Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 242: Cooperation and a Random Quest

What?

A Four-Star Sincerity Card.

So you couldn't hold out either? Burning up inside, aren't you?

Li Wei felt a quiet wave of relief. The current situation looked calm on the surface, but it was actually extremely dangerous — he'd felt it, so there was no reason Liang Yuzhi hadn't felt it too.

She was just being stubborn.

He got straight to the point. "Do you have any kind of item that can burn an Ability User's corpse and keep the mission difficulty from going up?"

"No. That stuff is too expensive — I didn't bring any this time. And let me tell you, stop worrying about that. So what if the difficulty jumps to an extra 120%? That just takes us from three-star-plus to four-star-minus. We're still nowhere near the maximum, and when our time's up and the mission settles, that extra difficulty resets to zero when the radiation storm ends. What are you scared of?"

"I'm using a Sincerity Card — I can't lie. I'll say it plainly: I just want to heal up and recover, and grab a couple of Profession Cards while I'm at it. I genuinely have no interest in playing mind games with a little punk like you. I was already sick of it during the cross-dimensional missions. And let me tell you — Li Yue is the real snake. She kills without blinking, backstabs without shame, venom in her tail, poison in her heart."

Hearing Liang Yuzhi's blunt tirade, Li Wei found himself largely agreeing — and believing her, because that was exactly what a Four-Star Sincerity Card did. Lies simply couldn't be heard through it.

But he didn't respond directly. He shifted angles."Alright then, Sister Yang. I want to know what three Profession Cards you currently have. Do you have a Farmer Card?"

"Huh? Why do you ask — oh, I remember now. Don't tell me your first Profession Card is also a Farmer Card? What a coincidence. My third card is a Farmer Card too — Four-Star Farmer. So let me guess: you want to reach Four-Star Farmer, but you're short on farming experience. Am I right?"

"Correct. Good eye, Sister Yang." Li Wei admitted it without hesitation. He'd already approached Leon, Thomas, and Zhao Xuanxuan before, and had quietly tried to trade farming experience with them.

But the trades had all failed. The reason was simple.

Li Wei was currently a Three-Star Farmer. He could freely sell farming experience to others — but he couldn't buy farming experience from a Four-Star Farmer.

This was a hidden barrier in the Profession Card system, triggered once you reached three stars. Experience generated by different tiers of Profession Cards was categorically different.

So Liang Yuzhi was his only option.

On one hand, resolving the farming experience problem was ideal. On the other, it was also a precaution. Either way, he had no reason to abandon the underground base and the nearby mines, pull everyone back to camp, and sit on his hands. What kind of development would that be?

But the Flame Duke's continued silence was genuinely unsettling. It left him on edge.

Given that — might as well push to four stars.

Li Wei didn't believe that with a Four-Star professional holding the camp, they still couldn't stop the Flame Duke's advance. At the very least, any attack would have to come at night — otherwise the first target would be Liang Yuzhi's transport convoy.

"Hmm. You're a crafty one. But I have to say, you're decisive about this. Fine — how much farming experience do you still need? I can trade you at most 8,000. And the four-star attribute helmet is off the table, because this is experience generated by a Four-Star Farmer Card — it's extremely valuable. It'll boost your Farmer Destiny Grid by at least 3 points. If this weren't just my third profession, I wouldn't be trading it to you for anything. Experience is precious in the late game."

Liang Yuzhi still wore her usual arrogant expression — but it looked more like bluster now.

Li Wei could subtly sense the shift in her. But this kind of thing was like haggling over clothes — you had to spar a little. Still, he genuinely didn't have time to drag it out, and couldn't afford to. He understood the stakes just as clearly: if this went wrong, both he and Liang Yuzhi would lose, and Li Yue would walk away with everything.

"One last question. Why didn't you recover at headquarters? You don't have to answer if it's inconvenient."

This had genuinely puzzled him. In his view, both Liang Yuzhi and Li Yue's choices seemed questionable.

Liang Yuzhi gave a cold laugh.

"Ha. You really are a rookie. I'll tell you — it doesn't hurt. Our losses fall into three categories. First: physical damage to the body — visible, treatable with healing medicine. As long as you're not dead, it's manageable. Second: when Profession Cards are taken, the collapse of attributes triggers a loss of control over your awakening — you understand what that means. Third: damage to the Destiny Grid. You can't imagine that kind of pain. Only ancient magic runes can sort and restore it — and the power inside a Universal Gold Card comes from exactly those ancient magic runes."

"That's all I can say. Are you in or not?"

"Deal. But I have one suggestion — can we skip provoking the Flame Duke to the west? It's too far from camp. I'm worried about something going wrong. How about we take out that four-star mutated creature in the town to the north instead?"

"Fine. I don't care either way."

