"Phew~"
Cao Wenliang, who had just finished dinner, contentedly blew several smoke rings.
A cigarette after a meal was better than being an immortal.
"It's been quite a while. Bai Fu should have some news by now."
Cao Wenliang pushed open the window and leisurely surveyed the scene outside.
It wasn't that he absolutely had to get that supervisor position. Given his standing, winning over one more supervisor—or one fewer—wouldn't make any difference.
But he'd sworn in front of his subordinates that he would give the vacant supervisor position to one of them. How could he go back on his word?
In a place like the Abandoned Cooling Plant, besides money and power, what mattered was having everyone hold you in high regard!
Bai Fu might not have intended to provoke him, but now that she was involved and had made him lose face, the only thing waiting for her was a dead end.
Cao Wenliang pressed his cigarette butt against the window frame.
Sizzle!
A tiny bug was burned to a crisp without being able to resist.
Cao Wenliang casually tossed the cigarette butt into the trash. Just then, a series of cries rang out from beyond the window.
"What's going on?"
He stepped outside into the open area. He'd been looking around for barely ten seconds when one of his underlings came running over, panting.
"Department Head, th-this is bad!"
Cao Wenliang glared at him. "Why are you panicking? The sky hasn't fallen yet."
"Y-yes." The underling stammered, not daring to argue.
Cao Wenliang sneered. "Go on, what happened?"
The underling hurriedly reported, "Department Head, Bai Fu—she and her team went out and came back with ten Outsiders!"
"How many?"
Cao Wenliang wondered if he'd heard wrong.
So what if Bai Fu had caught some Outsiders? She'd brought back ten in one go? What the hell—had she gone out to capture people or stock up on supplies?
He couldn't stay put any longer. He took off toward the source of the shouting.
The underling who'd brought the news spread his hands helplessly. See? You heard it and panicked too.
A few minutes later, more than a hundred people had gathered near the Wildfire Gang's entrance.
"Whew—"
"Whew!"
Cao Wenliang almost thought he'd walked into a nest of snakes.
Why the hell was everyone going "whew"? What was there to gawk at?
"Move! All of you, move!"
He angrily shoved people aside. After pushing past five or six of them, his view finally opened up.
"I'd like to see what—whew!"
Cao Wenliang sucked in a breath.
Bai Fu was leading the group, with the members of her team following on her left. In her right hand, she held a rope with ten Outsiders tied to it.
It wasn't exactly a spectacular sight, but it had stunned everyone present.
It'd take half a day just to catch ten piglets. And she'd brought back ten people in a single afternoon?
Was this some kind of cheat?
Cao Wenliang was miserable.
Who could still claim Bai Fu hadn't done enough to deserve the supervisor position?
When he looked up, he saw the Wildfire Gang's Boss rallying everyone to learn from Bai Fu, the gang's newly recognized outstanding member.
"Take a good look, all of you! Don't just resort to violence whenever something happens. Use your brains for once. If you never think, you'll be stuck at the bottom forever!"
Cao Wenliang quickly nudged the person beside him.
"How'd she do it?"
"Ah, Department Head Cao? It went like this: Supervisor Bai and her team were out when they spotted these Outsiders making a fire and cooking. She deliberately lured them away with her team, then took the chance to drug their food and knock them all out. Sigh, Supervisor Bai's really bold and sharp. I wish I were half as smart as her." The Wildfire Gang member spoke with undisguised envy.
Cao Wenliang couldn't stand watching any more. He turned to leave.
"Wenliang, you're here."
The Boss's voice came from behind him.
Cao Wenliang had no choice but to turn around. "Haha, Boss. What brings you here?"
The Boss laughed and patted Cao Wenliang on the shoulder. "Come on, Wenliang, meet our Wildfire Gang's rising star. You deserve some credit for this, too. I've been so busy lately I haven't had a moment to spare. If you hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't have thought to assign a new supervisor to Martin's team. And now we've discovered a promising newcomer by chance! Hahaha."
Cao Wenliang: "..."
He wanted to laugh along, but he just couldn't.
You can praise Bai Fu all you want, but you had to drag me into it too? Talk about twisting the knife.
What a damn world!
Cao Wenliang, who already had a short temper, was about ready to blow a gasket.
Calm down, calm down. He had to stay calm right now!
As he thought this, he suddenly noticed that the Outsiders were looking at him with curiosity. There wasn't a hint of fear in their eyes; they seemed curious instead.
