Chapter 48: The Mantis Stalks The Cicada, And Bai Fu Is Behind
A few hours before Bai Fu found the Player, Xia Shi had brought the latest intel from Division Four.
“The mission assignment has arrived.”
“What mission?”
“A surprise inspection of the Truth Society’s secret base in Lynn set up by the Dark Web.”
Xia Shi began explaining in detail.
On Origin Star, aside from the Five Major Factions like the Gene Primordials and the Truth Society, there were many other smaller yet formidable forces.
The Makarov family, operators behind the Dark Web, was one such force.
Before the war, the Makarov family had been a world-renowned mercenary organization.
After the war, the surviving members expanded their business for survival and entered the assassination trade.
These people were extremely skilled—over a dozen years without a single failure.
Eventually, they transitioned behind the scenes to create a platform.
The Makarov family was widely praised for their “tight lips, never leaking client information,” and thus the platform they established received immediate attention from both assassins and those in need of their services.
To instill confidence, the Makarov family head at the time boldly declared that all agreements between assassins and employers on the Dark Web would be fully guaranteed by the Makarov family.
Any party daring to breach an agreement without prior negotiation would be seen as challenging the Makarov family—and would be hunted down by them.
When the platform first launched, the Makarov family even introduced a “second head half-price” promotion for lucky clients.
With this brilliant strategy, the Makarov family’s platform blazed a trail, crushing all competition. It had since become the undisputed god of the assassination world, even gaining official partnerships with several major factions.
【More efficient, faster, stronger—Need someone dead? Call Makarov!】
Seeing the slogan on the official Dark Web homepage Xia Shi opened in front of her, Bai Fu didn’t know what to say for a moment.
Good grief, DD-kill, huh?
Xia Shi added, “The logistics team reviewed the signal records from the radio tower around the time the assassin came for you. They didn’t find any anomalies, which means that spy is most likely hiding in Lynn. And their communication with the assassin and the Truth Society was probably conducted through the Dark Web.”
Bai Fu asked suspiciously, “Didn’t you say the Makarov family is known for keeping secrets? Would they just hand over their communication logs? And wouldn’t that mean we’re burning bridges with them?”
“At this point, who still cares about all that?” Xia Shi scoffed. “Even if the Dark Web doesn’t give us anything, we can find the logs ourselves. Honestly, it’s not a big deal if we don’t. This operation is basically our official declaration of war against that spy. We’re only giving them three chances!”
She held up three fingers.
“This is the first time. There will be another operation. If he still doesn’t show himself, the director plans to take you to Haidu. Once we’re there, it’ll be even harder for him to make a move on you.”
“What if he never comes out?”
Tough luck.
Xia Shi shrugged helplessly. If it really came to that, Division Four would simply take a break and stay out of all Intelligence Bureau operations for the time being.
Bai Fu seemed thoughtful.
After Xia Shi briefed her on the current situation, she received an in-game notification.
【You have triggered the mission [Raid on the Dark Web]】
【Mission Description: To flush out the hidden spy, Division Four has devised a plan to conduct a surprise inspection of the Dark Web’s base in Lynn. They hope you, acting as bait, will cooperate with the operation.】
【Mission Objective: Locate the database at the Dark Web’s Lynn base】
【Reward: 5000 XP, 5 Gene Primordials Faction Reputation】
【Accept/Decline】
As a support personnel, earning 5000 XP just by completing a mission was quite generous.
But Bai Fu was not satisfied.
After acquiring the Psionic Knowledge Chain (4) from the Gene Primordials, she had been considering leaving Lynn to collect more pieces elsewhere.
She had stayed only in hopes of snagging a few high-reward missions from Division Four.
Now it seemed she could give up on that idea. 5000 XP might have been a lot for her in the past, but now it wasn’t even enough to raise her by half a level.
“Still gotta do it myself, huh.”
She was definitely leaving, but before that, Bai Fu planned to complete the [Shadow of Truth] mission, which had been triggered after the Truth Society raised the bounty. That mission offered not only 30,000 XP but also an additional title.
The mission objective was to eliminate the new assassin, but due to the tight protection by Division Four, those assassins wouldn’t dare show up anytime soon.
“Need to come up with a plan.”
Bai Fu set her sights on the Player.
If Division Four could use her as bait, then she could also use the Player as bait. She hadn’t raised the Player’s favorability for nothing!
Thus, Bai Fu brought Anya to the inn where Excavation‑Princess lived.
