We Truly Deserve Death! [Seeking Follow-ups]

A chilling aura coiled around everyone in the room, heavy and oppressive. Though not enough to suffocate, it gave the sensation of a heart being gripped, dangling by a thread.

Pain!

Too much pain!

Digging Princess couldn't understand how things had turned out this way.

For the first time, she'd met an NPC who could prove her brilliant analysis correct.

For the first time, she'd built a good relationship with that NPC.

These two joyful events intertwined—she should have been even happier. So why had it come to this?

If word of what happened here got out, even if it later proved that Bai Fu's setting was even more formidable than her forum post analysis suggested, she wouldn't need to think about counterattacks or face-slapping. She'd be better off considering going to Gotham to trade blows with Batman—it suited her new identity better.

In the dead silence, it was Bai Fu who broke it first.

"No answer? Then don't blame me for getting rough."

She clenched her left fist, killing intent palpable.

Arm blocking an iron rod, bare hand catching a blade—after a series of moves without a scratch, no one doubted that one punch from her could kill Digging Princess!

At the critical moment, Patrick Star stepped forward.

"Hold on!"

That shout shattered the invisible pressure. Even Bai Fu's gaze, along with everyone else's, focused on Patrick Star.

A cold sweat dripped down his forehead. Patrick Star quickly took two deep breaths.

"This is a misunderstanding. No, not exactly a misunderstanding—mainly because we didn't know this mission's target was you. If you're willing to listen, I can explain!"

"Is that so?"

Bai Fu didn't give a direct answer. Her expression remained cold and stern, but she unclenched her fist and set Digging Princess down.

No attack—did that mean there was still a chance?

Patrick Star hurriedly recounted how Convert to My Fu had accepted the mission.

"That's how it is. If we'd known the target was you, we'd have come to notify you right away."

Calamity Dragon immediately added, "That's right, Fu Fu. If we really wanted to go after you, we'd have acted yesterday. There was no need to wait until now."

Once they spoke up, the other players clung to the lifeline like drowning men, chiming in one after another.

"Fu Fu, my feelings for you are clear as the sun and moon!"

The great mistake was already made. They regretted it bitterly. All they could do now was salvage the situation as best they could, so they wouldn't be buried outright and might still have a chance to grind Favorability back up.

Just as the group of players were nervously shouting, Bai Fu suddenly released Digging Princess.

Huh?

Digging Princess froze. The others were equally baffled as they watched Bai Fu hurry over to one of the players.

"You—if I remember correctly, wasn't your neck snapped yesterday? Why?"

With that, Bai Fu walked over to Patrick Star.

"And you. You didn't die, but your right hand was badly injured. Why has it recovered after just one day? There shouldn't be medical skill this advanced here!"

Surprise. Doubt. Disbelief.

The expression on Bai Fu's face was so rich that a rookie idol would cry out in protest, "Impossible!"

Seeing her like this, Patrick Star finally let out a sigh of relief. With a topic to latch onto, they could communicate normally.

"It's like this, Fu Fu. Like we said yesterday, we don't truly die in this world. See, he came back to life—that's proof."

Patrick Star pointed.

"Resurrection? How could that be? Though it's possible through methods like soul-summoning, just relying on you... Wait. It might not be entirely impossible!"

Bai Fu's pupils suddenly contracted, as if a thought had struck her.

Her reaction only deepened the players' confusion. Even Convert to My Fu, whose mentality was nearly shattered, lifted his head.

What was happening?

It was Patrick Star who mustered the courage to ask.

"Is something wrong?"

Bai Fu's face returned to its poker mode. "You're not from Zu Yuan Star, are you?"

The question was a bit baffling, but Patrick Star instinctively nodded. "No."

Bai Fu closed her eyes. Several seconds passed before she opened them again.

"It seems that Holy Word might not necessarily be false."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it landed clearly in everyone's ears.

"What Holy Word?"

"I once heard a Holy Word. It said: When justice shatters, when crisis appears, the Undying from the mist's far side will follow the Supreme Will's decree and arrive at our homeland. After crossing the boundary of life and death, they will rekindle the flame here."

As she spoke those cringey lines, the frost on Bai Fu's face finally began to melt, the anger hidden deep in her eyes gradually fading, replaced by suspicion.

