Chapter 74: Chapter Death Reaper of the Desert Bai Fu Appeared [5.7k]
Under the players’ assault, the Red Sand Camp wanderers who had surged into the tavern were quickly routed.
Unable to retaliate or flee, and too frightened to compete in ferocity, they turned pale and ultimately had no choice but to kneel and beg for mercy.
“If you want to live, then obediently tell us the exact location of the Red Sand Camp and their internal situation.”
Facing the player’s threat, the two surviving wanderers spoke freely, holding nothing back.
The player compared their statements and, seeing no lies, reported the gathered intel to Bai Fu.
“The Red Sand Camp is the largest wanderer camp nearby. Just its core members number over two hundred, plus many peripheral members eking out a living in the Golei Desert under their wing.”
“Recently two squads died in succession, which infuriated the camp leader Marco. He sent most of his people out to investigate. Only about sixty to seventy residents remain at the camp—but they’re not weak; they’re Marco’s elite enforcers.”
“Besides them, three individuals in the camp are noteworthy: Marco himself; Rattlesnake, an A‑rank assassin hired by Marco; and a doctor. Marco is a martial artist proficient in melee combat. Rattlesnake is a psychokinetic with mental abilities. The doctor’s strength is average—originally a cosmetic surgeon, but Marco forced him into the camp because he knows how to make various poisons.”
A cosmetic surgeon?
Bai Fu suddenly thought of an interesting strategy, deciding to strike the Red Sand Camp even harder.
She nodded as she listened and said, “It looks like now is the best time for us to act. And that doctor—let him stay, I have a great plan for him.”
With that, she turned to face Old Nissen standing nearby.
Yuan Fang, what do you think?
“Your assessment is accurate. Now is indeed the best time. But…” Old Nissen’s brow furrowed, “In my view, the wisest choice is to abandon the attack on the Red Sand Camp. I know you’re powerful; you’ll likely overpower even that A‑rank assassin Rattlesnake. But they…”
His gaze swept over the players.
Although these players seemed untrained, their combat ability was solid—they thrived on fearlessness. But being fearless doesn’t mean invincible.
Letting them fight the Red Sand small squads was manageable. But if they directly storm the camp, a small mistake could lead to total annihilation.
Emotionally, Old Nissen hoped Bai Fu and the players would wipe out Red Sand, but he didn’t want these somewhat foolish yet charming players to die in vain.
Still, he knew he couldn’t change their decision. So he changed his approach.
“I’ll go with you. Despite my blindness and lameness, I can’t help directly in the front, but as the founder of the Watchers, I’m experienced in planning tactics. I’ll do my best to minimize casualties and improve our odds tactically.”
“You don’t need to go that far. They… never mind, nothing compares to seeing their shock in person.”
Bai Fu deliberately teased.
This mission would shock Old Nissen in a big way.
To her, he was worth recruiting—not only because of his relationship with Yulia, but because he had extensive experience managing a faction.
At present, the Silent Court had few player members. She could manage them all. But when the Silent Court grew, she needed a pro like Old Nissen, or she’d have no time to upgrade herself.
In the end, raising player favor and building the faction were all means to become stronger. Only by being strong enough could she survive the chaos of the Fourth Disaster.
They scheduled the operation for night.
While waiting, Old Nissen locked himself in a room to meditate on his tactics, and players flocked to Anya.
Now players considered Anya to be the Silent Court’s newbie guide and shopkeeper. Through her, players could buy some common firearms and the Psionic Shield Card, a miraculous tool Anya had shown off before during Sister Excavation’s livestream.
But as a one‑use item, the Psionic Shield Card’s price stung the players.
They had no steady income yet, making money only by doing small tasks.
Yet because this mission was crucial, most players, after checking their pockets, still bought at least one Psionic Shield Card loaded with 50 shield points.
Bundling store items with faction missions forced players to spend money to complete missions—this was a form of product bundling strategy.
This move earned Bai Fu over 2000 in revenue. Not huge, but a good start.
Her main problem was her psionic energy capped her card‑making speed, and players’ wallets constrained their purchase capacity.
