The Messenger / The Underworld

However, all Bai Ye saw was pitch blackness.

That's because the starlight is decreasing.

"The city lights illuminate the night sky, making it impossible for us to see the stars. In this world, there may be many things that we haven't even realized we've lost."

The dean walked to his side.

It was before sunset when Bai Ye and the old dean stood on the beach.

The sky was bright and clear.

That is twilight, scattered in the upper atmosphere of the Earth before sunrise or after sunset. It is caused by the scattering of sunlight by particles and dust in the upper atmosphere, illuminating the lower atmosphere and the sunlight on the Earth's surface.

Now, it should be called Twilight.

This phenomenon is actually almost identical to the principle of "Bai Ye".

This is also the origin of the name Bai Ye.

It has no special origin; it's just an astronomical term.

However, Bai Ye was more concerned about what the dean had said.

Even in the distant future, Bai Ye still remembered these words firmly, and he continued to draw strength from them.

"Do not be afraid of the darkness, for the darker the night, the brighter the starlight will shine."

"Even if we can never reach the stars, the light still shines; no matter how much time has passed, we can still see the light. So the stars are neither a figment of imagination nor a myth."

"The universe holds unknowns, which bring us joy because it represents an adventure to unravel those mysteries, an adventure that awaits us. It is a fairy tale of love and courage that is both very small and very grand, very important."

The old dean's words were like a prophecy.

Because in a few years, the Bai Ye will be shrouded in a long darkness.

You probably already know what happened next.

After completing the flight simulation training, all Second-Gen Spartans will begin live-fire training.

However, at the moment of takeoff, the sealed memories in Bai Ye's mind suddenly awakened.

Those memories forcibly forgotten due to the body's self-protection, the moment of the explosion, the universe echoing with terrifying sounds, countless fragments—the terrifying memories begin to awaken.

"I couldn't understand what happened. The whole world lost its color the moment I heard the beautiful, even terrifying, sound."

Bai Ye was diagnosed with psychological problems.

A type of PTSD, a fear of the sky.

The explosion etched into his mind became a mental imprint, preventing him from taking flight.

From then on, Bai Ye was stripped of her wings.

Three years later, Bai Ye withdrew from the "Northern Cross Project".

It wasn't until much, much later that he regained his wings; that's another story.

"This is your story from the past. What are your thoughts on it?"

Luna looked at the Bai Ye standing in the dark void and asked softly.

"I'm definitely not a stubborn or argumentative person!" Bai Ye, somewhat angrily.

"Besides?"

"I forgot all the tragedies, and all I saw were miracles."

"Then continue your journey, Bai Ye. Wishing you happiness as you journey across the stars."

Chapter Forty-Five: The Messenger

The person who came to greet Centaurea was naturally Lyudmila, a Lupo girl codenamed "Kingslayer," who was a cadre of the Reunion Movement, the leader of the Ghost Squad.

Even before Centaurea left Kazimierz, Bai Ye had already contacted Lyudmila through his communication network. With the Players' help, the distance between people on this land had indeed been shortened considerably.

Initially, Bai Ye achieved real-time communication through a private message panel between two Players. It was very popular as soon as it was launched. After all, it only took one phone call to connect the two geographically distant countries of Great Yan and Columbia. For some important figures, this was an extremely important function.

For example, urgent business communications and the delivery of special letters all require this kind of instant messaging. Through this groundbreaking technology, Bai Ye has carved out a significant territory in the messenger industry on the Terra.

However, in the second version, something big happened among the Players: a major game change occurred – "The teleport panel is now online, and our movements will be much faster."

Yes, teleportation beacons are now usable. From then on, teleportation crystals were left wherever Players could reach.

After that, Bai Ye abandoned the inconvenient, risky, and overly reliant private messaging system that required Players to work long hours. Instead, it switched to using messengers to deliver messages, just like other Courier Company.

However, the messengers used by Bai Ye are not native Terra, but Players. Players can quickly reach any corner of this land through teleportation crystals, and can deliver a large number of letters to the same destination at once.

Upon arrival in the target city, the items are collected and then delivered by indigenous messenger staff.

The pricing for Bai Ye is also divided into several tiers. The fastest express service promises delivery within 30 minutes, with the route personally arranged by "Northern Cross Couriers" and a specially hired professional courier Players to deliver the letter in the shortest possible time.

Yes, some Players are not part-time or just taking on a commission to earn some pocket money repairing weapons. They usually stay in the company as dedicated messengers, and even go to work and leave work like the natives, taking turns on duty according to a schedule.

Rather than fighting, they prefer running errands across this land, enjoying the diverse scenery, encountering various NPCs, and experiencing all sorts of strange or interesting events. Many of these people are either "Mobile City Hunters" or boat scientists from the "Valletta Society."

