Chapter 38: First Enhancement, Blood of Evolution!
In Section C of Level B3 at the Truth Society’s main base, within what appeared to be an ordinary laboratory—
Cold-toned light poured down from the embedded ceiling light strips, casting a sterile glow over the already frigid machinery-filled room, making it appear even more desolate.
When the time on the oval clock hanging on the wall reached 4:12, accompanied by a faint pneumatic hum from the door opening, a nondescript-looking man walked in from outside.
He was the President of the Truth Society, known as one of the most dangerous people in the world, ranked number one on the dark web bounty list alongside the other four leaders of the Five Major Powers.
“Has Yulia woken up?”
The President asked emotionlessly toward the lab coat beside the circular machine.
The lab coat replied, “She just woke up ten minutes ago, but her mental state isn’t great.”
“Her mental state doesn’t matter. I have questions for her.”
Half an hour ago, the President had received intelligence from a spy embedded within the Gene Primordials. He had learned that the strike squad sent to the Abandoned Cooling Plant had been completely wiped out.
The Gene Primordials had urgently convened a meeting, preparing to launch a new wave of attacks against the Truth Society.
He urgently wanted to know what exactly had happened at the Abandoned Cooling Plant.
The lab coat nodded, then reached out and operated the circular machine.
Soon, the heavy rectangular monitor in front of them lit up, and in the center of the screen appeared Yulia.
Different from her spirited appearance at the Abandoned Cooling Plant, this Yulia looked sluggish.
She wore a white hospital gown, her neck shackled to the bed frame by a silver metal collar. Her forehead, wrists, and ankles were all affixed with red and blue lines.
The President got straight to the point: “Tell me everything you experienced at the Abandoned Cooling Plant.”
Yulia slowly opened her eyes and began explaining: “A group of unidentified Outsiders appeared at the Abandoned Cooling Plant, suspected to have been sent by the Gene Primordials. Number Seven disobeyed my orders and insisted on teaching them a lesson, which ended up exposing our presence. Those Outsiders then coordinated with the Gene Primordials’ agents and launched an assault on the Wildfire Gang.”
“And then you all died?”
“Those Outsiders had no fear of death. Even when I took control of their comrades, they didn’t flinch. Under their relentless assault, my doppelgänger—due to insufficient strength—broke down under the control, allowing someone to break free. They seized that opportunity and killed my doppelgänger.”
Yulia spoke carelessly.
When she brought up Bai Fu, she deliberately blurred the details, avoiding saying that Bai Fu had broken free of control herself.
Instead, she made it sound like she had accidentally loosened control over Bai Fu.
Just as she expected, the President paid no attention to Bai Fu.
“So you're saying that the doppelgänger I gave you was too weak, and that’s why this mission failed?”
The President stepped forward and placed his right hand on the top of the monitor.
“Yulia, you must want to kill me—slice my flesh off inch by inch.”
Yulia made no comment.
The President narrowed his eyes: “Normally, I’d ignore your subtle cues. But this time, I want to do something different. Ed, give Yulia a stronger doppelgänger.”
The lab coat named Ed was taken aback: “President, that’s not appropriate. What if she turns around and tries to kill you once she gets a new one?”
“Relax.” The President remained composed. “She’s a smart one. Until she’s sure those acquaintances back home are safe, she won’t make a move. Isn’t that right, Yulia?”
Yulia simply closed her eyes.
The President chuckled: “The Truth Society is vast, filled with all kinds of people. I don’t care about your past, don’t care what you want. As long as you can help me reach the truth, even if you want to kill me, I can turn a blind eye.”
At this point, he suddenly paused, as if preparing an emotional beat.
“Yulia, if you want to kill me, then complete the missions I assign you. For every mission you complete, I’ll give you a stronger doppelgänger. Once you’ve completed everything I ask, I don’t mind setting you free. Then you can come for your revenge.”
Yulia was so furious her molars nearly shattered.
This taunt maxed out the humiliation, but in her current situation, she truly had no choice but to endure and continue working for the Truth Society.
Fortunately, she still had a counterplan—if she could capture Bai Fu, if she could understand why Bai Fu could break her control, the tide would turn.
By then, she would make the President of the Truth Society pay for his arrogance!
