Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 236: Li Wei's Theory

Hearing those words, Leon was taken aback for a long moment — then finally smiled and let it go. Right. What was he worried about? Standing in front of him was a Rookie King, the kind that only appeared once in a hundred years.

If there'd been any room for debate about that three months ago, was there really any room left now?

If their pioneering camp's Pioneering Points didn't crack the top five on the rankings by month's end, he'd eat his own shoe live on stream.

"Alright, cousin. I'll pack up and head to the quarry. I really am lacking in a lot of areas — Thomas built a whole city wall, and I can too!"

Leon strode off. Whether he'd actually understood Li Wei's intent was unclear.

He probably had.

His first profession was Mason, his second was Miner — two professions with obvious deep synergy. If he wasn't going to push both Destiny Grids up, what was he waiting for?

Was this really about fighting style?

Continuously raising his Mason and Miner Destiny Grids — that was the real foundation for making his Executioner title stronger.

Li Wei watched Leon's retreating figure, then glanced at the busy silhouette to the south of town.Two kilometers away, the faint ring of hammer on metal could just be heard. By comparison, Zhao Xuanxuan's choice was clearly the wiser one.

Focused on her Blacksmith Destiny Grid, and her weapon was a hammer — constantly swinging, striking. Wasn't that in itself a form of mastering strength?

That day against the mutant crocodile, her flash of insight — that single perfect heavy blow — had actually pointed in exactly the right direction.

Keep contemplating, thinking, trying to recreate it, until it becomes instinct. She'd get somewhere.

Either way, he'd given them both the opportunity.

After that, Li Wei jogged a few laps around the town — about ten kilometers — until the sun was fully up. Only then did he spot Adai lazily hopping up onto the building's rooftop and going still. Big Bro Dummy had finally gotten out of bed.

Li Wei looked west. Against the morning glow, three electric buses were rolling in, fully loaded with supplies.

Incredibly convenient. Three trips during the day, charge overnight using the nuclear power plant, depart before dawn — this rhythm could probably be sustained for at least two more months. Then it would stop working.

Because in a little over two months, it wouldn't just be harvest time — it would also be when the annual radiation storm was due. The underground base's micro nuclear power plant would probably fail to hold out against it.

When the monster siege came — what would that look like?

Would there be five-star stone giants?

Or mutated creatures blanketing the sky and ground?

Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi would surely shine. But could his three trusted teammates — Thomas, Leon, and Zhao Xuanxuan — help him hold the line?

The three buses pulled into the parking lot south of town. Liang Yuzhi, Thomas, and five Freemen jumped out and immediately started unloading.

Leon and Zhao Xuanxuan came over to help, along with Li Wei — they were racing against time.

"Auntie, everything go smoothly on the road?"

Li Wei asked casually while unloading.

It had been nearly half a month since those Ability Users were wiped out. Why hadn't the Flame Duke made any move yet?

"Smooth enough. No trouble these past few days. But that doesn't feel normal. Little Wei, I'd actually suggest you take Adai and we go check out that city to the west — just a suggestion, of course."

Liang Yuzhi said it with layers of meaning. Just yesterday, through felling one-star and two-star trees and gathering various herbs, she'd pushed her Contribution to 300 points. She was now officially a Camp Member — no longer subject to the lingering Dictator BUFF, and no longer at risk of being swept out the door. So she was speaking with a bit more backbone now.

"Noted, Auntie. I'll think about it."

Li Wei nodded, and the subject was dropped.

He had no intention of proactively provoking the Flame Duke on his own turf. That was a completely different matter from the Ability Users under his command being wiped out.

Besides, he seriously doubted whether the Flame Duke's mind was still functioning properly.

Either way — if the enemy didn't move, neither would he. Wasn't it better to focus on stripping and transporting supplies? Why go looking for trouble?

He hadn't even bothered with the suspected four-star mutated creature lurking in the town to the north.

For the next few months, the goal was to avoid increasing the Pioneering Mission difficulty. Another increase would push it to 120% — a qualitative threshold.

Stability above all else.

Three buses, sixty tons of supplies total — with everyone working together, it was unloaded in under ten minutes.

The five Freemen watched with unconcealed admiration and awe. Li Wei's group was simply too strong. Even Liang Yuzhi — an unremarkable-looking middle-aged woman — was terrifying.

But just as everyone was boarding the buses to head back to the camp building for breakfast, Liang Yuzhi suddenly walked up to Li Wei at the parking lot entrance and casually activated a Four-Star Conspiracy Card.

Well, well.

