novelraw Chapter 404: Native Farmer Card
Chapter 404: Native Farmer Card
Taking several seconds, Li Wei finally steadied his mental state. Fortunately, Night Owl seemingly had no intention of unfurling a terrifying, oppressive coercion against him. But this method of hers to blockade space was far too horrifying and shocking.
"Milord, I am merely somewhat surprised."
Li Wei painstakingly organized his words. Primarily, he didn't know what was good to say, especially needing to cover up his inner thoughts at this moment.
This was too difficult.
"I heard you wanted to give me a gift?" Night Owl suddenly smiled faintly, her expression comfortable and at ease. It seemed she had indeed overcome her ordeal.
"I haven't thought it through yet."
"If you haven't thought it through, then forget it. Li Wei, actually you should be able to guess what I have come for?" Night Owl reined in her smile, her gaze resembling the deep sea.
"Hathaway?" Li Wei asked probingly.
"Correct. I came solely for my precious disciple. Compared to you, she is undoubtedly much more comprehensively capable. Most importantly, she is willing to leave with me. While you, as a fellow who is about to become a Substantive Viscount, I truly cannot offer any price to recruit you. In short, the matter is just this simple. Three days ago, I sought out Hathaway, but she said she needed to seek your opinion—"
Speaking up to here, Night Owl revealed a profoundly meaningful expression, perhaps harboring some emotional sighs."I could tell she was willing. Although I know those little calculating thoughts of hers, it was precisely because of this that we became master and disciple. But I hadn't expected she would care about you so much."
"Therefore, do you agree to transfer your vassal baron Hathaway to Thorns Pass? Of course, the procedures that must be walked, the interests that must be severed and divided, will not make you suffer a loss."
Well then!
Coming to ask for people again!
Previously asking for Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi, and now even wanting to take Hathaway away.
And are you certain these rhetorical wordings aren't digging a pit for me?
"Milord Night Owl, regarding this matter, I in principle respect Hathaway's own opinion." Li Wei directly tossed this question right back where it came from.
In a single sentence: if Hathaway wanted to leave, he would absolutely not try to make her stay. But wanting him to verbally agree to transfer Hathaway away, that was absolutely impossible. He was no longer the person he used to be; he could see through the twists and turns inside this with a single glance.
Night Owl fell silent. A bit of exhaustion and helplessness seemed to exist within her gaze, but she subsequently recovered that majestic-as-the-sea bearing again.
"Fine, your wings have hardened; then I will not force it. Li Wei, you did me a massive favor by transferring the Dawn Knight Card previously. I acknowledge this favor. Now that Thorns Pass is about to upgrade into Thorns Province, I might not have too much time to look after you all in the future. Therefore, I will return this favor to you right now."
Having said this, an item card flashed past Night Owl's hand, but Li Wei could not distinguish its contents.
However, the next second, Night Owl handed over a tightly sealed box.
"Inside here are one hundred Three-Star Pet Cards, storing one hundred Three-Star Warhorses. This is the limit of my capabilities. Do not be in a rush to open this item. Wait until Task Settlement before opening it. Doing so can excellently evade taxes. Of course, if your head is made of iron, opening it now is also fine."
"Aside from this, it is best you pay me equivalent materials in exchange. Then we will be clear of all debts and favors between us. In the future, you must take good care of Hathaway. Although she is somewhat willful and capricious, somewhat sly and cunning, her intrinsic nature is not bad. Furthermore, please take care of my two sisters as well. We fought for half a lifetime. Although in the end I successfully stepped them beneath my feet and rubbed them into the dirt, ultimately throwing them far behind, I still greatly reminisce about those days decades ago when we fought with wits and courage outside Kakh City."
"During those times, I would frequently be angered to tears by them. But sometimes, I would also hang them up and beat them..."
"Humans are not grass or wood; who can be without emotions, ah? Now that I can see them have a safe and stable place to settle down, I am at ease."
Having said this, Night Owl stretched out her hand and twirled her fingers; the meaning was extremely clear.
While Li Wei was already listening in stunned bewilderment.