“You, synchronize her with the experiment data, then immediately begin a new experiment.”
After giving Ed his instructions, the President left the lab directly.
He had a new assignment for the combat units—
Eliminate Bai Fu, Yago, and Xia Shi!
“I will dispatch assassins immediately and have our spy embedded with Lynn assist the operation. Leave the purge to me, President, please rest assured!”
The President nodded in satisfaction.
Can’t kill the Gene Primordials’ leader, but can’t even kill three lackeys?
He didn’t dwell on it. He had too many tasks. His focus had to stay on military strategy.
The Truth Society was about to launch an unprecedented assault on the Gene Primordials.
……
Because she didn’t know when the Player would return, Bai Fu took immediate action upon meeting Yago and Xia Shi.
She had originally planned to spend a full day building the monument, but she still underestimated her popularity at the Abandoned Cooling Plant after the Insect Tide incident. She was now the savior—just standing by the roadside drew greetings from several passersby, some even offering her food.
Once people learned she was building a monument for the Player, a large group of scavengers quickly stepped forward and offered to help.
With the scavengers’ assistance, she completed the construction of the monument in just half a day.
“This should do it.”
Before leaving, Bai Fu specially placed several paper flowers folded by Anya in front of the monument, adding a touch of solemnity to the tribute.
Now all that remained was to wait for the game to finish updating, so the Player could come back online.
While she waited, Bai Fu encountered an uninvited guest.
“Boss? Why are you here?”
The Wildfire Gang Boss stood at the door with a bitter face, as if someone owed him a million.
Bai Fu suspected that her sneaky coin-farming operation in the Wildfire Gang had been exposed—but that couldn’t be, right?
The Wildfire Gang didn’t have surveillance, and she had triple-checked that no one was around at the time.
In any case, if it really was exposed, she would have no choice but to send the Wildfire Gang Boss on his way.
In the past, she definitely wasn’t a match for the Wildfire Gang Boss. But times had changed.
Now, her Constitution stat was as high as 29, and she had even snatched two vials of blood potion from Yulia’s laboratory.
That should be enough to wear down someone on par with Number Seven and Number Nine—like the Wildfire Gang Boss—until he dropped.
However, things took a turn that caught her off guard.
“I came to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?”
Bai Fu was stunned.
The Wildfire Gang Boss gave a bitter smile. “I’ve had dealings with the Truth Society. Once the Gene Primordials’ reinforcements arrive tomorrow, I’ll be the first one they arrest. This might be the last time we see each other.”
“Wait... Boss, are you planning to run?”
“I’m not running. If the Gene Primordials catch me, I might still have a chance to live. But if the Truth Society catches me, I’m done for. Whatever, let’s not talk about this.”
The Wildfire Gang Boss stared at Bai Fu.
Right now, he was simply filled with emotion—mixed with a hint of pride.
Yes, pride!
Back when Cao Wenliang was targeting Bai Fu, he had already seen her potential, believing she could take over the Wildfire Gang after he joined the Truth Society, and lead it to new heights.
And he was absolutely right—Bai Fu had proven herself again and again. During the Insect Tide incident, she had stepped forward to end the threat, becoming the savior of the Abandoned Cooling Plant.
With such performance, how could she not make a great Wildfire Gang boss?
This only proved that although he lost, he wasn’t wrong. His judgment was flawless.
The real fools were those three idiots in the Truth Society. It was the timing that tripped him up—the world itself had been against him!
“What a shame.”
The Wildfire Gang Boss shook his head.
“Bai Fu, I had planned to hand over the Wildfire Gang to you after joining the Truth Society. I’ve always believed in your potential. These days, driven young people like you are rare. I believed that with our cooperation, we could take the Wildfire Gang even further. But now, we can’t work together anymore. I just went back to the Wildfire Gang, and some bastard smashed open the treasury vault—the money’s all gone.”
With the money gone, his position as boss was gone too.
The Wildfire Gang was finished.
He let out a long sigh, eyes filled with resentment.
Seeing the vault in that rat-infested state nearly killed him from rage.
But then again, since he was about to be arrested anyway, maybe losing the money wasn’t such a big deal.
“I’m passing the position of Wildfire Gang Boss to you. Whether you want it is up to you. Oh, and here’s the last of my savings. If I keep it, the Gene Primordials will just confiscate it, so I might as well give it to you.”
