Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 245 Choice
"Xiaowei, Xiaowei..."

Liang Yuzhi's weak voice called out. This time, she was truly on the verge of death. Blood was gushing from her thigh, her face was pale, and she didn't even have the strength to stand up. Damn it, if you had just put on a suit of armor, you wouldn't be in this state.

Without any hesitation, Li Wei gritted his teeth and ran over to Liang Yuzhi, picking her up. She couldn't die!

Because Li Wei had arranged for her to be the transport team leader this month, which was a very important position. If she died, Li Yue could impeach her at the end of the month.

Not to mention they've already made a deal, and Li Wei is quite trustworthy in this regard.

Carrying the nearly lifeless Liang Yuzhi to the All-Powerful Gold Card, a large amount of brilliant golden light, like clouds, immediately surged into Liang Yuzhi's body, and she miraculously recovered. This was the power of the All-Powerful Gold Card.

However, the all-purpose gold card, which should have been a five-star card, dimmed considerably in a short time and eventually became an ordinary four-star all-purpose gold card.

After putting Liang Yuzhi down, Li Wei turned to check on the others, hoping the all-powerful gold card could save their lives.

"Don't worry about the others, they're not seriously injured, just psychologically affected."

Liang Yuzhi spoke calmly, but her gaze was full of meaning. She was quite looking forward to Li Wei using this all-purpose gold card, but she was also quite looking forward to Li Wei not using it. Such a powerful newcomer was rare these days.

Anyway, she's in a safe position now, but she's also out of five-star stay cards, so competing for the head of the family is out of the question. However, if the difficulty increases, the rewards during monster sieges will increase significantly.

Normally, you won't get a Universal Gold Card without an Explorer Card, but at that time, nobody cares!
In short, if Li Wei is willing to spend a lot of money to bribe her, she is still very willing to help him backstab Li Yue, but the premise is that this kid has to show real sincerity.

Alas, rice is expensive everywhere, and there are countless competitors, making it extremely difficult to live in. If you don't find ways to be thrifty and manage your household well, you'll only end up being beaten down.

She's a widow, is it easy for her?

Li Wei was still worried, so he quickly glanced at everyone. Indeed, they were all fine, and most of them were just temporarily unconscious.

He then stepped forward and picked up the all-purpose gold card, and instantly, information about the battle appeared.

[You led a group of family members and free citizens in a raid on the valley town. After a somewhat dangerous battle, you won and successfully occupied the resource point. Your scavenging camp discovered a two-star coal mine and a one-star iron mine here. You need to station a guard team here and assign at least one family member as the captain to be fully in charge. Otherwise, there is a high chance that this place will be reoccupied by wandering mutated creatures in fifteen days.]

The exploration points for scavenging camps have increased, and the maximum contribution points a family can earn has been increased to 16000.

The total contribution for this mission is 2000 points.

Based on the course of this battle, the contributions of the participants are as follows:

[Li Wei, contribution ratio 40%, +10% for the random encirclement mission initiated by him as the head of the family, +10% for cooperating with Liang Yuzhi to lure the Spider Queen to target him and successfully counterattack, +20% for dealing a fatal attack on the Spider Queen's second life core]

[Liang Yuzhi, contribution percentage 35%, command +5%, pathfinder +10%, anticipation of the Spider Queen's targeted skill +5%, used the tower shield to lure the Spider Queen into attacking and trap her, creating a valuable opportunity for Zhao Xuanxuan to launch a heavy attack 15%]

[Zhao Xuanxuan, contribution rate 15%, support pathfinder +5%, coordinates with Liang Yuzhi to launch a heavy attack, breaking through the Spider Queen's first life core +10%]

[Javier, Santiago, and four other free citizens contributed 10% of the total, with an additional 5% for assisting the trailblazer and providing cover. According to the rules, their contributions are included in the head of the household's earnings, and the head of the household will award them additional bonuses when appropriate.]

[Li Wei, the head of the family, has gained 1000 contribution points, bringing his total contribution to 8700 points]

Family member Liang Yuzhi has earned 700 contribution points, bringing her total to 1500 points, officially making her a family elder.

[Family member Zhao Xuanxuan has gained 300 contribution points, bringing her total to 587 points. She has officially become a family member.]

[As of now, the family's total contribution is 13184 points]

You will need to pay 500 territory contribution points, or 5 copper coins, to five free citizens at the appropriate time (this information is only visible to you).

