Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 234: A Farmer's Daily Life

"This — Auntie, I'm still worried about your health."

Li Wei hemmed and hawed, refusing to give ground. 'As long as I don't say the word, you'll stay right here cooking. I'm not in a hurry — you're the one who should be.'

'Are you planning to treat Li Yue as your final rival, or me?'

Liang Yuzhi stared at Li Wei for two full seconds, and had to admit — there was no real counter to this kind of shameless stonewalling. Even if the tactic was clumsy.

Fine. You want something? Then I'll take one step back. Don't think you can flip the table on me later.

Hmph.

The next moment, Li Wei and every Camp Member within ten kilometers of the Scavenger Camp — yes, including the thirty-eight natural humans who had just become territory Freemen — all received the same notification.

[Provisional Camp Member Liang Yuzhi discovered several herbs during routine foraging that can be used to counter mutant radiation. After careful preparation, she has produced One-Star Blood Resistance Potions and chosen to donate them to the Scavenger Camp. Based on the current special circumstances, this donation will receive a 100% additional donation bonus.]

[She receives 100 + 100×100% = 200 Contribution points. However, due to the lingering Dictator BUFF, she ultimately receives 100 Contribution points. Total: 250.]

[Based on this donation, Liang Yuzhi will be required to produce one hundred One-Star Blood Resistance Potions every month for the next six months. Failure to do so will result in the Contribution being reclaimed.]Well.

Li Wei had known it. As an outstanding chef, even the second-generation Fila had been able to brew One-Star Blood Resistance Potions — there was no reason a powerhouse like Liang Yuzhi couldn't. She'd just been holding back, waiting for the right moment.

Whatever the Freemen thought of this, Li Wei had gotten exactly what he wanted. This powerhouse truly understood what he needed most.

Now, with Profession Cards to improve their physical condition and achieve Level 1 Life Awakening, supplemented by One-Star Blood Resistance Potions to keep magical radiation levels in check at the right times — no one would turn into a Magic Zombie. They could live safely within the territory.

And critically, this would free up a massive labor force. Even if these Freemen couldn't go out into the wilderness to forage, hunt, or mine, building structures inside the camp and digging basements was entirely within their capability.

Right — Li Wei was also planning to take a page from the underground base's book and build a two-level basement beneath the five-story building. The airtight blast doors from the underground base could be dismantled and brought over. Supplies that would be ruined by radiation could be stored down there — including young children and infants.

Excellent.

At last, a genuine smile spread across Li Wei's face.

"Auntie, I'm truly grateful. Then it's settled — tomorrow I'll have Xuanxuan help repair Leon's two-handed greatsword, and you'll take Thomas and Zhang Jinjun along with a few Freemen, drive the electric buses, and handle the transport."

"That area is deep in the mountains and rich in resources — not just the supplies from the underground base, but stone quarries, timber, even limestone for burning our own lime. We're pressed for time. You can make the arrangements as you see fit, Auntie."

This time, Li Wei genuinely delegated authority.

He had no choice. Li Yue no longer had a leash on her — she could do whatever she wanted at the underground base. Rather than let her develop rapidly and dominate, it was better to let her and Liang Yuzhi compete against each other.

Two more lines of text appeared before everyone at that moment.

[Under Head of Household Li Wei's order, Provisional Camp Member Liang Yuzhi has triggered a Captain-level Monthly Main Task. She will be responsible for the security of supply transport. At month's end, she will receive 500 base Contribution points.]

[Note: if other Family Members or Camp Members participate in this Monthly Main Task later in the month, they will receive corresponding base rewards based on their contributions — but they must follow Liang Yuzhi's command and direction, unless the Head of Household directly intervenes.]

——

Early the next morning, on Li Wei's orders, Liang Yuzhi, Thomas, and Zhang Jinjun set off in two electric buses, taking five Freemen who seemed to have found a new lease on life and discovered a whole new world.

They were all heading to the underground base to join up with Li Yue and accelerate the dismantling and transport — priority going to specialty cement and steel, since the camp's perimeter wall needed to start going up.

The intact foundations of some buildings in the town could also be repaired.

The area near the underground base had excellent stone quarries, and the electric buses could handle the transport easily.

They could even drive the buses into the underground base to recharge. Incredibly convenient.

In the future, large-scale timber felling could be done out there as well.

But the Flame Duke to the west needed close monitoring — he might very well come looking for trouble.

That was also why Li Wei had deployed Liang Yuzhi, the powerhouse, to that front.

Li Yue needed to anchor the underground base — with her there, security wouldn't be a problem.

