Chapter 29: You're a Little Too Extreme【Double-length, please keep reading】
Bai Fu's hunch was spot-on.
Once he sensed something was wrong, the Wildfire Gang Boss immediately ordered his men to be extra vigilant.
Within just one day, the Wildfire Gang discovered numerous pairs of twins, triplets, and even quadruplets among the outsiders.
That was simply outrageous—how could it be so easy to give birth to that many twins?
The Wildfire Gang Boss could only come up with two explanations.
First, these outsiders weren't normal people but clones—once one died, a new clone immediately took their place.
Second, these outsiders could come back to life after dying.
If he had to choose between the two, he leaned more toward the first.
Compared to resurrection, cloning technology seemed more scientific, more feasible, and easier to accept.
But things clearly weren’t that simple.
One problem had been bothering the Wildfire Gang Boss all along.
Those outsiders showed no signs of training.
Many of them didn’t look especially obese, but at the very least, they had the physique of overworked wage slaves from major settlements. Yet somehow, they were even more fearless than death commandos.
Did that make any sense?
Unless those outsiders knew they could revive after death, there was no way to explain this.
There was an old saying at the Abandoned Cooling Plant—
Once you eliminate all the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how unbelievable, must be the truth.
“So the truth is—the outsiders can come back to life!”
The Wildfire Gang Boss was shaken to the core.
He didn’t dare announce this discovery publicly. In earlier battles, the gang’s regular members had already been driven nearly insane by the outsiders’ shameless tactics. If they suddenly learned they were up against a bunch of undying ones, they might flee in terror on the spot.
And just like that, the Wildfire Gang he had worked so hard to build would collapse in an instant.
“What kind of devils have we provoked?!”
They possessed undying bodies, unfathomably low moral standards, surprisingly high levels of education, and limitless potential for growth.
To the Wildfire Gang Boss, provoking these outsiders was no different from encountering a cataclysm that could destroy the entire settlement!
He started regretting how loudly he had spoken when he first met the outsiders. But it was too late for regrets—unless he could travel back in time with his memories intact, he would still have made the same choice after catching the outsiders breaking into his supply crate.
Who would have thought those outsiders were so terrifying?
Their appearances and carefree attitudes were just too misleading!
The Wildfire Gang Boss was mentally exploding.
He looked toward a nondescript hidden door in the gang’s hideout.
At this moment, those people behind the door were all he had to rely on.
After telling his men not to wander off, he quickly darted through the secret door.
Beneath it lay a narrow white corridor, ending in a heavy iron door. Behind that door was an old-looking laboratory.
“Doctor Yulia!”
The Wildfire Gang Boss glanced around.
Finally, his gaze landed on someone wearing a thick protective suit. It was the woman who had gone with him a few days ago to investigate Cao Wenliang’s death.
He hurried forward, but after just two steps, two burly guards at the lab entrance pressed down on his shoulders.
Yulia turned around. “Let him go. He’s in a rush, so it must be something urgent.”
The two burly men only chuckled and didn’t move their hands.
Yulia remained calm, not the slightest bit annoyed that her words were ignored. “What do you want from me?”
The Wildfire Gang Boss quickly explained what he had discovered.
“The current situation is very bad. If anything happens to the Wildfire Gang, this lab might not remain hid—”
Before he could finish, the two guards at the door burst out laughing.
“Undying ones? What kind of fairy tale are you telling?”
“Number Seven, unless I’m mistaken, did he just try to threaten us?”
No, I didn’t… I wasn’t…
The Wildfire Gang Boss broke into a cold sweat.
Though he was being humiliated, he didn’t dare retaliate—because these three people belonged to a group feared even by the nearby major settlement, Lynn—
The Truth Society.
Over a hundred years ago, Origin Star suffered a global war that nearly destroyed everything.
In the century that followed, humanity rebuilt civilization amidst pollution and mutated lifeforms.
Now, five superpowers controlled countless settlements and shelters.
These five forces were: Gene Primordials, Old Republic, Railway Guild, Human Alliance, and the Truth Society.
Among them, the Truth Society was the most mysterious.
No one knew where their headquarters was or who their leader was, but every time they appeared, they brought disasters that claimed countless lives.
