Chapter 336: The Legendary God of the Ethereal Realm
"The fusion went very smoothly. Once Cecia finishes fully digesting the potion, her Esper rating should rise to SS-rank. Riding the momentum of the gene optimization, her class should also successfully advance to the Domination-level."
"Scarlet’s advancement went equally well. In fact, her physical stats had long met the threshold. The reason she hadn’t advanced to the Domination-level was due to her poor control over Void power. But that wasn’t her fault—mainly because there are two souls in her body right now. However, after fusing with your genes, this issue is no longer a problem."
"Anya... there’s absolutely no problem on her end. With Sypris and the Needle of Sin and Punishment supporting her, even without your genes, advancing to Domination is not an issue for her."
"What surprised me were those two little followers you brought back from Azure Sky Star— Ichi and Teresa. Their talent and determination are both astonishing. They’ve now caught up and even surpassed Vic, reaching the peak of the Calamity-level. The only issue is—unless their racial potential is further elevated, their path of advancement is almost at an end."
Inside the lab, Yulia, dressed in a white lab coat, pushed up her red-rimmed glasses and reported to Bai Fu the recent progress of everyone who had received her experimental aid.
As she spoke, a gentle smile appeared on her face.
"Congratulations. Your years of continuous investment into the Quiet Garden are finally bearing fruit. In no more than a month, the Quiet Garden will see four or five Domination-level individuals emerge in one go. With that, even among the vast Explored Universe, the Quiet Garden will count as a true top-tier force."
Bai Fu nodded in satisfaction.
She knew—this was only the beginning.
Four or five Domination-level beings?
As time progressed, the number of Domination-level members in the Quiet Garden would reach fourteen or fifteen... or even forty to fifty!
This wasn’t simply because she could guide her followers’ cultivation with her Apostle Psionic Vision.
More importantly, most of the people she had gathered were protagonists in their own right—many of them bore buffs like 【Luck】 or 【Fortune】.
With both factors combined—how could the Quiet Garden not flourish?
Oh, wait—if she got herself killed beforehand, then yeah, the Quiet Garden definitely wouldn’t thrive.
Sure, even if she were gone now, the Quiet Garden would still be a powerful force—but her enemies were even stronger.
If she died, those enemies would surely tear the Quiet Garden to shreds.
She still had to work harder to cultivate one or two Transcendent-levels for the Quiet Garden.
Bai Fu’s gaze landed on Yulia.
Yulia might not show off, but in terms of strength, she was actually the strongest among Anya, Cecia, Scarlet, and Sypris. She had already advanced to Domination during the incident at the Holy City of Apostles. After fusing with Bai Fu’s genes, her racial potential score had even jumped to 80.3.
Such a rapid breakthrough was thanks to Yulia’s fusion of two fragments of the True Spirit Molt.
"If she could get the fragment of the True Spirit Molt held by the Holy City of Apostles, then with the power of the Apostle, Yulia should be able to advance to Transcendent. When that happens..."
Yulia, at the Domination-level, could already mobilize immense psionic power.
If she fully inherited the Number Three Apostle’s legacy, then she might gain the ability to use psionic power without limit.
If Yulia had unlimited mana, that meant she had unlimited mana.
And how terrifying is a mage tankier than a tank with unlimited mana?
Invincible, of course!
Bai Fu couldn’t wait to inject more of her genes into Yulia.
But she restrained herself.
Now wasn’t the time for impulsiveness.
Things were different now—her genes were extremely potent. Even someone as powerful as Yulia could suffer if she absorbed them too frequently in a short time.
And the consequence of overloading was gene collapse—disintegration on the spot or degeneration into a mindless monster.
Bai Fu reined in her thoughts. "I’m entrusting you with the task of relocating all the major facilities on Origin Star to the Esper Garden. I’ll be meeting with that Litt from the Holy City of Apostles."
Yulia responded with a smile, "With me around, you can rest easy."
A dependable Chief Steward really was nice to have!
Bai Fu shared top-level access of the Esper Garden with Yulia, then headed straight for the Anti-Holy City of Apostles Alliance headquarters.
—
One day later.
She met with Litt, Ruth, and Nexius at the Alliance base.
The atmosphere of the meeting was... a bit strange.
Mainly because Ruth and the others never dreamed Bai Fu would introduce a Candidate Apostle of the Holy City of Apostles to them.
"Can he really be trusted?"
"One hundred percent."
Bai Fu was confident—because she’d noticed Litt’s favorability towards her had increased, jumping from 74 to 83 recently.
Presumably, it was because Litt heard about her joining forces with the First Protocol to beat down the Holy City of Apostles and destroy their new passageway.
Since Bai Fu personally vouched for him, Ruth and the others accepted the idea that the former enemy, Litt, had now “turned to the light.”
Even a Candidate Apostle of the Holy City was now subdued by Bai Fu’s charm. Bai Fu was basically a superhero!
Bai Fu said, "Even though the Holy City of Apostles suffered a crushing defeat in the Explored Universe, their strength remains. They are still a huge threat. So next, we must continue weakening them until the final battle arrives."
Litt asked, "Apostle, how do you propose we do that?"
"Poach their people!"
Bai Fu laid out her plan.
It was still too much to ask for Litt and the others to fight the Holy City of Apostles directly, so her plan was to have them continue luring over members from within.
If someone like Litt could defect, then clearly the Holy City had major internal issues.
Getting more defectors would be ideal. But even if they couldn’t, stirring up internal problems would still be worth it.
