Chapter 85

### Chapter 85 New Exploration Progress, Bai Fu’s True Identity [42k]

Graham was on the verge of tears.

Throughout his life, he had participated in over fifty battles, some won and others lost, but if there was one moment when he felt the most hopeless, it would be today.

Actually, Bai Fu wasn’t the strongest opponent he had ever faced.

Even within the Truth Society, the president was so powerful that Graham felt like all his efforts were in vain.

During his battle with the Gene Progenitor, he had been cornered by one of the Gene Progenitor’s elite agents. Luckily, reinforcements arrived in time to save him from certain death.

However, these enemies were strong and ruthless, but even their combined strength didn’t match the young woman in front of him, who was wearing a mask!

Not only did this woman have unpredictable tactics, but she could also make him curse the president using phrases like “f*cking hell.”

How many times did he need to be humiliated before he could pull himself together?

“F*ck…”

Graham almost passed out.

He was done for.

No one had ever dared to use such profanity in front of the president, and given the president’s personality, no matter where Graham hid, he would be hunted down relentlessly. The intensity of the pursuit would far exceed the chase after Bai Fu.

The likelihood of Graham surviving was virtually zero, but even then, he still wanted to struggle. He didn’t want to end up in the president’s hands, suffering every torment imaginable.

Looking at Bai Fu, who was standing on his chest, Graham glared back with a mixture of ferocity and sorrow.

After a long while, he said, “I can answer your questions, but you must guarantee that I won’t be killed by the president of the Truth Society!”

That’s it?

This requirement seemed too easy to meet.

Bai Fu stabbed her electric knife into the ground and crossed her arms, displaying an imposing figure.

“I guarantee it.”

Graham stared at her for a long time, suspecting that Bai Fu might be lying, but he had no choice but to believe her.

“Give me a map.”

Bai Fu immediately pulled out a map and a pen from her bag and tossed them to Graham, moving her foot away as well.

Graham didn’t waste any time; he quickly marked points on the map.

“There are four bases in total. The Truth Society has more bases than just these, but I only know the exact locations of these four. Among them, the Black Eagle Base, where Yulia’s relatives and friends are being held, is located within the territory of the Former Republic,” he returned the map to Bai Fu. “But I have to tell you some bad news.”

“What bad news?”

“The president captured Yulia’s relatives and friends to prevent her from escaping. Some of them chose to commit suicide upon hearing this, not wanting to burden Yulia. This was something the president kept hidden from Yulia.”

Bai Fu: “…”

She couldn’t comment on the decisions of those who committed suicide, but she knew that this couldn’t be told to Yulia now. If Yulia lost control and was killed by the president, the entire quest chain would be broken.

Graham continued, “I should remind you again, the president already knows about my defection. Therefore, your actions must be swift. Otherwise, by the time you find those bases, the people inside may have already evacuated.”

His reminder came from the heart.

Since he had defected, he hoped the Gene Progenitor could use his intelligence to severely damage the Truth Society, allowing the president to be temporarily preoccupied.

Bai Fu said, “Your reminder is valuable. I still have a few more questions.”

“Ask away.”

“What notable figures and heavy weapons are present in the Black Eagle Base?”

Graham didn’t hide anything, “Most people there can’t beat me, let alone pose a threat to you. However, there is one person you must be cautious of. His name is Qiyuan, a mechanical engineer. One person like him can rival hundreds.”

A mechanical engineer?

This profession made Bai Fu wary.

Apart from Xia Shi, this Qiyuan was the second mechanical engineer she had encountered.

Xia Shi’s combat skills weren’t impressive, but she could manufacture power armor, a battlefield weapon. How formidable would a mechanical engineer like Qiyuan, whom Graham emphasized, be?

She jotted down notes.

Bai Fu asked, “What do you know about the president of the Truth Society? Tell me.”

Graham fell silent for a while, “He is very strong, the strongest person I’ve ever met. No, to be precise, he is not human.”

“Huh?” Bai Fu followed up, “Not human, what do you mean?”

Graham said, “This information came from Bernardo. He mentioned that the president is an artificial person. Perhaps that’s why his strength is abnormal.”

Artificial people were different from mutants Bai Fu had previously dealt with. Mutants were usually transformed through injections, whereas the origins of artificial people were much more complex.

