"I want to investigate Cao Wenliang's death myself, but I have an urgent matter to deal with first. For now, don't worry about those Outsiders. Help me get this done."
As soon as Bai Fu entered the Wildfire Gang Boss's office, she received a new quest.
[You have triggered a Faction Quest [Material Collection (Special)]]
[Quest Description: Type II Deformed Insects are bloodthirsty, vicious mutant lifeforms found in polluted areas. They're a headache for all scavengers, but a study has shown that their Poison Sacs have a special use. The Wildfire Gang Boss wants you to help collect them.]
[Quest Objective: Collect 50 Type II Deformed Insect Poison Sacs within seven days (0/50)]
[Rewards: 100 experience for each Type II Deformed Insect Poison Sac collected; an additional 5,000 experience and 20 Faction Reputation upon completing the full collection]
[Accept/Decline]
Each Poison Sac was worth 100 experience, so 50 would give her 5,000. With the bonus on top, completing the quest would earn her a full 10,000 experience.
The rewards for this quest were certainly generous.
Even so, completing it within seven days wouldn't be easy, even for Bai Fu.
Her defense let her easily withstand the Type II Deformed Insects' physical attacks, but what made them truly terrifying was their ability to spit poison when threatened.
The poison could inflict severe corrosive damage on the human body. If it reacted with a person's blood, it could even cause them to mutate into a monster.
Bai Fu wouldn't dare bet that she could make it out alive if she accidentally got surrounded by Type II Deformed Insects.
But not daring to take that bet didn't mean she was afraid to accept the quest.
There was no rule saying she had to cut the Poison Sacs out of the Type II Deformed Insects herself. She could accept the quest and then outsource it to the players.
As long as she offered enough incentive, the players would dare to stab even a World Boss in the butt—not to mention a few little Type II Deformed Insects!
"I guarantee I'll get it done!"
The Wildfire Gang Boss smiled with satisfaction. "I'll have the logistics department set aside 50,000 Credit Coins for you. If you need funds while carrying out the job, you can apply to them at any time."
That was an unexpected bonus!
Fifty thousand Credit Coins!
Bai Fu was overjoyed.
In a place like the Wildfire Gang, where everyone was a scoundrel, a procurement officer who didn't skim a little off the top wasn't a proper procurement officer!
After leaving the Wildfire Gang Boss's office, she first went to the logistics department and applied for 5,000 Credit Coins, then headed home.
She'd looked after An Ya for so long. It was time to send fishing master An Ya back into action!
Outside the Abandoned Cooling Plant.
The area bordered a polluted zone and was the territory of scavengers and desperadoes. Even the Wildfire Gang avoided coming here unless there was a special reason, so it had naturally become the players' favorite hangout.
That afternoon, Digging Princess walked along the "shopping street," where stalls lined both sides, livestreaming as usual.
Bai Fu hadn't appeared much over the past couple of days, so the number of viewers in her stream had dropped quite a bit.
Digging Princess took it in stride. She'd been through much quieter spells before, so this was nothing.
She was very optimistic about Above the Stars and believed that as long as she stayed close to Bai Fu, she'd become a major streamer sooner or later!
[Today, let's check out the wasteland vibes.]
As she walked, a white-haired figure appeared in front of her.
[Digging Treasure, don't you think that white-haired little girl up ahead looks familiar?]
[It's the sister-in-law.]
The livestream chat started flying by.
Sister-in-law?
Digging Princess stared at the white-haired figure for a while before suddenly realizing who it was. Wasn't this the little girl who always followed Fu Fu around?
She hurried after her. "Hey, you! Yeah, you, the one who follows Fu Fu around..."
An Ya turned around with an annoyed look. "Who are you calling 'hey'? Oh, it's you again. I have a name, you know. An~ Ya. Got it? Honestly. All right, all right, go play somewhere else. I'm really busy and don't have time to chat."
With that, she headed for another stall nearby, leaving Digging Princess standing there in a daze.
Digging Princess shook herself and hurried after her again. "What are you busy with? Maybe I can help."
"You?" An Ya drew the word out, her face full of suspicion.
Digging Princess blushed furiously.
Sure, I'm a total noob, but at least I have a whole bunch of friends who aren't! Ever heard of the power of friendship?
"Don't get the wrong idea," An Ya said. "I'm not looking down on you. I know you aren't afraid of dying, and I know you have lots of companions. But this has nothing to do with whether you're afraid of dying or whether you have companions."
"Then what does it have to do with?" Digging Princess hurriedly asked.
"Money. Probably tens of thousands of Credit Coins."
"Goodbye!"
Digging Princess turned and walked away. She couldn't even scrape together a few hundred Credit Coins, let alone tens of thousands.
After walking a dozen meters, she turned around and came back. "Tell me what's going on first, okay? Maybe I can help in some other way."
