Bai Fu's premonition had been right. As soon as the Wildfire Gang Boss realized something was wrong, he immediately ordered all his men to stay on high alert.
In just one day, the Wildfire Gang discovered that there were many pairs of twins among the Outsiders, as well as triplets and even quadruplets.
This was simply too ridiculous. Twins weren't exactly easy to have.
The Wildfire Gang Boss could think of only two explanations.
First, the Outsiders weren't normal people at all, but clones. Whenever one died, a new clone immediately took their place.
Second, the Outsiders could come back to life after dying.
If he had to choose which of the two explanations was true, he leaned toward the first. Compared with coming back to life, cloning was more scientific, more achievable, and easier to accept.
But clearly, things weren't that simple. One question had been troubling the Wildfire Gang Boss.
None of the Outsiders showed any signs of training. Many of them weren't exactly fat, but at least they had the build of overworked wage slaves from some large settlement. Yet they were even more fearless in the face of death than specially trained suicide soldiers.
Did that make any sense?
Unless the Outsiders knew they could come back to life even if they died, there was no way to explain it.
There was an old saying in the Abandoned Cooling Plant—
When you've eliminated every impossible explanation, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
"So the truth is, the Outsiders can come back to life!"
The Wildfire Gang Boss was shaken to his core. He didn't dare reveal this answer to anyone. During their previous battles, the Outsiders' shameless tactics had nearly driven the ordinary members of the Wildfire Gang to a breakdown. If they suddenly learned that they were facing a group of Undying, they would probably scatter in terror.
If that happened, the Wildfire Gang he had worked so hard to build would collapse in an instant.
"What kind of devils have we provoked?!"
They had undying bodies, bottomless morality, a level of cultural sophistication far beyond expectations, and limitless potential for growth.
In the Wildfire Gang Boss's eyes, provoking Outsiders like these was no different from suffering a natural disaster capable of destroying an entire settlement!
He began to regret raising his voice the first time he'd met the Outsiders. But it was too late for regrets now. Unless he could go back in time with his memories intact, he would still have made the same choice after discovering that the Outsiders had broken into his supply crate.
Who could have imagined that the Outsiders would be so terrifying?
Their appearance and their carefree, laughing manner were simply too misleading!
The Wildfire Gang Boss was on the verge of a breakdown.
His gaze fell on an inconspicuous hidden door in the gang's headquarters. At that moment, those people were the only ones he could rely on.
After telling his men not to wander off, he hurried through the hidden door.
Beneath it was a narrow white corridor. At the far end stood a heavy iron door. Beyond it lay an old-looking laboratory.
"Doctor Yulia!"
The Wildfire Gang Boss looked around, then fixed his gaze on someone wearing a thick protective suit. It was the woman who had gone with him a few days earlier to investigate Cao Wenliang's death.
He hurried over, but after only two steps, two burly men guarding the laboratory entrance grabbed him by the shoulders.
Yulia turned around. "Let him go. He came rushing over, so it must be urgent."
The two burly men only laughed. They didn't let go.
Yulia remained calm, not at all angry that they had ignored her. "What do you need?"
The Wildfire Gang Boss quickly told her what he had discovered.
"The situation is very bad. If something happens to the Wildfire Gang, this laboratory probably won't be able to stay hidden—"
Before he could finish, the two men at the entrance burst into laughter.
"Undying? Are you telling us a fairy tale? Hahaha!"
"Number Seven, unless I'm mistaken, he just threatened us, didn't he?"
I didn't! I swear I didn't...
The Wildfire Gang Boss was sweating profusely.
Though they were giving him a hard time, he didn't dare resist. The three people in front of him belonged to an organization feared even by Lynn, the large settlement nearby—
The Truth Society.
More than a hundred years ago, a war had erupted across Zu Yuan Star, nearly destroying everything. Over the following century, humanity rebuilt civilization amid the twin threats of pollution and mutated lifeforms. By now, five superpowers had emerged, controlling numerous settlements and shelters.
The five powers were the Gene Primordial, the Old Republic, the Railroad Guild, the Human Alliance, and the Truth Society.
The Truth Society was the most unusual of them all. No one knew where its headquarters were, and no one knew who its leader was. But whenever its members appeared, they always brought disasters that caused countless deaths.
By its very nature, the Truth Society had become a public enemy in the eyes of every faction. Even the Human Alliance, which was devoted to preserving humanity's bloodline and killing every impure lifeform, thought the Truth Society was a little too extreme!
