novelraw Chapter 249: Prestige Card
Chapter 249: Prestige Card
["You have established a task-issuing and reward-and-punishment system in your Level 3 Scavenger Camp that is fully under your control. A total of 40 Freemen have directly or indirectly accepted and completed tasks you issued. Prestige +200. You have unlocked the Camp Prestige System (which will later upgrade to the Territory Prestige System)."]
["Your current Prestige is 380. Breakdown: you are the founder of this camp +100, you were once the Dictator +50, you have served three consecutive terms as Head of Household +30, and the current gain +200."]
["Are you willing to spend 100 Prestige to condense a One-Star Prestige Card?"]
["Description: The Prestige Card does not occupy a Profession Card slot. Once activated and bound, all Freemen under your jurisdiction will be automatically incorporated into the Prestige Card's management network. Based on their own bound Profession Cards, they will receive real-time information alerts and notifications, more effectively assisting your management. (In plain terms: it makes them feel that a system is monitoring, managing, and constraining them — so they'll think twice before doing anything.)"]
["Warning: If you are Impeached and removed from the Head of Household position, the Prestige Card will automatically dissolve, and all accumulated Prestige will be reset to zero — potentially going negative. As the saying goes: a tiger on the plain is bullied by dogs; a fallen phoenix is worse than a chicken. Only by reclaiming the Head of Household position can you slowly rebuild Prestige and re-condense the Prestige Card."]
["Friendly reminder: After binding the Prestige Card, you will gain corresponding access — specifically, one opportunity per month to conduct trade with headquarters at standard prices, selling resources produced by the camp. This will become a very important source of income for your pioneering territory in the future — provided you truly become a Pioneering Lord."]
["Friendly reminder: All tasks completed by Freemen will be counted toward the Head of Household's overall Contribution. Currently being calculated — accurate data will be available at month's end."]
Well, well.
Prestige.
Li Wei was genuinely moved — and genuinely pleased. It had been worth all the careful observation, all the patient maneuvering, all the deliberate action over forty-five days to bring every last one of these Freemen into the fold.If he'd been careless from the start — laid everything out openly, worn his heart on his sleeve, treated it like a strategy game and immediately implemented a whole package of measures — how many dark corners would that have left? At the very least, the Prestige gain would have been minimal. "Awed by power, not moved by virtue" — that phrase was deeply representative.
He might not even have triggered the Prestige System at all.
Once these Freemen got their hands on real authority — say, captain or vice-captain positions for external operations — there was no telling where things would go. You'd just have to hope they were all genuinely good people.
The current approach was far more stable.
Li Wei chose to redeem immediately. In an instant, a sacred, imposing, almost absurdly theatrical white light descended from above. He genuinely startled himself — did it have to be this dramatic? Was it afraid the Freemen wouldn't notice?
The next second, the white light faded, and in Li Wei's hand appeared a white card with a faint aura of sanctity — the Prestige Card.
He chose to activate and bind it. In an instant, across the entire camp, a faint invisible thread connected from each of the thirty Freemen — excluding eight children — to the Prestige Card. The network linked successfully.
Before this, Li Wei could already see the Freemen's physical status, attributes, equipment, identity, and names — but only within ten meters, one person at a time. Inconvenient.
Now, as long as they were within a twenty-kilometer radius, he could sense them instantly.
And there were other useful features.
For instance — Li Wei thought for a moment, flicked his wrist, and a character card appeared before him. The figure on it was Nelson. The old man was currently frowning in thought, occasionally glancing into the distance, making small movements — like a living photograph. It had a distinctly Harry Potter feel to it.
Below the card was a set of fairly detailed information.
["Name: Nelson"]
["Age: 65"]
["Estimated Lifespan: 85"]
["Base Attributes: Life 100, Stamina 80, Strength 10, Agility 5, Defense 3, Spiritual Power 5 (hidden, not visible)"]
["First Profession: Two-Star Artisan, Destiny Grid 21"]
["Second Profession: Two-Star Miner, Destiny Grid 0"]
["Affiliated Faction: All-Heavens Lord Alliance"]
["Identity: Level 1 Freeman (Non-Player) under the Pioneering Baron Territory of Duke Weir of Locke Kingdom"]
["Personality: Cunning, ruthless, calculating, with moderate persecution complex"]
["Current Status: No active task. Tossing and turning in bed, mind racing."]
["Current Profession Card Status: Self-Growth System active. Description: as long as he gains useful knowledge or experience through his work and daily life, he will receive corresponding experience points, and can independently raise his Profession Destiny Grid and acquire relevant titles."]
