Don't let Bai Fu's sacrifice be in vain!

The room fell into a brief silence.

At this critical juncture, none of the players expected Bai Fu to suddenly blurt out such a sentence.

But upon reflection, this reaction seemed quite reasonable.

Their actions just now were indeed a bit willful, but setting aside the willfulness, their refusal to leave and their desire to bear the burden together could also be called reliable, right?

In other games, doing this would be showing off to thin air.

Because they were facing NPCs who only repeated pre-set lines, even if they were reminiscing about their adventures with players with deep affection just a moment ago, once the quest ended, they would turn poker-faced, and might not even bother with the players.

But in Above the Stars, the situation was completely different, because the NPCs here were so intelligent they were indistinguishable from real people.

It was perfectly normal for Bai Fu to sigh like that after seeing their reliable side; she was a kind-hearted person after all.

Legendary heroes?

That's right, we are the legendary heroes from the "other world," fighting for all love and justice!

Thinking of this, several players who were usually extremely upright couldn't help but straighten their backs.

Players who liked to go into villages and kill chickens, or try various methods to lure NPCs into monster nests, were also in a good mood.

Playing games was for fun, and being sincerely praised by an NPC was also a kind of fun.

Bai Fu couldn't help but chuckle. Yes, yes, that's the reaction.

But now was not the time to be complacent; the key to gaining favor was yet to come.

"Since you insist on an explanation, I'll explain. The Wildfire Gang has organized a commando unit targeting your stronghold. They are already outside. I pretended to be greedy for merit and rushed here before they launched their full assault."

"What?"

This news shocked all the players. Those near the window quickly looked outside.

Bai Fu urged, "With your current strength, you absolutely cannot defeat this commando unit. Move your belongings immediately. It will be too late if you delay any longer."

As soon as she finished speaking, Convert to My Fu stood up emotionally, "I'm not leaving. If I leave, they'll definitely realize Fu Fu, you came to tip us off. Then all your plans will be ruined, and you might even be in danger. I'm not leaving anyway."

His words were echoed by many players.

"There's really no need to leave. Are these all elite monsters coming? It's a win if we can take one down. Besides, we have faction war quests. The accumulated damage can be converted into experience later."

"Brothers, it's a game. If we run away from difficulties in reality, do we need to be deserters in a game too?"

"Let's fight! My great saber is thirsty."

"Haha, Afu, as expected of you!"

Whenever something like this happened, Black Tiger Afu was always the first to charge forward.

Watching their relaxed or excited expressions, Bai Fu's brows furrowed even deeper.

She seemed to be gathering her emotions.

One second, two seconds... five seconds...

"Shut up!"

A dull, suppressed roar exploded through the room.

All the players stared dumbfounded at the suddenly erupting Bai Fu.

"What do you think the Wildfire Gang's objective is? Just to raid your stronghold?"

"This..."

Digging Princess hesitated, but decided to turn on the camera first!

Bai Fu growled, "Naive! The Wildfire Gang's ultimate goal is to gradually compress your living space until they drive you into the contaminated zone. Staying here is useless. In the end, you'll just lose a pile of supplies and make it increasingly impossible for you to defeat the Wildfire Gang. Preserving your strength and waiting for an opportunity is what you should be doing now!"

"That's true, but losing these supplies won't have much impact."

"Yeah, being driven into the contaminated zone isn't a big deal."

A few players whispered amongst themselves.

This made Bai Fu's voice even more distorted.

"You don't understand, you understand nothing! The contaminated zone outside the settlement is full of pollution sources. Whether human, animal, or plant, contact with pollution sources will cause mutations. At best, it leads to death, and at worst, you'll become a mindless monster. Even the most skilled scavengers dare not stay in the contaminated zone for long. What can you do there? Do you want to become monsters and be killed by me?"

"That's not it, but you..."

"You, you, you, you what! You don't need to worry about my business. If a broken quest fails, it fails. If you want to worry, worry about yourselves. Ask yourselves why you came here in the first place."

This barrage of scolding left the players in the room stunned. For more than ten seconds, no one spoke.

Bai Fu felt quite calm inside.

She wasn't worried at all that her words would scare the players away; she had already considered it before coming here.

If the players ran, she could consider it as single-handedly defeating the entire player stronghold, and she would likely be able to reap a lot of rewards from the [Counterattack] quest.