At that moment, even Black Tiger Afu, who usually paid little attention to the plot, gave a violent shudder.

Wasn't what Bai Fu just said exactly the game's setting?

The Undying referred to the players, right?

The game world falls into crisis (the devs' setup), so the Supreme Will (the game company) summons players into the game. After crossing the boundary between life and death (meaning getting wrecked by monsters thousands of times), they rekindle the flame for the game world (the game's big finale).

An NPC who could spout that kind of lore could never be just some ordinary Wildfire Gang member. Bai Fu definitely had a super, super huge secret!

Listening to the Holy Word—could she be some kind of saint from somewhere?

Patrick Star was utterly shocked.

He quickly turned to look at Digging Princess.

Maybe Digging Princess had always guessed wrong before, getting scolded for overinterpreting, but this time she really nailed it!

Yes, she nailed it!

Digging Princess was so excited she wanted to rush over, grab Bai Fu's thigh, and rub against it hard.

The other players were just as thrilled.

Whether they liked Bai Fu's looks or were chasing hidden quests, everyone felt like they'd struck gold.

But before they could stay excited for long, Bai Fu doused them with cold water.

"To be honest, I've always been skeptical of this Holy Word. I can't imagine the legendary Brave coming to assassinate me in the dead of night."

Ah, this?

All the players hung their heads in shame.

They really deserved to die for making such a mistake. How were they supposed to atone for this?

"But this time." Bai Fu paused. "I'll half-believe it for now. Even a Brave can make rookie mistakes."

Ah?

This time, the players looked up, staring at Bai Fu with disbelief.

They never expected Bai Fu's attitude toward them to take such an unexpected turn.

What surprised them even more was that Bai Fu walked over to Digging Princess, slowly and carefully tidying the clothes she had messed up earlier.

She was so gentle!

In contrast, Black Tiger Afu, who only thought about grinding levels and fighting monsters, felt a bit embarrassed. The other players were even more guilt-ridden, feeling like they owed Bai Fu too much and had no idea how to repay her.

"Besides, after thinking it over, what you said isn't impossible. Lately, someone has indeed been targeting me. I originally planned to hide my strength, but now it looks like that's going to be difficult."

Bai Fu pulled her hands away from Digging Princess.

"Alright, we made such a big commotion just now. It's hard to say someone won't come to check things out. If they see you, you won't be able to escape. Leave for now. I'll come find you tomorrow."

Bai Fu gave them an address.

Since she'd said that much, Digging Princess and the others had no choice but to comply.

Even as their feet landed on the bumpy road, they still felt like tonight's events were unreal.

"The legendary Brave, huh... Looks like we've got to prove ourselves to Fu Fu from now on."

"What do you think Bai Fu's real strength is? When she grabbed Digging Princess just now, one look at her and I felt like I was freezing solid."

"Who knows? All I know is that Fu Fu is a really gentle person."

"Don't you guys think Fu Fu is super cool? That block, that choke—so cool! That mix of gentleness and coldness is just too awesome!" Digging Princess's eyes were practically sparkling.

Convert to My Fu sighed emotionally: "This is Fu Fu. Gentleness is her nature, but she carries a very heavy mission, forcing her to show her cold side to her enemies."

As they talked, one player shuddered: "Good thing Bai Fu's real strength is terrifyingly strong, or we'd have made a huge mistake tonight. We might have even broken an important plotline."

He shouldn't have said that. The moment he did, the other players' faces all changed.

Embarrassment turned into guilt, and guilt turned into blazing fury.

"Let's talk about the rest later. I'm going to find the person who gave us that mission and settle the score right now!"

Convert to My Fu clenched his fists.

The other players all said they'd go together.

In the evening breeze, ten players in a state of red-hot rage stormed off toward the quest hand-in location.

Watching them leave, Bai Fu nodded with satisfaction.

She was a little curious about how the person who wanted her dead would react when they found out their underlings had been beaten up by the players.

PS: Dear readers and big shots, during the new book period, I humbly beg for your follow-through reads. Follow-through reads are very important. Please, please, please.

Also, I wanted to ask: for the new book period updates, is it better to release one chapter at 5 PM and one at 10 PM every day, or to put both chapters together in the evening?