An Ya pursed her lips. "Fine. I'm here to buy Type II Deformed Insect Poison Sacs. The Boss wants 50, and I've been asking the stall owners if they're selling any. I've asked all along half the street and haven't found a single one. I don't have the money to hire people to hunt Type II Deformed Insects, either. If this keeps up, the Boss will have to go into the polluted zone herself."
As she spoke, she grew more and more anxious.
Digging Princess tentatively asked, "Are those Type II Deformed Insects dangerous?"
"Of course." An Ya explained what the Type II Deformed Insects were like.
Digging Princess was startled. "Why does Fu Fu want to collect Poison Sacs?"
An Ya shook her head. "I don't know. I just happened to hear the Boss say she wanted to collect them. I was worried, so I thought I'd see if I could help. What, are you going to help me collect Poison Sacs?"
Well...
Digging Princess was just about to say something when a game notification suddenly rang out.
[You have triggered a Commission Quest [Collect Poison Sacs]]
[Quest Description:...]
[Quest Objective: Collect Type II Deformed Insect Poison Sacs]
[Rewards: 100 experience for each Type II Deformed Insect Poison Sac collected; An Ya Favorability +1]
Digging Princess froze. The next second, she excitedly shared the quest screen with her livestream.
Digging Princess: [Oh! A quest! I triggered a quest, hahaha!]
[Digging Treasure, are you okay? It's just a quest, not like you passed the imperial exams.]
[The reward isn't that great. If I remember right, Type II Deformed Insects are level 4 monsters, but each Poison Sac only gives 100 experience.]
[Yeah. I've fought one before. It didn't have much health, but one spit of poison took a third of my HP.]
Digging Princess: [You're so young. Way too young. Do you really think the valuable part of this quest is that 100 experience?]
That left the livestream viewers baffled.
Digging Princess: [Sigh. You call yourselves Fu Sect disciples, but you're not even paying attention. Experience isn't important at all. Haven't you realized this is the first quest we've triggered from Fu Fu and An Ya?]
Wait, she might actually be right?
Digging Princess was smug: [Once I raise An Ya's Favorability, I'll be able to learn more about Fu Fu through her and then trigger Fu Fu's story quests. Hahahahaha!]
As she laughed, the number of comments in the livestream chat multiplied several times over.
Some people shouted, "Holy crap, that's awesome!" Some expressed envy and jealousy, some just went wild, and others hurried over to where she was.
Damn it, how could they let Digging Princess hog all the rewards at a time like this? The first person to trigger a hidden quest had to be them!
"Hey." An Ya waved her hand in front of Digging Princess's eyes. "Are you spacing out?"
Digging Princess snapped back to her senses. "N-no, I'm not. I'll help you, but I can't do it alone. I want to call in more people."
An Ya's eyes lit up. "Of course. But are you really going to help me?"
"Of course I am. By the way, can you do me a favor?"
An Ya instinctively took a step back, eyeing Digging Princess warily.
Digging Princess hurriedly said, "It's nothing bad. I just want you not to tell Fu Fu about this yet. Wait until we've gathered all the Poison Sacs, then tell her. We can surprise her."
"I thought you were going to ask for something serious. That's all? I'll do my best, but if the Boss gets impatient and insists on going into the polluted zone, I'll have to tell her early."
"That's fine."
An Ya looked Digging Princess over a few more times. "You're actually pretty nice. Thanks. What should I call you?"
Hahaha, her Favorability must have gone up just now!
Digging Princess smiled until her eyes curved into crescents. "Just call me Big Sister Digging Princess. How about I help you ask around and see if anyone here has Poison Sacs for sale?"
An Ya didn't refuse. While the two of them made their way down the street asking around, players started showing up one after another.
Without exception, every one of them picked up the quest from An Ya.
Digging Princess wasn't worried at all. She'd never planned to keep the news secret. Being first was enough!
[Let's go! We'll head to the polluted zone and hunt Type II Deformed Insects right now!]
[Hold on, I'm going to buy some anti-infection medicine first. That should at least improve our odds of surviving.]
Amid the commotion, a large group of players set off for the polluted zone.
An Ya hurried to the meeting place she'd arranged with Bai Fu in advance.
"Boss, you're amazing! You got them to work without spending a single penny!"
She was beginning to wonder if Bai Fu had the legendary succubus physique.
If that were true, couldn't they start a factory and get those Outsiders to work there for free?
Bai Fu patted An Ya's head. "Relax, relax."
Just as she'd expected, after assigning An Ya a quartermaster quest, An Ya was able to give quests to players. That was great—now she had one more way to fleece them.
An Ya's quest and Digging Princess's wild imagination had both played a part in making this work.
On closer analysis, Digging Princess deserved more of the credit. Not only had she gone to town with her theories in the livestream after receiving the quest, she'd also been constantly telling other players that Bai Fu had hidden quests.
Without that, the players in the livestream wouldn't have believed her so readily and run off to work for free.
