Chapter 229

Chapter 229: The Praying Mantis Seizes the Cicada, with Bai Fu Lurking Behind [5k]

The Tower of Secrets seemed to be collapsing on its own. If the minor members defecting was ignored, now even key members were starting to run away?

Upon receiving the message from the Star Network, Bai Fu couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.

She recalled the task she had received from the Blessed Sect to attack the Tower of Secrets base not too long ago.

At that time, the people at the Tower of Secrets base fled as if they had seen a ghost, each running faster than the last.

From this perspective, the internal situation of the Tower of Secrets must have truly gone awry.

“Just a few days after the new version launched, is the main plot going to advance?”

Bai Fu nodded vigorously.

This was great news. The quicker the main plot advanced, the better!

She eagerly wanted to get rid of the Tower of Secrets so that players could re-engage in her commissions, earning her money and experience.

If the players didn’t work properly, where would she get the players’ blood to suck from?

Bai Fu inquired about the details.

The person from the Star Network explained in detail.

This time, the Star Network, the Tide Civilization, the Sky Eye Alliance, and the Castor Civilization formed an alliance and were determined to take advantage of this opportunity to eliminate the Tower of Secrets, which had been a plague for hundreds of years.

In fact, ever since the battle on Jin Gu Star, the alliance had intensified its attacks on the Tower of Secrets. After Bai Fu captured Bangula and Reynolds on Xiudun Star, the intensity of these attacks increased significantly.

Many secret bases of the Tower of Secrets were destroyed, and numerous pirate groups associated with the Tower of Secrets were thoroughly defeated.

However, such attacks were limited to the periphery. Despite their efforts, the alliance still couldn’t eliminate core members like Sinturion.

The Tower of Secrets was extremely cautious. Besides a few core members, no one could clearly identify where the headquarters of the Tower of Secrets was located.

Now that they finally learned that an important member of the Tower of Secrets was preparing to defect, how could the alliance not take it seriously?

Initially, the alliance suspected that this defector might be a spy sent by the Tower of Secrets.

To verify this, they conducted detailed interrogations and gathered much intelligence related to the Tower of Secrets.

With this intelligence, the alliance managed to root out several corrupt individuals within, some of whom held positions not much lower than Reynolds.

These individuals, just like Reynolds, did not genuinely support the Tower of Secrets; they only collaborated out of mutual benefit. They provided convenience to the Tower of Secrets, while the Tower helped them elevate their status.

Nonetheless, their actions ultimately had a detrimental effect on their respective civilizations.

Had it not been for these corrupt individuals causing trouble behind the scenes, the Tower of Secrets would never have grown to its current scale.

After eliminating these corrupt individuals, the alliance members were ecstatic.

However, the true reason they trusted the defector was a coordinate for a star gate that connected directly to the Tower of Secrets headquarters!

When the alliance fleet arrived at the location of the star gate, the Tower of Secrets was in the process of dismantling it. Although they had already demolished half of it, due to the haste, they left behind a significant amount of data, which the alliance’s ships managed to capture specific frequency spatial fluctuations from.

With this data, the alliance could calculate the location of the Tower of Secrets headquarters within two or three months, delivering the final blow to the crumbling Tower of Secrets.

[As long as you can save me, I can tell you more about the spies the Tower of Secrets has planted, including the plans they’ve been secretly preparing, and the relationship between the Tower of Secrets and the Dark Domain Bug Clan]

The defector’s offer was too tempting.

Therefore, despite the possibility of being ambushed by Catastrophe Tier beings and the Tower of Secrets flagship, the alliance still dispatched a fleet to bring back the defector.

To increase the success rate of this operation, the alliance invited many superpowered individuals and forces with close past collaborations, including Bai Fu and the Blessed Sect.

Bai Fu glanced at the mission prompt that popped up before her.

The reward for this mission was only 15 million experience points, but completing it could potentially allow her to claim the reward for the major mission of eliminating the Tower of Secrets.

What was there to hesitate about?

She accepted the commission!

