A Monument Forged for Heroes

The road back to the Abandoned Cooling Plant was easier than Bai Fu had imagined.

Her Spirit and Inspiration stats, at 14 and 16 respectively, greatly enhanced her senses, allowing her to detect the movement of amoebas from a great distance.

Relying on this ability, she deliberately avoided larger amoeba swarms. By the time she spotted the fence at the edge of the Abandoned Cooling Plant, she had only encountered four battles.

These four fights were practically a warm-up for her current strength. She easily turned those amoebas into experience without even needing to temporarily boost her Strength with Power Surge (Inferior).

Including the amoebas she'd eliminated while driving, Bai Fu gained another 13,038 experience points on this trip, successfully bringing her total experience reserves to 14,007. Once the "Insect Tide Invasion" quest was completed, she would have enough experience for her class advancement.

The only issue was that she still hadn't found a class advancement knowledge book.

"The library that only the Wildfire Gang leader can access might have some good stuff. Even if it doesn't, the Lynn settlement should have something."

Bai Fu was in a very good mood.

Her mood improved even further after browsing the livestreams of players at the Abandoned Cooling Plant.

Her plan was to first build up player sentiment by appearing to be in dire straits at the Abandoned Cooling Plant, making them think she was doomed. Then, she would use her performance on the way back to instill a sliver of hope amidst their despair, making them believe she might still survive. Finally, just as she was about to succeed, she would decisively sacrifice herself, paving the way to tomorrow for the players.

With these three emotional tugs, she had pushed the players' emotions to the breaking point, desperately needing an outlet.

Sadness, pain, unforgettable...

Every livestream she watched showed players venting these three emotions. The most agitated among them was undoubtedly Digging Princess.

Throughout the emotional rollercoaster, Digging Princess vividly acted out the emotional journey of players supporting Bai Fu for all her viewers to see.

From collapsing on the ground in despair, to rallying, to fainting on the spot, and then to scrambling back up upon hearing that Bai Fu had a slim chance of survival, her performance was comparable to the classic "boasting at the start, nonsensical in the middle, silent at the end." Wags jokingly called her the "Push-up Master" and even made her into an emoji, showing signs of becoming a meme.

Bai Fu watched and burst out laughing.

Becoming a meme made it easier to spread, just like "Krillin's sacrifice, boundless power" in Dragon Ball. It was a bit dark, but as soon as it was mentioned, people would involuntarily recall the classic scene associated with the meme.

This was very beneficial for her in consolidating her popularity and expanding her recognition among players.

"The atmosphere has been built up to this point. Now, I'll just let the emotions ferment a bit longer."

Her plan was to wait for half a day before reappearing before the players.

If she showed up too early, the pent-up emotions wouldn't be strong enough to erupt with sufficient force. Of course, showing up too late wouldn't be good either; who knew what unexpected events might occur by then.

A little over ten minutes later, Bai Fu successfully arrived at the Wildfire Gang.

Since only three hours had passed since she discovered the enhancement potion, her first stop wasn't the laboratory, but the library that only the Wildfire Gang leader could freely access.

Seeing no one around, she shattered the lock on the door with a shot and pushed it open.

The library wasn't large. In just over ten minutes, she had searched the entire place.

To Bai Fu's regret, the library contained no advancement knowledge for the Spiritual Energy School. However, she wasn't entirely without gains. On the bookshelves, she found three advancement knowledge books for other professions:

Gunner Training Manual 2.0 Advanced Research on Muscle and Force Generation Introduction to Qi

She couldn't use these three advancement knowledge books for now, but she could use them as rewards for the players, further boosting their favorability towards her.

Leaving the library, Bai Fu then set her sights on the Wildfire Gang's treasury and logistics warehouse.

It took her a full hour and a half to sift through and retrieve everything useful to her from the treasury and logistics warehouse.

She had to admit, the gold payout this time was incredibly satisfying. She obtained over 170,000 Credit Coins alone. Combined with what she had saved before, her current savings now exceeded 200,000, making her a bona fide little rich girl.

Besides Credit Coins, she also acquired over twenty guns, a grenade launcher, a bag of field rations that could quickly restore stamina, three sets of brand-new protective underarmors, a dozen military-grade binoculars, and various small items like ammunition.

If it hadn't been so conspicuous, she would have even taken the Wildfire Gang leader's personal vehicle.

Bai Fu packed all these items into boxes before finally entering the laboratory.

By this time, the progress bar for the enhancement potion had reached its end. She carefully opened the cultivation pod. There were two bottles of potion inside, but she only took one.

The reason she didn't take them all was twofold: firstly, one bottle was enough for her; secondly, she had a keen intuition that this enhancement potion, created by Yulia, was likely related to the main quest of Zu Yuan Star.

