Who Made Her an NPC?! Chapter 180 : Strength of the Sovereign of the Shadowed Nigh

Chapter 180: Strength of the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night Bai Fu, Hidden Main Quest Activated

The Sea Lion System had a total of four spiral arms. Spiral Arms No. 1 and No. 2 were under the control of the Star Web Commonwealth, while Spiral Arms No. 3 and No. 4 were currently in an ungoverned state due to certain historical issues.

From the midpoint of Spiral Arm No. 3 to Spiral Arm No. 4 was what the netizens commonly referred to as the Chaos Starpath of the Sea Lion System, and the official na of Spiral Arm No. 4 was the Cape Spiral Arm.

Cape Spiral Arm, the most dangerous, most chaotic, and most indulgent region of the Sea Lion System.

Here were pirates that attacked rchant ships, interstellar fugitives who slaughtered surface civilizations, and outlaws who broke the law as casually as drinking water.

But today, the planet Lanka on the Cape Spiral Arm welcod a group of beings even more rampant than these thugs—

Players!

Wearing an optical mask, Bai Fu stepped off the spaceship with light footsteps, followed by a hundred Players.

She had only brought one hundred Players for this operation.

The main reason was that the goal of this mission was to investigate the true identity of the pirate crew ntioned by the Blessed Congregation. For an investigation task, one hundred Players were enough to complete it. Bringing more would make them hard to manage and could easily expose their presence prematurely.

“It’s a completely different architectural style from Azure Sky Star.”

“So many weird-looking NPCs.”

“Damn, is that a tree? A tree with four legs.”

The Players trailing closely behind Bai Fu looked around, exclaiming from ti to ti.

Their unusual behavior quickly caught the attention of so nearby NPCs. Even the slower-witted Players gradually noticed the odd looks these NPCs were giving them.

“Fu-fu, Fu-fu.” Digging‑Treasure quickly reached out and tugged on the sleeve of Bai Fu’s jacket over her combat suit. “Why do I feel like they’re plotting sothing against us?”

Bai Fu continued walking and said, “You’re not wrong. Right now, they’re most likely thinking about how to deal with us.”

That was just how the Cape Spiral Arm was. There were no laws here, nor any strong power to maintain order. This was a truly chaotic place where people spoke with their fists. If they fancied sothing, they would simply grab it with brute force.

Of course, that was only if they could successfully grab it and still escape the encirclent afterward.

Digging‑Treasure looked worried. “Then should we speed up and leave this place quickly…”

Before she could finish her sentence, three unfamiliar NPCs suddenly approached from the roadside, blocking her and Bai Fu’s path.

As the three of them moved, the other nearby NPCs also stood up one after another, their hands instinctively reaching for what seed to be weapons.

A dangerous air started to spread, sending chills down everyone’s spine. After a few seconds, the barrel-shaped red-skinned, horned man in front bared his white fangs with a grin.

“First ti on Lanka, are you?”

Bai Fu didn’t rush to respond. Instead, she raised her communicator and snapped a photo of the red barrel.

“You—”

The red barrel had just started to speak when Bai Fu’s voice cut him off.

“In this kind of situation, running away is aningless. It’ll only make people think we’re easy targets. The correct way to handle it is like this.”

Bai Fu raised her right hand, palm facing the red barrel.

While everyone was still confused by her gesture, an extrely violent psionic surge suddenly burst from her palm.

Boom!

The surge blasted out several hundred ters. Instantly, everything in its path—be it the red barrel, his two companions, the stone-paved ground, or the collapsed wall—was reduced to invisible dust.

When the psionic surge dissipated, everyone could see a massive rift on the ground, about seven or eight ters wide, two or three ters deep, and stretching several hundred ters long.

“Karu, fugitive of the Kast Civilization, once assassinated the entire family of a Kast sheriff. Bounty: 5000 Credit Coins. But to claim it, I’d have to run to the Kast System. Too much trouble. Better to kill him right here. Keeping such scum alive just makes food more expensive.”

Bai Fu calmly retracted her hand.

When she was still stuck at B-rank, she had to tread carefully. But now she was already S-rank. If she still acted cautiously around trash like this, then what was the point of leveling up?

Everyone was dumbfounded.

So brutal?

Digging‑Treasure was quick to recover.

Brutal?

A bit, yes—but that was exactly how Fu-fu was!