As he spoke, the Wildfire Gang Boss pulled out a card, saying it still had thirty thousand Credit Coins.
When Bai Fu took the card, her expression turned bizarre.
She knew he had a personal stash, but she never imagined the Wildfire Gang Boss would hand it over to her voluntarily—and even less so that, at the end, he’d transfer the entire faction to her.
But this faction transfer wasn’t something to be taken lightly.
With it, she could assign more people to work for her.
She could also use the faction identity to craft deeper personal narratives, drawing more Players toward her.
Bai Fu was so touched she could barely speak.
The Wildfire Gang Boss—he really was the best, she was crying her eyes out!
What did people mean by “Top-Rank Big Bro”? This was it! Big Bro Biao was nothing compared to the Wildfire Gang Boss. If she ever escaped Origin Star and ventured into a broader world, one-third of the credit would go to the Wildfire Gang Boss.
“Boss, I’ll never forget you!”
The Wildfire Gang Boss nodded with a smile. “That’s all I ask. Alright, it’s getting late. I won’t stay and risk dragging you down with me.”
He turned and walked away, muttering “what a shame, what a shame” as he went.
A few minutes later, his figure finally disappeared around the corner.
Bai Fu slipped the card into her pocket and opened the Faction System.
As faction leader, she now had full control over its settings.
“Let’s change the name first.”
No way she was going to keep calling it the Wildfire Gang.
Bai Fu renamed the faction from 【Wildfire Gang】to【Garden of Silence】.
Don’t get the meaning?
Good—you’re not supposed to!
Bai Fu didn’t understand it either.
She was aiming for that “mysterious and profound” vibe.
Only then could she better con the Players.
After renaming, she shut down the Faction System.
The rest didn’t matter for now.
Once she lured in more recruits, she’d adjust things slowly.
She closed the door and returned inside.
After sitting for barely ten minutes, she suddenly received a new game prompt.
【Plot Participation Confirming (0%...23%...100%)】
【Character Profile Adjusting (0%...11%...)】
Wait—could this be it? The big one she had been waiting for?
Bai Fu’s breathing suddenly became rapid.
When the data correction reached 100%, she could almost hear celestial music in her ears.
【You have acquired the Talent [Luck]】
【Luck】: Your innate fortune surpasses ordinary people. When making checks, success rate +10%
It happened—it was here!
The upgrade she had been waiting for finally arrived!
Bai Fu was so excited her hands trembled.
This meant her strategy of boosting popularity to strengthen herself was completely correct.
Although the game hadn’t granted her a special Template or new background setting, this [Luck] talent came at the perfect time.
An additional 10% success rate meant she could now fully absorb the enhancement potion made by Yulia.
Bai Fu quickly took out the enhancement potion.
As she expected, the description in the additional effects had changed—a (+10%) now followed the original 90%.
She decisively drank the entire potion in one gulp.
This time, it took her a full hour for the enhancement progress bar to reach 100%.
During the process, her body intermittently experienced needle-like pain, but that level of suffering was entirely worth it.
After unlocking the 【Blood of Evolution】 Template, all her stats received a massive boost.
【Race】: Human (Blood of Evolution)
【Template】: Special (Blood of Evolution)
【XP】: 54007
【Main Class】: Psionic Apprentice Lv10 (Max), Unemployed Drifter Lv5 (Max)
【Sub Class】: None
【HP】: 690/690
【Psionic Value】: 95/95
【Stats】: Strength 11, Agility 7, Constitution 33, Intelligence 3, Spirit 14, Inspiration 19
【Skills】: Fanaticism Lv3, Hardening Lv1, Psionic Vision, Innate Psionics Lv1, Basic Inspiration Specialization, Power Surge (Inferior), Multiplier Boost (Inferior)
Psionic Boil – When attacking, convert 10% of Psionic Value into equivalent base physical damage. This damage benefits from Critical Hit bonuses.
【Talent】: Luck
【Knowledge Chain】: Psionic Knowledge Chain (4)
【Title】: Wildfire (HP +30)
【Stat Points】: 0
【Reputation】: 3
【Faction】: Garden of Silence (Faction Reputation MAX)
Looking at the massively increased HP bar, Bai Fu could hardly stop smiling.
