Until the live footage began playing on the news, and Cecilia suddenly appeared in the video, first aiding Bai Fu in her attack on Bangula, then showing visible distress on behalf of Bai Fu, his own head began to smoke in frustration.
The Housekeeper almost passed out in anger.
Just how long had Cecilia and Bai Fu been acquainted? Barely over a year at most, and even less time spent in actual contact—less than three months, it's hard to say. But in this short span of time, Cecilia had completely taken on Bai Fu's form. What kind of terrifying charm was this?
The Housekeeper felt humiliated.
Overwhelmed with emotion, he smashed the cup in his hand. After breaking it, he finally calmed down, but not for long because he stumbled upon a problem.
Despite what Reynolds said about this Bai Fu not being the true Bai Fu, piecing together various messages and interview footage, the Bai Fu that appeared on Xiu Dun Star was undoubtedly the genuine Bai Fu.
Thus, a shocking realization dawned on him—
Bai Fu was not at all the saintess she appeared to be!
How could a true saintess threaten Reynolds like that? She must have been acting all along, playing a role in front of everybody, leading them all to believe she was a saintess, when in fact she was an incredibly despicable and shameful woman!
With this line of thought, the Housekeeper found answers to all the questions that had been troubling him.
Why did Cecilia transform into Bai Fu's form in just a few short months?
The naive girl, whose innocence knew only murder, was cruelly deceived by society's cunning trickster, Bai Fu, a vile woman!
Who wrote those two petty articles about the Black Secret Tower Master?
Given the way Bai Fu threatened Reynolds, it was highly likely that Bai Fu herself wrote them!
The Housekeeper roared in anger.
He thought he was on the fifth level while Bai Fu was on the second, but in reality, Bai Fu was playing him all from the tenth level, just like she played Cecilia!
He was really foolish, truly.
During the Golden Valley Star battle, he had even tried to use Bai Fu's own methods to discredit her, an effort doomed to fail.
"Bai Fu, Bai Fu, Bai Fu..."
The Housekeeper kept repeating Bai Fu's name.
As he did so, he opened his communicator, typed out a long message, and sent it to the professional staff at Secret Tower assigned to handle external communications.
"Housekeeper, with the current atmosphere, is anyone really going to believe this stuff if we send it out?"
"Just send it. Don't worry about the rest."
Shortly after, renowned forums throughout the Initial Gate were abuzz with a new article.
[Bai Fu is really no saintess; her saintly image is a sham, and she is a complete fraud.]
The article laid out its conclusion with seemingly sound arguments, the issue being that its "evidence" couldn't be verified as "true."
For example, the article mentioned Reynolds and his statements, using them to argue that Bai Fu was a bad woman. But with Reynolds now believed to be in cahoots with the Secret Tower, could his words be trusted? Or, indeed, had he actually said such things? There was no confirmation.
The Housekeeper's instructed release of this article garnered significant attention online, but its impact on Bai Fu's reputation was nearly non-existent.
All this was within the Housekeeper's expectations.
For one, the reputation of the Secret Tower was already severely tarnished; an article of this nature would be immediately suspected of originating from the Secret Tower and dismissed as unreliable.
Secondly, Bai Fu's popularity was soaring; her victory on Xiu Dun Star had quickly provided her with a golden shield, making her invulnerable to slander.
The reason he had instructed his subordinates to post this article was mainly to serve as an indirect warning to Cecilia, to pierce through Bai Fu's true nature. Even if she couldn't fully grasp it, planting a seed of doubt was beneficial.
After publishing the article, the Housekeeper immediately met with the Secret Tower Master to discuss their next moves.
With the existence of the Parasite exposed, they needed to hasten their actions. Fortunately, they had secretly deployed Parasites in multiple locations before Reynolds's move, so even if civilizations like the Star Network became vigilant, it would hardly affect them. They had spent decades researching the Parasite; Star Network and other powers had no chance of deciphering it quickly.
"Right now, we have two urgent matters to address."
Upon receiving affirmation from the Secret Tower Master, the Director of the Special Intelligence Bureau, Alexis, began his report.
"First, continue deploying the Parasites to prepare for the great uprising."
"Second, plan an attack against the Blessing Sect to be executed during the uprising, with the aim of resolving the issue in one fell swoop and securing the True Spirit Pillar."
The Secret Tower Master nodded, "Those will be our primary focus for the upcoming actions, but in addition to those, we need to add one more thing..."
He looked around and declared his decision.
Bai Fu's displayed power was now a threat to the Secret Tower; they could no longer allow her to move around freely. They had to eliminate this threat as soon as possible, otherwise, who knew what kind of nasty surprise she might spring on them in the future.
This time, the Housekeeper did not oppose the Secret Tower Master's decision—he agreed that eliminating Bai Fu was becoming desperately urgent.
So, after a detailed discussion, the Secret Tower prioritized Bai Fu's assassination as one of the three critical tasks ahead.
They plotted a detailed strategy; relying solely on their own personnel for an assassination was too inefficient and risky. Therefore, they decided to issue a high bounty to the public, while simultaneously expediting their plan to use players infected with the Parasite to endanger Bai Fu.