She felt it was necessary to have the people at Gene Primordial analyze the potion and see what The Truth Society was really up to.

After closing the cultivation pod again, Bai Fu dragged her loot and quickly ran home.

From the players' livestreams, she noticed that more than half of the amoebas that had invaded the Abandoned Cooling Plant had already been eliminated. It was estimated that the Insect Tide would be completely suppressed soon, and people would definitely come to the Wildfire Gang. She didn't want to run into them.

Just as she expected, as soon as she dragged the boxes back to the open space littered with construction debris by her doorstep, she received a game notification.

[You have completed the quest [Insect Tide Invasion]. Contribution: 23.6%. Reward: 40,000 experience points, 3 attribute points, Spiritual Energy Knowledge Chain (4).]

"Huh?"

Since [Insect Tide Invasion] was not a Faction Quest, even with her high contribution of 23.6%, Bai Fu did not receive an additional title reward like she did when attacking a player stronghold last time. However, the rewards from the quest itself were enough to surprise her.

She had initially thought that completing the quest would earn her around 10,000 experience at best. She never expected the quest to directly grant her 40,000. Was this the allure of high-difficulty quests?

With this experience, she could instantly level up her advanced profession to Lv2.

The value of the 3 attribute points was self-evident. Bai Fu decisively allocated all 3 attribute points to Constitution, raising her Constitution to 29 points.

However, among these three rewards, the most valuable was actually [Spiritual Energy Knowledge Chain (4)].

The profession system in Above the Stars was different from typical online games. It was more akin to a technology tree system found in some farming games—

To unlock advanced professions, one must first learn the prerequisite knowledge!

When learning primary and advanced professions, players only needed the corresponding professional knowledge books and experience. But to upgrade from an advanced profession to a high-level profession, having only knowledge books and experience was insufficient. One must have mastered at least 5 knowledge chains.

This is what they call knowledge is power!

These knowledge chains are certainly not learned for free. For every additional knowledge chain mastered, corresponding bonuses are gained.

Bai Fu tapped on her newly acquired [Spiritual Energy Knowledge Chain (4)] and the buff immediately popped up.

[All Spiritual Energy active skill effects +20%, Psionic Resistance +20%]

[Note: Unlocking a new knowledge chain grants +20% to all Spiritual Energy active skill effects, +20% Psionic Resistance, and +2 Psionic Recovery Speed/minute.]

Including the 10% bonus from Low-Level Psionic Mastery, from now on, the effects of skills used by Bai Fu will be increased by 30%. The gap between her and ordinary Spiritual Apprentices has suddenly widened.

"Finally, I'm starting to look like an elite monster."

Bai Fu excitedly stared at the enhancement potion in her pocket. If she could successfully digest this potion and be thrown into the newbie village, the pressure she would exert would likely be greater than Yulia's clone.

However, how could she digest the enhancement potion?

Looking at the potion's description, which stated "10% chance to cause target mutation," Bai Fu's head began to ache.

She decided to wait. She didn't dare to gamble right now.

"An Ya."

Bai Fu called out An Ya, who had been hiding in the basement.

Having stayed in the basement for almost half a day, An Ya was already sweating profusely from anxiety. Seeing Bai Fu return safe and sound, she rushed forward.

"Boss, I almost couldn't resist coming out to look for you."

Bai Fu smiled and pulled her to the large chest: "Open it and see."

An Ya suspiciously opened the chest. She had a premonition that the chest might contain something good, but upon seeing the pile of Credit Coins stacked higher than her, she was so shocked she lost her voice.

"Boss, this..."

An Ya looked left and right, bewildered and at a loss.

Bai Fu said, "It's all real money. Alright, move this money to the basement."

An Ya quickly complied. As she moved the money, she giggled foolishly. Now, she wouldn't have to go hungry anymore!

Bai Fu watched An Ya's joyful retreating figure with a smile.

After working for so long, she had finally escaped the dire situation she faced when she first transmigrated. In truth, she was far from safe, as she had just provoked The Truth Society. But things were different now; she possessed a certain degree of self-preservation ability, and she was in Gene Primordial's territory. No matter how arrogant The Truth Society was, they wouldn't dare to act recklessly in broad daylight.

After moving the other items from the chest into the basement, Bai Fu gulped down two large cups of plain boiled water. Then, with nothing else to do, she browsed the community forums.

She just wanted to see the players' reactions. But as soon as she opened the community, the first thing she saw was a pinned official announcement.

[<<<Above the Stars Update Announcement]

[Dear Interstellar Adventurers:

<<<Above the Stars has been loved by a vast number of players since its official open beta. To ensure the stable operation of the servers and the quality of service, the game will be taken offline for maintenance in 1 hour. The maintenance is expected to last for 4 hours. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to our adventurers.

