Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 42: Negotiation

After two rounds of plot kills, the household quickly returned to calm, with no more waves.

Mixi glanced at Li Wei thoughtfully, then at Fila and Penny, smiled, and more or less understood—family elders are exempt from ordinary plot kills.

So that settled it.

That night, only Leon tossed and turned, unable to sleep; he alone achieved the “only I got hurt” accomplishment.

There was no further movement after that,

because these three days were everyone’s free activity period.

Fila continued foraging, fishing, and saving up some personal wealth.

Penny kept hammering away in the Blacksmith Shop, using the leftover Iron Ingots to craft various tools and weapons, like the iron arrowheads she had promised to make for Li Wei.

Earlier, Li Wei had spent a whole day helping her smash Iron Ore, and she still owed him that favor.

Similarly, Mixi had swung a hammer for a whole day helping her, which also required equal exchange. As for newcomer Leon, since he had no Monthly Family Main Quest, of course he was free to freeload.Li Wei, meanwhile, grabbed the chance to reclaim farmland in suitable areas around the camp, though his tools still weren’t ideal. The surface carbonized shovel wasn’t hard enough; it was difficult to dig quickly through turf-dense soil.

So Li Wei borrowed Penny’s pickaxe; yes, she had forged it for herself sometime earlier, the surface also carbonized, and it was quite hard, perfect for breaking ground.

He would first pry out pits in the surface, remove the stubborn plant roots, then use the shovel to dig the soil.

This method greatly improved efficiency.

He had the strength now, and could reclaim half an acre in three days.

During these three days, Mixi actually took the hunting bow Penny had made for her and went out hunting with an iron spear, so her primary profession is Tailor, and her secondary profession is Hunter?

As expected, during these three days Mixi only caught a dozen loaches and about a hundred grasshoppers and otherwise returned empty-handed. Oh, not quite—she also picked some mushrooms of unknown toxicity, some pretty little flowers, and a pile of wild fruits.

Her mindset was pretty good.

Li Wei focused single-mindedly on reclaiming field, even skipping the nightly routine archery practice, working by lamplight as if driven.

Because these were free three days, any land reclaimed in this period belonged to the individual. Even if it was later donated to the family, it would still yield a large amount of Family Contribution.

In the blink of an eye, the three days passed and the month ended.

Li Wei successfully reclaimed half an acre, then decisively chose to donate it to the family. Since he didn’t plant or harvest yet, he only received five points of Family Contribution, but that didn’t matter—what Li Wei wanted was to scale up winter wheat planting next month.

Those one-star quality seeds already belonged to the family now; he could not plant such seeds on his private plot—that was a rule red line he had to understand.

There was another reason:

since the family now had two acres, the winter wheat planting had to be scheduled into the family main quest, where the share would be heavier, and who was best suited to handle that task? Naturally, Li Wei himself.

This subtly prevented the Family Head from assigning too many other main quests to him and interfering with his personal development path.

Dinner that night was a bit lavish. Fila fried some dried fish in grease and even luxuriously sprinkled a little salt, making them mouth-wateringly oily, and there was vegetable and mushroom soup and some ripe wild fruits.

The five of them ate happily together, but after the meal, except for the unaware Leon, the others all wore solemn expressions, waiting for that moment to come.

Soon, a message floated up in front of everyone.

[Because the Professional Craftsman *** has the highest Family Contribution, she will continue to serve as Family Head and will continue managing and publishing the family’s main quest for the next month]

Li Wei, Fila, and even Mixi were calm about this, because it was inevitable. Even if Penny had not donated anything this month, her Family Contribution still started at around 140 points—unbeatable.

It’s worth mentioning that Fila hadn’t donated supplies to the family this month either, so her Family Contribution topped out at around eighty points. Li Wei reached eighty-three points.

Mixi only had single digits left, and Leon had zero.

The brother was shocked at this moment, probably realizing he had freeloaded the entire month, but there was nothing he could do. As the household entered a steady state, the exploitation of newcomers would become more formalized and refined.

“Next month, I plan to focus on mastering Primitive Steelmaking. I want to modify and expand the small blast furnace. We need steel tools and steel weapons. That will be our advantage for external trade.”

Penny spoke slowly, brimming with confidence, glancing around like a warlord.

“But to complete a steel small blast furnace we need everyone’s support, such as mining Iron Ore and handling transportation, and tasks like cutting Oak and producing charcoal. I can’t do it alone.”

“Also, once the small blast furnace is lit, it’s best to keep it running continuously for more than twenty days, so we must standardize this. Not just next month, but every month from now on we must ensure the furnace’s daily operation! The losses from stopping a furnace recklessly are huge and very dangerous.”

“Speaking of which, we must mention the overall planning of our camp. The simple iron furnaces can be placed inside the camp, but the steel small blast furnace must be located away from the residential area and farmland water sources. Therefore, building a larger perimeter wall should be put on the agenda.”

“Now, I need someone who can manage the small blast furnace on a regular basis. They don’t need to handle other family affairs, only to tend the furnace. Who will take this?”

“I will, I’ll do it!”

Leon raised his hand first, which basically confirmed that his primary profession was Craftsman.

“Good. Next month you and I will build the small blast furnace and the nearby supporting structures. After firing it up, you and I will manage it on a rota. At the same time, the work in the Blacksmith Shop will be jointly handled by us.”

Penny decided without emotion, probably pleased inside; this newcomer Leon had, to some extent, become her natural ally.

And Fila had, for nothing, handed Leon a two-star Fisherman card, ending up with nothing.

“The problem now is that Leon and I can’t spare the time and energy to fell trees, make charcoal, and mine and transport ore. These two tasks are very important. Of course, I can take over the charcoal-making part, but splitting Oak into standard-sized firewood requires one person to be in charge.”

Penny didn’t directly appoint anyone, she simply proposed the task—this was the monthly main quest, highest priority. Without completing this, forget about everything else.

“Ah, I’m old, I can only gather and fish. People have to eat, and besides, I’ll still guarantee one bowl of Mushroom Meat Soup a day.”

Fila began to use her age as authority, and indeed no one could replace her. For example, those one-star quality mushrooms only she could find; they were the key for making Mushroom Meat Soup, while the type of meat—wolf or fish—didn’t matter much.

In fact, last month Fila even once used rat meat as a substitute, and the family ate it heartily.

Penny did not expect anything from her and nodded. “Okay, Mom, you’ve worked hard. But if you could find some salt while gathering, that would be great. Of course, I’m only saying if.”

Then she turned to look at Li Wei.

“So, George, what about you?”

“This month I need to prioritize planting winter wheat. That may take a few days,” Li Wei considered.

“Fine. After you plant the winter wheat, you’ll be responsible for cutting Oak and splitting it into firewood. My requirement isn’t high—you just need to supply the monthly charcoal needed for the blast furnace.”

Penny behaved fairly this time, but this precisely revealed her ambitious nature. She wanted to form an internal order in the family, not to be dragged backward by chaos or petty conspiracies that gain small benefits at the family’s expense!

Although, she was an expert in that area.

In short, she wanted to clean her image!