She was now strong enough to take on two or three of her former self—this was the true power of an advanced Template.
“Alright, alright, next up, I need to keep grinding Player favorability!”
Bai Fu already had a plan.
After earning some goodwill with the monument, she would use the Profession Knowledge Books she had taken from the Wildfire Gang to help Players level up.
Give them a few perks, then use the Faction System and her fabricated backstory to command them to work for her.
The next day, near noon, the reinforcements from the Gene Primordials arrived at the Abandoned Cooling Plant in grand formation.
As soon as they got out of their vehicles, they arrested the Wildfire Gang Boss and summoned Yago and Xia Shi for questioning.
Upon learning of Bai Fu’s existence, they called her over as well.
They asked a few simple questions and, upon confirming she had no connection to the Truth Society, immediately stated that the Director of Division Four would personally commend her, and hoped she could accompany them to Lynn.
Bai Fu naturally agreed.
The Wildfire Gang had collapsed, Yulia’s doppelgänger had been killed—there was nothing left for her at the Abandoned Cooling Plant.
It was better to head to Lynn early, where she could also try to get Advanced Knowledge Books from Division Four.
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
The Gene Primordials' reinforcements swept the area around the Abandoned Cooling Plant and thoroughly ransacked the Wildfire Gang.
After confirming nothing was left, they departed by vehicle that same night.
While Bai Fu and Anya hitched a ride to Lynn, the official account of Beyond the Stars finally released its new promotional video—
When Stars Shine Bright!
The trailer immediately went viral upon release.
This wasn’t just any ordinary trailer—it featured footage submitted by Players themselves.
As such, many Players had been eagerly anticipating it even before it aired.
How great would it be if the footage you filmed, or your favorite NPC, appeared in the trailer?
The moment the trailer dropped, a tidal wave of Players opened the video and flooded the screen with live‑stream comments.
【Whoa, they picked it, they really picked it! It’s that epic scene of Fu Fu grabbing Excavation‑Princess by the neck and lifting her up!】
【Wait a minute, that’s not the only clip—her farewell scene before the Insect Tide hit is in there too!】
【Excavation‑Princess totally scored, getting featured twice!】
A crowd of Players celebrated—until a comment popped up.
【Cool scenes, yeah—but is Fu Fu still alive?】
Damn!
That one question completely stunned Bai Fu’s fans.
They’d been worrying about that ever since the game went offline.
Some posted analyses in the Community, others left messages for the developers—but no one could confirm anything.
And since the officials still hadn’t responded, their hearts grew heavier and heavier—
Fu Fu might really be gone.
No, please no!
Excavation‑Princess, who usually loved posting in the Community, had now shut it down entirely.
It wasn’t because she feared being trolled—it was because she didn’t dare read anyone’s theories. If she saw the words “Bai Fu is dead,” she might pass out from anger.
【Restart the server already, why isn’t it live yet? I need to log in and check right away】
Finally, after a long wait, the game reopened.
Excavation‑Princess didn’t waste a second and immediately logged in.
After reviving at the respawn point, she rushed straight to Bai Fu’s house—only to find it completely empty.
“No... no way!”
Excavation‑Princess felt her heart drop.
The real gut-punch came from a passing conversation between two scavengers.
As she walked, their voices reached her ears.
“I heard Bai Fu left?”
“Yeah, she left.”
Excavation‑Princess couldn’t hear anything after that. In her mind, only one phrase echoed—“left.”
Didn’t “left” mean “died,” but more euphemistically?
Excavation‑Princess broke down.
“Aaaahhhh—!”
She shouted and took off running.
She had no destination—just ran aimlessly. But perhaps due to subconscious memory, she ended up in a familiar place: the spot where she had first met Bai Fu.
That was supposed to be the start of a “legend,” yet in the end, it had all turned to dust.
Why did it have to end like this?
As Excavation‑Princess walked, she came to a halt—her path was blocked by a stone monument.
“Was this monument here before?”
She took a few steps forward and squinted. There were words engraved on it.
【In memory of the heroes who sacrificed themselves to save the Abandoned Cooling Plant—Bai Fu】
“Huh?”
Excavation‑Princess froze.