Chapter 37

### Chapter 37: A Monument Cast for Heroes

The road back to the abandoned cooling plant was easier than Bai Fu had imagined.

With her Spirit at 14 and Inspiration at 16, these attributes greatly enhanced her senses, allowing her to detect the movements of the amoeba-like creatures from far away.

Thanks to this ability, she skillfully avoided larger swarms of these creatures until she reached the edge of the abandoned cooling plant, having only fought four battles in total.

These four battles were like warm-ups for her now, and she didn’t even need to use her “Rushing Strength (Inferior)” skill to temporarily boost her strength; she easily turned the amoebas into experience points.

Adding the ones she eliminated while driving, Bai Fu gained another 13,038 experience points on this trip, bringing her total to 14,007 experience points. Once the “Bug Tide Invasion” quest was completed, she would have enough experience to advance her profession.

The only problem was that she still hadn’t found the knowledge book needed for her professional advancement.

“The Wildfire Gang’s library, which only the gang leader can access, might have some good stuff. Even if not, there should be something in the Lynn Settlement.”

Bai Fu felt quite pleased with herself.

After browsing through the players’ live streams in the abandoned cooling plant, her mood improved even more.

She planned to first pull the players’ emotions by bravely stepping forward in the abandoned cooling plant, making them think she was doomed. Then, she would show her resilience along the way, giving them hope that she might survive. Finally, she would sacrifice herself at the last moment to clear the path for the players to reach tomorrow.

This series of emotional ups and downs brought the players’ emotions to a climax, needing an outlet for release.

Sadness, pain, unforgettable moments…

Every player in every live stream was venting these emotions, with the most enthusiastic being Jiujiao.

Throughout the emotional rollercoaster, Jiujiao vividly portrayed the changes in the players supporting Bai Fu on camera.

From sitting dispiritedly, to rallying, to fainting, and then hearing that Bai Fu might still be alive, her performance was comparable to the classic “boastful start, rambling middle, silent end,” earning her the nickname of the “sit-up master” among the meme-makers and even spawning a meme trend.

Bai Fu couldn’t help but laugh.

A meme is easy to spread, just like “Krillin sacrifices himself, unlimited power” in Dragon Ball. Although it’s a bit hellish, mentioning it will make people remember the classic scene associated with it.

This would be very beneficial for her to solidify her popularity and increase her recognition among the player base.

“The atmosphere has been built up here, I’ll wait a bit longer for the emotions to ferment.”

Her plan was to appear before the players after half a day.

Appearing too early wouldn’t allow the emotions to build up sufficiently, but appearing too late could lead to unexpected situations.

Ten minutes later, Bai Fu successfully arrived at the Wildfire Gang.

Since it had only been three hours since she discovered the enhancement potion, she didn’t head to the laboratory first but went straight to the library that only the Wildfire Gang leader could freely enter.

Finding no one around, she shot off the lock on the door and pushed inside.

The library wasn’t large, and within ten minutes, she had searched it thoroughly.

To Bai Fu’s disappointment, there was no knowledge book for the spiritual energy profession, but she did find three books on other professions:

– *Handbook of Gunner Training 2.0*

– *Advanced Study of Muscles and Force Application*

– *Introduction to Qi*

Though she didn’t need these immediately, they could be used as rewards for the players, boosting their affinity towards her again.

Leaving the library, Bai Fu set her sights on the Wildfire Gang’s treasury and supply warehouse.

It took her an hour and a half to sift through everything useful in both places.

She couldn’t help but feel thrilled with all the credit coins she collected—over 170,000 in total, adding to her previous savings, her current stash exceeded 200,000, making her a small tycoon indeed.

Besides the credit coins, she also obtained over twenty guns, a grenade launcher, a bag of quick-recovery rations, three sets of new protective armor, several military-grade binoculars, and some miscellaneous items like bullets.

If it weren’t for the risk of being too conspicuous, she would have taken the gang leader’s personal vehicle.

Bai Fu packed everything into boxes and headed to the laboratory.

The progress bar for the enhancement potion was full, so she carefully opened the cultivation tank, finding two bottles inside, taking only one.

She didn’t take both because one bottle was sufficient for her needs, and she keenly sensed that the enhancement potion made by Youlia might be related to the main quest on the Source Star.

