Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 93: Mud, Rotten Wood, Stubborn Stone

[You may take the Skinner title with you, but you cannot obtain the designation "Fila the Skinner."]

[Your Family Contribution last month was 279 points. This month's settlement adds 21 points, for a cumulative total convertible to 30 standard gold coins. Additionally, you receive a share of other family assets. After deducting applicable taxes and operational costs, you receive 3 standard gold coins. You cannot take any equipment or materials from this world.]

[Based on the totality of your actions, your Plunder Score for this world reached 5.2. You served as Head of Household twice, earning an 8% bonus to your Clearance Evaluation. Your final Plunder Score is 5.616. You receive one Rotten Wood Quality Clearance Token.]

[Note: During your leave, you may participate in daily resource extraction side missions as a freelance player (as the former player Mixi once did). These missions typically last three to six months. Upon completion, you receive a Rotten Wood Token fragment. Collect ten fragments to obtain one complete Rotten Wood Clearance Token. Combining two yields one Stubborn Stone Quality Clearance Token.]

[Note: You may also participate in war missions to acquire more valuable materials for strengthening your Clearance Token.]

[Welcome, future Lord.]

—

In the blink of an eye, Fila was stunned. Her evaluation was that low? Rotten Wood?

If she'd known, she would have worked harder instead of hanging back and scheming against others. She'd always assumed that doing more work meant getting the short end of the stick...

"I... I object! I demand a re-evaluation! There must be a mistake! It can't be — I poured my heart and soul into this family! I — I built this family from the ground up! My husband left me all that inheritance! Officer, please, I'm begging you for justice..."Before Fila could finish, she dissolved into a cloud of gray mist and vanished from the world.

Night Owl didn't even glance at her.

Penny and Leon stared in shock. Fila's evaluation was that low — was settling the mission right now really a good idea?

"Anyone else want to settle? Opportunity knocks but once. Penny — you're better off than Fila. The Logistics Department is offering you a 10% bonus to your Clearance Evaluation. Want to settle? Also, as long as you join the Logistics Department, you'll receive one standard gold coin per month as salary even while on leave. Honestly, staying in this rookie mission won't earn you a much better evaluation going forward."

The internal affairs officer was actually trying to recruit Penny.

Was this even fair?

"Done! I'll settle the mission!" After a moment's thought, Penny made her decision. She was confident in herself — an artisan capable of crafting two-star composite bows would surely receive better terms than Fila.

Besides, with the story progressing to this point, the next phase would likely involve conflict with Kakh City. If a few more veterans like Thomas showed up, how could they possibly win?

More importantly, she urgently needed to find a better organization. The Logistics Department seemed promising — she was still deeply worried about Thomas's earlier threats.

"Excellent!"

Night Owl nodded and waved her hand.

In an instant, scenes from Penny's past flickered across the enormous mist-formed screen, ultimately condensing into lines of text.

[You may take the Bowyer title with you, but you cannot obtain the designation "Penny the Bowyer."]

[Your Family Contribution last month was 198 points. This month's settlement adds 30 points, for a cumulative total convertible to 21.8 standard gold coins. Additionally, you receive a share of other family assets. After deducting applicable taxes and operational costs, you receive 3 standard gold coins. You cannot take any equipment or materials from this world.]

[Based on the totality of your actions, your Plunder Score for this world reached 9.2. You served as Head of Household twice, earning a 9% bonus to your Clearance Evaluation. Combined with the additional 10%, your final Plunder Score is 10.948. You receive one Stubborn Stone Quality Clearance Token.]

[Note: During your leave, you may participate in daily resource extraction missions as a freelance player, or accept mercenary contracts (as the former player Margaret did). These missions typically last three to six months. Upon completion, you receive a Rotten Wood Token fragment. Collect ten fragments to obtain one complete Rotten Wood Clearance Token. Combining two yields one Stubborn Stone Quality Clearance Token. Two Stubborn Stone Tokens yield one Bronze Token.]

[Note: You may also participate in war missions to acquire more valuable materials for strengthening your Clearance Token.]

[Welcome, future Lord.]

—

Huh?

Even Penny couldn't scrape together a Bronze Quality Clearance Token?

Li Wei frowned slightly, surprised. Penny had been far more diligent and resourceful than Fila, and even she ended up like this. What about himself?

Penny was clearly taken aback too, but she quickly accepted it. She turned to look at Li Wei one last time, smiled, and then faded into the gray mist.

Now only Li Wei and Leon remained.