Having spent a long ti around Bai Fu, Digging‑Treasure felt she had grasped most of Bai Fu’s personality.

Was Fu-fu a good person?

Without a doubt. But she wasn’t the kind of naive do-gooder who treated everyone kindly. She only showed her gentle side to good people and the innocent. When facing villains, she never hesitated to reveal her ferocious side.

In Digging‑Treasure’s view, that was a wonderful trait. She had gone from rely chasing Bai Fu’s fa to calling her “Fu-fu” with heartfelt loyalty, all because of this clarity in love and hate.

Actually, even Digging‑Treasure was a bit surprised when she saw Bai Fu instantly kill the red barrel. But her surprise wasn’t like everyone else’s.

【You’re all focusing on the wrong thing. What’s surprising about Fu-fu killing a bad guy? She already offed Graham, the President of the Truth Society, and that alien Old Deng in a flash. Haven’t you noticed how much stronger Fu-fu has gotten since Tianhu Star? It’s only been a few days.】

【Since arriving in the Star Sea, Fu-fu’s strength has been recovering rapidly. I bet in version 2.0—or maybe even sooner—we’ll get to see the fully restored Sovereign of the Shadowed Night. That’s a Sovereign, man. Heh, Sovereign-level Fu-fu? I’m drooling already.】

Digging‑Treasure’s eyes sparkled with anticipation, her excitent plain as day—shared by most of the Players in the livestream room.

The complete form of the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night—ever since Bai Fu’s identity as the Sovereign of the Shadowed Night was revealed, countless Players had been looking forward to this very mont.

Bai Fu hadn’t expected that her one Psionic Burst not only shocked the thugs on Lanka but also stunned the watching Players, giving her popularity among Players another small surge after the Tianhu Star war.

Sovereign?

Oh, co on. You people sure know how to dream. Even if you all lay flat and let extract experience from you endlessly, there’s no way I’m reaching Domination-level in version 2.0.

From S-rank to Disaster-level, and from Disaster-level to Domination-level, experience and advancent knowledge alone are far from enough.

But for now, better to finish the current mission first.

Players had to be squeezed one by one, and the road had to be walked step by step.

Bai Fu raised her hand again, and several NPCs nearby were pulled toward her by an invisible force. This was the power of the Advanced Force Field after reaching Lv10.

After skill advancent, this field-type skill copied from Yulia might have gotten a la na, but its functionality had improved more than tenfold.

These NPCs, already terrified after Bai Fu instant-killed the red barrel, now found themselves suddenly dragged in front of her. They were so scared their bodies trembled, only able to stutter out pleas for rcy.

“Spare , I’m not with them. I was just passing by, really.”

“I am too, I…”

Bai Fu smiled and said, “If you don’t want to die, then answer my questions honestly.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Bai Fu continued asking, “I’m here to do so business. Tell , where is the trade market for various potions? Also, which pirate crews are active in the Cape Spiral Arm, and where can I find them?”

Under her interrogation, those NPCs under control didn’t dare to hide anything. One by one, they spilled everything they knew.

With the intel gathered, Bai Fu casually tossed them aside and then led the Players toward the eting point agreed upon with the Blessed Congregation. They walked even more ostentatiously than when they had just disembarked, but now no one dared to look at them directly.

Ten-odd minutes later, in a hidden corner.

Elron frowned slightly. “You attracted too much attention on your way here.”

Bai Fu removed the disguise of her optical mask and shook her recently restrained silver-white ponytail. “Do you think in a place like this it’s better to act flashy or to sneak around cautiously and suspiciously?”

“Of course it’s…”

Elron suddenly froze. He understood what Bai Fu ant.

Being ostentatious attracted attention, but only by being sufficiently bold would others here treat you as one of their own. On the contrary, being overly cautious in this place was more likely to draw suspicion—because it seed out of place.

Elron and Sui Xi exchanged a glance with Bai Fu.

“What do you plan to do next?” Elron asked.

Bai Fu shared her plan with Elron. It was simple—she planned to have the Players pose as debt collectors and go to places frequently visited by pirates to question NPCs one by one.

【There’s a pirate who owes us a lot of money. He was wearing clothes like this (display), and his pirate crew emblem looked like this (display).】

“This excuse should be enough to keep them from being suspected.”

Elron thought about it for a mont and felt there were no major flaws in Bai Fu’s plan, so he agreed.