“We need to provide players with ways to earn money after destroying the Red Sand Camp.”
Bai Fu thought briefly.
Ideally, she’d send players all to the black factory to grind for her.
But no matter how close players were to her, they wouldn’t accept grinding real jobs in real life just to keep playing—a game where both play and grind? That would defeat the point.
She recalled a trade market by Shelter 5 where someone bought materials dropped by mutated sand worms. She could have players hunt mutated sand worms outside, collect materials, and she’d buy them. Then she’d sell to Shelter 5’s buyer at a slightly higher price.
In that way, she’d profit from the spread. Players would have a steady income; they’d spend money with her. Money would cycle right back to her.
The only issue was finding a buyer for the mutated sand worm materials.
By nightfall, once everyone was ready, Bai Fu and Jian Qi Chong Tian each drove a vehicle toward the Red Sand Camp.
Along the way they were attacked by sand worms several times. Old Nissen’s strength emerged.
Despite having just one eye, after grabbing the sniper rifle Bai Fu handed him, he easily picked off the approaching sand worms one by one. It was the calm of a seasoned old artist.
“Back in my prime, I’d have taken them out ten seconds faster!”
Old Nissen proudly shrank back into the car.
The two captured Red Sand Camp lackeys had hoped for rescue upon arrival at the camp. But seeing Old Nissen’s prowess as an “old master,” their hearts sank.
They were doomed.
Just what kind of monsters had they provoked?
…
Three‑thirty a.m.
Their vehicle stopped at an open ground two kilometers from the Red Sand Camp. Old Nissen began explaining the strategy he’d spent the whole day devising.
“Most of Red Sand’s members are out, but there are still sixty to seventy inside—three times our number. So a frontal assault is unwise. We must lure some out first, then eliminate them in waves.”
“My plan is to use the corpses of those two prisoners as bait for the first wave. After we wipe out the scouts, we’ll split into two teams: a few retainers up front to keep baiting, while the others flank from the rear.”
“If this raid doesn’t break the camp, we’ll move to step three and lure their people into traps.”
Old Nissen pulled out the diagram he’d drawn in advance and pressed his pen against the trap location.
"At the very start, if we try to bait them into the trap, they might not fall for it. But if we ambush them twice and repel them on the second attempt, they'll likely get hot-headed and charge right at us."
After saying this, he paused and looked around.
"What do you all think of this plan?"
Patrick Star nodded. "Not bad."
Convert to My Fu chimed in, "Very thorough."
Old Nissen smiled slightly. "Then it’s decided. This plan will minimize casualties."
"Hold on a second." Just then, Sword Qi Soaring stepped forward, clearly eager to prove himself. "I have a suggestion for this plan."
"Hmm?"
Everyone turned their heads simultaneously toward Sword Qi Soaring.
Sword Qi Soaring was the leader of a major guild. He often commanded players in other games, so his suggestions were worth hearing.
"Honestly, I think overly complex tactics don’t mean much for us right now. We haven’t received professional training, and we’ve barely coordinated with one another. It’s easy for accidents to happen. And if the plan fails because of a mishap, we’ll waste a lot of time getting back into position."
The players all nodded in agreement.
They were gathered only because of Bai Fu. They’d barely coordinated in the past, so asking them to execute complex tactics flawlessly was asking too much.
"So my plan is to ditch those complicated bait strategies. Instead, we’ll drag those two captives straight to Red Sand’s people and demand answers. Once they get close, we’ll throw the venom sacs from the mutated sand worms at them. That’ll definitely cause chaos at the Red Sand Camp. Then we can either launch a direct attack or lure them into the trap—whichever works best."
Venom sacs?
That immediately reminded Patrick Star and the others of the task to collect venom sacs at the Abandoned Cooling Plant.
"This idea’s actually not bad. We’re not afraid of mutation. If we’re lucky and hit Marco or Rattlesnake, the mission would be a wrap."
The players all started praising the plan.
None was more excited than Black Tiger Ah Fu. This was what gaming was about—forget complicated tactics; just rush B!
