Chapter 25: A Win–Win, Meaning Bai Fu Wins Twice!
Night fell like ink, the sky lowered its dome.
Outside the improvised stronghold hastily built by the Player.
The Field Division Minister looked up at the moon, veiled behind clouds like it wore a black gauze.
“Already about ten minutes, right?”
In this operation, killing Bai Fu was only incidental; the main goal was to thoroughly destroy the temporary stronghold built by the outsiders and smash their arrogant, overbearing spirit.
“Notify everyone—formally begin the operation.”
“Yes.”
With the launch of the second signal flare, a bright red spot marked the night sky, and the Wildfire Gang members—already lying in ambush—rushed out from their cover, swiftly closing in around the stronghold.
The Field Division Minister shouted loudly, “Give me—”
“Stop!”
But his command to charge was cut off by a loud shout from inside the building.
The Field Division Minister inexplicably felt frustration as his command was abruptly halted, leaving his face ashen.
He glared angrily at the stronghold's gate.
Before long, four people emerged from the Player’s stronghold, with Bai Fu—her hands bound, face covered in dust and grime—leading them.
Wait, Bai Fu—how was she still alive?
The Minister’s pupils contracted sharply.
Meeting everyone's gaze, the Excavation‑Princess pressed a knife against Bai Fu’s waist: “Anyone who dares take a step forward, I’ll kill her—surely you won’t ignore your own comrade’s fate?”
This threat stopped the Wildfire Gang members, who had been eager to act, in their tracks.
“How did Bai Fu end up there?”
They turned their eyes to the Field Division Minister; at this moment, no one dared be the first to move.
The Minister remained silent.
The situation had completely exceeded his expectations. In the past, he wouldn’t have cared about Bai Fu’s life or death—but now things were different.
On one hand, the Boss currently valued Bai Fu highly.
On the other hand, the Gang’s morale was shaky. If he allowed these outsiders to kill Bai Fu in front of everyone, the uninformed would easily develop doubts.
Today you sacrifice Bai Fu without hesitation—tomorrow, will you sacrifice me?
This would further destabilize morale.
The Field Division Minister quickly exchanged glances with the four who had accompanied Bai Fu, but they all acted as if they hadn’t seen anything, heads nearly touching the ground.
It was one thing to kill Bai Fu—it was another to justify it when the Boss asked who was responsible.
Damn it—Cao Wenliang had really given him a sticky situation.
The Minister's expression flickered.
As he pondered his options, Bai Fu suddenly shouted again:
“You don’t have to worry about me—they definitely won’t let me live. It’s a sure death anyway, so hurry up and act!”
“You… shut up, shut up!”
As if completely unprepared for Bai Fu to shout like that, the Excavation‑Princess hurried to cover her mouth.
“What are you waiting for? You finally have a chance—are you going to stand by and watch them escape?”
Bai Fu struggled fiercely; even the Excavation‑Princess and Calamity Dragon working together couldn’t control her.
Finally, the Excavation‑Princess had to strike her neck with a chop hit.
Bai Fu’s body slumped, collapsing to the ground.
“Drag her back—quick, drag her back.”
Calamity Dragon and the Excavation‑Princess, flustered, dragged Bai Fu back into the house.
This?
The Wildfire Gang members surrounding them were stunned; they could only again look at the Field Division Minister.
He was also shocked—he never expected Bai Fu to perform such a “blaze toward me” move. After the shock, he was overjoyed.
Isn’t this the opening he needed?
Now it wasn’t that he cold‑heartedly wanted to kill Bai Fu—she sacrificed herself for the greater good. Who could blame him?
She truly was so, so foolish and naive!
To be honest, if Cao Wenliang hadn’t given him so many benefits, he really wouldn’t want to kill Bai Fu.
In this line of work, people might think Bai Fu is stupid—but when it comes to a critical moment, who wouldn’t want a comrade like her?
The Field Division Minister raised his right hand high, shouting with all his might:
“Brothers, things have come to this—we absolutely cannot let Bai Fu die in vain. Charge with me—kill these outsiders!”
With his roar, the Wildfire Gang members surged into a ruthless frenzy.
They had been cooped up these past days in capturing these outsiders, boiling with pent‑up anger—and now these outsiders were tormenting Bai Fu in their presence.
Damn it—kill, kill, kill! From this moment on, let these outsiders feel pain!
“Kill them!”
“…”
Inside the stronghold, the Players’ expressions turned strange.
“Not let Bai Fu die in vain?”
Damn—it was those exact words they had just said!
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. The Wildfire Gang had already charged.
Patrick Star, the overall commander, shouted loudly:
“Act according to plan!”
No sooner had he spoken than several Players rushed out from the third‑floor roof of the stronghold.
“Haha, hot water’s coming!”
Bang bang—several buckets of boiling water were poured down relentlessly. The Wildfire Gang members at the front shrieked as they were soaked.
But that was only just the beginning—the hot water team had just retreated when the fishing‑net team and the shooting squad hidden behind the windows sprang into action.