Night Owl first cast an amused glance at the silent Li Wei, then turned to Leon. "Leon — I'm sorry to say this, but you have to leave."

"Why? I don't want to leave. I haven't earned enough Contribution yet."

Leon's voice was resolute. Only now did he realize how many mistakes he'd made over the past months. He'd even been misled by that witch Fila on numerous occasions. He should have followed George's example.

Why had he been so petty? Why had he believed that never letting anyone gain the slightest advantage was victory? Why couldn't he see the bigger picture? Why had he forgotten that being a family meant protecting it first? Competition was natural — even blood siblings kept separate accounts, even sisters fought sometimes — but that didn't mean you could invite outsiders to undermine your own kin...

If he could start over — no, starting next month — he could cooperate fully with George. George was the leader; whatever he said, Leon would follow...

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. Fila and Penny left with dignity because other departments were willing to take them. But you — since you never once served as Head of Household in the past nine months, you can be forcibly settled. Stop struggling. You'll get your six months of leave, and then you'll be deployed as a foot soldier in a war instance. Of course, you still have the freedom to return to the real world. Are you — sure?"

"I — I — will I actually die in a war instance?"

Leon's voice cracked with a stammer.

Night Owl regarded him with an amused expression but offered no answer. The next second, the settlement screen activated. The results appeared quickly.

[You have no titles to take with you.]

[Your Family Contribution last month was 128 points. This month's settlement adds 30 points, for a cumulative total convertible to 15.8 standard gold coins. Additionally, you receive a share of other family assets. After deducting applicable taxes and operational costs, you receive 3 standard gold coins. You cannot take any equipment or materials from this world.]

[Based on the totality of your actions, your Plunder Score for this world reached 3.2. You never served as Head of Household. You received no bonus to your Clearance Evaluation. Your final Plunder Score is 3.2. You receive one Mud Quality Clearance Token.]

[Note: During your leave, you may participate in daily resource extraction missions as a freelance player. These missions typically last three to six months. Upon completion, you receive a Mud Token fragment. Collect ten fragments to obtain one complete Mud Clearance Token. Combining two yields one Rotten Wood Quality Clearance Token. Two Rotten Wood Tokens yield one Stubborn Stone Token.]

[Note: You may also participate in war missions to acquire more valuable materials for strengthening your Clearance Token.]

[Welcome, future mercenary.]

—

"What?! Mud?! Even worse than Rotten Wood?! And why am I a mercenary..."

"I object! I didn't slack off! For over nine months, I worked every single day! I was more of a workhorse than an actual horse! I got cheated! I got tricked! Even if I didn't accomplish anything great for this family, I worked myself to the bone! I refuse to accept this! On what grounds?!"

Leon roared in fury!

In truth, Li Wei was curious too. Why, indeed?

Night Owl glanced at Li Wei, noticed his curious expression, and finally offered a rare explanation. "Over the past nine months, you had two chances to rise. The first was when Penny led the team out to trade — you were home for six days. And the small blast furnace collapsed. What did you do? Apparently, nothing. You could have at least rebuilt it."

"The following month, Penny was injured and there was no artisan on duty at home. So what did you do then?"

"Oh, right — you spent that time fishing. That was your moment to step up and claim the duty artisan role. George wasn't suppressing you at the time. He even asked what you wanted to do. And you chose fishing. Did you somehow forget that your primary profession is artisan?"

"You already knew how to rebuild the blast furnace. The materials were all there. If you'd rebuilt it that month, you could have spent the entire winter developing your profession around it. Why on earth did you end up quarrying stone with Thomas?"

"Without your help, Thomas's title task would have inevitably failed. After that month, if the stone wasn't enough and his time ran out, all his item cards in the world wouldn't matter. What a waste."

"But you — you pinned all your hopes on Family Contribution, on experience points. Those things matter, yes, but they're truly not what matters most. You nickel-and-dimed George by selling him fish bladders, thinking you were so clever. You even tried to extort him. You didn't even realize he was about to serve as Head of Household for months running. All you had was resentment in your heart, completely missing the chance to cooperate with George."

"You see — all these opportunities, and you threw every one of them away. You find it hard to believe yourself, don't you? That's the reality. Whether it's managing a family or governing a territory, you can't just grind mindlessly or cheat your way through. You need the big picture. You need the ability to guide a family onto a path of stable development."

These words left Leon frozen. He truly had never considered any of this.

He opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, nothing came out. The next second, the gray mist swept him away.