[Update Announcement]

I. Server expansion to allow more players to join the adventure. II. [Guild] function enabled. All adventurers are welcome to create their own guilds. III. ...

After the maintenance, <<<Above the Stars will release a brand new promotional video. Please stay tuned.]

The announcement listed many items, most of which were unrelated to game content, mainly focusing on upgrade experiences for game peripherals.

Bai Fu's only concern was the server maintenance itself.

The game would be offline for 4 hours. Considering the difference in time flow between the game and the real world, players would actually be offline for much longer than 4 hours. As for the exact duration, it would depend on how the official arranged it.

"If the players don't log back in for two or three days, how am I supposed to stage a triumphant return and ignite their suppressed emotions?"

Bai Fu was speechless.

The players who were looking for her were also speechless when they saw the update announcement.

[WTF, I just want to know if Bai Fu is dead right now, and you give me this update?]

[Bastards, don't be a cliffhanger dog right now! Even if you have to update, at least tell me Fufu's ending first.]

[Is the official trying to get cursed?]

[What if, I'm just saying, what if the official suddenly took the servers offline for maintenance not to expand server capacity, but to use this opportunity to fix the "bug" of Bai Fu being dead?]

[It actually seems possible.]

No matter how anxious the players were, how much they cursed, or how unwilling they were to leave, when the scheduled time arrived, they were all forcibly logged out.

"Dead, all dead. For Bai Fu, for Abandoned Cooling Plant, they..."

At dawn, beside the ruins piled high with deformed worm corpses, Xia Shi sighed with a heavy heart.

Even though Bai Fu had successfully lured the Insect Tide away with bait, a fierce battle was inevitably fought to eliminate the deformed worms that had already reached Abandoned Cooling Plant.

Although all the deformed worms were eliminated, the Outsiders also fell one by one. By the end of the battle, out of a hundred Outsiders, at most only four or five could still stand.

What a tragic battle!

Even Xia Shi, who was accustomed to blood and fire, almost threw up at the sight of such devastation.

She wanted to go forward and comfort the surviving Outsiders, but she couldn't think of anything to say. In the end, she could only watch as the surviving Outsiders stumbled away, disappearing from her sight.

"Try to look on the bright side, don't get depressed," Yago advised.

Xia Shi nodded, "I understand, I'll be fine in a few days... Wait, Yago, look over there!"

Over there?

Yago followed her gaze.

He saw a lone figure emerging from the morning mist.

One step, two steps, three steps... Finally, the figure passed through the mist and came closer.

This time, Yago saw clearly.

"Bai Fu!"

Bai Fu had returned alive!

Yago's eyes widened. In that moment, a thousand joys surged in his heart. On this chilly morning, something good had finally happened.

If the Outsiders who died in battle knew Bai Fu was still alive, they would rest easier in the underworld, wouldn't they?

After reuniting with Yago and Xia Shi, Bai Fu shared her newly concocted story.

The story was simple: after getting off the vehicle, she was attacked by a large number of amoebas. To better contain them, she led them far away. She thought she was doomed, but unexpectedly, the amoebas turned back and left as they chased. At that moment, she realized her plan had succeeded. She wanted to go back to find Patrick Star, but she got lost in the dark. She wandered around all night and miraculously returned to the Abandoned Cooling Plant.

"So, the situation is that I survived, but they're dead?" Bai Fu's expression was blank.

Yago and Xia Shi comforted her, "Yes."

"Sigh."

Bai Fu sighed. She sat quietly by the ruins, as if waiting for someone. She sat for a long time, until the afternoon, before standing up as if resigned. She walked to a player's corpse that hadn't yet disappeared and gently kicked it with her shoe.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't die? What is this then? Hurry up and revive, show me your revival!"

Xia Shi suspected that Bai Fu's mind had been affected by the shock. " Bai Fu, the dead cannot return to life, you..."

Bai Fu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she held back the words she was about to speak.

"They saved the Abandoned Cooling Plant, I want to build a monument for them."

Yago and Xia Shi were moved. "I'll help you."

"Thank you."

Looking at the two working with enthusiasm, Bai Fu couldn't help but chuckle.

Building a monument for the players, this was her plan to deal with players suddenly going offline!

Anyway, as long as the players knew she was alive, the emotions they had suppressed would definitely erupt. Since that was the case, why should she bother with appearing in front of them?

In fact, Bai Fu was quite grateful for this move by the developers. Because this way, the players' emotions were suppressed even further. Not only that, but this move by the developers also maximized the hype around the question of "whether Bai Fu was alive or dead." Many onlookers who didn't care about her life or death before were now attracted and started playing a guessing game in the community.

When the game reopens, when the players log in and see the monument, what will they think?

Bai Fu was very much looking forward to it.

Bring it on quickly, she couldn't wait!

PS+: Thanks to dudududu for the reward, please continue reading.