Chapter 37: Monument Forged for a Hero
The return journey to the Abandoned Cooling Plant was easier than Bai Fu had imagined.
With a Psionic Value of 14 and Inspiration of 16, these two Stats had significantly heightened her five senses.
She could detect the movements of the Type II Amoebas from afar.
Relying on this ability, she deliberately avoided larger swarms of Type II Amoebas. By the time she saw the fence at the edge of the Abandoned Cooling Plant, she had only gone through four battles.
To her current self, these four battles were just warm-ups. She didn’t even use 【Power Surge (Inferior)】 to temporarily boost her strength—she simply turned the Type II Amoebas into XP with ease.
Including the ones she had taken down earlier while driving, Bai Fu had earned another 13,038 XP on this trip, bringing her XP reserves up to 14,007. Once the mission 【Insect Tide Invasion】 was completed, she would almost have enough XP saved up for her Main Class advancement.
The only issue now was that she hadn’t found a Profession Knowledge Book for advancement yet.
“There might be something good in the Library within the Wildfire Gang, the one only the Wildfire Gang Boss can enter. Even if it’s not there, the Lynn Settlement should have one.”
Bai Fu was in an excellent mood.
After taking a stroll through the Livestreams opened by Players at the Abandoned Cooling Plant, her mood became even better.
She first stirred up the Players’ emotions by making a brave stand at the Abandoned Cooling Plant, leading them to believe she was surely doomed. Then, through her performance on the road, she inspired a sliver of hope amidst despair, making them think she might just survive.
Finally, just as she was about to succeed, she sacrificed herself decisively to open the path to tomorrow for the Players.
These three emotional tugs pushed the Players’ feelings to the brink, desperately needing a release.
Sadness, pain, unforgettable grief...
Every Livestream she watched had Players venting these three emotions.
Among them, none were more animated than the Excavation‑Princess.
Amidst the emotional rollercoaster, the Excavation‑Princess vividly reenacted the emotional journey of Players supporting Bai Fu with exaggerated facial expressions in front of all Livestream viewers.
From collapsing to the ground in despair, to picking herself up again, to fainting on the spot, and then getting back up after hearing that Bai Fu might still be alive—the comedic effect was akin to the classic arc: “grand declarations at the start, nonsense in the middle, and silence at the end.”
She was jokingly dubbed the Sit-up Master by internet jokers and even became a meme, clearly on track to becoming a running gag.
Bai Fu burst out laughing.
Becoming a meme made things easier to spread, just like the “Krillin sacrifices, power unmatched” bit from Dragon Ball.
As dark-humored as it was, the mere mention of it would inevitably bring to mind the iconic scenes tied to it.
This was extremely beneficial for solidifying her popularity and boosting her visibility among the Player base.
“The mood has been built up this far. Now I just need to let the emotions ferment for a while longer.”
Her plan was to wait half a day before showing up in front of the Players.
If she appeared too early, the emotional buildup wouldn’t be enough, making the outburst less impactful. But of course, showing up too late wasn’t good either—who knew what unexpected things might happen then.
A dozen minutes later, Bai Fu arrived smoothly at the Wildfire Gang.
Since only three hours had passed since she discovered the Enhancement Potion, her first stop wasn’t the lab, but the Library that only the Wildfire Gang Boss had free access to.
With no one around, she shot off the lock hanging on the door and pushed it open.
The Library wasn’t big. It only took her a dozen minutes to search it thoroughly.
Unfortunately, Bai Fu didn’t find any advancement knowledge for Psionic Prayer-user paths in the Library.
Still, it wasn’t a total loss—she found three Profession Knowledge Books for other Classes on the shelves:
《Gunner Training Manual 2.0》, 《Advanced Study of Muscles and Power》, 《Introduction to Qi》
She didn’t have any use for these Profession Knowledge Books for now, but they could serve as rewards for Players, helping her gain more goodwill.
Leaving the Library, Bai Fu next targeted the Wildfire Gang’s vault and Logistics Department warehouse.
It took her a full hour and a half to rummage through both places and gather everything useful to her.
She had to admit—this time, raking in Credit Coins was extremely satisfying.
She scored over 170,000 Credit Coins just from this run.
Combined with her previous savings, her total now exceeded 200,000, officially qualifying her as a little rich lady.
Besides the Credit Coins, she also obtained over twenty guns, a grenade launcher, a sack of marching rations that could rapidly restore stamina, three sets of brand-new protective under-armor, more than ten military binoculars, and some miscellaneous small items like bullets.
If the Wildfire Gang Boss’s custom ride hadn’t been so eye-catching, she would have driven that off too.
Bai Fu packed all these items into boxes before finally entering the lab.
At this point, the progress bar behind the Enhancement Potion had already filled.
She cautiously opened the cultivation chamber, which contained two vials of potion.
She only took one.
The reason she didn’t take both was partly because one was enough for her and partly because she keenly sensed that the type of Enhancement Potion Yulia had made was likely related to the main storyline of Origin Star.
