Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 344: The Five-Star Mercenary

Looking over the list of newly naturalized mercenaries, Li Wei smiled and began issuing orders.

With the population growing, some would be assigned to departments like the engineering corps, some to miscellaneous tasks, and some to expand the military.

The main base would expand to six squads — three rotating out for sweeps and patrols, three on internal guard duty and daily training.

Riverside Fortress, with this wave of new citizens, could also expand to five squads — Javier, Seth, Paul, and Jocelyn leading three squads on patrols and combat operations in the surrounding area, with two squads on fortress guard and daily training.

"Under 1,200 people, and we're fielding 220 full-time soldiers."

Li Wei found it a little absurd himself. But it was an absurdity backed by real capacity — because he alone was managing four hundred mu of farmland. Without that, those four hundred mu would need fifty or sixty able-bodied workers.

The Northern Fortress's two hundred mu needed ten strong men and ten capable women just to maintain. And anyone with a Farmer Card would come by to grind Destiny Grid points when they had time.

That was the trade-off. To consolidate and develop, you had to pay a price.

Honestly, what Li Wei really wanted was to use this quiet period to scout the Frost Duke's territory, or take a circuit through the territories of Zhao Kewu, Socrates, Hathaway, and Ron.

As a Night Ranger and a reasonably capable scout, not being able to use his strengths was a genuine frustration.But the foundation he had built — the overall strength of his territory — allowed him to do this. It allowed him, as the core figure of the territory, to stay home during critical periods and focus entirely on his own fields.

Yes — grinding the Farmer Destiny Grid required exactly this kind of advantage.

"Hmm?"

Li Wei felt a shift. A moment later, several lines of text arrived.

[Pioneer #1, Zhao Kewu, has shown great benevolence and wisdom, and stands as a model among Pioneers. Pioneer #12, Han Tong, has therefore chosen to submit, and has recently led 300 Freemen and substantial supplies into Zhao Kewu's Level 2 Territory. Territory population has successfully exceeded 1,000.]

[Pioneer #2, Socrates, has shown great benevolence and wisdom, and stands as a model among Pioneers. Pioneer #9, Sanders, has therefore chosen to submit, and has recently led 350 Freemen and substantial supplies into Socrates's Level 2 Territory. Territory population has successfully exceeded 1,000.]

[Pioneer #4, Ron, has shown great benevolence and wisdom, and stands as a model among Pioneers. Pioneer #15, Schneider, has therefore chosen to submit, and has recently led 58 Freemen and substantial supplies into Ron's territory.]

[Pioneer #13, Kim Tae-hee's camp has unfortunately been overrun by the Frost Duke's Ability User Legion. The Pioneering Card's whereabouts are unknown. 186 Freemen from the territory were either killed or captured.]

—

So the others had finally pulled ahead. And two unlucky ones had been swept up in the chaos.

He had thought the Frost Duke had gone quiet lately. Turns out he was striking in multiple directions — probably scouring every survivor camp in the wider world.

Inevitable. This world was vast. There were certainly more survivor camps beyond what was currently known.

Li Wei frowned slightly, feeling a brief surge of urgency — then pressed it down. No reckless moves.

His territory was in a period of internal consolidation. Liang Yuzhi held the main base. He held Riverside Fortress. Thomas the stone man held Base 349. Zhao Xuanxuan's group and Javier's group were developing outward in the east and west.

No reckless moves.

Both Zhao Xuanxuan's group and Javier's group were operating at the territory's edges, on flat open terrain — nothing hidden, nothing concealed. With Adai and his hundred-plus flock providing aerial coverage, ambushes were essentially impossible. Cavalry and chariot formations, high mobility, overwhelming force — even if Neanderthal Cross-Border infiltrators were lurking in the shadows, they wouldn't dare face them directly.

But the moment they left the open plains and entered mountain terrain or complex urban environments, it would be suicide. They'd be hunted down and slaughtered.

In fact, these past days, Li Wei had sensed faint watchful eyes from the south bank of the river. Liang Yuzhi had mentioned it in a letter too.

Did anyone really think the Neanderthals would quietly accept having their camp destroyed and five of their people killed?

That rough-edged warrior must have found another way to extend his stay.

His urging Li Wei to leave early — that was why.

"So I need a truly powerful figure to hold Riverside Fortress for me. The farming season is about to end, and I can't stay here for a full month of downtime."

He took a slow breath and remotely opened the Three-Star Tavern through the Prestige Card. The mercenary listings had expanded dramatically — no longer the hundred-per-page format, but a full thousand-person display.

