Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 94: Development and Confrontation

"He's not suited to be a Lord. He can't even manage the most basic patience. Over the tiniest advantage, he throws the bigger picture out the window. Now, admittedly, patience can be an agonizing ordeal, especially for the young—" The internal affairs officer seemed to regard Li Wei with particular interest. "George, what about you? Do you want to settle the mission?"

"Reporting, ma'am — I'd like to continue the mission." Li Wei answered honestly, though he had no idea whether he'd be granted an exception.

But Night Owl smiled.

"Wonderful. That's exactly what I was hoping to hear. You may continue — after all, a family can't have every member settled out of existence. But be warned: the new arrivals joining this family will be cunning veterans, and the main mission storyline will change. Beyond that, I can't reveal more."

"Additionally, your current mission must be settled before it restarts. Think of it the same way your adopted father settled his mission from Kakh City. Incidentally, this family's narrative task has been running in this world for 542 years. Once upon a time, I was a rookie in this very storyline myself. Ah, that was a long time ago... I do miss it."

As she spoke, the internal affairs officer waved her hand. The same luminous screen materialized, and Li Wei's entire year of experiences began flickering across it — from those first days of chopping wood, building, fishing, to clearing farmland. Frame by frame, scene by scene. Though it moved quickly, Li Wei couldn't help feeling a twinge of nostalgia.

Finally, everything froze into text.

[You may take the Bear Hunter title with you, but you cannot obtain the designation "George the Bear Hunter."]

[Your Family Defender title cannot be taken with you, but it can be settled for 100 Contribution, 1,000 experience points (any type), and a 10% Clearance Evaluation bonus.]

[Your Family Contribution last month was 420 (including title bonuses). This month's settlement adds 100 + 30 points, for a cumulative total convertible to 55 standard gold coins. Additionally, you receive a share of other family assets. After deducting applicable taxes, operational costs, and your outstanding debt, 2 standard gold coins were deducted, leaving you with 53. You may take one two-star quality composite bow from this world. Note: Only personal property of one-star quality or above may be carried out of this world.][Based on the totality of your actions, your Plunder Score for this world reached 12.2. You served as Head of Household six times, earning a total of 38% + 10% Clearance Evaluation bonus. Your final Plunder Score is 18.056. You receive one Bronze Quality Clearance Token.]

[Note: Plunder Scores reset to zero after each settlement. New missions begin fresh calculations.]

[Note: During your leave, you may participate in daily resource extraction missions as a professional player, or trigger title tasks (cf. Thomas). These missions typically last six to nine months. Upon completion, you receive a Bronze Token fragment. Collect two fragments to obtain one complete Bronze Clearance Token. Combining two yields one Black Iron Token. Two Black Iron Tokens yield one Silver Token.]

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

[Welcome, future Lord.]

—

With a cascading clatter, 53 standard gold coins fell from the air — only to dissolve into golden mist the instant they neared Li Wei's body.

"Officer, I don't quite understand — why is my Plunder Score so high?"

Li Wei asked, genuinely curious. He didn't think he'd worked harder than Penny. Everyone had been busy — well, except Fila, who'd stuck exclusively to managing her own domain and seemed proud of it.

"My, how modest. Your Plunder Score breaks down into roughly these categories."

"First — your genuine care and protection of family members. That's reflected in concrete actions. Penny would have left family members to die, but you intervened to save family members on three separate occasions and led one critical battle. That's a major scoring factor — roughly 50%."

"Second — while you don't have any dramatic single discoveries like Penny finding a three-star iron mine, the details tell the real story. Your strategic vision is solid. During your tenure as Head of Household, family wealth didn't explode overnight, but it grew steadily. That might seem unremarkable, but it's actually incredibly important. Remember — if the direction is wrong, no amount of effort will help."

"Penny, frankly, had a good plan. She wanted to leverage the iron mine to bootstrap manufacturing and establish trade routes. If she'd succeeded, the family would have soared. But she was too hasty. If she'd waited half a year — say, until this spring or summer — she might have pulled it off. Instead, her failure ironically benefited you."

"One more thing — the newcomer Sam and the freelance player Mixi weren't supposed to die. If they'd survived, the title task would have been delayed. That chain of events traces back to Penny."

"Of course, you're quite the steady hand. That's your strength, but it's also your weakness. When you were impeached, if you'd decisively paid to block it, things would have played out very differently. You would have watched Thomas and Margaret get their missions forcibly settled and slink away. Instead of... well, what actually happened. So there's room for self-reflection."

