Chapter 384: Ignaz is a Top-Ranked Patron Too?
「This can even be permission denied?」
Bai Fu was speechless.
She had just been engrossed in the storyline, and suddenly a Permission Denied error popped up—just like an inch-stopping blow, it was incredibly frustrating.
Move, would you?! Mysterious Code!
Bai Fu jabbed at the Era Crystal containing the Mysterious Code a few times.
But the Mysterious Code just bugged out like it froze—turning into a broken record.
【Permission Denied】
【Permission...】
Damn you!
Bai Fu turned to Élisée. 「Big Sis, do you know how to raise permissions?」
Élisée rolled her eyes.
Permissions? What permissions?
She was completely confused at this point.
Seeing herself labeled as a genius researcher of the Ethereal Civilization and administrator of the Ethereal Dimension had already made her feel ridiculously overpowered.
But the further she watched, the more she felt it was too overpowered—so much so that she began to doubt whether the records in the Mysterious Code were even real.
Even if they were real, was it possible that she, Élisée, and the Élisée in those records were actually two different people? After all, she couldn’t recall any of it, nor did she think her brain could operate on that level.
Seeing that she couldn’t get any useful intel from Élisée, Bai Fu could only keep fiddling with the Mysterious Code.
When she unlocked the Mysterious Code, she had used the power of the Void Sovereign and the Apostles. Now that the Code was returning a permission denied, was it implying that the Void Sovereign and Apostle power she used wasn’t strong enough?
She had already gathered all the Void Sovereign Cores, so was the next step to collect the remaining True Spirit Essence of the Apostles?
No.
That might not necessarily be the requirement.
There was a simpler and more direct way to increase strength: leveling up!
Maybe the Mysterious Code was just annoyed that her level, along with Élisée’s, Yulia’s, Hiye’s, and Jin Lu’s, wasn’t high enough.
Just as this thought occurred to her, Bai Fu received a new prompt in her ear.
This time, the prompt wasn’t from the Mysterious Code—it came from the game.
ㄴ Ding!
【You’ve triggered a hidden quest: ［Raise Permissions］】
【Quest Description: ...To view the Advanced Archive of the Mysterious Code, you must unlock higher-level permissions. To unlock higher permissions, you must wield stronger and purer power.】
【Quest Objectives:
Break through the ［Life Chasm］ restriction and raise your single-class total level to Lv275;
Raise Élisée’s total level to Lv274, Yulia’s to above Lv230, and Hiye (Jin Lu)’s to above Lv230;
At the moment of unlocking new permissions, you must have one Calamity-level Psionicist from each of the following streams above Lv230 as support: Body Cultivation, Tech, and Mental.】
【Reward: Level II Permission of the Mysterious Code】
「Huh?」
Bai Fu quickly scanned through the quest objectives.
And she couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air.
Damn.
Those requirements were harsh. Not only did it demand a massive collection of Void Sovereign Cores and True Spirit Essence, it also required one Calamity-level Psionicist from each stream to hit Lv230 just to act as support.
Good thing the quest triggered—otherwise, who knew how long she’d fumble around trying to figure out the criteria to unlock Level II Permissions?
At least now that she knew the method, everything would go smoothly.
For Bai Fu, whether it was leveling herself up or helping Yulia and the others do so, it wasn’t difficult. All it took was time.
It wouldn’t be a short amount of time, but it wasn’t a huge issue either.
Although the coalition army formed by the Original Pact, Rebirth Empire, and Titan Industries held a significant advantage, with her throwing chaos into the mix, they wouldn’t be able to fully destroy the Supernova Warband any time soon.
After wiping out the Supernova Warband, the coalition would still need time to reorganize the explored universe and establish a new order. Only after that would they start hunting her down across the galaxy.
And that whole process… Bai Fu estimated it’d take at least a year or two.
By then, the game would be in version 3.2.
At that point, even without buffs and boosts, players could naturally level up to Calamity-rank.
That meant at least sixty to seventy million Calamity-rank players!
Send that many players out at once to mess with Ignaz—if that didn’t drive him crazy, Bai Fu swore she’d take his surname.
