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Chapter 77: Is Your Bai Fu Realistic Enough? [55k]

Truth Society, Operations Department.

The usual routine for Yu Wei, who was in charge of monitoring the Darknet situation, involved logging into his Darknet backend after every meeting. The first thing he saw was his inbox, which showed an overwhelming 99+ unread messages.

To him, reading and categorizing these messages by importance was his primary task, before submitting them to his superiors for action.

Most of the time, the messages were of little value, sometimes even angering the President and causing his blood pressure to spike, like when Bai Fu had thwarted several assassination attempts against the Truth Society recently. This had caused a lot of trouble for everyone, including the lower-ranking staff like Yu Wei.

Luckily, Bai Fu had recently fallen out with the Gene Progenitor, so she wouldn’t be causing any more trouble for now. Yu Wei didn’t have to worry about her anymore for the time being.

For now… For now my ass!

While browsing through the messages, Yu Wei was horrified to see Bai Fu’s name pop up on the screen again.

Oh no, could it be that Bai Fu attacked another Truth Society base?

Recently, the President had been constantly at odds with the Gene Progenitor, and his mood swings were unpredictable. If news of Bai Fu’s actions reached the President’s ears…

Yu Wei couldn’t imagine the consequences.

He hesitantly opened the new message and was surprised to find it was from a Darknet A-level assassin known as “Rattlesnake.” The message was short but carried the impact of a nuclear explosion.

[I have killed Bai Fu]

“Holy shit!”

Yu Wei jumped up from his seat.

“What the hell is going on this early in the morning?”

His sudden movement drew the attention and annoyance of those around him, but once they read the message, they all echoed his reaction.

“Holy shit!”

One “Holy shit” after another, this quickly caught the attention of Operations Minister Bernard, who soon realized something was off.

“Why are you all freaking out this early in the morning… Holy shit!”

Seeing the message on the screen, Bernard’s eyes nearly popped out.

Although the President had ordered him to stop pursuing Bai Fu after she fell out with the Gene Progenitor, if there was a chance, how could the President not want to eliminate Bai Fu, who had repeatedly disrupted the Truth Society’s plans?

The arrest of Li Cheng had dealt a blow to the Truth Society, and the destruction of the Bagalos Base and the death of Guido had further damaged their reputation. These were real grievances.

If Bai Fu was truly dead, it would be great news, worth celebrating internally.

“Retrieve Rattlesnake’s profile.”

Bernard forced himself to stay calm. It was too early to confirm the authenticity of the message and report it to the President.

After reading the description of Rattlesnake, he nodded.

“No one has ever seen their true face, but they are a psychic ability user and an A-level assassin. With their abilities, it’s very possible they could have assassinated Bai Fu. This message is likely genuine. Contact them and ask for some photos!”

Yu Wei immediately complied.

About ten minutes later, “Rattlesnake” came online again and sent two photos.

One photo showed Bai Fu holding her head, disoriented and standing still. The other showed Bai Fu lying on the ground, eyes closed, with blood soaking her abdomen.

“This face is definitely Bai Fu’s,” Bernard said, having seen her pictures thousands of times. “Ask how they killed Bai Fu and where they are now. Tell them that if they deliver Bai Fu’s body to us, 800,000 will be transferred to their account immediately.”

Yu Wei rapidly typed on the keyboard.

“They say they were hired by a roving organization in the Goli Desert. Recently, there was a conflict between Bai Fu and that organization. They recognized Bai Fu and used a psychic shock to ambush her. Even then, they suffered significant losses to kill her. After killing Bai Fu, they temporarily left the Goli Desert and are now near the Railway Guild territory in the Ilina settlement.”

Railway Guild?

After reviewing the message, Bernard found no inconsistencies that would suggest deception.

He thought for a moment and said, “Have Graham handle this. Make sure Bai Fu’s body is brought back intact.”

“Yes!”

The Truth Society sprang into action swiftly.

Bernard looked around, feeling quite pleased.

Bai Fu, this is the end of your resistance against the Truth Society. Even if you have great skills, you’re still destined to be crushed by us easily.

