Chapter 26: Bai Fu Shall Make the Wildfire Gang Great Again
The battle had ended, but the commotion continued.
Outside the Player stronghold, in an abandoned building, the Field Division Minister sat expressionlessly on a broken wall.
“Talk. What’s the situation on your end?”
“Minister, it’s like this…”
Bai Fu repeated the reason she had told the injured man earlier.
“If it weren’t for the Minister’s fierce offensive forcing those Outsiders to fend for themselves, I’d have died at their hands.”
The wounded man who had been saved by Bai Fu quickly came forward to testify: “Yes, yes, it was too close. Thankfully, Bai Fu woke up in time. Otherwise, with my injuries, I might have died there tonight.”
The Field Division Minister pinched the bridge of his nose.
He had to admit that Bai Fu’s luck was unbelievably good. She actually survived. Was this what people called the blessings of fools?
When Cao Wenliang heard this, he would surely explode in rage.
Whatever. It had nothing to do with him anyway. He didn’t want to stay involved in this mess.
He had done everything he could. Was it his fault Bai Fu didn’t die?
The Field Division Minister was now seething with anger.
If Cao Wenliang hadn’t insisted on using this operation to get rid of Bai Fu, would he have ended up in such a sorry state?
Think about it — if this operation hadn’t targeted Bai Fu, they could’ve launched a surprise attack without the Outsiders knowing.
Those Outsiders weren’t afraid to die, sure, but without advance traps, they couldn’t have withstood even a single assault.
Now great, they’d killed dozens of Outsiders, but half of their own men were lost. The Minister didn’t even dare imagine how the Boss would look at him after this.
“Fuck your mother, you goddamn idiot Cao Wenliang!”
Sever ties. He had to completely cut ties with Cao Wenliang this time.
When the Boss asked, he’d just say he didn’t know anything. It was all done independently by the four people Cao Wenliang had arranged.
If Cao Wenliang didn’t want to drag him down with him, he’d better keep his mouth shut.
With that thought, the Field Division Minister breathed a little easier.
“Let’s head back first.”
As for those who had ditched him and fled halfway, he had no plans to let them off.
As for Bai Fu…
The Minister glanced at Bai Fu’s innocent eyes.
This airhead had already gained the Boss’s favor. After tonight’s incident, the Boss would definitely value her even more. Even if he didn’t flatter her, building a good relationship in advance wouldn’t hurt.
The three of them hobbled back toward the Wildfire Gang.
No one spoke, and Bai Fu enjoyed the peace. As they walked, she received a game notification.
【You have completed the faction mission [Counterattack], Contribution: 0.3%, Reward: 60 XP】
Bai Fu: “……”
At the sound of the notification, her lips twitched.
Sixty XP?
Well, meat was still meat, even if it came from a mosquito. Honestly, if calculated strictly, her contribution in this faction mission was probably negative. She probably owed thousands of XP on this one.
Bai Fu casually closed the notification, only to find a new one had followed it.
【Your contribution ranks first, bonus reward: 3000 XP, Special Title [Wildfire]】
【Wildfire】: +303 HP
Although 3000 XP wasn’t enough to upgrade her Psionic Apprentice class, it was enough to level her Unemployed Drifter from Lv3 to Lv5.
And while 30 bonus HP wasn’t as good as 3 Constitution points, any HP boost was welcome. It meant her survivability had increased.
Bai Fu was stunned.
Such a delightful surprise?
Thinking about it carefully, it made perfect sense. Forget 0.3%, even if her contribution had been 0% or -100%, since she was the only one who received the [Mission], didn’t that automatically make her number one?
Was this the joy of being the sole member of a faction?
Bai Fu quickly reached out to cover her mouth to stop the corner from curling into too big a smile, in case the two people in front noticed.
Staying in the Wildfire Gang and pretending to be an undercover agent had definitely been the right decision.
If she had left the Wildfire Gang as soon as she woke up, how could she be enjoying the faction mission rewards like she was now?
Speaking of which, this faction mission could be triggered largely because of her — if she hadn’t taken out Martin, even though relations between the Players and the Wildfire Gang were already strained, there was still a long way to go before things escalated to this point.
If anything had happened in between, some Players might’ve even chosen to join the Wildfire Gang’s faction, making the situation more unpredictable.
Now, Bai Fu had only one thought——
This was freaking awesome!
After farming Players for beheadings and XP, she had now discovered a new shortcut to level up.
That was to egg the Wildfire Gang on to keep striking hard at the Players, triggering new faction missions and letting her enjoy the extra faction mission rewards.
“Players are just the best!”
Bai Fu thought that if Calamity Dragon were to use Detection on her right now, it would surely show that her favorability had increased again.
