Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 89: Bandit Raid

Around eight in the morning, Li Wei had already hauled back one load of stone. It was now late April by his reckoning, and although spring hadn't officially ended, the weather had turned decidedly hot.

So Li Wei returned to camp, gulped down some cooled boiled water, and then leisurely pushed his wheelbarrow back toward the quarry.

If not for the layer of dust coating his face, anyone watching might have thought he was on a scenic stroll.

But in reality, Li Wei was using the time to memorize the surrounding terrain, compartmentalizing and mapping it as precisely as he could.

A small diversion during the tedium of manual labor.

What else was he supposed to do?

Congratulate Thomas on the nearly finished stone wall?

Speaking of which, the stone needed for the wall was already sufficient. The main structure, after two months of construction, was nearing completion.

Thomas was practically inhuman!

After nearly six months of relentless labor, the man was still maintaining fifteen-hour workdays even now.It was terrifying.

When Thomas had arrived last autumn, he'd been a tower of a man — at least a hundred kilograms, standing 190 centimeters tall. Now he was nothing but skin and bones.

He was quite literally burning through his life force to build this wall.

Li Wei found the whole thing surreal — absurd, even.

Despite harboring zero goodwill toward Thomas and feeling nothing but hostility, in this moment, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of respect.

'You don't reach greatness without a touch of madness.'

"George, bring me some water on your next trip back."

In the quarry, Penny's voice drifted over, weak and listless. She looked ready to collapse. The heat had turned oppressive, the work was grueling, and their salt supply was running low — even an iron constitution would crumble under these conditions.

Over the past few days, the group had developed an unspoken understanding, collectively throttling back their quarrying output.

The monthly task was a lost cause. All they could do was wait and see how the end-of-month settlement played out.

By now, Thomas's side had finished the stone framework of the wall. All that remained was filling the core with crushed gravel mixed with clay.

Admittedly, watching a stone wall with a 180-meter perimeter rise from the ground was rather satisfying.

Thomas and Margaret — those two veteran players — were repulsive people, but there was no denying that the family camp was about to level up.

"Sure."

Li Wei replied just as listlessly, then began loading stone blocks onto the wheelbarrow one by one at a glacial pace, looking for all the world like a decrepit old man on his last legs.

The inconsistency, however, was obvious: strapped to his back were a wooden spear, five bodkin arrows, and a recurve bow tucked inside its case with the string removed.

In fact, part of the reason he moved so slowly was precisely the encumbrance of carrying all that weaponry.

He had never once let his guard down.

The others were a different story. During the first few days, everyone had carried iron spears for self-defense. But as exhaustion took its toll, they'd all abandoned them.

"George, just take that stuff off your back and set it aside. It's not going anywhere."

Fila couldn't help but speak up. Watching Li Wei lug everything around was exhausting in itself. Mostly, though, every time she looked at him these days it soured her mood. She was supposed to be a chef, a logistics manager — and here she was, caked in quarry dust, hacking at stone. All thanks to this little brat!

Li Wei said nothing, as if he'd walled off the outside world entirely. He continued his old-donkey-at-the-millstone routine, deliberately keeping his pace as slow as possible to minimize Stamina drain.

The outward appearance of lethargy was just a disguise.

Abundant Stamina was for emergencies, not for squandering.

He'd just finished loading the wheelbarrow and was about to push off when, without any warning, several lines of blood-red text materialized before him — and everyone else.

[Due to the lack of patrol and guard personnel, a band of bandits has silently approached your camp and launched a surprise attack. Family member Margaret has been struck through the skull by a crossbow bolt. She is dead!]

[Head of Household Thomas recklessly and brutally assigned this month's family main tasks while neglecting patrols and defense, resulting in severe consequences. His competence has been called into question. His Clearance Evaluation will be significantly downgraded. He has been forcibly deducted 100 Family Contribution Points. His Family Elder status has been revoked. For the next nine months, he cannot obtain the Family Elder title. Any Plot Kill targeting him requires only 1 Contribution Point to initiate, while he needs 10 Contribution Points to gain immunity. Likewise, any Plot Kill he initiates costs 10 Contribution Points.]

[Warning! Bandits are storming the family camp entrance. Head of Household Thomas is locked in a fight to the death. The camp could fall at any moment. You must provide immediate reinforcement. If the family camp is breached, this clearance mission will be forcibly settled!]

—

'Good!'

'What had to come has finally come!'

Li Wei's scalp tingled. He whipped around to look at Penny, who was also dumbfounded. Without question, this was the fallout from those three bandits who'd escaped last autumn.

As for Fila and Leon, they stood frozen in shock. Their iron spears for self-defense were sitting back at home.

"Move! Snap out of it!"

"We need to get back and provide support."

Li Wei bellowed, dumped the stone out of the wheelbarrow, and took off running with the empty cart.

Penny, Fila, and Leon jolted awake and scrambled after him, clutching their hammers and chisels as they ran.

