Chapter 104

Chapter 104: The Unique Bai Fu, Harvesting Popularity [45k]

While Bai Fu was on her way back to the research institute, various UP hosts who had seen He Fu’s appearance earlier and rushed to create videos gradually released their hastily prepared clips.

Riding the wave of popularity is all about efficiency!

As the Minister of Propaganda for the Fu Sect, Jiujiao also promptly published her own miscellaneous talk video.

“Silent Courtyard News Express Special Edition (1) Black and White Twin Fu”

Times have changed. When she first entered the game, Jiujiao was just an unpopular UP with no more than thirty thousand followers, but now she is considered a star among the entire player base in Above the Stars, with 800,000 fans on the video site, and this number continues to rise.

Therefore, as soon as her video was released, it immediately attracted tens of thousands of players watching simultaneously.

[Here we go, support Jiujiao to make more videos related to Fu Fu.]

[For plot analysis, you still need to look at Jiujiao, cough at other UPs.]

[Baby, the village issued Fu Fu, come back quickly!]

The dense barrage of comments floated across the screen. After the elaborate introduction ended, Jiujiao appeared on the screen.

“Hello everyone, I’m sure you already know what happened just now, right? The head of the Fu Sect, Bai Fu, suddenly split into two, the black one cold as frost, the white one passionate as fire. Is this behind-the-scenes planning’s quirky humor or a deep expansion of the plot? To know the details, listen to my explanation!”

Coupled with scenes of He Fu brutally beating the Sand Worm BOSS, she began her analysis, playing up her usual style of over-imagining.

[I can guarantee that He Fu is not a replica of Bai Fu.]

[In my opinion, He Fu and Bai Fu should be twins, but they are different from ordinary twins; they should share one body.]

[Most of the time, Bai Fu takes the lead, while He Fu almost never goes out.]

[This time He Fu showed up, I speculate that it’s because a new plot is about to be released.]

[He Fu is probably the younger sister. Judging from her expression, her personality should lean towards being cold and aloof. She probably doesn’t like getting too close to Bai Fu, but Bai Fu is gentle and kind, always embracing this somewhat rebellious younger sister, truly touching sisterly affection!]

[Don’t worry, everyone. Although there are now two Fu Fu, Bai Fu remains unique.]

[That’s my guess. If I’m wrong, I’ll pester Bai Fu during the New Year to shoot a New Year’s video for everyone, okay?]

Jiujiao’s analysis sparked widespread discussion.

She had already “guessed correctly” many times before, so most players believed her words.

[Double the Fu Fu, double the joy!]

The most liked reply in the comment section was “I don’t care at all, can’t we replicate more Fu Fu? Preferably give each player a personal Fu Fu.”

“This round will probably gain quite a few more fans.”

Jiujiao happily opened the video website, but beyond expectations, under related topics, her video wasn’t the most popular.

There were experts?

She was a bit confused and quickly clicked on the currently highest-viewed video.

“What You Don’t Know About Above the Stars (Issue 7) On the Uniqueness of Bai Fu”

The UP who posted the video was called [CatHead], a newcomer UP. When most players were focusing on Bai Fu, he made many videos introducing other NPCs, which quickly became popular as other novice village players gradually came into contact with regional main quests.

At this stage, the hottest NPC on Source Star undoubtedly was Bai Fu, but CatHead’s videos also allowed NPCs such as the President of the Truth Society, Su Li, the top figure in the Darknet, and the warlord Luo Rui to gain a batch of loyal fans.

This time he suddenly changed his track and started making videos about Bai Fu, attracting a large number of players’ attention.

You really shouldn’t say anything.

Initially, Jiujiao was very puzzled why CatHead’s video was more popular than hers, but after watching it, she immediately understood. This video did not introduce either Bai Fu and He Fu, nor Bai Fu’s background, but instead took a different approach, using Bai Fu’s abilities to argue the “uniqueness” of Bai Fu as an NPC on Source Star.

CatHead’s core argument was that throughout the entire Source Star, only Bai Fu could produce Prayer Cards.

[I am not clear whether this is her talent ability or if she has mastered a unique special profession, but the fact is indeed true.]

[I won’t delve deeply into what this means, I’m not very good at this aspect, so I won’t embarrass myself.]

[To complete this video, I spent two weeks researching, interviewing a large number of NPCs, and obtaining relatively detailed data.]

After introducing the situation, CatHead began presenting evidence and showing interview videos.

First, he visited the libraries of two settlements, reading a large amount of material related to Spiritual Energy. None of the materials ever mentioned Prayer Cards.

Next, he interviewed more than twenty NPCs, including Su Li, who was quite popular among players recently, but even Su Li had never heard of any Spiritual Prayer Mage being able to manufacture Prayer Cards in the past.

[From this, we can see that Bai Fu is unique. At least on Source Star, no NPC can replace her functionality!]

