novelraw Chapter 143: Four-Star Players!
Chapter 143: Four-Star Players!
At this time, the last person to conduct the Month-End Summary was Clyde. Although he didn't have much presence this month, in reality, he was still so busy his feet didn't touch the ground.
As the blacksmith on duty, he was basically equivalent to the top dog of the Industrial Zone. Burning quicklime and burning charcoal were his business. Providing auxiliary support for Leon, forging equipment for a ten-person squad, making feather arrows and crossbow bolts, repairing damaged tools, and so on—all of it was his business.
So outside of completing the Monthly Main Tasks, he also obtained an extra 60 Contribution points, because he forged 12 One-Star Quality weapons and one Two-Star Quality weapon.
However, repairing the Bloodthirsty Spear for Li Wei wouldn't yield any Contribution. The repair fee Li Wei paid would only be merged into the family's total wealth, to be settled after three months.
Ultimately, Clyde's Contribution this month reached 140 points, accumulating to 312 points.
Law-abiding and well-behaved, right down the middle.
Remember the first release website domain name 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞
After Clyde completed his settlement, it was the segment everyone was happy to see and hear, and intimately familiar with: Plot Kill and Impeachment!
Unfortunately, they were all Family Elders now.
And no one had committed any obvious mistakes this month, so this segment could basically be skipped.Very harmonious, full of love; we truly are a family.
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
Lines of information slowly emerged in a dignified and solemn manner before everyone. This also meant the curtain was raised on the most important family meeting of every month.
[The level of the family Camp remains unchanged this month. There are no missing family personnel, so none will be supplemented.]
[Family Members John Kakh, Ron, and Hathaway have successfully integrated into the family. As four-star players, the restrictions on them will be lifted successively. At the family meeting held at the end of next month, they will be permitted to use Item Cards and compete fairly with all players.]
[Note: To ensure low-level players have a fair competitive environment, the status of their Profession Cards is now made public.]
[John Kakh: Four-Star Miner / Three-Star Hunter / Three-Star Fisherman / Three-Star Butcher]
[Ron: Four-Star Blacksmith / Three-Star Knight / Three-Star Miner / Three-Star Mountaineer]
[Hathaway: Four-Star Apothecary / Three-Star Scholar / Three-Star Mountaineer / Three-Star Hunter]
[Because Family Member George's Contribution points are the highest, he will continue to be re-elected as Head of Household, and is qualified to recruit eight Mercenaries through the One-Star Tavern. They will join the current mission world in the identity of loyal Squires cultivated since childhood by the Kakh Family.]
[Friendly Reminder: The Squires are incomparably loyal to the family. In principle, they only obey the commands of the Head of Household, or the commands of a specific family member designated by the Head of Household. They are capable of handling most hard and arduous tasks. They will not participate in the Monthly Main Tasks, will not obtain Contribution, will not compete for Head of Household, will not initiate Plot Kills, nor will they be the subject of Plot Kills and Impeachment. All their labor, combat, and benefits belong to the Head of Household or the actual funder who hired them.]
[Friendly Reminder: Squires are qualified to initiate trades, as long as it conforms to plot logic. At the same time, if someone in the family initiates a bid, Squires are also qualified to join the bidding and compete fairly.]
[Friendly Reminder: The Head of Household needs to properly arrange the Squires' work, residence, three meals a day, and health conditions, as well as carefully consider the Squires' personal safety, weapons and equipment, daily training, etc. Once a Squire dies, there will be no supplement that month, but there will be no punishment, nor will it trigger Impeachment.]
[Friendly Reminder: Recruiting Squires requires consuming family Contribution points or Standard Gold Coins. In principle, whoever serves as the Head of Household pays for it. But if the Head of Household is unwilling to pay too much, or has limited ability, it can be paid for and recruited by other family members. Thus, after the recruitment is completed, that Squire will only obey the orders of the payer. The Head of Household can indirectly command the Squire by coordinating with and commanding the payer. Such Squires can also enjoy normal treatment: free use of room and board, weapons and equipment, etc.]
[If the hired Squires are no longer recruited the following month, they will automatically return to the Headquarters. Do not worry about them becoming loose stragglers or chaotic bandits.]
——
Huh?
So it's like this!
The three of them are truly not simple.
Li Wei was shocked for a second, then returned to normal. He had guessed returning to normal a long time ago.
But even so, he would still be calling the shots next month.
Right then, he silently chanted "recruit" in his heart. The next instant, a row of eight cards floated before everyone. Each card had a blurry portrait of a person inside.
Below the cards were the prices available for recruitment. They varied, but none of the prices were low.
The highest required paying 150 family Contribution points per month, which was equivalent to 15 Gold Coins.
There were two of these in total.
Then sequentially, there were ones for 100 Contribution points a month, 80 Contribution points a month, and four at 60 Contribution points a month.
Good heavens, this price was not low. They worked themselves half to death every month just to earn how much family Contribution? If they hired Mercenaries on top of that, would they still have any profit left for themselves?
Unless they could arrange for the Squires to perform daily work, then they could earn back their salary.
But wasn't this just like opening a company, recruiting employees, running markets, and engaging in production?
Who dared to say that opening a company mathematically guaranteed a profit?
Li Wei was somewhat hesitant, because hiring all of them required 720 Contribution points. His savings would basically be wiped out to zero in an instant.