"Digging Princess is terrible at the game, but her imagination alone makes her worth cultivating."
Bai Fu's approach to players was to make them her upgrade boosters. She'd squeeze every possible benefit out of them, but she wouldn't hesitate to cultivate promising players, either. That was how she could get even more out of them.
Of course, she'd only cultivate players who wouldn't sell her out for a little extra gain.
Digging Princess clearly fit the bill. As a gaming content creator and streamer, her popularity was now closely tied to Bai Fu. The stronger Bai Fu became, the more attention Digging Princess would attract.
Besides Digging Princess, her publicity ace, Bai Fu planned to cultivate a few players who could provide a certain amount of combat strength. She'd make them role models to encourage other players to fight for her.
Relying on popularity alone to maintain a good relationship with players was a little unstable. It was better to add a bit of mutual benefit to the mix.
"Let's head back for now. Give it two or three days, and they should be able to finish the quest."
Bai Fu didn't plan to just sit and wait.
The next day, she brought An Ya back to the "shopping street" they'd visited the day before and found Digging Princess and the others shopping.
"Fu Fu, what are you doing here?"
Digging Princess froze when she saw them.
She noticed that An Ya had her head down and looked dejected. Could it be...
"I heard from An Ya about what you did for me," Bai Fu said with a sigh.
Just as she thought.
Digging Princess had a brainwave. Wasn't this the perfect chance to raise An Ya's Favorability?
She hurried a few steps forward and shielded An Ya behind her. "Fu Fu, she's still a kid. Don't hit her. I was the one who offered to help you. She was just worried about you—what did she do wrong?"
Digging Princess felt sure she must look incredibly cool right now. She might even have become the giant of light in An Ya's eyes.
Hmph. What was the point of all those other people just focusing on quests? Raising Favorability was all about paying attention to seemingly insignificant details!
Bai Fu shook her head gently. "Given what's happened, I can only accept your kindness. But I can't leave you with nothing to show for it. I'll buy the Poison Sacs you've collected for 200 Credit Coins each."
Huh?
Digging Princess and the others, including Patrick Star, hurriedly turned her down. "No, no, there's no need. We can't let you spend your money, Fu Fu."
"Just accept it. It's not my money; the Wildfire Gang is paying. You need money too, don't you?"
Did they ever. How could they not?
Bai Fu's words moved the players to tears.
[Damn, that's Fu Fu for you—the true friend of players. If this were any other NPC, they'd be thrilled that we worked for free. They'd never give us the money the Wildfire Gang put up.]
[Bro, no regrets joining the Fu Sect!]
[Oh no, oh no. After meeting Fu Fu, I feel like I'll never be interested in anyone else. Am I going to be single forever?]
[Wake up. You were single before you met Fu Bao, too.]
Bai Fu snickered to herself.
If she'd put the 200 Credit Coins into the quest rewards from the start, the players' reaction wouldn't have been nearly as strong. They'd have taken it for granted.
She'd made a killing this time.
She'd have to pay the players 10,000 Credit Coins for collecting 50 Poison Sacs. That might seem like a lot, but she could still get 40,000 from the Wildfire Gang. Still, she didn't plan to go that far. She'd leave the Wildfire Gang 10,000 Credit Coins to show off her ability to save money.
"You've helped me a lot. This little bit of money isn't enough to show my gratitude. If there's anything else you want, just ask. I'll do my best to help."
Her words stirred up the players again.
"Uh, I don't really want anything."
"Yeah, I can't think of anything I want."
"Um... could I ask for a Profession Knowledge Book?"
"Hey, what are you asking that for?"
The player who'd raised his hand was immediately pulled back down.
"A Profession Knowledge Book?" Bai Fu furrowed her brow slightly. "I remember the Wildfire Gang has one in its library. It won't be easy to get, but I'll figure something out."
At that, all the players were stunned. That was possible?
Wait, wouldn't that be too dangerous? What if Fu Fu got arrested while stealing the Profession Knowledge Book?
Some players tried to talk Bai Fu out of it, but she was determined, so they could only keep their gratitude to themselves.
[I'll steal the Wildfire Gang's Profession Knowledge Book to provide for you all.jpg]
That night, one player photoshopped an image and posted it on the community forum. The post shot to the top of the forum's real-time trending list like a rocket.
Bai Fu couldn't help laughing to herself.
The gains from this move had far exceeded her expectations.
She waited another day, and the players finally gathered all 50 Poison Sacs.
Before she could enjoy herself for long, some bad news reached her ears.
"Yesterday, when we followed Boss to capture the Outsiders, we killed two Outsiders who looked exactly alike, one after the other."
Bai Fu: "Could they have been twins?"
"That's what we thought at first, but after a while, we saw him for the third time."
"Triplets?"
"That doesn't seem very likely."
Bai Fu realized that the secret of players being able to revive seemed close to being exposed.
Before you continue