The fabric of space-time abruptly collapsed—this was nothing like the controlled micro-wormholes used in the past. The emergency mission's teleportation method was just as sudden and unanticipated as the mission itself, carrying an unmistakable sense of coercion.
Amidst the violently folding space, Ye Bai's first instinct was to struggle fiercely. Despite the immense improvements in both her mental and physical capacities—now allowing her to challenge even A-rank psychics—she was still only a B-rank. She hadn't undergone the true critical transformation to become an A-rank psychic capable of manipulating space with her mind. Otherwise, after her last wormhole mission, she wouldn't have been so bewildered and helpless when faced with the sudden deluge of information.
That brief resistance, however, left Lynn, who was also caught in the wormhole, completely powerless. In contrast, Ye Bai's momentary delay caused her arrival coordinates to deviate slightly from his.
Everything happened in an instant. By the time space stabilized again, Ye Bai found herself alone in another expanse of space, with Lynn nowhere in sight.
Reacting swiftly, she immediately confirmed her current coordinates.
This location wasn’t far from the star system containing Taida Star—just the nearest neighboring system. In fact, a Taidan spacecraft was expected to pass through here in a little over a hundred days. But with the technology of the Star Assembly, traversing such a distance was merely the blink of an eye.
"Senior, where are you? I'm at coordinates—"
The next moment, Ye Bai received a message from Lynn. He was about forty or fifty kilometers away—a minor positional deviation from the teleportation. Still, neither of them had strayed outside the mission’s designated coordinates.
Now that Ye Bai had arrived in this star system, the mission coordinates became more precise, continuously shifting to reflect the target’s rapid movement.
Frowning, her expression darkened.
This emergency mission clearly held extreme importance to the Star Assembly. From the forced acceptance to the compulsory teleportation, the organization had completely disregarded the will of its operatives.
And it wasn’t just her—an evaluated A-rank psychic—but even Lynn, a C-rank, had been forcibly teleported here. The generous rewards offered indicated that the Star Assembly was more than willing to sacrifice nearby operatives to delay the target’s escape.
Just as Ye Bai was seething at this realization, her jade terminal blared with urgent, flashing alerts:
[Target detected! Target detected! Proceed to eliminate immediately!]
[Coordinates: 89.89.571…]
Accompanying this alert was a virtual 3D star map, similar to the one used when closing the wormhole earlier. The map displayed a limited area, within which a red target marker was swiftly moving in a specific direction.
Coincidentally, the target’s current trajectory was on a near-collision course with Ye Bai’s position. If she intercepted now, their paths would converge at an angle, ensuring an encounter.
The slight deviation caused by her earlier struggle had, ironically, placed her closer to the target.
Simultaneously, as if sensing her hesitation, the terminal issued another rapid-fire series of commands:
[All terminal functions disabled. Combat tech in the exchange zone temporarily free.]
[Proceed to eliminate the target at all costs!]
[Proceed to eliminate…]
The final message repeated incessantly like a broken record. Ye Bai glanced at the terminal—the mission board, trade zone, and even communication functions had all vanished. Only combat-related tech remained in the exchange zone, with even the micro-wormhole function disabled.
The Star Assembly was clearly desperate…
Her eyes flickered with thought before she vanished from her spot, darting toward the target at breakneck speed.
As she closed in, the incessant alerts from the jade terminal finally fell silent.
……
A little over ten minutes later, Ye Bai’s path finally intersected with the target’s.
From several kilometers away, she used her psychic senses to "see" the target—a cloaked spacecraft undetectable without psychic abilities or advanced technology.
Ye Bai made a grasping motion with her hand, releasing a surge of psychic energy into the ship’s projected path.
"Boom—"
Gravity and magnetic forces tangled chaotically, instantly creating a zone of extreme instability. The small, stealth-equipped ship could no longer maintain its invisibility, revealing its sleek, streamlined hull as it hastily activated a powerful energy shield.
Ye Bai’s combat prowess now rivaled that of an A-rank psychic. After inheriting knowledge of black holes and combining it with her mastery of the Whisperer’s omni-elemental magic, her control over natural forces far surpassed the level of ordinary first-tier spells.
Alongside the ship’s energy shield, an overwhelming A-rank psychic presence erupted from within.
The space around the vessel began to distort—a telltale sign of an A-rank psychic preparing for spatial displacement. Clearly, the target had no intention of engaging Ye Bai in combat, opting instead for a swift escape.
This was to be expected. Given the Star Assembly’s aggressive tactics, it was obvious Ye Bai wasn’t the only operative assigned this mission. More pursuers were undoubtedly closing in.