Top to bottom: Five-Star mercenaries, Four-Star, Three-Star, and Two-Star.

Li Wei didn't even glance at the lower tiers. He needed a Five-Star mercenary.

There were twenty-four of them. And this wasn't limited to Weir Province — it covered Juniper Province, Cadel Province, and the Royal Capital as well. All mercenaries in the Locke Kingdom were available for hire.

Prices varied widely among the Five-Stars: some cost 5,000 gold coins per month, some 3,000, some 1,000.

And immediately, Li Wei spotted a familiar name: Viper Li Yue.

Perfectly natural. No missions were active right now. She needed to support herself, fund her equipment, cover various expenses. She had to live somehow.

And this had been their arrangement from the start — Li Yue would work as a mercenary when Li Wei wasn't hiring, taking contracts in other mission worlds, paid monthly, with no interference. When Li Wei needed her, she could re-enter this mission world.

No hesitation. Li Wei hired her immediately. Her rate was only 2,000 gold coins — even among Five-Stars, she wasn't at the top of the market.

The moment the hire was confirmed, Li Wei sent her an invitation to join his territory as an official advisor.

It hadn't been easy. But finally, the family was together.

—

At that same moment, in another territory, Zhao Kewu sat in his Three-Star Tavern with a complicated expression. On the mercenary recruitment list, the name "Viper" was grayed out.

Unavailable.

He had moved to recruit her first. He was sure of it.

Viper was technically from their department. A few years back, he had even sent her gifts, exchanged a few words — he had considered the relationship decent. And now she had just submitted to Li Wei's authority?

A flash of anger moved through Zhao Kewu — the unnamed kind. He had never particularly thought of Viper that way, and he knew her methods were ruthless, her heart cold as a serpent's. But she was genuinely beautiful, with a figure that had no equal. When no one else could get close, it hadn't mattered.

But now — what exactly did Li Wei have that he didn't?

"Exhale."

Zhao Kewu steadied himself quickly and slapped himself across the face. That kind of thinking was poison. It made him look like a petty villain.

If Viper wasn't available, he could hire other Five-Star mercenaries. Over the past two months, he hadn't bothered with those finicky academy graduates at all — he had recruited Five-Stars exclusively, offering them generous terms, bringing them in as territory advisors, with a three-year release clause. Standard unspoken rules.

The results had been immediate. With two Five-Star experts in hand, everything felt more confident. Last month the Frost Duke had tried another assault and been routed — netting him over twenty Universal Gold Cards in the process. Satisfying.

If he'd had the strength, he would have kept the Neanderthal Cross-Border infiltrator mixed in among them. That one had slipped away, and it gnawed at him.

He wanted to kill a Neanderthal too. He wanted a territory-wide announcement too.

But no matter. He had resources. As long as he kept recruiting Five-Star mercenaries, kept building special structures, and stopped doing anything reckless — and especially stopped provoking Li Wei — he could stabilize his position and secure second place without any trouble.

Second place still meant Viscount.

Territory development was a long game. Li Wei had built from nothing — what could he really compare to in the long run?

"Damn it."

Zhao Kewu slapped himself twice more, forcing clarity. Why did these thoughts keep surfacing? Envy, resentment, jealousy — these emotions clouded judgment, made people stupid, made them greedy and blind.

Why compare himself to Li Wei? The world was large enough for both of them.

And that Viper was eighty years old. Eighty. Without extraordinary power sustaining her, she was just a white-haired old woman. Disgusting.

And if Li Wei had built himself up from nothing to where he was now — wasn't there something worth learning from that?

Pride leads to failure. Envy makes you unrecognizable.

His father's teachings. Was he going to ignore every word?

"Li Wei is my role model. Li Wei is my role model."

Finally, after this internal reconstruction, Zhao Kewu's eyes cleared. His temple was complete — but unfortunately, not one of his thousand Freemen qualified as a Temple Priest. Of course not. With all those specific conditions, you couldn't cultivate one in a few months. It was simply impossible.

So he would wait the six months patiently. After that, he could apply for one. By then, the territory would have advanced to Level 3, with more and greater advantages — especially the ability to resurrect Freemen, which was critical for Freeman loyalty and cohesion.

But from now on: no more expansion. Focus on training Freemen, strengthening the Knights. He had already expanded his order to ten slots — ten Earth Knights, equipped with good warhorses and quality weapons and armor. On open flat terrain, they could overwhelm even two Five-Star experts.

All he needed to do now was repel the Frost Duke's waves of attacks. No more competing.

Because the one with the highest aggro was still Li Wei.