The Fourth Calamity Has Entered the City!

Bai Fu's marksmanship was terrible. Even though she had been practicing extra, it still wasn't much to look at in actual combat.

Considering the precarious situation she was currently facing, she had already decided to use her remaining free class slot to learn a Gunner class.

She didn't need to level that class very high; earning a few attribute points and unlocking a few skills to increase shooting accuracy would be enough, so as not to drag down the leveling speed of her primary class.

The class system in Above the Stars did not limit the total number of classes a Player could learn, but in the initial stage, it only provided three free class slots. Once all three slots were filled, one would have to spend a certain amount of Experience to unlock new slots before learning a new class.

The cost to unlock the first new class slot wasn't expensive—only 10,000 Experience. Therefore, Bai Fu wasn't worried about being unable to learn a better class in the future if she encountered one.

Ten thousand Experience was nothing.

For her right now, she could save up that much just by taking out three Elite Assassin-level elite monsters. If it were an opponent on the level of the person she had just been bickering with over the walkie-talkie, one would probably be enough.

That person's strength wasn't necessarily greater than the three assassins she had just killed, but the monster-killing Experience rewarded by the game wasn't calculated solely based on the monster's strength. It was a figure derived from a comprehensive calculation across multiple dimensions, including the monster's strength, level, template, and identity.

Take the mysterious leader of The Truth Society as an example: even if his actual strength was only equivalent to one An Ya, the Experience reward a Player would get for killing him would be far greater than the sum of ten thousand An Yas.

Bai Fu was looking forward to seeing what kind of reward the person she had just berated would bring her.

Unfortunately, she crouched on the fourth floor for over ten minutes until her legs went numb, but she still couldn't wait for that person to show up.

She was a bit speechless.

After being mocked on the public channel and hearing his own subordinates get wiped out, he had only thrown out one harsh threat before turning into a coward.

Have you learned the art of strategic patience too?

Bai Fu suspected that guy had spent his past life on the dog-head forums. Didn't the harsh words he spat over the walkie-talkie basically mean—

"Do you know who you've provoked? You've provoked the noble Desert Death God! Go ahead and be arrogant now; the day I finish stacking my Q and emerge from the jungle will be the day you regret this!"

Her assessment was that the idea was beautiful, but she wasn't some squishy support; she was a full-tank build Desert Emperor.

This was the story of the Tsar (Bai Fu) and her N sand soldiers (Players), who could be equipped and leveled individually, dealing with the Desert Death God.

Bai Fu put away her Grenade Launcher. In the process, shouts began to drift up from downstairs.

The Fourth Division had arrived.

Leading the charge was Xia Shi. Her face was full of anxiety, especially after seeing the corpses of the Elite Assassins, which made her even more worried about the safety of Bai Fu and An Ya.

"Why did it have to be now!"

She made a move to rush into the stairwell, but an agent wearing a Powered Exoskeleton reached out from behind and grabbed her arm.

"Have you forgotten what the Intelligence Bureau agent code teaches? The assassin might not have left yet. Rushing in blindly now is just suicide. Stay behind me and behave."

Although Xia Shi wanted to retort, her strength was far inferior to the Powered Exoskeleton, so she had no choice but to comply.

Bai Fu, An Ya, please, you must not die!

A group of over a dozen people examined the corpse of the Elite Assassin, their expressions grave as they made their way up the stairs. They took every step with extreme caution, fearing that a few assassins might suddenly leap out from the darkness. Yet, until they reached the vicinity of Xia Shi's residence, no accidents occurred.

The agent wearing power armor waved a hand behind him, signaling the others not to act rashly, and moved to enter first to scout the situation.

Once everyone signaled that they were ready, he took steady steps toward the doorway, but stopped after only two paces.

Footsteps!

In that instant, all the Fourth Division agents present held their breath, staring intently at the silhouette cast from inside the room.

Closer. The sound of footsteps grew closer and closer.

The agent in power armor raised his left hand, which was equipped with a Heavy Gatling Gun. The moment anyone inside showed their head, this heavy machine gun would undoubtedly turn them into a beehive!

"Relax, it's me."

At that moment, a woman's voice came from the room.

Xia Shi was the first to react: "It's Bai Fu's voice!"

As soon as the words left her lips, Bai Fu walked out of the room holding a water glass. There wasn't a hint of fear on her face despite being pointed at by over a dozen guns.

"Your Fourth Division's way of welcoming guests is truly unique."

Looking at the smiling Bai Fu, the agents of the Fourth Division exchanged bewildered glances.