She thought it necessary to let the Gene Primordials take the potion back for analysis—to see just what the Truth Society was up to.
After closing the cultivation chamber again, Bai Fu swiftly dragged her spoils and ran toward home.
Through the Players’ Livestreams, she discovered that most of the Type II Amoebas invading the Abandoned Cooling Plant had already been wiped out.
It was likely that the Insect Tide would soon be fully suppressed.
At that point, someone would definitely head to the Wildfire Gang, and she didn’t want to run into them.
Just as she had expected, when she had just dragged the box back to the open lot in front of her home—piled with construction rubble—she received a game prompt.
【You completed the mission [Insect Tide Invasion], Contribution: 23.6%, Reward: 40,000 XP, 3 Stat Points, Psionic Knowledge Chain (4)】
“Hmm?”
Since the mission 【Insect Tide Invasion】 was not a faction mission, Bai Fu, despite her 23.6% Contribution, did not receive an extra title reward as she had when attacking the Player stronghold last time. Still, the rewards from the mission alone were enough to astonish her.
She had originally thought that getting 10,000 XP from the mission would already be decent, but to her surprise, the mission directly gave her 40,000—so this was the charm of high-difficulty missions?
With this much XP, she could immediately level her advanced Class up to Lv2 in one go.
The value of the 3 Stat Points as a reward went without saying. Bai Fu decisively allocated all 3 Stat Points into Constitution, raising her Constitution to 29.
But among the three rewards, the most valuable was actually 【Psionic Knowledge Chain (4)】.
The Class system in Beyond the Stars differed from that in typical online games. Instead, it resembled the tech-tree systems found in certain farming simulation games—
To unlock advanced Classes, prerequisite knowledge had to be learned first!
When learning a basic or advanced Class, all Players needed was the corresponding Profession Knowledge Book and XP. But to advance from an advanced Class to a high-level Class, having the Book and XP wasn’t enough—at least five Knowledge Chains had to be mastered first.
This was the so-called knowledge is power!
These Knowledge Chains weren’t learned in vain either. Each new Chain mastered granted a corresponding bonus.
Bai Fu tapped on the 【Psionic Knowledge Chain (4)】 she had just acquired, and its bonus effects immediately popped up.
【All Psionic active Skill effects +20%, Psionic resistance +20%】
【Note: Unlocking a new Knowledge Chain grants +20% to all Psionic active Skill effects, +20% Psionic resistance, +2 Psionic recovery per minute】
Adding in the 10% bonus from Basic Inspiration Specialization, from now on, Bai Fu’s Skill effects would be boosted by 30%, putting a huge gap between her and an ordinary Psionic Apprentice.
“Now I finally have the feel of an Elite Mob.”
Bai Fu stared excitedly at the Enhancement Potion in her pocket. If she could successfully digest it and get tossed back into the Novice Village, the pressure she would exert might even surpass that of Yulia’s Doppelgänger.
But—how exactly could one digest the Enhancement Potion?
Looking at the potion’s description that read “10% chance of causing Mutation in the target,” Bai Fu felt a headache coming on.
Better wait a bit. She didn’t dare gamble right now.
“Anya.”
Bai Fu called Anya out from the basement.
Having spent nearly half a day in the basement, Anya was already sweating with anxiety. When she saw Bai Fu return safe and sound, she immediately leapt into her arms.
“Boss, I was almost about to come out and look for you.”
Bai Fu smiled and pulled her over to the big box. “Open it and see.”
Anya opened the box with a suspicious look.
She had a hunch that it contained something good, but upon seeing the pile of Credit Coins stacked higher than herself, she was too shocked to speak.
“Boss, this...”
Anya looked left and right, completely at a loss.
Bai Fu said, “It’s all real money. Alright, take it down to the basement.”
Anya hurried to comply, smiling like a fool as she carried the coins.
Things were finally looking up—they wouldn’t go hungry again!
Bai Fu grinned as she watched Anya’s joyful figure.
After all her efforts, she had finally escaped the dire straits she faced when she first transmigrated.
She still wasn’t truly safe—not with the Truth Society now provoked—but things were different now.
She had the ability to protect herself, and since she was in Gene Primordials’ territory, no matter how arrogant the Truth Society was, they wouldn’t dare cause trouble publicly.
After moving the rest of the items from the box into the basement, Bai Fu downed two big glasses of cool boiled water, then idly wandered into the Community.
She just wanted to check the Players’ reactions, but the first thing she saw upon opening the Community was the pinned official announcement.
【Beyond the Stars Update Announcement】
【Dear interstellar adventurers: Beyond the Stars has received widespread love from Players since the start of official open beta. To ensure server stability and service quality, the game will undergo maintenance in one hour, lasting approximately four hours. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
[Update Notes]
1. Server expansion to allow more Players to join the adventure
2. Launch of [Guild] function. Adventurers are welcome to create their own guilds.
3. ...