「This gives me plenty of time to grow. So, as long as no traitor pops up from the inside, I’ll definitely unlock Level II Permissions before Ignaz finds me!」
Bai Fu started to get fired up.
Excellent. The future looked bright.
She stashed the Mysterious Code away.
After leaving the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night, she immediately gathered Yulia, Anya, Cecia, Summer Poem, the Oathmaster, and others.
Definitely not for a party.
She was gathering them to share the method of unlocking the Mysterious Code’s Level II Permissions—and to guide them in their training.
Actually, the Silent Alliance had no shortage of Calamity-level Psionicists above Lv230 from each stream—Body, Tech, and Mental—but Bai Fu didn’t fully trust them.
Everyone was only gathered temporarily due to external pressure.
Things looked harmonious now, but if the secrets inside the Mysterious Code proved tempting enough, chaos could easily erupt.
So it was better to leave this mission to Anya and the others.
Slower, yes—but safer.
⋯⋯
While Bai Fu and her team were desperately leveling up, Ignaz was just as urgently hunting down everyone who had invaded the Original Pact’s headquarters.
His strength was still overwhelming.
Strong enough that even Ethereal God-King, Majestic Divine Body, and the Psionic Legion all fought with life-for-life tactics—yet still only managed to leave minor, negligible wounds on him.
High-level martial artists were just like that. As if high damage and high burst weren’t enough, they were also absurdly tanky.
With the collapse of the Ethereal God-King and the Majestic Divine Body, the tide of battle at the Original Pact Headquarters completely turned.
Sure, there were lots of Players, but the level gap between them and Ignaz was just too huge—so vast that no matter how many they threw at him, it was impossible to bury him in sheer numbers.
At this point, Players could only throw everything they had at stalling Ignaz, hoping to buy Fitz and the others enough time to escape.
「You think you can stop me? What a joke!」
Having been toyed with by Bai Fu and the Players once again, Ignaz was furious.
「I don't have time to play with you today. Don’t think your immortality means you can do whatever you want. Next time we meet, I’ll show you the true meaning of fear!」
Ignaz suddenly spread his limbs, and surging purple lightning blasted out from within him.
Any Player touched by the purple lightning—regardless of their class, regardless of how long their HP bar was—if they didn’t have some kind of “invincibility” skill, their HP was instantly wiped out, their bodies reduced to a bloody mist.
ㄴ Blood mist filled the air. The sight was terrifying.
「What the hell kind of monster is that?!」
Players in the distance were horrified.
Before they could do anything, Ignaz had already flown over.
Like a fighter jet skimming a lake’s surface, he whipped up towering waves.
In the blink of an eye, over a million Players were killed by the shockwave. The massive wall formed by Players was blasted through, leaving a gaping hole.
Ignaz slipped through the breach and disappeared.
The remaining Players stared at each other.
What else could they do?
Nothing.
Since they couldn’t stop Ignaz, they decided to keep attacking the Original Pact Headquarters instead. Even if they could only break a few bricks, it was better than getting one-shot out of nowhere.
The Players charged toward the Original Pact Headquarters.
In the completely opposite direction, Ignaz charged after Fitz and the others as they fled.
Though Fitz and his group had gotten a head start, the gap in speed meant they were eventually intercepted by Ignaz.
「You come to me, and think you can just run away?」
A cold grin spread across Ignaz’s face.
He wasn’t interested in wasting words. He would use the fastest and most violent method to kill Fitz and his companions—both to vent his fury and to show the Supernova Warband exactly what kind of opponent they were dealing with.
Resist?
With what?
Surrender was their only option!
「Looks like running is off the table. Fine, let me test his strength!」
Fitz let out a furious roar and charged straight at Ignaz.
The rest of the Supernova Warband followed without hesitation.
If they had dared follow Fitz here, they had long since made peace with death.
Ignaz spat in contempt.
He wasn’t usually this uncivilized, but Bai Fu had tricked him yet again—and he couldn’t suppress his rage any longer.
「Courting death!」
Boom!
Dozens—hundreds—of white ripples burst open in the vacuum of space.
Fitz instinctively sensed something was wrong. But even for someone as powerful as him, Ignaz’s sudden attack came too fast to react.
Too fast.
