When You Become an NPC That Might Die Any Moment in the Novice Village

He had the backing of a Cosmic Civilization, but so did other factions.

Bai Fu didn't say or ask anything, she simply went with the flow, echoing Nellis and the Leader's words, criticizing those who were causing trouble in the Tem Civilization.

Subsequently, Nellis went out to preside over the banquet.

Today's banquet had two purposes: first, to communicate thoroughly with the members within the camp to unify their thoughts once again, and second, to discuss the upcoming special operations.

Since the assassination attempt ten days ago, internet public opinion had been raging like a flood, yet the factions of the Tem Civilization had remained remarkably quiet, merely proceeding routinely with their factions' candidates giving speeches across the regions.

However, everyone was clear that this was merely the calm before the storm.

There were still 12 days until the formal vote of the Leader election. At this stage, the situation in the election had become relatively clear.

Nellis and Ranie were far ahead among all the candidates, with the candidates put forward by the Old Nobles and New Military Nobles having pitiful, if not non-existent, competitive ability.

If things continued like this, the new Leader would be a choice between Nellis and Ranie.

Clearly, the Old Nobles and the New Military Nobles would not accept this outcome; they were bound to cause trouble.

But whether they would cause trouble before the official election or after the results were released was hard to say.

"Once those people cause trouble, their first step will definitely not be to launch a full military attack against us. Instead, they'll try to sabotage our military factories, warehouses, and especially the shipping lanes!"

Nellis pulled up a virtual map.

Being able to reach his current position, aside from the backing of a Cosmic Civilization, Nellis also had support from many other distinguished forces, the most famous of which was—

Arctic Power.

Arctic Power was a security company with operations extending to Titan Industry.

They didn't directly exert military force but supplied everything from small-scale laser guns to large-space fortress ships.

It was because of the support from Arctic Power that Nellis remained calm, despite knowing he might face attacks from both the Old Nobles and the New Military Nobles.

However, if the general-use transportation lane from Arctic Power to the Costari Governor District were cut off, he certainly wouldn't be able to remain calm.

Without enough high-performance warships, having a group of Catastrophe Level and Dominator would absolutely not be enough to win in large-scale interstellar wars.

"We must make sure these lanes are not damaged, otherwise once the war starts, we will be extremely passive," Nellis said as he looked around, beginning to assign tasks.

Bai Fu was responsible for defending a place called the Lockheed Observatory, which, located millions of light-years from the Costari Governor District, had a natural wormhole nearby suitable for quick warps.

Accompanying her were two Catastrophe Levels, the Meat Shield Gene Modifier "Steel Curtain" and the Spiritual Mind Master "Marlon," both of whom had a small renown in the mercenary circles of the Tem Civilization and its adjacent regions.

"Just defending one shipping lane requires the deployment of two Catastrophe Levels and my team; the major factions of the Tem Civilization really do possess substantial power," Bai Fu thought silently.

For this operation, she again didn't bring Fei Ye, the main reason being his identity was too sensitive.

Although both she and Fei Ye were members of Star Contract, everyone knew she was just a nominal member, whereas Fei Ye was truly a part of Star Contract.

If Fei Ye also came to help Nellis, it could easily lead to the misconception that Star Contract was preparing to fully support Nellis. To avoid this misunderstanding, Fei Ye had to stay away.

As Bai Fu pondered, a game notification sounded in her ears.

[You have triggered a Camp Task "The Unfallen Gate"]

The task requirement was to defend the Lockheed Observatory and the nearby natural wormhole for 20 days, with rewards of 5 million Credit Points, 100 million to 3 billion Experience Points, and 0 to 500 Contribution.

This was a quite regular Camp Task.

Credit Points and Experience Points go without saying, but Contribution was a valuable asset.

Though this value wouldn't explicitly display in front of NPCs, through Contribution, one could judge how substantial a contribution was needed to satisfy an NPC's demands during negotiations, making it an important measure.

Of course, some camps really calculated Contribution, such as the Three Major Cosmic Civilizations, whose super artificial intelligences had the capability to standardize, digitize, and rationalize everything.

"Given the situation is so urgent, I won't delay here, I'll take my team to Lockheed as soon as possible," Bai Fu declared.

Steel Curtain and Marlon exchanged a look, also expressing they would follow immediately.

Traveling with Bai Fu filled them with confidence for this mission, but it also spurred a strong sense of competition within them.

If they could outshine Bai Fu in this task, their mercenary group could gain fame across the entire Edge World, or even if they couldn't surpass Bai Fu, a remarkable performance could still bring them numerous benefits.

After the banquet ended, everyone from Nellis's camp sprang into action.

Bai Fu immediately found the first batch of several hundred thousand players she had brought along.

These players had joined Nellis's Camp with her, so there was no need for her to issue additional tasks; she just had to give a pre-battle mobilization speech.

...

Several days later.

In the vicinity of Lockheed Observatory in the Helm's Wheel System,

Hundreds of ships, bearing no flags or markings, suddenly appeared.