Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 100: Preparations

A night of deep, restful sleep.

The next morning, around five o'clock, as the other family members stirred and rose, Li Wei emerged from his own deep slumber. He felt magnificent — as if he could take flight.

But he couldn't leave today. He could skip making another spear, but he needed at least ten arrows.

After washing up, Li Wei headed to the warehouse. In a corner, he found a jar of prepared fish glue — not his own, but some that Three-Star Fisherman Braised Egg Pete had rendered over the past seven days.

After catching a one-star quality fish, Pete didn't just clean it. He also dried the fillets himself, preserved the organs for sun-drying, and naturally didn't waste the swim bladders — rendering them straight into fish glue before donating everything to the family in one batch.

This sequence of processing yielded slightly more Contribution than simply donating a whole fish.

Truly impressive — because small advantages accumulated.

Every veteran player, without exception, was a master of grinding Contribution.

The fish glue was now family property and not one-star quality, so Li Wei could simply take and use it.

Of course, he wouldn't actually do that. In principle, fish glue had priority allocation to the family's lead hunter.If he used the glue to make arrows, Old John could theoretically claim them — they'd be family property, and the highest-priority user got first dibs.

That was the baseline rule.

So Li Wei did the sensible thing: he logged the materials in his mission supply manifest, consuming a portion of his gold coin allocation. That way, they became his personal property.

A small perk built into this mission.

Other family members couldn't buy these even if they had gold coins — it wouldn't make narrative sense. You're family. If you need it, just take it. Paying for it? What kind of family does that?

Besides, for this salt-purchasing mission, his fundamental role was a merchant. A merchant might need a bow and arrows, but the priority was obviously lower than a hunter's.

Li Wei spent five silver coins from his allocation to claim the half-jar of fish glue.

Then another five silver coins for a batch of prepared pheasant feather fletching — already boiled and trimmed.

So now: the arrow shafts were his. The glue was his. The feathers were his. No issues.

Everything operated within the boundaries of the rules — never tripping the red line, yet still securing advantages. He was developing quite the veteran player's touch.

By morning's end, Li Wei had successfully produced ten high-quality hardwood arrows. The only regret was: no iron arrowheads.

The blacksmith shop hadn't fired up yet, and all existing stock had been claimed by Three-Star Hunter Old John.

Fortunately, arrows made from ash wood possessed considerable hardness, especially after surface carbonization. Combined with their straight shafts and high precision, paired with the two-star composite bow and Two-Star Hunter Card — within fifty meters, any non-high-speed, unarmored target could be killed with ease.

He was only going to buy salt, after all. Not charging into battle. This should be... enough?

In the afternoon, since some glue and fletching remained, Li Wei whittled five more ash shafts and produced five additional hardwood arrows.

Finally, he gave the one-star wooden spear its initial moisture-proofing and mildew treatment — techniques from the experience packs the previous Fila and Penny had sold him. Naturally not as good as a professional artisan's work, but serviceable.

With that, his weapons were essentially ready.

"Just one last thing — the backpack."

Last autumn, the supplies they'd been forced to abandon at the bandit hideout still made his heart ache to think about.

That experience had driven home a crystal-clear lesson: for long-distance wilderness marches, a proper backpack was critical.

Unfortunately, this wasn't something he could ask others to help with.

He'd have to make it himself. At least the sewing tools were available — the set that Margaret had personally crafted two months ago, even better than Mixi's old kit. Now it was all family property.

This version of Penny had been using it for the past few days. Li Wei hadn't dared show any interest.

Only today, when she seemed to have gone out gathering, did he finally get his chance.

After all, she was a Three-Star Tailor — higher priority.

As for how to sew a proper backpack, Li Wei had prepared thoroughly. His old leather armor served as the main material, with scraps from his wolf-fur robe filling in the edges. He'd even secretly sketched pattern diagrams in charcoal — complete with three-view drawings.

Desperation, it turned out, wouldn't make you bite — but it did unlock remarkable potential.

Sewing tools in hand, Li Wei set straight to work. First disassembling the armor, then the robe.

He tackled the large panels first, then trimmed the edges. Each piece was numbered and documented. Then he punched holes along the leather margins, threaded the cord, and cinched it tight. Aesthetics were irrelevant — durability was everything.

One critical requirement: it had to be a double-shoulder backpack, with an additional waist strap for stability. He might never have gnawed on a pig's trotter, but he'd at least seen a pig run.

After sewing the main body, he flipped it inside-out so the thread ends faced inward — preventing external abrasion and reducing wear.

Lastly, he stitched several binding straps along both sides — primarily for lashing wooden spears and expanding usable space.

