Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 288: Donations

"Everyone on my command — Li Feng, Liang Yuying, descend to the third underground level and protect the women and children among the freemen. Prepare for the possibility of mutant creatures breaking through the underground defenses."

"First and Second Patrol Squads, take your firing positions!"

"Xiaoyue, you have the south line. Zhao Guozhu, Thomas, Leon — the three of you take the east line!"

"Xiaowei, Annie, Zhao Xuanxuan — west line!"

"Old John, lead the Third Patrol Squad on the north line!"

Liang Yuzhi's voice rang out with crystalline clarity throughout the entire building, audible even in the basement — as if she had cast some amplification spell.

In truth, she was standing on the rooftop, commanding from the center.

No one was better suited for that role.

This was one of the two arrangements Li Wei had made during the family meeting: Liang Yuzhi commanded during combat; Li Yue managed internal camp affairs during peacetime, in case he was otherwise occupied.

Now, as Li Wei, Annie, and Zhao Xuanxuan charged out from the western side of the building along their designated route, they found the outside blazing like daylight. A massive sphere of light floated above the camp building, like a small sun, illuminating a radius of over five hundred meters.Was that — Light Magic?

Well then. Liang Yuzhi had finally stopped holding back. Domineering and absolute — the queen had returned.

She had changed into a gorgeous, mysterious witch's robe. Li Wei didn't know the details, but it looked incredibly powerful — so much so that even the tide of mutant creatures surging from every direction seemed almost trivial by comparison.

Truly, nothing was more inspiring than this.

And the holy light buff was genuinely useful.

[You have been illuminated by First-Order Light Magic. For 30 minutes, you are effectively immune to radiation toxin erosion. Radiation Toxin -50%.]

Excellent.

In that moment, Li Wei suddenly understood why headquarters had been so willing to believe he was some charming figurehead — a kept man propped up by a witch and a widow — rather than accept that he had been the one to personally take down the Flame Duke.

Because when a First-Order Casting Witch appeared on the battlefield, she was genuinely overwhelming.

From the south came the sharp, rhythmic sound of blades — Li Yue, alone, on a killing spree.

This Radiation Storm was beginning to feel like a personal showcase for Liang Yuzhi and Li Yue.

The south line had the most and strongest mutant creatures, but Li Yue was utterly fearless. Her swift, ferocious silhouette was visible even from the western wall — and in the brief time since the battle began, before the western line had even been engaged, Li Yue had already dropped four Four-Star mutant creatures and four Universal Gold Cards.

Li Wei didn't need to go collect them, though — because Campaign Mode had just activated.

[The Finale — Radiation Storm storyline is now beginning. This is a fixed storyline that every Pioneering Branch will face. This storyline is Campaign Mode and will last 30 days.]

[In this Campaign Mode, all kills by players and freemen will be recorded by both the Pioneering Card system and the Prestige Card system. Even if the Head of Household falls in battle, the storyline will not end. All players and freemen may continue to hold out under the Prestige Card system's support, until the last person falls. If final victory is achieved, a new Head of Household will be selected after the campaign ends.]

[Note 1: In this Campaign Mode, Universal Gold Cards dropped from kills will no longer be subject to difficulty restrictions. For example, the previous 150% difficulty will not increase further regardless of how many are killed or used during this campaign.]

[Note 2: Universal Gold Cards may now be collected up to six hours after dropping. A dropped card can serve as a recovery point for allied combatants, consuming the card's power based on the severity of the ally's injuries until it is depleted.]

[Warning: Universal Gold Cards may also be seized by mutant creatures. Therefore, all participants in this battle are eligible to collect and redeem or donate Universal Gold Cards. Both systems will record this simultaneously.]

—

Not bad at all.

Li Wei smiled faintly, then called out: "Xiaoyue — keep one for recovery. Donate the rest!"

Donate. One Universal Gold Card could be exchanged for 1,000 standard gold coins.

But the point wasn't the gold coins — it was a tribute. A bribe, in a certain sense.

Neither Li Yue nor Liang Yuzhi had mentioned this to him before.

But Li Wei understood: if something existed in this world, it existed for a reason. Especially after learning there was a department dedicated to cracking down on smuggling — that had given him the idea. He wanted to test it: what would happen if he kept donating Universal Gold Cards?

Maybe nothing would come of it. Maybe it would turn out to be wishful thinking.

But what if it wasn't?

He was still short on Universal Gold Cards — but the battle against the Flame Duke had been remarkably generous.

Nine Silver Clearance Tokens.

What luxury.

Once upon a time he had racked his brain just to obtain a single Bronze Token.

Now he didn't even blink before spending them. That one windfall had bought him breathing room for the foreseeable future.

So he could afford a small indulgence.