...
After the maintenance, Beyond the Stars will present a brand-new promotional video. Please stay tuned.】
The announcement listed many points, most unrelated to in-game content and more focused on hardware and peripheral upgrades.
What Bai Fu cared about was just the maintenance itself.
The game would be offline for four hours.
Considering the different time flow speeds between in-game and the real world, the actual time Players would be offline would far exceed four hours.
The exact duration would depend on the developers.
“If the Players only come back after two or three days, how am I supposed to put on my grand performance of the dead returning to life and explode their repressed emotions?!”
Bai Fu was flustered.
The Players who were still searching for her also panicked upon seeing the update.
【What the hell, all I want right now is to know whether Bai Fu is dead or not, and you drop an update on me?】
【Damn it, don’t you dare leave us hanging now! If you must update, at least tell me Fu Fu’s ending first!】
【The devs must be asking to be cursed!】
【Is it possible—just maybe—that this sudden maintenance isn’t about server expansion at all, but actually an attempt to patch the “BUG” where Bai Fu dies?】
【That... might really be the case】
No matter how anxious, how angry, or how unwilling the Players were to log off, they were still forcibly disconnected when the time came.
“They’re all dead, all of them... for Bai Fu, for the Abandoned Cooling Plant, they...”
At dawn, beside the ruins piled high with Type II Amoeba corpses, Xia Shi sighed heavily with a pained expression.
Even if Bai Fu had successfully diverted the Insect Tide with the Induction Bait, a large-scale battle was still inevitable to wipe out the Type II Amoebas that had already invaded the Abandoned Cooling Plant.
Although all the Type II Amoebas had been wiped out, the Outsiders also fell one by one. By the end, out of a hundred Outsiders, at most only four or five were still standing.
What a brutal and tragic battle this was!
Even Xia Shi, who had grown used to blood and fire, almost threw up at the sight of such devastation.
She wanted to step forward to comfort the surviving Outsiders, but she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. In the end, she could only watch helplessly as the remaining Outsiders staggered away, vanishing completely from her sight.
“Try to let it go. Don’t let yourself spiral into depression,” Yago offered.
Xia Shi nodded. “I know. Just need a few days to recover... Wait, Yago, look over there!”
Over there?
Yago followed the sound and looked.
He saw a lone figure walking slowly through the early morning mist.
One step, two steps, three steps... finally, that figure emerged from the fog and drew near.
This time, Yago saw clearly.
“Bai Fu!”
Bai Fu had returned alive!
Yago’s eyes widened.
For a moment, a flood of joy surged through his heart.
On this chilly morning, he had at last encountered some good news.
If the Outsiders who died in battle knew that Bai Fu was still alive, perhaps even in the underworld they could rest a bit easier?
...
After regrouping with Yago and Xia Shi, Bai Fu shared her newly fabricated story with them.
The story was simple: after getting out of the vehicle, she was swarmed by a large number of Type II Amoebas. To better distract them, she led the creatures far away. She originally thought she was done for, but then the Type II Amoebas suddenly turned and left.
At that moment, she realized the operation had succeeded.
She wanted to go back and find Patrick Star, but she got lost in the darkness.
She wandered around all night before finally returning safely to the Abandoned Cooling Plant.
“So the situation now is: I survived, but they died?” Bai Fu’s face was expressionless.
Yago and Xia Shi comforted her, “Yes.”
“Sigh.”
Bai Fu let out a long breath.
She sat quietly beside the ruins, seemingly waiting for someone.
She sat for a long time, until the afternoon, then finally stood up with a resigned look and walked to a Player corpse that hadn’t disappeared yet. She lightly kicked it with her shoe.
“Didn’t you all say you wouldn’t die? Then what’s this now? Come on, resurrect. Resurrect and show me!”
Xia Shi suspected Bai Fu’s mind had been affected by the shock. “Bai Fu, the dead can’t come back to life, you...”
Bai Fu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she swallowed her words.
“They saved the Abandoned Cooling Plant. I want to build a monument for them.”
Yago and Xia Shi were moved. “I’ll help you.”
“Thanks.”
Looking at the two now full of enthusiasm, Bai Fu couldn’t help but let out a secret laugh.
To build a monument for the Players—this was her solution to the sudden forced logout of the Players!
As long as the Players knew she was alive, the emotions they had repressed earlier would definitely erupt.
Since that was the case, why did she need to insist on appearing before them?
In fact, Bai Fu was quite grateful for the officials’ move this time.
It further pushed down the Players’ emotions, and not only that, it pushed the “is Bai Fu dead or alive” topic to peak popularity.
Many internet jokers who hadn’t cared about her fate were drawn in and began joining the no-prize guessing game in the Community.
When the game reopens, when the Players log in and see the monument—what will they feel?
Bai Fu looked forward to it greatly.
Serve it up quickly—she could hardly wait any longer!