Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 122 The Four Great Wanderers
[Sophie, a family member, orchestrates a plot to kill off her fellow family member Penny. She hopes that Penny will encounter a crazed wild boar within 24 hours, have her internal organs ripped open by its tusks, bleed profusely, struggle for hundreds of meters to survive, and die in despair, pain, and humiliation!]

Alas!
What happened to our sisterly bond? Big sister, are you getting impatient?

Li Wei smiled silently and casually cast his dissenting vote!
However, it seemed pointless. Six votes in favor and two against. Penny, Phila, and Old John's alliance of casualties was easily defeated and had long since crumbled.

In the end, Penny used 18 contribution points to avoid this plot-driven death, leaving her with only 36 points – a truly tragic situation!

Too tragic!

Li Wei vaguely understood that Sophie was a mad dog account responsible for launching attacks on everyone. It didn't matter how much contribution she had left, but everyone else had to be weakened.

Sure enough, the next moment, Sophie triggered another plot-driven death.

[Family member Sophie orchestrates a plot to kill off fellow family member Fila. She hopes Fila will accidentally ingest poisonous herbs within 24 hours, causing her to bleed from all five orifices, lose consciousness, scream madly, and ultimately die from the poison, her eyes wide open in disbelief!]

This time, Li Wei cast his vote in favor without hesitation.

Three seconds later, seven votes were in favor and one vote was against. The plot-driven death was confirmed, and Fila had to use up 21 contribution points of immunity, bringing her total contribution points down to 41.

At this point, apart from Li Wei, who was watching the show from a high vantage point, and the three musketeers in the family, the other four had all been killed off by the plot, suffering heavy losses but also gaining a month of immunity.

At this moment, Old John looked at Li Wei.

Fila also looked at Li Wei.

Penny and Pete also looked at Li Wei.

The intentions of those four lone players are obvious. What are you doing? Why don't you trigger a scripted kill? The other side is a small group of three people. Their title mission is your biggest enemy. You only need to spend 9 contribution points to maintain your high position while causing them to lose an average of 15 contribution points. What are you waiting for?
That makes sense!

Li Wei readily accepts good advice!

[Family member George orchestrates a plot to kill off family member Leon, hoping the latter will die in a quarry collapse within 24 hours.]

[Family member George orchestrates a plot to kill family member Clyde, hoping that Clyde will be burned by molten iron within 24 hours, causing serious complications and ultimately leading to his death.]

[Family member George orchestrates a plot to kill fellow family member Sophie, hoping she will be stung to death by poisonous bees within 24 hours.]

Three plot-driven deaths cost 9 contribution points, leaving only 100 points, but I am still a family elder.

However, right after he initiated the plot kill, Leon suddenly and swiftly threw four one-star class cards at Old John, Phila, Penny, and Eddie Pete.

Grass, bribery?

Is this even possible? Isn't it against the rules? It doesn't seem so, since the professional card isn't a real thing.

So, damn it, you guys can be bought off so easily?
Li Wei looked at Old John, Fila, Penny, and Pete in surprise, but the four of them remained expressionless, though they had undoubtedly made their choices.

[Seven votes against, one vote in favor, plot-driven death not valid]

What the hell!

Since none of the three plot-driven deaths were successful, he essentially wasted 9 contribution points without gaining anything in return.

The four lone individuals and the three-person gang quickly formed a united front at this moment.

Leon and his two companions need no introduction; their objectives are clear, and their methods are ruthless. But is this all the ambition of you four casual players?

Li Wei truly found this perspective baffling and incomprehensible!

Sacrifice long-term benefits for short-term gains?
Or do you guys think the three musketeers in the family are more awesome, and that I, as the head of the family, won't last long?

Wow, you guys are really something!
Li Wei wasn't angry; it was only 9 contribution points, which he could afford to spend.

He just felt that there was a reason why casual players could become casual players.

He even felt a bit of relief, thankful that he hadn't formed an alliance with them beforehand; they really couldn't succeed.

Individually, they are all heroes, but when they get together, they can easily turn against each other.

A complete mess!
[Announcement! Family elder George has achieved a total family contribution of 100 points this month, ranking first. According to the rules, he will become the head of the family for a one-month term. He will be responsible for issuing the family's monthly main tasks and will have the authority to issue or not issue special tasks based on the family's overall situation.]

[Friendly reminder: Family members who accept special missions do not need to complete the monthly main quest.]

[Friendly reminder: The head of the household must take full responsibility for this special mission. Any mistakes or serious consequences will result in severe punishment, but success will earn additional rewards (except in special circumstances)]

[Friendly reminder: Due to the existence of the Family Blueprint, for the next three months, the head of the household will receive an additional 2.5% bonus to their monthly performance review.]

A few lines of information appeared, and Li Wei became the head of the family without any doubt, and his era had begun again.

His gaze swept over the crowd, all of whom remained silent and calm, their silent resistance quite evident.

