Chapter 17: What, Was the One We Assassinated Bai Fu?!
Bai Fu rubbed her temples.
She had roughly figured out the situation.
The most likely scenario now was that her appointment as acting supervisor made her a thorn in someone’s side within the Wildfire Gang or a faction thereof.
Then that person or faction approached the Player, hoping to use the Player’s hand to eliminate her.
From a normal perspective, it was a very good deal.
How to find a reliable assassin?
That was the question.
If one got unlucky and found an incompetent “five‑star assassin” who killed the wrong target, or a bungler who outsourced the hit through layers of unreliable go‑betweens, not only would the assassination fail, but the instigator risked exposure.
Hiring the Player avoided such troubles.
One could say the Player didn’t understand assassination, but one couldn’t question the Player’s determination to complete the assigned task.
And the Player was a great scapegoat.
Given the current relationship between the Player and the Wildfire Gang, unless the Player loudly announced it with a megaphone, no one would suspect that the mastermind actually came from the Wildfire Gang.
“But unfortunately your target is me!”
Bai Fu laughed.
In Beyond the Stars, no one understood the Player better than she did.
In the abandoned Cooling Plant, no one was more popular with the Player than she was.
All she had to do was show her face—nothing else—and she could easily defuse the enemy’s move this time.
But Bai Fu did not intend to simply neutralize the crisis.
Over the past two days, she had suddenly appeared to rescue Excavation‑Princess, who was blocked by ruffians, and in front of the Player had acted highly concerned for the Player’s safety.
She had gone to great lengths and successfully captured a group of Players’ hearts.
Now that the Player had delivered themselves, how could she let them go easily?
Bai Fu, activate!
……
By the faint moonlight filtering from above, Patrick Star and the others advanced slowly.
It was now 7:20 PM. They had taken half an hour, avoiding NPCs one after another, finally arriving near the mission site.
Patrick Star took a deep breath and looked back at Excavation‑Princess, Convert‑to‑My‑Fu, and the others following closely behind him.
【Everyone, do a final check: make sure our traps and props are all set correctly.】
He issued the instruction in the squad channel.
Seconds later, Excavation‑Princess replied first with “No problems,” followed by a string of +1s.
Good.
Patrick Star repeated the pre‑planned tactic in the channel.
【Any doubts? If not, let’s start splitting up and move. Be careful where you step—we’ve come this far, don’t expose ourselves through carelessness and alert the target.】
【Don’t worry about me, Patrick Star.】
【I’m a stealth‑game master.】
Patrick Star nodded with a smile.
To ensure mission success, each of them had prepared daggers, iron rods, bows and arrows, and had studied Bai Fu’s advanced tactics.
They had also brought a batch of lime, rusty nails, chili powder, tripwires, nets, and lubricants.
With preparation + stealth, he had at least an 80% chance of eliminating this mission’s target in one go!
After quietly waiting for over a minute, everyone successfully reached their assigned positions.
The evening breeze swept chips along the street, chilling and filled with a sense of killing intent.
In the dim light, Patrick Star surveyed his surroundings.
Everyone held their breath; everyone was excited.
That was 3,500 experience points.
For the XP, for leveling up, to get closer to Bai Fu, to deeply mine the storyline hidden behind Bai Fu—damn it all!
Patrick Star slowly raised his right hand.
The moment his hand fell, the action officially began.
Five, four...
Patrick Star counted silently in his heart.
When he reached two, something completely unexpected happened.
“How long are you planning to keep hiding?”
In the silent darkness, a somewhat muffled voice suddenly came through the wall.
Crap!
That sound had the same effect as a jumpscare in a horror game.
Several Players were so frightened that their minds went blank and they began looking around in a panic.
The rest started wailing in the squad channel.
【It’s over, it’s over, we’ve been discovered—how are we supposed to ambush now?】
【WTF, how did she notice us? We didn’t make a sound the whole way. Could it be she has some kind of qi-sensing ability?】
【Activated?】
【Patrick, Patrick, do we still go in?】
【This voice… sounds kind of familiar.】
Patrick Star was startled too.
But having seen big scenes in other games, he calmed down quickly.
The more critical the moment, the less one should panic.
If the opponent was strong, then the moment they were discovered, there would be no escape—might as well turn and fight.
If the opponent was weak, then they had nothing to worry about—just charge in.
In short, one word—
Fight!
【Stick to the original plan—Afu and I take the lead to draw attention.】
“That’s more like it! Who cares—just fight first, talk later!”
As a battle maniac, Black Tiger Afu had been holding back for a long time. Hearing Patrick say that, he stopped pretending, grabbed the new iron rod he bought, and charged into the room like a raging bull, smashing open the ajar door.
Seeing him rush in, Patrick Star quickly followed.
“Ah—”
Black Tiger Afu raised the iron rod high above his head and leaped forward, smashing it down hard at the person inside.
The strike was powerful and fast. The person inside only had time to lift their left arm.
Bang!
The rod hit solidly.
Patrick Star was overjoyed—great opportunity.
He slid out from behind Black Tiger Afu’s large frame, dagger in hand, aiming directly at the target’s left ribs.
But in that instant, he suddenly saw the target’s face clearly—wasn’t that Bai Fu?!
“Stop, stop—everyone stop!”
Patrick Star twisted the dagger hard to the side.
He dodged in time, but the others who came in through the window or followed behind weren’t so lucky.
“Patrick, I’ll help you!”
Convert-to-My-Fu drew her bow and nocked an arrow.
Whoosh.
An arrow shot straight toward the back of the neck.
Excavation-Princess, meanwhile, screamed and slashed forward with a blade.
Patrick Star didn’t have time to shout again, nor could he block them—off balance, he could only watch helplessly.
Time seemed to slow down by countless times at that moment.
He saw Bai Fu turn around, saw her right hand flick the arrow aside, saw her left hand catch the descending blade, and with a twist, take the weapon.
“Fu Fu?”
Excavation-Princess froze on the spot.
The next second, Bai Fu grabbed her throat and slammed her against the wall—under the brute force impact, she was hoisted into the air.
During all this, no damage numbers floated above Bai Fu’s head, nor did any wounds appear on her body.
Not injured?
Patrick Star let out a breath of relief, but then his heart tensed again.
“Why is it you all?”
Bai Fu’s gaze was ice-cold, and her voice just as frigid.
Excavation-Princess struggled and looked down, clearly seeing the disbelief in that icy gaze.
In truth, at that moment, all the Players—including Excavation-Princess—were in disbelief.
Why was it Bai Fu? Why was their assassination target Bai Fu?
That meant they had betrayed Bai Fu’s trust—bit the hand that fed them.
It was over, everything was over!
They had finally raised Bai Fu’s favorability to 82, and now it was probably going to drop straight to -82.
The first to take the quest, Convert-to-My-Fu, was on the verge of mental collapse.
Was there anything more regretful, painful, or despair-inducing than stabbing the person one liked?
He almost wanted to stab himself then and there.