…

At the same time, on the other side of the Darknet, Bai Fu laughed upon seeing the reply on her screen.

“It seems little Youlia’s intelligence was correct. There is indeed a Truth Society base hidden near Ilina.”

Bai Fu had contacted the Truth Society pretending to be Rattlesnake to find out where Graham was hiding and to claim the bounty offered by the Truth Society.

Everyone wanted to use her life to exchange for the bounty with the Truth Society and the Gene Progenitor. Coincidentally, she also wanted it!

That was 800,000, which was not a small amount even for her current situation. She wasn’t going to let others profit from it while she herself didn’t.

To secure this money, Bai Fu began planning after learning that Cui Jiming had previously worked as a plastic surgeon.

Even if Cui Jiming couldn’t do it, she could find another doctor in any other settlement with similar results. But using Cui Jiming could save some money.

Bai Fu planned to have Cui Jiming alter a player to look like her, then send this player to deceive the Truth Society.

Before coming to Shelter No. 5, Bai Fu shared her plan with the players. Of course, she deliberately omitted the part about the bounty, only mentioning the method to lure the Truth Society members out of hiding.

Hearing that there was a quest available that would increase Bai Fu’s affinity and provide thousands of experience points as a reward, all female players stood up.

Bai Fu chose a female player named Chifan Xianren, whose physique was closest to hers.

While she was handling affairs in Shelter No. 5, the player escorted Cui Jiming back to the Red Sand Camp laboratory for surgery.

So far, everything was going smoothly. All she had to do now was wait for the surgery to finish and then take the player to collect the money from the Railway Guild.

After taking out Rattlesnake’s identity card from the terminal, Bai Fu quickly disconnected the network. Her next destination was the Gao family’s external office in Shelter No. 5.

This time, she didn’t intend to go herself but instead sent Sword Aura Sky Piercing and the old dog to negotiate with the Gao family.

This way, she could avoid exposure and give the player a greater sense of involvement, making the player more loyal to her.

From the conversation between Digging Fairy and other players, Bai Fu learned that Digging Fairy was preparing a video series called “Silent Courtyard News Express.” This piqued her interest.

Isn’t this equivalent to a publicity window for the Silent Courtyard?

She decided to add some exciting material to the first episode.

Imagine the reaction of other players when they discover that players in the Silent Courtyard can now interact on equal terms with influential NPCs, while they themselves are still serving NPCs. They would be envious and jealous!

We agreed to be Palu together, yet you secretly drove a Range Rover.

F*ck it!

Unless she could show tangible benefits, Bai Fu wouldn’t have the confidence to make players willingly spy for her.

Sitting quietly at a roadside shop, Bai Fu waited for Sword Aura Sky Piercing and the outcome of the negotiations with the Gao family.

About twenty minutes later, her personal terminal rang. It was Sword Aura Sky Piercing.

“Boss, Mr. Gao wants to talk to you personally.”

Because it was inconvenient to reveal Bai Fu’s name externally, Sword Aura Sky Piercing always used the vague term “Boss” when calling her outside.

“Let him speak to me.”

“Please wait a moment.”

Soon, Bai Fu’s personal terminal rang again. This time, it was a stranger.

“I am Gao Yuan. I heard you eliminated the Red Sand Camp and want to continue cooperation with our Gao family?”

“No, I think you misunderstood. I don’t want to replace the Red Sand, but to open a new trade route for you.”

Gao Yuan was intrigued: “Your tone is quite confident.”

Bai Fu asked, “How much did the Red Sand Camp purchase from you annually when they cooperated with you?”

“Around 200,000.”

“How much is the value of the sand worm materials sold to you?”

“Sometimes 30,000 to 50,000.”

Bai Fu smiled: “Let’s leave the gun purchases aside for now. What if I increase the number of sand worm materials sold to you tenfold or even a hundredfold? Can you handle it?”

“What?”

The usually composed Gao Yuan was startled by Bai Fu’s words and involuntarily raised his voice.

He suspected he had misheard.

Tenfold, hundredfold, this wasn’t a joke.

How many people would need to be mobilized, and how many would die to collect such materials?