[In fact, this is not an isolated case. If you want to transform your race into [Evolved Species], you can only join the Truth Society and then undergo transformation by Lab Director Ai De. That concludes this video. In the next episode, we will introduce the Truth Society’s boss [Crazy Doctor Ai De].]

Whether looking at the effort put into making the video or the topic itself, CatHead’s video completely surpassed other videos released simultaneously. Jiujiao felt she lost without any complaints.

Who wouldn’t be confused after watching this video?

Talent, or hidden profession?

If it’s a hidden profession, wow, that’s incredibly amazing!

All the players in the community got excited.

[I don’t think I’m mistaken, this is the first traceable hidden profession on Source Star, right?]

[A player on Fertility Star unlocked a hidden profession. Now he has become a VIP guest of the NPCs, enjoying delicious food every day, and living a great life.]

[Can we learn this hidden profession by increasing Bai Fu’s affinity?]

[It’s not necessarily a hidden profession. Maybe it’s a talent ability.]

[Talent ability is also amazing. Prayer Cards, aaaah, will we only be able to buy Prayer Cards in the Silent Courtyard in the future?]

[Then how will the arena work? I’ve almost been overwhelmed by Silent Courtyard players with Prayer Cards these days.]

[I’m really frustrated. Can we ban Bai Fu? This is too disruptive to game balance.]

…

When Bai Fu returned to the research institute, she noticed that the players were looking at her with eyes as fiery as if viewing a rare treasure.

It seems that in just a few short hours, the players had imagined a lot again.

She loudly praised all the players present first, then distributed the pre-prepared golden version of the Eye of Heaven Medal to these players.

“This is the Explorer Badge awarded to explorers. May you perceive the essence of life in silence!”

The players stationed at the research institute didn’t expect such treatment, and they cheered up instantly.

[Yay, I finally have the special Eye of Heaven Medal!]

Bai Fu nodded inwardly.

Although the skin change was lazy, it didn’t stop it from working effectively.

Unfortunately, if she could customize titles to give to the players, the effect would definitely be ten times better than it is now.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Bai Fu announced her new plan to the players—

Limited-time opening of the Research Institute Defense Instance!

Of course, she couldn’t directly tell the players that this was an instance. Doing so would reveal that she knew about Above the Stars…



It was merely a game, and from the perspective of an NPC, she had just announced this good news.

In short, the Psionic Primordial in the research institute was crucial, but it couldn’t be moved at the moment. Considering that the Psionic Primordial would continuously attract sand worms, she planned to transform the research institute into a defensive line, with He Fu stationed there to collaborate with players in clearing out the incoming sand worms.

After announcing the good news, Bai Fu casually changed the name of the research institute in the faction management interface to [Special Scene: Psionic Primordial Defense Battle]. With this change, the name of the research institute on the map interface also changed accordingly.

The players present took one look and immediately recognized this as a dungeon.

Earlier, Catcathead had argued from the perspective of prayer cards about Bai Fu’s uniqueness, and now Bai Fu had once again proven her uniqueness in other aspects by initiating the first dungeon on Source Star.

“Amazing!”

The news of the dungeon opening spread rapidly across the entire community like an apocalyptic flood.

At this point, even the most clueless players knew what this meant. It meant that before the dungeon closed, the players of Silent Courtyard would have a fixed spot for leveling up, and could more easily collect sand worm materials to exchange for money.

Leveling up, making money…

Bai Fu had resolved two major pain points for the Silent Courtyard players all at once. Shouldn’t they erect a cybernetic merit pillar?

“I unilaterally declare that Bai Fu has achieved sainthood in my eyes!”

If Jiujiao was called so because of her love for digging into plots, then Bai Fu had now transformed into a popularity-harvesting machine.

Harvesting, harvesting till numb!

However, amidst the enthusiastic discussions, there were not a few negative voices, mainly due to the stark contrast. Players who couldn’t experience these benefits inevitably felt some imbalance.

“Investigate Bai Fu thoroughly!”

“The planner lost their horse”

“Give me a Bai Fu, and I’ll forgive you; otherwise, let’s all explode together!”

Bai Fu helplessly shrugged while browsing through the community.

There must be losses with every gain; money can’t make everyone like it, let alone her. The current situation could already be considered a perfect start. She had almost done all the preliminary preparations she could. Whether or not she could achieve a grand three yuan would depend on how the deeper character portrayal she presented to the players in the subsequent plot unfolded.

Speaking of which, Bai Fu had a slight headache.

She wished she could have a main storyline like other “protagonists,” involving millenniums of love, lifetimes of hatred, love-hate relationships, youthful enthusiasm, or national rise, but alas, she couldn’t!

The way the planner added drama to her story was by enhancing her abilities and modifying her positioning, rather than crudely altering her backstory or arbitrarily adding various extra interpersonal relationships.

