Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 281: Good Standing

Liang Yuzhi left — as if she had never been there.

Li Wei sat on his bed, not the least bit sleepy. That conversation had opened a new world to him, one he had never thought to explore. Even during his time with Hathaway, even after she had earned the title of Witch Hathaway, he had never thought deeply about it.

Of course, back then he hadn't had the time.

But now, he was on the verge of becoming a Three-Star Lord with real authority. It was worth understanding.

'So it's essentially confirmed — the All-Heavens Lord Alliance has a second tier of Profession Cards. The first tier is obtained externally; the second tier has to be forged by the individual themselves.'

'The ones known so far are the Warrior Card and the Witch Card. Are there others? That feels like the world of the truly high-level players.'

Li Wei felt a pull of longing.

After a long moment, he forced himself to rein in those wandering thoughts. Overthinking helped nothing.

Everything had to be grounded in the present. If he couldn't hold on through the Pioneering Mission until the three-year mark, couldn't claim this territory and become a Three-Star Lord with real power — he wouldn't even get a glimpse of that high-level world.

'So other departments are going to come poaching? Trying to recruit me? That can't be good-faith. If I let myself be blinded by short-term gain, I'll come to a bad end.''My bottom line is this: a promise made is a promise kept. If I betray Night Owl for profit just like that, Liang Yuzhi and Li Yue would probably conclude I'm nothing special. If I can betray Night Owl for gain today, then when those two find themselves in trouble again someday, why would they trust me... wait, no. That cunning widow — she's using Night Owl as a test of character.'

Li Wei suddenly saw it clearly, then shook his head. So maintaining a solid reputation really did have its advantages.

Fortunately, he had always been a man of his word.

'At the end of this month I need to cast the plot kill vote on He Yuying. Next month six new players will be sent in — five of them designated by other departments, most likely.'

'And the month after that, Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi will be leaving. I can keep Thomas, Leon, and Zhao Xuanxuan for another three months at most — holding until next spring. By then, someone will certainly lead a raid against me. That will be the weakest moment for this territory.'

Li Wei's gaze shifted slightly. He had a bold idea — could he flip He Yuying?

She had to be in a terrible state right now. A seasoned Four-Star player, eliminated by a plot kill in her very first month. Even if she received compensation on her way out, her reputation would be ruined.

She wasn't the type to give up. A Four-Star professional still had plenty of ambition — and a real shot at claiming a territory in the next Pioneering Mission.

Compared to however many players with murkier motives who would be inserted next month, He Yuying was actually the cleaner option. At least her cards were already on the table.

With that thought, Li Wei lay back down and fell asleep quickly — he needed to restore his Spiritual Power.

He slept until dawn and woke feeling sharp and refreshed, Spiritual Power fully recovered. Good.

Li Wei immediately spent two free attribute points to raise his Perception to +3. This was now his baseline — the daily drain was manageable, but the effect was significant.

Also — if he equipped the Tracker title on top of that, bringing Perception to +5, could he counter Liang Yuzhi's Inspiration analysis?

"Clang — clang — clang!"

The crisp ring of hammer on metal drifted up. Zhao Xuanxuan had started her daily forging. The backlog of orders waiting for her was considerable.

But as long as she used the Five-Star Retention Card, the next four months should be enough — not only to train at least three capable blacksmiths for the camp, but to produce enough weapons and equipment as well.

There was also the matter of the tailoring and armorsmith roles — Li Yue had already made arrangements for those. Combined with Isabel and her mother, whom Liang Yuzhi was training, they would be contributing meaningfully within a year.

And another thought: was it possible to cultivate a Caster from within the camp?

Farmer + Mountaineer + Pharmacist + Scholar — that combination should produce a Caster, right?

Even one would be enormously valuable. Of course, the resources required behind the scenes would be immense.

Liang Yuzhi was ninety-one years old, with over sixty years in the All-Heavens Lord Alliance. How much had she accumulated?

So training a Caster might take ten or twenty years. Setting aside everything else — the Farmer Destiny Grid alone was brutally slow to grind.

"Good morning, my lord!"

After breakfast, Li Wei came downstairs. Freemen greeted him as he passed, and through the Prestige Card system he could track all activity in real time.

Leon's mining team had already set out.

Nelson and Linus were discussing how to expand the underground space and manufacture more lead-alloy shielding for the Radiation Storm.

Isabel, her mother, and two girls of twelve or thirteen were processing freshly gathered herbs. The two girls were among yesterday's new freemen — both with Mountaineer as their primary Profession, so Li Wei had assigned them to the Pharmacist team. The team's supervisor was Liang Yuzhi; the deputy was Isabel's mother.