They thought they were seeing things.

After receiving the news that Xia Shi's residence had been attacked, most of them believed that Bai Fu was doomed this time. They figured that even if they rushed over, they would only be able to collect her corpse.

But now, not only was Bai Fu alive, but one couldn't even find a single visible wound on her.

"The assassins didn't come for you?" the agent in power armor asked urgently.

Bai Fu took a sip of water: "They did."

"Where are they?"

"You already saw one on the way up, didn't you? There are two more lying near the Garbage Incinerator."

The group of agents couldn't be bothered with anything else and hurried back downstairs. When they saw the two corpses lying neatly in the corner, they were all shocked.

"I recognize this person. It's the Dark Web's B-Rank Assassin Hyena!"

"His expression... holy crap, what the hell is this?"

Hyena had been shot a total of four times, with one bullet striking his heart—that should have been the fatal wound. But no one was paying attention to that now; all eyes were fixed on his face—

That was a face twisted into an expression as if they had just witnessed Sadako crawling out of a television set!

"What on earth did he experience before he died?"

The agents present felt a chill run down their spines. They instinctively looked up toward Bai Fu, who was standing by the window at the end of the third-floor corridor.

Everything that had happened was the work of this woman who had come from the Abandoned Cooling Plant. At this moment, no one dared to underestimate Bai Fu any longer.

A few minutes later, at Xia Shi's residence, everyone gathered around the coffee table.

"Ms. Bai Fu." The agent who had stepped out of his power armor looked solemn. "I am Xu Hong, captain of the First Squad of the Fourth Division's action team, and I am in charge of this operation. I need to confirm one question with you."

"You want to ask how I killed them, right? In reality, I am a Spiritual Energy Priest."

Bai Fu revealed the intelligence that could currently be made public.

Even if she didn't say it, the Fourth Division and The Truth Society would suspect she possessed special abilities. Since that was the case, it was better to selectively disclose a portion to cover up her greatest reliance—

A Constitution so high it was like giving the middle finger to mock her opponents!

Sure enough, upon learning she was a Spiritual Energy Priest, the agents of the Fourth Division all wore expressions of sudden realization.

"That explains it."

A Spiritual Energy Priest—a noble mage class. Although they leaned more toward support, relying on the information gap to catch those assassins off guard and wipe them out entirely still had a high success rate.

Xu Hong nodded slightly. "Regarding tonight's assassination attempt, I must first apologize to you. The Fourth Division promised to protect you, yet still..."

"Captain, don't you think this whole thing is strange?" Xia Shi suddenly jumped in, interrupting Xu Hong.

Xu Hong frowned. "Strange?"

Xia Shi said, "The timing of these assassins showing up happened exactly after I received the notice to attend the combat meeting, and it also happened to coincide with the shift change for the guards here. I don't believe in such coincidences. There must be a mole in the Fourth Division!"

"Xia Shi!" Xu Hong snapped. "The emergency combat meeting was called by the Intelligence Bureau headquarters. Are you implying there's a mole at headquarters?"

Xia Shi was not intimidated by Xu Hong's tone in the slightest. "Maybe there is. Who can guarantee that headquarters is clean? This matter must be investigated thoroughly. Bai Fu is a hero fighting against The Truth Society; we cannot sit by and watch a hero be harmed by them. Otherwise, who would dare to stand up against The Truth Society in the future?"

Xu Hong stared at the aggressive Xia Shi for a long time before finally squeezing out, "Don't go around saying things that are detrimental to unity."

He turned his head and looked at Bai Fu apologetically. "Please excuse the scene."

Bai Fu remained calm. "It's nothing."

Xu Hong stood up. "I have nothing else to ask for the time being. I need to take the items recovered from those assassins back for testing as soon as possible. Rest assured, they will be guarding this place for the next two days. Unless The Truth Society has completely lost its mind, they definitely won't dare to act recklessly for a while."

Bai Fu nodded.

After seeing Xu Hong off, only she, An Ya, and Xia Shi, who was curled up on the sofa, remained in the room.

After a moment of silence, she asked, "Do you have a deep grudge against The Truth Society?"

Xia Shi looked up, her brown eyes filled with confusion. "Why do you ask?"

Bai Fu said, "Because your attitude toward The Truth Society is more intense than any of theirs."

Xia Shi explained, "Oh, that. Actually, Captain Xu and the others have an even deeper feud with The Truth Society. Captain Xu, he... well, never mind that. I just genuinely hate The Truth Society. They kill, they burn, they commit every evil imaginable."

Is this the typical kindness of a protagonist?

