Chapter 358: A Beam of Light in the Darkness, Bai Fu!
At the very beginning, when Bai Fu intended to subvert the people of the Apostolic Holy City, the target she chose was Senlan, who had once fought head-on in the Tubu System.
But the development of events completely exceeded her expectations.
Senlan, who had been tricked by her several times, did not betray the Apostolic Holy City. Instead, it was Senlan’s superior, Liter, who defected.
During this period, Liter had been leading members of the Anti–Apostolic Holy City Alliance to stir up trouble along the Apostolic Holy City’s borders. Although they had not caused great damage, they had thrown the city into turmoil. Including the Supreme God’s disciples and the Fourth Apostle, none doubted any longer that an Apostle truly lurked in the shadows, spying on the Apostolic Holy City.
Bai Fu was very satisfied with Liter’s results.
But what she had not expected was that today, Liter brought her yet another piece of good news.
"Here’s what happened."
Liter recounted the situation in detail——
At the time, he was leading the Agent Unit of the Core-Civilization to secretly set up signal stations on the Apostolic Holy City’s borders, when suddenly, he received a private message from Senlan.
With suspicion, he connected, and then heard Senlan say that recently the Apostolic Holy City had been full of undercurrents. On the surface, everyone still looked polite, their attention focused entirely on annexing the Three Universal Civilizations. But behind the scenes, many were already colluding, scheming to drive the current Supreme God’s disciple off the throne.
【These past few days, I have received several secret contacts.】
Senlan’s tone carried a heavy weight.
His own reaction was no different from the others who received the messages: at first, he thought it was the Supreme God’s disciple testing them. But after a few more interactions, he realized this was not a test. The Fourth Apostle and the Supreme God’s disciple had truly broken apart.
The storm was coming.
Senlan pretended to agree, but his heart was filled with unease.
No matter how he thought about it, he could not see why he should get involved in this power struggle.
Whether siding with the Fourth Apostle or the Supreme God’s disciple, if he lost, he would die. As for winning—at the moment of dividing spoils, with his strength and the Fourth Cathedral in its current state of decline—he most likely would not get the meat, at best, just a sip of soup.
For just a few sips of soup, to risk beheading—this deal was not worth it no matter how one looked at it.
Senlan’s final decision was simply to defect from the Apostolic Holy City and find his old superior, Liter.
Far from the storm’s center, one would not be hurt by the storm.
"Senlan may sincerely want to defect to us, but it’s also possible he is cooperating with the Supreme God’s disciple to set a trap for us," Liter voiced his thought.
Bai Fu nodded.
Which one was the truth?
Clearly, just guessing would not yield a reliable conclusion.
Since that was the case…
"Let’s probe him actively."
Whether Senlan’s sincerity was real or fake, as long as she could gauge his heart, this would be a chance to teach the Apostolic Holy City a real lesson!
Liter:"How do we test him?"
Bai Fu:"Send him one of my Prayer Cards. I want to speak to him personally."
Liter agreed immediately.
Senlan had once been his subordinate, so naturally he hoped Senlan’s defection this time was sincere. That way, his own standing within Bai Fu’s faction would be even more secure.
Because Liter was already near the Apostolic Holy City, in just two short days he delivered a Dark Moon Eye card, born from Bai Fu’s Prayer Card Factory, into Senlan’s hands.
Senlan stared curiously at the Prayer Card in his hand. Just as he was puzzling over Liter’s intent in giving it, Bai Fu had already seen through his true thoughts.
Favorability: 74 (awe and admiration)
"If he were cooperating with the Supreme God’s disciple to dig a pit for me, his favorability toward me wouldn’t be this high, nor would the adjective include admiration."
Her eyes swirled rapidly. Lifting her head from her pondering, Bai Fu smiled.
"Long time no see."
A familiar voice rang in his ears.
Senlan froze for a full ten seconds before finally coming back to himself.
"Bai Fu?"
From the Prayer Card that Liter had given him, Bai Fu’s voice emerged. Which meant, after defecting from the Apostolic Holy City, Liter had actually gone to Bai Fu’s side?
Damn, what a shocking discovery!
If this were true, then by defecting to Liter, he was also defecting to Bai Fu.
Considering Bai Fu’s relationship with the Three Universal Civilizations, this defection of his meant he was now standing squarely opposite the Apostolic Holy City.
This…
"So be it! Damn it, everything I have today is thanks to my own effort and the Fourth Cathedral’s cultivation. And now the Fourth Cathedral has been tossed into this miserable state, yet they want me dragged into their infighting? To hell with their #@$^*&"
Senlan’s words grew intense.
The grievances he had accumulated over the years burst forth all at once.
He had never asked for much—only fairness. But the Apostolic Holy City could not give him even that.
Since that was so, why not defect to Bai Fu?
