With a thought, Ye Bai didn’t immediately use her psychic energy. Instead, she first employed [Appraisal] on the black terminal that Lelun had referred to as the ‘Master Control Terminal.’
‘……’, ‘……’, ‘Silicon element’
Yet, just like the jade terminal, the results revealed nothing beyond the most basic material composition.
Based on her prior understanding, Ye Bai now suspected that what distinguished the two terminals was their differing levels of ‘authority.’
Moreover, even after Lelun violated the taboos of the Church of the Stars, his terminal hadn’t faced an account suspension. Instead, it retained the ability to influence the ‘subordinate terminal’ in Ye Bai’s possession.
Perhaps, as Lelun had claimed, even the affairs of the Church of the Stars were of no concern to their so-called ‘Lord.’
After the appraisal yielded no results, Ye Bai wasted no time. Seizing the opportunity to intercept Lelun before it was too late, she finally extended her psychic energy toward the black terminal.
Her experience replicating the spaceship on Taida Star had given her new insights into [Historical Retrieval]. She realized that if two objects from the past and present were separated by a sufficiently vast distance, fusion might not necessarily occur.
While retrieving the ‘Master Control Terminal’ from the past could prove more challenging than retrieving the ‘subordinate terminal,’ the prerequisite was that she had to make contact with the item in the present to use [Historical Retrieval] in the future. This was likely her only chance.
As Ye Bai’s psychic energy touched the black Master Control Terminal, a panel strikingly similar yet distinct from the subordinate terminal transmitted its contents directly into her consciousness.
With her current information-processing speed, she absorbed everything in an instant.
The terminal’s contents were divided into three sections: [Mission Zone], [Points Zone], and [Function Zone].
The Mission Zone displayed a task list resembling but differing from the one on the jade terminal.
[Close wormholes at coordinates (56.08.987), (09.809.809), (11.019.98)…]
[Achieve a 20% current-period civilization migration rate (Current: 12%; Migratable civilizations: 21)]
[Submit 5 A-grade psychic techniques (Current: 3)]
The Points Zone functioned as a small-scale virtual currency issuance system, allowing points to be deposited into this account and transferred to subordinate terminals.
As for the Function Zone, it was an enhanced and entirely free version of the [Exchange Zone].
Yes, free. It contained every piece of stellar technology Ye Bai had seen on the jade terminal, including the advanced technologies absent from the Exchange Zone but offered as mission rewards—such as shadow-magnet fabrication techniques, ether laboratories, and their energy replenishment. Here, they were all freely accessible!
Moreover, there was a special feature called [Subordinate Terminal Management], which not only allowed the creation of new subordinate terminals but also enabled remote influence over existing ones within a certain range.
No wonder Lelun had referred to the jade terminal in Ye Bai’s possession as a ‘subordinate terminal.’ Now, Ye Bai truly understood how the Church of the Stars maintained control over the Chaotic Star Sea.
Only these Master Control Terminals, like the one in Lelun’s hands, represented their true form. The subordinate terminals, with their assigned functions and points, were merely tools for the Church to expand its influence and control.
The Church of the Stars received missions from a higher authority—perhaps the true ‘Stars’ themselves—then distributed them through subordinate terminals. They assigned virtual value to technologies that were inherently free, compelling mission-takers to fulfill their KPIs.
So, beneath its façade as a religious order, the Church of the Stars was essentially the largest ‘mission subcontractor’ in the Chaotic Star Sea.
Points and technology were monopolized values artificially imposed by the Church. Ye Bai’s earlier exploitation of [Historical Retrieval] to ‘farm points’ carried no risk of accounting discrepancies because, beyond the oblivious mission-takers of the Chaotic Star Sea, the Church’s inner circle cared little for points.
Another confirmation was that Master Control Terminals held authority over all subordinate terminals, while Master Control Terminals themselves were peers. This explained why Lelun, despite violating taboos, couldn’t be directly pinpointed and had even managed to ‘transfer’ points to Ye Bai, buying himself considerable time.
Just as Ye Bai processed this revelation, an abrupt anomaly occurred—
[Soul activity duration: 11,442 years… Exceeds upper limit.]
[Unauthorized entity detected! Eliminate at coordinates (89.89.648)!]
[Unauthorized entity detected! Eliminate at coordinates (89.89.648)!]
[Unauthorized entity detected…]
The Master Control Terminal under Ye Bai’s psychic influence suddenly blared an alarm.
More critically, the alarm wasn’t limited to this terminal—even the subordinate terminal she carried received the same alert.
Unlike the emergency mission targeting Lelun earlier, this alert didn’t follow any formal task structure. Instead, it overrode all terminal functions, broadcasting the precise coordinates of her location!