Soon after, the Star Network sent over more detailed information.

Bai Fu quickly skimmed through the documents, which listed various pieces of intelligence reported by the defector, including the locations of several Tower of Secrets bases and laboratories.

To her surprise, none of these bases overlapped with those reported by the player she had sent as a mole.

Was it coincidence?

When Bai Fu led a large group of players to assist the Star Network, she understood the situation.

“Fu Fu, the Tower of Secrets has new movements!”

On the spaceship, a familiar group appeared before her: Jiujiao the Digger, Pai Da Xing, Sword Aura Sky Piercing, and others.

These players’ eyes sparkled with excitement, and Bai Fu had seen this many times before; it always signaled something big was coming.

“What kind of movements?” Bai Fu asked.

Jiujiao explained.

“Half a day ago, the Tower of Secrets ordered all the Undead they had captured to gather at a certain place.”

While explaining, Jiujiao also pulled out a star map.

“The Undead were dispatched from these four places…”

She pointed to four spots on the star map representing the players. Then, the four points started moving slowly, leaving four distinct trajectories on the map. Each trajectory suddenly stopped extending upon reaching a specific location.

Without further explanation from Jiujiao, Bai Fu fully understood.

The four points where the trajectories ended were four star gates!

And the locations connected by these star gates were undoubtedly—

“The headquarters of the Tower of Secrets!”

Jiujiao clenched her fist tightly.

When the Tower of Secrets had captured players on Jin Gu Star, they had transported some of them to their headquarters. However, because these players were suddenly brought there, they couldn’t see the relative positions of the Tower of Secrets headquarters and other locations on their maps, only seeing a war mist.

In this situation, Bai Fu couldn’t find anyone to calculate the location of the Tower of Secrets headquarters even if she tried.

If not for this, she would have long reported the location of the Tower of Secrets headquarters to the Star Network and other forces, instead of letting the Tower of Secrets continue to thrive.

But good news doesn’t come too late.

The Tower of Secrets finally decided to send players out to cause trouble.

And this decision revealed their true intentions!

Bai Fu was delighted.

The nail she had planted a year ago was finally going to shine?

This was perfect!

Now that she knew the location of the Tower of Secrets headquarters, whether the defector was a spy or what plans the Tower of Secrets had became irrelevant.

I’ll charge straight into your home and beat you to death with my fists!

Excitedly, Bai Fu didn’t immediately inform the alliance of this news.

Not only did she want to solve the Tower of Secrets, but she also wanted to take down the Dark Domain Bug Clan Queen.

She wasn’t sure if the Dark Domain Bug Clan Queen was at the Tower of Secrets headquarters. If she told the alliance about this intelligence now and they launched an attack, it might alert the Queen, causing her to flee.

She decided to first observe what the Tower of Secrets intended for the players.

Jiujiao said, “The Tower of Secrets hasn’t specified what they want the players to do, only that they should enter a machine with an unknown name one by one. After exiting the machine, they were all loaded onto a large transport ship, which is currently heading towards a neutral planet called Aurora Star. We just checked, and Aurora Star is located in the Spindle Star System, which lies between the Tide Star System and the Sea Lion Galaxy System. It’s a colony system.”

No specific tasks were mentioned?

Bai Fu pondered for a moment and decided to prepare for both scenarios.

She praised Jiujiao and the others and then immediately found Scarlet Leaf, relaying what Jiujiao had said.

“You want me to wait near a star gate to prevent the Tower of Secrets from destroying the gate?”

“Exactly. Just keep an eye on it. If you encounter any trouble, don’t force yourself; use the Seer Mark to escape in time.”

Though this was correct, if the star gate was destroyed, wouldn’t they miss the chance to eliminate the Tower of Secrets…?

“You wouldn’t want to lose the chance to be ‘bitten’ by me again, right?”

Bang!

The surge of energy from Scarlet Leaf made her hair flutter.

Of course not.

Alright, if you say so, I’ll definitely run at the first sign of trouble!

Bai Fu smiled.

