Bai Fu, the True Friend of Players

"I will personally investigate Cao Wenliang's cause of death, but I have an urgent matter here. For the time being, don't bother with those Outsiders. Help me handle this first."

As soon as Bai Fu entered the Wildfire Gang boss's office, she received a new mission.

[You have triggered Faction Quest [Material Collection (Special)]]

[Quest Description: Type II Amoeba are *alien* lifeforms that live in polluted areas. They are bloodthirsty and brutal, a nuisance to all scavengers. However, a study shows that the poison sacs of Type II Amoeba have special properties. The Wildfire Gang boss wants you to collect them for him.]

[Quest Objective: Collect 50 Type II Amoeba poison sacs within seven days (0/50)]

[Reward: 100 experience points for each Type II Amoeba poison sac collected, an additional 5000 experience points for completing the entire collection, 20 faction reputation.]

[Accept/Reject]

One poison sac is 100 experience points, so 50 of them would be 5000. Add the bonus reward, and completing this quest would yield a full 10,000 experience points.

The rewards for this quest were undeniably generous.

However, even for Bai Fu, completing this task within seven days would not be easy.

Her defense could allow her to easily withstand the physical attacks of the Type II Amoeba, but their true terror lay in their ability to spew venom when endangered.

This venom could cause extremely severe corrosive damage to the human body. If it reacted with blood, it could even cause mutations, turning a person into an alien monster.

Bai Fu dared not gamble on whether she could survive if she were accidentally surrounded by Type II Amoeba.

But just because she dared not gamble didn't mean she dared not accept the mission.

The mission didn't stipulate that she had to personally harvest the poison sacs from the Type II Amoeba. She could simply accept the mission and then outsource it to players.

As long as the players were sufficiently compensated, forget mere Type II Amoeba, they'd dare to poke the hindquarters of a World Boss!

"I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

The Wildfire Gang boss smiled with satisfaction. "I will have the logistics department allocate 50,000 Credit Coins separately. If you need anything during your operation, you can apply for funds from the logistics department at any time."

An unexpected bonus like this?

That was 50,000 Credit Coins!

Bai Fu was overjoyed.

In a place like the Wildfire Gang, filled with villains, a procurement that didn't skim profits during the purchasing process was not a qualified procurement!

After leaving the Wildfire Gang boss's office, she first went to the logistics department to apply for 5,000 in funds, and then went home.

Nurture An Ya for a thousand days, it's time for the fishing master An Ya to make another appearance!

The outskirts of the Abandoned Cooling Plant.

This area bordered the polluted zone and was the territory of scavengers and desperadoes. Even the Wildfire Gang wouldn't come here unless there was a special circumstance, so it naturally became the area where players were most active.

In the afternoon, Digging Princess walked through the "shopping street" filled with street stalls, live-streaming as usual.

Since Bai Fu hadn't appeared much in the past two days, the popularity of her stream had dropped considerably.

She remained calm about it, having experienced even quieter times. This level was nothing.

Digging Princess was very optimistic about the prospects of the game Above the Stars. She believed that as long as she stuck close to Bai Fu, she would eventually become a top streamer!

[Today, let's first experience the Wasteland style.]

As she walked, a white figure appeared before Digging Princess.

[Digging Treasure, do you find that little girl with white hair ahead a bit familiar?]

[It's the sister-in-law.]

The live stream chat was buzzing.

Sister-in-law?

After staring at the white figure for a while, Digging Princess suddenly realized. This was the little girl who followed Fufu around.

She hurried after her. "Um, hey, hey, it's you, the one who follows Fufu..."

An Ya turned around impatiently. "Hey what... Oh, it's you again. I have a name, it's An~Ya, remember? Honestly. Alright, alright, go play somewhere else. I'm very busy right now, I don't have time to chat with you."

With that, she walked towards another stall owner not far away, leaving Digging Princess alone in the wind.

Digging Princess shook her head vigorously and quickly chased after her again. "What are you busy with? Maybe I can help?"

"You?" An Ya drew out her voice, her face full of suspicion.

Digging Princess's face turned red.

Even if I'm weak, I have a group of friends who aren't weak. Don't you understand the Strength of bonds!

An Ya said, "Don't misunderstand, I'm not looking down on you. I know you're not afraid of death, and I know you have many companions. But that has nothing to do with whether you're afraid of death or have companions."

"Then what does it have to do with?" Digging Princess quickly asked.

"Money. Probably tens of thousands of Credit Coins."

"Farewell!"

Digging Princess turned and left. Forget tens of thousands of Credit Coins, she couldn't even afford a few hundred.

After walking out a dozen meters, she retreated: "Tell me the specifics first? Maybe I can help elsewhere."

