Chapter 139

Chapter 139: Unlocking the Dark Attribute, Becoming the True Overlord of the Night [7k]

[The most free gameplay combined with the most patient players brings the biggest and most explosive game news of the week!]

[Above the Stars, a magical game where even if your skills are lacking, you can still triumph through intelligence.]

[A true role-playing game; here, you can even play as the King of Spies.]

[Starting with Tai Ergen, we’ll take an in-depth look at Bai Fu and her Silent Courtyard.]

After lavishing praise on Tai Ergen, Silver Wing Killer, and others, Bai Fu left the central plaza and retreated to a corner to browse new posts in the community and some newly released videos on video websites.

Although the spy incident had just begun to escalate, the related posts and videos were extremely popular. The hottest video had over 50,000 simultaneous viewers. A quick scroll through the comment section revealed many newcomers asking whether Above the Stars was fun to play.

[If you ask me whether it’s fun, my answer is definitely yes. But gaming is a very subjective matter. I suggest you watch some videos first before making a decision. @Jiujiao’s treasure-hunting videos are excellent. Her videos don’t focus on basic operations but rather emphasize immersion.]

[The previous commenter makes it too hard for Jiujiao. Even if she wanted to, she might not have the ability to explain the basics.]

[LOL, be careful, or Jiujiao will block you.]

Some newcomers were immediately captivated by the game’s visuals and high degree of freedom. They were more concerned about whether version 1.2 was suitable for beginners and how they should get started.

At this point, the answers from those enthusiastic players who helped clear their doubts were surprisingly consistent—

[If you don’t have any particular preferences for starting professions or races, then I would say that the best place for new players now is Bai Fu Town on Source Star. This is the common recommendation of all UPs who make strategy videos. Newcomers joining the Silent Courtyard can avoid most of the things that casual gamers find annoying. For specific details, you can check out some relevant videos.]

Browsing through the posts, Bai Fu couldn’t help but smile.

You’re doing great, keep promoting it like this, and bring more new players into the Silent Courtyard!

It must be said that her decision to establish her own faction was absolutely correct.

Her looks indeed brought her a lot of player attention, but tangible benefits were what tied the players closely to her.

Of course, if she really pushed it, she could rely solely on her appearance to attract a large group of players chasing after her, such as transforming herself into a digital welfare girl or a cyber goddess of mercy. But playing like that isn’t about reaching the upper limit but the lower one.

What if someone came along and tried to imitate her? Would she compete with the imitator to see who could go lower?

Even if she dared, there’s no guarantee the official side wouldn’t see the negative impact and ban her outright.

This way is much better.

Stick with Bai Fu Miao, stick with Bai Fu Miao at the Silent Courtyard of Source Star!

Bai Fu knew that Tai Ergen’s popularity was currently high, but this wave wouldn’t last long. It was a fast-paced era, with various explosive news stories popping up every day to grab people’s attention.

“I need to finish shooting the documentary before this wave of popularity fades. This way, I can ride Tai Ergen’s popularity to boost my own.”

An NPC filming a documentary about NPCs—how novel! If this news accidentally made it onto mainstream media reports…

Bai Fu thought that even if she couldn’t become the hostess of Above the Stars, she would definitely be used by the officials for a period of promotion.

Who wouldn’t love such positive attention?

With excitement, Bai Fu closed the community and video website. She had already seen some level 1 newcomers around the respawn point in Bai Fu Town. The newcomers were full of curiosity upon arriving.

“Wow, this game is so realistic.”

“You really can’t take off your pants?”

“Where is Bai Fu?”

“So, what should we do now? Join the Silent Courtyard and do quests?”

The newcomers looked around and were soon drawn to a large group of veteran players gathered together. Out of curiosity, they squeezed in.

Upon getting closer, they discovered that the veterans surrounded a special store called “Anya’s Mystery Shop.”

The shop was decorated mysteriously, with a strong divination vibe. On the back wall hung a huge simple drawing of an eye, below which were placed several cylindrical containers. The other walls held black shelves stocked with various kinds of cards.

“Card enthusiast paradise?”

The newcomers paused for a moment, quickly realizing that things weren’t as simple as they seemed.

Inside the shop, a black-haired lolita was directing a group of tiny lolitas, each only about 3-40cm tall, to move items. Despite their short arms and legs, which required them to jump over thresholds, they moved the items very efficiently. In less than a few minutes, the shop was stacked with hundreds of white cardboard boxes adorned with colorful ribbons.

