Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Bai Fu, Unfathomable! [6k]

Bai Fu’s sudden appearance caught the killers who were trying to capture the players off guard.

By the time they regained their senses, the thin killer was already lying on the ground, dead as could be.

They were startled, but being professionals, they had encountered all kinds of dangers during their years as assassins. Regaining their composure, they immediately dispersed, each seeking cover and beginning their counterattack.

“According to Darknet intelligence, Bai Fu is a Spiritual Prayer Mage. As everyone knows, Spiritual Prayer Mages have very fragile bodies, not much stronger than ordinary people. However, Spiritual Prayer Mages do have some self-preservation skills, and Bai Fu is no exception. This can be inferred from the intelligence revealed during the Battle of Bagalos.”

“In order to ensure we take down Bai Fu, it’s best if we act separately now. Two people should use those outsiders as bait to attract Bai Fu’s attention while the other two flank her from behind.”

“We can’t delay too long. Shelter No. 5 is the Gao family’s territory. If we cause trouble here and they find out, we’ll be in deep trouble.”

The four killers exchanged information quickly through their radios.

While talking, they kept firing outward, trying to slow Bai Fu’s advance.

They soon divided their roles. Just as the two responsible for flanking were about to move, a shadow suddenly appeared above their cover.

“Are you looking for me?”

Shit!

The two killers were so startled by this unexpected voice that they fell backward onto the ground.

They didn’t have time to think why Bai Fu was there because, after greeting them, Bai Fu immediately pulled out two guns and started shooting.

The bullets poured down like a waterfall; one of the killers was killed instantly, while the other screamed and used his energy to shield himself, rolling into an alley nearby.

Run.

Must run immediately!

Seeing this, the other two killers hiding on the other side lost interest in the high bounty for killing Bai Fu and turned to flee.

But what they didn’t expect was that just as they reached the car, an excruciating pain erupted from their chests.

As if pierced by the Kun Gun spear, the three killers simultaneously collapsed to their knees.

A wave of immense fear surged within them.

Now they regretted it—yes, the reward offered by the Gene Progenitor and the Truth Society was high, but only if they lived to claim it.

“You stay away…”

“If you want to kill me, be prepared to die.”

Bai Fu fired two more shots at the closest killer and then quickly approached the other two.

Before long, the crisp and pleasant sound of the game prompt rang out again.

[You have defeated…]

[You have defeated…]

Bai Fu calmly holstered her gun.

From her entrance to the end of the battle, she took only two minutes, something unimaginable in the past. Even with her combat etiquette controlling her opponents, it would have taken her considerable time to eliminate all four fleeing killers.

But times have changed. She was no longer Bai Fu but Super Bai Fu!

Using spiritual perception to lock onto the precise locations of enemies behind cover, protecting her already tough body with a spiritual shield, and sprinting at a hundred-meter dash speed to confront her foes.

Facing enemies with fragile builds, few skills, and average levels, stacking five layers of Dimensional Erosion on them effectively ended the fight.

It was akin to slaughtering chickens.

Still, Bai Fu wasn’t entirely satisfied. If she could master the application of spiritual perception further, the duration of the battle could have been shortened by another dozen seconds.

“This… damn…”

Only when Bai Fu began checking the experience she gained did the surrounding players finally snap back to reality.

Fast, too fast, faster than Guan Yu slaying Hua Xiong while warming wine!

Several players wanted to stream the event live, but they had barely finished editing their livestream titles when the battle had already concluded.

The viewers flooding into the livestream were confused.

What? Wasn’t this supposed to be a live broadcast of Fu Fu battling the killers? Where are the killers? Where’s the battle? We’ve already undressed for this, yet all we see is Fu Fu posing on the screen. Although Fu Fu’s face is striking and this new outfit looks cool, we didn’t log in to see this.

[Clickbait!]

[How come it hasn’t started yet?]

Convert to Me Fu finally managed to say after hesitating for a while, “No, it’s already over.”

[???]

A string of question marks floated across the screen.

Convert to Me Fu was glad he had recorded everything beforehand; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to show the other players how awesome Bai Fu was. As a hardcore fan single-handedly promoting Bai Fu, how could he let such a good opportunity to expand the influence of the Fu Sect slip by?

“You can check for yourselves. It’s impossible to explain in a few words; it’s better to watch.”

He started playing the video in the livestream.

The short few-minute video stunned the audience in the livestream.

[Holy shit, isn’t this like playing on invincible mode in a single-player game?]

[Confirmed, we’re not playing the same game. I’m playing Ninja Gaiden, and Fu Fu is playing Dynasty Warriors.]

[Don’t joke around. Fu Fu is an NPC, and you’re a player. Do you really think you can compare yourself to a powerful NPC?]