But within a month, could he utilize these eight Squires to earn that much back? That would mean each person on average needed to earn 90 Contribution points per month.
It must be known that the reason these Mercenaries became Mercenaries was precisely because they truly weren't good at this aspect.
Of course, nothing is absolute! An excellent leader should know how to recognize people and make good use of them.
But, next month there were three super-veteran old bird players. Going all-in like this, would it really be okay?
Thinking of this, Li Wei couldn't help but glance at Ron, then shifted his gaze toward Old John and Hathaway, but all three were expressionless.
He then looked at Leon. Damn it, you never mentioned this matter.
Leon revealed a small pleading look in his eyes, seemingly very innocent.
Motherfucker, you can't be relied upon either.
Li Wei slightly narrowed his eyes in thought.
Since Old John, Ron, and Hathaway were all four-star players, this meant there was no need to doubt it: by the end of next month, Li Wei's re-election as Head of Household would be impossible.
It wouldn't even wait until the third month, when they opened up with all their firepower.
So, he should accept this despairing fact. He had to seize the time before stepping down to reap enough benefits.
I don't care what your background is!
As long as I am still the Head of Household, if you are a dragon, you have to coil up for me; if you are a tiger, you have to lie down for me!
He had to control absolute authority!
The matters that needed handling had to be handled, and the benefits that needed fighting for had to be fought for. He would just treat next month as his retirement month. After all, even the President of America gets to sign pardons, right?
If he got kicked down in the future, it would be too late for regrets.
At worst, he would withdraw when the Task Settlement came in two months. What was so great about the Rookie List? He didn't care about it!
With enough benefits, he could wander the Chaotic Killing Battlefield casually.
Thinking of this, Li Wei had already made a decision in his heart.
However, he still pretended to be very hesitant, picking and choosing, looking left and right.
In the end, he behaved very stingily and consumed 120 Contribution points to hire the two worst Squires. In an instant, two cards silently disappeared, and simultaneously two lines of information emerged.
[Two-Star Mercenary Wang Yu has been recruited by you. He will serve you for one month. His Profession Cards are Three-Star Fisherman / Two-Star Artisan / Two-Star Woodcutter. His Destiny Grids are Fisherman 9, Artisan 8, Woodcutter 2. His attributes are—Life 140, Stamina 180, Strength 20, Agility 6, Defense 10. He has chosen to bring a set of One-Star Leather Armor, a set of regular clothes, a pair of One-Star boots, and a One-Star shield to join the current mission world. He requires a one-handed weapon to execute duties.]
[Two-Star Mercenary Charles has been recruited by you. He will serve you for one month. His Profession Cards are Three-Star Hunter / Two-Star Artisan / Two-Star Farmer. His Destiny Grids are Hunter 21, Artisan 7, Farmer 3. His attributes are—Life 150, Stamina 150, Strength 20, Agility 12, Defense 3. He has chosen to bring a set of One-Star Leather Armor, a set of summer regular clothes, a pair of One-Star boots, a One-Star Recurve Bow, and a One-Star two-handed Zhanmadao (horse-chopping saber) to join the current world. He requires you to provide 50 Bodkin Arrows to execute duties.]
——
Well then, this is quite interesting.
Li Wei could be considered to have discovered a blind spot, and also understood the difference between the Mercenary mode and the Lord mode.
Mercenaries could also activate various cards just the same, but they wouldn't grind Destiny Grids. Instead, they only desired the 5 Free Attribute Points obtained after activating a card. For example, that Mercenary named Wang Yu: his primary profession was Three-Star Fisherman, but his Fisherman Destiny Grid was only 11. What kind of rare big fish could this catch?
But this didn't affect his ability to upgrade the Fisherman Card to three stars in the slightest. After all, experience between players could also be traded. Was it hard to purchase 1000 Fishing Experience? As long as he got a Bronze Token, upgrading was just a matter of an instant. Would the Free Attribute Points be short by even a 0.1?
But Lord players were different. With the same cards, they had to painstakingly nurture their accounts, painstakingly manage them, and raise their Destiny Grids in order to improve work efficiency and product quality.
Of course, the reality of the situation was that Mercenary players didn't not want to nurture their accounts and raise their Destiny Grids, but rather there were very few opportunities to do so.
For example, Lord players could easily join various tasks midway to grind for resources, equipment, and Gold Coins. But Mercenaries could only wait for Tavern recruitment.
In a word, there are only so many opportunities. Falling one step behind in rookie missions meant always being behind.
If one fell three or five steps behind all at once, then they could only become a Mercenary.
"Let's recruit one more!"
Li Wei looked again at Hathaway and Ron. They were still expressionless. They couldn't rush him either. Everything had to wait until the Head of Household finished choosing before it was their turn.
Sigh, the Head of Household is just this awesome!
This is a privilege; even if you're not convinced, you have to hold it in for me.
Li Wei put on another act of pondering for a while, and then recruited that highest Mercenary requiring 150 Contribution points a month. In this way, the Contribution he spent just on this amounted to 270 points. Currently, he had 540 points left. Among all family members, this was already no longer worth mentioning; it had plummeted into the dust.
But what a pity... even if his Contribution dropped to zero at this moment, he would still be the Head of Household.
(End of this chapter)