“That’s enough, we can’t fit any more. You guys can rest now and come back later to continue.”

Anya dismissed the little Black FUs who were moving the items, then walked to the counter with a warm smile.

“I’m sure everyone is curious about what these things are, right?”

“For this celebration event, to thank everyone for their support of Boss Fu Fu, our store is offering a special discount. However, Mr. Gao Yuan felt that simply discounting wasn’t enough to express his gratitude. Therefore, in addition to the discount, we’ve also launched activities where you can exchange blessings for free items and receive special gift boxes when spending a certain amount!”

“The gift boxes are the white boxes next to my feet.”

Clang clang!

Anya pointed to the pile of gift boxes on the ground.

“I’m not entirely sure what’s inside each box. Mr. Gao Yuan said he stuffed each box with very special gifts. How special? Last night, Mr. Gao Yuan specially approached Boss Fu Fu, who found the activity interesting and handed over some items she doesn’t use anymore as gifts for this event. Among them is her favorite electric knife she used before, and…”

When the word “electric knife” was mentioned, the surrounding veteran players lost interest in anything else Anya might say.

Shit, shit shit shit!

Electric knife?

Isn’t that the equipment that accompanied Fu Fu in numerous battles, slaying several high-level bosses?

Even players outside the Silent Courtyard had heard of Bai Fu’s electric knife. After all, it had appeared multiple times in videos edited by Jiujiao and other players. The scene of Bai Fu wielding the knife with one hand, slashing while sprinting and creating flashes of electricity, was one of the favorite scenes recreated by content creators.

“Can we really draw Fu Fu’s electric knife from the gifts?”

“No cheating!”

Anya gave a definitive answer.

The veteran players were first shocked, completely unexpected that Bai Fu would offer her electric knife as a prize, followed by overwhelming joy.

“Is this electric knife really that powerful?”

A newcomer asked curiously.

The nearby veteran players gleamed with excitement: “Powerful, how could it not be? As everyone knows, Fu Fu’s electric knife is an orange-quality advanced piece of equipment, and there’s no restriction on usage level. Not just us, if you get it, you’ll instantly become an expert, cutting down sandworms with a single strike!”

“This isn’t even the best part.” At this point, Convert to Me Fu also stepped forward. “That’s a weapon used by Fu Fu herself, ah! Using it as a weapon is such a waste—it’s an ultimate electronic collectible! Anyway, the electric knife is mine, none of you dare to compete with me!”

“…”

The newcomers were dumbfounded by Convert to Me Fu’s behavior.

In fact, there were quite a few players around reacting similarly to Convert to Me Fu.

“To put it simply, once you draw that electric knife, whether you use it, collect it, or sell it to other players who need it, you’ll make a fortune. No more talk, buying prayer cards comes with a gift box, right? Give me ten!”

The veteran players rushed toward Anya excitedly, scaring the newcomers who had just entered the game.

“Who would have thought that upon entering the game, we’d encounter a discount event? I’ve heard that the prayer cards of the Silent Courtyard are powerful, and we’ve arrived at the perfect time.”

“Buying prayer cards gives gift boxes, and the gift boxes contain high-grade weapons used by the NPC themselves. These NPCs are too considerate!”

“That’s right, they wear their generosity on their sleeves!”

The newcomers were infected by the excited atmosphere and felt they had come to the right place.

Working under such generous NPCs, surely many good days awaited them in the future.

Some of the newcomers became clever-minded. Prayer cards would be bought eventually, whether sooner or later. Buying them now also came with a gift box, and if they opened something valuable, selling it could turn a profit.

Charge!

Uh, wait, they didn’t seem to have money on them?

[How could I, a proud player, be stopped by a small amount of money?]

These newcomers immediately turned away and began devising ways to earn money. Initially, they had just wanted to casually explore the game, but within minutes of entering, they had become some of the hardest-working cabbages in Bai Fu’s secret garden.

About fifteen minutes later, the first lucky player emerged.

“Got it! Got it! It’s Fu Fu’s personal grenade launcher. Haha, a single draw miracle, now I’ve made a fortune! I’ve always wanted to get one of these, but I never dared to buy it!”

The cries of excitement spread like a domino effect, and some players who hadn’t gotten anything good despite opening several gifts turned red-eyed.

“Damn, you’re a bot, why did I only get a regular pistol?”

“Hey, are you selling? I’ll pay extra!”

“Not selling, not selling, I’m keeping it for myself. Even if you double the price, I won’t sell.”

