For the leader of the Wildfire Gang, Big Brother Dabiao's death was as inconsequential as finding a dead rat on the roadside.
But Martin's death was different, Martin was a supervisor personally promoted by him.
Martin was murdered, which was clearly someone rubbing his face in the dirt!
He immediately summoned several trusted followers, his anger causing spittle to fly as he shouted, "Search, I'm giving you one day to search, find out who was so bold as to lay hands on our Wildfire Gang's supervisor at the Abandoned Cooling Factory!"
"Yes, yes, yes."
The trusted followers dared not provoke him at this moment, but could only agree to proceed for now.
They actually held no hope of finding the real culprit.
Before coming, they had heard that there was no one near Martin at the time of his death, and that no conspicuous evidence was left at the scene of his death.
Investigate?
Investigate a darn thing.
Their shabby place was unlike those super large communities with advanced equipment that could track down a murderer through blood and fingerprint analysis.
But it didn't matter if they couldn't find anything, they had already figured out a solution.
Just say it was done by outsiders!
After all, those outsiders were already at daggers drawn with the Wildfire Gang, throwing a few more accusations their way wouldn't change the situation.
Actually, these trusted followers quite liked those outsiders.
With outsiders around, the investigation would be simple, with outsiders coming in, old debts could be settled.
They only wished the outsiders had come earlier, and hoped the outsiders could hold on a little longer under the Wildfire Gang's strike.
But this was asking a little too much of those outsiders.
If it wasn't for the boss going all out to entertain a distinguished guest from afar lately, those outsiders would probably have been chased by the enraged boss to the outside Pollution Zone of the community long ago.
"Boss, with Martin dead, what's to be done about the team he managed?" inquired one of the trusted followers cautiously.
He wanted to arrange for his own people to take over, but the outcome was somewhat unexpected.
The leader of the Wildfire Gang pulled out Martin's profile from the table, glanced at it, and pointed casually.
"Her. She did the most work in Martin's group, and I heard she was the first to discover Big Brother Dabiao's murder. Let her temporarily manage Martin's group."
The trusted follower leaned in to see, the name written there was Bai Fu.
He quickly bowed his head to hide the dissatisfaction in his eyes.
"I'll make arrangements right away."
Temporary management, temporary management, today she can manage, tomorrow she dies, naturally someone else can take over.
But such things shouldn't be done by him or his subordinates. It's best to find those completely unknown to them.
Like outsiders.
...
Things progressed more smoothly than expected.
Before the investigation results were even out, Bai Fu received her appointment to take over Martin's position.
She had originally thought there would be some twists and turns involved.
An Ya was overjoyed: "Boss, does this mean we can make money lying down like Martin did?"
"That's possible, but his methods were too crude. Besides, we have other things to do before that."
"Other things?"
Bai Fu looked at the departing messenger's back.
She had habitually used her Spiritual Vision to check that person's attribute earlier, the attribute and such were common, but the number for his Affinity was very conspicuous.
[-78]
Bai Fu almost thought she had killed his mother, otherwise why would he hate her so much?
After thinking for a long time, she still could not remember where she had seen this person. Since it wasn't due to direct contact that angered the other party, it must have been a conflict of interest.
Two days ago, she was just a pauper, unable to compete with anyone for benefits. Thus, there was only one truth—
This guy also wanted to be a supervisor!
Old Man, harboring ill intentions, aren't you.
He didn't know how the guy would make his move, but she, Bai Fu, was by no means a pushover.
Bai Fu shifted her gaze and unlocked new camp features that became available after being appointed as the acting manager.
Within Stars Above, the camp system was highly advanced, and players could unlock many new features upon obtaining a camp position.
For Bai Fu, the most crucial features were not just the advanced camp clearance, but also the managerial functions of a supervisor.
As a supervisor, she had the ability to allocate certain resources and appoint a Quartermaster, a title that would be recognized by the camp.
In the game, Quartermasters typically could issue Military Supply Tasks to players.
Bai Fu planned to appoint An Ya as her Quartermaster and see if this could allow An Ya the ability to issue Military Supply Tasks.
Initially, she wanted to set herself as the Quartermaster, but, unfortunately, the game signaled an operation failure; she couldn't appoint herself, who had a player panel, as Quartermaster.
"Done, I'll take An Ya later to test it with a few players."
If the test was successful, she would essentially be in possession of a toned-down, loli version of Celia!
...
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
The brilliant sun hung high in the sky.
[Devotee Fu] crouched by the roadside, the warm breeze stirring restlessness in his heart.
This was his second day after he had to cancel his account and restart due to the onslaught from Bai Fu's supporters in the community.
After restarting, he was extremely lucky to end up in the Abandoned Cooling Factory, but, despite searching for nearly a day, he hadn't found any trace of Bai Fu.
Having no other choice, he had to look for a Task to do.
In order to find a high-reward Task to level up quickly, he even risked venturing into the territory of the Wildfire Gang.
He didn't want to be left far behind in levels by other players, as he would be of no help to Bai Fu if she needed something from players next time.
"Ah, those people are too stingy; I messaged five or six of them in a row, and not a single one was willing to sell me the Credit Coins gifted by Fufu."
Devotee Fu vigorously rubbed his hair.
He stood up from the ground, and before he could even take a step, he saw an NPC with a large golden "!" above their head coming his way.
Here we go, a task!
Devotee Fu's eyes lit up as he immediately rushed over.
"Hello, is there something you need help with?"
The newcomer was startled, "Foreign... A foreigner?"
Devotee Fu nodded.
The newcomer squinted his eyes.
Normally, if he encountered a foreigner, he'd go straight for a seven-day unbreakable lock, choking the foreigner unconscious before hauling them off to claim the reward from the Wildfire Gang.
But today he was on assignment, and he couldn't afford to jeopardize his objectives for something trivial.
"I hear you foreigners will do anything for money. Help me kill someone."
"Who? Why should we kill him?"
"Don't ask so many questions, 1000 bucks, just say if you're up for it. If yes, I'll give you a 500 deposit upfront."
Of course, how could he not take the job?
Devotee Fu agreed to accept, "Tell me the details of the Task."
The newcomer gave him the assassination target's address, the times they were home, and where to meet after the Task was completed.
A game prompt appeared before him.
[You have triggered a Hidden Task [Slaughter Contract] (Team-up allowed)]
What he didn't expect was that the Experience reward for the Task was a whopping 3500 points!
With such a high reward, the difficulty of the Task was clearly going to be substantial. It was definitely impossible for him to complete it alone.
After sending the newcomer on his way, Devotee Fu immediately opened the Star Travel Society's Abandoned Cooling Factory district.
He couldn't do it without shaking up some people.
Moreover, this was the perfect opportunity to build a good relationship with Patrick and the others, which would allow him to approach Fufu openly.
Perfect!
[@PatrickPatrick, Patrick, are you free? I've received a Hidden Task with a very high reward]