Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 420: Strategic Contraction

"As for the second plan, that's even simpler: throw money at it. Give me one million gold coins, and I will tailor-make five Six-Star Heaven-Veiling Cards for the five of you. I guarantee that you won't be subjected to Targeted Marking by Neanderthal Mages within a month of entering."

"Two plans. Choose for yourself!"

"If you can't make up your mind right now, you can also talk about it later. You still have more than two years anyway."

After Night Owl finished speaking, only then did she look up at Li Wei, seemingly wanting to see how he would choose.

As a result, Li Wei's expression didn't change in the slightest. He didn't even hesitate. "If I choose the first plan, does Lord Night Owl have Six-Star Dimension Ascension Cards on hand?"

"To have made a choice so quickly, it seems you are very confident in yourself. That's right, I do indeed have Six-Star Dimension Ascension Cards on hand. Over all these years, I have truly accumulated a few. This thing is actually also sold in the black market of Oxhorn Alley. It's about two hundred thousand gold coins a piece. Do you want to buy them?"

"I'll buy them!"

Li Wei didn't hesitate at all. At the same time, he didn't have a single distracting thought in his heart; he was as clean as a machine.

"Deal!"

Night Owl's gaze was playful. With a flip of her hand, three Six-Star Dimension Ascension Cards flicked over. The moment Li Wei caught them, six hundred thousand Standard Gold Coins were successfully traded with a crisp clinking sound.With that, Night Owl waved her hand, signaling Li Wei to get out.

But after Li Wei left, a trace of envy appeared on her face, though it quickly flashed past.

"This kid... is just too steady."

At this time, Li Wei returned to the Item Card sales zone and bought ten Five-Star Heaven-Veiling Cards in one breath. At ten thousand gold coins each, ten of them cost a hundred thousand. Counting the five he already had on hand, it was a total of fifteen cards.

Theoretically speaking, if he were the only one going on the mission, this would be enough.

Next, he didn't rush to leave either. Instead, he waited outside an Arbitrary Door closest to this place. This was because this was the only direct-connection Arbitrary Door leading to Cadel Province. If Zhao Xuanxuan was coming back, she could only pass through here.

In fact, he wasn't the only one waiting here. The Logistics Department, Tactics Department, Resource Department, and Ministry of Internal Affairs had all sent people to wait. It seemed that the scope of the impact this time was quite large. It looked as though even that Lu Ziming from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had fallen.

The commotion was too huge. The pained expressions on Black Wolf, Gray Fox, and the others earlier truly weren't faked.

Just like that, time passed minute by minute, second by second. As night fell, a faint light finally flashed outside the Arbitrary Door. Subsequently, a figure pushed open the Arbitrary Door and walked out.

It was a man in his thirties. He looked somewhat weak, wearing a crumpled set of everyday clothes, his eyes lacking focus. Li Wei also had an impression of this person; he seemed to be a Four-Star Professional from the Resource Department.

He looked around and gave a pale smile. Supported by the people sent by the Resource Department, he got onto a carriage and quickly left.

The next to return was Lu Ziming from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He looked a bit more energetic, but that was it. Without saying a word, he quickly departed.

Following that, seven or eight people returned in one breath. Some were Four-Star, some were Three-Star. The Four-Star Professionals all had people to receive them, while the Three-Stars were like lonely, wandering ghosts.

However, what was interesting was that the depletion of energy and spirit among the Four-Star Professionals was relatively large, whereas the Three-Star Professionals were actually alive and kicking.

Soon, there was almost no one around. Only then did the Arbitrary Door open again. A somewhat weak Zhao Xuanxuan walked out and immediately spotted Li Wei at a glance. At this moment, she seemed like she wanted to cry, but then she laughed. She tried to walk with her head held high and her chest puffed out, but unexpectedly almost stumbled and fell.

"Stop trying to act tough. It's good that you're back."

Li Wei hurriedly supported her onto a carriage.

On the way, Zhao Xuanxuan tried to say something several times, but was stopped by Li Wei's gaze each time.

Soon, they arrived at their destination. Li Wei supported Zhao Xuanxuan as she got out of the carriage again.

"Where is this? Aren't you taking me to the Wind Residence? You even had a little maid over there."

"Just shut up."

Li Wei paid the fare, supported Zhao Xuanxuan, and opened the Arbitrary Door again, returning directly to the Territory.

By the time they opened the portal to the Territory, Second Aunt was already waiting outside. Even Hathaway had hurried over early upon hearing the news.

"Aiyo, f*ck! These damn Barbarians! Little Trash, your luck is truly too terrible."

While speaking, Second Aunt had already directly poured two different portions of Four-Star Magic Secret Potion down Zhao Xuanxuan's throat. Then, moving like a whirlwind, she directed Li Wei to place Zhao Xuanxuan inside the Mage Tower.

"Dying in battle is nothing, and losing drops doesn't matter either. But the tearing of the body and soul can easily leave lasting side effects. Fortunately, I was mindful this time and secretly prepared relevant Secret Medicines. Otherwise, things would probably be awful this time."

"Second Aunt, I—"

"Don't speak. Although the Kingdom's Mages have resurrected you, that kind of Resurrection is too rough. For the next year, it's best you stay put obediently. You'd even better not participate in any Cross-Border Missions next. Bone and muscle injuries take a hundred days to heal, but dying once costs three years. This is all the voice of experience."

Second Aunt bustled about for nearly half an hour. Only after directly soaking Zhao Xuanxuan in a medicine barrel did she finally heave a sigh of relief and look at Li Wei. "Little Wei, although I still don't understand the specific situation, I hope you won't scold Little Trash. Dying in battle while on a mission is normal. The Alliance of Heavenly Lords isn't a charity either. We must get used to these kinds of things."