Amidst the clamor, some members of major guilds arrived. Compared to ordinary players, big guilds like Iron Rain and Zhongyi Hall wanted the electric knife even more because having it would give them more confidence in clearing the newly-released dungeon. Even if they didn’t get the electric knife, getting the “power shoes,” “limited celestial burial prayer card,” or “limited dispel prayer card” mentioned by Anya would be fantastic.

Members of the major guilds were confident in drawing prizes because their wealth far surpassed that of ordinary players. They could open more gift boxes than ordinary players, and with more boxes opened, they were bound to get lucky.

Their arrival caused panic among the other players.

They had been hesitating whether to spend all their money on prayer cards to exchange for gift boxes, but now they realized that if they hesitated any longer, the good stuff might be swept up by the big guilds.

“Give me two more!”

“Damn, I need to borrow some money.”

“Buddy, let’s pool our money and buy together. We’ll sell whatever good stuff we get and split the profits, okay?”

The players used all sorts of tricks. Luckily, Anya’s mystery shop was built to high specifications; otherwise, it might have collapsed under the pressure of these now highly capable players.

“The Calamity Tycoon has arrived!”

At this moment, shouts rang out again in the crowd.

Calamity Dragon and Jiujiao squeezed through from the back. The wealthy Calamity Dragon immediately bought a large number of prayer cards, obtaining 20 gift boxes from Anya.

Everyone held their breath as Calamity Dragon prepared to open all 20 boxes at once!

As Calamity Dragon opened them one by one, he finally managed to pull out a pair of shoes.

“Could it be Fu Fu’s personally-used nine-nine-new shoes?”

“What, Fu Fu’s shoes, let me see?”

“Slurp—”

Calamity Dragon shook his head: “It’s power shoes, purple gear, agility-enhancing.”

Upon hearing this, disappointed sighs echoed around.

“Ah, it’s not a lunch box?”

“???”

No, buddy, you’re here to draw equipment, not to eat in the cafeteria!

This lively scene continued until evening, reaching its peak when an unknown passerby player hit the jackpot, successfully pulling out the electric knife that all players had been eyeing.

“Eww! Yes! I got it! Hahaha…”



Anya’s mysterious shop was in utter chaos, and so was the community. Envy, jealousy, and those just looking for entertainment were all drawn over by this wave of single-draw miracles.

Some players were criticizing the lucky player who got the miracle in a single draw, calling them “Euro-spear,” while others regretted not being born in the Silent Courtyard to enjoy such benefits. Still, others were going crazy, hoping Xiao Bai Fu would add some popular items into the gift box.

All sorts of discussions blended together, giving all players the impression that the Silent Courtyard was incredibly generous, especially Xiao Bai Fu herself.

[Suggest all NPCs learn from Bai Fu]

[When will Fu Fu bring the Silent Courtyard to our place?]

“Good, good, good.”

Xiao Bai Fu, who was observing the situation through her avatar at home, was rolling around on her bed with joy.

This celebration event achieved tremendous success as she had anticipated. Now, all players in the Silent Courtyard were mobilized; half were doing quests to gain experience and then buying things or challenging dungeons, while the other half were making money through quests to buy blind boxes from Anya.

Even the hardest-working farmers couldn’t match the diligence of these players.

What was more crucial was that these players didn’t feel exploited at all, instead proclaiming there wasn’t a better name than hers.

Bai Fu, look, how “white,” how righteous!

They had no idea that Bai Fu was essentially “Hei Fu,” and Hei Fu was essentially “Bai Fu.”

Bai Fu was glad she had prepared early last night by releasing Hei Fu. Even so, both Hei Fu and Xiao Hei Fu’s hands were nearly rubbed raw, barely managing to keep up with the players’ impulsive consumption.

“Money, experience, come to me, and I’ll take good care of you!”

Only at home, where there were no other people, could Bai Fu indulge herself so freely.

There was no way out; after holding back for so long, one had to vent properly. Pretending to be a Holy Maiden all the time was exhausting.

After watching the commotion for a while, Bai Fu noticed her doorbell ringing.

“Who is it?”

“Who else? It’s me, of course!”

Su Li stood at the door, arms crossed, almost blocking the peephole with her chest, coming with great momentum.

She arrived exactly as she said she would in the evening.

Bai Fu opened the door, and the moment it opened, Su Li lunged at her.

“Bai Fu, I’ll fight you!”

Su Li used a move called ‘Charge with Ball,’ already imagining the entire process of sitting Bai Fu down and knocking her over.