Incidentally, as Players' organizational abilities have improved, now all of them—whether they are enthusiastic Players like "Mobile City Hunters" who chase after Mobile City, explore and discover Mobile City of various styles, or Arknights scholars who focus on digging into the "game's" worldview, NPC relationships, and plot content, or even explorers who like to raid tombs, excavate Pre-Civilization ruins, or venture into the wilderness—have been united into a unified Players organization: the "Terra Exploration Association."

The association's headquarters are located in the Players community in the Core City Chernobog, where they regularly hold various events, including online and offline tea parties.

From this moment on, Players' exploration of this land will become more systematic. Bai Ye was genuinely looking forward to these people making some big splash, like finding the ruins of Pre-Civilization. Anyway, Bai Ye had the game system panel and could sneak into the Players -only forum as a native, so Bai Ye could promptly detect any activity there.

Ahem, I've gone off on a tangent...

Although the practice of hiring Players couriers by Bai Ye is not particularly secretive or technically demanding, and anyone could learn it easily, other Courier Company found that they simply couldn't recruit Players when they tried to imitate it.

Bai Ye's company is reputable, and Bai Ye is an old friend of everyone. Almost no Players is unfamiliar with this handsome native NPC who likes to run around and give Players benefits (in the early stages).

Moreover, Bai Ye is generous and gives a lot. In the Players' minds, this guy is simply a program set up by the official team. Although the various companies under his name are created by the NPCs themselves, they are definitely more part of the game mechanics and content.

Have you ever seen a normal, ordinary NPC pull out a dungeon on their own? It seems like only Bai Ye can manually create a dungeon by himself, right?

Therefore, only Bai Ye can manage both the Adventurers' Association and the Players logistics Courier Company. Players believe him when he does it, considering it part of the official game content. Other companies run by native gamers would generally not be recognized.

Moreover, Bai Ye's company headquarters are now located in Chernobog's Core City, or have major branches there, so they are more well-known among Players and it is more convenient for them to accept missions.

Moreover, compared to simple monetary rewards, Bai Ye clearly understands Players better. Simply put, he identified his differentiated track, realized value conversion through the simple reuse of accumulated potential, found his niche in a vertical field through unique leverage, achieved industry co-construction and platform integration, and found a refined tipping point in a red ocean industry through a targeted approach combining points and lines.

Therefore, as a latecomer in the private courier industry, where the market was almost fixed and there were hardly any gaps, Bai Ye broke through a group of established Courier Company in just two years and carved out a piece of the pie in the originally solidified market.

However, Terra does have telephones with communication ranges beyond Mobile City, but they are few in number. They use landline telephone technology, with physical telephone cables running underground to connect two different cities, or even different countries.

However, these telephone cables are extremely expensive and have a high failure rate. Furthermore, due to the highly unstable crustal movement on Terra, geological disasters are likely to occur, or explosions may occur due to the unstable energy of the underground Originium, making it unsafe even if the cables are buried underground.

Bai Ye knew all this because he had encountered a mining accident while mining. A highly active Originium exploded right in front of him, killing him instantly.

This was also his first time, his virginity was lost in mining. From then on, Bai Ye never went to the mine again, it was just too damn unlucky.

Chapter 46 Anbu

Has your superior told you about the upcoming arrangements?

Lyudmila looked at Centaurea and asked.

The girl shook her head.

"Put the weapons down first. It's safe here, and we won't harm our future colleagues."

As Lyudmila spoke, she glanced at Centaurea's hands hidden under her cloak, and at the longbow, which was faintly visible beneath the cloak and already had an arrow nocked.

At this moment, Centaurea was dressed like a ranger from the border region of Kazimierz and Ursus: cloak, longbow, boots, tight shorts, and over-the-knee socks. Fortunately, her chest was flat, practically comparable to a size 45 steel plate, so the longbow could be easily hidden under the cloak; otherwise, it would have looked absolutely strange.

Lyudmila couldn't help but glance at the girl's pitiful, solidly mounted front armor, and a hint of pity appeared in her eyes.

Well, actually Lyudmila herself is flat-chested, and thinking about this, the girl herself can't be happy... We're in the same boat.

"Um..." Centaurea felt that the girl in front of her was looking at her in a somewhat rude way, and she felt inexplicably uncomfortable being stared at by her.

But that feeling quickly faded, because Lyudmila had looked away and stopped paying attention to such superficial things.

Yes!

A person's worth cannot be reflected in their breasts! Only an idiot would rely on something like that to maintain their self-esteem!

Lyudmila stated that she does not need such superficial satisfaction.

However, being light-weight is also a terrible thing, as it makes it easy to slip and fall into pits for no reason. The girl felt like the whole world was targeting and persecuting her.

Centaurea followed Lyudmila into the city.

