Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 144 The Hiring of Mercenaries

[You have recruited Liu Zhongyuan, a 3-star mercenary. He will serve you for one month. His job cards are 3-star chef/3-star fisherman/3-star miner, with a fate rating of 21 for chef, 17 for fisherman, and 13 for miner. His attributes are 200 HP, 200 Stamina, 20 Strength, 20 Agility, and 20 Defense. He has chosen to bring a set of 3-star leather armor, a set of summer clothes, a pair of 1-star boots, a 1-star helmet, a 3-star tower shield, a 1-star crossbow, a 2-star conical iron spear, and a 2-star longsword to the current world. He does not need to provide any equipment to perform his mission.]

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Good heavens, all attributes at level 1 awakening! Two three-star equipment pieces, two two-star equipment pieces, and three one-star equipment pieces—that's incredibly luxurious!

Li Wei was surprised; indeed, there was a reason why it was so expensive.

With these stats, he could absolutely crush Clyde and Leon.

That's right. At first, Li Wei thought that Clyde and Leon were both three-star veteran warriors, since they were both quite arrogant. But after the battle a month ago, he realized that Clyde and Leon could at most achieve four-attribute level one awakening.

Their agility attribute is not even 12 points.

However, their life force and stamina are definitely at the first level of awakening, as is their strength. With a little more defense, they are already very strong.

As for Old John and Sophie from before, they were a level below.

At this moment, Li Wei nodded, looked at the remaining five mercenary cards, and suddenly hired them all at once.

They didn't leave a single hair for anyone else.

Do you want it?
Sorry, that's all!

Since the position of head of the family will be taken away sooner or later anyway, why not take absolute command of all the mercenaries?
Wouldn't it be better for him to lead eight mercenaries to raid bandit camps?
And there are so many things we can do!

So cool.

At this moment, even without Li Wei deliberately looking, he could feel the pent-up anger of Old John and Ron, though on the surface they were still smiling and appearing calm and collected.

Oh, but Hathaway still looks like she's overflowing with love in the eyes of a lover.

Alright then, whatever you want.

And Leon, at this moment, wished he could kneel down and kowtow to him. Boss, help me! Clyde was unusually nervous because Ron's first profession was announced this month, which meant that the boss of the industrial area had become the four-star blacksmith Ron.

Without Clyde's support, Lyon's second one-star building will be difficult to complete.

He must build a one-star fortress this month before he can build a one-star temple next month.

But bro, are you sure you can complete your title quest? Next month, I won't be the head of the household anymore.

However, despite this, Li Wei is still a man of his word; a person cannot stand without integrity.

He believed that this logic held true even within the territory of the Alliance of Lords of the Heavens.

So he looked at Lyon first.

Lyon looked over with gratitude and anticipation.

"Lyon, it's already August. Rainfall is increasing, and vegetation is growing. It's a good time of year. I plan to rebuild a large house as a place for all of us to live. After all, we can't keep living in the tavern, especially when winter comes and the population increases. These are urgent matters."

“You’re very good at this. Can you share your thoughts?” Li Wei nodded. The necessary procedures couldn’t be skipped.

"Reporting to you, sir, we have basically prepared the relevant materials. The only problem is that there is a shortage of stone. If we can resolve that, I guarantee that the project will be completed by the end of this month."

"So how many people do you need to quarry the stone?"

"Reporting to you, my lord, at least three people are needed. If you would be willing to lend me three mercenaries, that would be even better. I will take the mercenaries to mine the stone in the early stages. Two days later, I will need to level the site and dig the foundation. Five days later, the main construction will begin. This will be your castle, my lord, the place where you and Lady Hathaway will hold your wedding. I will not let you down."

Good grief, you're really not being polite.

Li Wei shook his head directly, "I have other plans for mercenaries. I can have Clyde help you this month. As for the blacksmith on duty at the blacksmith shop, I'll have to trouble Teacher Ron."

His arrangement makes perfect sense; a four-star blacksmith is definitely better than a three-star blacksmith.

With the two of you working together, how could you not manage?

Of course, under normal circumstances, this would be a final decision, leaving no room for doubt or rebuttal. However, Li Wei was indebted to him, so he specifically asked Clyde for his opinion. He knew that Clyde was Lyon's strategist and was much calmer and more composed than Lyon.

Sure enough, Leon immediately showed a grateful expression. This young man is really good at making friends. I'll bow down to you in my heart.

Clyde breathed a sigh of relief, because if the head of the family didn't give you a chance to speak, then in a family meeting, unless you used a prop card, as long as you dared to interrupt or make your own decisions, even if they were correct, it would be NG!

But if the head of the household asks you, then you are truly blessed and thank God.

At that moment, Clyde rose solemnly and bowed respectfully before speaking.

"Your Excellency, if you wish to consult me, I dare to suggest a suggestion. Why not have those four young squires fight me in the arena? If I cannot defeat them one-on-four, I am willing to accept any punishment. Otherwise, if I can defeat them, it means they are not worthy to serve Your Excellency. Therefore, I beg Your Excellency to grant these four underage and weak squires permission to practice at home to avoid losing their lives. In fact, I believe Lyon is capable of training them."

