Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 121: The Family's Three Musketeers

This was destined to be a silent, oppressive, and even somewhat surreal dinner.

Because Li Wei had already secured victory in advance; even if he didn't win this month, he would definitely win the next.

Especially since he couldn't be targeted by a Plot Kill or Impeachment this month, and this advantage would accumulate.

Trying to focus fire on him, a recently graduated elementary school student? What kind of pipe dream was that?

And because the whole family was gathered together, they didn't even have the chance to use a One-Star Conspiracy Card.

They couldn't just say, "Sorry, I need to take a call," or "Sorry, I'm going to the restroom." That didn't exist here.

Before this, everyone had already finished washing up and was sitting properly at the dining table.

At this moment, everyone's minds were probably in turmoil. Perhaps Fila, Old John, and Penny were regretting it. Had they known Li Wei was this formidable, forming an alliance together would have undoubtedly been the best choice. But then again, maybe not.

Who knew?

Meanwhile, the trio of Leon, Clyde, and Sophie were likely feeling somewhat anxious. Not snagging the title of Head of Household in the first month was clearly a disadvantageous start!Ten or so minutes later, the family finished dinner in silence, and the monthly summary began immediately after.

But unlike during the Rookie Mission, this time the Contribution of all family members would be displayed, and it was clearly much more advanced.

The bonfire in the fireplace suddenly leapt up, transforming into a spectacular screen of flames. The first figure to appear on it was Li Wei, as he was the legal heir of the family, theoretically the head of the family—well, the young master!

The screen rapidly flashed through many visual highlights of him earning Family Contribution Points this month.

These included him killing the giant crow, engaging in a life-and-death struggle with the Two-Star Mutated Blood Wolf, shooting wild dogs from a distance at night, purchasing Table Salt, and so on. Finally, all these images converged into a cluster of light.

Then, a number appeared—109 points.

Plain and simple, crystal clear, and completely honest!

After Li Wei's end-of-month settlement screen vanished, the second to appear was Fila—after all, she was the mother, and her status in the plot was second only to the heir, George.

In her settlement screen, cooking was the most prominent activity. However, gathering One-Star herbs, fishing, catching mice, and foraging for wild vegetables also added points. But all those only amounted to 45 points. Finally, adding her newly developed medicinal meat porridge brought the total to exactly 65 points.

It was already very impressive; she truly lived up to being a Senior Player.

The third to appear was Old John—he was a biological uncle, after all.

In his settlement screen, the majority consisted of hunting, gathering, logging, and night patrols. This month, he had hunted a total of two One-Star deer and one One-Star wild boar. The rest were all ordinary prey: pheasants, hares, snakes, mice, and the like. Additionally, there were some common herbs and wild vegetables.

Adding all of the above together, his total Contribution was 60 points.

Yes, Li Wei almost thought he had misread it.

In a month's time, Old John had only hunted three One-Star prey?

Was this the standard of a Three-Star Hunter?

No, the standard was fine, the problem was that it required a bit of luck.

Hunting wasn't like crops planted in an agrarian field. Old John was new here and needed to familiarize himself with the surrounding mountains and forests to determine the habitats of the beasts. Earning 60 Contribution points was actually already incredibly impressive.

Of course, having a ready-made Recurve Bow and Bodkin Arrows right from the start was also a factor; otherwise, just try starting from scratch.

In short, these Senior Players shouldn't be mythologized too much.

The fourth to be settled was Braised Egg Pete, who held the status of a retainer or guest.

His focus this month was fishing, and it was still remembered that it only took him three days to catch a One-Star large fish.

But after the settlement, he had actually only caught six One-Star large fish this month. The rest were all ordinary fish, bringing his total Contribution to 67 points.

This level was only marginally higher than Leon, the Two-Star Fisherman. In short, until fishing tools saw a leap in advancement, it still depended on luck, as well as the quantity and growth rate of fish and shrimp in the water area—after all, there was a saying about draining the pond to catch all the fish.

Anyway, Li Wei felt that if he was re-elected as Head of Household, he would need to impose a closed fishing season rule on Braised Egg Pete at the appropriate time.

The fifth to be settled was Penny, the eldest daughter.

She was a Three-Star Tailor. Her Contribution this month was mainly gathering furs, fabrics, and scattered scraps at home, then sewing them to make a set of summer clothes for each family member.

Next came the process of gathering and discovering. Through the screen, one could see that Penny's exploration range was incredibly vast, covering a radius of at least twenty-five kilometers centered around the Camp.

Because of this, she not only discovered wild castor, but also a certain number of herbs and wild cotton. Including sporadic hunting and rope-making, her Contribution for the month reached 54 points.

So far, this was the lowest score.

But as a Three-Star Tailor, discovering castor and cotton meant she could hand them over to a farmer to plant, improve, and selectively breed. This was also a stable path of development and an indispensable asset to the family.

The sixth to be settled was Leon, the second son of the family.

He appeared to be a Three-Star Stonemason. A part of his focus this month was continuing to quarry stone, and his speed and skill in doing so undoubtedly far exceeded Thomas, Margaret, and the previous version of Penny and Leon. The profession bonus was massive.

In addition, he also participated in the construction of the Arrow Tower, the firing of Firebricks, the burning of lime, the burning of charcoal, and so on this month. Of course, these tasks were done in collaboration with the other two Three-Star Artisans, Clyde and Sophie.

Therefore, his final settlement Contribution was 88 points.

Three-Star Artisans were simply that awesome.