An Ya pouted: "Fine, I'm actually here to buy Type II Amoeba venom sacs. The boss wants 50, and I was asking if they sold them, but I couldn't buy a single one after asking half the street. I don't have money to hire people to hunt Type II Amoebas. If this keeps up, the boss will have to go deep into the pollution zone himself."

As she spoke, she became anxious.

Digging Princess tentatively asked, "Is that Type II Amoeba very dangerous?"

"Of course," An Ya explained the situation of the Type II Amoeba.

Digging Princess was startled: "Why does Fufu want to collect venom sacs?"

An Ya shook her head: "I don't know. I just happened to hear the boss say they needed to collect them. I was a bit worried, so I thought I could help the boss. What, are you going to help me collect venom sacs?"

This...

Just as Digging Princess was about to say something, the game prompt suddenly sounded.

[You have triggered the commission quest [Collect Venom Sacs]]
[Quest Description: ...]
[Quest Objective: Collect Type II Amoeba Venom Sacs]
[Reward: 100 experience points for each Type II Amoeba Venom Sac collected, An Ya's Favorability +1]

Digging Princess froze. The next second, she excitedly shared the quest interface to the live stream.

Digging Princess: [Ehh, a quest, I triggered a quest, hahaha!]

[Digging Treasure, are you okay? It's just a quest, not like you passed the imperial exam.] [The quest reward isn't high. If I remember correctly, Type II Amoeba is a level 4 monster, but only 100 experience points for a venom sac here.] [Indeed, I've fought this monster. Its HP isn't high, but one spit of its venom took 1/3 of my HP.]

Digging Princess: [Youngsters, you are too young. Do you really think the valuable part of this quest is that 100 experience points?]

Her words completely confused the live stream audience.

Digging Princess: [Sigh, and you call yourselves Fufu's disciples. Experience points are not important at all. Didn't you realize this is the first quest we've triggered from Fufu and An Ya?]

Holy crap, it really is?

Digging Princess said smugly: [Once I raise An Ya's favorability, I can get to know Fufu better through her and trigger Fufu's story quests, hahahahaha!]

Accompanied by her laughter, the number of bullet comments in the live stream multiplied several times.

Some were shouting "Holy crap, amazing," some were expressing envy and jealousy, some were simply going crazy, and some were quickly running towards her location.

Damn it, how can Digging Princess have all the fun at a time like this? I must be the first to trigger a hidden quest!

"Hey." At this moment, An Ya raised her hand and waved it in front of Digging Princess's eyes, "Stunned?"

Digging Princess snapped back to reality: "No, no, no, I'll help you, but I don't have enough strength alone. I want to call a few more people."

An Ya's eyes lit up: "Of course, that's no problem, but are you really going to help me?"

Digging Princess said: "What else could it be? By the way, can you promise me one thing?"

An Ya instinctively took a step back, staring at Digging Princess warily.

Digging Princess quickly said: "It's nothing bad, I just want you not to tell Fufu about this now, but wait until the venom sacs are collected and then tell her, to give Fufu a surprise."

"I thought you were going to say something else. If that's all, I'll try my best. But if the boss can't wait and insists on going into the pollution zone, I'll have to tell her in advance."

"That's perfectly fine."

An Ya looked at Digging Princess a few more times: "You're surprisingly kind. Thank you. How should I address you?"

Hahaha, my favorability must have increased with that move just now!

Digging Princess's eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled: "Just call me Sister Digging Princess. How about this, I'll help you ask around here first to see if anyone is selling venom sacs."

An Ya didn't refuse. As they inquired along the street, more and more players ran over.

Without exception, all these players had received quests from An Ya.

Digging Princess wasn't worried at all. She never intended to hide the news; being the first was enough!

[Let's go, let's go hunt Type II Amoebas in the pollution zone now!] [Don't rush, let me buy some anti-infection medicine. It might increase the chance of survival a bit.]

Amidst the clamor, a large number of players charged towards the pollution zone.

An Ya hurried to the meeting spot she had pre-arranged with Bai Fu.

"Boss, you're amazing! You got them to do your bidding without spending a single cent!"

She started to wonder if Bai Fu was a legendary succubus.

If that were the case, could they open a factory and let those outsiders work for free?

Bai Fu patted An Ya's head: "Calm down, calm down."

Just as she had expected, after assigning An Ya a Quartermaster quest, An Ya could indeed issue quests to players. This was great; it meant another way to "harvest" players in the future.

This success was thanks to both the quest An Ya issued and Digging Princess's wild guesses.

If we're being honest, Digging Princess deserves more credit. Not only did she brainstorm wildly in the livestream after receiving the quest, but she also spent the preceding days constantly instilling the idea in other players that "Bai Fu has a hidden quest."

Without that, the players in the livestream wouldn't have believed her nonsense so readily and come to work for free.