Wow, no wonder he's Lyon's strategist, he really came up with such a plan. Li Wei was immediately persuaded.

That's right, he planned to take eight mercenaries out to sweep through the area.

Four ordinary mercenaries might not be able to match Clyde in battle.

However, when it comes to jobs that don't require much skill, such as quarrying and transporting stones, working as a construction team, or digging foundation pits, the four of them can perform at least as well as three Clyde.

So this is truly a fantastic alternative!

"Alright! It's decided then. There's no need for a competition. You'll be working alongside me this month in place of those four young squires. Lyon, you need to train those four young squires well."

"As you command, my lord!"

Lyon finally breathed a sigh of relief. Regardless of what happens next month, he just needed to get this month's one-star fortress sorted out first.

Next, Li Wei pondered again. This month, he was going to lead his mercenaries out to sweep through enemy territory, so he had to prioritize the security and patrols of his family to prevent them from being ambushed by the Snow Mountain Witch.

So Li Wei looked at Old John, whose eyebrows immediately rose. He could tell that this guy had no good intentions. "Are you ever going to stop? You freeloaded from me last month, and you want to do it again this month? Damn it!"

But it was no use. Even though Old John was now a noble four-star player, full of courage, unparalleled in strength, and with plenty of experience, he couldn't utter a single word of objection.

Even item cards are unusable.

"Uncle John, you worked hard at the quarry last month."

"Hehe, it's not hard work. Actually, I quite enjoy quarrying stones!" Old John tried his best to stay within the rules, almost bowing to Li Wei. Damn it, this is so frustrating.

He never dreamed that he, who was once fifth on the newcomer list, so glorious and awesome, would now have to compromise.

"No, Uncle, you're getting old. I can't let you keep running around outside, enduring the elements. How about this, you stay home this month, rest and take care of your health, and also be in charge of patrolling and guarding the house. Actually, there's nothing much to do. During the day, you can sit on the arrow tower, and if there's anything to do, you can ring the gong; if there's nothing to do, you can sleep, enjoy the scenery, and relax."

“In the evening, just take a walk around the city wall when you have nothing to do, and if you need anything, just bang the gong. It’s all good. Oh, and you also need to take care of the crops. After all, food is the most important thing. That’s settled then. Uncle John, I trust you.”

Li Wei dismissed Old John with a few cheerful words.

The latter felt a lump in his throat, wanting to speak but holding back, wanting to speak but holding back!

Seeing Old John like this, Ron couldn't help but frown slightly. It wasn't that he was worried about himself; his monthly main quest had already been arranged. The four words "duty blacksmith" were a guarantee of success. No matter how much trouble the head of the family could cause, as long as he threw the four words "duty blacksmith" over, the space he could control would be much greater.

In this month, he was even confident that he could use those six hundred one-star armor pieces to create a newbie village artifact.

Alas, life is so lonely, like snowflakes; how lonely it is to be invincible.

Let's see how you, this greenhorn, manage to bounce around next month.

Sure enough, after Li Wei's gaze fell on Ron again, he wisely avoided it. There was nothing to say; the blacksmith on duty could do anything related to this, and could make the required items based on the available materials, including one-star and two-star quality materials.

Moreover, the excuse was readily available: is there a problem with crafting a royal scale armor for the lord?
Right now, all Li Wei is thinking about is whether he can earn more standard gold coins this month. Damn it, he wants to see if he can win the bid for this four-star scale armor with special characteristics.
It's ridiculous that Penny is so ambitious but has such a fragile life. She could have gotten things done last month, but she had to create unnecessary trouble. She's already grateful to be able to eat her fill, but she insists on eating to an extraordinary degree and with all sorts of fancy dishes.

Now you're dumbfounded, aren't you?

They can't even get a fart.

"Sister, next month you and Mom should go out to gather things. August is the perfect season for everything to grow."

“Mom has been very tired these past few days. As her children, we need to be understanding of her. What do you think, Mom?” Li Wei said with deep filial piety.

Upon hearing this, Fila's eyes narrowed into slits with laughter.

Under normal circumstances, she would naturally object to outsiders messing around in her area of ​​expertise.

However, Li Wei's explanation this time was that she was with her mother, which was subtle, implying that her mother was in charge and Penny could only be a helper.

This makes things simple: tedious, repetitive, physically demanding, and low-value tasks can be assigned to Penny, allowing her to have more time to do valuable things.

Tsk tsk tsk, what a fine son of hers!
“George, I appreciate your kindness. I am indeed a bit tired. Fortunately, I have you all. This month, in addition to being responsible for three meals a day and managing the warehouse, I plan to focus on gathering in the forest and fishing in the lower reaches of the river. I hope that there will be delicious fish soup at home every day.”

"Also, if there's time, I'd like Ron to help me fire a few earthenware jars for brewing mead, or George, could you help me make a few oak barrels? Autumn is a good time for brewing wine. Of course, this is just a suggestion; whether or not it can be done is up to you."

Fila happily accepted the mission and also gave Ron and Lee a small gift as a token of their greeting.

After all, in the monthly routine of a family, there's never a fear of having work to do, only a fear of having no work to do.

Penny remained dazed throughout; she wanted to regroup and prepare for the next task.

(End of this chapter)