She thought it necessary to let the Gene Progenitor analyze the potion to see what the Truth Society was really up to.

After securing the cultivation tank, Bai Fu hurried home with her spoils.

Through the players’ live streams, she noticed that most of the amoebas invading the abandoned cooling plant had been defeated, and the bug tide was likely to be suppressed soon. She didn’t want to run into anyone when that happened.

As expected, as soon as she dragged the box back to the empty lot filled with construction waste, she received a game prompt.

**[You completed the quest [Bug Tide Invasion], with a contribution of 23.6%, earning 40,000 experience points, 3 attribute points, and the Spiritual Energy Knowledge Chain (4)]**

“Hmm?”

Since the “Bug Tide Invasion” quest wasn’t a faction quest, despite her high contribution of 23.6%, she didn’t receive any additional titles like she did when attacking the player’s stronghold previously. However, the rewards from the quest itself were already impressive.

She originally thought she’d get 10,000 experience points for completing the quest, but instead, she got 40,000. This was the allure of high-difficulty quests!

With these experience points, she could instantly level up her advanced profession to Lv2.

The 3 attribute points reward didn’t need much explanation either; Bai Fu decisively added all 3 points to her Constitution, raising it to 29.

But among the rewards, the most valuable was the **Spiritual Energy Knowledge Chain (4)**.

The profession system in Above the Stars differed from typical online games, resembling certain farming games with technology trees:

To unlock advanced professions, you must first learn the prerequisite knowledge!

Players could learn basic and advanced professions with the right knowledge books and experience, but to upgrade from advanced to elite, they needed to master at least five knowledge chains.

This was the power of knowledge!

These knowledge chains weren’t acquired for free; mastering each chain provided corresponding bonuses.

Bai Fu touched her newly acquired **Spiritual Energy Knowledge Chain (4)**, and the bonus effects popped up immediately.

**[All active Spiritual Energy skills +20%, Spiritual Energy resistance +20%]**

**[Note: Unlocking a new knowledge chain increases all active Spiritual Energy skills +20%, Spiritual Energy resistance +20%, and Spiritual Energy recovery speed +2/minute]**

Including the 10% bonus from low-level Spiritual Energy Mastery, Bai Fu’s skill effects would now increase by 30%, widening the gap between her and ordinary Spiritual Energy apprentices.

“I finally look like a boss!”

Excitedly, Bai Fu stared at the enhancement potion in her pocket. If she could digest it successfully, she would bring more pressure than Youlia’s fake body.

However, how could she digest the enhancement potion?

Reading the label stating “10% chance of target mutation,” Bai Fu felt a headache coming on.

She decided to wait; she wasn’t willing to gamble now.

“Anya.”

Bai Fu called Anya out from the basement.

After spending nearly half a day in the basement, Anya was already sweating profusely. Seeing Bai Fu return safely, she rushed over.

“Boss, I was about to come out and find you.”

Bai Fu smiled and pulled her to the big box: “Open it.”

Suspiciously, Anya opened the box. She sensed it contained something valuable, but seeing the towering stack of credit coins, she was stunned into silence.

“Boss, this…”

Anya looked around, bewildered.

Bai Fu said, “They’re real money. Okay, move these to the basement.”

Anya quickly obeyed, laughing nervously. Now, they wouldn’t starve anymore!

Bai Fu watched Anya’s excited back with a smile.

After all this work, she finally escaped the desperate situation she faced when she first arrived. Though she wasn’t entirely safe yet, having just antagonized the Truth Society, things were different now. She had some self-defense capabilities, and she was in the Gene Progenitor’s territory, where the Truth Society wouldn’t dare cause trouble openly.

After moving the contents of the box to the basement, Bai Fu drank two cups of cold water and started browsing the community.

She wanted to see the players’ reactions, but upon opening the community, she first saw the pinned official announcement.

### **[Above the Stars Update Notice]**

### **[Dear Star Adventurers:**

### **The official public test of “Above the Stars” has been well-received by many players. To ensure server stability and service quality, the game will undergo maintenance for 1 hour, expected to last 4 hours. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

#### **[Update Notice]**

1. Server expansion to allow more players to join the adventure.

2. Introduction of [Guild] feature, inviting adventurers to create their own guilds.

3. …

After maintenance, “Above the Stars” will present a brand-new trailer. Stay tuned.]

