“`html
Chapter 58: The First Step to Becoming a Boss
Spirit Energy Origin
Quest Description: Xia Shi shared with you her past experiences. Is the mysterious file 001 truly in existence? Does the content recorded in the file hold any truth? Sealed history awaits your exploration!
Quest Objective: Find the 001 file mentioned by Xia Shi.
Reward: 30,000 Experience Points, Exploration Progress, and Reminiscence Fragments.
Accept/Decline
A quest unfolds before Bai Fu, who accepts it without hesitation.
The reward may not be very high for her now, but the Exploration Progress and Reminiscence Fragments piqued her interest. This was an abstract reward she had never encountered before. Even if she wasn’t seeking a way out of the Source Star and into the Celestial Sea, she wanted to see what these rewards were.
“Where is that laboratory?” Bai Fu asked.
Xia Shi did not hide it: “It’s in Sea City, but the laboratory is underground, making it inaccessible to most people. I’ll help you find it next time we return to Sea City.”
For now, this seemed to be the only solution.
Bai Fu wasn’t affiliated with the Gene Progenitor, so it was impossible for her to enter the laboratory easily. Thus, she could only rely on Xia Shi for assistance.
The car sped through the streets, and after about fifteen minutes, they finally arrived at Lin En’s place.
As soon as they got off, Lu Yulin sent Li Cheng to the interrogation room and sealed off the news, given its significance. Even someone usually indifferent became serious at this moment.
Bai Fu sat in the long corridor.
No one approached her, but everyone whispered as they passed by. Most felt shocked or skeptical, while a few saw her as their savior.
“The person I brought here and the documents you requested.”
At this moment, the Team Leader led Anya out from the depths of the corridor and handed Bai Fu a hard drive containing advanced spiritual knowledge.
He smiled like a sunflower.
“Don’t worry; if Li Cheng’s old man causes trouble, you can count on me. Here’s my contact information.”
Bai Fu didn’t hesitate to accept his offer.
After answering some simple questions in Si Chu, she returned to Xia Shi’s home ahead of time.
She let Anya take a bath while she claimed her reward for the quest “[Who is the Spy?]”.
A transparent glass bottle appeared in her hand, containing an oral liquid. She drank it down without hesitation, as she was wary of injecting medication.
Her stomach burned with a strange sensation, which quickly intensified. Bai Fu was prepared and remained silent, having feared using the enhancement potion in the car might cause a disturbance.
She quietly endured the sharp pain spreading from her muscles, occasionally feeling a softening of her bones. Honestly, this feeling was worse than unlocking the Evolution Blood template.
[1%… 2.3%…]
The progress bar slowly climbed.
After several minutes, all discomfort vanished, and the progress bar reached full value.
[Your Evolution Blood template has been strengthened.]
[You gained 5 Strength, 4 Agility, and 2 Constitution.]
[You gained the talent [Robust Body].]
This result delighted Bai Fu. Her attributes had increased significantly, and she unexpectedly gained a new talent.
The effect of Robust Body was straightforward: +200 Health Points and +2% resistance to all abnormalities. With low resistance, its value wasn’t immediately apparent, but the 200 HP was crucial for Bai Fu now.
Bai Fu checked her attribute panel. Current experience was 222,048 points. She invested experience points in the Spiritual Prayer Mage profession, raising its level to Lv6.
With this upgrade, her attributes surged.
[Health Points]: 1362/1410
[Spirit Energy]: 195/195
[Attributes]: Strength 18, Agility 19, Constitution 59, Intelligence 11, Spirit 21, Inspiration 33
Compared to before, her maximum health increased by 360 points, nearly doubling Li Cheng’s.
She felt like she could take on bosses now.
With her upgraded strength, she could kill Li Cheng without reducing his stamina, relying solely on her agility advantage.
Bai Fu roughly calculated that ordinary elite monsters (with templates and talents) would have around 500-1000 health points even at Level 30. Currently at Level 16, by Level 30, her health might exceed 2000.
If she had to describe herself now, she’d choose “Super Tough.”
“Just by looking at health bars, I already have a bit of boss flair, but to truly become a boss, I need better talents, rare professions, and templates.”
Bai Fu inserted the hard drive from Lu Yulin into Xia Shi’s terminal.
During her last visit to Si Chu’s meeting room, she unlocked a spiritual knowledge chain and a new skill due to limited time. Now, she absorbed the remaining incomplete spiritual knowledge chain (7).
