Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 275: The Feeling of Being a Lord

At sunset, Li Wei and He Yuying finally made it back to the Scavenger Camp.

After a wash and a proper meal, he called in Nelson, Javier, Linus, Ellen, Jenny, Benjamin, Santiago, and Xavier, along with Thomas and Leon, for an emergency camp meeting.

Liang Yuzhi was left to her own devices — he didn't dare involve her in the day-to-day management of the camp.

As for He Yuying, she was assigned to patrol duty alongside Zhang Jinjun, keeping a low profile in the background.

Like it or not, that was how it was.

In truth, Li Wei had once considered giving Zhang Jinjun more responsibility — the man seemed honest enough. But the problem was that he had given up on himself far too easily. The moment he realized there was nothing in it for him, he decided he was being targeted and might as well slack off, wearing the face of a man who saw through everything while everyone else was blind, wallowing in self-pity.

During those months of heavy construction, who wasn't run off their feet?

Zhang Jinjun alone had stuck strictly to his assigned tasks and nothing more — and called it a day once they were done.

It was almost amusing. Li Wei had no respect for bosses who were rotten to the core, but he also had no intention of chasing after people who wouldn't put in the effort. He rewarded those who worked hard — he just wasn't going to beg anyone.

As for the newly arrived He Yuying — a Four-Star professional who had coasted through the entire battle without contributing anything — what was she expecting?"I have good news for everyone. We killed the Flame Duke, rescued a large number of natural persons from his grip, and secured a new base. Tomorrow, 208 new freemen will be joining our Scavenger Camp. Nelson — as the freemen's quarterly manager, I'd like you to personally make the trip tomorrow morning with Xavier. Some of those freemen may be people you know. Thomas, go with them and bring Santiago's patrol squad."

"Understood, my lord. Leave it to me." Nelson rose quickly. He was no stranger to the Flame Duke — over the past several years, groups of Ability Users claiming to serve the Duke had attacked the underground base at irregular intervals. The two sides were sworn enemies.

Which was probably exactly why the lord had chosen him to handle this personally.

Yes — that had to be it.

Nelson sat back down, his mind already racing. A quarterly manager who didn't aim for re-election wasn't worth his salt. For the family's prosperity, he had to give it everything he had.

And with new freemen arriving, alliances would need to be built — a shame he only had one daughter.

"Linus — the new arrivals will need somewhere to live. You're the camp's chief engineer. How would you suggest we handle it? We can carve out space from the third, fourth, and fifth floors. Also — will there be any impact on winter heating?"

Li Wei asked again. He was glad he had promoted these freemen when he did. At the time he had wondered if appointing eight managers for a camp of forty-eight people was excessive. Now it seemed just right.

Any problem that came up could simply be handed to the relevant department.

Linus stood up promptly. "My lord, first — winter heating is fully sorted. Coal reserves, boiler pressure testing and calibration, and the manual water-pumping systems are all in place. We're also planning to install interior insulation on the walls. Indoor temperatures will be guaranteed to stay above 18 degrees Celsius in winter."

"As for accommodation — that is a bit of a challenge. Each floor of the camp building has roughly 500 square meters of usable space, and some of that is already occupied by essential facilities."

"My proposal would be to suspend mushroom production on the first floor. Our food supply is actually very well-stocked right now — we have large reserves of dried vegetables, and over the past two months we've gathered plenty of wild greens and mushrooms from outside. There's no need to dedicate valuable indoor space to that anymore."

"If you approve, my lord, I also think we should begin planning a larger perimeter wall starting next spring. That would allow us to build proper housing for freemen on the existing residential plots of the old town, and begin construction of a larger, more robust underground base."

"To address the immediate problem — once the first-floor mushroom production area is cleared, we should be able to accommodate fifty people. With bunk beds at maximum density, roughly a hundred."

"In addition, of the four zones A through D on the outer ground level, Zone A is reserved for coal storage. The other three zones could each accommodate about fifty beds. It'll be a bit cold in winter, but those spots can be used for combat personnel and shift workers — which would free up some space on the second floor."

"If we also use part of the third floor, that's another fifty beds."

"The fourth and fifth floors won't need to be touched."

"If you have no other instructions, my lord, I'd like to start immediately."

"Good — proceed as you've outlined. You can select ten people from tomorrow's new arrivals as your assistants and workers." Li Wei nodded. Now that was the right attitude.

This felt wonderful. A few words and the problem was solved. No wonder everyone wanted to be a lord.

