Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 332: The Frost Duke's Despair

Another two days passed in the blink of an eye. The weather had completely cleared. On sun-facing slopes, the snow had begun to melt.

Adai had already made two runs from the main base, delivering a large load of defensive supplies.

Including, but not limited to: One-Star Life Elixirs ×20, emergency-formulated by Liang Yuzhi — each restoring 100 Life over 12 hours, with a chance to repair severed limbs or damaged organs. Two-Star Blood Resistance Potions ×20. Two-Star Stamina Elixirs ×20.

And — from dismantling one of the Enchanted Chariots, with Zhao Xuanxuan working through the night — twenty Three-Star Enchanted Ballista Bolts, each as thick as an adult's arm and three meters long. Designed for heavy siege crossbows. Maximum range: 3,000 meters. Supersonic velocity. Capable of punching through 30 centimeters of reinforced concrete and triggering a shattering effect. Terrifying.

The rest was existing stock from the main base: 3,000 hardened steel armor-piercing crossbow bolts, plus 10,000 hardened steel arrowheads with matching fletching.

All delivered via Resource Cards.

Over those two days, Javier, Seth, Paul, and Jocelyn had each selected nine soldiers and put them through modular training. Accounting for the possibility that the enemy included Five-Star Cross-Border combatants, they had developed several targeted elimination plans.

All four were exceptional fortress defenders. Their coordination and combined tactics had produced a body of hard-won experience. Their integrated fortress defense approach was something Li Wei could only praise — he genuinely wasn't sure he could withstand their combined assault himself.

Of course, Li Wei still had to be the anchor. His high Perception could lock onto enemies and slow them down. With him as the focal point and everyone coordinating around him, they had a real chance at pulling off something remarkable.

Everything was ready.But the Neanderthals still hadn't moved.

Li Wei didn't send Adai south to scout — no point in startling the snake.

Days passed. Mid-February arrived. The heavy snowfall had nearly melted. Daytime highs had climbed to around minus two or three degrees.

Still nothing.

What were these Neanderthals waiting for?

Li Wei was baffled, but not particularly troubled. Every additional day of training improved their odds.

In the meantime, he had been carving arrow shafts and wooden spears relentlessly. His Woodcutter Destiny Grid had reached 55. Hunter: 57. Scout: 18. Farmer: 22. The Full-Grid Resonance power continued to grow steadily.

One afternoon, Li Wei was dozing when something stirred in his mind. Two territory-wide announcements had appeared.

Zhao Kewu had finally bound his Earth Baron title, established the Earth Knights, and successfully unlocked the hidden city-building mission.

"He delayed this long — was he busy building a Tavern? Or recruiting specific players through the Tavern?"

Li Wei didn't dwell on it. He was more interested in when Hathaway would make her announcement.

Perhaps the thought summoned the result — around three in the afternoon, the announcement came.

[Pioneer #3, Hathaway, successfully killed the Black Mountain Duke fifteen days ago. She has obtained the rare title of Black Mountain Baron.]

[Today, she successfully occupied a Scavenger Camp and merged a Pioneering Card.]

[Hathaway has established the Black Mountain Knights at Black Mountain Fortress.]

[She has unlocked the hidden mission — Construct a City.]

—

There it was. She had obtained the rare title at the end of last month — fifteen days ago — and had now finally merged a Pioneering Card. Good progress.

Hathaway's pacing was actually solid, even if she was three months behind Li Wei.

"Hm?"

Li Wei felt a sudden wrongness. He rushed out of the bastion to the third-floor roof and looked east. In the distant sky, massive black clouds were converging. Golden lightning crackled silently — no thunder reached him, but what was happening over there was obvious.

Was that the Frost Duke's territory?

The thought had barely formed when a sense of danger hit him.

"Everyone into the bastion — no, underground!"

The words were barely out of his mouth when it was already too late. An invisible shockwave swept across the entire world. Li Wei felt as if he had been struck directly by chaotic magical particles — his mind went blank for several seconds, like a Mental Shock.

No damage. But what was that?

He recovered and rushed inside to check. Everyone was fine — a moment of mental blankness, then quick recovery.

"My Lord..."

Javier's face was pale with fear. "Fifteen years ago, something like this happened. Everything was normal — and then suddenly a shockwave swept the whole world, and the apocalypse began. Is something changing again?"

"Stay calm. It's not catastrophic—"

Li Wei hadn't finished when lines of text began hammering into his mind like blows.

