenly understood. “A pity. Even though you explained it so clearly, I still cannot recall.”
His soul shrugged lightly, his tone relaxed.
“This is only natural. I’ve destroyed far too many planets, and the people cursing me every day are beyond number. If I had to remember them all, wouldn’t that be too difficult for me?”
Such an indifferent attitude only stoked the Oathmaster’s fury further.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember. I remember, and that’s enough. Isaacs, I will use your soul to mourn my innocent people who died!”
The Oathmaster no longer intended to argue with Isaacs. She only wanted to send him on his way. She wanted to see if Isaacs could still remain so nonchalant when true death descended upon him.
Yet just as she was about to act, Isaacs suddenly laughed.
“Are you certain you want to kill me?”
“Certain.”
“Even if I were to offer you a deal, to tell you the internal secrets of the First Protocol, would you still kill me?”
The Oathmaster froze.
This time, she truly could not bring herself to immediately say “certain.”
For her personally, she did not care much about the First Protocol.
After all, she had never sided with any of the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations, so whatever conflict existed between the First Protocol and those three had nothing to do with her.
But Bai Fu needed it.
Though she had helped Bai Fu quite a bit, clearly all she had done was nowhere near what Bai Fu had done for her.
Without Bai Fu, no matter how hard she trained, she would never have been able to capture Isaacs.
On one hand, Isaacs’ strength was greater than hers.
On the other, Isaacs was a member of the First Protocol. She could not imagine any way to bypass the First Protocol and kill him.
So, in order to repay Bai Fu’s kindness…
The Oathmaster gritted her teeth. “You mean, as long as I spare you, you’ll tell us the inner workings of the First Protocol?”
Isaacs smiled: “Exactly.”
This was the source of his composure.
Although giving Bai Fu and the Oathmaster intel on the First Protocol would certainly earn him a kill order from them—and he had no chance of standing against the First Protocol—at this moment, he had no mind to consider the future. Escaping the crisis at hand came first.
Bai Fu said to the Oathmaster: “No need to waste time with him. Just kill him. There are plenty of ways to uncover the First Protocol’s secrets—we don’t need to haggle with him here.”
The Oathmaster shook her head: “There are indeed many methods, but the sooner we uncover the First Protocol’s situation, the safer you’ll be when facing them. Don’t worry about me. Letting him go today doesn’t mean this hatred won’t be repaid. At worst, I’ll catch him again another time.”
As she spoke, she shot Isaacs a venomous glare.
“Speak. As long as you talk, once I verify it, I’ll release you immediately.”
Isaacs, however, remained unmoved.
“I don’t believe you. Unless Bai Fu personally promises to let me go, I won’t speak.”
Who in the Explored Universe didn’t know that Bai Fu was “the Saint among Saints”?
Her words could be trusted!
“You—”
Bai Fu wanted to persuade the Oathmaster further, but the Oathmaster’s stance was firm.
Just one word—
Trade.
Bai Fu, if you won’t agree, then I’ll release Isaacs right now.
“Ah, you…”
With no other choice, Bai Fu could only relent.
“Speak.”
Haha, it worked!
Isaacs’ heart surged with joy.
Finally, he would live!
It seemed his luck was bad, but not entirely. Otherwise, how could he be manipulating the Oathmaster like this?
Hehe.
Try catching me again? Once I leave this time, I’ll immediately use the trump cards I’ve yet to reveal and send you on your way!
Seething with resentment, Isaacs began to describe the inner workings of the First Protocol.
“The First Protocol is divided into two layers, internal and external. Those like me are considered outer members. As for the inner members, as far as I know, there are only twenty-one in total. That includes the Lightless One, whom you’ve already eliminated, as well as the Painter, who recently passed the Blazing Tiger’s trial to join.”
“I rarely interact with the core members of the First Protocol, so my knowledge of them is limited. I’ll send you the details later.”
“Still, even though I don’t know much about them, there are two people you must be wary of. One is the Leader of the First Protocol, and the other is the Child of Prophecy.”
“As for the Child of Prophecy, that’s simpler. It’s said he has the ability to foresee the future. When facing such a person, caution can never be excessive. As for the Leader… the Leader has never once revealed his true identity in public. But judging from the occasional keywords let slip in discussions among the inner members, I have a few speculations—”
“One, he is a Pathseeker.”
“Two, before becoming a Pathseeker, he most likely originated from one of the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations.”
“Three—”
Before Isaacs could finish, the Oathmaster cut him off with a sharp cry.
“Do you even know what you’re saying? If the Leader of the First Protocol came from one of the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations, why would he oppose them?”
Isaacs said: “Believe it or not, it makes no difference to me. I’m only telling you what I know.”
The Oathmaster: “…”
“Besides the two I mentioned, there’s one more possibility—that the Leader may have come into contact with a civilization higher than the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations.”
Huh?
Even Bai Fu was stunned at that.
A civilization higher than the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations—could it be the Holy City of Apostles?
No, impossible.
If that were so, why would the First Protocol be fighting against the Holy City of Apostles?
“Could it be an antagonist that will appear in a later version?”
Bai Fu could not figure it out for now.