Bai Fu casually issued a Faction Quest to the Players. While they infiltrated pirate locations to investigate, she wandered around the potion trade market out of boredom. Though she didn’t make any major discoveries, she did obtain so potions that boosted ntal and intelligence attributes.

“Better than nothing, I suppose.”

Bai Fu shook her head and stored the potions in her personal space. About half an hour later, good news ca from the Players.

【Found them】

Bai Fu imdiately went to regroup with the Players, Elron, and Sui Xi.

Digging‑Treasure reported, “The pirate crew is called the Avalanche Pirates. They’re a newly ford crew in the past two years but have grown rapidly. They’re not currently on Lanka, but soone overheard them striking a deal with another pirate crew. They’ll be arriving on Lanka this afternoon.”

Bai Fu and Elron exchanged a look.

What more needed to be said?

Ambush them!

Bai Fu waited for two hours.

Although it took so ti, she was in a decent mood. After the Players uncovered the pirate crew’s true identity, she received a mission completion prompt, earning 2,000,000 XP and 100 Favorability points with the Blessed Congregation.

The reward was small, but at is at.

Just as Bai Fu was thinking about where to find ways to improve her ntal and intelligence stats, Elron suddenly stood up, his eyes locked onto soone stepping off a spaceship.

“It’s him!”

Following his gaze, Bai Fu saw soone who looked 80–90% like Fragnt Star.

Even though she had just seen Fragnt Star not long ago and found the resemblance uncanny, Elron and Sui Xi, who had only seen photos, couldn’t tell the difference at all.

“Haha, you’re not getting away this ti!”

The mbers of the Blessed Congregation sward forward.

Their strength far exceeded that of any pirates. In just a few minutes, all the pirates were forced to their knees. The one resembling Fragnt Star was beaten so badly his face swelled like a pig’s head.

“Looks like your revenge sche ends here. Hand over the True Spirit Pillar. That’s not sothing you can possess, Fragnt Star!”

Elron shouted down at the man at his feet, laughing loudly.

Revenge sche? True Spirit Pillar?

The man who looked like Fragnt Star was stunned. He had no idea what was going on and kept shouting that they had the wrong person, but there was no way Elron and Sui Xi would believe him that easily.

Deceitful villain!

“You think you can get away with it just because you’re not carrying the True Spirit Pillar? We have plenty of ways to make you talk!”

“I really didn’t lie!”

The man resembling Fragnt Star was nearly in tears, his miserable appearance making Bai Fu’s eyelid twitch uncontrollably.

What a pitiful pirate.

She glanced around, and finally her gaze landed on the goods the Avalanche Pirates had brought for trade.

They were a group of slaves. Those slaves…

Wait!

Bai Fu’s eyes widened. She noticed that the slaves looked a lot like Ulysses people. She quickly cast her Psionic Vision skill, and the feedback on the panel confird their race as Ulysses people.

“Where did you capture these Ulysses people?”

Bai Fu’s gaze turned sharp instantly.

The pirate crew mber grabbed by the collar turned pale. “We… we robbed them! We took them from a slave rchant!”

Bai Fu turned to another mber of the other pirate crew. “What about you? Why are you buying Ulysses people?”

The pirate she stared down panicked and shouted, “The captain said it was for experints. I don’t know the details. I’m just a ssenger—spare !”

Using Ulysses people for experints?

Bai Fu couldn’t help but think of the Dissociative Agent.

Sure enough, just as that thought crossed her mind, a new quest prompt appeared.

【You have triggered the hidden main quest [Behemoth!]】

【Quest Description: …】

【Quest Objective: Uncover the real reason the pirate crew is purchasing Ulysses people】

【Reward: 3,000,000 XP】

【Note: This quest is a joint quest with Vic’s main storyline. Completing this quest will also progress Vic’s main storyline】

Excitent surfaced on Bai Fu’s face.

Thankfully she had taken the Blessed Congregation’s commission—otherwise, she would’ve missed this quest.

A joint quest—this was her first ti encountering one. It seed the relationship between Vic, the Blessed Congregation, and the Secret Tower was deeper than she had imagined.

In the original storyline that began with version 2.0, Players would very likely have to choose one of the three to join and then push the plot forward.

“Uncover the real reason the pirate crew is purchasing Ulysses people?”

How simple. With her current strength, she could just go straight in and kill them!