"Ellen — food supply and mealtimes for the freemen fall under your kitchen team's responsibility as well. You can also pick ten people from tomorrow's arrivals to join your cooking crew."

Food was critical, and the preparation process even more so. Fewer people meant fewer problems — more people meant more complications.

Especially now that they were running a communal kitchen. Without capable cooks to manage things, it would quickly become a mess.

Perhaps in the future the rationing system could be changed — from communal dormitories to something more like household ownership? One family, one home...

"Don't worry, my lord. You can always count on us." Ellen was practically beating her chest with confidence. Everyone's motivation was running high — because while some people might not care about becoming stronger, everyone cared about becoming younger and more beautiful.

By the time Li Wei wrapped up the camp meeting, it was nearly eleven at night, and his throat was dry from talking.

There were still many matters inside and outside the camp that required his personal attention and judgment.

Just as he was heading up to the fifth floor for some sleep, Liang Yuzhi called out to him as he passed the third floor:

"Xiao Wei — the lucky one woke up."

Oh?

The test subject?

Li Wei's drowsiness vanished instantly. The man was a Level 3 Ability User — in some sense, a third-stage Blood Plague case. Whether he could be brought back fully was genuinely uncertain.

Worth noting: Liang Yuzhi had been using him as a practice subject ever since she returned, with Isabel and her mother assisting on the side. How much they'd learned was anyone's guess.

"Second Aunt — what's his condition?"

Li Wei stepped into Liang Yuzhi's workroom. The man lay on a stretcher, completely dazed, bound head to toe like a mummy. His severed hand had been neatly bandaged. Looking at him, he seemed perfectly ordinary — no one would guess he was an Ability User who could transform into a stone giant.

"He'll live. He lost a lot of blood, but for him that was actually a good thing. For you, though, it might be bad news."

"Why?"

"Because the Blood Plague in his system has dropped a level. He's currently only a Level 1 infected — he can be classified as a safe natural person. There's no risk of him losing control anymore."

"But his stone giant ability has vanished along with it. So the result you were hoping for isn't happening. These Ability Users fundamentally can't walk the path back to normal — not unless they choose the extreme non-human route. But the cost of that is enormous, and success isn't guaranteed."

"Alright, Isabel — everyone get some rest."

Liang Yuzhi gave Li Wei a nod and went off to sleep.

Li Wei thought for a moment, then untied the man from the stretcher. The man was still deeply confused, as though large portions of his memory had been lost.

"Do you remember who you are?" Li Wei asked, not quite ready to give up.

After a long pause, the man managed two syllables: "Mark..."

"Your name is Mark? Good. How are you feeling — are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

"Mark..."

"Mark..."

Li Wei stared. The experiment had failed. Even brought back from the brink, his mind was gone. There might be some fragments of memory left, but for the camp's purposes, he was effectively useless.

Li Wei picked Mark up with one hand and carried him to Zone C on the outer ground floor, where some beds were set aside for the patrol squads. Benjamin's second patrol squad was resting there.

"Benjamin — let everyone know. Keep an eye on him. If he does anything dangerous, restrain him by force — and if necessary, put him down. If he's harmless, put him to work so he can earn his keep."

"Yes, my lord."

And that was the end of it.

At four in the morning the next day, three electric buses quietly left the camp, heading eighty kilometers to the small city base.

At the same time, Li Wei woke up out of habit. He started with a twenty-kilometer warm-up run, came back for a hot shower, had breakfast, and then settled into his workroom on the fifth floor — a room he shared with Li Yue.

Li Yue used it to sew winter clothes and make leather boots.

Li Wei used it to maintain his weapons and equipment.

He liked it here. It let him clear his mind and think about problems from a broader perspective, at a higher strategic level.

It was a stumbling kind of growth, but growth nonetheless.

'There are a few important things to think about for the rest of this year.'

'First — I need to guard against a raid. Killing the Flame Duke has cut off the neighboring camp's development. If the neighbor is nobody, or ranked tenth or lower, there's nothing to worry about. But if it's one of the top five seed players, they might come after us out of desperation. Li Yue even said it herself — the second year is when raiding and all-out conflict begins.'

'Can't let development stall, but can't ignore the threat of a raid either. It's genuinely tricky.'

The thought even made him consider returning those two Five-Star Delay Cards to Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi — let them stay another three months. They were just too useful. He really didn't want them to leave.

But that wasn't urgent. There was time to decide.