The Wildfire Gang Boss had never expected to have anything to do with the Truth Society.
But a little over a month ago, while he was taking inventory at the gang's headquarters, these three had suddenly barged in. They claimed to be from the Truth Society and asked him to help with something so their whereabouts wouldn't be discovered by people from Lynn. They also promised to recommend him for membership once the job was done.
Naturally, he hadn't believed them at first. Then the burly man codenamed Number Seven had pulled out a spherical device. In that instant, the Wildfire Gang Boss had felt as if he'd been hit by some kind of immobilizing spell. His whole body seemed locked in place, fixed to the space around him, and he couldn't move at all.
That was the first time he had ever felt despair.
He'd spent his whole life in the underworld and faced death threats more times than he could count. But this was the only time he hadn't seen any possibility of fighting back, because he couldn't even tell what his opponent had done.
The unknown was the greatest fear of all!
Under pressure, and driven by his desire to rise above his station, the Wildfire Gang Boss had agreed to help.
In a small place like the Abandoned Cooling Plant, no matter how hard he worked, he would never get anywhere. In the eyes of the powerful, he wasn't even worth as much as a bug.
If there was no opportunity, then so be it. But when one was placed right in front of him, how could he not at least try to climb higher?
But this was a hard path to climb.
He'd already done everything he could, yet the two men guarding the door never gave him the time of day. Only Yulia treated him decently.
This time, too, it was Yulia who stepped in to smooth things over. "All right, what's so funny? Can you guarantee what he said isn't true? Don't underestimate the Gene Primordial's technology."
Both the Abandoned Cooling Plant and Lynn were within the Gene Primordial's sphere of influence. The Gene Primordial was famous for its research into mutants.
"I don't know anything about technology. You're the expert."
Number Seven grinned, but anger lurked beneath his smile.
Yulia wasn't intimidated by his stare. "Go investigate and see whether those Outsiders have any connection to the Gene Primordial. If they do, we can't stay here."
Number Seven didn't move.
Yulia's eyes turned cold. "If the mission fails, who do you think the Chairman will deal with first, you or me?"
Number Seven fell silent for a long while. "Fine. I'll stretch my legs a little."
He shrugged and walked past the Wildfire Gang Boss.
"I..." The Wildfire Gang Boss was a little embarrassed.
Yulia said, "If anything else comes up, let me know."
It was a polite way of telling him to leave. The Wildfire Gang Boss took the hint and said his goodbyes. His heart was full of worry. He'd completely offended Number Seven this time.
Once things were over here, someone with a temperament even more extreme than Cao Wenliang's would surely come after him.
In terms of strength, he was no match for Number Seven and his spherical device. In terms of connections, he was even less of a match.
Yulia had promised to recommend him to the Truth Society, but judging from Number Seven's attitude toward her, she probably couldn't protect him.
"Damn it!"
At this point, the Wildfire Gang Boss realized he had only one option.
Come on, Outsider Undying! Make sure you kill Number Seven, that arrogant bastard who doesn't know his place!
After leaving through the hidden door, the Wildfire Gang Boss ran into Bai Fu, who had come to turn in her quest.
"You gathered them so quickly? Good, good, very good."
He nodded repeatedly. He wasn't in the mood to ask how Bai Fu had gathered the Poison Sacs.
This took Bai Fu by surprise. She'd come up with several excuses in advance, but since the Wildfire Gang Boss hadn't asked, there was no need to say anything.
[You completed the Faction Quest [Material Collection (Special)] and received 10,000 experience points and 20 faction reputation.]
Bai Fu didn't hesitate much before raising her Spiritual Apprentice to Lv. 8. Then she put her two extra attribute points into Constitution.
Her status panel had changed.
[Template]: Ordinary [Experience]: 2751 [Main Class]: Spiritual Apprentice Lv. 8 (0/10000), Unemployed Lv. 5 (Max Level) [Sub Class]: None [Health]: 290/290 [Psychic Energy]: 60/60 [Attributes]: Strength 7, Agility 5, Constitution 26, Intelligence 3, Spirit 12, Inspiration 12
Her faction reputation had risen from 22 to 42, which wasn't bad at all.
Bai Fu noticed that the Wildfire Gang Boss was clearly much friendlier toward her than before.
"Boss, do you have any other quests for me?"