"What are you blanking out for? What do you plan to use for payment? Currently, due to the war with the Barbarian Tribe, coupled with one of the Duke of Weir's horse-breeding viscountcies being conquered by the Barbarians, the selling price of warhorses is already vastly different from the past. This batch of warhorses of mine was transported back from the Royal Capital."
"The current selling price of a single Three-Star warhorse is 3,000 gold coins, and 2,000 gold coins of war taxes must also be paid. This means, under normal circumstances, you would have to take out 500,000 gold coins to purchase these one hundred warhorses. Moreover, I guarantee you wouldn't be able to buy them. But I am only selling them to you for 300,000."
"In addition, do not use the gold coins from your territory's treasury to purchase them; those have all been registered in the ledgers. Understand?"
Understood!
Of course Li Wei wouldn't commit an act of foolishness. He immediately took out that Purple Card Hathaway had sent over. Because this Purple Card had not been opened yet, then everything was possible.
That's right. No wonder Second Aunt said that Purple Cards were the best gifts for gift-giving; this was simply the most effective method for tax evasion.
Night Owl wore a smile that was not quite a smile as she put away this Purple Card. "I'll give you a discounted price of 150,000 gold coins for this. This is the highest price within the industry; you know it."
Thus, Li Wei hurriedly took out another Purple Card. This was obtained previously, but based on a certain reason, he had always been reluctant to open it.
"Very good. Two Purple Cards discounted as 300,000. Our transaction ends here."
Night Owl rapidly stored the two Purple Cards away, and Li Wei also hurriedly put away that small box. Truly acting with a guilty conscience of a thief, ah. What was interesting was, both of them were identical in this regard.
It could be seen that in order to establish a firm foothold, this seemingly noble, majestic, and decent, respectable Lord Night Owl had also not lacked wandering along the gray edges of the law.
Interesting, interesting!
Oh crap!
Smack!
Li Wei directly took a finger flick to the forehead.
"Is it interesting?"
Night Owl cast a profoundly meaningful glance at him. The next second, she stepped directly into the black abyss, as if she had never come.
Good heavens, truly thrilling, ah!
Li Wei waited motionlessly on the rooftop of the fortress for a full half hour. The result was that the grand arrival of the anti-smuggling department never came.
It seemed there was truly no problem.
Only at this time did he recall this conversation with Night Owl. The volume of information within it was massive, massive enough that Li Wei could even sniff out the contradiction and conflict between the Royal Family and the Duke of Weir.
That's right, this wasn't the first time the King of Locke had intervened. The first time was a warning; this time was directly dispatching a Special Envoy to negotiate peace...
Tsk tsk.
These big shots, ah. Cannot afford to provoke them, cannot afford to provoke them.
Therefore, look at this. Someone as smart as Hathaway would rather be beaten to death than go follow Night Owl. Partially, the reason might be she truly fell in love with him?
But absolutely a greater portion was out of fear of stepping into that vortex.
Thorns Pass was upgrading to Thorns Province?
Mother of god, this matter involves far too much.
Not intervening is the best choice.
In addition, at this time, Li Wei couldn't help but think of the Logistics Department's Chief Logistics Officer, Black Wolf, running over to yap and babble about all that a few days ago...
Well then, what move is the Duke of Weir planning to make next?
Big Bro, you absolutely must hold steady, alright.
For a moment, Li Wei thought of many things. But ultimately, he cleared away all these thoughts. As a minor character, he shouldn't think that much. Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up.
It was now also time to upgrade the Destiny Matrix.
There was also figuring out a way to complete that Forest Ranger Alias mission of his as much as possible.
If this Alias mission wasn't completed, it would be irreplaceable and irremovable. Then that Son of the Earth Destiny Title of his could not be equipped; this was taking a huge loss.
Following that, Li Wei returned to Riverside Fortress. Acting as if nothing had happened, he ate well, drank well, and slept well. After three consecutive days, he brought his physical state back to his peak. Then he entrusted Li Yue to prepare all sorts of private home-cooked dishes for him.
For this, he took out quite a bit of his personal stash.
Gaining amongst these were one hundred and fifty kilograms of Three-Star wheat, twenty-five kilograms of Four-Star frozen fish meat, fifteen kilograms of Three-Star mushrooms, twelve Two-Star wild pheasants, and also all sorts of seasonal vegetables—such as Three-Star cucumbers, Two-Star eggplants, Three-Star chili peppers, and Two-Star carrots.