Cao Wenliang's anger flared right back up.
Had he gone soft, or had they gotten cocky? They'd been captured, yet they weren't even scared?
"What are you looking at?"
He strode angrily over to Digging Princess, who was closest to him.
Digging Princess had gradually gotten used to how real the game felt over the past few days. So even with Cao Wenliang glaring at her, she wasn't afraid. Instead, she took another look at him.
Wenliang?
Wasn't Cao Wenliang the mastermind behind the attempt to assassinate Fu Fu? Could this guy be him?
While Digging Princess was still guessing, Cao Wenliang was already laughing in anger.
An Outsider had actually ignored him!
Fine, fine. Not only had these Outsiders killed his people, they didn't even take him seriously. He'd show them whether they were really unafraid of death!
Cao Wenliang raised his right hand high.
Just as he was about to bring it down, he caught sight of Bai Fu from the corner of his eye.
"You. Kill her."
"Huh? Me?"
Bai Fu pointed at herself.
"That's right, you. Haven't you noticed? Not one of these Outsiders you brought back is afraid. That usually means one of two things: either they really aren't afraid of dying, or they're working with you and deliberately let themselves get captured so they could infiltrate the Wildfire Gang."
"B-but that doesn't make sense, does it?"
Bai Fu hadn't even spoken when several of her teammates protested. They looked toward the Boss, hoping he'd step in and say something.
The Boss smiled. "Ten is a bit much. That's a lot of food to waste. We're only interrogating them for information, so keeping two or three alive is enough."
Although the Boss hadn't openly backed him, Cao Wenliang knew he'd managed to turn things around.
Whether the Boss scolded or punished him afterward, nothing serious would happen to him. After all, he hadn't directly laid a hand on Bai Fu. But Bai Fu was in a different position.
If she really was secretly allied with the Outsiders, she'd be in trouble whether she killed them or not.
If she had nothing to do with them, killing so many Outsiders would still have thoroughly enraged them. They wouldn't let her off.
"What are you standing around for? Hurry up," Cao Wenliang urged.
His attitude immediately angered the players, especially those watching the livestream.
Digging Princess had started streaming as soon as she stepped onto the Wildfire Gang's turf. She'd drawn in a large crowd of players by saying she was giving them a tour of the gang.
[Holy shit, what a bastard. He's actually forcing Bai Fu to kill us.]
[You can tell from his face that he's a bad guy.]
[When the Boss praised Fu Fu, I thought he was a decent guy. Turns out he's a sneaky old bastard too.]
[What now? Can Fu Fu bring herself to do it? If she can't, won't that get her in trouble?]
Digging Princess and the others quickly signaled to Bai Fu.
Patrick Star even shouted outright, "Kill me, then! Come on, kill me! You think I'm scared?"
"Shut up! Damn Outsiders, every one of you deserves to die!"
Cao Wenliang roared, and the area finally fell silent. He stared coldly at Bai Fu.
"Do it. If you don't, everyone's going to suspect something's wrong with you."
Bai Fu's expression turned strange.
Buddy, do you even realize what you just did?
You called the players a bunch of people who deserved to die in front of a whole crowd of them. That's a straight-up declaration of war!
Disturbing a witch was scary enough. Disturbing the Fourth Calamity? Now no one under heaven or on earth could save you.
Well, never mind.
She'd mourn for him for three seconds.
"If you put it that way, then I'll have to prove myself."
Bai Fu took out her dagger and walked over to Patrick Star under everyone's watchful eyes. Then she plunged the blade into his heart.
[You killed Patrick Star and gained 200 experience.]
Huh, wait—could she get experience for killing players too?
The sudden game notification took Bai Fu by surprise.
Then she grinned. If Patrick Star was worth 200 experience, she could get eight or nine hundred by killing six or seven more players. Add that to the experience she'd already saved up, and she could level up again.
To be honest, Bai Fu wasn't sure whether Cao Wenliang was a good person or a bad one as far as she was concerned.
He'd been targeting her all along, but ever since he'd sent people to bribe players to assassinate her, it seemed like every time Cao Wenliang came after her, she ended up making a killing.
Take this time, for example. She was the one who'd killed a player, and she was the one who'd gained experience, but Cao Wenliang had volunteered to take all the blame.
If Brother Dabiao was her Top Spender Bro, then Cao Wenliang could absolutely be called her angel investor.
Thank you, Wenliang!
Before you continue