Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 309: Level 1 Administrative Zone

'So one unit of magical energy is actually quite valuable.'

Li Wei was pleased. Watching one unit of standard magical energy tick in every half hour was deeply satisfying.

After that, he did nothing else — just stood watch beside the Magic Ore Vein until the thirtieth day of the month arrived.

By then, the Radiation Storm's peak intensity had dropped four or five levels in succession. Even the massive banks of dark clouds overhead had begun to break apart, letting through a few bright, welcome rays of sunlight.

The Magic Ore Vein's standard magical energy production had stopped just short of overflowing — settling at 110 units.

Working out the numbers: the third wave of the Radiation Storm had only managed to contribute about 60 units of production — and that was at maximum difficulty. At minimum difficulty, 20 units would probably be considered a good haul.

One Radiation Storm per year, three waves per month — meaning annual standard magical energy income would be roughly 60 to 70 units.

And during the Pioneering Mission, difficulty was controllable. But after the three years ended, what level would the annual Radiation Storm be?

Li Wei sensed there was a great deal more to understand here.

The forty-five-meter blue magical tower rising from the Ore Vein gradually dimmed — fading until it was nearly invisible. Not gone, just dormant. Still present.The structure also had its own defenses. It could absorb and assimilate any attack directed at it.

Li Wei had earlier deliberately let a Level 5 mutant creature approach — and it had charged straight in and simply ceased to exist, like a moth flying into a flame.

The best possible defense against monster sieges.

Of course, Liang Yuzhi would be the right person to manage this Ore Vein going forward.

Thinking this, Li Wei stepped closer to take a look. The so-called Magic Ore Vein wasn't particularly deep — five meters at most. At the bottom, blue liquid flowed slowly. Beautiful. Extraordinary.

So how did you extract it? How did you use it?

The thought had barely formed when the Pioneering Card surfaced automatically.

[Do you wish to extract one unit of standard magical energy? Note: you do not currently possess the ability to control standard magical energy. To avoid injury, it is recommended that you hire a caster of at least Second-Order rank from the Three-Star Tavern to manage and operate it, or identify another suitable individual.]

[Note: there is no need to worry about the Magic Ore Vein's operation. Standard magical energy will not leak. Once the internal storage reaches 100 units, the Vein's defensive value reaches its maximum — sufficient to ignore attacks from any Six-Star hostile target.]

[Note: please value and conserve every unit of standard magical energy.]

—

Well then.

So that was how it worked.

Good thing he had Second Aunt — otherwise he'd have needed to separately hire a Second-Order caster just to operate the Magic Ore Vein.

He spoke quietly: "I wish to designate family member Liang Yuzhi as the administrator of this Magic Ore Vein, and to invite her to become the Level 1 Territory's Advisor-Scholar. She will simultaneously be responsible for managing and constructing the territory's Alchemy Workshop."

As his words settled, the Pioneering Card and Prestige Card activated in sync. A sizable map appeared before him, with three points of light of varying sizes.

The first light covered a radius of 25 kilometers, labeled: Level 1 Territory (Respected — work efficiency +150%).

The second light covered a radius of 5 kilometers, labeled: Level 2 Occupied Zone (Hostile).

The third light covered a radius of only 1.5 kilometers, labeled: Level 1 Occupied Zone (Hatred).

[Family member Liang Yuzhi has responded to your invitation. She has formally become the territory's Advisor-Scholar, currently Level 1. She has submitted a request to upgrade the Level 1 Occupied Zone to a Level 1 Administrative Zone. Do you approve?]

[Note: a Level 1 Administrative Zone does not belong to the territory and will not count toward the territory's area after the three years end. However, during this period it can serve as a resource-producing zone, supplying various materials to the territory.]

Interesting.

Had Second Aunt discovered something over there?

Approved.

With Liang Yuzhi as a Second-Order Casting Witch, plus the fortress, holding that position was no problem at all. He just needed to quickly send a supply shipment from the territory and dispatch a squad of Freeman soldiers — enough to get things running. A few engineers could go too, along with some components for repairing the small nuclear power plant, loaded onto the electric buses. If they could make it through this winter, the future looked promising.

No more notifications appeared. Li Wei left the Magic Ore Vein without concern — no one could raid their way out to this location, and he almost hoped some overconfident fool would try to charge it.

Back at the camp building, most of the Freemen had already emerged from the Level 2 underground shelter and were busying themselves spontaneously. The small nuclear power plant couldn't run yet, but the steam generator units were already humming.

The camp building was bright and lively.