The downside was that she might be suspected of having a relationship with the players and thus be attacked by the Wildfire Gang. But it wasn't a big problem; the money she had saved from defeating Brother Dabiao and capturing players was enough for her to flee to another settlement with An Ya.

How would the players choose?

Bai Fu scanned her surroundings.

Calamity Dragon clenched her fists, emotionally charged.

"Damn it, even my dad never scolded me like this!"

But being scolded didn't feel that bad. After all, Bai Fu scolded them out of concern, not wanting to see them go to their deaths. And Bai Fu's flustered and angry expression was much better than her usual poker face.

It wasn't necessarily much better, but suddenly this character felt so much more fleshed out.

She was no longer a reclusive master hidden behind clouds, but like a true older sister figure.

Perhaps this was the so-called game immersion?

If this were a gacha game, Calamity Dragon felt she might already be spending money.

The reactions of other players weren't as intense as Calamity Dragon's. They chimed in on the team channel.

"Even though we got scolded, it felt kinda good. Am I a masochist?"

"I really didn't expect Fu Bao to go this far. She's risking everything for us. If she's exposed, will she really be safe?"

"Damn Wildfire Gang, damn the developers!"

"Developers: ?"

"What are you waiting for? Cry!"

"Fu Bao, my Fu Bao"

"This expression, this tone, the game immersion is too strong! I used to be too lazy to even listen to what NPCs said."

"Stop being weird. Anyway, we can't let Bai Fu be exposed, or this plotline might be cut."

Their thoughts might differ, but at this moment, they shared a common consensus—

They were playing a game with super high freedom, how could the legendary heroes let those who accompanied them fall into tragedy!

That's right, the Wildfire Gang was strong in the newbie village, and the Pollution Zone sounded truly terrifying, but so what?

They had bravely advanced under the barrage of planes and cannons, all for the pursuit of peace in the future;

They had walked with fear in dark and gloomy hospitals, finally bringing peace to the souls of the wronged;

They had traveled across the seas, with mortal bodies confronting gods and demons, to reopen the world for the living on a broken land.

They were the damn players, the fearless players!

Patrick Star stepped forward, "Sister Fu, I completely understand your intentions, but I've decided to stay. Don't rush, I know you might be very disappointed in me right now, thinking I'm stubborn and won't listen to advice, overconfident in my abilities, and prone to acting on emotion, but..."

He looked at the other players beside him, a brilliant smile on his face.

"I think perhaps this is why you said the supreme will chose me to be Undying. Many of these traits aren't exactly good, but if I weren't stubborn, how would I have the courage to challenge powerful opponents time and again? If I weren't overconfident, how would I dare to face crises head-on? If I didn't act on emotion, how could I care so much about the world beyond the mist."

Strength, the reason to be king.

And stubbornness, the foundation for players to dare to face the king!

Patrick Star's confident and slightly chuunibyou lines immediately sparked heated discussion among the players.

"Holy crap, Patrick said it so well!"

"Awesome, Patrick, how did your mouth grow like that? Supreme will, Undying, the world beyond the mist, you've stitched together all the words Bai Fu said!"

"Hearing this makes me feel powerful too. In reality, I just wanted to play a game to pass the time."

"Even if you just wanted to pass the time, it's undeniable that you've saved the world."

"To be honest, I only feel like this game is fun until this moment. I remember a game I used to play. Even though I had trained to the point where I could easily one-shot the final boss, due to game mechanics, I could only watch helplessly as the teammates who accompanied me all the way sacrificed themselves. In the end, I couldn't even say goodbye to her as I wished."

"Bro, this time we're creating our own story, so let's not have any regrets!"

"Stop talking, stop talking, I'm fired up!"

Convert to My Fu, filled with passion, was the second to step forward, "I'm staying too. I will never let Wildfire Gang hurt you, Fu Bao!"

Following him, Digging Princess, Calamity Dragon, and some other players Bai Fu hadn't seen before also stepped forward.

"I'm staying."

"Me too."

In the end, only Black Tiger Afu stood alone in the corner.

"What are you looking at me for? Don't you know me? I only care about fighting. I never thought about leaving from the beginning."

"Hahaha!"

Laughter filled the room.

"You guys."

Bai Fu's gaze swept across the faces of the players, as if she wanted to engrave each of their appearances into her heart.

Good, good, you truly understand!

"I've said it to this extent, but you still don't listen. If something happens to you in the end, it has nothing to do with me!"

Convert to My Fu said, "This is my own choice. I won't blame you, Fu Bao, no matter what."