Similar to the artificial people in Dragon Ball, those from the Source Star were created through various methods including human modification, mechanical enhancement, and cell cultivation.

After Graham finished speaking, Bai Fu heard a pleasant notification sound.

【You triggered a hidden plot. Exploration progress of the Source Star +0.3%】

“Ah?”

Bai Fu was stunned.

Exploration progress?

This was a delightful surprise for her. 0.3% exploration progress meant she was closer to becoming the protagonist of a region or even a version’s protagonist.

Of course, the game prompt revealed more information. It corroborated Graham’s words—the president of the Truth Society was indeed an artificial person, and this fact was crucial to the main storyline!

Seeing Bai Fu remained silent, Graham couldn’t help but ask, “Do you have any other questions?”

Bai Fu said, “Do you know about Li Cheng? What exactly did the president show him?”

Graham shrugged, “Although I am the deputy minister of the Special Operations Department, matters related to intelligence usually fall under another deputy minister’s jurisdiction.”

What a pity.

Bai Fu thought she could earn more exploration progress.

“I have nothing else to ask.”

Graham said, “Let’s go meet your superior quickly.”

He didn’t want to stay in this place for another second, nor did he want to see this person again!

Bai Fu nodded and pulled out the electric knife from the ground.

At this moment, Graham suddenly sensed something was off. This wasn’t the posture of going to meet his superior; it was clearly a move to kill him.

He shouted, “What are you doing? Don’t you remember what you said earlier? I have already answered your questions according to our agreement. You can’t kill me!”

Bai Fu stepped on him.

“Forget? How could I forget? I always keep my word. I promised that you wouldn’t be killed by the president of the Truth Society. So, if I kill you in advance, haven’t I achieved that goal?”

Birth? Playing word games like this doesn’t hurt your conscience?

Graham was horrified, “I am of great value to the Gene Progenitor. If you kill me, your superior will not let you off!”

“Superior?” Bai Fu pulled down her mask, “Recognize this face?”

Graham’s pupils dilated.

Wait a minute.

Isn’t this Bai Fu?

Before he could react, Bai Fu had already stabbed him with the electric knife. Electric energy surged, and in an instant, Graham’s chest was seared into charcoal amidst his screams.

“-20”, “-11″…

A string of damage values floated up. As they drifted, Graham’s voice grew weaker until he finally fell silent.

The game prompt sounded continuously.

【You killed Graham. Contribution: 93.4%. After level adjustments, you gained 130,760 experience points.】

【You completed the hidden quest [Graham’s End]. Reward: 150,000 experience points.】

【You completed the quest [Little Yulia’s Request (2)]. Reward: 120,000 experience points.】

【Progress of the quest [Truth Unknown] +0.53%.】

【You triggered the quest [Little Yulia’s Request (3)].】

【Quest Description: …】

【Objective: Rescue Yulia’s relatives and friends from the Black Eagle Base.】

【Reward: Varies based on contribution.】

【Hidden Reward: ?】

Including the rewards from eliminating those agents, Bai Fu gained a total of 460,000 experience points this time. With a few more thousand experience points, she could level up twice, which was incredibly rewarding.

Unfortunately, Graham wasn’t a mandatory boss in the main storyline. Otherwise, the rewards would include more than just experience, possibly even giving her a few items.

Bai Fu pulled out the electric knife and joined the player faction, finishing off the remaining Truth Society agents.

With her joining, the Truth Society agents couldn’t withstand any longer. They were completely eliminated in just a few minutes.

Now, only Bai Fu, part of the Silent Courtyard players, and the first player who surrendered after watching the live stream—Tai Ergen—were left alive.

Sword Aura Sky Piercing and his group searched the armored vehicle and found a document.

“Production records of the Gene Progenitor’s biotech factory?”

Bai Fu began to read the document, her brows furrowing deeper with each page.

The biotech factory attacked by Graham ostensibly produced bio-weapons against mutated lifeforms, but secretly researched techniques to erase consciousness and create empty shells.

Given how controversial the mutant technology was on the Source Star, even leading to occasional conflicts with the Gene Progenitor, exposing this research could bring significant trouble to the Gene Progenitor.

Should they reveal it?

