Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 258: The Sincere Li Yue

By the time Li Wei made it back to the Scavenger Camp, it was midday. Liang Yuzhi's bus had just unloaded its second supply run and departed.

Hmm — wait. What had this run brought back?

It looked like a steam engine. Generating power with a steam engine wasn't a bad idea at all, especially now that they had enough coal. And the radiation storm probably had less impact on steam engines than on solar panels, right?

His dear little sister had actually done something useful.

"Good day, my lord!"

Warehouse manager Javier and welder Linus were working with Zhao Xuanxuan and some others to install the massive steam engine. They stopped and greeted him when they saw Li Wei return.

"No need to stop working for formalities."

Li Wei nodded, then glanced at Zhao Xuanxuan. She blinked — everything had been normal these past few days. Good.

He went straight to the third floor, unloaded everything from his pack in the warehouse, handed some items to Auntie Ellen in Warehouse No. 2, then finally headed up to the fifth floor. He took a long, comfortable bath, changed into a robe that some auntie had apparently prepared for him, went up to the rooftop, and settled into a chair in the sun. Bliss.

In practice, though, he was quite busy. He'd been away from camp for several days without the Prestige Card, so he'd missed a flood of notifications. Now he had to go through them one by one — like processing office paperwork. With so many Freemen in camp, every person's daily work progress, every performance report, the camp's overall wealth increase, fixed asset growth — all of it had to be compiled through the Prestige Card.Just a few days had generated hundreds of notifications.

Li Wei's head was nearly splitting. He was genuinely not cut out for this kind of administrative work.

If they ever had several hundred Freemen, he'd ascend on the spot.

He filtered out the less important items. What remained was the critical stuff.

["Family Member Zhao Xuanxuan, working with welder Linus, has completed the construction and installation of a dual-mode electric/manual gear-operated elevator. Only five Freemen are needed to operate it between the fifth floor and the third basement level. This device has effectively solved the materials transport problem. The Scavenger Camp's fixed assets have increased. The maximum earnable Family Contribution cap has increased by 500 points. Current cap: 17,150 points."]

["Freeman Nelson has led a group of Freeman miners in constructing a forward outpost at Valley Town. Family fixed assets have increased... Current cap: 17,500 points."]

["Warehouse No. 3 manager Javier, with the assistance of Family Member Thomas, has constructed Warehouse No. 4 outside the camp building. Family fixed assets have increased... Current cap: 17,600 points."]

["Family Member Zhao Xuanxuan, working with welder Linus, has welded a 100-cubic-meter underground water tower... Current cap: 17,800 points."]

["Family Member Zhao Xuanxuan, working with welder Linus, has welded a Two-Star quality heating boiler... Current cap: 18,500 points."]

["Family Member Zhao Xuanxuan, working with welder Linus, has assembled a steam generator set. Family fixed assets have increased... Current cap: 19,000 points."]

—

Not bad. But this month's end-of-month settlement would definitely overflow the Contribution cap.

Fortunately, next month would solve that problem: the city wall. At minimum a Level 3 wall — once completed, the Scavenger Camp would advance to Level 4, gaining +1 population and a substantial increase in fixed assets.

Li Wei let out a quiet breath of relief, but couldn't help thinking about the radiation storm two months away. Currently at maximum difficulty — but with two powerhouses helping, it should be manageable.

Come to think of it, next month he'd need to go out again and grind for two Universal Gold Cards. His two-handed heavy sword and Three-Star War Bow both needed further enhancement...

Ahem. No — next month he needed to systematically overhaul the camp's industrial zone.

The smithy and blast furnace had to be rebuilt inside the city walls. The camp building's outer walls needed further reinforcement. Two months from now, he needed at least twenty siege crossbows minimum. He, Li Yue, Liang Yuzhi, Thomas, Leon, Zhao Xuanxuan, and Zhang Jinjun could handle close-quarters combat outside, while the Freemen manned the rooftop terrace for ranged fire.

Come to think of it, they really did need a fortified shooting platform...

Li Wei thought for a long time, head throbbing.

So when Li Yue returned with the convoy at dusk and threw herself into his arms with a soft whimper, he was still in a daze.

Then he received a four-star conspiracy card.

Impressive. What wisdom does the great one have to offer?

"Li Wei — you pushed the Pioneering Side Mission's extra difficulty to 180%?"

Li Yue stepped back from his arms, sat across from him, and asked quietly.

"Yes. Liang Yuzhi said it didn't matter, so I figured it didn't matter. Sorry for not telling you." Li Wei answered honestly, genuinely curious to see Li Yue lose her composure.

Unfortunately, the other side was perfectly calm. A pair of beautiful eyes looked back at him steadily. The scene was actually quite pleasant.

"Can we cooperate? I mean — if I'm willing to give up competing with you for Head of Household, can we work together?"

That sounded remarkably sincere.