Even if all the roving organizations in the Goli Desert were organized to hunt sand worms specifically, such efficiency couldn’t last long because most rovers would eventually flee out of fear of the sand worms.

“Do you know what you’re saying?”

Bai Fu replied, “I’m very clear. I just want to know if you can handle such a large volume of sand worm materials.”

Gao Yuan answered, “As long as you can provide them, I can handle it!”

“I’ll send the first batch of goods over in a while. Then you’ll know I’m not joking.”

Bai Fu chatted with Gao Yuan for a few more minutes. She asked Gao Yuan to deliver a batch of weapons to the Red Sand Camp, which would become the temporary headquarters of the Silent Courtyard. She also asked Gao Yuan to help bring the new batch of players arriving at Shelter No. 5 over.

The number of players was substantial, with over thirty players posting on the community forum saying they were on their way. The actual number might be twice that.

Bai Fu couldn’t transport so many players right away, so she had to rely on the Gao family for now.

After reaching an agreement with Gao Yuan, Bai Fu purchased some materials for making Prayer Cards in Shelter No. 5. Next up was the dreaded card gambling phase.

Card gambling involved using experience points and the spiritual energy knowledge already acquired to synthesize new Prayer Card blueprints, a unique ability of an Apprentice Soul Painter and the core skill of this card-playing profession.

Usually, there were three ways for an Apprentice Soul Painter to obtain new Prayer Card blueprints: buying, learning, or gambling. Among these, gambling was undoubtedly the most thrilling and widely used method.

Take a gamble, and a bicycle becomes a motorcycle.

Even non-lucky individuals couldn’t resist the urge to try their luck, let alone Bai Fu with her lucky talent.

Unfortunately, the gambling mechanism in Above the Stars had no guaranteed minimum. Other games had big and small guarantees when drawing characters or weapons, but in Above the Stars, if you didn’t get it, you didn’t get it.

However, there were no card pools in Above the Stars. Players could select the type of Prayer Card they wanted to draw at any time, invest experience points and spiritual energy knowledge, and gamble. Missing a pool didn’t mean waiting for a long time, as the most important thing was that experience points were virtually free, as long as you were willing to grind.

“My turn, draw a card!”

[Synthesis failed]

[Synthesis failed]

[Synthesis successful, you obtained [Common Card · Visual Fog]]

[Synthesis failed]

After five failures, Bai Fu finally got the area-control Prayer Card she desired.

[Common Card · Spatial Distortion]: When used, it causes the target to enter a special state where up, down, left, right, front, and back are completely inverted. The radius of effect is 10 meters, and the duration depends on the difference in inspiration between both parties. The cooldown time for the same target is 10 minutes. (Judgment object: Prayer Card creator)

Although the effect of this Prayer Card was far inferior to the skill card dropped by Rattlesnake, it did compensate for Bai Fu’s lack of area-control capabilities, which would be very helpful for her upcoming actions.

The only issue was that this round consumed over 24,000 experience points.

Experience points were always insufficient when needed.

Bai Fu rubbed her temples.

Whether upgrading, improving skills, or gambling, she needed a lot of experience points. She had to complete more quests.

She even considered bringing out little Youlia for some punishment. Why was she still standing there? Hurry up and release more quests!

But considering the current cooperative honeymoon period, it was better not to act rashly.

“A wealthy woman can’t satisfy my needs now. I need to use my keen eye to find more wealthy women.”

Bai Fu first thought of Xia Shi. It seemed necessary to have the players interact with Xia Shi to see if she could extract some benefits.

Once everything was done, Bai Fu filled up the car and returned to the Red Sand Camp with the players.

Cui Jiming’s plastic surgery was successful, and the player’s recovery rate was much higher than that of NPCs. Although it wasn’t as dramatic as regenerating health in COD, the minor injury healed within a day.

Even so, to help Chifan Xianren recover faster, Bai Fu gave her a bottle of healing potion.

“???”

A few hours later, watching Chifan Xianren, who was now running around after removing the bandages, Cui Jiming was stunned.

Was this a monster? How could a normal person recover so quickly?

