Chapter 391: Bai Fu Is Behind
Ignatz took action personally. Boileau didn’t even have time to react before he was completely reduced to nothingness.
When he died, he was still immersed in the joy of reuniting with Dmitry.
In his mind, he had still been thinking about sharing that secret with Dmitry and Bai Fu, and then fighting for a more sustainable future for the Rebirth Empire.
However, everything had now turned to dust.
Dmitry’s eyes suddenly reddened.
He and Boileau had shared nearly a century of camaraderie.
Although they disagreed on many matters, no one understood better than the two of them that even in the fiercest arguments, both had always been acting for the good of the Empire.
They weren’t exactly true friends.
But their bond ran far deeper than mere friendship.
Yet now, Boileau was dead.
Like a yellowed leaf swept away by a whirlwind, drifting weightlessly, disappearing into the boundless Star Sea in an instant.
Before coming to meet Boileau, Dmitry had considered many possibilities.
He had even thought it might be a trap—he and Boileau bringing their people into a brutal fight, eventually killing Boileau with great difficulty.
What he hadn’t expected, not even in his dreams, was for the situation to become what it was now.
“You…”
The look Dmitry cast toward Ignatz was no longer just disappointment—
There was killing intent.
Ignatz noticed the killing intent in Dmitry’s eyes.
But he didn’t get angry.
At this moment, he was immersed in the joy of having finally found Dmitry.
Finding Dmitry meant he was now only half a step away from finding Bai Fu.
And that final step wasn’t difficult to take.
Ignatz sneered playfully, “Dmitry, I’m quite curious—what exactly did I do? Or rather, what exactly did Bai Fu do that could make you and Boileau, the Empire’s most renowned loyalists, show me such disrespect? You’re both willing to address Emperor Odoacer with honorifics, yet can’t bring yourselves to call me ‘Great Emperor.’”
Dmitry clenched his fingers so tightly they turned pale. “You want to know?”
Ignatz nodded. “I’m very interested in the answer.”
Not only he—Child of Prophecy and the others nearby were also intrigued.
Dmitry took a deep breath.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, he let out a thunderous roar over the public comms channel—
“FCK YOUR MOTHER, YOU BASTARD! IGNATZ, ASK YOUR DAMN SELF THAT KIND OF BULLSHT—DON’T COME TO ME WITH IT!”
Alongside his explosive curses, Dmitry’s Annihilation Esper Power also erupted.
At that moment, his rage reached its peak.
The extreme agitation caused his power to go nearly out of control, and the consequence of that instability was a sudden and dramatic increase in its destructive force.
Collapse, disintegration, annihilation…
Centered around Dmitry’s body, everything around him began to dissolve into those very processes.
Those standing beside Ignatz—Child of Prophecy, Weaver of Fate, and even Heik, who lurked in the shadows—were all stunned by Dmitry’s reaction.
They could understand his anger over Boileau’s death.
But they hadn’t expected Dmitry to lose it like this—to outright say he’d screw the leader’s mother and call him a bastard?! This…
As expected, Ignatz exploded on the spot.
Not even joy could suppress the rage brought on by such humiliation.
However, Ignatz’s fury didn’t manifest openly—it was instead transformed into a frigid sneer.
“Your Annihilation Esper Power, by nature, is derived from my own 【Root Disintegration】. Even if we’re on the same level, do you really think a defective imitation like you can beat me?”
So what if I can’t beat you?
Even if I lose, I’ll still fight!
Even if I can’t destroy the order you’re trying to build, someone else will in the future.
That person might be Bai Fu—or someone even more terrifying than her.
In this world, there is no eternal throne. Civilizations will collapse, stars will perish, and even the universe itself will one day meet its end!
Dmitry unleashed all of his power, leaving himself no way out.
Unfortunately, the gap between him and Ignatz was simply too vast.
Not just in terms of level.
As Ignatz had said, Dmitry’s power was indeed only a lesser form of his own.
After defeating the Esper Garden, Ignatz hadn’t managed to obtain its cosmic treasure—the Esper Evolution Tree.
But after becoming the leader of the First Protocol, he had finally acquired the Esper Evolution Tree, allowing his power to evolve to an absurd degree.