So fast it was like Ignaz had been standing next to him the entire time.
Fitz took the full brunt of the attack and then, wounded, desperately retreated from the rippling vacuum.
But it was useless.
Ignaz’s martial arts had long transcended physical contact—and even beyond Qi Surge collision.
He had infused his will into the surrounding space itself. This entire domain was an extension of his body. Anyone within it couldn’t escape his attacks, and his strikes could arrive instantly.
Those ripples in the vacuum weren’t caused by Qi Surges—they were just his body’s natural response to emotional agitation.
Fitz realized this... but it was already too late.
Having fallen into the abyss, Ignaz had no intention of letting them escape.
砰砰砰!
After several minutes of relentless beating, every member of the Supernova Warband, including Fitz, had been reduced to bloody pulp.
Watching the clumps of mangled flesh drifting in the starry sky, the tension on Ignaz’s face finally eased.
But in the very next second, his expression changed dramatically.
「This energy... no, they’re not dead. Bai Fu used that soul-type Cosmic Treasure of hers on them. Stop them, now!」
The Fate-Weaver and the Child of Prophecy responded instantly.
But they were still a step too late.
By the time they arrived, the Ark of Heaven had already transferred the “information” from Fitz and the others’ original bodies into the soul fragments housed inside it—resurrecting them.
「Leader, we were too late.」
The Fate-Weaver looked awkward.
The Child of Prophecy quickly explained: 「Though we didn’t stop their resurrection this time, I’ve figured out how Bai Fu’s Cosmic Treasure works. Next time, I’ll implant a tracking or curse sigil in their ‘information’ before the transfer completes. Then we’ll be able to trace the Treasure’s location—and maybe even drag Bai Fu out with it!」
Hearing this, Ignaz finally burst into laughter—louder and louder, more exaggerated with each breath, laughing even harder than the Four Maniacs of Uchiha.
「Using an uncrackable broken box, she thought she could rely on it forever? Well done. Bai Fu never imagined that after plotting so long, things would backfire this hard. Hahahaha! I can’t wait to see her panic when she realizes I’ve found her Cosmic Treasure!」
Now in a great mood, Ignaz didn’t even bother holding the cowards accountable—the ones who hid during the attack on HQ.
He simply ordered a quick cleanup, then returned in haste to the Supernova Warband with the Fate-Weaver and Child of Prophecy in tow.
Even though Fitz hadn’t truly died, he’d still been blasted apart once. Ignaz had to strike again while they were still vulnerable.
Ignaz strutted proudly, entirely unaware that after getting the Mysterious Code, Bai Fu had no intention of facing him head-on in the foreseeable future.
And since Bai Fu wasn’t showing herself, he naturally had no way to track the Ark of Heaven.
That wasn’t his only mistake.
With a single command, nearly two-thirds of the explored universe was now engaged in large-scale Player hunts.
「Whoa, what the hell are you doing?!」
「You son of a bitch—I’ve bled for the Empire, and this is how you repay me?!」
Attacked Players were nearly knocked unconscious from the fury.
They flooded the Community with complaints—and that’s when they realized it wasn’t just them. Every Player affiliated with the Rebirth Empire or Titan Industries was being targeted.
Even those Players who were genuinely loyal to the Original Pact, Rebirth Empire, and Titan Industries were not spared.
This was an indiscriminate slaughter.
大量 Players had no choice but to flee. If they died a few more times, they’d start losing XP.
What a damn mess!
The Community was flooded with rage-filled complaints.
The result? A huge number of Players who had hated Bai Fu now had no choice but to seek her out, just to keep farming XP. Many spies who had joined the Silent Alliance just to locate Bai Fu’s hiding spot also gave up their missions and began working earnestly for her.
Compared to the Players who had joined Bai Fu early on, these newcomers didn’t love her nearly as much—but they were far more determined to bring down the Original Pact, Rebirth Empire, and Titan Industries.
【Ignaz, I’m not done with you. Just wait!】
【You dog emperor—pray I never catch you, or I’ll shove that crown straight up your ass!】
Amid the Players’ furious cursing, the Supernova Warband inched closer to collapse—just as Bai Fu’s long-awaited 3.2 version shutdown update finally arrived.