What was the point of a favorable position, if not for moments like this?

A Two-Star Sniper Armor-Piercing Arrow flew out with a sharp whistle, shattering the skull of some unidentified mutant creature three hundred meters away.

Fast arrow, strong bow — the mark of a man who could afford to be bold.

The next second, Li Wei exhaled and let loose — fifteen arrows in ten seconds, each one a kill. Fifteen mutant creatures charging the western line were eliminated in a single breath. Most were Level 3 mutants, but that was still impressive.

He let out a long breath. Of his 350 Stamina, 250 had vanished.

His arms were trembling slightly — because he wasn't wearing the Flame Baron title. He was still using the Rat Slayer title, which left him with only 29 Strength, one point short of the minimum 30 required to wield the Four-Star Enchanted Strong Bow comfortably.

Using it was a genuine strain.

But that was intentional. The radiation fog might block headquarters' monitoring systems — and while it probably couldn't fool the higher departments, it should be enough to fool the likes of the Commerce Department, Logistics Department, and Resource Department.

So for now, the narrative had to hold: the ones who had done the real work in bringing down the Flame Duke were Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi, whom he had convinced to act.

Wasn't that exactly what the two of them were demonstrating right now?

Li Wei felt their three-way understanding had reached a certain level of refinement.

Zhao Xuanxuan moved decisively to Li Wei's front-left, positioning herself as a shield to buy him time to recover his Stamina.

Annie from the Medical Department stood at his rear-left, holding a rapid-fire mechanical crossbow — a textbook defensive formation.

Not that it was needed. Liang Yuzhi on the rooftop was already conjuring fireballs of varying sizes in rapid succession, controlling the entire field.

Within a five-hundred-meter radius, she could hit anything, anywhere. Some fireballs even curved and tracked their targets, following arcing trajectories. Remarkable.

And her mana consumption seemed remarkably low — she had been patrolling outside for nearly a full day and night already.

Whether it was his imagination or not, Li Wei also felt that Liang Yuzhi's fireballs were becoming smoother and more fluid with each passing minute — more precise, more alive, carrying a kind of sharp, intuitive intelligence.

[Family member Li Yue, acting on Head of Household Li Wei's order, has chosen to donate three Four-Star Universal Gold Cards. Total received: 3,000 standard gold coins. These coins will be added to the family's assets and distributed proportionally to each family member at the bi-annual settlement, based on contribution records and other criteria.]

[Family member Thomas, acting on order, has chosen to donate one Four-Star Universal Gold Card...]

[Family member Old John, acting on order, has chosen to donate one Universal Gold Card...]

In a short span of time, eight Four-Star mutant creatures had been killed. Of the Universal Gold Cards dropped, all but one — kept as a recovery supply and decoy — were donated.

Even Annie, the freelance player from the Medical Department, wore a look of bewilderment. What a waste — donations couldn't compare to using them for upgrades, or even exchanging them for Clearance Tokens. The value-to-cost ratio was terrible.

Old John, Zhao Guozhu, Thomas, Leon, and Zhao Xuanxuan were equally puzzled — but no one defied Li Wei's orders.

The battle continued. More and more mutant creatures of every variety surged in.

Initially, the creatures had rushed the east, south, and north walls — instinctively drawn to pursue and seize the Universal Gold Cards — but they were no match. With Liang Yuzhi controlling the field, Li Yue holding the south, and the players and freeman soldiers on all three lines performing solidly, the mutant creatures gained no ground. In under ten minutes, twenty consecutive Universal Gold Cards had been donated.

Even Li Wei's trio on the western line had taken down two Level 4 mutant creatures.

If the battle kept up at this pace, they were going to be rich.

But then, without warning, Li Wei's heart lurched. A cold sweat broke out — and though he recovered in the next instant, he knew immediately: the special boss had appeared.

Because at that same moment, darkness swallowed the entire camp. Even Liang Yuzhi was affected — her Light Magic was interrupted and extinguished.

Everyone present was hit by the same effect.

A breath — like a circuit breaker thrown — and Liang Yuzhi ignited her Light Magic again, flooding the ground with light.

What they saw then made everyone's blood run cold. The dense tide of mutant creatures was retreating like a receding wave — but as they reached the edge of the light, just beyond the five-hundred-meter boundary, they seemed to be swallowed by something.

For a moment, all anyone could hear was a faint, rustling sound. Nothing was visible. Beyond the Light Magic's reach, there was only boundless darkness and something deeply, fundamentally wrong.

Li Wei felt every hair on his body stand on end. Inside the building, some of the weaker patrol members at the firing positions had already lost the will to fight.

Visible to the naked eye, the radius of Liang Yuzhi's Light Magic was slowly shrinking — from five hundred meters, to four hundred, to three hundred.