[You have obtained a Universal Gold Card. You can decide its ownership based on your battle contributions. You reserve the right to interpret this allocation. If anyone harbors resentment or dissatisfaction as a result, you are responsible for resolving the matter.]

-

The general information flashed by quickly, and Li Wei made his choice without looking at it closely, exchanging for a black iron token.

That's right, things have come to this point, and he can no longer develop steadily. He needs this territory, especially after the arrival of the Free People, his understanding of this has become even clearer.

If his previous thought was to please his superior, Night Owl, at all costs, then now it is to take over this new territory at all costs, even though there is no difference in the outcome.

Besides that, there is another very important reason: his scouting experience is almost at 500 points, and his scout card is about to appear. If he doesn't upgrade now, when will he?

[You used the Universal Gold Card to exchange for a Black Iron quality completion token. You can now upgrade your first profession, the Farmer Card, to four stars, and obtain your fourth profession.]

[WARNING: The additional difficulty of the current side quests has been increased to 120%, which is now equivalent to the average difficulty of four stars. This may have some unpredictable consequences!]

[Friendly reminder: The current maximum extra difficulty for side quests is 180%, which is four stars or more. Once you reach the maximum difficulty, it will not increase further. However, this will have a small chance of triggering a special magical radiation storm. You are responsible for the consequences.]

[Friendly reminder: Once you and your scavenging camp have survived a magical radiation storm (which usually lasts about a month), this extra difficulty will reset to zero.]

-

With a thought, the black iron token retracted itself; this was certainly not the right time to upgrade.

When Li Wei looked at Liang Yuzhi again, she had already reverted to her image as an honest and simple rural woman.

"Second Aunt, did you bring any food?"

"No, I didn't expect it to be so scary. Is this giant spider a spirit? Oh my god, thank goodness you can rely on me, Xiaowei."

Liang Yuzhi kept talking, then went forward, picked up Zhao Xuanxuan, and walked out.

Li Wei had no choice but to follow suit and transport Santiago, Javier, and the others out one after another.

Once outside, the fresh air woke the six of them up, but judging from their pale expressions, they probably still had some lingering effects.

Liang Yuzhi had already driven the electric bus directly into the town. After everyone boarded, she stepped on the gas and sped off, doubling her joy. She was now fearless.

When we got back to the camp building, it wasn't even nine in the morning yet; the round trip took less than an hour.

“Xiaowei, Havel and the others need to rest for a few hours, so I plan to leave after lunch. I'll also take some time to prepare some blood resistance potions. By the way, Xiaowei, would you like some mushroom and meat soup? Your aunt will make it for you at noon.”

Liang Yuzhi spoke very politely, but in reality, in the blink of an eye, she had already donated three cookbooks.

[Family member Liang Yuzhi donated a one-star recipe—white bread, mushroom soup, and grilled salted fish. Based on the current food supply at the camp, she did not receive any bonus for this donation, but she gained 60 family contribution points, bringing her total contribution points to 1560.]

[Friendly reminder: Since there is a new chef in the camp responsible for three meals a day, she needs to teach all donated recipes to the new chef, otherwise the contribution will be revoked.]

Liang Yuzhi quickly became friends with the older women. At this point, the scavenging camp had four star-level recipes. Considering the current overall environment and food supply capacity, this was basically the limit; any more recipes wouldn't be sustainable and would be wasteful. Therefore, her intention was simple: to maximize her contribution points so that others had nothing left to gain.

Li Wei didn't care about these things. He let Zhao Xuanxuan go back to rest first. Santiago, Javier and others had been helped back to the second floor by Nelson and others. Their condition shocked the Free Citizens, but they were more expectant, hoping that Li Wei would give Javier and the others a reward and pay them wages.

This was the first time that the Free People had participated in a mission personally led and initiated by Li Wei. Previously, it had been led by the two team leaders, Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi, who were like contractors.

Li Wei did tell Li Yue and Liang Yuzhi that each of them should bring five people, but he did not intervene or specify any particular people.

Therefore, many free citizens are waiting for a result.

In a sense, this will determine their future in this camp, or at least their own expectations for the future.

However, Li Wei was not in a hurry to reveal the truth. He did not want to tell the Free People the real truth; it was important to maintain a friendly lie.

Therefore, he can be open and honest with the players, but he still needs to know how to deal with free citizens.

This will require a suitable medium and a suitable timing.

So instead of going to talk to Santiago, Javier, and the other four to get their wages, he took a hoe and went to the fields to weed.

The farmland is fertile, and the weeds are incredibly wild, especially after two heavy rains this month, they have grown unchecked.