To win over players through the plot and shift their affection for her from “admiration for strength and benefits” to “attraction to personality charm and excellent background stories” still depended on her own efforts.

“Maybe I should find a few NPCs to act out a big play with me?”

Bai Fu shook her head; if they got caught, it would be hilarious.

She turned off the community. Although she didn’t mind if some players disliked her, this matter still needed caution. If players who disliked her acted as traitors and brought the Truth Society or Gene Progenitors over, it would be troublesome.

Recently, both the Truth Society and the Gene Progenitors had encountered significant troubles. Multiple bases of the Truth Society had been attacked, causing them to contract their forces, while the Gene Progenitors had been successively attacked by the Truth Society and Bai Fu, losing a large amount of research data. Currently, only the Railway Guild hadn’t yet revealed the secret about the Gene Progenitors’ creation of artificial humans, otherwise, the Gene Progenitors would become just as despised as the Truth Society.

But even if the Truth Society and the Gene Progenitors were in dire straits, Bai Fu didn’t dare underestimate them.

Even if they couldn’t spare the manpower themselves to deal with Silent Courtyard, they could hire assassins or wanderers from the Darknet or warlords from the wilderness to target Silent Courtyard.

“A precaution must be taken.”

Leaving He Fu to guard the research institute, Bai Fu quickly returned to Shelter No. 11. She posted numerous Dark Moon Eyes around the shelter for surveillance and secretly placed some more during her trip to Shelter No. 5 to discuss selling clothes to players with Gao Yuan.

“With this, we can prevent any incidents at Shelter No. 11 to the maximum extent.”

After finishing all this, Bai Fu temporarily relocated Anya and her mysterious shop near the research institute.

Since the research institute had become a dungeon, after receiving the message, a large number of players had rushed over. Staying at Shelter No. 11 to sell prayer cards would definitely yield much less profit than setting up shop at the entrance of the research institute.

However, Bai Fu also opened a new store at Shelter No. 11, with a NPC she had previously rescued from Black Eagle Base serving as the shopkeeper.

Seeing everything fall into place, Bai Fu began planning to grind experience and level up.

At this stage, she had two fixed sources of experience. The first was He Fu helping her make prayer cards, which earned her over 30,000 experience points daily. The second source was occasional assistance from He Fu in helping players eliminate sand worms, which wasn’t very stable but averaged around 10,000 experience points daily.

With this calculation, one He Fu could earn her 40,000 experience points daily. If there were ten He Fus…

Wow, she could directly add another nickname – plantation farm owner.

No, actually, she could already exclusively enjoy this nickname. Cultivating players is no different from cultivating crops.

“More than forty thousand a day, it will take two months to accumulate enough experience to unlock advanced classes. Too slow.”

Bai Fu decided to take the initiative.

She set her sights on missions from the Darknet and some wild bosses in the Goli Desert.

But just as she was about to act, an unexpected incident disrupted her plan. A group of players doing commission tasks in the desert were attacked by strangers. Most of the players were brutally killed, and some were captured alive, including Black Tiger Afu, a well-known battle maniac from Silent Courtyard.

“?!”

Questions filled Bai Fu’s head.

Every sizable wandering camp in the entire Goli Desert had been cleaned out by her. The smaller camps fled faster upon hearing the news. One could say that the Goli Desert was now Silent Courtyard’s backyard. Who dared to come to the Goli Desert and assault Silent Courtyard’s players?

Without hesitation, Bai Fu sprang into action.

This was another excellent opportunity to increase player affinity, and how could she possibly miss it?

“Take me there.”

Guided by the players, Bai Fu headed straight for the battle site.

By the time she arrived, the group had already left, but this posed no difficulty for her. The group had captured several players, and the players weren’t fools; they had activated real-time location sharing in the faction channel as soon as they were captured.

Using this real-time location, Bai Fu effortlessly found the culprits.

It was on a small dune about ten kilometers away from the “monster spawning box” she had discovered earlier.

A bright moon hung high in the sky. A group of people draped in white robes formed a circle, with the captured players tied up at the center. They appeared to be conducting a ritual, and the offerings for this ritual were the captured players.

“Use the blood of these demons to honor the departed prophet!”

One tall and strong figure among the white-robed people loudly directed the others.

The players surrounded in the middle cursed loudly: “You won’t die well aaaah!”

“It’s all your fault that my commission task failed! You son of a bitch!”

“You wait, I’ll be back!”

“Fufu, save me!”

Bai Fu, observing from afar, twitched her lips.

Yes, yes, I’m coming to save you.

PS: Tomorrow there will be two updates.

Thank you to Lan Wen Chang for the generous tip.

Also, thank you to Ge Shui Li Yue for the previous Silver Alliance, which boosted Bai Fu’s star value to second rank. On Qidian, there’s a third-rank Q version of Bai Fu’s image. After flipping the card, you should be able to see it after the latest chapter.

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