[Amazing, amazing, amazing, I remember Bai Fu wasn’t this strong before. Is this due to her healing a bit more?]

[Unbelievable, how powerful is Bai Fu really?]

[Regardless, I’m joining the Fu Sect now. With this level of strength, once she fully recovers, organizations like the Truth Society and Gene Progenitors will be easily crushed. Joining Silent Courtyard early ensures big wins.]

Most players in the livestream went wild with excitement, but a small group was almost driven mad with anger.

These killers were truly useless!

Even with so many resources provided to them, including Convert to Me Fu’s location, they still accomplished nothing. They shattered upon encountering Bai Fu.

Seeing Bai Fu approaching, Convert to Me Fu quickly shut off the livestream.

“It’s been a long time.”

A day without seeing each other felt like three autumns apart!

Convert to Me Fu and Sword Aura Sky Piercing pushed forward desperately. If asked who among the players valued Bai Fu the most right now, besides Jiujiao, they were the top contenders.

“Let’s talk inside the car first.” Bai Fu took a couple of steps forward but stopped suddenly. “Can any of you drive? My car won’t fit all of you. It would be best to take the killers’ car.”

Sword Aura Sky Piercing immediately stepped forward: “I can.”

The cars in the game were similar to real-world ones, and the game even had built-in tutorials, so this posed no difficulty for him.

A few minutes later, two vehicles sped away from Shelter No. 5.

A few minutes after that, an old-looking armored vehicle stopped where Bai Fu had fought earlier. Several heavily armed men jumped out, checking the surroundings while contacting their boss via radio.

“Boss Gao, they’re gone. The speed of the opposition was incredible. There are no signs of extra fighting nearby. This was likely a one-sided massacre. There are five bodies total; three of them I recognize—they are registered Darknet killers who recently accepted the task to kill Bai Fu.”

“So, the person who killed them might be Bai Fu?”

“I can’t confirm it, but it’s possible. Boss Gao, should we contact the Gene Progenitor?”

“No need, we aren’t subordinates of the Gene Progenitor.” Boss Gao rejected the man’s suggestion. “Remember, we are businessmen. Whoever doesn’t interfere with our business is our friend, and we should treat friends kindly.”

The man nodded repeatedly.

Boss Gao’s implication was that since Bai Fu killed efficiently without affecting others, there was no need to intervene.

“I’ll clean up the bodies now.”

“Go ahead.”

Boss Gao waved his hand.

Was the killer really Bai Fu?

If so, her power has grown stronger compared to when she eliminated the Truth Society’s killers recently.

Truly, an unfathomable woman.

…

On the road leaving Shelter No. 5, Bai Fu drove while speaking with the players sitting behind her.

“If you insist on following me, incidents like what just happened will frequently occur. And that was merely an appetizer. The troubles we encounter in the future will be even more terrifying. Although you are legendary heroes and can resurrect, I suggest you focus on training alone for a while before considering anything else.”

So, does simply following you automatically trigger various quests?

This made the players even less inclined to leave.

“We’re not afraid.”

“I love combat. A day without fighting makes me uncomfortable.”

Bai Fu said, “Since you’ve made up your minds, I’ll be straightforward. I need to test your abilities. If you don’t meet my requirements, even if you persist, I won’t keep you with me.”

She suddenly became serious, causing Sword Aura Sky Piercing and the others to instinctively straighten their backs.

“What kind of test?”

“I’ll tell you when we reach the rest stop.” Bai Fu deliberately left them hanging.

Her faction is currently too small, and the quest rewards she can offer are very low. She plans to get Elder Nissen to release another round of quests once they reach Shelter No. 11. Combining these two quests with the experience from eliminating Red Sand should be enough to entice these players.

After all, this is the first battle openly recruiting players for her faction, and Bai Fu wants to make it grand to attract more players in the future.

With many players in the car, Bai Fu directly floored the gas pedal on the way back, completely unconcerned about any potential surprises. If danger arises, the players could serve as cannon fodder.

Thus, Bai Fu successfully returned to Shelter No. 11 in just over half a day.

“Rest here for now. In a few days, we’ll set out to clear a nearby wanderer camp. If you have any questions, ask Anya or Jiujiao.”

Bai Fu called Anya over.

“Anya, you’re in charge of receiving them.”

After giving instructions, she went to inform Elder Nissen of the situation, but her purpose didn’t stop there. It should take some time before Red Sand comes knocking again, and she could take advantage of this opportunity to create some prayer cards.

After discussing matters with Elder Nissen, Bai Fu returned to the inn she had booked.

Step one: Upgrade the Spirit Painter’s level from Lv9 to Lv10.