Who wouldn’t love thick, juicy leeks that voluntarily cut themselves and walk right up to your doorstep?
The Players’ support, the money in their pockets, and the XP on their bodies — she wanted it all!
Bai Fu wasn’t worried at all about her persona falling apart.
Anyway, there wasn’t a single Player left in the Wildfire Gang right now. Who would know what she had done? As long as she warned the Players again like she did today, wouldn’t their favorability toward her keep soaring?
The only issue was that the Players still weren’t strong enough.
If the Wildfire Gang continued to ramp up their attacks, they might not be able to withstand it. She had to find a way to strengthen them.
“Got it!”
Some Players were already close to hitting level 5 and needed to learn new classes, right?
She couldn’t provide other resources, but when it came to class knowledge books, it was a different story. The Wildfire Gang’s library had seven or eight of them!
She could totally take those books and give them to the Players for leveling up.
But one thing she needed to be careful about was not to hand those class knowledge books out too freely.
Bai Fu had two considerations.
First, if she gave them away too easily, the Players might forget her kindness in a few days. Only by making them wait a bit and giving them some “cost” would they truly appreciate the weight of her “goodwill.”
Second, she wanted to balance the Players’ strength. Right now, she was afraid they’d suffer too much and get discouraged by the Wildfire Gang’s beatdowns, but also afraid they’d steamroll the Wildfire Gang in a flash, then run off elsewhere and leave her behind.
After checking her latest gains, Bai Fu opened Star‑Play Society.
As she expected, the reason the game suddenly notified her that the faction mission was completed was because the Players had retreated from that battered stronghold.
Even though they had worked hard to build that base, the Players were still in high spirits, not even spending a moment mourning its destruction.
Bai Fu had faction missions in the Wildfire Gang faction, and the Players who opposed the Wildfire Gang also had missions to destroy them.
Post-battle stats showed that except for the few Players who died doing nothing, every other Player who participated tonight made gains. Some even leveled up twice in one go, and even those who earned the least got a solid 200–300 XP.
The abandoned Cooling Plant district had now basically become a paradise of joy.
【So satisfying! / So refreshing! / Feels so good!，tonight’s kill spree was too satisfying】
【Party Big Star is insane, he dodged the leader’s attacks just by positioning】
【What do you mean insane? He got hit several times. He could’ve dodged with just one more step】
【Ribbit, it’s a mouth-warrior king. Everyone back away from the keyboard!】
【You guys are seriously wilding, actually smearing poop on your weapons, ew】
Besides those Players, the rest were busy praising Bai Fu.
【Half the credit for repelling the Wildfire Gang tonight belongs to Fu‑fu. If she hadn’t risked her life to tip us off, we would’ve been crushed in the opening exchange】
【That’s our Fu‑fu! The most solid pillar for Players! It’s not too late to join Fu Sect now!】
【I can’t hold it in anymore. Even the female characters in some other gacha games aren’t this nice to me】
【You mean that hardcore, no-pandering-to-otaku game?】
【It wasn’t me, I didn’t say that】
What confused Bai Fu was that she didn’t see the Fu Sect’s top general, Excavation‑Princess, in the community.
“Where is she?”
She scrolled through the forums for a while before discovering that Excavation‑Princess had gone to visit the neighboring section.
It started a few days ago when fans of Harp Girl mocked that Players in the abandoned Cooling Plant worshiped Bai Fu endlessly but gained no real benefits — just psychological comfort and quick respawns after getting killed by her.
Those words seriously pissed off some of Bai Fu’s supporters.
Even if you were right, you didn’t have to say it out loud!
And what, like fawning over Harp Girl got them anything real?
But after tonight, things completely flipped.
Who said there were no benefits to worshiping Bai Fu?
Not only were there benefits — there were massive benefits!
A bunch of trolls seized the opportunity to storm the subforum of the newbie village where Harp Girl resided.
【Believe in Bai Fu, attain eternal life】
【Come out and take your beating】
【The strong must harshly humiliate the weak!】
By the time Excavation‑Princess arrived, the community was already in chaos. Surprisingly, this time she didn’t pour oil on the fire. Instead, she jumped in to calm things down.
【Stop arguing, stop arguing. Different folks, different tastes. Whether you like Fu‑fu or not, it’s all fine】
This stance shocked everyone. You’re clearly not the real Excavation‑Princess. Who are you?
Even Calamity Dragon, watching from the side, was stunned. She quickly reached out to feel Excavation‑Princess’s forehead.
“You don’t have a fever, do you?”
“You’re the one with the fever.” Excavation‑Princess snapped back.
Calamity Dragon was even more puzzled. “Didn’t you say you’d pierce all mockery from the old days with your burning battle spear once the time came? Well, the time’s here — why are you chickening out?”