"But if that’s the plan, we’ll need to gather some venom sacs first. That might delay things a bit—by the time we’re ready, the sun might be up."
"Not a problem at all." The old dog from the Iron Rain Guild pulled out a bag filled to the brim with venom sacs. "Sword Bro and I spent the whole afternoon farming sand worms. These should be enough."
Seeing the venom sacs, the other players’ eyes lit up.
"Awesome!"
"Damn, only Sword Bro could think ahead like this."
Some of the solo players had been wary of Sword Qi Soaring and his group, afraid they’d steal the mission rewards and leave them with nothing. But now their opinions had completely changed. With a high-level player like Sword Qi Soaring leading, everything became a lot easier.
Surrounded by admiring gazes, Sword Qi Soaring was in high spirits.
This was his comeback!
Truth Society, those bastards—just wait. One day, I’ll follow Bai Fu and storm your headquarters!
This was a classic case of love turning into hate.
While Sword Qi Soaring celebrated, Old Nissen was far less pleased.
The plan itself was already outrageous. What really unsettled him was that Sword Qi Soaring and Old Dog had dared to handle venom sacs from mutated sand worms with just some tattered gloves. If any venom leaked out, whoever touched it would be in serious trouble!
Bai Fu, on the other hand, remained calm.
For NPCs, checking venom sacs for damage required a close inspection. But for players, they only needed to look at the name. If intact, it was labeled as 【xx Venom Sac】. If damaged, it showed as 【xx Venom Sac (Damaged)】. Simple and straightforward.
"Since the decision is made, let’s prepare for action."
At Bai Fu’s command, the players began disembarking. Soon, only Bai Fu, Anya, and Old Nissen were left in the vehicle.
Old Nissen grew anxious. "What kind of plan is this? That’s a suicide tactic! How can you—"
Bai Fu said just one sentence: "Even if they die, they can revive."
"What did you just say?"
Old Nissen looked at Bai Fu, then at the excited players setting up the trap, wondering if he had misheard.
Revive?
If the dead could really come back to life, why would the world still be plagued by the pain of separation through death?
Bai Fu took out Little Yulia, who had been stuffed in her pocket.
"You’ve probably noticed already, haven’t you?"
Yulia had long severed her link with Little Yulia, but now this Little Yulia carried her full memories, so she knew what Bai Fu meant.
"Half of the people you brought—I saw them at Bagaros. A few of them, I clearly remember dying back then. But now they’re alive again."
"?"
Even Little Yulia confirmed it. Old Nissen couldn’t help but believe it, though that only made it more bewildering.
Resurrection was not something ordinary people could achieve. Just who were Bai Fu and these people?
Thick mist clouded Old Nissen’s eyes. He tried to find answers from Little Yulia, but she was just a cloth doll, showing no emotions on her face.
In reality, Little Yulia was quite stirred inside. Her interest in Bai Fu had only grown.
She had broken free of her enslavement, increased her power many times over in a short span, and commanded a group of resurrecting freaks. What other surprises was Bai Fu hiding?
Even if not for the sake of escaping the Truth Society, as a doctor, she now had a strong desire to study Bai Fu.
……
After getting off the vehicle, the players spent twenty minutes setting up a trap—simple yet hard to detect.
They buried a small grenade and several venom sacs inside. When the grenade exploded, the sacs would burst, spraying venom all over anyone nearby.
Once the trap was set, they gagged the two captives and dragged them toward the Red Sand Camp.
Bang!
With a sharp gunshot, even in the most drowsy hour before dawn, the Red Sand Camp immediately stirred.
"Who’s shooting in the middle of the night?!"
"Something’s going on!"
Marco leapt up. At his shout, the elite wanderers left in the camp rushed toward the entrance.
"They’re coming. Get ready."
Bai Fu gave a brief word to Anya and Old Nissen and set up her gun in the vehicle.
This battle was meant to test the players joining the Silent Court, though she didn’t really expect them to defeat Marco and Rattlesnake.
Level disparity was too great—it wasn’t realistic. To deal with Marco and Rattlesnake, it had to be her personally.