"Actually, I hate the Human Alliance too, but at least the people in the Human Alliance have reasons for killing, even if their reasons are extreme. The Truth Society is different. You can't understand them at all. They don't follow any rules when they do things. Before an operation begins, no one knows what they are actually going to do. I hate that kind of disorder. The reason I joined the Fourth Division is specifically to wipe out The Truth Society."

I see. Lawful Good alignment, then.

Bai Fu smiled.

If Xia Shi knew her true identity, she certainly wouldn't like her.

After all, she was likely the most lawless NPC in this world; her very existence was a form of disorder.

As Xia Shi was denouncing the atrocities of The Truth Society, the Personal Terminal on her wrist, which looked similar to a Pip-Boy, suddenly chimed.

"Hold on a moment."

She stood up and walked to the balcony. A few minutes later, she returned with an extremely grave expression.

"Bad news. The Director just contacted me. The Truth Society has modified the assassination bounty on you."

This didn't surprise Bai Fu at all. "What did they change it to?"

Xia Shi said, "An A-rank bounty. The reward is a staggering 500,000! They also declared that they will finish you off within half a month."

Good grief, I'm worth 500,000 now?

Bai Fu asked, "What is the highest bounty on the Dark Web?"

"25 million Credit Coins. That's for the leader of The Truth Society himself."

Fifty times as much?

Bai Fu was slightly taken aback, but she quickly calmed her mind.

500,000 was not her limit. She was a woman destined to become the ruler of the Wasteland. If everything went smoothly, sooner or later, she would top the Dark Web bounty list!

As she mused, a game notification rang in her ears.

[You have triggered the special quest: Shadow of Truth]

She tapped to open the details page.

[Mission Introduction: The Truth Society has issued a new bounty on you. They seem to have been enraged by your actions and are determined to deploy higher-tier forces to kill you, declaring to the world that the majesty of The Truth Society cannot be violated. However, The Truth Society has underestimated the vitality of weeds. Wildfires cannot burn them all away; can a storm truly uproot them?]

[Mission Objective: Withstand the upcoming new wave of assassination attempts from The Truth Society]

[Rewards: 30,000 Experience, 15 Zu Yuan Star Reputation, Title [Shadow of Truth]]

[Note: Depending on your performance, you will have the opportunity to further unlock new missions]

[This mission is mandatory]

The mission rewards were quite tempting, offering a full 30,000 Experience and a title. The Wildfire title she had obtained previously provided a 30-point health bonus, and this Shadow of Truth looked much higher-tier than Wildfire; the bonuses would surely be even greater.

Bai Fu almost wanted to shout for the storm to come even harder.

Xia Shi said, "You are in great danger right now. For the sake of safety, I suggest you find a place to hide, or simply cooperate with our Gene Primordial Intelligence Bureau. Although there is a mole in the Intelligence Bureau, it remains the safest place outside of the military."

"I will consider it seriously."

Bai Fu felt that, regarding intelligence, it was better for her to rely on the Fourth Division for now.

For the next two days, the Fourth Division was in constant meetings.

They spent their mornings discussing the assassination attempt on Bai Fu and their afternoons discussing news transmitted from the Intelligence Bureau headquarters.

Not long ago, agents from the Third Division of the Intelligence Bureau intercepted a secret report from The Truth Society and determined the location of one of their bases from it. The Gene Primordial had already decided to launch a surprise attack on this base to flatten it directly.

With the people of the Fourth Division busy, Bai Fu became idle.

Aside from unlocking the [Gunner] class, she spent all her time monitoring the movements of the Players.

The "success" of Digging Princess had stimulated too many Players. Now, the Players at the Abandoned Cooling Plant were all finding ways to save up money for train tickets.

Three days after Digging Princess met Bai Fu, another train departed from the Abandoned Cooling Plant, heading straight for Lynn.

The people sitting on this train were almost all Players. There was Patrick Star, Black Tiger Afu, Calamity Dragon, and Convert to My Fu, who had good relationships with Digging Princess and received the notification immediately; there were also Sword Aura Piercing Sky and others from the Iron Rain Guild who had pooled their resources to buy tickets.

As the Abandoned Cooling Plant receded continuously outside the train window, Convert to My Fu clenched her fists in excitement.

"Lynn, we're coming!"

Seeing the posts they made, Bai Fu also grew excited.

My sand soldiers have arrived!

With Players, she was finally in her true, complete form!

So you want to assassinate me?

I will let you see what true terror is!

PS: Thanks to Sailor Moon for the tip.