As a martial artist, Su Li did have the strength to bully Bai Fu, but she severely underestimated Bai Fu’s current speed. Even without wearing combat gear, only in a regular pajama and ordinary socks, Bai Fu easily dodged her attack, causing Su Li to collide headfirst into the wall.

“How old are you now, acting like a child?”

Bai Fu casually closed the door, completely forgetting what she had been doing on the bed earlier.

“You said you came here for something important, right? Tell me about it.”

She sat on the sofa, legs crossed, watching Su Li with interest.

Su Li was frustrated. She glared fiercely at Bai Fu’s smugly swinging foot, wanting nothing more than to pounce and bite Bai Fu if she could, but she no longer had that capability.

“Are you really not a succubus? Have you not used any long-range charm techniques on those undead?”

“What do you think?”

Su Li pinched Bai Fu’s foot: “Feels human.”

Bai Fu frowned: “Don’t take advantage of the situation. If you don’t tell me the real matter soon, I’ll block your mouth.”

Su Li straightened her body: “It’s actually quite simple. Our Railway Guild originally intended to cultivate a group of undead as a special task force, specifically for missions requiring deep penetration into contaminated areas. But now most of the undead we recruited have run to you, forcing us to terminate the plan. The higher-ups are helpless but dare not say anything to you since you just killed the President of the Truth Society a few days ago. So they’ve decided to cooperate with you. Take a look at this meeting summary; the conditions are very generous, and you won’t lose out.”

Bai Fu took the document from Su Li. It was an employment contract. The Railway Guild wanted to hire players under her command, offering slightly above-market-rate employment fees, opening cooperation between intelligence departments, providing assistance in the reconstruction of the Goli Desert, etc. An additional condition was that if both parties cooperated, the Silent Courtyard could no longer help the Former Republic.

In general, the Railway Guild would give more.

Bai Fu understood. The Railway Guild was actually trying to win her over. After eliminating the President of the Truth Society, most people on the Source Star believed she was the strongest superhuman, the female superhero of the Source Star.

Facing a superhuman of her level, even large factions had to respond carefully. The Source Star was ultimately just a wasteland world, unlike other tech planets with large-scale thermal weapons.

After some thought, Bai Fu realized cooperating with the Railway Guild would benefit her.

Although many people liked to call her with terms like queen, she wouldn’t really stay on the Source Star as a queen. She had neither the interest nor the ability to get involved in politics or management. Letting the Railway Guild cooperate with the Silent Courtyard to implement her Source Star reconstruction plan might be the safest choice, provided the Railway Guild was trustworthy and wouldn’t drag her down.

While Bai Fu was thinking, Su Li was extremely nervous inside.

She clearly knew Bai Fu was no longer the Bai Fu from before. The huge change made her unsure how to face Bai Fu, so she covered her unease by being noisy. Fortunately, even though Bai Fu’s strength had increased significantly, her attitude towards Su Li remained the same—annoyed yet affectionate.

“I want to add a condition.” Bai Fu suddenly said.

Su Li asked: “What condition?”

Bai Fu said: “Once we cooperate, I hope the person responsible for maintaining communication between your side and ours is you.”

Su Li was stunned for a moment but quickly realized that Bai Fu was lifting her up. After the players left, her department basically became defunct, which was a significant blow to her career. However, Bai Fu’s support made her future brighter than ever.

[Su Li? That’s my Bai Fu’s protected person. You Railway Guild should handle it accordingly!]

“I’m moved. I should probably do something, otherwise, I’d feel bad. Family martial arts, harmony of waist and horse, genuine craftsmanship, guaranteed satisfaction!”

Bai Fu quickly pulled her foot back: “Don’t have wild ideas. We’re discussing serious matters. If you really want to do something, find someone to repair my combat suit. By the way, a film company from the Railway Guild wants to talk to me later. Come with me and help me vet them.”

Su Li was startled: “A film company? What are you planning to do?”

“They want me to shoot a documentary.” Bai Fu stood up. “Here’s a secret: when dealing with undead, you must know how to promote yourself.”

While Su Li was lost in thought, Bai Fu entered the bedroom, changed into more formal clothes and shoes, and threw the broken combat suit to Su Li.

“Let’s go.”

Bai Fu met with a representative of the film company that had contacted Gao Yuan.

The representative of the film company was already cautious and became even more careful upon seeing Su Li, a mid-to-high-level member of the Railway Guild.

Bai Fu discussed the details of filming the documentary with him in detail. This company’s ambition was greater than she imagined.