The announcement listed many details, most unrelated to the game content, focusing mainly on peripheral experience upgrades.

Bai Fu was only interested in the maintenance event itself.

A 4-hour server shutdown meant that due to the difference in time flow between the game and reality, players would actually be offline for much longer. The exact duration depended on the official’s arrangement.

“If players don’t log back in for a few days, how can I perform a grand comeback and ignite their deeply suppressed emotions!”

Bai Fu felt helpless.

Players looking for her were equally frustrated upon seeing the update notice.

**[Damn, I just want to know if Bai Fu is dead or alive, and you give me this update?**

**[Jerk, don’t interrupt with this update when I’m in the middle of a cliffhanger! Even if you update, tell me what happened to FuFu first.]

**[Is the official asking for trouble?]**

**[Is it possible, I mean, is it possible that the sudden server shutdown is not for expanding the server, but to fix the ‘bug’ of Bai Fu being dead?]**

**[That does seem possible]**

No matter how anxious, angry, or unwilling to leave, they were forcibly logged out when the scheduled time arrived.

“They’re all gone, for Bai Fu, for the abandoned cooling plant, they…”

At dawn, beside the ruins piled with amoeba corpses, Xia Shi sighed heavily, feeling the weight of the loss.

Even though Bai Fu successfully diverted the bug tide with lures, a massive battle was unavoidable to eliminate the amoebas that had reached the abandoned cooling plant.

Although all the amoebas were eliminated, many outsiders fell in the process. By the end, only a handful of the original hundred outsiders remained standing.

What a brutal battle!

Xia Shi, who was accustomed to bloodshed, almost vomited at the sight.

She wanted to console the surviving outsiders, but she had nothing to say. In the end, she could only watch helplessly as they limped away, disappearing from her sight.

“Stay strong, don’t let yourself fall into depression.” Yago encouraged her.

Xia Shi nodded, “I understand, we’ll take a few days to recover… Wait, Yago, look over there!”

Over there?

Yago followed the sound.

He saw a lone figure walking through the morning mist.

One step, two steps, three steps… Finally, the figure emerged from the mist.

This time, Yago could clearly see.

“Bai Fu!”

Bai Fu had returned alive!

Yago’s eyes widened, his heart filled with joy. Despite the chill, he finally encountered something good.

Those fallen outsiders would have felt lighter in the afterlife knowing Bai Fu was alive.

…

After reuniting with Yago and Xia Shi, Bai Fu shared her new story.

It was simple: she was attacked by a horde of amoebas after getting off the vehicle. To better control them, she led them far away. She initially thought she was doomed, but the amoebas eventually turned away. Realizing the mission succeeded, she tried to find Pai Da Xing but got lost in the dark forest, returning safely to the abandoned cooling plant after a night of wandering.

“So now the situation is that I survived, but they died?” Bai Fu’s face was expressionless.

Yago and Xia Shi comforted her, “Yes.”

Sighing, Bai Fu sat quietly by the ruins, seemingly waiting for someone. She sat for a long time, until afternoon, when she stood up, walked to a player’s corpse, and kicked it lightly with her shoe.

“You guys said you wouldn’t die, so what is this now? Get up, show me you can resurrect!”

Xia Shi suspected Bai Fu had been struck too hard, “Bai Fu, the dead cannot be revived…”

Bai Fu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but held back.

“They saved the abandoned cooling plant. I want to build a monument for them.”

Yago and Xia Shi were moved, “We’ll help you.”

“Thank you.”

Seeing their enthusiasm, Bai Fu couldn’t help but chuckle.

Building a monument for the players was her solution to dealing with their sudden offline status!

As long as the players knew she was alive, the emotions previously suppressed would surely erupt. Why bother insisting on appearing in front of them?

Actually, Bai Fu was grateful for the official’s actions, as it further suppressed the players’ emotions and intensified the speculation about whether she was alive or dead. Many non-fans were drawn in, starting to speculate in the community.

When the game restarted and players saw the monument, what would they think?

Bai Fu was very excited.

Hurry up and serve it, she couldn’t wait any longer!

### PS: Thank you to dudududu for your donation, please keep reading!

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