She and the players were currently working closely together. She wanted to strike while the iron was hot, take on more quests, and raise her Spiritual Apprentice to Lv. 10 as quickly as possible. Then she could look for the knowledge needed to advance.
The Wildfire Gang Boss shook his head. "You've been busy for days. Take a break first. I'll let you know if anything else comes up."
What a shame.
Bai Fu could only go elsewhere and see if she could pick up some quests.
After saying goodbye to the Wildfire Gang Boss, she went to the library and took out the copy of Basic Boxing Tutorial she'd found earlier.
She had chosen this Profession Knowledge Book for two main reasons.
The most obvious reason was that, at this stage, it was the Profession Knowledge Book that could improve the players' combat ability the most.
Other Profession Knowledge Books, such as Gun Assembly and The Ins and Outs of Being a Secret Agent, didn't activate weak classes, but they weren't nearly as versatile as Basic Boxing Tutorial.
After all, once you became a gunslinger, you'd need to get your hands on a gun. And if you became a secret agent, you'd have to find some special equipment.
With Basic Boxing Tutorial, there was no such problem. Even if you'd never practiced boxing before, surely you could still use the skills.
The second reason Bai Fu had chosen Basic Boxing Tutorial was that it was very thin, only a little over twenty pages long. Each page was mostly illustrations, with just a little text explaining them, making it perfect for copying.
That was right.
Bai Fu didn't plan to give the original copy of Basic Boxing Tutorial to the players. Instead, she intended to make a copy herself.
She'd borrowed the book from the Wildfire Gang's library. Return what you borrowed, and you'd be welcome to borrow again. Borrow something and never return it, and getting scolded would be the least of your worries. It would be even worse if anyone discovered her connection to the players.
Besides, the players were already saying she was going to steal a Profession Knowledge Book. She had to live up to their expectations.
Taking the original straight to them would still count as stealing, but that would make the theft seem too easy. The story that she'd secretly made a copy would be much more touching.
Bai Fu had been right.
When she handed her hand-drawn copy of Basic Boxing Tutorial to Digging Princess, all the players around her and the viewers in the livestream were deeply moved.
[Dammit, I can't imagine how much effort Fu Fu put into copying this Profession Knowledge Book, or how much risk she took of getting caught.]
[Doesn't matter who shows up now. Even that Big Mecha from the trailer couldn't compete. Fu Fu is number one, and I mean it!]
[For real. The Big Mecha is cool, but I can't pilot it. Fu Fu's different. She gives me money and Profession Knowledge Books. I was still worrying about how I'd change classes.]
[Holy crap, this is a boundless merit!]
[Fu Fu: I'm going to create a world where every player can easily change classes!]
[Fu Sect!]
Amid the cheering and laughter, Bai Fu was practically being worshipped as a goddess.
The game had been live for about ten days, but the number of players who had obtained a new class really wasn't that high.
With this one move, Bai Fu gave every player who had helped her collect Poison Sacs the chance to change classes. She'd not only drawn in a huge wave of attention but also earned herself some positive publicity.
[It really makes a difference when you've raised an NPC's Favorability. If Bai Fu's Favorability toward Digging Treasure were in the single digits, she might not even give her those 200 Credit Coins, let alone a Profession Knowledge Book.]
Many players had already made up their minds: the next time they ran into Bai Fu, they'd raise their Favorability first, no matter what!
Bai Fu was satisfied.
One player giving her something was only a little benefit, but the benefits from thousands upon thousands of players added together would be astronomical.
"Take your time learning. I'll be going now. The Wildfire Gang's been keeping a close watch lately, so I can't reveal who I am."
Bai Fu found an excuse to slip away.
She didn't have time to keep chatting with the players. She needed to see if there were any nearby quests she could do for experience. She was still more than 20,000 experience short of raising her Spiritual Apprentice to Lv. 10.
As she walked onto another street near the "shopping district," Bai Fu stopped.
By the roadside—
A burly man whose clothes and appearance clearly didn't fit in with the Abandoned Cooling Plant had a stall owner by the throat.
"Tell me where those Outsiders are hiding, or I'll kill you right now."
Bai Fu was startled.
The Abandoned Cooling Plant was full of bullies, but this was the first time she'd met someone as extreme as him.
Fortunately, his target was a player who could be even more extreme than him when the mood struck. So Bai Fu wasn't worried at all. She was just curious about who he was; she had no impression of him whatsoever.
Bai Fu used Spiritual Vision on the burly man.
Before you continue