They wanted to package Bai Fu as a super idol of the Source Star and then use this popularity to make money from players. The boss of the company immediately saw Bai Fu’s extraordinary influence among players.

“Selling merchandise? Good idea.”

Collaborating with film companies, model production companies, and a bunch of other companies, creating a Source Star version of Corporation B.

B = BAIFU.

“As long as you have strength and popularity, there are truly many ways to make money.”

Bai Fu couldn’t help but marvel. She had already envisioned her future of raking in money daily.

In the next two days, Bai Fu finalized the cooperation details with the film company and the Railway Guild respectively.

The film company sent a production team that day, and the Railway Guild also seized the opportunity, deciding to start the first collaboration with Bai Fu immediately to deepen their relationship.

Bai Fu’s current influence was too great. Even if the various powers didn’t want to collaborate, they still had to seriously consider how to interact with Bai Fu in the future.

The cooperative mission sent by the Railway Guild was to send players to the western wilderness of the Railway Guild to investigate the movements of a high-level mutated creature, preparing to exterminate this restless high-level mutated creature in the future.

Bai Fu was excited upon hearing this mission.

High-level mutated creature?

Isn’t that what she wanted to deal with?

“To show sincerity, this time I will personally lead some undead to deal with that mutated creature.”

The Railway Guild was shocked by Bai Fu’s reply.

Was Bai Fu’s sincerity this strong?

They had always been wary of Bai Fu and were somewhat dissatisfied because Bai Fu cared for Su Li, but now it seemed Bai Fu was indeed a decent person!

Su Li was her friend; why shouldn’t she help her friend?

The Railway Guild’s people’s affinity for Bai Fu greatly increased, and Su Li’s treatment also improved.

After receiving the detailed mission information from the Railway Guild, Bai Fu acted immediately. She wanted to quickly max out her level, skill levels, stats, and equipment, then lead the players to overthrow the alien behind the manipulation of the gene progenitor. Only then could she confidently push forward with her Source Star reconstruction plan.

The players had almost bought themselves sick with prayer cards recently, and they hadn’t done fewer commission tasks either. Hearing that they had a chance to go out with Bai Fu, they enthusiastically signed up.

Bai Fu selected a batch of players with potential and set off with them and Anya.

Calling it a journey, but for her, it was just an outing.

Her ultra-high spiritual energy resistance allowed her to ignore most of the spiritual pollution on the Source Star, and that high-level mutated creature was no match for her.

Bai Fu let Anya lead the players to search for the target monster, also allowing the players to get accustomed to working with Anya beforehand.

After finding the high-level mutated creature, she personally dealt with it, effortlessly defeating it.

[Contaminated Core (Rare)]

Bai Fu picked up the item dropped by the high-level mutated creature from the ground. This was a key material for making the Dark Scepter.

At the same time, she received a notification that her spiritual energy attribute breakthrough mission was complete.

[Attribute conversion in progress, please wait, current progress 1%…2%…100%]

[Your spiritual energy attribute has been converted to [Darkness]]

[Darkness]: Skills or normal attacks hitting the target will leave part of the spiritual energy in the target’s body. When the residual spiritual energy accumulates to a certain extent, it will cause debuffs such as attribute weakening or continuous blood loss to the target. The Darkness attribute spiritual energy has an extra 50% effect bonus on Darkness-based spiritual energy skills.

Bai Fu quickly skimmed through the attribute description. This effect was quite powerful, and it was as she expected. After the spiritual energy attribute turned to [Darkness], using the Dark Burn skill would no longer deduct 10% of her health points, the skill effect was enhanced, and the cooldown time was reduced from 8 minutes to 4 minutes.

“This way, the efficiency of exchanging blood with others will be much higher!”

Bai Fu was satisfied. It was worth waiting for the spiritual energy attribute for so long. This transformation boosted her power by at least twenty to thirty percent.

The top expert of the Source Star, and her spiritual energy attribute was Darkness. Calling herself the Lord of Darkness was absolutely justified. Changing the “dark” in Lord of Darkness to “night,” she was truly the Lord of Night!

On the way back to the Goli Desert, Bai Fu received a message from Elder Nissen.

“A few undead sent by the Gene Progenitor want to see you. They say they have files Xia Shi asked them to deliver to you.”

Bai Fu raised an eyebrow slightly.

Great, another task can be settled now.

PS: Thank you Feiyu for the tip.

The two pictures attached in the chapter are references for the clothes Bai Fu wears during battles.

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