Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 297: Adai the King

[Name: Adai]

[Quality: Five-Star]

[Status: This is a healthy, powerful, intelligent, cunning, and shifty-eyed crow. It now possesses a Heart of Ice, which allows it to easily master one or two ice-element spells. It can soar freely through the sky during a Radiation Storm, slowly drawing in small amounts of chaotic magical particles to replenish its mana. It can fly over a thousand kilometers and return by the same route. It is capable of handling most reconnaissance missions and recording detailed information about what it observes. It can also occasionally carry out infiltration tasks — provided sufficient food is offered as incentive.]

[Hunting Pet Talent: Ice Arrow — it can attach itself to an arrow, making up to nine micro-adjustments during flight in an extremely short time. Upon striking the target, it can — at the owner's discretion — transform the arrow into a more powerful Ice Arrow, freezing the target for 1 to 3 seconds.]

[Hunting Pet Talent: Vision Sharing — usable within a straight-line range of 10 kilometers.]

[Hunting Pet Talent: Kingly Presence — it can recruit up to nine mutant crows as followers. Among these, some may be selected as Hunting Pets for other hunters. When Adai leads its nine followers in flight, it will effectively obscure a battlefield with a radius of twenty kilometers, while also more efficiently driving away other mutant birds.]

[Warning: A Five-Star Hunting Pet and its followers require a Pet Card of at least Four-Star quality. The optimal choice is a Five-Star Pet Card.]

—

Adai — I was wrong.

Li Wei let out a long sigh. He had thought drawing a Three-Star Pet Card from Old John's inheritance was already a stroke of luck. The situation had changed too fast.A Five-Star Pet Card?

He didn't even know where to find a Four-Star one.

Fortunately, there was no rush for now. Adai could roam free for the time being — there were still two years ahead. He'd figure something out.

For now, it was time to move. He had already delayed too long.

"Adai — go ahead and scout the route. Wait for me at the Small City Base."

With that instruction, Adai hopped onto the door handle, gave it a firm push, flapped its wings, and the door swung open. Surprisingly agile.

Li Wei paid it no further attention. He put on the Noble Crest Armor, shouldered the Tactical Backpack, strapped on the Enchanted Heavy Sword, the Bloodthirsty War Spear, and the Enchanted Strong Bow. He was armed like a porcupine.

Not a problem — because he now met the conditions to activate the third talent of the Rare Scout Card.

Weapon Mastery: Encumbrance -8, with the ability to rapidly switch between up to four weapons.

Ready, Li Wei pushed the door open and set out. He immediately ran into Li Feng and Liang Yuying sitting nearby, looking suspicious and aggrieved.

The moment they saw Li Wei emerge, they shot to their feet and stared at him in alarm — wanting to say something but unable to find the words.

For the past seven days, Liang Yuzhi had packed them off to the third underground level and kept them there. After seven days of that, they had sensed something was wrong. Today they had finally come up to find Li Wei and demand an explanation — was the cooperation still on or not? This attitude was unacceptable.

But they had been told Li Wei was injured and couldn't receive visitors.

Now, watching Li Wei walk out in full combat gear, their unease deepened. Surely not — he couldn't actually have convinced one of those two to help him raid the enemy camp?

Li Feng abandoned all pretense and rushed forward, blocking Li Wei's path with tears already brimming in his eyes. "Little brother — are you going out to look for your great-uncle? He went for a walk and never came back. My heart feels like it's been packed in ice. I can't bear it. Can I come with you? We need to know — alive or dead!"

Interesting performance.

Li Wei watched calmly and punctured the illusion without ceremony. "Li Feng — accept the truth. Great-Uncle is dead. He's not coming back. Stay here and rest. That's an order."

Li Feng's lips moved. His eyes locked onto Li Wei, searching for some other answer. He found none. Li Wei said nothing more, turned, and walked away.

Liang Yuying on the other side seemed to want to say something too — but ultimately let it go. The situation had clearly slipped beyond her control. This kid always managed to surprise everyone.

No matter. At the end of the month, Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi would settle accounts. Let's see how he handled that.

Li Wei had no interest in their resentment. He kept walking, straight out of the camp building.

It was morning, but the sky outside was still a dull, oppressive grey. Strange black clouds sealed off the heavens. Wisps of black fog drifted at ground level. The radiation toxin concentration hadn't dropped — if anything, it felt stronger.

On the eastern wall, a skirmish was winding down.

Li Yue was on duty. No sign of Liang Yuzhi.