He originally intended to run away, but now that idea was completely gone.

Little Youlia, who noticed this, became excited.

If these followers of Bai Fu had such abilities, did Bai Fu also have them?

If so, she wouldn’t have to worry about experimenting on Bai Fu’s body. She could play with it however she wanted, knowing it would automatically repair itself.

Truly, it’s both exciting and nerve-wracking.

“Great technique.”

Bai Fu looked at herself in the mirror and then at Chifan Xianren standing beside her, highly praising Cui Jiming’s work.

Realistic, this is incredibly realistic!

Except for the slight difference in breast size, Chifan Xianren was almost identical to her now, making it easy to fool the Truth Society.

…

Railway Guild, Ilina Settlement.

Bai Fu arrived here after two days.

Unlike the Gene Progenitor, the major settlements of the Railway Guild were connected by railways, making transportation convenient and trade booming. The largest branch of the Darknet was located within the Railway Guild’s territory.

The thriving trade meant that the Railway Guild generally avoided getting involved in other power struggles, which might explain why Graham dared to cause trouble within the Railway Guild’s territory.

Bai Fu didn’t waste time. She had a player who had never faced the Truth Society deliver Chifan Xianren’s body to the Darknet’s outpost in Ilina.

“Hurry up and notify the Truth Society to verify the body. To protect Bai Fu’s body, I even paid extra for a cooling device. This expense must be charged to them.”

The player pretending to be Rattlesnake impatiently complained to the Darknet staff, handing over Bai Fu’s Darknet identity card.

“This is what I found on her after killing her, sufficient proof of her identity.”

The Darknet staff respectfully replied, “Please rest assured, we will notify them promptly and convey your request to the Truth Society. Even if the Truth Society breaches the contract, we will cover the bounty.”

“That’s perfect.”

The player nodded coldly, inwardly feeling a mix of emotions.

Look at this, no wonder the Darknet can grow so strong, their service is top-notch!

He turned and left, telling Bai Fu, who was hiding, about the events that transpired.

“All we have to do now is wait for the Truth Society members to show up.”

While waiting, Bai Fu idly browsed the community, and a new post immediately caught her eye.

[Exclusive News: Bai Fu is Dead!]

She clicked on the post.

The poster claimed to be a member of the Truth Society and had just learned from their superior that an assassin named Rattlesnake had killed Bai Fu in the Goli Desert.

[Not long ago, Bai Fu’s body was delivered to the Darknet outpost in Ilina. Our base leader, Graham, ordered that Bai Fu’s body be immediately brought back to the base]

The players who clicked into the post were bewildered.

No way, man, what kind of joke is this? Bai Fu can’t possibly be dead. Sword Aura Sky Piercing, Pai Da Xing, and the others are still with Bai Fu, right?

Many players messaged Sword Aura Sky Piercing and Pai Da Xing, but received no replies despite their repeated questions.

Could it be…

The poster chuckled.

[I told you Bai Fu is dead, how can they respond? Don’t believe me? My information is 100% accurate. Don’t believe me? Watch the video I recorded with an NPC just now]

[Have you noticed that Digging Fairy’s live streams have stopped, and she hasn’t appeared in the community either? It’s because she wants to appear, but Bai Fu is already dead. How can she appear now?]

[Actually, it’s normal. Bai Fu provoked the Truth Society, one of the strongest forces on Source Star. How many times can she dodge assassinations?]

[Folks, listen to me. Joining a larger faction is better. Otherwise, you might not know when the faction will collapse, and your previous investments will be wasted]

The players who flooded the post couldn’t help but believe it.

The video was there, and the poster confirmed they were a member of the Truth Society.

Oh no, Bai Fu is really dead!

The community erupted.

Bai Fu: “?”

Undoubtedly, this poster was trying to ride the wave and promote the Truth Society.

But, man, you came at the perfect time!

With this promotion, when everyone discovers she’s faking her death to trick the Truth Society, the impact will be huge.

Promoting the Truth Society?

Promoting everyone not to join the Truth Society!

PS: Thanks to Pimple for the tip.

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