Bai Fu rubbed her temples—she had almost figured out the situation.
At this point, it was highly likely that her appointment as the acting supervisor has made her a thorn in someone's or some faction's side within the Wildfire Gang.
Then, that person or faction sought out players, aiming to have her taken out through their hands.
From a normal perspective, this was a pretty good deal.
How to find a reliable assassin?
That was the question.
If one were unlucky and found a clutz like a "Five-Star Assassin" who mistargeted, or those who subcontracted the assassination task layer by layer— not only would the assassination attempt fail, but one might also end up exposing oneself.
But with players, these troubles didn't exist.
You could say players weren't familiar with assassination, but you couldn't question the determination of players who accepted the task.
Moreover, players made for excellent scapegoats.
Given the current relationship between the players and the Wildfire Gang, unless the players walked around broadcasting with megaphones, nobody would suspect that the mastermind actually came from the Wildfire Gang.
"Too bad your target is me!"
Bai Fu laughed.
Above the Stars, no one understood players better than she did.
In the Abandoned Cooling Factory, no one was more popular among players than she was.
All she needed to do was show her face, do nothing else, and she could easily defuse this move by her enemies.
But Bai Fu didn't plan to resolve the crisis that simply.
These past couple of days she'd made sudden appearances to rescue Digging Girl from Local Rascals blocking the way, and in front of the players, she showed great concern for their safety—it had taken her quite some effort to potentially capture the hearts of a group of players.
Now that players had come to her, why would she let them go so easily?
Bai Fu, activate!
…
Using the faint moonlight above their heads, Patrick and the others moved forward slowly.
It was now seven twenty in the evening, and they had spent half an hour, avoiding one NPC after another, finally arriving near the task location.
Patrick took a deep breath, turned back to look at Digging Girl and others closely following him.
"Everyone do one final check to see if there's any problem with those traps and props we prepared," he instructed over the team channel.
Seconds later, Digging Girl was the first to reply with an 'All good,' followed by a series of +1s.
Very good.
Patrick repeated the tactics they had predetermined over the channel again.
"Are there any questions? If not, let's start splitting up and be careful. We've come all this way; let's not expose ourselves by being careless and give our target any chance to prepare."
"Don't worry, Patrick."
"I'm a master of stealth games after all,"
Patrick nodded with a smile.
To ensure the task's success, this time they had each prepared weapons like daggers, iron rods, and bows and arrows, and they had also learned advanced techniques from Bai Fu, preparing a bunch of lime, rusty nails, chili powder, trip rope, net, and lubricant.
Well-prepared and stealing a breath, he was at least 80% confident that they could take down this task's target at once!
After waiting quietly for over a minute, everyone had successfully reached their designated positions.
The evening breeze rolled debris down the street, mixing with the cold air, casting a somber vibe.
Under the dim light, Patrick looked around.
Everyone held their breath, all filled with excitement.
That was 3500 experience points.
For the experience, for leveling up, to get closer to Bai Fu, to dig deeper into the story hidden behind Bai Fu—damn it!
Patrick slowly raised his right hand.
When his right hand fell, that would be the official start of the action.
Five, four…
Patrick silently counted down in his mind.
As he reached two, something completely unforeseen occurred.
"How long do you plan to hide?"
In the silent night, a slightly dull voice suddenly pierced through the walls.
Shit!
That yell had the same effect as encountering a jump scare in a horror game.
Several players were instantly scared stiff, their brains going blank as they started looking around in disarray.
The remaining players started wailing in the team channel.
"It's over, it's over, she spotted us—how can we launch a surprise attack now?"
"Shit, how did she detect us? We haven't made any sound along the way. Could she possess some kind of Sensing Energy Ability?"
"Is it already on?"
"Patrick, Patrick, are we still going to fight?"
"Why does that voice sound so familiar?"
Patrick was startled too.
But he was used to seeing big scenes in other games, so he quickly calmed down.
The more critical the moment, the less you can panic.
If the opponent is strong, the moment they detected them, they wouldn't have been able to escape. Rather than running away, it would be better to turn back and fight.
If the opponent is weak, then there's even less to worry about—just go for it.
To sum it up, one word—
Fight!
"Stick to the plan; Afu and I will take the lead, draw their attention."
"That's right, who cares? Hit them first and talk later!"
As a War Fanatic, Afu had been holding back, and upon hearing Patrick's words, he couldn't pretend any longer. He grabbed his newly bought iron club and like a wild bull, charged through the slightly ajar door and burst into the house.
Seeing him go in, Patrick quickly followed.
"Ah—"
Black Tiger Afu lifted his iron club above his head, and with a leaping chop, he smashed it down ferociously at the person inside the house.
The blow was fierce and fast; the person inside had only enough time to lift their left arm.
Bang!
The iron club struck solidly.
Patrick felt joy in his heart—a great opportunity.
He slid out from behind Afu's massive body and, dagger in hand, aimed directly at the target's left rib.
But in that instant, he clearly saw the face of their target—wasn't this Bai Fu?
"Stop, stop, everyone stop!"
Patrick forcefully twisted his dagger aside.
He managed to dodge, but the players who charged in through the window and the door behind him could not avoid it in time.
"Patrick, I'll help you."
Player Fufu nocked an arrow to her bow.
Whoosh.
An arrow shot straight at the back of the neck.
Meanwhile, Digging Girl was howling as she swung her sword down.
Patrick couldn't call out a second time, nor could he intercept; he could only watch helplessly as his body lost balance.
Time seemed to slow down immensely in that moment.
He saw Bai Fu turn around, saw Bai Fu swipe her right hand, deflecting the incoming arrow, saw Bai Fu stretch out her left hand, grab Digging Girl's descending sword blade, and then forcefully twist it to snatch the sword away.
"Fufu?"
Digging Girl stood frozen in place.
The next second, Bai Fu grabbed her throat and smashed her against the wall. With a brutal force, she lifted Digging Girl mid-air.
Throughout this, no damage points appeared above Bai Fu's head, nor did any injuries show on her body.
Wasn't she hurt?
Patrick let out a sigh of relief, but his heart immediately tightened again.
"Why is it you guys?"
Bai Fu's gaze was incredibly cold, and so was her voice.
Digging Girl, struggling, looked down; those cold eyes were clearly filled with disbelief.
Indeed, at that moment, including Digging Girl, every player felt disbelief.
Why was it Bai Fu? Why had their assassination target turned out to be Bai Fu?
This way, hadn't they betrayed Bai Fu's trust, returning kindness with ingratitude?
It's all over, all ruined!
They had finally brought Bai Fu's Affinity up to 82, and now, it was probably going to drop to -82.
The first player who took the task, Player Fufu, was nearly on the edge of exploding.
Was there anything more regrettable, painful, and despairing than hurting the person you cherished?
He almost wished he could stab himself right then.