Dmitry’s Annihilation Esper Power, proud as he was of it—capable of erasing spatial existence itself and creating gravitational wells in space—was rendered completely ineffective when it touched Ignatz’s body. Not even a strand of his hair was moved.
Not because his hair was “strong,” but because Dmitry’s power simply failed.
“!”
Dmitry’s pupils shrank violently.
If his Esper Power couldn’t work, what power did he have left?
Just as he sensed something was wrong, he felt his clothes suddenly flutter—
Someone was approaching!
And that person could only be Ignatz!
“Not good!”
Dmitry’s eyes widened.
But even though he reacted in time, it was still useless.
Ignatz wasn’t just a genius Esper user—he was also a peak martial artist.
Before reaching the Transcendent Rank, martial artists were categorized as strength-type, agility-type, tank-type, etc. But once they broke through, they all developed toward being all-rounded fighters.
Ignatz was no exception.
He was so fast that by the time Dmitry realized he was under attack, Ignatz had already thrown thousands upon thousands of punches at him.
A Level 274 martial artist, one who had touched the chasm of life, throwing thousands of punches—there was no way Dmitry could withstand that.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amid the continuous explosions, Dmitry realized his entire body had been blown apart.
Only a wisp of his soul remained, floating in the spot where he had just stood.
“Do you see now? This is the gap between you and me—an unbridgeable chasm!”
Annihilation power surged in from all directions, locking Dmitry’s soul in place.
“Tell me—where is Bai Fu hiding?!”
This kind of threat naturally had no effect on Dmitry.
Of course, Ignatz had never expected Dmitry to answer. He was simply putting on a show—a performance to make it seem like he had no choice but to rely on interrogation to find Bai Fu.
Dmitry had no idea how manipulative he really was.
When interrogation proved fruitless, Ignatz called over Weaver of Fate in feigned frustration.
“If he won’t tell us, then extract every last memory from his soul!”
Weaver of Fate stepped forward as ordered—only to see Dmitry’s soul suddenly swell at a bizarre speed.
Damn it—Dmitry had already set traps within his soul. He came prepared!
Weaver of Fate retreated in time, but still got blasted in the face.
Fortunately, he had withdrawn quickly enough to avoid serious injury.
However, the soul shock still inflicted a debuff—
He had been affected by Dmitry’s emotions.
A blend of countless intense feelings now tangled within him, leaving him disinterested in everything. He would need significant rest.
“Just rest for a while and you’ll recover? Then it’s fine.”
Ignatz nodded.
A minor hiccup. It wouldn’t affect the bigger picture.
This time—they had won a resounding victory.
At the very instant Dmitry self-destructed, Ignatz had already implanted a tracking curse into Dmitry’s “information,” exactly as planned.
Now, all Ignatz had to do was use the tracking curse to determine Dmitry’s location.
“Heik, lock on!”
Heik emerged from the data network, immediately sensing the curse that he himself had crafted.
Before long, he detected a general direction.
“Leader, the curse is functioning normally.”
“Then go.”
“Yes, sir.”
Heik wasted no time, flying swiftly toward the position where the curse had been implanted.
After all, the curse was on Dmitry, not on Bai Fu, so before making any move, he still needed to perform a final confirmation.
Otherwise, if they attacked too early—before Dmitry even managed to meet Bai Fu—it would only alert their prey.
“Not good!”
Dmitry jolted awake inside the Heavenly Ark.
Before his soul could fully merge with his new body, he staggered out of the laboratory.
He had to tell Bai Fu what had just happened as soon as possible.
Recently, Boileau wasn’t the only one secretly planning to defect to Bai Fu’s side.
Since Boileau had been tailed, there was no guarantee others hadn’t been as well.
So, he intended to persuade Bai Fu not to respond to anyone attempting to switch factions for the time being.
A few minutes later—
“You said Boileau is dead?”
After hearing Dmitry’s account, Bai Fu couldn’t help but show a trace of melancholy.
Yesterday’s friend, turned to ash today, never to meet again—the feeling was indeed unpleasant.
Bai Fu shook her head.
It was unfortunate that she hadn’t been able to obtain the secret Boileau had mentioned, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. First, she needed to help Dmitry remove the debuffs that came with his resurrection from the Heavenly Ark.
She cast an Apostolic Psionic Vision on him.
The next second, her eyes narrowed slightly.