He worked in a single marathon push until sunset. Just as Li Wei tied off the final strap and let out a breath of relief, he looked up to find this version of Penny standing right in front of him. Her expression was peculiar — tinged with amusement.

"Sis, when did you get back?"

Li Wei smiled sheepishly. On his honor, this was the first sentence he'd actually spoken all month.

Penny didn't answer. She seemed to be contemplating something while studying him. After a few seconds, she stepped forward without a word, picked up the backpack — which, he had to admit, looked about as attractive as a braised egg — and couldn't help but laugh.

Then her hands flew into action. She rapidly dismantled the backpack Li Wei had painstakingly assembled and began reconstructing it from scratch.

Li Wei couldn't fathom what she was up to, but one thing was certain — he was about to get squeezed for something.

Definitely.

So he resigned himself, planted himself on the spot, and watched Penny work with fluid, practiced grace — that seamless mastery was no different from how he whittled spears.

Every profession truly carried its own advantages.

This was worth studying and learning from. When three walk together, there is always a teacher among them!

In barely an hour, as Fila finished preparing dinner, Penny had completely remade the braised-egg backpack — transforming it as though turning dross into gold.

She handed the pack over. At the same instant, a trade request appeared.

'Of course. Right on cue. Nothing new under the sun.'

[Family member Penny has corrected several issues with your backpack. She is charging you 10 experience points (any type) as a crafting fee. Do you accept this trade?]

'Huh?'

'Wait — what?!'

'Is this... a saint?'

Li Wei looked up in astonishment, but Penny had already turned and walked away — as if this were hardly worth mentioning.

'She really is a saint!'

But Li Wei wasn't naive enough to actually believe it. Fine — he'd mark down the favor owed.

He tried on the backpack. Well — it fit like it had been custom-tailored.

Li Wei had no doubt that with this pack, he could carry twenty-five kilograms of supplies while sprinting dozens of miles through mountain wilderness.

A Three-Star Tailor's reputation was well-earned!

The incident caused no ripples. The family ate dinner in silence, then retired. Not a single extra glance was exchanged.

Li Wei began preparing for tomorrow's departure.

This was already day seven. Twenty-three days remained until month's end. He had to bring back at least five kilograms of salt by then — or elimination was guaranteed.

Because the Plot Kill rules had changed.

In the worst case, he'd need 21 Contribution Points to avoid being voted out.

Still, Li Wei's mindset was solid, and he prepared with care.

His weapons loadout: one iron spear, one refined steel dagger, one two-star composite bow, two spare bowstrings, one one-star wooden spear, one unwhittled ash pole (backup spear material), and fifteen hardwood arrows.

He wore ox-hide boots and the two-star leather armor — both purchased with his own funds, which had cost him eight gold coins in total across various transactions.

Thankfully, this remained within the mission's framework.

Beyond weapons, the bulk of what he carried was food: some dried wild greens, 2.5 kilograms of dried meat, 2.5 kilograms of dried fish, and ten white bread loaves. Food didn't need to be purchased — the first two he grabbed directly from the warehouse at the task-mandated maximum. As for the bread, Fila was baking it for him tonight.

These provisions would sustain him for two to three days. According to the mission, that was enough to reach Kakh City, where food would presumably become available. But obviously, that was theoretical — so Li Wei would also need to hunt along the way.

Then there were tools.

One small iron pot. One water bladder. One steel-headed shovel with its handle cut in half for portability.

A small bag of charcoal — roughly one kilogram — usable for water purification and for starting fires during rainy weather.

And lastly, a small tent and a compact wolf-fur blanket.

All of these — except the charcoal — were logged against his purchase allocation. They consumed his final two gold coins exactly, at the task's maximum permitted level. Of course, he also had to bring back five kilograms of salt for the family.

In theory, these items didn't even need to be purchased — they were family-owned, free to use. But thinking long-term, he might need to camp in the wilderness, and having his own gear meant no competing with others for access. Far less hassle.

Besides — with a backpack, he could grab everything and run. Very convenient for fleeing!

Li Wei loaded the supplies into the pack, or strapped them on top, or hung them from his belt. He gauged the total weight: approaching twenty-five kilograms. With the leather armor he was wearing, it might actually be closer to twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

And that didn't even include the bread.

But it didn't feel excessively heavy.

Mostly thanks to the backpack — it was doing him an enormous favor.

Combined with 15 Strength points — far exceeding what a healthy adult man could handle.

Fully geared up, he stepped out of the camp into the night and jogged several laps around the perimeter. He tested for any awkward shifting, making adjustments on the fly until nothing felt out of place.