"The Core City of Chernobog is a city of the undead and the infected, and security here is handled separately. Our security is handled by the Ministry of the Interior, while the undead have their own organizations and methods for maintaining order, which are not the same as ours."

"Of course, in order to resolve conflicts and emergencies that cross the lines between the two sides, a roundtable meeting for coordination and communication has also been established to eliminate conflicts and resolve problems."

Lyudmila and Centaurea introduced the current situation in the Core City.

The Ministry of the Interior was originally the Ursus Northwest Icefield Guerrilla Force, which was responsible for maintaining order during the Reunion Movement. They were all Ursus soldiers Patriot followed Big Daddy.

After occupying the Core City, the previous extensive management methods were obviously no longer feasible, and the city could not always be managed by guerrillas, otherwise it would simply become a military government.

Therefore, at Bai Ye's suggestion, the guerrillas split into two. One part recruited new people to become the Core City defense force of Chernobog, similar to a regular army, to protect and defend the Core City, mainly for external defense.

Internally, Bai Ye established an Internal Affairs Department, whose functions are similar to those of Lungmen's Guards Bureau.

The leader of the city's defense forces was naturally his Big Daddy, Bokkas, while the Minister of the Interior was Hellagur.

Both were soldiers, and Hellagur also had experience managing the black market clinic "Azazel," so they were a perfect match, each fulfilling their respective roles.

However, the Ministry of the Interior's functions are actually more extensive. In addition to acting as a regular police force, its subordinate departments are also responsible for other matters, such as traffic control, fire fighting, border security, and file management.

"So we now belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs?" Centaurea blinked.

"Not entirely... Our identities are very special. In addition to the city defense army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the leader has also established a third department, the Anbu," Lyudmila said.

"The Anbu?" A familiar feeling welled up in Centaurea's heart.

"Yes. You could also call it the Inquisition. Where there is light, there is shadow. If the Ministry of the Interior and the city garrison are fighting in the sunlight, then we are fighting an enemy hiding in the darkness. They are the lances thrust out by the knights from the front, and we are the daggers hidden in their shadows. Our duty is to bring judgment."

Lyudmila spoke softly.

The people following behind her also stood tall, proud of their identity and the responsibilities they bore, as members of the Ghost Squad who had fought alongside the Reunion Movement since the Northwest Ice Plains.

"So, what is our mission?"

"Purge all dangerous elements that threaten the interests of the Core City, eliminate spies and traitors, and punish the enemy in the shadows. Our mission is to sniff out and eradicate all enemies," Lyudmila explained.

At this moment, Centaurea suddenly realized why the people who came to pick her up looked so strange. They were clearly a group, but they were wearing all sorts of colorful clothes. When they walked together, although their formation looked extremely chaotic, like tourists, the whole group was able to look after each other, cover each other, and cooperate.

Compared to the assassins of the Armless Union, they were clearly more organized, disciplined, professional, and formal.

"We all have dual identities. On the surface, we all belong to a department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but we are not under the Ministry's jurisdiction. Even Minister Hellagur doesn't know we exist. The only ones who know us are the leader and our superior, Bai Ye."

Centaurea felt her heart and lungs stop.

Ta-da!

"So, having kept this secret, I have no way to back out?"

"However, that's not it... because we're basically unemployed right now." Lyudmila sighed and explained with a smile, "Mainly because the commander was too ruthless. He single-handedly cleansed the entire city, so we basically have nothing to do now. Secrets don't really matter, because the so-called Anbu didn't exist when it was established. There were no documents, no paperwork, no base... Its existence was solely due to the friendship between the leader and Commander Bai Ye, and the leader's complete and absolute trust in the commander. Therefore, this organization is completely dependent on the commander."

"This is a non-existent organization. No one would believe it if I told them."

Centaurea's eyes widened:

"What?"

"What's wrong?"

"When I was with the Armless Union, I heard about the Great Purge in the Core City of Chernobog, and that the Armless Union's spies had also gone missing. We originally thought it was the work of the secret police..."

"It was all done by Commander Bai Ye alone. After one night, the entire city was completely enveloped in light, severing all the tentacles reaching in from the outside." Lyudmila said with admiration, "At the time, even we didn't know about it..."

In fact, only these people knew about this. They were the most elite Ghost Squad who had participated in the retaliatory operation against the Ursus nobles, and they were all people who had been assigned bracelets by Bai Ye.

Centaurea's eyes lit up. She was very free, had nothing to do, and could slack off. This job seemed perfect for her.

"Your job from now on will be to teach archery techniques to the Phantom Arbalests under the Anbu as an assassin instructor," Lyudmila said with a smile. "Our combat skills are all taught by our superiors, but they themselves can't shoot arrows, so our ranged attack methods are very limited."

Welcome to our team. We hope we can get along well.