[In a short span of time, five capable subordinates and former allies were killed in succession. The Frost Duke, in despair, concluded that humanity had no future — that a return to the old world was impossible, and that humanity must change. He made a desperate decision with unknown consequences: he activated a damaged space-time teleportation device inside a Mage Tower, tearing open a spatial rift. He did not know what it was, but the occasional signals coming through convinced him it was the voice of divine salvation.]

[In reality, this action may bring unforeseen consequences. A faction of Northern Barbarians who worship ancient Mages will now be able to infiltrate this world through the spatial rift. The Northern Barbarians will form an alliance with the Frost Duke. They will more effectively help him train his Ability User forces, forming an Ability User Legion to sweep all survivor bases in this world.]

[Warning! All pioneering players who have claimed city-building missions will be prioritized targets for the Frost Duke's Ability User Legion.]

[Warning: Pioneer #11, Flame Baron Li Wei, has been placed under the Frost Duke's highest-priority kill order.]

[Warning: Pioneer #1, Earth Baron Zhao Kewu, has been placed under the Frost Duke's kill order.]

[Warning: Pioneer #2, Valley Baron Socrates, has been placed under the Frost Duke's kill order.]

[Warning: Ron...]

[Warning: Hathaway...]

[Warning: Northern Barbarian elite advance units may have already infiltrated.]

[Locke Royal Capital Strategic Command has issued a Level 5 Threat Warning. Due to setbacks suffered by the Weir Duke on the front lines with serious consequences, Northern Barbarian forces are infiltrating. This pioneering mission world has become part of a three-front war zone. Pioneering players of limited strength may choose to settle and leave immediately — delay may be dangerous.]

[Weir Duke's Bounty: Killing any Northern Barbarian invader will yield substantial rewards. Eliminating an entire Northern Barbarian squad will yield even greater rewards.]

[Weir Duke's Notice: This is the ultimate form of the pioneering mission — only the second occurrence in three hundred years. Based on basic humanitarian principles, even players who have accepted the city-building mission may withdraw unconditionally and enter settlement. Please make your choice within three minutes.]

[Friendly reminder: Pioneering players may choose to cooperate — the weak may seek shelter under the strong.]

—

So that was it. A once-in-three-hundred-years special event.

Li Wei was momentarily speechless. But his mind was perfectly calm.

"Thomas, Javier — hold the fortress. Remember: even when I return, I need to give the passphrase. The passphrase is the third thing I said when we first met."

Li Wei looked at Thomas. Thomas stared back, eyes wide. At a time like this, you're going out?

But he didn't understand — Li Wei had been holding back before because the situation was unclear. Now that it was clear, what was there to fear?

The patience of the past weeks had been waiting for exactly this moment.

He stored Adai in the Five-Star Pet Card, slipped out through the hidden door, and moved north — circling through the blind spots of the Neanderthal hunter's likely scouting range before looping around to the south bank of the river.

The river ice was beginning to break up. If these Neanderthals didn't move soon, the ice floes would make the river impassable — they'd have to detour six hundred kilometers downstream to the great bridge.

Of course, there was another possibility: they wouldn't act alone. They might blend into the Frost Duke's Ability User Legion, disguised as Ability Users, for a coordinated assault. That would be the methodical approach.

Exposing themselves prematurely risked triggering an overwhelming response. This wasn't a front-line war zone — the Weir Duke could dispatch an elite squad to wipe them out with ease. The insidious, patient infiltration was the real threat.

And from the system messages, it was also clear that the situation hadn't collapsed. The Locke Royal Capital seemed dissatisfied with the Weir Duke and had directly intervened. The Weir Duke, for his part, was being stubborn — issuing bounties while framing this as "the second occurrence in three hundred years" and "the ultimate form of the pioneering mission."

In short: the weak could leave. The strong could stay and see if they could turn the tide.

As he thought it through, Li Wei had already reached his target scouting position — directly facing Riverside Fortress, at the thorny shrubs at the base of the hill where the Neanderthal hunter conducted his daily reconnaissance.

It was past four in the afternoon. By the hunter's usual pattern, he would have left long ago.

Even so, Li Wei didn't approach directly. He circled wide again, checked from multiple angles, and only then moved in.

For caution's sake, he switched to the Tracker title, bringing Perception to +5. The situation had changed.

The Neanderthal hunter might not return to this spot for future reconnaissance. And as an experienced hunter, if he hadn't left traps behind here — that would be the real surprise.