Considering her physical attributes are already quite high, and the success rate of creating prayer cards is closely related to inspiration…



Once again, she put all three of her remaining attribute points into Inspiration, raising it to 50 points.

Step two, after leveling up, she still had 22,700 experience points left. She allocated these points into the newly unlocked basic card-making skill, upgrading its level to Lv5 and increasing the bonus from 10% to 14%.

“Let’s make some Spirit Shields cards first.”

Bai Fu opened the card-making interface, which displayed the prayer card blueprints she currently possessed, along with the success rates for crafting each type of card.

【Universal Card – Spiritual Shield】

【Proficiency】: 10/1000

【Success Rate】: 60%

Factoring in the bonuses from Basic Card-Making and her Talent for Luck, Bai Fu’s success rate for making Spiritual Shield cards was now at 84%, a very high percentage that would continue to increase as her proficiency improved. Before unlocking the Apprentice Soul Painter profession, her base success rate for making Spiritual Shield cards was only 25%.

Before attacking Bagalos, she spent quite a bit of money purchasing materials to craft those five Spiritual Shield cards.

Thinking about it made her tear up.

Fortunately, she’d endured, and now she planned to earn back every penny from the players!

Bai Fu began making cards.

Since these were intended for sale to players, she didn’t infuse them with all her spiritual energy as she would for personal use. A shield value of 560 points was too extravagant for current players.

Anyway, players wouldn’t die anyway; giving them shields of 50 or 100 points, allowing them to endure a few more hits in battle, would be sufficient. Moreover, this way, she could produce more prayer cards with a single mana bar.

Bai Fu planned to divide the Spiritual Shield cards she would sell at this stage into three different specifications: 50, 100, and 200.

Of these, the 50-point cards would be available to any member of the Silent Courtyard faction, while the 100 and 200-point cards would require players to reach a certain reputation or spending threshold within their faction to purchase.

This approach would indirectly increase the value of the Silent Courtyard’s reputation data, something Bai Fu could manipulate freely. In the future, if she couldn’t afford to reward players, she could simply offer reputation points to entice them to work for her.

To achieve this goal, Bai Fu also differentiated the pricing of the prayer cards.

Assuming a Spiritual Shield card with 50 points of shielding sold for 100 units, then the 100-point card was priced at 195, and the 200-point card at 380.

From the players’ perspective, an increase in reputation would allow them to buy higher-tier prayer cards at seemingly discounted prices, but for Bai Fu, selling these higher-tier cards actually yielded more profit because the cost of production materials decreased.

In short, it was a win-win situation!

【You have successfully created [Universal Card – Spiritual Shield], Proficiency +2, Experience Points +500】

【You have successfully created…】

Card-making also granted experience points, a feature designed to accommodate life-oriented players who disliked combat.

However, leveling up this way had a major drawback: it was extremely costly. Common players simply couldn’t afford to purchase large quantities of crafting materials and restorative potions. Only life-oriented players supported by guilds could quickly level up using this method. Regular players had no choice but to endure and level up slowly.

Though Bai Fu was relatively wealthy now, her several hundred thousand units of currency would run out quickly if spent recklessly. She needed to find ways to earn more money.

She thought of the bounty offered by the Truth Society and the Gene Progenitor.

Perhaps she could figure out a way to claim that bounty.

As she was pondering, Elder Nissen suddenly knocked on her door.

“Is something wrong? Have the Red Sand people arrived?”

Upon opening the door, Bai Fu noticed confusion in Elder Nissen’s sole eye.

“The people you brought are wandering around the shelter.”

Ah, that was it.

Bai Fu remained calm; players usually wandered around when they arrived at a new place. Most likely, these players were not only exploring but also helping people with various tasks.

Ever since Youlia was captured, Shelter No. 11 had been constantly bullied. The residents here might even be startled by the enthusiasm of the players.

Sure enough, that’s what Elder Nissen meant.

“I just wanted to carry something upstairs, and suddenly two people rushed over to help me.

“The half-fallen sign outside was also fixed by them.

“A young girl told me to rest and said she could mix drinks and help me manage the tavern.

“I’ve never seen such enthusiastic people before. I think you should go out and persuade them to conserve their strength and not exhaust themselves before the Red Sand people arrive.”

Bai Fu smiled. “That’s just how they are. They love working; they feel uncomfortable if they don’t do anything. You’ll get used to it.”

Elder Nissen was utterly baffled.

What kind of nonsense is this? Are there really people who like doing odd jobs?

Bai Fu explained, “Just consider them as having a disease where they can’t survive without working. To help cure them, you can give them tasks to do, and a little reward will suffice. Occasionally they might refuse, but most of the time, they’ll accept.”