Bai Fu turned her head away.

The others didn't know if she didn't believe them, or if she was simply displeased that her good intentions were being ignored.

[What should we do?]

[We need to find a way to calm Fu Bao down.]

[If we fight well, Bai Fu will naturally calm down.]

[Don't rush, let me take a look first.]

Calamity Dragon secretly threw a reconnaissance skill at Bai Fu.

[Name]: Bai Fu
[Template]: ?
[Primary Profession]: ?
[Secondary Profession]: ?
[Health]: ?
[Attributes]: ?
[Skills]: ?
[Talent]: ?
[Affection]: Cherished (83)
[Danger Level]: Red

When the data feedback came back, Calamity Dragon almost thought she had misread it.

What? 83? Wasn't that 1 point higher than the 82 she saw initially?

So, Fu Fu was a tsundere character after all. She said it had nothing to do with me, then turned away and put on a sour face, but her affection actually increased instead of dropping.

Calamity Dragon quickly shared the data panel with the other players.

Upon seeing the data, all the players breathed a sigh of relief.

[Fu Bao is so kind, always tolerating me.]

[Next vote, we must send Fu Fu to first place!]

[Let's go, since the affection didn't drop, let's just go for it!]

Digging Princess looked at Patrick Star. "How should we fight?"

Patrick Star said, "Direct frontal assault is too difficult. Let's split into two groups. One group will stay here to set up traps, and the other will be responsible for intercepting and luring the Wildfire Gang towards the traps. Oh, and notify those who went out. When they rush back, we can form a pincer attack."

One player shook their head. "There aren't enough people outside. Even if they can all rush back in time, it's unlikely we can form a pincer attack."

"It doesn't matter, I'll handle it!" Calamity Dragon said, crossing her arms.

Digging Princess was stunned for a moment, then reacted. "I almost forgot Sister Tianzai is a rich lady!"

Calamity Dragon chuckled and directly pulled out her trump card—

Posting on the forum and paying to recruit reinforcements!

"Alright, alright, this feels like our win rate has increased quite a bit."

"Don't be careless. The opponents are basically all elite monsters, and the leader is very likely a mini-BOSS."

"What's there to fear? They're just mortals. Even if it's a god, as long as they have a health bar, I'll kill them for you to see!"

"Brother Gui Yi, go enchant your weapon with some golden juice."

"It's a pity time is too tight, otherwise I could have created a dust explosion and blown those bastards to death."

A group of players gathered, quickly dividing their tasks. They didn't seem worried at all about the upcoming battle.

Only fight!

With all preparations complete, Digging Princess, who had known Bai Fu the longest, walked up to Bai Fu. "Fu Fu, the battle is about to begin. You should leave now while you still can, to avoid being caught in the crossfire."

Bai Fu pouted. "At this point, do you think I can still leave? If I leave, they'll suspect even more that I'm involved with you."

"Ah, so what do we do now?"

Bai Fu stretched out her hands. "Let's do it. Tie me up, beat me up, and inflict some injuries on me."

Digging Princess quickly refused. "No, absolutely not. How could I possibly hit you?"

The other players echoed her refusal.

Bai Fu couldn't help but emphasize. "I've been here for almost ten minutes. Nothing unexpected has happened in ten minutes. Do you think those people outside will believe it?"

It did seem hard to believe.

"Alright, hurry up. After you're done, escort me out and use me as a hostage to threaten them. They definitely won't accept it; instead, they'll try to provoke you into killing me. You don't need to worry about anything else. Just throw me aside when the fighting starts, and I'll leave on my own."

Even though Bai Fu had stated her case so firmly, none of the players dared to act.

Convert to My Fu's eyes immediately turned red.

Damn it, Fu Fu had already risked her identity being exposed for us. How could we let her make an even greater sacrifice!

"If you're not coming, I'll do it myself!" Bai Fu raised her hand.

Digging Princess quickly rushed up and grabbed her sleeve.

"Stop, stop, stop, Fufu, I'll tie you up, okay? Just don't hit me. Put your hair down and smear some red paint to disguise yourself. They're far away, so they won't be able to see clearly anyway."

The two sides finally reached an agreement.

One minute later, Digging Princess and Calamity Dragon flanked Bai Fu, holding her arms as they walked outside.

As they reached the doorway, they exchanged a glance.

This time, they absolutely couldn't let Fufu's sacrifice be in vain!

P.S.: Today's update is a double chapter, sent together, so no separate chapters.