From the looks of it, the target had some method of interfering with the Star Assembly’s tracking. Only Ye Bai, being the closest, had managed to pinpoint its exact location and intercept it.
If the target wasted time fighting her now, more hunters would soon arrive, sealing off the entire region and making escape impossible.
The next moment, with the signature spatial fluctuations of an A-rank psychic, the ship vanished, reappearing several kilometers away.
Unfazed, Ye Bai locked onto its new position and flickered out of existence, reappearing near the ship without so much as a ripple in space.
The ship’s occupants seemed stunned by her seamless spatial jump—devoid of any telltale distortions. The vessel fired two high-powered lasers before twisting sharply and initiating another jump.
Activating bullet time, Ye Bai effortlessly dodged the lasers and pursued once more using segmented displacement.
Spatial jumps also disturb the space at both the starting and landing points. Under normal circumstances, an A-rank user activating the jump first would be at least a few seconds faster than one pursuing later. However, Ye Bai's "discontinuous leap" essentially involved jumping through time, having nothing to do with space at all, which allowed her to catch up with her target every time.
Yet, after this back-and-forth chase repeated three times, the jade terminal on Ye Bai's body issued another alert:
[All terminal functions disabled. Combat tech in the exchange zone temporarily free of charge.]
[Proceed to eliminate the target immediately! At any cost!]
It seemed a "fight" was unavoidable...
Blocking the spacecraft's path for the third time, Ye Bai raised an eyebrow and selected an offensive tech from the exchange zone.
[Railgun]
The tech from the exchange zone was, as always, overwhelmingly powerful and reliable. The moment the exchange was completed, an intense electromagnetic reaction suddenly erupted in an empty space beside Ye Bai, summoned by energy from an unknown source. A white sphere of light rapidly formed.
In the next instant, a blinding beam of light shot toward the direction Ye Bai pointed.
"..."
The silent beam pierced through the energy shield of the spacecraft ahead—then grazed its wing, leaving only superficial damage to the outer layer.
Had it struck the cabin directly, this high-end small spacecraft would have been either completely destroyed or severely crippled.
After the attack, the spacecraft abruptly slowed down.
A satisfied smile curled on Ye Bai's lips. Her target had finally stopped fleeing at full speed, understanding her implied message—she wasn’t a native of the Chaotic Star Sea, nor did she hold any reverence for the Church of the Myriad Stars. Being semi-forced into this mission, she had no intention of giving her all, especially when she was burning with curiosity about the secrets behind it.
"You're not the original owner of this terminal, are you?"
The same psychic presence that had used spatial jumps earlier transmitted a message, immediately exposing one of Ye Bai’s hidden identities.
At the same time, a section of the spacecraft's hull turned completely transparent, revealing the figure inside.
The moment Ye Bai saw the person, her pupils contracted, her expression shifting.
Inside the cabin was an exquisitely handsome young man, his aura carrying an indescribable strangeness and nobility, as if he had held a position of power for many years.
This surreal level of refinement reminded Ye Bai of the Church of the Myriad Stars' deacon she had once met—only this man’s otherworldly presence was far more pronounced. Still, with her current psychic strength, she could easily ignore the uncanny valley effect.
But what truly unsettled her was the starry robe he wore.
This robe shared the same design as the one worn by the Church deacon she had encountered during her wormhole mission. However, while the deacon’s robe bore dynamic patterns simulating a single star system, this man’s robe displayed a cluster of countless star systems.
A star system versus a star cluster—it was easy to deduce their respective ranks within the Church hierarchy. Clearly, this man held a far higher position than the deacon.
The Church of the Myriad Stars had issued an emergency kill order, sparing no cost to eliminate someone even more senior than a deacon!
"Why do you say that?" Ye Bai countered, snapping out of her thoughts.
As his spacecraft continued forward, the man replied, "You didn’t immediately obey the Church’s command and instead grew curious about dangerous matters. That means you’re not a fully conditioned operative."
Ye Bai kept pace with him seamlessly while also exchanging for a barrage of attacks from the exchange zone, meticulously "outlining" the target spacecraft—after all, it was free now, and no points would be deducted from her.
"You understood my message. Then you should know my terms—answer my questions, and I might ‘fail’ this mission."
"What do you want to know?"
"Why is the Church of the Myriad Stars hunting you?"
At her question, the man inside smiled—a smile so precise it seemed measured with a ruler. "To answer that, I should first introduce myself."
"My name is Lelun. Bishop Lelun."