He was just 12 points away from becoming a Family Elder.

Immediately following, the seventh to be settled was the Three-Star Blacksmith, Clyde. Like Sophie, he was considered a vassal of the family. When the family was powerful, they were servants and tenant farmers; when the family fell on hard times, they also had the opportunity to sleep with their masters and act like lords.

His main responsibilities this month were firing Firebricks, building the Arrow Tower, burning lime, burning charcoal, and so on. His final settlement Contribution was 87 points.

The last to be settled was the Three-Star Artisan Sophie, or perhaps she was a Three-Star Miner, because she spent half of this month mining iron ore and building several dams to transport the iron ore by water. Regardless of the fact that not much iron ore was brought back, the groundwork had already been laid. Even if it only increased transportation efficiency by 50% in the future, it would still be excellent.

Besides, she also participated to a lesser extent in building the Arrow Tower, firing Firebricks, and so forth. She also built the city gate and crafted a winch and a simple drawbridge. Her final settlement Contribution was 85 points.

From this alone, it was evident that Leon, Clyde, and Sophie had definitely reached some sort of agreement; otherwise, it would be impossible for the three of them to equally share the credit for firing the Firebricks.

Another very important point was that Li Wei's tactical deception had succeeded. Otherwise, the family's Three Musketeers—Leon, Clyde, and Sophie—would never have assumed that firing Firebricks would guarantee victory. If they had instead rushed to forge some equipment or done something else to donate to the family, they might have successfully overtaken Li Wei.

In fact, judging from their settlement screens, their schemes were grand and their ambitions immense. Aside from firing Firebricks, everything else they did was aimed at long-term goals—meaning they were focusing heavily on infrastructure.

Otherwise, the outcome of the competition would truly have been unpredictable.

Now, they had no choice but to settle for second, third, and fourth place. It was truly a Difference Between Clouds and Mud.

With all family members having completed their settlement, the highly anticipated Plot Kill segment would come next. The entire process would take ten minutes, and only then could the Head of Household be selected.

Li Wei settled in to watch the show, but he figured that there probably wouldn't be many people wanting to initiate a Plot Kill—perhaps even none at all.

After all, he had drawn all the aggro onto himself. Beneath the Head of Household, everyone was but an ant. Rather than wasting Contribution, it would be better to gather strength and wait until next month to make a comeback—

Holy shit!

Just as Li Wei was thinking this, someone had already initiated a Plot Kill the very next moment.

[Family member Fila has initiated a Plot Kill against family member John. She hopes that he suffers a kidney stone attack within the next twenty-four hours and dies in agonizing pain!]

Good heavens!

This method of death had the ruthlessness of an ex-lover's revenge.

Wait, weren't you guys allies? As Freelance Players, shouldn't you be cooperating for mutual benefit?

What kind of bizarre way to start was mutual slaughter?

Li Wei was immensely surprised and deeply puzzled. What on earth was Fila thinking?

Or was it that Old John's existence posed some sort of threat to her?

Or had they suddenly fallen out over certain interests?

However, it didn't matter. Based on their previous agreement, he cast a dissenting vote without a second thought.

Three seconds later, the voting results were displayed. No one was able to cast an anonymous vote.

Six votes in favor, two against. The Plot Kill took effect, and Old John was forced to expend 3 × 6 = 18 Contribution points to exempt himself from this Plot Kill, granting him a one-month safe period.

At this moment, his remaining Contribution was 42 points,

Meanwhile, Fila's remaining Contribution was 62 points.

Immediately after, a new Plot Kill arrived.

[Family member Sophie has initiated a Plot Kill against family member Pete. She hopes that he encounters a group of bandits in the next twenty-four hours and dies after suffering endless humiliation.]

Fuck, this was even more ruthless!

Li Wei silently chose to oppose it. This was also previously agreed upon; others might go back on their word, but he would definitely keep his.

Three seconds later, the voting results showed seven votes in favor and one vote against.

Whoa!

What did this mean? Braised Egg Pete had also agreed to it himself! Well, whether he opposed it or not wouldn't have affected the outcome anyway. So, this was just to give everyone a good laugh; this guy was truly a disciple of optimistic absurdism.

He was not to be underestimated!

In the blink of an eye, Braised Egg Pete nonchalantly spent 21 Contribution points to exempt himself from the Plot Kill, leaving him with 45 points.

Yes, he even had to consume points for his own vote. How truly fucking absurd!

Li Wei was utterly stunned, unable to make sense of it.

Or was this to achieve some sort of hidden reward?

However, it fell quiet immediately after. No one else submitted a Plot Kill.

Time slipped away amidst the silent waiting.

There really was no one initiating another Plot Kill, including Li Wei. It wasn't that he was kindhearted; he simply didn't want to initiate one.

Rather, it was because he had already become the Head of Household.

Would individually weakening a single person bring any benefit to his work plans for next month?

Even if the other party lost 30 Contribution points in one breath, what did it have to do with him?

There were no contradictions, and no conflicts of interest!

The others were likely thinking the same thing.

Especially the family's Three Musketeers—Leon, Clyde, and Sophie. The three of them monopolized the second, third, and fourth places, and the difference in their Contribution values wasn't large, making it difficult to convince people to focus their fire on any particular one.

If they were to fight, the three of them would have to start infighting first.

Anyway, if Li Wei were ranked fifth, he definitely wouldn't cause trouble.

Just as the ten minutes were about to end and the Head of Household was about to be elected, a Plot Kill suddenly appeared out of nowhere!