Her succubus body wasn’t for nothing; she had long mastered the skills to handle Scarlet Leaf and Tessia.

Scarlet Leaf soon piloted a spaceship, taking thousands of players away from the main force and heading directly for one of the star gates.

Meanwhile, Bai Fu continued to lead the players to join the Star Network fleet.

The Star Network had dispatched a mixed fleet consisting of over a thousand warships, and the other three civilizations in the alliance didn’t fall behind either.

Outside this fleet of several thousand spaceships, several mobile fleets were ready to provide immediate support, with more warships than those assigned to rescue the defector.

A star system-level civilization certainly had this level of strength.

In the struggle against the Tower of Secrets, the Star Network and other civilizations fell behind partly because they lacked three Catastrophe Tier beings and the support of the Dark Domain Bug Clan Queen, and partly because the Tower of Secrets always remained hidden, making it difficult for the Star Network to exert their power.

However, this situation seemed to be turning around with the defection of an important member of the Tower of Secrets.

“Long time no see.”

Manu and Mitchell from the Sky Eye Alliance were smiling, looking younger by several years.

Bai Fu could understand their joy.

People naturally looked younger when they were happy.

Contrary to them were the people from the Tower of Secrets, who seemed to age rapidly whenever they were upset by her.

Good news was that soon the people from the Tower of Secrets wouldn’t have to worry about being upset anymore, as they would be dead and wouldn’t need to worry about anything.

After everyone regrouped, the alliance immediately set out to rescue the defector.

Given the large-scale operation, Bai Fu didn’t need to step forward to grab attention. She would have plenty of opportunities to demonstrate herself once they confirmed the true intentions of the Tower of Secrets and the location of the Dark Domain Bug Clan Queen.

The massive deployment of thousands of warships created a grand spectacle. Under the fleet’s sweeping operations, several attempts by members of the Tower of Secrets to intercept and kill the defector were thwarted, forcing them to withdraw reluctantly.

“Success!”

Cheers erupted from the alliance fleet.

In their view, this moment marked the turning point in the strategic situation of the war between the alliance and the Tower of Secrets.

From today onward, the alliance would fully transition to a counteroffensive stage!

“Thank you, thank you. If not for you, I would have died this time.”

On the command flagship, a golden-haired horned man named Isaac expressed his gratitude. The pursuit by the Tower of Secrets had cost him an arm, but this wasn’t a big issue; once they settled down, he could easily have it restored in a high-level hospital.

“Since you’ve kept your promise, I have nothing to hide.”

Isaac recounted everything he knew.

He had previously served as the deputy director of the combat room in the Tower of Secrets, so he had access to a lot of intelligence.

After his defection, the Tower of Secrets implemented many emergency measures, but due to the suddenness of his departure, the Tower couldn’t fill all the gaps in time.

“The Tower of Secrets has been secretly executing a plan called [Tragic Gun]. When the Phantom Civilization initiated the dimensional disaster, they gained the method to connect with higher dimensions. [Tragic Gun] involves guiding the tragic apostles from the Void Realm to strike at you. This plan has been ongoing for many years, but it hasn’t been very successful.”

Hearing this, Bai Fu understood.

No wonder the Tower of Secrets had been so eager to obtain the True Essence Pillar; they wanted to borrow the power of the Void Realm apostles.

In the original plot, the True Essence Pillar on Yulia likely ended up in the hands of the Tower of Secrets, leading to a greater disaster and giving players a chance to showcase themselves.

Isaac continued:

“The relationship between the Tower of Secrets and the Dark Domain Bug Clan Queen is quite special. The Head Butler disapproves of the collaboration between the Tower of Secrets and the Dark Domain Bug Clan, but this cooperation was pushed by the Lord of the Tower of Secrets. Therefore, we don’t know much about the specifics of the collaboration. We only know that the Lord of the Tower of Secrets and the Dark Domain Bug Clan Queen jointly developed a special parasite.”