Liang Yuzhi's face was all indifference — but inwardly, she quietly exhaled in relief. Without another word, she transferred the 8,000 farming experience points and a Five-Star Retention Card, as if afraid Li Wei might change his mind.

Honestly, she'd been close to her limit too. If Li Wei hadn't come to her today, she'd have been at his door tomorrow begging — because she was just as anxious. Right now, with nothing happening, things were fine. But the moment the outside situation shifted, the odds of Li Yue setting her up and finishing her off were extremely high. The Venomous Scorpion title wasn't earned through boasting — it was backed by a real track record. And when that happened, not only would she go down, but Li Wei as Head of Household would suffer too. A classic two-birds-one-stone play.

["Family Member Liang Yuzhi initiates a trade with you. You must pay one standard copper coin to purchase 8,000 Four-Star Farmer experience points and one Five-Star Retention Card."]

["Trade successful! Warning: a Five-Star Retention Card is already detected in your possession. According to existing rules, you may only hold one Five-Star Retention Card in the current mission world. Please make a choice within one minute, or it will automatically convert to 1,000 standard gold coins."]

["You have received 8,000 Four-Star Farmer experience points. Your Farmer Destiny Grid has increased. Current value: 20."]

—

So that was it. Everything Liang Yuzhi had said was true.

Li Wei couldn't help taking another look at her. She'd clearly been anxious too — yet she'd still put on that whole act. Interesting.

He ended the Sincerity Card state, then walked straight over to Zhao Xuanxuan and transferred the Five-Star Retention Card to her on the spot.

For one copper coin.

Zhao Xuanxuan wasn't surprised. Li Wei and Liang Yuzhi had apparently reached a new round of negotiations and decided to cooperate. She had no illusions that this card was a gift — it was obviously just being kept in her hands for safekeeping.

"Xuanxuan, come with us for a bit. There's a forest near the town to the north. I think we can expand our operations there and start stockpiling firewood for the winter. But there might be mutated creatures in the area — stay alert."

Li Wei delivered the line in an official tone, as if reading from a script — because he had to. Liang Yuzhi was currently the transport team captain, and Zhao Xuanxuan was running the blacksmith shop. Both had their own monthly main tasks. They couldn't just drop everything and go do something else without a reasonable justification.

So a plausible reason was necessary.

The words had barely left his mouth when a string of notifications surfaced.

["You have spontaneously triggered a Random Quest: clear out the mutated creatures in the Valley Town to the north. This is a rather willful decision — but due to your status as Head of Household and the Leader BUFF, no one will oppose this Random Quest. However, if casualties or losses occur during this operation, you will bear full responsibility. If the threshold for Impeachment is reached, a double Impeachment may be triggered at month's end."]

["Quest Participants: Li Wei, Liang Yuzhi, Zhao Xuanxuan, and five Freemen."]

["Note: As Territory Freemen and members of the transport convoy, when they hear the task you issued, a Random Clearance Quest will automatically trigger for them. You may choose to leave them out — but doing so may crush their ambition and cause them to question the meaning of life."]

—

What? Freemen could join Random Quests too?

He'd underestimated that.

Li Wei turned to look at the five Freemen on the bus not far away. They were among the strongest of the Freemen — three of them special operations soldiers, the other two no slouches either. They were currently looking over at him with burning eyes, probably convinced that the old village chief had issued another quest.

Well. Fine then.

They were actually quite capable — dual two-star Profession Cards, their own bulletproof vests and tactical boots, the two-star plain iron spears Zhao Xuanxuan had recently forged for them, and solid teamwork instincts.

And now they'd have a wounded powerhouse like Liang Yuzhi leading them. The target was at most a four-star mutated creature. Should be manageable.

That was Li Wei's assessment. After all, the Valley Town was only twenty kilometers from the Scavenger Camp. With all the noise they'd been making over the past two months, that creature hadn't once come out to cause trouble.

Li Wei called over a lazily lounging Adai, and together with Liang Yuzhi, Zhao Xuanxuan, and the five Freemen, they boarded one of the electric buses and set off.

Out onto the road, around the rift valley, then back onto the road again. With the electric bus as their transport, the ride was comfortable enough.

Everyone took the opportunity to rest and recover. Li Wei released Adai to scout ahead.

In truth, Li Wei could have described this area with his eyes closed. Adai patrolled here every day — forty-plus days without fail. The area had been remarkably quiet. Even the forest to the south hadn't spawned any new creatures for a while. Liang Yuzhi and Li Yue had both been cutting timber there recently.

In just over ten minutes, the electric bus pulled up outside the Valley Town.

The scenery was striking. A ridge curved like a crescent moon, cradling the entire town in its embrace. It was precisely because of that ridge that the town was invisible from the Scavenger Camp building.

Lush forest stretched in every direction, spreading northward as far as the eye could see. The environment was beautiful. Before the apocalypse, this had probably been a resort town.