Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 263: The Season of Harvest

Time passed in a flash, and the end of August arrived.

This was Li Wei's fifth month in this world. The fourth month for Liang Yuzhi, Li Yue, Thomas, Leon, and Zhao Xuanxuan. The third month for Zhang Jinjun.

Without quite realizing it, what had once been a ruin-strewn town had become a fortified camp stronghold.

The wheat on the building's rooftop terrace — planted early — was now a field of gold, ready for harvest.

Li Wei had deliberately chosen the last day of the month to bring it in. Only a small plot, but the wheat was excellent quality. Adai circled overhead, visibly impatient with hunger.

In fact, over the past two weeks, the ripening wheat had been drawing more and more mutant birds and small mutant creatures. At first, a few Freemen on watch was enough. Later, Li Yue had to step in personally, longbow in hand, shooting down over a hundred mutant birds in one go before the crisis was temporarily resolved.

And this was just the beginning. Field No. 4's wheat would be ready in another seven or eight days. Field No. 5's corn would be harvestable in twenty. No need to deliberately sniff — on a gentle breeze, the sweet fragrance of wheat and the warm scent of corn drifted across the entire town.

That was the special quality of high-grade crops.

Li Wei had no doubt: this harvest would yield Three-Star quality wheat and corn.

"Caw, caw!"Adai was urging him on. Impatient little glutton.

Li Wei held a bag in his left hand and his dagger in his right. Walking through the wheat field, he harvested all the Three-Star wheat in a single pass, then the Two-Star, then the One-Star.

No ordinary wheat at all.

He grabbed a handful of Three-Star wheat stalks and tossed them to Adai, who let out an excited caw.

Not bad. The small plot yielded about one hundred kilograms total — an impressive yield by ordinary farming standards. But this was soil enriched with One-Star irradiated black earth.

Still slightly below what he'd hoped for.

["You have successfully harvested 12 kg of Three-Star Wheat, 34 kg of Two-Star Wheat, and 60 kg of One-Star Wheat. You have earned an additional 54 Contribution points. You have earned 200 Farming Experience points."]

Better than nothing.

Interestingly, the Resource Department didn't come out to purchase this time.

But Li Wei knew what was expected. He'd keep the One-Star wheat, keep a third of the Two-Star wheat, and voluntarily sell the rest. This would become standard practice. Only when he held genuine control over this territory would he have any right to retain a small portion of Three-Star wheat — all of this had been written into the original contract.

Once formally enfeoffed as a Baron, he'd be expected to remit fifty percent in royal taxes, plus — most likely — an additional ten percent in Duke's taxes.

The wheat harvest was just a small interlude. The most important event of the day was completing the final stone block of the Level 3 city wall.

And that could only be done by Li Wei himself — otherwise it wouldn't count.

At ten in the morning, under a brilliant sun and a clear blue sky, with all family members and most of the Freemen watching, Li Wei carried the last stone block to a suitably unremarkable position, poured in the cement mortar with practiced ease, smoothed and leveled the surface.

Done.

"Yes!"

Thomas and Leon led the applause. Of course — who would dare not give the lord face? Even though Li Wei had done virtually nothing else on this Level 3 wall from start to finish, that didn't diminish his wise leadership and tremendous contributions in the slightest.

In the cheers and applause, lines of text surfaced before every family member and every Freeman — because this was a camp development milestone of near-epic proportions.

["Under the leadership of Head of Household Li Wei, through the efforts of Family Members Thomas, Zhang Jinjun, Leon, Zhao Xuanxuan, Liang Yuzhi, and Li Yue, with the assistance of 24 Freemen including Nelson and Santiago, the Scavenger Camp has — over three months — completed the construction of a Level 3 City Wall. This wall provides defensive capability sufficient to directly withstand and repel attacks from Level 5 Rock Giants. The wall is equipped with four types of defensive weapons and mechanisms, and three types of trap systems. From this point forward, the Scavenger Camp's security will be dramatically improved. This also marks the Scavenger Camp's official advancement to Level 4."]

["Scavenger Camp population +2. After the Month-End Summary, two new camp members will arrive within twenty-four hours."]

["The camp's Pioneering Points and fixed assets have increased. Current maximum earnable Contribution cap: 32,500 points. Current total Contribution earned: 21,300 points."]

—

Excellent. Riding the momentum of these notifications, Li Wei immediately activated the Prestige Card and opened the Quarterly Settlement for all Freemen.

In practice, the date was still five days away — but as lord, he had the authority to pay early.

In that moment, a notification surfaced before every Freeman.