You finally couldn't hold back.

Looks like you're falling behind in your little arms race with Li Yue out there.

"Let's make a deal."

Liang Yuzhi got straight to the point.

"I'm listening." Li Wei expressed genuine interest.

He wasn't opposed to dealing with either of these two powerhouses — as long as it was reasonable. Which it never would be, of course. Competing interests were always tangled. The pie was only so big. The Pioneering Card was a single card. The cake couldn't grow — any gain had to come at someone else's expense, through force or deception.

And one very interesting fact: over the past fourteen days, the Pioneering branch mission difficulty displayed on the Pioneering Card had remained stable at an additional 90%.

Meaning that over the past fourteen days, neither Li Yue nor Liang Yuzhi had obtained a four-star Universal Gold Card.

A theory Li Wei had been forming was slowly taking shape.

Liang Yuzhi sighed — a faint air of a hero past her prime, a beauty gone gray.

"I'm injured. You've probably guessed that already. Leon knows who we are. In the cross-dimensional mission, we suffered a catastrophic failure — I nearly died. I'm down to three Profession Cards, and I have very serious internal injuries. That kind of wound either requires a long period of rest, or a Universal Gold Card to recover."

"That's why Li Yue and I both chose to join your Pioneering branch to recover. Of course, neither of us expected to run into each other here. We weren't in the same cross-dimensional mission — just bad luck."

"Li Wei, I know what you're worried about — that we'll take the Head of Household position from you. Honestly, that was my initial intention. I believe Li Yue's was the same. And please believe me: she is right now ambitiously planning to take your Head of Household position. The reason is simple — her injuries are healed. She was lucky enough to run into a five-star Ability User."

"You should know — she started out even worse off than me. I still have two Five-Star Profession Cards and one Four-Star Card. She had dropped her second main Profession Card, leaving her with only one Five-Star and three Four-Star Cards."

"But now she's ahead of me. You might think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not — because you have no idea what players at our level are actually capable of. Even at seventy percent of her peak strength, Li Yue can kill a five-star Ability User with ease."

"In other words, the moment she healed, Li Wei — you already lost this mission. And now I'm willing to help you, because if we don't cooperate, you lose, and so do I."

Throughout all of this, Li Wei's expression didn't change. But in secret, he instantly switched to the Tracker title — Perception +3 — and then asked only one question.

"What exactly do you want?"

"Simple. You're the Head of Household — you can afford one small indulgence. Take me, Thomas, and Leon. The four of us go to that city to the west, kill a team of Ability Users. I don't want a five-star Universal Gold Card — just one four-star. I don't need to fully recover. Even getting back to a third of my strength would be enough to match Li Yue."

"In return, I won't take the gold card. I'll also give you a Five-Star Retention Card. You understand what that means — each person can only carry one of those. Which means I only have one. Give it to you, and I'm guaranteed to settle out and leave after four months. There's no way I can gain enough advantage in four months to trigger the hidden option."

"That's my maximum sincerity."

The moment Liang Yuzhi finished speaking, Li Wei quickly switched back to the Dog Butcher title — and simultaneously reached a decision.

Yes. Simple.

With Perception +3, he couldn't read Liang Yuzhi's inner thoughts — but her words, combined with her micro-expressions, were laid bare before him.

The conclusion: she wasn't being sincere.

Yes.

About ten seconds of listening with Perception +3, and the conclusion was clear: she wasn't being sincere.

So was there a logical problem with what she'd said?

On the surface, not really.

Five-Star Retention Cards were indeed limited to one per person.

But — there was a premise. Something Li Wei had been thinking about for days, turning over in his mind, connected to a theory he'd been forming.

Back at the underground base, why had Li Yue used a special item to burn the five-star Ability User's corpse — keeping the current Pioneering branch difficulty locked at 90%?

If Li Wei agreed to Liang Yuzhi's proposal now, a four-star Universal Gold Card would apparently drop with near-100% probability.

Never mind why the drop rate was so high — just consider this one point: the current mission difficulty would jump to an additional 120%.

90% and 120% didn't look that different. But in reality, that was likely a terrifying threshold.

So even though Liang Yuzhi's offer was tempting, Li Wei was not a gambler.

He wasn't going to bet on something like this.

Especially now, when every moment should be spent racing to transport supplies. And she wanted to throw a wrench into things?

He was already bending over backward to keep things stable. He'd even stationed himself at the Scavenger Camp, sending Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi out to develop freely, all in the name of stability. Did she really think so little of him?

"Sorry. I have no interest in working with you."