Litt nodded but voiced a concern: "What if the Supreme Apostle plays along and sends someone pretending to defect—then we’d be in danger."
Bai Fu smiled confidently: "Don’t underestimate my eyes. I can tell at a glance whether someone is sincere."
Even if an undercover agent’s favorability wasn’t negative, it’d still be very low!
You say some people have high favorability but might still betray her under pressure?
Impossible.
At least, not in the Holy City of Apostles.
Truth be told, Bai Fu didn’t really care whether the ones Litt recruited were sincere or spies.
If they were sincere—it weakened the Holy City.
If they were spies—she’d kill them, and it’d still weaken the Holy City.
In short, as long as Litt brought people in, she wouldn’t lose.
After the brief meeting ended, Bai Fu didn’t rush off.
She stayed at the Alliance base for a while longer—just in case any old grudges caused conflict between Litt and the others.
Thankfully, both sides understood the bigger picture.
They all knew the Holy City was their greatest threat right now. Until it was dealt with, all other conflicts could be put aside.
—
One and a half days later, Bai Fu received a message from the Rebirth Empire.
Dmitri said the Empire, together with the Supernova Legion and Titan Industries, had formulated the 《Ethereal Realm Development Plan v2.0》.
Though called a development plan, it was really more of a baiting operation.
Dmitri pointed to a spot on the map—a yellow dot marked one of the First Protocol’s branch bases, info provided by Isaacs.
"We plan to use the Ethereal Realm exploration as bait to lure the First Protocol into action."
"If they take the bait and attack our bait unit, we’ll launch a massive assault on the base and destroy it in one go."
"If they don’t fall for it, we’ll simply proceed with real exploration."
"Hmm, this plan’s solid." Bai Fu looked approving. "So what do you need me for this time?"
Dmitri replied, "We’d like you to be the bait. Of course, you won’t need to actually enter the Ethereal Realm. Just act the part and draw their attention."
▶ Ding!
[You have triggered the Main Story Mission: 『Ethereal Realm Development Plan v2.0』]
[Mission Description: …]
[Mission Objective: Cooperate with the three Cosmic-level Civilizations to stage the exploration plan.]
[Reward: 1.5 billion XP]
[Note: Completion of this mission may trigger a higher-tier Main Story mission.]
A quest?
What was there to hesitate about?
Bai Fu immediately piloted the Mobile Palace toward the Empire’s capital region.
After extracting Painter’s whereabouts via interrogation of Isaacs and completing the Painter’s Main Story quest 『Overthrow the World』, she’d obtained a Psionic Construct Blueprint Evolution Card. She applied it to the Mobile Palace, which now moved faster than even the Vow Master’s speed-optimized warship.
So it only took her a day to reach Empire territory.
"In 7 hours, the Mobile Palace will enter the capital region of the Rebirth Empire. Next stop, Sesca—$@###..."
Inside the ship, the AI was making its routine hourly report.
But halfway through, the AI’s voice suddenly turned into grating static.
Enemy attack?
Bai Fu’s eyes narrowed.
She was just about to act when a familiar voice echoed from the Void.
"Don’t be so tense. I’m not here to cause trouble—I came to save you."
"Lufas!"
That voice—Bai Fu could never forget it.
She turned to look through the portside window.
Outside, Lufas was floating with a big grin.
She instinctively activated Apostle Psionic Vision, and the returned data shocked her.
After disappearing for a while, Lufas’s level had jumped to 262. As for his race...
"You became a Void Lord?"
Oh?
Lufas was stunned to be recognized so quickly.
He had deliberately concealed his physical changes and suppressed his energy signature, yet Bai Fu still saw through him in an instant.
This woman... truly terrifying!
Fortunately, he wasn’t here to pick a fight today.
"That’s not important, Bai Fu. Don’t think I’m being alarmist. I heard you plan to join the Ethereal Realm exploration led by the Rebirth Empire. If you enter the Realm now—you’re walking into certain death!"
"Are you threatening me?"
"The threat isn’t me—it’s the First Protocol. They’ve made thorough preparations to kill you. You’re no match for them. But with me helping you, that changes. So, Bai Fu, how about we work together? If you agree, I’ll give you something you desperately need."
"What is it?"
"True Spirit Marrow."
"!"
Even the actress Bai Fu couldn’t help showing a flicker of emotion.
She asked, "What do you want me to do?"
Lufas said, "Help me kill the leader of the First Protocol."
Bai Fu asked, "Why? You don’t have a grudge with him, do you?"
Lufas replied, "Because his identity is very... special."
"Special?"
Bai Fu immediately thought of the task 『Among the Stars (II)』, whose second branch required her to uncover the true identity of the First Protocol’s leader.
"Who is he?"
Lufas smiled. "He is the legendary God of the Ethereal Realm!"
"?"
Bai Fu was stunned.
The First Protocol’s leader is the God of the Ethereal Realm?
No way. The quest still shows as incomplete. That alone proves the leader can’t be the God.
Besides...
"Didn’t I already leak the info that I am the God of the Ethereal Realm? Why does Lufas still think... Oh, right. Only Dmitri and the Players knew that. Dmitri kept it sealed, and the Players, though big mouths, were forcibly logged out before they could spread the word due to the patch update."
Bai Fu’s eyes gleamed.
She didn’t care where Lufas got his bad intel.
All she knew was—if she played this right, she could get the True Spirit Marrow she so craved.
So—this collaboration? It’s on!