He gave Li Yue a nod, collected the Universal Gold Card that had just dropped, and used it to upgrade the Rat Slayer title by another half level. It could now grant immunity to Level 3 Blood Plague.

Enough.

No words needed. Under the eyes of Li Yue and the others, Li Wei jumped down from the wall, splashed through the reeking standing water, and strode west.

A few hundred meters out, an ability creature lunged from the black fog without warning — fast, fanged, ferocious. But something was faster.

In an instant, a spear tip punched through from behind it.

Li Wei had drawn the Bloodthirsty War Spear at some point. No throw needed — a single one-handed thrust, and the roughly 100-kilogram mutant creature was launched into the air, like stepping on an ant by the roadside.

Even without the Flame Baron title, his Strength was now 40.

With a baseline Perception of +3, any mutant creature below Level 4 was an instant kill. Even most non-exceptional Level 5 mutants — he was now confident he could overpower them in a few exchanges.

The clarity of that kind of strength, born from raw attribute numbers, was undeniable.

In a short time, Li Wei had killed over thirty Level 3 mutant creatures that had been lurking around the camp perimeter — the kind that would eventually drift toward the walls and be shot down by freemen with bows and crossbows. Just routine.

Interestingly, even though the Radiation Storm had been raging for seven days, the strongest mutant creatures attacking had only been Level 4. Almost no Level 5 had appeared at all.

'Are they all hiding deep underground?'

'When the radiation toxin accumulates enough by month's end, will some Level 5 mutants lose control and trigger a final, intensified monster assault?'

The thought crossed his mind. It was entirely possible.

Which meant this raid needed to be fast and decisive — no drawn-out engagements.

Li Wei headed west at a steady run, not sparing his Stamina, maintaining a moderate pace the whole way. He reached the Small City Base three hours later.

Total Stamina consumed: 240. Total distance: roughly 80 kilometers. Not bad.

He was starting to feel like something superhuman.

Along the way, he hadn't encountered a single Level 4 mutant creature — mostly Level 3, and sometimes he didn't even bother to engage, just ran past.

Interestingly, as he approached the Small City Base, he noticed the radiation toxin concentration was gradually dropping. Even Level 3 mutant creatures were becoming sparse.

When he climbed to the top of the twenty-story building at the center of the Small City Base, he could even see a sliver of blue sky to the west, and a sunset slowly descending on the horizon.

"Congratulations — you've arrived at the boundary between 180% and 150% difficulty. This is where you get to see that strange sight."

Liang Yuzhi was on the rooftop of the building, tending a small fire. Under the influence of the Radiation Storm, even the flames looked strange.

Li Wei sat across from her. Adai was already standing by the fire, eating with obvious satisfaction.

"Second Aunt — what's the situation here?"

"Stable. Nothing unusual. But the Radiation Storm has peaks and troughs. We're currently in a low period. In about seven days, it'll intensify again for two or three days, then weaken. After one more cycle like that, the annual Radiation Storm period will be over."

As she spoke, Liang Yuzhi casually activated her spiritual field — a substitute for a Conspiracy Card.

"Any movement from the west?"

Li Wei asked. He had no intention of underestimating Scar Glenn or Chu Wushuang.

They were sharp and experienced. Even if they were wary of Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi this month and hadn't dared to raid, they might very well have sent scouts during the Radiation Storm's low period.

"Nothing detected so far. Li Yue scouted about 50 kilometers west yesterday and found nothing."

"In any case — you've chosen a very strong opponent. So let me ask once more: at the very least, if you can't win, can you run?"

"Naturally."

"Then I have nothing more to say. In certain respects, Li Yue and I can't match you."

Liang Yuzhi nodded and said nothing further. She simply drew Li Wei's Bloodthirsty War Spear, ran her hands slowly along it — and in seconds, with a shimmer of flowing light, the enchantment was refreshed. Then she unclipped his Noble Crest and wiped it with a casual gesture, restoring its magical charge. In just a few days, her progress had been remarkable — likely because of the Heart of Illusion, a third of the Heart of Stone, and a third of the Heart of Ice.

"Don't be surprised — I did accidentally advance to Second Order, and I've bound and activated my fifth Profession Card." Liang Yuzhi smiled, with a trace of quiet pride. She didn't say what the fifth card was.

Then she handed Li Wei a small lead-alloy box. She didn't explain what was inside. Li Wei didn't ask.

"Second Aunt — stay safe."

"You too."

With that, Li Wei went downstairs, passed through the city, and continued west. Adai took to the sky and was soon out of sight.