["Li Wei — founder of the Level 4 Scavenger Camp, liberator of the Freemen, architect of the Scavenger Camp's order and rules, patriarch of the Li Family, and a powerful contender for the future of this land — announces the opening of the Quarterly Settlement for all Freemen today. All Freemen are requested to assemble on the first floor of the camp building within thirty minutes."]

Well. Even Li Wei himself was looking forward to this.

The Freemen quickly gathered. They'd been curious about the Task Settlement and this mysterious organization for a long time — they'd speculated endlessly but never learned the truth. What would this Quarterly Settlement bring them?

Would their future be slavery? Would they be used as cannon fodder?

Meanwhile, lines of information were flashing before Li Wei's eyes.

["Over the past two months and twenty-four days, a total of 40 qualifying Freemen have made significant contributions to this camp. They have cumulatively earned 2,800 Contribution points for you. Per the rules, you are required to pay them 280,000 Territory Contribution points — equivalent to 2,800 Standard Copper Coins. (Note: Since this month's Month-End Summary has not yet begun, this month's Contribution has not been included. It will be carried over to the next Quarterly Settlement — commonly referred to as 'one month's wages held back...')"]

["Friendly reminder: Several Freemen have worked exceptionally hard and deserve additional rewards or promotion. You may also use Bronze Clearance Tokens to provide rewards and enhance their capabilities."]

["Friendly reminder: After completing the first Quarterly Settlement for your Freemen, a small market belonging to the Freemen will appear. You may choose to leave it to grow organically, appoint a Freeman as market manager, or invest supplies to support it. Of course, a three-year tax-free policy must be declared."]

—

Interesting. He'd given these Freemen a small demonstration of authority earlier — now it was time to offer the carrot.

With that thought, Li Wei smiled — genuinely.

"Everyone. I'm glad that in a season like this, we can share a moment of hard-won peace."

"I know — and you know — what it cost us to get here. We had no other choice. But fortunately, things are slowly getting better."

"Now — take what you've earned. You deserve it."

A few brief words. Li Wei took out 28 Standard Gold Coins and hurled them into the air with full force. In an instant, the 28 coins dissolved into 2,800 streams of golden mist that filled the sky — brilliant, magnificent, and perfectly suited for a low-key display of power.

In the next moment, guided by the Prestige Card system, the golden mist transformed into Standard Copper Coins and landed precisely in each Freeman's hands.

This was the currency of the territory's future.

Of course, the Freemen had no confidence in it yet — which was exactly why the market needed to exist.

"Jenny — from this moment forward, I appoint you as Market Manager. You may set aside a space on the first floor as the market. Come find me shortly to collect the initial stock of goods. The prices are all marked. If you have any questions, come to me directly."

"That's all. Dismissed."

With that, Li Wei hurried to Warehouse No. 1 on the third floor. He needed to pull some supplies to give to Jenny for the market's opening inventory. Other matters could wait — but establishing the market, and with it the Freemen's confidence, was critical.

Every copper coin in the Freemen's hands had to be spent, and they had to feel it was worth spending. Otherwise this was just playing house.

As Li Wei was heading up the stairs, Li Yue suddenly stopped him and handed over his boots — now modified and freshly cleaned. But as he took them, Li Yue's hand moved quickly under the cover of the boots and slipped something into his palm. It looked like a Clearance Token.

Not through a trade.

A trade would leave a record. This kind of direct transfer — even the Headquarters' backend couldn't detect it, because it was Li Yue's own personal property.

"Brother, I'll always love you."

Li Yue smiled prettily and brushed past him.

Well, well.

Li Wei glanced at her, carried the boots upstairs, and snuck a look midway. A Black Iron Quality Clearance Token. What?

He was still processing the surprise when Liang Yuzhi came toward him from the other direction, arms full of things, clearly struggling with the load.

"Second Aunt, let me help."

"Little Wei, no need — you're still weak."

As she said this, Liang Yuzhi also quickly pressed something into his palm — another Clearance Token. Also Black Iron.

What was going on?

Li Wei didn't show surprise. He couldn't ask with a conspiracy card either — even conspiracy card conversations could be reviewed by the Headquarters' backend.

So — were Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi investing in him?

No, no. Neither of them was Head of Household. And Black Iron tokens weren't registered to anyone — once handed over, they were no longer theirs.

So this could only be called a favor — a gift. They knew he was about to open a market for the Freemen, and that building the Freemen's confidence in the market and in the future was important.

Li Wei felt a quiet appreciation. This was the benefit of aligned interests.

Li Yue wanted to successfully kill the special boss — so she'd do everything she could to strengthen the camp's overall power.

Liang Yuzhi wanted to keep rolling toward a Rare Scholar Card and needed to keep borrowing Adai for early warning. After all, once she'd read through a thousand books, her mind became sluggish and dull — without Adai's warnings, she'd be nearly blind to danger.