Fine, whatever. You're all just passing through for six months anyway, while I'll need more than a year to complete the game. I'm even thinking of challenging the newcomer rankings.

They're definitely not on the same wavelength.

Therefore, how to release and formulate the main tasks for the next month will be especially important.

Using public office to settle personal scores and deliberately suppress others is definitely not acceptable. It might feel good at first, but it won't benefit the family's development.

He must take into account the threats from the outside world; he cannot act so recklessly.

What if the black-robed witch attacks with bandits next month?
Can he handle the entire defense by himself?
After thinking for a moment, Li Wei looked at Clyde, the blacksmith of Samsung, a middle-aged man who appeared taciturn and had a calm gaze.

"Clyde, I need you to report on the construction progress of the steelmaking blast furnace, as well as the stockpiles of iron ore and charcoal. How many manpower are needed to ensure the supply of these two items?"

"In addition, I need specific figures, including the iron consumption of a family under normal circumstances. A month's worth of molten iron can supply a family for several months. If faced with an attack from fifty bandits, how many weapons, how much armor, and how many shields would a family need to stockpile?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's words, Clyde immediately stood up, bowed slightly, and maintained the most standard etiquette and respect. Although they were family, he was still a servant. It would have been fine if Li Wei hadn't become the head of the family, but now that he had, he would have to pay his respects and greet Li Wei whenever he saw him inside or outside the camp.

This applies to characters like Eddie Redmayne and Sophie, otherwise it wouldn't make sense in the storyline.

"Reporting to you, sir, the refractory bricks have been fired, but the construction of the steelmaking furnace requires a certain amount of lime, and there is currently a shortage. However, this is not a major problem. I can guarantee that the steelmaking furnace will be completed and air-dried within twenty days. It can be started once a month, and each start-up can produce for five to ten days. The remaining twenty days will be used for maintenance and material reserves. If the supply of iron ore and charcoal is sufficient, it is estimated that 1500 to 1800 catties of molten iron can be smelted each month."

“Based on the minimum standard, the monthly production of 1500 catties of molten iron, after deducting losses and consumption in the steelmaking process, can ultimately yield 800 to 1000 catties of steel ingots, which should be enough to meet the current family’s needs for six months. However, in reality, at most two months, more subjects who follow the master will arrive. Therefore, my suggestion is to produce for one month and then stop production for three months.”

"However, the mining and transportation of iron ore, the production of charcoal, and the search for coal cannot be stopped. At least four people must be available each month to mine iron ore and produce charcoal."

"As for the amount of steel a family needs each month, it depends on the specific circumstances. If a hunter is hunting, he needs to use about five arrows a day. A wood-cutting axe needs to be repaired every five days. A steel chisel for quarrying, a pickaxe for iron ore mining, and the wear and tear of daily tools require about fifty catties of steel ingots per month."

"But if we are to deal with a war, we need to prepare weapons and armor for at least a ten-man squad. Each piece of regular chainmail weighs about 16 kilograms, so we need to prepare ten pieces."

"A single fine steel longsword weighs about 2 to 3 pounds, and we need to prepare ten of them!"

"The main material for the shield can be oak, but it still needs iron hoops."

"In addition, there were spears, arrowheads, javelins, and iron nails needed for the fortifications."

"However, the production of these weapons and equipment takes a considerable amount of time. It requires at least two to three craftsmen to work together and takes two to three months to complete."

"In summary, if the furnace is started up once this month, without considering other factors, it should be able to supply the family for three months and withstand a small war."

"My lord, I have finished speaking."

After saying this, Clyde bowed again before sitting down, his entire demeanor impeccable.

But after he said this, the four solo players' expressions changed. According to Clyde, just the steel furnace and blacksmith shop alone would require three craftsmen, and mining and charcoal making would require four more. There were eight people in the family, and you alone accounted for seven of them. Are you kidding me?

They all turned their gazes to Li Wei, but Li Wei ignored them, lost in thought.

Clyde did indeed present him with a difficult problem.

Seven people are in charge of this whole operation, how many?
Not many. The new steel furnace is definitely of one-star quality. There aren't enough people to take care of it, so it's better to let it explode on its own.

However, if all seven people go, what's the point of him being the head of the household this month? It'll still be the three musketeers of the family who will be in charge!
So now it's up to him to choose.

Either prioritize the overall interests of the family, build the steelmaking furnace as early as possible, and smelt steel ingots as soon as possible, so that a series of subsequent operations can proceed.

Alternatively, we could simply halt the construction of the steelmaking furnace and have the three-star blacksmith Clyde mine iron ore. Once enough iron ore has been collected, we could then start the furnace and ignite it.

After pondering for a long time, Li Wei finally chose the former.

He doesn't concern himself with short-term gains or losses. This month he has income from winter wheat, so he still has a chance to be the head of the household for another month. If he is taken away from the head of the household in the third month, he can accept it.

In short, these people can only stay for six months, but as long as he doesn't make any mistakes, he still has more than a year to go.

(End of this chapter)