At the moment, there were only a few Players inside the inn; the rest had gone out to look for suitable attack targets.
Using the money they borrowed from local criminal forces, Starfish‑bro and the others had bought a good number of firearms. With the overwhelming firepower of those weapons, they had taken down several small black-market gangs in the past couple of days and were rapidly gaining XP.
Among them, Starfish‑bro, who already had the highest level, had successfully unlocked the advanced class Martial Artist, evolving from a rookie into one of the core combatants of the Newbie village, stirring envy among countless Players.
Upon hearing that Bai Fu needed her, Excavation‑Princess, Calamity Dragon, and Convert to My Fu quickly surrounded her.
“Here’s the situation.”
Surrounded by the group, Bai Fu began telling a half-truthful, half-fabricated story.
The general idea was—
“I’m investigating a group of very, very bad people. During the investigation, another group of very, very bad people started watching me. I’m not sure whether these two groups are connected. In order to continue the investigation smoothly, I need to find out who is tailing me. But I can’t test them too blatantly, as that might alert them and ruin everything.”
Bai Fu deliberately didn’t say that the ones targeting her were the Truth Society.
She mainly did this because when she had bluffed Excavation‑Princess earlier, she specifically emphasized that there were things she still couldn’t tell Players— not even names—otherwise it would bring them endless nightmares.
If she now revealed that she was investigating the Truth Society, wouldn’t that contradict what she said earlier?
Besides, by not revealing who she was investigating, she could create an air of mystery for the Players, driving them to get closer to her in pursuit of the truth.
Excavation‑Princess said, “Fu‑fu, just tell us—what do you need us to do?”
Bai Fu explained, “Before coming to you, I thought all night, trying to come up with a suitable plan. But no matter how I tossed and turned, I realized that if I want to find out who’s targeting me at the lowest cost possible, I have no choice but to rely on your strength!”
What, rely only on us?
Excavation‑Princess’s chest puffed up involuntarily.
That was recognition!
She could already imagine how the other Players would react when they heard that. Thankfully, she had started video recording—she’d post this in the Community later.
“I need you to pretend to be me and act as bait. This mission is dangerous and you’ll probably die. But you’re one of the Undying Ones, so… sorry.”
Bai Fu lowered her head, looking slightly guilty.
Hearing this, Excavation‑Princess brightened up.
Seeing how nervous Bai Fu looked, she thought it was something serious—but it was just acting as bait? She was a Player, what did she have to fear from death?
“Leave it to me! But,” Excavation‑Princess scratched her head, “I’m about the same height as you, Fu‑fu, but the rest is completely different. Pretending to be you might be tough.”
Calamity Dragon nodded in agreement: “Hair can be dyed, chest can be padded, but the face—no matter the makeup, it won’t be the same.”
“That’s easy.” Bai Fu took out two black masks. “I’ll wear this during the operation. You wear one too. Oh, and this outfit.”
She pulled out a bag containing a matching set of her clothes and pants.
“With this gear, we can look pretty close. But to fully fool those hiding in the shadows, we might need something more.”
At that moment, a spark of inspiration flashed in Excavation‑Princess’s mind.
“Fu‑fu, can you say a few lines?”
“Say what?”
“Just these few…”
Bai Fu immediately understood what Excavation‑Princess meant. She wanted to use the in-game voice recording function to record Bai Fu’s lines and play them back while impersonating her.
Dressed the same, sounding the same—who could say Excavation‑Princess wasn’t convincing?
Very good. I dub you the Idea Queen!
Bai Fu gladly complied.
At that moment, in a corner of the room, looking at the lively chat among Bai Fu and the others, Sword Qi Soaring’s face turned slightly green.
That year, at eighteen, meeting in a hotel, standing like a lackey.
It was supposed to be a story they all starred in together, but in the end only Excavation‑Princess got a mission. He was even more pathetic—he didn’t even get a chance to talk to Bai Fu, a complete outsider.
Sword Qi Soaring was triggered. After all, he had always been the brightest one in the center of the crowd.
But this was only temporary!
He made a silent resolution: in the next operation, if he had the chance, he would win everything.
Bai Fu’s favorability, Anya’s favorability, and the key to the Truth Society—all of it, he wanted it all!
—
That night, Bai Fu regrouped with the action squad from Division Four.
Seeing her new outfit, Xia Shi and Squad One’s captain Xu Hong were stunned.