During the back-and-forth with Isaacs, she gained even more new intelligence.
For example, which factions secretly cooperated with the First Protocol.
For example, which branch bases the First Protocol had.
For example, what abilities some of the First Protocol’s members possessed.
The moment she received the intel, Bai Fu forwarded everything to Dmitri, instructing him to handle it urgently so as to avoid any unforeseen accidents.
“Nothing else to say?” Bai Fu asked.
Isaacs nodded. “Of course.”
He even cast a provoking glance at the Oathmaster, making her grit her teeth in fury, yet unable to do anything.
Go on, gloat all you like. I’ll kill you sooner or later!
Isaacs said: “Lady Bai Fu, I’ve already said all there is to say. Now, may I follow the rules of our deal and be allowed to leave this place?”
Bai Fu let out an “Oh.”
“Since you have nothing else to say, then rest in peace.”
Rest in peace?
Wasn’t that wording a little off?
Isaacs faintly sensed something wrong, but it was already too late.
In Bai Fu’s palm appeared a small boat out of thin air. In the next second, under its effect, Isaacs felt his soul dissolving.
If this continued, he would die!
Isaacs cried out in terror: “What are you doing? Stop it! Bai Fu, you promised to release me! Everything I told you was true—I never lied to you!”
Bai Fu replied: “Stop barking. Whether it’s true or not, you’re dead.”
Isaacs panicked even more. “Aren’t you a saint? How can a saint go back on her word? Let me out—hurry—if this goes on I’ll die!”
The Oathmaster was stunned watching from the side.
What was going on here?
Bai Fu didn’t even blink.
A saint? Who ever said I was a saint?
Hmph!
Die!
Isaacs was no longer calm or composed.
First, he tried to invoke her reputation as a “saintess,” hoping Bai Fu wouldn’t ruin her name. Then he offered his wealth accumulated over so many years in exchange for his life. Next, he shouted repeatedly that he would be willing to serve Bai Fu and the Oathmaster like a beast of burden, so long as he could live.
Yet Bai Fu wasn’t buying any of it.
Isaacs broke down.
Damn, damn, damn—who was it that said Bai Fu was a saint? Who said Bai Fu’s words could absolutely be trusted?
To hell with you!
Isaacs began to curse viciously.
“You treacherous villain, hypocrite, bastard—don’t get too full of yourself! If today’s events get out, your reputation will be ruined!”
Tch.
Bai Fu curled her lip.
“Whether my reputation is ruined or not, I don’t know. But I do know this: if I kill you, no one will ever hear about what happened here.”
“You—”
Before Isaacs could finish, Bai Fu suddenly increased her strength, crushing his soul to pieces.
【You killed…】
【You completed…】
The instant Isaacs died, Bai Fu received the system prompt. She successfully obtained the 10 billion XP she wanted, the one-time skill card [Death God’s Mark], and one Seed of Death.
When she turned back, the Oathmaster was staring at her, shocked.
Bai Fu spread her hands. “If we let him escape today, catching him again in the future would be nearly impossible. I promised to help you avenge yourself, and I won’t go back on that. In short, against scum like this, there’s no need to talk about honor. Trick them, then kill them—that’s all.”
The Oathmaster nodded instinctively.
Though the sudden shift from Bai Fu being the ever-reliable saint to a ruthless deceiver was a huge contrast…
But—
She liked it!
Wasn’t this perfect?
They got the intel, and her revenge was avenged.
“Thank you!”
The Oathmaster excitedly took a few steps forward, tiptoeing to throw her arms tightly around Bai Fu.
Bai Fu waved her hand. “Between us, there’s no need for thanks.”
That night, the Esper Garden arrived at Origin Star.
Bai Fu summoned Cecia over and implanted the Seed of Death into her body.
The next day, Yulia and Anya returned to Origin Star.
After a welcoming feast, Bai Fu called Yulia aside and drew several tubes of blood, asking her to help produce Gene Optimization Fluid.
The moment Yulia heard she’d be injecting Bai Fu’s genes into herself, she immediately became excited.
Without another word, she dragged Bai Fu into the laboratory. And then… they conducted experiments to their heart’s content.
“Bai Fu, I want to go back and mourn my fallen people. If you have nothing else for me, then I’d like to now—”
At the laboratory door.
The Oathmaster, who had come to bid farewell, suddenly fell silent.
The lab had shielding devices, but at her level, no shielding could possibly block her probing.
So…
“I’ll be going!”
With a swoosh, the Oathmaster was already back in her flagship.
In the cockpit, Yin Zhu’s virtual avatar stared oddly at her, watching her blush and stumble back after supposedly just going to say goodbye.
Just saying goodbye, huh? Why was her face red? And why were her legs weak?
…
While Bai Fu was still inside the lab with Yulia, the Three Cosmic-level Civilizations, using the information she had sent them, launched a proactive strike against the First Protocol.
The Leader of the First Protocol received wave after wave of distress signals, but he ignored them all. He only ordered the attacked members not to linger in battle and to retreat immediately.
“The most important task now is to eliminate Bai Fu. Everything else is irrelevant. We’ve prepared for so long—this time, there must be no failure. Move out!”