Often, just a few days after we've removed one crop, it grows back rapidly in the blink of an eye, making it quite troublesome.

After working non-stop until around ten o'clock, Li Wei finished weeding in Farm No. 5 and went to the vegetable garden in the central green space.

"Good day, my lord!"

Two middle-aged women who were picking fresh vegetables in the vegetable garden bowed respectfully to Li Wei. Now that food supplies were plentiful, they could also put their skills to good use, providing three meals a day and even cooking special meals for Li Wei every day. They were considered progressive people in the Free People's Village.

The key is that although they cannot represent the upper echelons of the free people, they can basically cover every free person. As for the older women, they have this innate talent, those who know, know.

Li Wei had been observing for a long time. Even the timing of this chance encounter in the vegetable field was completely unnoticed. In fact, he hadn't even had time to change his noble crest armor after returning from the town in the north, which was also intentional.

"You two, please stay."

Li Wei suddenly spoke up and called out to the two middle-aged women, almost making them jump up in excitement. They thought they had finally raised enough favorability by giving the NPC special treatment every day.

Of course, Li Wei wouldn't explain anything. These natives could talk nonsense as they pleased and never had to worry about making mistakes, but Li Wei couldn't.

"Your Excellency, is there anything we can do to help?" one of the older women, named Allen, asked expectantly. This was the very question Li Wei had been longing to hear after all his hard work and efforts.

The kind that can be recorded in the annals of the territory's development.

Because it's a question with an answer, logical, rule-compliant, and ritualistic statement.

Over the past month, the Freeman has done a lot of work and is almost integrated into this scavenging camp.

But Li Wei never formally asked any free citizen, "Can you do something for me?" or "You, do this."

I never said that!

It was always the free people who were eager to ask, while he would subtly inquire, such as about the city wall design drawings that old man Nelson had offered.

The free people never asked, proactively and formally, "Sir, can we do this? Can we do that?"
Never before.

Even when old man Nelson was expanding his basement, it was only after construction had already begun that Li Wei 'accidentally' discovered it, and then old man Nelson came over to enthusiastically explain things to Li Wei.

They were like a group of crazy players who had discovered a new world, frantically searching the entire scavenging camp, grinding quests, gaining experience, and looking for bugs, just like a bunch of cunning mice.

They really treated Li Wei as the old village chief in the story.

Is this reasonable?

It seems reasonable for now, but what about later? What if these free people grow stronger and control most of the camp's important resources? Could they then sideline Li Wei?
Because they are essentially a group of players as well.

Players like Li Wei are controlled by the rules of the Alliance of Lords of the Heavens, but how can these free people be controlled?

This isn't something you can just do by randomly posting some rules on the keyboard.

In the real world, it can be very difficult to do certain things in a village.

Besides, these are free people who have lived in the apocalypse for fifteen years and have long since experienced countless intrigues and life-or-death situations.

Putting everything else aside, that old man Nelson is definitely exploring the rules of how the scavenging camp operates with his trusted core members.

They can treat Li Wei as a plot NPC. If Li Wei dares to do this, he can expect trouble in his own backyard.

The wheat has ripened five thousand times, and the lord hanging from the street lamp is no different from him.

So Li Wei kept delaying, trying to postpone it as much as possible.

He took the initiative to find Liang Yuzhi this time because he really couldn't hold on any longer, and also because he felt the time was right. He would tell her that he had been eavesdropping on the conversations of the free people every day.
No one is more innocent than anyone else; they were all forced into it.

At this moment, Li Wei revealed a thoughtful and worried expression, and slowly spoke.
"Yes, while I was weeding the farmland and vegetable gardens recently, I couldn't help but think about something. It's the height of summer now, and we have plenty of sunshine and food, but what if winter comes, and the mountains are blocked by heavy snow and everything withers? Shouldn't we find a way to store some vegetables?"

Actually, the women aren't stupid; they've already started picking and drying the excess vegetables, and have actually stored quite a lot of them.

After all, he had lived in the apocalypse for fifteen years, and his life experience far surpassed Li Wei's.

However, Li Wei's real intention was not the task itself, but a standard, rule-compliant task format.

In other words, I will only assign tasks and give rewards to you if they conform to this format.

As for the rest, I don't care what the information you receive says, do whatever you want!

I'm in charge.

After all, so far, all free citizens, apart from gaining professional experience, upgrading their professional cards, using free weapons, and having free room and board, haven't received any real wages.

(End of this chapter)