Elder Nissen was astonished. He had never seen such people in his entire life.

“Where did you find such a group of oxen… no, such a group of people?”

Elder Nissen caught himself just in time, but he accidentally revealed his true thoughts.

Bai Fu twitched her lips.

“This is hard to explain. Just treat them normally. Oh, and unless necessary, avoid conflicts with them. They are generally gentle, but once angered, they can cause serious consequences. Even I might not be able to restrain them.”

Elder Nissen assured her that he understood.

Even as he left Bai Fu’s residence, he was still confused.

Interrupted by him, Bai Fu remembered that she had another task to complete. She quickly contacted Anya and asked her to arrange for the players to return the items previously seized by Jiujiao to the residents of Shelter No. 11.

The next morning.

As excitement waned and people were recovering their stamina at Elder Nissen’s tavern, the sound of car engines echoed outside the shelter.

Three vehicles charged into the shelter like tanks, nearly knocking down a passerby. The passerby was about to shout curses when he saw the insignia on the hats of the people in the cars and turned pale.

Aren’t these the people from the Red Sand camp? What’s going on? Weren’t they here just a few days ago?

The first person to jump out of the car was a burly man with a rugged face, followed by a woman with a tattoo on her chest.

The woman had a particularly fiery temper. She grabbed the passerby by the collar.

“Frodo came here a few days ago to investigate and then disappeared completely. Speak! Did you kill him?”

Pointed at by the menacing gun, the passerby almost wet himself.

“Innocent! The Red Sand Camp is famous. How dare we harm someone from the Red Sand Camp!”

His cries did nothing to soften the woman’s ferocious attitude. Instead, she became even more violent.

“You’re still defiant, huh? Let’s see if your mouth is harder than my bullets!”

The passerby burst into tears.

The ferocious woman frowned, then threw the passerby to the ground forcefully, kicking him a few times afterward.

“Useless waste!”

She turned to the burly man beside her. “Looks like he really doesn’t know anything.”

The burly man replied, “If he doesn’t know, then check others. In just ten days, we’ve lost two groups of people. We’re losing face. If we don’t find the killer, the boss will never forgive us. You know what the boss is capable of.”

The ferocious woman shuddered involuntarily at the thought, then hurriedly led her team to investigate inside the shelter.

The wanderers from the Red Sand Camp rampaged through the shelter, quickly beating information out of the residents regarding the presence of players.

“They said these people arrived recently. Not only did they help them with work, but they also returned the things that were stolen from them.”

“Ho?” The burly man raised an eyebrow. “Seems like we’ve encountered desert Bodhisattvas. Interesting. They sure aren’t afraid of us Red Sand. I wonder if they’ll still be laughing after they see my gun.”

Under the lead of the burly man, the Red Sand wanderers began searching for the players inside the shelter. Eventually, they found Elder Nissen’s tavern.

The ferocious woman kicked the door open.

Then, she walked in arrogantly with her gun raised high.

“All irrelevant personnel, step aside immediately! Foreigners and the tavern owner, stay where you are!”

Instantly, dozens of eyes turned towards her.

Bang! Bang!

The ferocious woman fired two shots into the ceiling, laughing wickedly. “You foreigners sure have big guts, daring to attack people from Red Sand.”

As soon as she finished speaking, all the players sitting in the tavern stood up, more than twenty of them, creating a rather impressive sight.

The ferocious woman shouted loudly, “Where’s your leader? Tell him to come out!”

The players looked at each other and started arguing right in front of her.

“Just one person isn’t enough to share.”

“Let me go, I just learned a new skill a few days ago, it’s perfect timing to try it out.”

“I need experience to level up, let me take it.”

“First come, first served, damn it!”

The ferocious woman failed to realize the impending danger. Seeing that the players ignored her, she fired another shot at the ceiling.

“If you delay for another second, the next bullet will…”

Her sentence was cut off by one of the players.

“Don’t argue anymore, there’s more than one monster.”

Other players turned around just in time to see the rest of the Red Sand crew walking in from the door.

What was there to hesitate about?

Charge!

Pai Da Xing took the lead, followed closely by the other players. In an instant, the Red Sand wanderers entering from the door were overwhelmed by the players.

Elder Nissen standing behind the counter was bewildered.

No, how could anyone fight like this? They have guns!

He glanced at Bai Fu drinking water calmly nearby.

Bai Fu first shouted to the players to leave two alive, then said,

“No need to rush, they’ll handle it well.”

It was time for the chaotic Goli Desert to be cleaned up by the players!

Elder Nissen hesitated, wanting to say something.

He thought he was gradually understanding Bai Fu, but the more he interacted with her, the more unfathomable she seemed.

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