"Third — your cultivation of the land. That's the most gradual and sustainable approach. And Thomas's intervention actually worked in your favor. The city wall doesn't count as family property, which means that over the past five or six months, Penny and Leon were effectively doing unpaid labor. You, meanwhile, used that time to develop yourself — all the way up to killing the black bear."

"Overall, your success comes down to one word: stability. Not enough to handle veterans, but against a group of fellow rookies, your performance was adequate. Solid, if unremarkable. Among this cycle's newcomers, you'd rank in the upper-middle."

"That's enough from me. Your Family Contribution has been reset to zero. Over the coming month, it's a race to see who can claim Head of Household. And don't put too much pressure on yourself — watching masters at work is a learning experience too, isn't it?"

"I'll be waiting for you at headquarters. Barring any surprises, once you settle your mission and return, I'll become your direct superior."

With that, Night Owl offered a faint smile, dissolved back into gray mist, and vanished. Li Wei was left alone in the room.

Moments later, a series of notifications appeared.

[Current mission settlement complete. New family mission initiated — Development and Confrontation. Duration: twenty-four months. Within twenty-four months, you must build or locate a force capable of opposing the Kakh City Lord's Legion and repel at least one attack from the Kakh Legion. Rewards: unknown. Failure penalty: none, but the family will enter a new cycle of wandering exile.]

[Note: Because the family camp has reached Level 4, the trigger probability for random events has doubled.]

[Current family camp is Level 4. Family population: 8 members. Family members are as follows: Father's brother John, mother Fila, eldest daughter Penny, eldest son George, second son Leon, Fila's former lover Pete, Penny's obsessive suitor Clyde, and George's childhood sweetheart Sophie. They will enter this world at random within the next twenty-four hours.]

[Note: Your current Family Contribution has been reset to zero, including the Family Defender title.]

[Note: In the new mission, all family members' Contribution totals will be clearly displayed at the end of each month. Additionally, there will be some minor rule adjustments.]

[Note: Effective immediately, all family property is in a state of shared access for all members. However, users must publicly declare their relevant profession when accessing items. Higher profession tiers take priority — for example, a Three-Star Farmer Card holder has greater claim to farmland management than a Two-Star Farmer, and a Three-Star Hunter has priority over all others for bow usage. Beyond this, every family member is entitled to retain personal weapons: limited to one iron spear and one short blade/dagger.]

[Note: Non-valuable family items will be allocated by profession. Corresponding professions have priority use, or a full-member vote may be called, or the Head of Household may assign them. However, items of one-star quality or above (excluding special resources) must be decided at the monthly family council. Note: Special resources refer to one-star quality or above food, herbs, and similar items — these may be immediately used/processed by Chef/Butcher/Mountaineer/Fisherman/Hunter/Physician professions.]

[Note: Plot Kill immunity costs have been adjusted. Example: If more than half the family members agree, the immunity cost becomes 3 x 5 = 15 Contribution Points. If all members agree unanimously, immunity requires 3 x 7 = 21 Contribution Points. If immunity cannot be paid, the target will be eliminated within twenty-four hours.]

[Note: In the new mission cycle, 100 Contribution Points are required to achieve Family Elder status. Impeachment rules: The impeacher must pay 100 Contribution Points to initiate. Other members may vote in favor without paying Contribution. However, if the target has special title bonuses, those are deducted accordingly. Impeachment immunity costs only 100 points.]

[Note: Mission difficulty has increased. All item cards that can interfere with Monthly Main Tasks — such as the Deception Card and Silence is Golden Card — now require three-star quality to take effect. However, one-star tool cards like the One-Star Conspiracy Card and One-Star Sincerity Card remain unaffected.]

—

'Good grief!'

Li Wei stared at the wall of densely packed notifications and felt the pressure hit him like an avalanche.

Without question, this was the big leagues now.

Every new arrival would be a veteran player.

In the previous round, everyone had been rookies. Plot Kills had been mostly cosmetic — from start to finish, nobody had actually been voted out.

But this time, getting voted out was a very real possibility.

Of course, with veteran players came a deluge of item cards.

No wonder Night Owl had said his chances were slim — he should just treat it as a learning experience.

Rookies made mistakes that veterans never would. So there'd be no opportunities for him to play savior. And veteran players' combat capabilities were certainly nothing to sneeze at.