["Time until Quarterly Settlement: 45 days. Description: Quarterly Settlement is roughly equivalent to a player's Monthly Settlement. As lord, you may also choose Annual Settlement or Semi-Annual Settlement. This is equivalent to paying wages to workers and helps boost Freemen's motivation."]
["Friendly reminder: The Humanitarian Oversight System has been automatically activated and cannot be closed. Description: All past actions since joining the camp are pardoned. However, Freemen's behavior must comply with the territory's laws and regulations going forward. Correct mistakes, punish crimes, repay debts, answer for deaths. Follow your moral intuition."]
["Current Territory Contribution: 547"]
["Current Territory Position: None"]
["Friendly reminder: You may selectively share the above information with Freemen to foster their sense of belonging and encourage their motivation."]
This was fascinating.
Li Wei couldn't help wondering — did Night Owl have many cards like this? Was there one with his own detailed profile on it?
Hmm.
A second later, Li Wei let the thought go. Nothing worth dwelling on.
Maybe Night Owl looked at him the way he looked at Nelson? No — more accurately, the way some great six-star lord looked at Night Owl the way he looked at Nelson, and looked at Li Wei like just another unremarkable Freeman.
Interesting.
Li Wei reviewed a few more cards. The information was mostly in line with what he'd estimated. Either way, things would be much more convenient going forward — like having a system in his hands.
And now, issuing tasks no longer required all that ritual.
He could do it directly through the Prestige Card.
Future tasks would still come in two modes. The first could only be issued after a Quarterly Settlement — called Quarterly Main Tasks. At that time, captains and vice-captains among the Freemen could be appointed or dismissed.
Of course, since this was just the beginning, Li Wei could theoretically call all the Freemen together for a Quarterly Settlement right now, announce several Quarterly Main Tasks, and select a captain or vice-captain. The core logic was the same.
"Better to wait a bit longer. This batch of Freemen still needs strengthening."
Li Wei turned to the second task mode — Daily Tasks. These were comprehensive, covering virtually every aspect of camp development.
There was an option here.
["Enable Freemen Self-Triggered Task Option? Description: Enabling this option will significantly boost Freemen motivation. The downside is that too many projects will launch simultaneously, causing resource waste and potentially generating several serious consequences."]
Li Wei thought about it for a long time — and ultimately decided not to enable it.
No need. The camp was only so large, and they didn't have the capacity to run several major projects and several mid-sized projects simultaneously. That was absurd.
Besides, the camp building — inside and out, top to bottom — basically had no more work left to do. Which was exactly why Li Wei had chosen this moment to establish order with the Freemen.
Since he wasn't enabling that option, the other mode remained: Li Wei personally triggering tasks, essentially what he'd been doing for the past two days.
With a basic understanding of the Prestige Card in hand, Li Wei made a few adjustments — allowing all Freemen to view certain information through their own Profession Cards.
Specifically: name, gender, age, estimated lifespan, base attributes (excluding hidden attributes), current Territory Contribution, current Territory position, current status, and a countdown to the next Quarterly Settlement.
Other things — like "cunning" and "ruthless" personality traits — there was no need for them to know.
But when Li Wei confirmed the selection, a few more notifications popped up.
["Spend 500 Contribution points to execute this operation? Description: Running the Prestige System has costs — just as issuing Monthly Main Tasks requires costs for real-time monitoring, measurement, evaluation, and settlement. The more complex the monthly task and the greater the distance, the higher the cost. This is a burden the Head of Household must bear."]
["Friendly reminder: Once this Prestige System is activated, Freemen will no longer be able to receive any information notifications triggered between players, and will no longer be passively drawn into player tasks. All Freeman tasks must be issued by the Head of Household through this Prestige System."]
["Friendly reminder: The maximum coverage radius of the Prestige System is twenty kilometers. All Freemen within this range will be able to receive task information without obstruction. Recommendation: when you plan to leave the camp and travel to more distant areas, leave the Prestige Card at the camp. This will effectively reassure the Freemen."]
Not bad at all.
Li Wei felt it was well worth it. All the Freemen were now fully under his authority — there was nothing anyone else could do to interfere.
The next moment, Li Wei lost 500 Contribution points. Inside the camp building, most of the Freemen were startled — lines of information suddenly appearing before them was deeply disorienting.
But that was no longer Li Wei's concern.
With all the Freemen now formally incorporated into the territory's management system, he stopped paying attention to that and turned to try out the Prestige Card's monthly trade opportunity with headquarters. He was curious about that too.
About three seconds later, a familiar gray mist expanded around Li Wei, cutting him off from the outside world. From within the mist, a figure appeared — an unfamiliar man wearing black-and-white glasses, apparently seated behind some kind of counter, busy with something. The voices of others could be heard in the background, somewhat noisy.