Because of this, the Truth Society naturally became the public enemy of all other factions.
Even the Human Alliance, which was obsessed with preserving human purity and exterminating all impure life, found the Truth Society a bit too extreme!
The Wildfire Gang Boss had never imagined he’d be involved with the Truth Society.
But over a month ago, while taking inventory of gang supplies, these three suddenly broke in.
They claimed to be from the Truth Society and demanded his cooperation to avoid being discovered by Lynn’s people.
They also promised to recommend him for membership once the job was done.
At first, of course, he didn’t believe them. But then, the man codenamed Number Seven took out a spherical device.
In that instant, he felt like he’d been hit with a binding spell—his body and even space itself were frozen solid.
That was the first time he had felt true despair.
He’d been in the underworld his whole life and faced death threats more than once, but this was the only time he saw no chance to resist. He didn’t even understand the move his opponent used.
The unknown—that was the scariest thing of all!
Under pressure—and spurred by ambition—he agreed to help.
At a place as small as the Abandoned Cooling Plant, no matter how hard he worked, he would never make a name for himself. To the big shots, he wasn’t even a bug.
If he had no chance, that would be one thing. But now that a chance had appeared, he had to try to climb up.
But this path was a tough one.
Even though he had done his best, those two guards never treated him kindly. Only Yulia showed him a bit of respect.
This time, too, Yulia stepped in to defuse the situation. “Enough. What’s so funny? Can you really be sure he’s wrong? Don’t underestimate the Gene Primordials’ technology.”
The Abandoned Cooling Plant and Lynn were both under the Gene Primordials’ control.
The Gene Primordials were known for their research on mutants.
“I don’t understand the technical stuff. You’re the expert.”
Number Seven grinned, seemingly smiling, but there was hidden fury in his eyes.
Yulia was unfazed by his gaze. 「Go investigate and see if those outsiders are related to the Gene Primordials. If they are, then we can’t stay here.」
Number Seven didn’t move.
Yulia’s gaze turned icy. 「If the mission fails, do you think the Chairman will come after you first, or me?」
Number Seven was silent for a long moment. 「Then I’ll go stretch my legs a bit.」
He shrugged and walked past the Wildfire Gang Boss.
“I…” The Wildfire Gang Boss looked a little embarrassed.
Yulia said, 「If anything comes up, let me know.」
This was a roundabout way of kicking him out.
The Wildfire Gang Boss was tactful enough to take his leave.
His heart was filled with anxiety—he had truly offended Number Seven this time.
When this matter settled down, given Number Seven’s even more extreme personality than Cao Wenliang’s, he would surely come back for revenge.
In terms of strength, he wasn’t a match for Number Seven with the spherical tool.
In terms of background, he was even more outclassed.
Although Yulia had previously promised to recommend him to the Truth Society, judging from how Number Seven treated her, she might not be able to protect him.
“Damn it!”
Now that things had come to this, the Wildfire Gang Boss realized he had only one option left.
Good luck, you undying outsiders—please kill that arrogant bastard Number Seven!
After exiting the secret door, the Wildfire Gang Boss encountered Bai Fu, who had come to turn in a quest.
“So fast? You gathered everything already? Good, good, good.”
He nodded repeatedly, not in the mood to ask how Bai Fu had collected the venom sacs so quickly.
This somewhat surprised Bai Fu.
Before coming, she had thought up several excuses to stall, but since the Wildfire Gang Boss didn’t ask, she saw no need to speak further.
【You completed the faction quest [Material Collection (Special)] and received 10,000 XP and 20 Faction Reputation】
Without much hesitation, Bai Fu leveled up Psionic Apprentice to Lv8 and allocated the two new stat points into Constitution.
Her attribute panel changed once again.
【Template】: Ordinary
【XP】: 2751
【Main Class】: Psionic Apprentice Lv8 (0/10000), Unemployed Drifter Lv5 (Max)
【Sub Class】: None
【HP】: 290/290
【Psionic Value】: 60/60
【Stats】: Strength 7, Agility 5, Constitution 26, Intelligence 3, Spirit 12, Inspiration 128
Her Faction Reputation increased from 22 to 42, which was no small amount.