Bai Fu was known as a great benefactor. Never mind unfair rewards or punishments—she had never harmed others to advance herself. Her character was wholly trustworthy.
As for strength…
Senlan estimated that Bai Fu’s strength was now no weaker than that of the Supreme God’s disciple.
And this was no blind guess. He had his reasons.
Recently, rumors said Bai Fu had been struck by Lufas and turned into a “Foolish Fu.” But in truth, she was unharmed and even had time to speak with him now.
No matter the truth, this proved that Bai Fu had the power to deal with Lufas.
And Lufas was no weakling. It was said he had already become the Void Sovereign. If Bai Fu could survive an ambush from a Void Sovereign unscathed, who could say she was not formidable?
Thinking this, Senlan asked Bai Fu directly if Liter had indeed defected to her.
After receiving her confirmation, his gaze grew resolute.
He had originally intended to leave the Apostolic Holy City immediately to reunite with Liter. But now, he changed his mind.
Not yet!
He decided to do something first, as a gift to Bai Fu, to raise both his and Liter’s standing in her eyes.
【We are not aimless drifters who defected to you because we failed in the Apostolic Holy City. We are truly capable, but the Apostolic Holy City’s environment is so vile it cannot tolerate us.】
"I cannot affect the grand situation of the Apostolic Holy City. But when your armies come, I can open a gap in the Fourth Division, so you may rush in."
Bai Fu nodded.
If Senlan’s loyalty were genuine, then what he was offering was more than enough to turn the tide of battle at a critical moment.
The problem was, was he sincere?
Though suspicion lingered in her heart, Bai Fu’s face shone with excitement.
She lavished Senlan with praise, vowing she would absolutely protect his safety.
"The Explored Universe will remember all you have done. You will shine as brightly as the stars, and on the monument built after victory, your name will be engraved!"
Her conversation with Senlan ended with a banquet of promises.
As soon as the meeting ended, she immediately sought out the Rebirth Empire.
"Bai Fu? You’ve recovered?"
At her sudden appearance, all the Empire’s core members, including Emperor Odoacre himself, were stunned.
"Yes, I’ve recovered. But that’s not the focus right now."
Bai Fu told Odoacre and the others about Senlan’s defection.
Even Odoacre, who often looked unreliable, instantly realized this was an opportunity.
They quickly formed a temporary strategy committee, pulling in trusted members from the Supernova Warband and Titan Industries, to discuss how best to exploit this chance.
"The Apostolic Holy City has already launched a new wave of large-scale assaults. We have no time to slowly verify whether Senlan’s words are true or false," said Thunderblade, the Martial Saint of Titan Industries, as he swept his gaze around.
Stardust Jeroen of the Supernova Warband nodded:"In my view, there’s no need to waste effort here. Better to just treat this as a scheme from the Apostolic Holy City."
"You plan to abandon this opportunity?"
"Of course not. My meaning is—this past month, we’ve been preparing for the 【Farshot Pit】 plan, pouring in massive manpower and resources. In the short term, we have no strength left to carry out another large-scale operation. Since that’s the case, let’s simply treat Senlan’s line as a supplement to the 【Farshot Pit】 plan."
The so-called 【Farshot Pit】 plan, simply put, was a lure-the-enemy-deep and encircle-to-annihilate strategy.
Jeroen’s words sparked the interest of the other members of the strategy committee.
"How do we supplement it？" Titan Industries’ President Delano looked at Jeroen with great interest.
"Form a special task force. This force will be dedicated to contacting Senlan, putting on the stance that we’re about to launch a massive assault from his Fourth Division—just like when we wiped them out in their raid on the Eighth Division. Of course, this time we’re not really going to attack the Fourth Division. We only want to use this chance to attract the Apostolic Holy City’s attention. Once the Apostolic Holy City sends reinforcements to the Fourth Division, it won’t matter what Senlan or the Apostolic Holy City are thinking. All we need to do is go along with it and be defeated."
As he spoke, Jeroen began to laugh.
"Two consecutive raids ending in miserable defeat—at this point, our morale collapses, the main forces at the frontlines also suffer defeat, we’re forced to abandon our base and retreat swiftly. Doesn’t that look entirely reasonable? Unless someone among us leaks the plan, I believe the Apostolic Holy City will definitely take the bait this time and step right into the Farshot Pit!"
The virtual conference room buzzed with discussion.
Almost everyone thought Jeroen’s plan was excellent.
Originally, they had been struggling with how to lose more convincingly, so that the Apostolic Holy City wouldn’t suspect their defeat was faked. And now—here was the solution.
"No wonder you’re the Director of Titan Industries’ Strategy Bureau." Bualois cast a look of approval at Jeroen. "But to carry this out, there’s still one obstacle."