Yes — with the Magic Ore Vein in operation, radiation toxin levels within ten kilometers of the territory had dropped significantly.

Li Wei found Thomas first. The man's face was flushed with excitement — he had clearly guessed something.

"Boss Li — I'll never forget what you've done for me. Whatever you need next, just say the word. I'll walk through fire."

"Nothing that dramatic. I'm just giving you a Five-Star Retention Card. I'd like you to serve for another three months. Name your price."

Li Wei smiled slightly. After this month's settlement, Thomas, Leon, and Zhao Xuanxuan would all shift to the Mercenary model — meaning he'd need to pay them directly.

"No price needed. Truly, Boss Li — I'm 48 this year, but this has been a real eye-opener. I was in a Pioneering Mission once before, ten years ago, as a mercenary. Back then I think there were fifty Pioneering Cards issued — but the difficulty wasn't even close to this."

"I was talking big earlier, saying I could hold off a monster wave on my own. I was completely basing that on my previous experience. And then — well. I embarrassed myself thoroughly. Boss Li, I mean it — you could ask me to bow and I'd bow."

Thomas was deeply moved, and thoroughly dramatic about it.

Li Wei had a quiet suspicion about something, but it didn't matter now. He handed over his Five-Star Retention Card. Thomas was now at peak Three-Star — when he returned, he could apply for a Three-Star Lord mission, though that would mean waiting another nine years. By then, another fifty Pioneering Cards might be issued.

Next, Li Wei found Leon and Zhao Xuanxuan and informed them they'd be using Five-Star Retention Cards to serve another three months.

The goal: get the Three-Star Tavern constructed over the winter, which would allow him to invite another Lord-class player. Li Yue wouldn't be available by then — so Li Wei wanted to keep Zhao Xuanxuan, because her blacksmithing could eventually advance into Enchanting Blacksmithing, and she could build an Enchanting Forge.

The Freeman soldiers' weapons and equipment were still somewhat lacking in quality. And training a new blacksmith from scratch would take one to two years before they were worth anything.

After that, Li Wei broke down five Silver Clearance Tokens into twenty Bronze Tokens, then used the Prestige Card system to reward the fifteen best-performing Freeman soldiers of the month.

These fifteen were mostly from the small city camp — the ones who had originally been expelled as early-stage infected.

He remembered when they had arrived, transported back on the electric buses — hollow-eyed, moving like the walking dead, so numb that even being told they wouldn't be killed hadn't registered. Their fear of the outside world had overwhelmed everything.

But facts spoke louder than words.

Over these months, they had genuinely become part of this camp. Every one of them had come back to life. Many had even formed new families.

Camp Freeman Administrator Nelson had already planned to build ten three-story residential blocks inside the second perimeter wall come spring, with rooftop platforms for combat use — living quarters normally, underground shelter during Radiation Storms. It was necessary. The population was growing. Everyone needed a home.

And it wasn't just Nelson — every department head had already mapped out next year's work. The engineering team had begun planning a new electric truck production workshop.

They had power, machine tools, skilled workers, and engineers. Why not use them?

Four electric buses were nowhere near enough.

Chief Engineer Linus had already promised that by spring, the first high-powered, bulletproof electric truck would roll off the line.

Once that happened, resource-gathering and mining runs would be far more efficient — though the demand for convoy escorts would be significant. Li Wei had some reservations about that, but the electric trucks were undeniably a good idea.

Lines of notification text appeared before the Freemen. As each name was read out, the crowd erupted in cheers — the atmosphere of a grand celebration.

The honorees themselves were even more overwhelmed, because for them, each recognition meant another step further from the nightmare of their past.

With this, the territory's Freeman soldiers who had reached Three-Star totaled 48.

Five Bronze Tokens remained. Li Wei placed them in Jenny's market. In another month, the Freeman quarterly settlement would arrive — at which point Li Wei planned to raise wages across the board, continue stimulating the territory's internal economy, and build greater cohesion and loyalty.

"Nelson, Linus, Javier, Santiago, Benjamin, Mark, Xavier, Grant — come to the fifth floor for a meeting."

Li Wei spoke quietly. The Prestige Card system automatically sent instant messages to each of them.

A moment later, they appeared before him, slightly stiff with formality.

"There's something I want to discuss with you. The natural persons in the Sica City underground base — we all know there are over eight hundred of them. Now that I've killed the Flame Duke, those people fall under my authority. But I've been thinking about how to manage them — how to bring them into our community in a way that's better and more peaceful for everyone. What are your thoughts? Don't hold back — speak freely."