These were all excellent things. A majority of the Freemen couldn't eat these, or rather, could only eat a tiny little bit per meal.
It wasn't that Li Wei was stingy, but that they had to learn to live through hard days.
Furthermore, ordinary food was also pretty good.
Up until now, whether at Riverside Fortress or the underground spaces of the Territory Main City, mushroom farming, rat farming, and so on were proceeding like a raging fire.
Inside the twice-daily free food for the Freemen, this was basically what was eaten.
And the bread baked using One-Star wheat, an ordinary person only needed to eat one portion a day to replenish a majority of their Stamina consumption.
A supply of roughly one hundred and fifty grams of Star-level food per person per day could basically satisfy the needs.
If they wanted to eat better, more Star-level food, they had to use gold coins to buy it.
Worth mentioning was, this should be the best stretch of time.
As long as they exerted massive effort and fought with their lives on the line for the territory during this stage, they would all obtain pretty good identity promotions.
Waiting until the Pioneering Mission ended in the future, muddling along to become middle management in the territory, muddling along to get several mu of fertile farmland—that was also pretty good.
But during the current stage, going to work strictly by the clock, getting off work strictly by the clock, and acting leisurely and carefree—then sorry to say, Li Wei didn't want to target anyone, but the grand environment was just like this.
Many people understood this point. Or even if they didn't understand, they still possess pursuit of future visions. Therefore, they worked very hard and fought very desperately. Li Wei would never let them down.
"Actually, we don't need this much. You, ah, are overly anxious."
Inside Riverside Fortress, Li Wei sat formally and upright, as if facing a formidable enemy.
While Li Yue had changed into ordinary summer clothes, tied on an apron, and was acting as his Dharma protector.
That's right, high-quality food sometimes had to consider the degree of heat and timing. For example, mushroom meat soup of Three-Star and above was not recommended to be placed into a Resource Card. Because once it cooled down, the magic energy contained within would be lost by more than 70%.
Therefore, the best method was to make it right when eating it.
Aunt Yue, it's still better to be a bit more cautious. After all, you don't even have a Native Card, right? You don't understand it at all, so how can you talk about letting me relax."
"Alright, do as you please. Let's begin!"
Li Yue speechlessly rolled her eyes at him, then started getting busy. Over the past three days, she had already ground the wheat into flour and fermented it to make preparations. Simultaneously, all sorts of fillings and semi-finished ingredients had been prepared properly. She had directly told Adai to craft a simple icebox to keep them fresh.
So at this moment, it was her turn to grandly display her skills.
First steaming buns, then making dumplings, following with pan-frying meat pies, baking bread. Synchronously stewing chicken with mushrooms, preparing boiled fish. In passing, she could even whip up four stir-fries and two soups.
When it came to this aspect of cooking, one had to believe in the precipitation of time and years.
She didn't have a Chef Card, but she was equally not inferior.
Anyhow, Li Wei was dazzled from watching. Tsk tsk, could this be considered premium enjoyment?
No, not just that; this was also a beautiful piece of scenery.
Soon, when the buns were steamed cooked, and the fragrant aroma of chicken stewed with mushrooms drifted throughout the inside and outside of the fortress, reaching the point where even Adai was staring fixedly with gluttonous eyes, Li Wei also synchronously initiated the upgrade of the Destiny Matrix.
In this instant, he felt as if his entire person was plunged into the barren, deathly still space of the cosmos.
Resembling a lonely soul or wild ghost possessing absolutely nothing, on the verge of his soul scattering and shattering at any moment.
And then, he felt warmth.
It was four suns shining down from high above. But in reality, this was precisely the Destiny Matrix.
Li Wei felt his soul bathing in this warm radiance. Then, without needing to do anything, he just watched as a world was forged and created before him.
Earth, rivers, forests, mountains, the sky—it was extremely mystical and fantastical.
And at the very moment this miraculous world was forged and created, Li Wei also witnessed once again a scene that made him feel fear, yet more so, a grand and magnificent scene that shocked him.