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
Bai Fu explained, “This way the Dark Web members won’t recognize me so easily. My name is already on the Dark Web Bounty List. Unless necessary, I don’t want another direct clash with the Makarov family.”
It was a reasonable explanation, so Xia Shi and Xu Hong didn’t press further.
“Move out!”
Including Bai Fu, the group of five rushed toward the Dark Web’s base in Lynn at high speed.
The base was well-hidden—ordinary people would never notice anything strange. Although Division Four had long since identified its location, they had always treated it as if it didn’t exist due to the Dark Web’s dealings with the Gene Primordials. The Dark Web’s operators were usually tactful and never initiated any friction with Division Four.
Tonight’s situation was rather unusual.
When Xu Hong led the charge into the base, the people inside were completely caught off guard.
“Hands up!”
“What… what are you doing?”
A few people sitting around a table playing cards stood up.
They threw down their cards and raised their hands obediently.
As Xu Hong approached, one of them suddenly turned pale: “Aren’t you with Division Four? What is the meaning of this?”
Xu Hong sneered and pressed his gun to the man’s forehead: “You tell me. Was the person who hired an assassin to kill Bai Fu communicating with the killer through your private network? Is he hiding in Lynn?”
The man frowned deeply: “The Dark Web’s doctrine is to never disclose client information. Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“You don’t need to say anything. I’ll investigate myself.”
Xu Hong signaled his subordinates with a glance to tie up the card players.
The man at gunpoint shouted, “What you’re doing is sabotaging the relationship between the Makarov family and the Gene Primordials! If the higher-ups place blame, can you take responsibility?”
Xu Hong acted as if he hadn’t heard the shouting. Once the tying was done, he led the search of the base.
Just as he reached the entrance of a storage room, Bai Fu’s eyes suddenly narrowed.
“Careful, there’s someone inside!”
But it was already too late.
Xu Hong had just placed his hand on the doorknob when the door swung open, and what met his eyes was a pitch-black gun barrel.
Damn!
Even with a bulletproof vest on, at such close range, the vest couldn’t possibly stop a round of that caliber.
Bang.
Flames burst from the muzzle as the bullet shot out.
For a moment, Xu Hong was overcome with despair. But when the bullet struck him, he realized the pain wasn’t as intense as expected. He quickly looked down—first seeing the bullet that pierced through the vest, then noticing the impact mark that, although swollen and red, hadn’t bled much.
“A small psionic technique—it can strengthen the skin’s defense.”
Bai Fu calmly walked past Xu Hong and grabbed the ambusher by the neck, slamming him to the ground.
This...
Xu Hong and Xia Shi were both stunned. Did she have to be this composed? She was a support role!
“What are you standing around for? Hurry and check if the records are hidden in this room.” Bai Fu urged.
Xu Hong rushed in. “Right away!”
While waiting for Xu Hong’s findings, Bai Fu stayed on high alert. She had no idea when a killer aiming for her life might jump out from somewhere.
In her assessment, that spy wouldn’t dare act during this operation—it would be too conspicuous and would easily expose his identity.
After over ten minutes, Xu Hong came out of the room carrying several data drives.
“Leave the rest to the identification team. Take everyone in this base into custody—lock them up first!”
Hearing this, the Dark Web people panicked.
“What are you trying to do? Even if the Gene Primordials aren’t afraid of the Makarov family, aren’t you afraid yourselves?”
“Let go of me! Let go!”
“Damn it! I was about to win that round of cards, and now you’ve messed everything up!”
No matter how much they shouted and cursed, Xu Hong remained calm and unbothered, as if he didn’t hear them at all.
“That’s just how the Captain is,” Xia Shi whispered to Bai Fu. “It’s all thanks to you tonight. Otherwise, even if the Captain didn’t die, he would’ve been seriously injured.”
Bai Fu nodded lightly. The mission was complete. She had gained 5000 XP, but she didn’t care about that anymore. The next operation would be the real highlight of the night.
At the inn, Sword Qi Soaring was also full of anticipation.
Soon, he would show Bai Fu his courage and brilliance. He’d beat up the ones trying to harm her, then throw himself in front of her to take a bullet. There was no way he wouldn’t raise her favorability this way.
Once Bai Fu’s favorability was high enough, he could start extracting intel from her.
“Truth Society, prepare to witness my worth—I will help turn the tide for you!”
Sword Qi Soaring stared intently out the window.
Several minutes later, he shouted on the squad channel.
“Bai Fu has arrived!”