A few seconds later, the wanderers rushing out from the depths of the camp confronted the players. They lowered their heads and saw a comrade’s corpse lying on the ground. Then, raising their eyes, they saw two other comrades tied up by the players.
“You dare kill one of our Red Sand members? You must have a death wish!”
Sword Qi Soaring laughed. “You burned, killed, and looted our place, and now you’re asking what we’re doing here? I came all this way for one reason—to damn well end you bastards!”
Gun muzzles peeked out from behind the two captives.
“Enemy attack!”
Sensing danger, the wanderers shouted.
To their surprise, as their attention focused on Sword Qi Soaring, he didn’t fire. Instead, the others around him began throwing things at them.
Is this a joke?
They didn’t even have proper weapons. Did they really think rocks could kill them?
Just as the Red Sand Camp wanderers were about to laugh, one of them who got hit realized something was wrong.
“They’re not rocks! They’re venom sacs—sand worm venom sacs—I’m hit!”
He let out a blood-curdling scream. Those nearby clearly saw a ruptured venom sac fall to his feet. The moment the venom touched his skin, it reddened and began to rot.
“Get back! Move!”
The wanderers panicked.
Venom infection could cause mutation, and even if not, the acidic venom would corrode and rot the skin. It was agony not easily endured.
“Kill them!”
“Haha! Eat my blade!”
Black Tiger Ah Fu gathered his energy, wielded a massive blade, and charged into the wanderers. His reckless dash instantly broke their formation.
“Damn it! Despicable! They want to drag us down like water ghosts!”
The chaos continued until Marco appeared.
Marco wasn’t ordinary. He was a veteran martial artist. As long as he imbued his body with Qi, he could resist the venom with ease. The moment he appeared, he struck three venom sacs away and landed right in front of Black Tiger Ah Fu.
Troublemakers must die!
His fist, as big as a sandbag, smashed into Black Tiger Ah Fu’s face like a hammer. With a miserable scream, Black Tiger Ah Fu was slammed against a wall.
Hitting someone like hanging a picture—this move stunned the other players.
Too strong. Unbeatable!
“Retreat first!”
Sword Qi Soaring shouted, signaling the others to execute the second plan.
No one hesitated—they rushed toward the trap they had set up earlier.
“Think you can run?”
Marco roared in fury, charging across the sand like a tank. The players felt a chill on their scalps, but eventually, Marco’s aggression got the better of him, and he stepped directly onto the players’ trap.
Boom!
The grenade exploded with a thunderous roar. Sensing the danger, Marco quickly gathered Qi to protect himself.
The blast sent him tumbling. Venom splashed all over him, but thanks to his hardened body skills, he barely escaped disaster.
“Heh.” Marco let out a cold laugh. “Just a bunch of desert rats using dirty tricks. Now that your tricks are gone, let’s see how you jump around!”
Is that so?
Bang!
A gunshot rang out from afar. A sniper round pierced Marco’s shoulder blade, blowing a large hole through it.
Marco collapsed. As he gasped and tried to get up, he suddenly noticed a pair of boots in front of him.
“You…”
He looked up and saw a girl in a white shirt and black tight pants.
“Bro, mind if I borrow your head?”
Bai Fu pulled out a grenade launcher and fired it at point-blank range.
Marco lost it.
A maniac—why were all the enemies today maniacs willing to die with him?
Under the grenade’s blast, Marco’s Qi was shattered. He coughed up blood violently.
Just as Bai Fu prepared to fire a second shot, a figure suddenly flashed by and dragged Marco aside.
It was a masked man. His eyes were sharp, like a venomous serpent.
“Who are you?” he asked.
Bai Fu turned to the players. “Leave this to me. Go handle the rest of the camp.”
Then she smiled at the masked man before her.
“Rattlesnake? You may call me the Death Reaper of the Desert. I’m here to send you on your way.”
There were some heavy weapons in the Red Sand Camp. Even Bai Fu wouldn’t dare take those head-on. But now that the players had lured Marco and Rattlesnake out, things would be much easier.