Chapter 75: Fox Mask
What did you just say?
Clear what?! The Starbug’s toxins?!
’What kind of galactic joke is this.’
But this was what the soldiers themselves were saying during the war with the Swarm. It wasn’t just heard once—*all* the soldiers were shouting it with their arms raised in triumph!
The news blew up the entire StarNet. Countless people flooded the official page for the recent battle against the Swarm.
[What! I heard someone can actually clear Starbug toxins!]
[Who is this person?! I’ve never heard of anything like this in the entire Galaxy.]
[It’s that woman in the fox mask from just now!]
Finally, someone noticed something was off.
If there was one thing different about the official footage released this time, it was the woman wearing a fox mask.
It was normal for women to appear in the military; the armed forces had no shortage of females with high spiritual power. Some even held high-ranking positions.
But those women all wore military uniforms, and they certainly wouldn’t be wearing masks.
That made the woman in everyday clothes and a mask stand out conspicuously!
[It’s her. It has to be her. She’s the only variable this time.]
[How many years has it been? How many years has the war between the Empire and the Swarm been plagued by the toxin problem? Finally! Someone can finally clear the Starbugs’ toxins!] How could they not be excited!
[Right now, this instant, immediately, I need to know who this person is! I need to know who this hero is!]
[Keep watching! Maybe we’ll get an answer later in the video?]
Hearing this, everyone grabbed the video’s progress bar and skipped ahead.
But could someone please tell them why the video suddenly cut off right there?!
The public completely lost it: "???"
[AHHHH, official account, what are you doing! Who taught you how to edit videos like this!]
[Have you been watching too many celebrity videos? Now you’re starting to copy them? Who told you to only release the first part of the video!]
[Who the hell taught you to do this? As a citizen of the Empire, I command you to release the rest of the video for us right now, this instant! Do you hear me!]
The video was quite long, so the officials had always released it in several parts without much delay in between.
But this time, the clip ended on such an agonizing cliffhanger that the public was about to go crazy with anticipation.
The first half of the video was nerve-wracking to watch. Just as they were about to counterattack the Starbugs, the video just tells you it’s over.
How could they possibly be okay with that? One by one, they started frantically @ing the official account.
At the same time, everyone on the StarNet was furiously debating the identity of this mysterious woman.
They started digging like crazy, analyzing the single shot she appeared in frame by frame.
[Has anyone figured out who the woman in the fox mask is?]
[Look at her height, her build, and especially her hair color!]
The video showed that the woman had a head of beautiful, light blue hair. But this hair color was very common in the Galaxy, so the pool of candidates was too large to identify anyone immediately.
The StarNet was in an uproar, buzzing with discussion.
Just then, a comment appeared: [By the way, does anyone else think she looks like Sophie Wexler, the one who was hounded out of showbiz?]
Not only were her build and height quite similar, but her hair was also a light blue.
[Impossible. This woman can even clear Starbug toxins. There’s no way she’s some good-for-nothing with F-rank spiritual power.]
[Then could it be Rosalind Rhodes? I heard she’s started a second growth phase for her spiritual power, and she’s a Healer-class.]
[That’s possible.]
[It could also be someone from one of the great noble families.]
Everyone started guessing. It was then that a few inconspicuous comments appeared, worded very cautiously.
[Does anyone else think her hands look a lot like our Teacher Sue Shiver?]
Sue Shiver had never shown her face during her streams, but what appeared most on camera were her hands and the very bottom of her chin.
Her fans hadn’t seen her stream in a long time and had gone online to urge her to go live.
As it turned out, they happened to see the official video after getting online. They only watched for a moment before a sharp-eyed fan noticed something.
They took a screenshot, added some text, and posted it.
[You know, now that you mention it, they do look alike. Teacher Sue Shiver has a tiny mole on her wrist.]
[That really opens up a new line of thinking. And there’s a very important point you guys are forgetting: our Teacher Sue Shiver knows people from the Seventh Legion.]
[Right! Our Sue knows people from the Seventh Legion. During that one stream, people from the Seventh Legion even showed up to support her!]
As Sue Shiver’s fans were marveling at their discovery, some other users saw their posts.
They were immediately met with ridicule.
[LMAO, the crazies are really out today. You really have some imagination, trying to connect a streamer with the military. Do you even hear yourself?]
[You really think just because her stream is popular, she can start clout-chasing off the military? And now you’re trying to give her the credit, saying it’s your idol. That’s hilarious.]
[Don’t think that just because a few soldiers entered her stream, the entire military is your master’s backer.]
[Some people are so shameless. First, she took down Karina, and now she’s latching onto the military. You all had better recognize your place. A streamer should just stick to streaming. Don’t try to force your way into every circle!]
[Yeah, this streamer is a real marketing genius. How else could she have taken down Karina from the rival platform? She’s got some skills, huh?]
The rhetoric was so coordinated that even Sue Shiver’s fans started to get suspicious.
[You guys aren’t Karina’s paid trolls again, are you?]
After all, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d done something like this. She was probably still bitter about the last streaming competition and had been hiring people to slander Sue Shiver every now and then.
But it was all just petty harassment, and Sue Shiver’s fans paid it no mind.
But here they were again. Sue Shiver’s fans couldn’t even be bothered to argue with them this time.
The toxin-clearing incident was a huge topic on the StarNet, and people were speculating about all sorts of candidates. They were just making a guess, that’s all.
In their hearts, they also felt it was unlikely. Although Sue’s songs were beautiful and could soothe one’s Spiritual Sea...
...when it came to toxins, the idea that they were impossible to clear was deeply ingrained in the public consciousness. So, they subconsciously assumed the person responsible had to be someone incredibly powerful.
Instead of guessing here, it was more realistic for them to go pester Sue and see if they could get her to stream.
Just as they were about to leave, the official account released the second part of the video.
Seeing this, everyone immediately flocked to the video.
[Let me see, who is it!]
[What happened in the second half of the battle? This suspense is killing me.]
[How exactly were the toxins cleared!]
Amidst the crowd’s many questions, the video opened with a line: "***’s energy waves can clear the Starbug toxins! All troops, on my command, full-scale attack!"
The name was bleeped out.
[Damn it, who is it?! Just say the name!]
The next moment, a powerful, resounding voice boomed from the video: "Forward, forward, forward!"