"Digging Princess's gaming skill is terrible, but her ability to embellish alone is worth nurturing."

Bai Fu's attitude towards players is to make them her leveling boosters. She'll extract all sorts of benefits from them, but if she encounters a player with potential, she won't be stingy with nurturing them, because only then can she better extract benefits from those players.

Of course, her nurturing players is predicated on the player not betraying her for some minor benefit.

It's clear that Digging Princess meets this requirement. As a game UP and streamer, Digging Princess's popularity is now deeply tied to hers. The more powerful she becomes, the more attention Digging Princess receives.

Besides Digging Princess, the "chief propaganda officer," Bai Fu also plans to nurture a few more players who can provide a certain level of combat power, making them role models to attract other players to fight for her.

Relying solely on popularity to maintain good relations with players is a bit unstable; it's better to add some interest exchange as seasoning.

"Let's go back for now. After waiting two or three days, they should be close to finishing the quest."

Bai Fu had no intention of just waiting.

When the next day arrived, she, with An Ya, returned to the "shopping street" from the previous day and found Digging Princess and the others shopping.

"Fufu, why are you here?"

Seeing them, Digging Princess froze.

She noticed An Ya lowering her head, looking wronged. Could it be...?

"I already know from An Ya about what you did to help me," Bai Fu sighed.

Just as she thought.

Digging Princess had a flash of inspiration. Isn't this an opportunity to gain favor with An Ya?

She quickly stepped forward, shielding An Ya behind her. "Fufu, the child is young, you can't hit her. I was the one who suggested helping you. She was just concerned about you; what wrong did she do?"

Digging Princess felt incredibly cool right then, perhaps already becoming a giant of light in An Ya's eyes.

Heh, what's the use of others just focusing on the quest? Gaining favor is about paying attention to these seemingly insignificant details!

Bai Fu shook her head gently. "Since it's come to this, I can only accept your kindness. But I can't just do nothing. I'll purchase those poison sacs you collected, at 200 each."

Huh?

Digging Princess and Patrick Star and the others beside her quickly refused. "No, no, how can we let Fufu spend money?"

Bai Fu said, "Just accept it with peace of mind. This money isn't mine; it's from Wildfire Gang. You might as well take it since it's free. You need money right now, don't you?"

Need it? Of course, we need it.

These words brought the players to tears.

[Damn, this is Fufu, a true friend of the players. If it were any other NPC, they'd be overjoyed to know we worked for them for free, let alone give us money from Wildfire Gang.]

[Brother, no regrets in this life for joining Fufu's faction!]

[It's over, it's over. After meeting Fufu, I don't think I can look at anyone else. Am I going to be single forever?]

[Wake up, you were single before you met Fu Bao too.]

Bai Fu chuckled inwardly.

If she had put these 200 Credit Coins in the quest rewards from the start, the players' reaction wouldn't have been this strong; they would have just taken it for granted.

She had made a huge profit this time.

She needed 50 poison sacs, and she would give the players 10,000 Credit Coins. It seemed like a lot, but she could still earn 40,000 from Wildfire Gang. However, she didn't plan to be too ruthless; she intended to leave 10,000 Credit Coins for Wildfire Gang to showcase her money-saving skills.

"You've helped me a lot. This small amount of money isn't enough to express my gratitude. Do you have any other requests? I'll try my best to fulfill them."

These words caused another stir among the players.

"Uh, no requests."

"I don't think I want anything."

"Um... are professional skill books okay?"

"Hey, why are you asking about that?"

The player who raised their hand was immediately pushed down.

"Professional skill books?" Bai Fu frowned slightly. "I remember Wildfire Gang has them in their library. It won't be easy to get, but I'll find a way."

As soon as she said this, the players were stunned. This is allowed?

No, no matter what, this is too dangerous. What if Fufu gets arrested while stealing a professional skill book?

Some players tried to persuade Bai Fu to give up, but Bai Fu insisted on doing it, so they could only silently keep their gratitude in their hearts.

[I'm going to steal Wildfire Gang's professional skill books to raise you all.jpg]

That evening, a player posted a picture to the community. The post immediately became the top trending post on the main community board, skyrocketing like a rocket.

Bai Fu couldn't help but secretly laugh.

The benefits from this move were far greater than she had imagined.

She waited another day, and the players finally managed to gather all 50 poison sacs.

Before she could be happy for long, some not-so-good news reached her ears.

"Yesterday, when we followed the boss to capture Outsiders, we killed two Outsiders who looked exactly alike."

Bai Fu: "Is it possible they were twins?"

"That's what we thought at first, but after a while, we saw him for the third time."

"Triplets?"

"That possibility is pretty low."

Bai Fu realized that the secret of players being able to revive was about to be exposed.

PS: Thanks to Tian You Wo An An and Yun Zhong Gu Meng for the tips.