For now, they should wait until things settle down here. First, they would deal with the Truth Society, then the Gene Progenitor!

Bai Fu raised her head, scanning the players’ faces.

“You all performed very well this time.”

The praised players were delighted.

Just now, they had received quest rewards. Even the luckiest among them, like Guiyi Wofu, who used a bomb on Graham, topped the contribution list and earned a [Combat Etiquette] prayer card and 30,000 experience points. Many players were now cursing Guiyi Wofu.

That’s 30,000 experience points! Damn, you always step on dog shit!

Finally, Bai Fu’s gaze landed on the excited Tai Ergen.

Hey, man!

Bai Fu had better plans for Tai Ergen, the first player to defect from the enemy camp. Whether Tai Ergen would accept this arrangement depended on further communication.

She gave him two choices.

The first option was to follow her directly to the Goli Desert and take the Silent Courtyard assessment. Passing the assessment would allow Tai Ergen to join the Silent Courtyard like other players.

The second option was to let Tai Ergen return to the Truth Society with the stolen documents as a spy. Seeing these documents, the Truth Society would likely value and promote him, giving him opportunities to gather more useful intelligence.

Tai Ergen was conflicted.

He decided to defect from the Truth Society because he was moved by the idea that Bai Fu might be the version’s protagonist, as suggested by Jiujiao. After the recent events, he became more convinced that Jiujiao’s guess was correct.

As the protagonist, Bai Fu was divine!

Tai Ergen desperately wanted to increase Bai Fu’s affinity and ride the wave of the version’s protagonist.

So, what should he choose now?

The first option was the safest. By completing tasks in the Silent Courtyard, he could steadily improve Bai Fu’s affinity.

The second option offered a higher reward if successful, but failing to gather any intelligence would be a waste of time, leaving him behind compared to other players.

Tai Ergen gritted his teeth and decided to become a spy.

This was a high-stakes gamble!

But he believed he had the potential to become the spy king.

【Accept Task】

Bai Fu copied the noteworthy data from the document and handed the original to Tai Ergen. With the document in hand, Tai Ergen immediately set off to return to the Truth Society base.

All settled.

Bai Fu led the players back to Shelter No. 11.

Before heading to the Black Eagle Base, she needed to replenish and recruit more players. Facing a mechanical engineer capable of handling one against a hundred, she couldn’t afford to be unprepared.

Passing by a shelter, she first sent the location of the Truth Society bases obtained from Graham via personal terminal to Gao Yuan, asking him to relay the message to the Railway Guild and the Former Republic.

Then, she sent the intelligence to Xu Hong of Sichu.

With the Gene Progenitor, the Railway Guild, and the Former Republic all entering the battlefield, the situation would be thoroughly muddled. With the waters muddied, she could avoid detection by the Truth Society while rescuing people. With the waters muddied, she wouldn’t be the primary target for the Truth Society after the rescue.

…

Gene Progenitor Office, Sichu.

“Beep—”

Xu Hong, who was inspecting power armor, noticed his personal terminal ringing. He put down his tools and walked to the terminal on the desk.

“Never seen this number before?”

Xu Hong picked up the terminal, and the screen displayed an email with unexpected content.

The email detailed the locations of the Truth Society bases—four in total!

“Really or fake? Who sent this… Bai Fu?!”

Flipping to the bottom of the email, Xu Hong’s eyes widened upon seeing the sender’s name.

Was it really Bai Fu who sent this? How did she know the exact locations of the Truth Society bases? What was her true identity?

Xu Hong fired three consecutive questions, ignoring the power armor inspection. He rushed out the door.

“Road Section Chief, Road Section Chief, urgent matter, extremely urgent!”

…

While the Sichu personnel were shocked by Bai Fu’s email, the players were also discussing fervently due to the prayer card obtained by Guiyi Wofu.

The reason was that Guiyi Wofu posted the effect of the prayer card on the community.

【Custom Card · Combat Etiquette】: Although combat is thrilling, etiquette should not be forgotten. During each battle, you can use this card once to force the target to perform a combat courtesy with you (2 seconds).

Upon seeing the effects of the prayer card, the entire community erupted in excitement.

【Damn, what absurd effect is this?】

PS: Thank you, Moon Liao, for your donation.

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