But the transport route was long. Even on solid, flat concrete roads, what if Ability Users ambushed the convoy? Even sending three-star veterans like Leon and Thomas as escorts wasn't reliable enough. Only a powerhouse like Liang Yuzhi would do.

As for the remaining Freemen — aside from women caring for infants and young children, everyone else was handed over to Leon and Zhao Xuanxuan for management. The rules needed to be made clear.

Zhao Xuanxuan also needed to reopen the blacksmith shop, crafting and repairing various supplies, and building up her Destiny Grid along the way. She was too weak — what she needed wasn't combat, but work. Relentless work. Sixteen hours a day.

In this regard, Li Wei gave Zhao Xuanxuan a great deal of freedom.

As for Leon.

"This month, you're responsible for camp patrols and night watch — especially patrolling the farmland at night. You can rest during the day. Of course, if you feel up to it, you can take on other things as well."

Li Wei said it with layers of meaning. He trusted Leon to understand immediately.

Because at this stage, the Level 3 Scavenger Camp's maximum obtainable Contribution was 12,000 points. Li Wei alone held 7,525 of those. Currently, Li Yue, Liang Yuzhi, Thomas, Leon, Zhao Xuanxuan, and Zhang Jinjun combined had less than 1,800.

By month's end, Li Wei would earn another 500 Contribution from the food-gathering task. Everyone else would also get a decent payout by then — but the total wouldn't exceed 4,000.

That meant the camp's obtainable Contribution cap was essentially filled. Others had no room to push further — the only way to increase the cap was to keep building up the camp's fixed assets.

And who could compete with Li Wei, the Head of Household?

"So I can finally do some things for myself — and test a theory I've been sitting on."

Li Wei stood in the open space of the town, watching the Freemen begin to bustle about in small groups. Even the women with infants were no exception — in an apocalypse, there was no room for fragility.

And now that they'd bound Profession Cards, the work gave real, tangible feedback.

For instance, the few older women who'd bound Cook Cards — they'd been professional chefs at the underground base, and before the apocalypse, some had even been chefs at a Michelin-starred restaurant. After binding their Cook Cards, they were up at three in the morning preparing breakfast for dozens of people, seamlessly picking up where Liang Yuzhi had left off.

They couldn't make the wild mushroom broth — that was a special dish — but they had no problem preparing other unranked dishes.

Every meal they completed generated a stream of Chef experience — all positive feedback.

What was also interesting was that Li Wei, as Head of Household, could actually observe each Freeman's experience gain rate and Territory Contribution accumulation. He could even see their specific attributes and physical condition.

It felt remarkably like playing a game.

Even more amusing: among the Freemen, a theory had begun circulating that Li Wei and his group were NPCs. After all, who else could issue quests?

Li Wei deliberately eavesdropped for a while and found that the Freemen's experience gain was consistent with players — no discrepancy. In fact, those few Michelin-starred chef women, after binding their Cook Cards, started with an initial Chef Destiny Grid of 15 points. Impressive.

They were far from weak.

However, their Territory Contribution accumulation was slightly slower — probably a maximum of 10 Territory Contribution per day, equivalent to 0.1 Family Contribution.

Well — those who understood, understood.

The Freemen were getting all the benefits. What did the Lord get? The Lord still had to pay fifty percent of income upward.

After that, Li Wei made a deliberate round, chatting warmly with each Freeman, reminding them not to leave the bounds of the town, and that for any issues they should go directly to Guard Captain Leon or Manager Zhao Xuanxuan.

It was going well. Even the old man in his sixties seemed to have found a second wind — the Profession Card's boost was real.

Also, these Freemen apparently didn't need to worry about violations. Probably because they were native inhabitants of this world — they could say whatever they wanted, no restrictions.

Once he was satisfied everything was in order, Li Wei headed to Farmland No. 4. The wheat there had grown to about forty centimeters — excellent progress.

Rainfall this past month had been fairly regular, keeping the fields from drying out. Otherwise the three small rooftop plots would have been in trouble.

And because the soil was so fertile, the wheat field was thick with weeds.

It was time to hoe and loosen the soil.

Li Wei fetched a hoe from the tool shed and went to work himself — hoeing weeds and turning the earth. The feeling was deeply satisfying. Almost a pleasure.

The crisp shush of a sharp hoe cutting into soil. The clean snap of weed roots being severed. A symphony.

Two rows at a time, no need to stop — he worked his way to one end and back, and in under an hour, the acre and a half of wheat field was done.

Then he moved to Farmland No. 5 — the corn field. Same work: hoeing and loosening. The weeds growing in the furrows had to be pulled by hand. He tended to it like a beloved child.