[Branch 2: Find any stronghold of the Exiles in the Edge World, Reward - Evolution Key;]

[Note: Completing any branch will advance the main storyline and trigger the next Task]

"Is this really a main task?"

Bai Fu was startled.

It seemed that the origins of this group of attackers were much greater than she had imagined.

She would definitely not undertake Branch 1, but as for Branch 2, she had already affixed a Dark Moon Eye to Frank's spaceship. If all went well, she should have a fair chance of finding the so-called Exile stronghold.

Evolution Key?

Although it was not explicitly stated, it appeared to be an item that could induce Racial Evolution.

This was something Bai Fu desperately needed.

As a Prophet, belonging to one of the more basic Races within the Void Clan, her inherent Talents were already quite useful. If she could evolve into a higher-level Void Life, her power would certainly increase by leaps and bounds.

"Who would have thought Frank would have a day to become my Top 1 Funder."

Bai Fu was filled with emotion.

Perhaps this was the so-called unpredictability of life, like intestines wrapping around each other.

She closed the mission panel and went back to find An Ya and the others.

Having just killed so many Catastrophe Level opponents, it was time to let An Ya explore the Spirits of these Catastrophes with the Punishment Needle to see if any useful intelligence could be unearthed.

Several minutes later.

An Ya pointed at Shadow Fu in surprise: "Boss, where did you find this one?"

Her guard was completely up.

After Cecilia, had a new Fox Spirit appeared?

Shadow Fu respectfully saluted An Ya: "Miss An Ya, hello, I am the Spiritual Ability Servant of Sister Lord."

Sister Lord? Spiritual Ability Servant?

Not only An Ya but also everyone else around was confused.

It wasn't until Bai Fu explained that they suddenly understood; so that was it, this was a Spiritual Ability Life created by Bai Fu. No wonder she looked so much like Bai Fu.

Bai Fu urged: "Let's deal with the important matters first; these people have no ordinary identities. Let's see if we can dig up anything."

An Ya immediately complied.

With the Experience she had gained before, it was now much easier for her to read Spirit Fragments.

After checking all the bodies, Bai Fu shook her head in resignation.

This Exile organization was indeed meticulous in their caution. From the memories they uncovered, of the ten people involved in this Task, only the leader, Fire Rat (the Fake Calvin), knew the true location of the stronghold. The others were scattered throughout the Edge World and only assembled when there was a task.

Bai Fu felt fortunate that she had foresight, deliberately sparing Fire Rat and Frank.

Although she hadn't found the Exiles' stronghold, she still gathered some useful information.

For instance, the Exiles' true name was the Ten Saints Association.

It seemed that the Ten Saints Association had attacked many people recently. They tried to further muddy the waters in the Edge World and seemed to be seeking something from those they attacked, but what that something was, these foot soldiers didn't know.

"A villainous force with Super Supreme capabilities is not something I can handle. After finding the stronghold, I'll report it to the Three Major Cosmic Civilizations and let them deal with it."

While the reward for the main task was attractive, it had to be attainable.

Instead of being stubborn and resisting on her own, Bai Fu preferred to exchange this intelligence for something she could use at the moment.

For example—

Dominator Level Spiritual Energy Advanced Knowledge!

It just wasn't clear if the intelligence of the Ten Saints Association was sufficient for such an exchange.

"Let's go, let's head back to Lockheed."

That very night,

Bai Fu received a bunch of messages from people including Nellis, Andras, Manu, and others.

Most of them were concerned about whether she was injured, only the Star Contract had a special response.

The person who contacted her from Star Contract wasn't Silver Zhu, but the Oath Lord, who didn't ask if she was injured, but instead sent her a grand gift to show appreciation for the players she had sent over.

"Virtual Heart!"

Holy moly!

Seeing what the Oath Lord had sent over the internet, Bai Fu's breath paused for a moment.

Having used this during her fight with the Secret Tower, she knew how potent this item was.

Now, with over five million players under her command but only two hundred-plus spaceships, the supply was far from enough. Buying more was prohibitively expensive, so the only option was to seize the enemy's ships in combat. Having the Virtual Heart would significantly increase the efficiency of her raids.

Right, when the time comes, she could also have Xia Shi make more of the youth-version Virtual Hearts and distribute them to the players. That would turn the Silent Court into a den of highway robbers.

Although the looted items varied in performance and were mostly subpar, she needn't bother too much with what was given to the players—as long as they worked. After all, players could resurrect upon death.

Bai Fu excitedly thanked the Oath Lord for the generous gift.

For the next two or three days, she relaxed a while, but others became extremely busy.

Following the assault on her, Nellis and the Leader mocked Lister again, saying that as a general who only knew underhanded tricks and had failed every time, he was clearly an expert in failure.

As soon as they started mocking, others joined the fray, further fanning the flames. Lister, whose reputation had already been poor due to the recent setbacks, became even more discredited, essentially becoming a stepping stone accentuating how successful and outstanding Bai Fu was.

"Damn it, that wasn't my doing!"

Lister was so furious he was practically steaming. He tried to explain, but in this climate, no one was listening.

What a pathetic excuse!

Bai Fu didn't get involved in the mudslinging; she was here to complete tasks and reap the rewards, unconcerned with the rest.

While the squabble raged on, there was movement on Frank's side.

His spaceship landed on a Tem Civilization planet called Bovalia. After it landed, a team came and took the heavily injured Fire Rat away. Soon after, Frank received an appointment from the Ten Saints Association's Saints: during the Fire Rat's absence, he would stand in as the commander of operations.

"The [Secret Meeting] is about to be convened, and this time, you'll replace Fire Rat."

Frank's heartbeat quickened—he had just snagged an opportunity for promotion and a raise.

Bai Fu's heartbeat also sped up because she now had a real chance to discover the actual location of the Ten Saints Association's base.

"Hope the Dark Moon Eye doesn't get discovered!"

Bai Fu silently prayed.

As she awaited the outcome, she suddenly received a new commission from Nellis and the Leader.

"We've received intel that Lister is very likely in cahoots with the Glorious Army. They're planning to attack the Leader in a Beheading Action!"

Oh?

Bai Fu's eyes narrowed slightly.

The Glorious Army was the Leader's hidden piece; why suddenly activate this piece—what was he planning?

Something was definitely fishy!

Bai Fu nodded subtly, keeping her thoughts to herself.

At this juncture, to prevent any surprises, it was best to use all the Experience she had saved up for leveling.

Skills and such could wait—the priority was to boost her own Basic Attributes as much as possible.

Dropping all that Experience into the Apostle profession should be enough to get her main profession's Total Level to 150, triggering the Dominator's Awakening Task.