Li Wei smiled faintly. "Of course. I'd be happy to cooperate. I just don't know what it would cost me."

"I need to roll a Hunter Card."

"A Hunter Card? That's not hard—" Li Wei paused, then immediately understood. What Li Yue wanted was obviously not an ordinary Hunter Card. She wanted one with a Rare prefix — or even higher.

"It's not that simple. What I want is a Hunter Card with a Rare prefix. That usually requires meeting several difficult conditions, and luck plays a role too — it can take three to five years without any guarantee. But there's a special type of Universal Gold Card that can be exchanged for a Rare-prefix profession card. And that special Universal Gold Card only drops from killing a special boss."

"That special boss only has a chance to appear when the extra mission difficulty is raised to 180% — the maximum cap."

"So that's my request. Two months from now, when the radiation storm hits — if the special boss doesn't appear, so be it. If it does appear and is killed, I want that special Universal Gold Card. In exchange, I'll give you the Five-Star Retention Card I'm holding, and from this moment on, I'll cooperate with you fully and help you hold the Scavenger Camp. What do you say?"

What the —

In that moment, Li Wei genuinely heard sincerity in her voice. He looked at Li Yue in surprise, wanting to ask why.

But almost immediately he realized: Liang Yuzhi had probably played him. Pushing the Pioneering Side Mission's extra difficulty to 180% was genuinely dangerous — it could go catastrophically wrong.

Liang Yuzhi didn't care. That crazy widow hadn't just wanted to drag Li Yue down with her — she'd been trying to take Li Wei out in the same move.

So now Li Yue was the anxious one? Forced to settle for less?

"Deal. I agree. As long as we can kill the special boss and survive this radiation storm, I'll give you the dropped special Universal Gold Card. But I have two conditions: first, the Five-Star Retention Card in your possession must be transferred to me immediately. Second, if anyone is injured after killing the special boss, the Universal Gold Card must be used to heal them first."

Li Wei spoke firmly. No special Universal Gold Card was more important than developing the pioneering territory. He was willing to pay this price. To compromise.

"Deal."

Li Yue exhaled with relief. The look she gave Li Wei held a trace of genuine admiration. Most people would have hesitated, dragged their feet, gone back and forth — especially someone like Liang Yuzhi. Disgusting.

Li Wei, on the other hand — even as a rival, she had to respect him.

"I'll say this upfront as well: if the special boss doesn't appear, I won't go back on my word either. Once the six months are up, I'll settle out and exit this world normally. Li Wei — I actually look forward to working with you on a Cross-Border Mission someday."

With that, Li Yue decisively transferred the Five-Star Retention Card. Li Wei's part was to repeat the terms of the agreement on a contract item card.

Simple.

Li Wei then went directly to Leon and transferred the Five-Star Retention Card to him temporarily. As the most important and most trusted ally on his side, giving him a Retention Card for three extra months was well worth it.

Combined with the Five-Star Retention Card Li Wei already held, he could now keep Thomas, Leon, and Zhao Xuanxuan for an additional three months. The significance of this was enormous — it essentially secured victory in the first half of the mission.

Now only one question remained: could they withstand the special boss's assault while the radiation storm raged?

From this moment on, at least, everyone on their side was truly united. No one would be dragging their feet or throwing obstacles anymore.

By dusk, the cooking team led by Auntie Ellen had finished preparing the full dinner.

In the first-floor dining hall, all the Freemen ate together. Li Wei brought Li Yue, Liang Yuzhi, Zhao Xuanxuan, Leon, Thomas, and Zhang Jinjun to mingle warmly with the Freemen — reviewing the month's achievements, offering generous praise and encouragement, while also laying out a simple, heartfelt vision for the future: grow stronger, build bigger, reach new heights.

In the conversation that followed, Freeman representatives Nelson, Javier, Linus, Santiago, Xavier, Benjamin, Ellen, and others all spoke up enthusiastically, sharing their thoughts and suggestions in their respective areas of expertise. They unanimously declared their absolute, unwavering loyalty to the lord — they would follow his lead in all things.

Finally, everyone raised a cup together, bringing the evening to a satisfying close.

When Li Wei and the others climbed to the fourth floor and took their seats in the small dining room, the players' own dinner finally began.

The expressions around the table were varied. Leon and Zhao Xuanxuan were barely containing their delight. Thomas and Zhang Jinjun looked like they'd learned something.

Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi were more complicated.

True — for them, winning over a few dozen Freemen was nothing remarkable. But this had essentially proven Li Wei's ability. Especially the fact that he'd managed to bring about the current situation — holding his own right under the noses of two veterans, without falling behind. Granted, Liang Yuzhi's chaotic meddling had played a massive role, and they'd had the bad luck of running straight into the Dictator BUFF from the start.

But three months had passed — and they couldn't help but feel a grudging, quiet respect.