That was some sort of object spanning across the endless void. He couldn't even describe it, couldn't even see or perceive its limits. Only seeing mysterious, unknown runes faintly flickering upon it, resembling the exterior outline of the palaces of the Gods.
And then, these runes drifted down, as numerous as snowflakes, and turned into one Profession Card after another.
At this moment, a certain enlightened comprehension birthed within Li Wei's heart.
Because these Profession Cards were precisely as if they were some kind of secret key. They were an opening, an initiation, a staircase leading toward some higher tier.
And following that, Li Wei abruptly awakened. His entire person had already collapsed paralyzed onto the ground, sweat pouring down his entire body like syrup, his qi deficient and body weak, his brain exploding. That's right, it was far too terrifying.
The massive meat buns before him were still steaming hot, yet he felt as if he had died and come back to life.
Stamina returned to zero. Spiritual Power returned to zero.
Golden stars swam before his eyes. He couldn't even manage to eat the buns placed right before his eyes.
But he had a Dharma protector.
At this time, Li Yue charged over in a single striding step, supporting Li Wei up. One hand propped his head up, and the other hand directly poured the scalding hot mushroom meat soup down his throat.
This was Three-Star Quality mushroom meat soup, possessing miraculous effects for recovering Spiritual Power.
Phew, I'm alive again.
So fragrant and delicious!
Following that, Li Wei seemed to transform into a massive fat pig, sweeping away the food like wind sweeping away clouds, eating crazily.
And the effects were also truly exceptionally excellent.
This kind of Three-Star Quality food was simply akin to a life-saving straw.
Up until he suddenly burped in satiation, everything was recovered.
Unspeakably wondrous, ah!
[Your Destiny Matrix has successfully upgraded. You have obtained the gift of the Gods. You are one step closer to stepping onto the Path of Transcendence.]
[Under the effects of the higher-tier Destiny Matrix, when you actively trigger the resonance of four Destiny Grids, you will obtain at least 600% bonus damage.]
[Your Farmer Card has conducted a profound binding with your soul, thereby becoming your Native Card. From now on, even if you are killed by an enemy, the drop rate will plummet massively. Moreover, because you possess the Kill Title 'Wolf Traveling a Thousand Li,' the specific drop rate is 1%.]
[Your Farmer Destiny Grid has passively increased by 10. Current: 72. Affected by this, your Hunter Destiny Grid +1, Woodcutter Destiny Grid +1, Scout Destiny Grid +1.]
[Friendly Reminder: As long as your Native Farmer Card does not drop, the drop rate of other Profession Cards, including the unformed Night Ranger Card, will also plummet massively.]
[Special Friendly Reminder: The advancement of a Profession Card represents the formidable might of your personal body and soul. However, a Profession Card is ultimately an external object, requiring fusion bit by bit. Therefore, the Destiny Grid is very important. The high or low magnitude of the Destiny Grid determines the degree of synchronization between your body and the Profession Card. And the Native Card usually refers to the Profession Card with the highest degree of synchronization (if you do not have a Native Card, do not force it; it cannot be forced).]
[Once Again, Special Friendly Reminder: The All-Heavens Lord Alliance consistently executes the most basic Humanistic Care. Even if you have fused with a Native Card, you can still unbind it at any time in the future, free to come and go. However, after unbinding the Native Card, all your memories will not be erased; instead, one-fifth of your memories will be retained. Perhaps when you return to your hometown, you can also pen a novel based on these memories? Or when one day you see a novel of similar style suddenly triggering a fierce resonance, then congratulations, you might have found a fellow player of the same kind...]
[Congratulations. You can utilize the Native Card to conduct Rare Fortification for other Profession Cards. The specific fortification formula is: Externally expending 10 units of magic power or purchasing a Five-Star Fortification Item Card, 10 Farmer Destiny Grid points, 10 Destiny Grid points of the designated Profession Card to be fortified, as well as 30 points of Spiritual Power and 600 points of Stamina, then you can fortify the designated Profession Card from Ordinary to Rare.]
[Apologies, you currently do not possess the fortification conditions.]
[Congratulations. You can utilize the Native Card to conduct fortification for Real Particles. The fortification conditions are the same as above... Apologies, you do not possess the fortification conditions.]
(End of this chapter)