“Get back!”
The Field Division Minister hastily drew a gun from his body.
Bang!
A player on the rooftop collapsed on cue, with a massive damage value of “-30” floating above his head.
“Holy shit, he has a gun!”
“Ah, I can’t move, I’m going to die.”
“Brother, rest in peace. I’ll carry your gear and continue fighting with them.”
“You bastard, don’t touch my gear!”
The players on the rooftop kept tossing things downstairs while laughing and bickering, showing no sense of urgency at all.
Why? Just why could they be this calm?
The Field Division Minister lowered his gun, intending to take out Patrick Star first, but the moment he saw Patrick pull out a gun, the latter had already slipped back inside.
【Split up, try not to engage them in open spaces】
The players’ first wave of attacks only caused two actual casualties to the Wildfire Gang. Both sides quickly entered a phase of street combat.
Patrick Star led a few higher-level warrior-class players to gang up on fewer enemies.
Excavation‑Princess and the others who weren’t good at fighting knowingly served as bait.
Meanwhile, Bai Fu hid in the shadows as a control-type mage, casting the fanaticism buff on people’s stomachs all over the place.
At the moment, she had 55 points of Psionic Value. Each fanaticism buff consumed 1 point per minute. Under normal circumstances, with the physique of Wildfire Gang’s elite mobs, they'd feel stomach discomfort after three to four minutes.
That meant she could control over a dozen people simultaneously—provided she didn’t use the 【Innate Psionics】 skill to convert HP into Psionic Value.
But Bai Fu didn’t go all out at the start. She only selected five of the strongest targets and saved the rest of her Psionic for emergencies.
Fight, keep fighting—the more intense the battle, the faster their stomachs would rumble.
Bai Fu lay flat in the VIP seats pretending to be dead, enjoying the show.
“Idiot, you think you can catch your daddy?”
“You son of a bitch, how did that shit-flavored snack I fed you last time taste?”
The players’ taunting was turned up to the max.
“Chris, leave that red-star-headed brat to me. That motherf—er, the last time we met, he kept mocking me for being impotent, saying I only became a supervisor by selling my body to the boss. I swear I’ll turn him into a cripple!”
“That’s nothing. They blew up the toilet while I was using it, hahaha, hehe, heehee, hahahaha, I want them all dead!”
A few Wildfire Gang members gave chase relentlessly.
As they ran, the one in front suddenly stepped into empty air and fell into a trap concealed by weeds.
“Shit!”
A piercing pain shot up from his foot. Just as he placed his hand on the wall and prepared to climb out, Convert to My Fu jumped down from above, wielding a large iron club smeared with golden oil.
“Take my big sword!”
Don’t come any closer!
Seeing that golden oil flying through the air, the Wildfire Gang member in the pit desperately tried to dodge, but the small pit offered nowhere to hide.
Bonk!
Convert to My Fu’s golden-oil-coated club landed squarely on his face.
“-15”
It was a critical hit—both on his HP and his psyche.
Excavation‑Princess: “Urgh!”
Calamity Dragon: “No matter how many times I see it, it’s still absurd.”
“Aaaaah, I’m going to kill all of you!”
A few Wildfire Gang members who were lucky enough to avoid the trap flew into a rage and viciously attacked the players in front of them.
At low levels—just 3 or 4—the gap was still too big. There weren’t enough traps either. After surprising and taking down one elite mob, the players couldn’t face them head-on and had to run.
“Upstairs, hurry!”
“Trying to run?”
Another round of wits and guts ensued around the staircase.
But this time, the Wildfire Gang members were alert and didn’t suffer serious injuries. After a chase, they finally cornered Excavation‑Princess and the others on the rooftop.
“Run, hahaha, why aren’t you running now?”
A Wildfire Gang member approached the panting Excavation‑Princess, laughing triumphantly while swinging his knife.
“I’m going to peel your skin off piece by piece and make you beg for—Wait, what the hell, my stomach…”
He was laughing when he suddenly clutched his stomach.
Convert to My Fu’s eyes lit up instantly—now’s the time! Every Wildfire Gang member taken down meant more safety for Fu-fu. Charge!
Without another word, he charged forward and rammed into the Wildfire Gang member.
“Shinde!” (TN: “Die!” in Japanese)
Both of them plummeted off the building like cannonballs.
Bang, bang!
After two loud crashes, both of them perished.
Seeing the two corpses suddenly drop nearby, the Field Division Minister—who was holding off ten players single-handedly—was stunned.
His reaction was decent, but the few Wildfire Gang members on the upper floor who witnessed the whole thing were completely dumbfounded.
Are all these Outsiders this insane? If everyone played like this, how are we supposed to keep playing?
They began to waver. But since they’d already made enemies out of these Outsiders, they steeled themselves again.
Screw it. Kill first, talk later.
At that moment, Calamity Dragon showed a smug smile. “You really think you’ve won?”
“What do you mean?”
Calamity Dragon turned away. “Watch closely—this is our bond!”
“?”