What’s going on? Why does it say ‘exceeds upper limit’? Was this a trap set by Lelun?!
The upheaval occurred the moment Ye Bai’s psychic energy made contact with the Master Control Terminal. Fortunately, she had remained vigilant throughout. As the alarm sounded—
[Bullet Time]
Time around her slowed to a crawl, her thoughts accelerating millions of times faster than the world around her. In this frozen moment, she observed Lelun’s usually composed demeanor shatter, his psychic energy surging violently.
Even with his millennia of experience as a bishop of the Church of the Stars, the instinctive flicker of emotion—shock, then elation, then greed—betrayed him.
Ye Bai instantly realized this wasn’t a trap Lelun had laid for her. Yet, he had clearly received the same alert and gleaned something from it that she hadn’t.
Given Lelun’s earlier admission of being the third mission-taker, he must still possess a subordinate terminal—one possibly endowed with unique permissions beyond ordinary ones.
If even Ye Bai’s subordinate terminal received the alert, his certainly would too. In fact, given the unprecedented nature of this situation, she suspected every Master Control Terminal in the Church of the Stars might now have her exact coordinates.
All signs indicated that the "stowaway" incident triggered by Ye Bai was far more serious for the Star Church than Lelun's breach of taboos!
If Lelun had merely provoked the Star Church before, the current commotion suggested that Ye Bai had provoked… the "Stars" themselves.
In that fleeting moment, Ye Bai's scalp tingled as two fragments of information from the data surge flashed through her mind—
"Do not be discovered."
"Beware… the Stars."
Ye Bai studied Lelun, who was struggling to suppress his excitement. The odds of him betraying her to the Star Church for reinstatement were far higher than him keeping this secret. And even if the chance was slim, she wouldn’t gamble with her life.
Without hesitation, in the next instant, Ye Bai's pupils vanished, her eyes turning a pale, ghostly white.
[Petrifying Gaze]
Lelun had been modified, but his body remained flesh and blood—especially his brain, the vessel of his consciousness.
In that split second, before Lelun could even react, his face began to petrify. Every part touched by Ye Bai's gaze turned instantly to ordinary stone.
Lelun, after all, was an ancient monster who had lived for eons. Even as his head succumbed to the petrifying gaze, one hand instinctively rose, as if he could still retaliate.
But in the next moment, a blinding white light erupted—the [Railgun] fired from Ye Bai's secondary terminal, piercing through the hovering main terminal blaring alarms and tearing through the petrified Lelun aboard the ship.
In the weightlessness of space, Ye Bai had no gravity to leverage. But because the secondary terminal, derived from the Star Church's main terminal, was functionally "inferior," it couldn’t issue alarms like the main one. This flaw ironically granted Ye Bai a smaller, still-functional piece of Star technology.
Under the violent energy surge, the petrified Lelun had no time to activate the ship's defenses. The railgun tore through the vessel, effortlessly reducing his stone form to nothing.
Even the main terminal, though powerful in function, lacked durability. The blast altered its very composition, shattering it into cosmic dust.
The destruction of the main terminal seemed effective—the alarms on Ye Bai's secondary account ceased immediately.
Time to flee.
Just as Ye Bai prepared to do so, spatial ripples surrounded her. Miniature wormholes opened, and over a dozen Star Church members clad in celestial robes materialized. Their garments bore varying patterns—some with galaxy insignias marking them as deacons, others with star-cluster motifs denoting bishops.
Armed with precise coordinates, they had teleported directly to the scene.
The first arrivals even witnessed Ye Bai's railgun obliterating Lelun.
So fast?! Ye Bai's heart sank, bracing for a brutal fight.
But as she scanned for an opening, a familiar psychic voice rang out, brimming with delight.
"Excellent! You’ve done well!"
It was the same Star Church deacon she’d encountered when closing the wormhole last time.
…Wait.
The Star Church hadn’t traced the anomaly back to her?!
Ye Bai froze, realization dawning. She abruptly halted her combat stance.
True to their arrogant nature, aside from the deacon’s praise, the Star Church members ignored her entirely. They clustered around the wreckage, openly discussing among themselves:
"Target confirmed eradicated."
"Pity the terminal was destroyed. We could’ve studied his methods."
"Better this way. Prevents… unnecessary temptations."
Meanwhile, Ye Bai summoned a lifetime’s worth of acting skills, perfectly mimicking the demeanor of someone who’d just completed a mission.
It struck her then—the alarm had been tied to soul thresholds. Lelun had breached his through forbidden means. Though Ye Bai knew her situation was different, the Star Church didn’t.
To them, Lelun was the sole culprit.
Now, the blame rested squarely on his lifeless shoulders.
And the dead tell no tales.