Surprisingly, after mastering 46% of the spiritual knowledge chain (7), she discovered a fragmented spiritual profession: [Apprentice Soul Painter], perfect for battling with spirit cards.
“So, the upper and lower sections were connected!”
Bai Fu thought of the prayer card blueprint she received from Li Cheng.
If she hadn’t decided on a path before, she now knew what to do.
Yes, she’d learn this!
Bai Fu had been contemplating how to leverage her popularity among players for continuous revenue.
Money isn’t everything, but without it, nothing is possible.
Clearly, manipulating players to give her their money wouldn’t work and would tarnish her reputation. Selling ads like the Digging Fairy couldn’t sustain her either. So, she decided to sell goods.
What could she sell persistently? Bai Fu pondered.
First, becoming a popular idol and selling photo books, merchandise, and handshake tickets was out of the question.
Second, selling professional knowledge books wasn’t viable since players could easily duplicate them, leaving her with little profit. Instead, she considered offering these books as quest rewards or as small surprises to boost player affinity.
The emergence of the Soul Painter profession solved Bai Fu’s dilemma.
The Soul Painter profession was strong, much stronger than her current Spiritual Prayer Mage. The prayer cards made by Soul Painters were valuable tools players could always use, perfect for continuously earning gold.
But that was for later. Currently, she hadn’t unlocked the Soul Painter profession. Although she could make prayer cards after learning the blueprint, the success rate was dismally low.
[Custom Card · Fervor Lv3]: 25% Success Rate
[Custom Card · Battle Etiquette]: 20% Success Rate
Even with the luck talent boosting success rates, these figures were disappointing.
Bai Fu temporarily didn’t plan to invest too much effort. She’d try making a few prayer cards to test their effectiveness.
Si Chu shouldn’t have major disturbances in the coming days, and the Truth Society wouldn’t immediately send assassins. This was a rare leisurely period, and she decided to use it to connect with players.
She opened the community to see what players arriving in Lin En were doing.
The community buzzed with excitement. All posts discussed her battle with Li Cheng and others.
“360-degree Appreciation of Fu Fu’s Combat Photos”
“God Descends to Earth and Defeats Seven! This is the Power of Technology!”
“Technology? Mysticism! Victory Lies in Controlling Opponents to Throw Their Weapons”
Players ranted, sometimes shouting “Fu Fu Leg Play Year,” and debated which professions were superior.
Occasionally, Bai Fu saw comments from players who experienced the battle firsthand.
Most felt regretful, lamenting their lack of power despite participating in the plot, leading to minimal gains.
“Ah, I wonder if Fu Fu had a good impression of me today.”
“Dang, I feel like I lost a billion. It’s all because there weren’t enough buses between the Abandoned Cooling Plant and Lin En. Otherwise, I could have improved Fu Fu’s affinity earlier with Da and the others.”
“Still, I should improve my strength. Based on previous situations, without unlocking advanced professions, even if affinity is high, I won’t get quests.”
“I saw someone trying to follow the ‘Convert to Me Fu’ method to take out loans, but smart gangsters killed him. Hilarious.”
“I’m going to buy a gun. With a gun, missions will be easier.”
“Where can I buy one? Take me with you.”
The most frequent words in replies were “buy guns” and “level up through missions.”
Bai Fu raised her eyebrows. She found a way to increase player affinity and earn quick money.
It was foreseeable that more players would come from the Abandoned Cooling Plant to buy guns, just like those posting in forums.
Buying guns costs money. If someone profits from players, why not her?
The only issue was she didn’t produce guns. But that was fine; she could be a middleman.
Bai Fu targeted two sources.
First, Si Chu. Every so often, Si Chu retired worn-out firearms. Her plan was to buy these and resell them to players.
She wasn’t worried about damaging her reputation; it’s not bad products, just bad prices!
These guns might be subpar, but to professionals, they were still valuable, especially when priced low.
Just like selling mining cards on a seafood market, if you price them high, you’re out of luck. But if you clearly state you’re selling mining cards at a low price, you’re the Rain of Relief!
Second, gangs consistently selling firearms.
Bai Fu planned to have players raid these gangs under the guise of testing them, then sell the weapons she secretly confiscated from the gangs to players.
PS: Thanks to TELSIGAR for the donation. There are still 6,000 words to come tonight.
“`