Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 23: Family Development Under Heavy Pressure

"We've made enemies with them."

Penny whispered softly from the side, her words filled with bitterness. She could feel it too, but there was nothing she could do.

"How did two more wolves appear?"

Fila ran over at this moment, her face completely pale, seeming somewhat overwhelmed. Four wolves—how could they possibly develop under these circumstances?

She was probably deeply regretting her decisions right now.

Fortunately, because of the wall, the four wolves naturally couldn't charge into the camp. However, they lingered persistently, unwilling to leave, continuously patrolling around the camp perimeter as if searching for weaknesses.

Thankfully, even the two farm plots outside the camp walls had been enclosed with fences by Li Wei. And although the black wolf appeared quite intelligent, it wasn't clever enough to think of destroying the farmland.

"Penny, how exactly did Sam die? That poor child."

Fila suddenly asked.

"He shot a gray wolf dead in the forest, using the hunting bow I made for him. He was very brave, but... he was ambushed by that black wolf. I was so terrified at the time, I just turned and ran..."Penny began crying softly, even shedding a couple of tears. Then she looked up at Li Wei, "George, now that I'm injured, Sam is dead, and Mom is getting older, everything in this family will depend entirely on you."

Li Wei remained silent, and no new information or plot developments arrived. Without resolving the wolf threat mission, family development was out of the question. But Penny was truly ruthless, and Sam was genuinely foolish.

He didn't believe Sam would deliberately try to exclude him—they had discussed specific details just last night. Yet this morning, Sam had actually been persuaded by Penny. How laughable!

"I'll keep watch tonight. Penny, George, you two go back to sleep. Rest well and recover your strength." Fila added, then lit several bonfires in the courtyard, not just to intimidate the wolf pack, but also to smoke and roast the wolf meat.

"George, tomorrow I'll try to make you a hunting bow. What a pity—if we had built the iron smelting furnace, I could even confidently forge a crossbow... George, in the future, it won't just be the wolf threat. There will be more dangers. We need to find ways to protect ourselves."

In the evening's lingering glow, Penny spoke with utmost seriousness, and Li Wei listened with equal attentiveness. Learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones—Fila's power grab for the Family Head position had established the wrong development path this time, a lesson that absolutely must be learned.

This was a strategic error.

Meanwhile, Penny and Sam's underestimation of the enemy and reckless advance, leaving Li Wei behind while thinking they could handle things alone—that was a tactical error.

"Alright! I'll find ways to collect iron ore for you!" Li Wei nodded. Given the current situation, they had no choice but to set aside differences and cooperate.

The facts were clear: the family currently needed handicraft industry. Whether for clearing farmland, logging, or hunting—to do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools. How many times did this principle need to be repeated before they understood?

Without triggering the Family Head mission, they could only rely on themselves to coordinate and operate.

"I need more wood too, because we still need to make charcoal. George, I need you." Penny's eyes glimmered, her words sincere.

Li Wei simply nodded. Before the wolf threat mission concluded, all new family production would belong to the family, not individuals.

So there was no need to worry that the charcoal Penny produced, the pig iron she refined, or the blacksmith shop she built would belong solely to herself.

Hmm, looking at it this way, the wolf threat mission was actually quite beneficial.

Fila couldn't make any moves anymore, and Penny had to compromise as well.

Li Wei had actually become the biggest winner now.

He didn't even need to worry about Plot Kill anymore.

After eating dinner, Li Wei returned to his room to rest. Lying on that pitiful blanket, he had a sudden thought, and his equally sparse attribute panel appeared before his eyes.

This time, binding the One-Star Hunter Card and gaining five Free Attribute Points was excellent. But how should he allocate them?

After pondering for a long time, Li Wei first spent two Free Attribute Points to raise his Strength attribute to 10 points. Unfortunately, it didn't trigger First-Level Awakening.

"10 points of Strength should catch up to Penny now. No, I should say it should catch up to a normal adult male."

Li Wei contemplated. Due to his late-stage cancer before, his body had always been very weak with insufficient strength, which was why Penny could completely dominate him in every aspect. And 10 points of Strength should be the passing mark for a normal adult male.

So theoretically, to trigger First-Level Awakening, he would need at least 20 points of Strength.

But even if he allocated all three remaining Free Attribute Points, could he achieve overwhelming superiority against the wolf pack?

Could he turn the tide single-handedly and sweep through thousands of enemies?

Most likely not.

"Therefore, I need a more coordinated, stable, and balanced physical condition. Especially since I've activated a second profession now—Hunter isn't Warrior, I can't just rely on brute force."

Thinking this, Li Wei immediately spent two more Free Attribute Points to raise his Agility to 6 points. Flexibility was very important.

As for the final Free Attribute Point, after much consideration, he still chose to add it to Agility, reaching 7 points of Agility. After all, facing the wolf pack, having strength alone wasn't enough—his body's reaction speed needed to keep up, and it also had to be worthy of the +30% precision bonus for ranged weapons from his profession talent.

What followed was a good night's sleep. Even though wolf howls continued through the night, they didn't affect him.

Waking up the next morning, Li Wei felt refreshed and energetic, his entire body brimming with Healthy vitality. That feeling of vigorous life was like a towering giant!

How rare!

He quickly got up and did dozens of push-ups in one go.

When he emerged looking completely normal, he saw that Fila and Penny seemed to have not slept all night, both exhausted with dark circles under their eyes.

"Those beasts actually learned harassment tactics! But you slept really soundly!"

Penny's gaze swept over Li Wei, seeming to imply something.

"Is your arm alright?" Li Wei asked. Family concern—he was learning to act now too.

Penny forced a slight smile, "Nothing too serious. But it'll take some time before I can go out to kill wolves. So don't be impatient—wait until I recover, then we'll fight our way out together."

"Those beasts howled outside the camp all night last night, trying to claw through the walls and jump over them. But they were gone by this morning—so cunning. George, you absolutely must not act recklessly."

"I know."

Li Wei nodded again, first going to the side of the house to take care of personal business. When he returned, he saw Fila and Penny each pulling a corner of the tarpaulin, carefully pouring the dew collected on it into a water storage clay pot. The quantity was quite substantial.

With three tarpaulins total, they collected nearly three liters of dew.

Li Wei had only heard of this method before but never seen it. It seemed these two were quite resourceful and meticulous, knowing that fetching water would be difficult today and making preparations in advance.

Next, Fila divided the dew into four portions, about three hundred milliliters per person, with the remainder used to cook porridge for breakfast.

It was worth mentioning that Fila had used the firewood last night to smoke all the wolf meat to semi-dry condition, but it still needed continued smoking today. This consumed enormous amounts of firewood.

After walking around the courtyard, Li Wei felt deeply concerned about how they would survive the winter.

The house needed reinforcement and proper insulation measures. They needed to stockpile sufficient firewood and food. If possible, the camp walls needed further strengthening. They needed some weapons, and everyone needed a set of cold-weather clothing.

Even though he could theoretically live to ninety now, he could still die suddenly under harsh winds, snow, and extreme cold.

Failing to address any critical detail could be fatal—after all, this wasn't a game.