Bai Fu noticed that the Wildfire Gang Boss was clearly treating her with more warmth than before.
“Boss, any other tasks for me?”
Right now, her collaboration with the Players was in a tight phase.
She wanted to strike while the iron was hot and take on more quests, quickly leveling Psionic Apprentice to Lv10, and then seek advancement knowledge.
The Wildfire Gang Boss shook his head. “You’ve been busy for days. Take a break first. I’ll call you when there’s more work.”
Too bad.
Bai Fu could only look elsewhere to see if there were other quests to pick up.
After bidding farewell to the Wildfire Gang Boss, she went to the Library and retrieved the book Basic Fist Techniques she had discovered earlier.
She chose this profession-knowledge book for two main reasons.
The most direct reason was that it was currently the best way to boost a Player’s combat effectiveness.
Other profession books, like Firearm Assembly and Spy Secrets, may unlock strong classes, but their general usability was far lower than Basic Fist Techniques.
After all, once you become a Gunner, you still need a gun. If you become a Spy, you need special gear.
But with Basic Fist Techniques, there was no such problem. Even without prior training, you could still use skills.
The second reason Bai Fu picked Basic Fist Techniques was because it was very thin—just over twenty pages, mostly pictures with minimal text—ideal for copying.
Yes.
Bai Fu didn’t plan to hand over the original to the Players. She intended to copy it herself.
She had borrowed the book from the Wildfire Gang Library. If you borrow and return, it’s easy to borrow again. If you borrow and don’t return, getting scolded would be the least of her problems. If they found out it was for the Players, that would be real trouble.
Plus, Players were all saying she was going to steal a profession book, so of course she had to meet their expectations.
Directly handing over the original was technically theft, but it made stealing the book seem too easy. Saying she “secretly copied it” was more moving.
And Bai Fu was right.
When she handed the hand-drawn Basic Fist Techniques to Excavation‑Princess, both the Players around her and those in the livestream were deeply moved.
【Damn, can’t imagine how much effort Fu Fu put into copying this book, or how much risk she took!】
【Nothing else matters now—not even that giant mech from the trailer—Fu Fu is number one, I swear!】
【True, giant mechs are cool, but I can’t pilot one. Fu Fu is different—she gives me money and profession books. I didn’t even know how I’d change classes before this.】
【Whoa, this is a monumental achievement!】
【Fu Fu: I want to create a world where every Player can easily change class!】
【Fu Sect!】
Amid laughter and joy, Bai Fu was practically worshipped as a deity.
Although the game had been live for about ten days, the number of Players with new classes was still quite low.
Thanks to Bai Fu, all the Players who helped her gather venom sacs now had a chance to change class.
She not only attracted a wave of popularity but also scored some positive PR.
【Raising an NPC’s favorability really makes a difference. If Bai Fu’s favorability with Excavation was in single digits, she wouldn’t even give 200 Credit Coins, let alone a profession book.】
Many Players had already made a mental note: next time they met Bai Fu, regardless of anything else, they’d raise her favorability first!
Bai Fu was very pleased.
A single Player’s reward wasn’t much—but the combined rewards of thousands upon thousands of Players added up to an astronomical figure.
“You all study at your own pace. I’ll be off now. The Wildfire Gang is watching closely these days. I still can’t reveal my identity.”
Bai Fu found an excuse to slip away.
Right now, she didn’t have time to keep chatting nonsense with the Players—she needed to see if there were any XP quests nearby.
She still needed over 20,000 XP to reach Lv10 as a Psionic Apprentice.
When she walked onto a street adjacent to the “Shopping Street,” Bai Fu came to a stop.
By the roadside—
A burly man, dressed in a style clearly different from the Abandoned Cooling Plant, had one hand clamped around a vendor’s neck.
「Tell me where the outsiders are hiding, or I’ll kill you right now.」
Bai Fu was taken aback.
Though it wasn’t rare to see thuggish people at the Abandoned Cooling Plant, she had never seen anyone quite this extreme before.
Fortunately, this man had set his sights on the Players—who were even more extreme than he was when it came down to it—so she wasn’t worried at all.
She was just curious about his identity, since she had no recollection of him whatsoever.
Bai Fu cast a Psionic Vision at the burly man.