All things considered, credit was due to Second Aunt Liang Yuzhi — she genuinely taught. Isabel's first Profession was Farmer, and her second was the relatively rare Pharmacist Card.

Even after Liang Yuzhi settled and left, Isabel and her mother could handle the territory's medical needs.

And Isabel's third Profession Card could be the Mountaineer — then all she'd need was a Scholar Card to qualify as a novice Witch.

Thinking this through, Li Wei walked down to the third floor and found no sign of Liang Yuzhi.

Adai was gone too — conscripted by Liang Yuzhi again, sent to the northern mountains at dawn to gather herbs. For some reason, Li Wei had the feeling that Adai was being put through some kind of brutal training with Liang Yuzhi as the instructor. Surely that woman wouldn't plant some kind of hidden trigger in Adai's body?

Actually, that was entirely possible. For instance, if Li Wei ever tried to harm Liang Yuzhi, Adai might be compelled to alert her — actively or passively.

That sharp, reclusive, eccentric old widow was capable of anything.

But precisely because of that, Li Wei actually trusted her sincerity. She had made too many enemies; too many people were waiting to kick her while she was down. After experiencing the world's coldness firsthand, her thinking had naturally shifted.

Li Wei came to the second floor — the children's domain. After yesterday's influx, the camp now had forty-two children under eight.

Infants were nursing, toddlers were rolling around, slightly older ones were fighting over toys, and the older children were playing hide-and-seek. To manage them, the camp had assigned twenty women — fourteen of whom were nursing mothers.

Conditions had to be flexible.

Also, the second floor no longer had any adult men living on it — they had all moved to the first floor, to avoid any unpleasant incidents. Humanistic care and all that.

Li Wei only stayed on the second floor for a moment before the noise drove him away with a headache.

Worth noting: children aged nine to thirteen had all been assigned as apprentices — nothing physically demanding. Kitchen prep work, assisting the Pharmacist team, keeping records in the warehouse, learning construction knowledge from Nelson and Linus, equipment maintenance, and other practical skills.

In the future, the experience from these skills would become important conditions for upgrading their Profession Cards.

Also, when these freemen advanced, Li Wei as the acting lord covered the gold coin cost. They only needed to accumulate enough experience and obtain a Clearance Token of the appropriate quality.

After making the rounds, Li Wei was satisfied. The Level 5 Scavenger Camp's internal operations had settled into a proper rhythm. Even if he were away for a month, it would keep running under its established rules and systems — and with Nelson as general manager and department heads covering every area, nothing needed Li Wei's direct attention.

So the Monthly Main Task had become almost optional for Li Wei.

But that didn't mean he had nothing to do.

Li Wei went back up to the fifth floor, put on his armor, shouldered the Tactical Backpack, collected his weapons, and headed downstairs.

Others had to worry about surviving the Radiation Storm a month away. What he had to worry about was next spring — when Thomas, Leon, and Zhao Xuanxuan all settled and left, how would he handle a raid?

So what was there to say? Time to drill the freemen hard.

"Mark — with me!"

"Mark, Mark..." Mark, who had been helping Javier move supplies on the first floor, came running over happily.

Li Wei then called up Benjamin, Santiago, Xavier, Carter, and the others. Farmland No. 4 had already been harvested, and No. 5 still had ten days or so to go — and since it was corn, driving off the mutant birds was much easier. A few patrol members were enough to handle it.

Outside the walls, Li Wei stopped to check on the 108 low-level Ability Users quarantined in tents. They were drinking their Blood Resistance Potions — this was their fourth dose. The effects were finally starting to show: many were vomiting and suffering from diarrhea, making a tremendous fuss.

But that was actually a good sign. It meant the radiation Blood Plague toxin was fighting back inside their bodies. The battle was currently at a standstill — two more days of medication and it would stabilize. Liang Yuzhi was out gathering herbs, and Two-Star potions would be ready for batch production soon.

Come to think of it, Isabel had already learned to prepare One-Star Blood Resistance Potions.

But the Two-Star formula apparently couldn't be passed on.

With these thoughts in mind, Li Wei led Benjamin, Santiago, Xavier, Mark, and the others to a wide open area.

He smiled. "Next year we can build a larger perimeter wall and then a proper training ground. Daily training is essential and needs to be consistent. Starting today, everyone sets aside half a day for training."

"Come on — all of you come at me at once. Watch out for each other."

Li Wei casually unsheathed the Enchanted Heavy Sword and settled into a stance.

The others exchanged glances. Even Thomas and He Yuying, not far away, couldn't help staring. Pulling out a Four-Star enchanted weapon for training drills — that was practically a massacre.