Dmitry asked doubtfully, “Is this recovery more troublesome than usual?”
At that moment, Bai Fu’s gaze locked onto one inconspicuous little debuff among the dense cluster of them following Dmitry’s name—
【Tracking Curse】
【Description】: A tracking curse created through the innate ability of Heik, intelligence officer of the First Protocol. This curse is implanted into the target’s very existence in “information” form. Once locked, no matter how far the distance, Heik can sense it.
Interesting.
Bai Fu now understood why Ignatz hadn’t continued tailing Dmitry, and had instead killed Boileau the moment Dmitry met him.
His haste had two reasons—first, to prevent Boileau from leaking that secret, and second, because he had another method of tracking them.
All of it was calculated.
Fortunately—
I’ve got cheats.
Bai Fu didn’t reveal her discovery to Dmitry.
The information provided by the Apostolic Psionic Vision’s analysis of the debuff wasn’t complete—for example, it didn’t specify whether Heik could eavesdrop through the curse.
So she couldn’t risk saying anything.
If Heik could listen in through the curse, speaking it aloud now would waste a valuable card she’d just drawn.
“It’s a bit troublesome, but by that I mean I’ll need to transfer some resources from elsewhere. So you might have to wait a few days before you fully recover.”
Dmitry exhaled in relief.
If it was only that, then it was fine.
“A few more days won’t matter.”
Bai Fu told Dmitry to rest. After sending him away, she began to think carefully.
【Since Ignatz had Heik plant a tracking curse on Dmitry, he’ll likely follow that trail soon. I can withdraw anytime, but the Silent Alliance can’t evacuate so quickly. So, I can’t just keep thinking about running.】
【I need to use this gap in intelligence to give Ignatz a little surprise. With my current power, I can’t kill him, but taking down a few of his lackeys shouldn’t be hard.】
As she pondered, Bai Fu suddenly realized a problem.
Dmitry had been resurrected through the Heavenly Ark’s power—Ignatz wasn’t stupid. He’d definitely realize that the place where Dmitry revived was the Heavenly Ark’s location.
【Their first target might not be me, or even Dmitry—but the Heavenly Ark itself!】
Phew—
Bai Fu let out a long breath.
Thankfully, she’d thought of this in time—otherwise, the Heavenly Ark would be in danger.
After two rounds of reinforcement, the Heavenly Ark was now incredibly sturdy, but she couldn’t be sure it could withstand Ignatz’s attacks.
Besides, Ignatz didn’t even need to destroy it. Simply capturing the Heavenly Ark would be enough.
Bai Fu hurried to retrieve the Heavenly Ark from the laboratory.
After taking it out, she headed to the Esper Garden, where the Esper Evolution Tree was planted.
She needed to verify something.
Dmitry’s recent mission had brought her two critical pieces of intelligence.
First, that Heik could locate her through tracking curses; second, that Ignatz’s Esper Power was a superior form of Dmitry’s.
Bai Fu strongly suspected that the game’s quest hinting that Ignatz was nearly impossible to kill was precisely because of this peculiar Esper Power.
The Esper Evolution Tree had already recorded Dmitry’s Esper Power, so she wanted to use that as a foundation to simulate further—seeing if it could derive Ignatz’s version from it.
“It takes seven hours just for one simulation? And only a 1.2% success rate? Not even affected by the Luck Aura? Ridiculous. Ignatz’s Esper Power must be beyond absurd!”
Bai Fu’s heart sank.
The Esper Evolution Tree had a special ability called 【Esper Nullification】, and she was now seriously doubting whether it would even work on Ignatz.
All she could do was hope the Esper Evolution Tree would give her a pleasant surprise.
Bai Fu quickly summoned Yulia, Alicia, and the others to a meeting in the Sanctum of Silent Night.
That sub-space belonged solely to her—safe from any form of surveillance.
A few days later.
In the Star Sea near the Silent Alliance’s domain—
Hidden behind an asteroid, Heik finally smiled.
“Found it!”
He had been lying in wait here for quite some time before finally spotting a passing mining ship.
He didn’t hesitate—at once, he transformed into pure data form, merging into the ship’s communication network.
Then, without anyone realizing it, he slipped silently along the network, infiltrating deep into the Silent Alliance.