After sprinting down the nearest steep slope in one breath, Li Wei realized this approach wasn't going to work.

"Mom, sis, Leon — drop your hammers and listen to me!"

"Leon, you push the wheelbarrow. I need to rest and recover Stamina. I can't keep running."

"Mom, sis — you two take turns helping Leon push. No wait — grab that wooden raft and load it on. The bandits might have arrows. We need cover."

"No, George — there's no time! Thomas is alone. He can't hold out much longer. If the camp falls, it's all over!"

Fila shrieked, practically manic — well, that was typical for her.

"Calm down, Mom! Thomas is tougher than we think! He won't die that easily. Right now he should be holding the camp entrance."

Li Wei's voice was steady and firm. He'd felt firsthand just how hard Thomas's bones were. Since the man hadn't been turned into a pincushion and killed in the opening volley, then as a Professional Warrior, Thomas could absolutely hold the camp using the terrain advantage.

Come to think of it — having a stone wall really was a godsend.

"But — but the bandits could climb over! They'll burn our supplies!" Fila was still shrieking, frantic beyond reason.

"Mom, the bandits can't get over. The wall is three meters tall with a dug-out slope beneath it — nearly five meters of total height. Without siege equipment, the only way in is through the entrance. As long as Thomas holds, we still have a chance."

By now, Penny had regained her composure, and Leon was doing reasonably well — no screaming, just helping load the wooden raft.

"No good — this raft is too heavy. We need to trim it down. George, give me your dagger!"

Penny called out. When she turned around, she was momentarily stunned. Li Wei was sitting there, first drinking half his waterskin, then using the remaining half to wash his face — meticulously, carefully, even washing his hands with deliberate precision before gently drying them on his clothing.

'Are you — are you getting ready to pick up a bride or something?!'

Penny strode over in three quick steps and snatched the dagger. She said nothing, though. After all, she'd seen — well, she hadn't actually seen how Li Wei had fought one against eight, but that didn't matter. Anyone who could kill a two-star black bear deserved some trust.

Penny and Leon worked quickly, trimming the raft down and temporarily securing it to the wheelbarrow. Everyone understood the importance of arrow protection.

The two of them were both artisans. This kind of work was their specialty — they knew exactly how to build it, and they were far more skilled at it than Li Wei.

Fila, meanwhile, was still muttering anxiously. At least she'd stopped screaming — though she stamped her feet occasionally, burning with impatience, ready to charge down and fight.

But then, suddenly, she screamed again.

"George! Thomas is dead! The bandits are coming up here! What do we do?! Our supplies!"

"Mom, Thomas is not dead!"

Even Leon couldn't take it anymore. But a second later, he froze too — because a group of bandits had rounded the stone wall and were marching up the very path toward the quarry.

And just like that, Leon panicked too.

"What do we do?! What do we do?! They're coming! There's more of them than us!"

Penny was equally shaken, but her hands never stopped — still rapidly lashing the raft to the wheelbarrow.

Li Wei, meanwhile, calmly finished drying his hands, unstrapped the wooden spear, drew out his recurve bow, and began tying on the carefully preserved bowstring. His voice was low and steady:

"Calm down! They're still far away. Leon, listen — you don't need to fight. Just keep the wheelbarrow steady. Whatever you do, don't let it rock!"

"Mom, sis — one on each side, brace the raft. Help Leon keep the wheelbarrow stable. No matter what happens — remember this — no matter what, keep the wheelbarrow steady."

"Mom, don't peek out. Don't overthink it!"

"Sis, you're more agile. I need you to call out targets for me!"

"That's the plan. Leon — go!"

With that, Li Wei hopped onto the wheelbarrow and motioned for Leon to push.

"Seriously, bro? You want me to push you? Over less than a kilometer, how much Stamina can you possibly save?" Leon grumbled, but started pushing anyway.

Fila and Penny took up positions on either side, bracing the wooden panel.

The next second, Fila peeked out and immediately screamed again. "This is bad, George! They've split up! They're going to flank us! We should retreat to the quarry and use that tactic — the enemy advances, we advance, the enemy retreats, we..."

"Mom! Be quiet!"

Penny finally snapped, unable to hold back any longer. 'What kind of teammate is this?!'

Though she herself was hardly a stellar one — but who could have imagined there was always someone worse? 'You really are my mother!'

"Leon, don't peek out. Listen to your brother. This is a real battle, not a game. There's zero room for error."

"I know. Don't worry!"

Leon finally steadied himself and focused on pushing the cart. Months of hard labor had forged him a pair of powerful arms — at least in this role, he was reliable.

Fila finally stopped peeking out, though she was still trembling slightly.

Penny, by contrast, stayed cool, observing the situation carefully.

And Li Wei sat in silence, eyes closed, relaxing himself as completely as possible. His mind — perfectly clear, perfectly still.

That's right. He was that relaxed. Not a shred of pressure.