“It’s not worth drawing hate to Fu‑fu for no reason. Besides…” Excavation‑Princess crossed her arms and suddenly burst out laughing. “There’s no need anymore. True strength doesn’t come from bullying the weak. Ignoring those who mock you is the greatest counterattack!”3
Damn, what a chunibyo!
Calamity Dragon rolled her eyes. “Forget it, go on laughing. I’m logging off first.”
“Go ahead, go ahead.”
Excavation‑Princess watched Calamity Dragon leave; she was planning to patrol the subforums and see how other players were praising Bai Fu.
……
Late at night, Wildfire Gang.
Bang bang bang!
The moment he got the news, the Wildfire Gang Boss transformed into a desktop-clearing master, sweeping everything off the table onto the floor.
“Fucking idiot pig! Idiot pig! Idiot pig!”
Important things must be cursed three times.
In short, the Wildfire Gang Boss was furious. He never imagined that what should have been a clean surprise attack would turn into a siege battle — and that so many people would die during the siege.
These were all core members of the Wildfire Gang. Their deaths would significantly weaken the Gang’s strength.
The Field Division Minister quickly took the blame: “It was my poor command, all my fault. Thankfully, Bai Fu showed extraordinary bravery and prevented things from getting worse.”
He brought up Bai Fu, and upon hearing her name, the Wildfire Gang Boss’s rage noticeably lessened.
“Why would Bai Fu charge in alone?”
The Minister pushed the blame. “I’m not exactly sure either. The four who acted with her didn’t report to me immediately after she was captured. When I asked them, they just said Bai Fu acted recklessly for credit.”
The Wildfire Gang Boss’s eyes narrowed. “Do they think I’m stupid? If Bai Fu really acted recklessly, wouldn’t they have reported it right away? Bring those four to me!”
“Yes, yes, Boss, you’re wise and powerful. I’ll fetch them immediately.”
The Field Division Minister slipped away at lightning speed.
The lights in the Wildfire Gang Boss’s office stayed on all night.
The next morning, Bai Fu was hurriedly summoned.
“Boss, it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been captured, there wouldn’t have been so many casualties in this operation.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
The Wildfire Gang Boss nodded inwardly.
After one night, his favorability toward Bai Fu had changed from 【Appreciation】 to 【Valuing】.
Yes, Valuing!
Previously, his impression of Bai Fu was that she was smart, loyal, and driven — worth cultivating.
Now, he had added two more impressions——
Responsible and big-picture thinking!
Looking across the entire Wildfire Gang, aside from himself, only Bai Fu displayed both of these traits — the very qualities a true leader should have.
The Wildfire Gang Boss never imagined he would find such a qualified successor before stepping down.
If it’s Bai Fu, she could surely make the Wildfire Gang great again!
“You did very well last night. If you hadn’t stepped up, even if the operation succeeded, the morale of the Wildfire Gang would’ve collapsed.”
After a round of praise, the Wildfire Gang Boss told Bai Fu to go rest for a few days.
“Go now. I have other plans for you later.”
Bai Fu thanked him and left. At the doorway, she ran into Cao Wenliang, who had been waiting a long time.
Cao Wenliang turned his head, his gaze icy cold.
Bai Fu didn’t say much — she simply smiled at him.
You!
Cao Wenliang gripped the door frame with one hand, took several deep breaths, and only then managed to suppress the fury in his chest. When he removed his hand, there was already a visible dent in the frame.
“Boss, I…”
Cao Wenliang pushed the door open and entered.
The moment he spoke, he was met with the Wildfire Gang Boss’s furious kick.
“Cao Wenliang, are you fucking looking to die!”
Boom!
The crash of collapsing items echoed far and wide. Even Bai Fu, dozens of meters away, heard it clearly.
“Looks like this new top-ranked Big Bro is about to fall off the leaderboard.”
After returning home, Bai Fu told Anya to quickly hide in the basement.
That same night.
In a small standalone courtyard next to the Wildfire Gang headquarters.
Cao Wenliang stood before a mirror. One hand pressed against his chest, where a large red bruise marked where the Wildfire Gang Boss had kicked him earlier.
“Hahaha… Our twenty years of friendship… not worth a rookie who’s only been in the gang for a year… hahaha.”
Cao Wenliang let out a slightly deranged laugh, his eyes bloodshot as if he were wearing red contacts.
Die!
Bai Fu must die!
This time, he would do it himself — first kill Bai Fu, then that useless Old Deng who had kicked him!
Cao Wenliang threw on a jacket, grabbed a gun and a knife, and vanished into the depths of night.
Half an hour later.
On a two-story platform perfect for stargazing.
Bai Fu stood up, facing the approaching Cao Wenliang.
“You’re here.”