"However, you can rest assured. As long as she properly recuperates for three years, this Little Trash's growth potential might just significantly jump up another notch. Experiencing life and death like this is enough for her to reach a profound enlightenment. By the way, I still have a Six-Star Dimension Ascension Card here. I originally planned to save it for future use, but this time, let's just treat it as her leave of absence slip."

"Second Aunt!"

Li Wei gave a helpless smile, but four more Six-Star Dimension Ascension Cards appeared in his hand. "Actually, my idea is that not just Xuanxuan, but including all of you—none of you should go on a Cross-Border Mission next. Just stay in the Territory. The Barbarians are clearly targeting me, so naturally, they will target you as well. Let's lay low for now, accumulate our strength, and talk again in eight years."

"As for me, a small boat is easy to turn around. No matter what I encounter, I at least have the ability to escape."

"Ah? Little Wei, you have to think twice! Don't mess around!"

"That's right, Li Wei. If worst comes to worst, let me go with you. The two of us will still make a very small target. Let Second Aunt and Sister Yue stay behind to watch the house."

Both Second Aunt and Hathaway reacted very strongly.

"Say no more. There's no room for discussion on this matter. Moreover, what I said is only one aspect. The other aspect is that I'm quite worried that once we go on a Cross-Border Mission, the Territory is highly likely to be sneak-attacked. This time, two Four-Star Territories in Cadel Province were suddenly raided by Barbarians. We have to guard against this. We can't just return from a Cross-Border Mission, look up, and realize our home is gone!"

"Territory, Territory. Without a Territory, everything is illusory! Right now, our Territory has just stabilized. All aspects still need development. Although the possibility of a Barbarian attack is very small, if it does happen, it will be a life-or-death calamity. If you aren't holding the fort in the Territory, that is absolutely unacceptable."

"Especially since the Barbarians seem to have also hired some Samsara Travelers this time. Then we absolutely cannot let our guard down."

After Li Wei finished speaking, especially that last sentence, Second Aunt and Hathaway's expressions instantly changed slightly.

"That's right, Li Wei is right. Although I don't know exactly where I lost this time, everything was just wrong. At the critical moment, f*cking riots broke out in the main city where I was doing my mission, and the Mage Tower was blown up. This was just too abnormal. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for me to lose. My Warhorse was inexplicably Poisoned. Without my Warhorse, I was so out of luck. The two Neanderthal Centurions on the opposite side suppressed me completely, beating me until I didn't even have a temper."

"Fortunately, I didn't lose out either. It's also fortunate that the 4-Star Lord of Cadel Province realized the situation early. She was pretty smart to activate a Six-Star KIA Rescue Card ahead of time—"

Zhao Xuanxuan was halfway through speaking when she felt a headache. Hathaway hastily said:

"Xuanxuan, stop talking. Don't think about these things. An overly intense fluctuation in your mental state is bad for your soul. Right now, you must maintain tranquility. In short, just leave the other matters to us."

"Alright, I know. I just wanted to say that I didn't lose money, hehe. I just dropped a Cavalry Card and an Artisan Card, that's all. But before that, relying on my Blood Burning talent plus the advantage of Heavy Cavalry, I consecutively slew two Neanderthal Centurions, six Neanderthal Infantry, twelve Neanderthal archers, and five Neanderthal rangers on the battlefield. I exchanged all the Gold Cards into two Silver Tokens and twenty-three Black Iron Tokens. It's just that out of the two Purple Drop Cards that dropped for me, one f*cking dropped away, leaving me with only one now."

"I've put all of these into the Territory vault. Li Wei, distribute them as you see fit."

"Also, aiyah, let me tell you, the Neanderthals are nothing more than that. I didn't see any so-called Samsara Travelers, but if we charged head-on, I'd still be able to crush them. Cowardly bastards, all they knew was how to poison my Warhorse..."

Zhao Xuanxuan grew more and more agitated as she spoke. In the end, it took Hathaway casting a sleep magic spell to quiet her down.

"It seems your judgment was correct, Li Wei. We need to defend the Territory and contract our defensive lines. Also, if possible, I hope we can build another Magic Power Mine at Dawn Fortress, while simultaneously applying to construct an Arbitrary Door. Even if it's just an Arbitrary Door between the Central City and my barony, we'll be able to rapidly deploy the Legion for support."

"Right. Moreover, the road between Dawn Fortress and the Central City must be rebuilt. We must eradicate the steep mountains along the way and construct a wider, flatter road. Furthermore, we must also build early-warning outposts on several peaks along the route."

"After all, that area is mostly a mountainous environment. Our Heavy Cavalry won't be able to exert their advantage. So we have to deploy a Legion there comprised primarily of Heavy Armored Infantry and heavy armored archers."

"That's right. Our Heavy Cavalry currently numbers nearly two hundred. On the plains, this is a torrent of steel, enough to defend the area around Riverside Fortress and west of the Central City. But in the future, it would be best to reoccupy the abandoned Great Bridge Fortress to the east."

"Of course, at this stage, we shouldn't rush to expand. Just settling the matters of Dawn Fortress's Magic Power Mine and the road will do."

With Li Wei, Hathaway, and Second Aunt taking turns speaking, they quickly reached a consensus.

At this point, Li Wei deliberately stayed behind to have dinner. Making use of the safe environment of the Mage Tower, he began upgrading his Hunter Card and Woodsman Card to Rare.

(End of Chapter)