“By the way, there’s another very important piece of information. Under the guidance of the Dark Domain Bug Clan Queen, the Tower of Secrets created a device called [Cooling Nest], which you should have seen on Jin Gu Star. [Cooling Nest] is used to release floods, and the factory producing [Cooling Nest] is on Aurora Star. If that base isn’t cleared in time, when the Tower of Secrets makes a desperate move, it could trigger a significant storm.”

“This intelligence is very important.”

The alliance fleet rejoiced and immediately convened to formulate the next steps.

The importance of the factory was self-evident.

Knowing that they would attack the factory, the Tower of Secrets wouldn’t sit idly by. This might be a good opportunity to lure them out?

Bai Fu thought deeper, as she had heard the name Aurora Star twice now.

The Tower of Secrets had recently sent a large number of players to Aurora Star, indicating they hadn’t forgotten about this crucial planet.

If they hadn’t forgotten, why didn’t they withdraw the people and things on Aurora Star instead of sending players so lavishly?

There was a problem, and a big one!

Bai Fu gave Isaac a deep look.

Aurora Star might be a trap set by the Tower of Secrets, waiting for them to jump in.

However, one thing to note was that the alliance had dispatched a vast number of ships and invited many powerful superhumans. Would the Tower of Secrets really be able to inflict heavy damage on the alliance in this trap? Was there a risk that the ambush would fail and end up being caught off guard?

Given the current state of the Tower of Secrets, they might not be willing to take such a risk.

Could Aurora Star be a decoy, with the Tower of Secrets’ true objective elsewhere?

Bai Fu was unsure, so she called Tessia over to hear her opinion, given her long stay in the Tower of Secrets.

“The Head Butler sent tens of thousands of Undead to Aurora Star, but based on the current situation, those tens of thousands of Undead cannot change the dire circumstances on Aurora Star. Based on my understanding of the Head Butler, he wouldn’t do something meaningless. Therefore, sending tens of thousands of Undead to Aurora Star must have a different purpose.”

Bai Fu trusted Tessia deeply.

While the fleet diverted to Aurora Star, she secretly contacted Manu and Mitchell, informing them of the issues with this operation.

However, when she actually got involved, Bai Fu found that capturing the factory was much simpler than she had imagined.

During this operation, the alliance fleet successfully rescued tens of thousands of players previously captured by the Tower of Secrets.

“Could everything be too smooth?”

Bai Fu quickly summoned Xiphilis to help exterminate the pests among the players and personally used her Spirit Vision skill to inspect the data panels of the players.

This inspection revealed a problem.

“Each Undead has parasites, and about a quarter of them have [Queen Beacon].”

“Queen Beacon?” Tessia’s expression turned serious. “During the War of Heaven Lake, I used this to suddenly appear beside one of the brain worms.”

Bai Fu’s eyes lit up. “So this is like a portal?”

Tessia nodded. “Pretty much.”

Now it all made sense!

Bai Fu understood everything.

The Tower of Secrets sacrificed the Aurora Star factory to return these players, likely for three reasons.

The first reason was that they hoped the infected players would spread the infection to more players.

But achieving this goal was challenging. The Tower of Secrets now knew Xiphilis was with her, and if Xiphilis discovered the parasites, they would be eliminated immediately.

Therefore, the primary goals were the latter two.

The second goal was that the Tower of Secrets believed these players had been thoroughly brainwashed. They probably intended to use these players to carry out many tasks, such as gathering intelligence or conducting assassinations.

The third goal was that the Tower of Secrets used these players as mobile portals, ready to strike unexpectedly through these “portals” at critical moments.

“Too bad, the Tower of Secrets never dreamed that players can’t be brainwashed. The manifestation of brainwashing on players is merely their inability to change factions on their own. They couldn’t imagine that my Spirit Vision skill is at a high level, allowing me to easily detect the beacons they leave on players!”

Would the Dark Domain Bug Clan Queen suddenly emerge through the portal?

Bai Fu laughed.

It was time for the Tower of Secrets to witness the true terror of players and NPCs with players!

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