He didn’t need to say it—the others already knew.
For this plan to succeed, the task force assigned to attack the Fourth Division would inevitably have to make a huge sacrifice.
Without casualties, how could the Apostolic Holy City believe they were truly defeated, or that the morale of their main forces had genuinely been shaken?
The problem was—who would be willing to play cannon fodder?
Most present asked themselves honestly: if it were them, would they go? The answer was no.
They had already walked so far down the Path of Evolution. Power, status—all in their grasp. Who could accept calmly that their fate would end at the Fourth Division?
Perhaps, they could trick a few into going to their deaths.
But once those deceived realized the truth, the situation would collapse.
Even without defecting to the Apostolic Holy City, as long as they deserted halfway, their entire plan would unravel.
For a while, Odoacre, Delano, and Fitz—the three giants of the Three Universal Civilizations—all fell into silence.
No way forward.
It seemed they could only change plans…
"I’ll do it！"
In the vast and deathly still virtual conference room, a pale arm slowly rose.
No one needed to look. Everyone knew—the one who stood up at this moment could only be that woman——
The Palace Master of the Garden of Silence · Guardian of the Explored Universe’s frontier · Spiritual leader of the Undying Ones · Born God of the Ethereal Realm · Eternal Saint · Pure White Child · Bai Fu！
She was simply superhuman—a beam of light in the darkness！
Odoacre looked at Bai Fu with a complex expression. A thousand tangled emotions churned in his chest, but in the end, not a single word left his lips.
At the corner of Bai Fu’s eyes bloomed a smile warm as the spring breeze.
"I should be the most suitable to carry out this mission. With my enmity against the Apostolic Holy City, the moment I appear, I’ll definitely draw massive attention. And didn’t I recently suffer some incident after being attacked by Lufas? Once the Apostolic Holy City sees me alive and well in the Fourth Division, they’ll certainly believe my supposed downfall was all a ruse, the real purpose being to ambush the Fourth Division. As long as they think that way, they’ll be completely caught in our trap."
Her reasoning was not wrong.
Bualois shook his head:"We can’t let you handle everything."
Bai Fu spread her hands:"Then do you have a better idea? At least if I go, my chance of survival is far higher than yours. Don’t forget, I have a special clone."
Jeroen frowned:"But if it’s only you…"
"Don’t worry, of course it won’t be just me. Shadow Foxtail, Black King, Scarlet Leaf, Yulia—they’ll all come with me. Add in my summoned beings, and this force will be even larger than the one Dimitri led in his operation."
Bai Fu kept her smile, though inwardly she was already grumbling.
Stop babbling already—hurry and agree, accept my goodwill！
She had said this much. What else could they say?
After some hushed discussion, everyone accepted Bai Fu’s proposal.
As before, they showered Bai Fu with a mountain of gifts to soothe their guilty consciences. Titan Industries even directly handed her the Titan Aegis.
【No need to return it. You deserve it.】
That was what Delano said.
"？"
Good heavens.
Bai Fu was stunned.
Her reasons for volunteering were twofold.
First, to use this mission to cover her true goal—while the Apostolic Holy City and the Three Universal Civilizations were locked in struggle, to lead Jinlu, Yulia, Shadow Foxtail, Lufas, and others straight into the Apostolic Holy City’s Holy Land Star to seize the True Spirit Molt Fragment of the Third Apostle.
Second, to take the chance to rack up favorability and reputation—and fleece some wool from the Three Universal Civilizations along the way.
This was not her first time doing this. Every time she stepped forward, the Three Universal Civilizations would clamor to send her all sorts of gifts. Why not fleece them?
As it happened, she had recently spent massive resources to help Scarlet Leaf, Yulia, Cecia, and the others grow stronger. Half the Esper Garden’s warehouses were now empty, badly in need of restocking.
But even with her careful planning, Bai Fu had not expected to fleece so much this time—even stripping Titan Industries of ownership of the Titan Aegis. That was a Cosmic Treasure！
"You all…"
Bai Fu was deeply moved.
Titan Industries, was it? Next time I’ll definitely fleece you again！
"Time is short. Let’s end the meeting here."
Bai Fu nodded to everyone in the virtual conference room, then decisively logged off. She was afraid if she stayed any longer, her laughter would expose her schemes.
The others had no idea she was this sly. Watching her figure fade away, they all sighed in admiration.
Sigh.
Among them, none sighed more deeply than Odoacre.
Bai Fu had basically brought all of the Garden of Silence’s high-level strength with her. If something went wrong, the entire Garden of Silence would be annihilated.
She was not even of the Empire, yet her deeds could be called loyalty unto death…
Odoacre’s sigh drowned out the sound of the wind passing outside his palace.
The Empire owed Bai Fu too much.
But at this point, it could only remain a debt.