A few Wildfire Gang members squinted and suddenly saw several unfamiliar figures appearing in the night. They were quickly approaching the stronghold.
No, it wasn’t just a few—there were more in the distance.
“It’s reinforcements from the Outsiders!”
Their expressions changed dramatically.
Excavation‑Princess couldn’t help but roll her eyes — bonds, really? You bought them for 50 coins a pop, right? But she still cooperatively shouted, “You have nowhere left to run, prepare to be judged!”
“Damn it, where did these outsiders come from?”
“No, we can’t keep fighting like this. Even if we win, I’ll be half-crippled.”
As their will began to waver, the surviving Wildfire Gang members gradually lost the heart to fight.
When the first deserter appeared, the rest no longer felt burdened about fleeing.
“No one is allowed to run! Stop! Stop, do you hear me!” The Minister of the Field Division was furious, but his shouts were meaningless.
In the chaos, those who had initially followed Bai Fu also began to think about fleeing.
Although Cao Wenliang had repeatedly instructed them to personally confirm Bai Fu’s death, who still cared about that now?
Running came first.
One of them, rubbing his swollen eyes, began running toward the edge of the stronghold.
As he ran, he suddenly stopped.
“Bai Fu?”
On a road soaked in blood, Bai Fu blocked his path.
He froze at first, then became excited.
The fact that Bai Fu wasn’t dead caught him a bit off guard, but that didn’t matter — because soon, she would die by his hand, and he could finally report back to Cao Wenliang.
“It’s great that you’re still alive!” He laughed as he walked forward, hand quietly slipping to the hilt of his blade.
Bai Fu nodded. “You’ve got quite the luck.”
“Yeah, not bad, not bad.”
“But this is the end.”
“Huh?”
That Wildfire Gang member hadn’t yet figured out what was happening when a sharp pain erupted in his abdomen. He looked down to see a knife stabbed into his belly, spinning rapidly — and the hand gripping the knife was Bai Fu’s.
You!
Thud——
When the blade was pulled out, he collapsed to the ground. Even as consciousness faded, his eyes remained wide like copper bells.
【You killed Wildfire Gang Supervisor (Elite), 100% contribution, adjusted for level difference: gained 540 XP】
Bai Fu wiped the blood off her blade and continued looking for her next target.
Soon, she found a wounded Wildfire Gang member inside the stronghold.
“Come with me, this way.”
“Bai Fu? You’re alive? How did you…”
“Just now, someone passed by and kicked me. I woke up, took the chance to break free from the ropes. Come on, follow me — I’ll get you out first and then come back for the others.”
“Thank you, thank you. If not for you, I might’ve died here today.”
The wounded man was deeply moved and quickly followed.
Bai Fu’s figure didn’t seem especially imposing, but remembering what had just happened brought him an unprecedented sense of peace.
This time, Bai Fu didn’t deliver a killing blow — because she needed a witness.
After sending the wounded man out, she quietly snuck back to the main entrance of the stronghold.
By now, the battle near the front gate had paused. The Minister of the Field Division had taken down over twenty players in a single breath.
Given his stats, under normal conditions, even with players like Party Big Star known for mechanical skills, or Black Tiger Afu who fought like a madman, and waves of reinforcements arriving — he would still barely be scratched.
After all, players only dealt one or two points of damage to him, while his attacks dealt over ten or twenty.
But earlier, mid-fight, he suddenly felt gastrointestinal discomfort. A player seized the opportunity and shot an arrow into his knee.
With a knee injury, he couldn’t move quickly. And without mobility, he couldn’t swiftly finish off players. During the prolonged skirmish, his wounds accumulated, and he was starting to feel overwhelmed.
“Damn, this is way too strong — it’s not a monster our level should even face.”
“Don’t get cocky! Once I get the materials, I’m making a homemade bomb to blow you up!”
“Ahhh, my right hand — my king’s power!”
As Bai Fu appeared, she saw a player rolling on the ground, his right hand severed.
She immediately shouted toward the Minister of the Field Division: “Minister!”
“Bai Fu? What are you doing here?”
Just like the others, the Minister froze upon seeing her.
“Minister, don’t worry about me. The outsiders’ reinforcements have arrived. Continuing this fight isn’t worth it — leave now, I’ll cover you!”
The Minister turned his head.
He could faintly hear more shouting from afar.
“Damn it, those bastards from the Wildfire Gang love sneak attacks! Everyone, gang up and stab their asses!”
These outsiders were relentless.
Despite his anger, the Minister also felt relieved. Bai Fu wasn’t strong, but she was the kind who would never betray. With her covering the retreat, there was at least some added safety.
“Go!”
Limping, he hobbled toward Bai Fu.
Seeing the look of relief on his face, Bai Fu quietly clenched her fists.
Now it was perfect.
To the players, she was the whistleblower who cared only about their safety.
To the Wildfire Gang, she was unyielding unto death — a true loyalist to the gang.
One action, two waves of favorability gain. This — this was what the hell people meant by a win-win situation!