Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 42 Negotiation
After two rounds of plot-driven deaths, the family quickly returned to peace, and there were no more disturbances.

Missy glanced thoughtfully at Li Wei, then at Fila and Penny, smiled, and roughly understood: the family elders were exempt from ordinary plot-driven deaths.

That's fine.

That night, only Lyon tossed and turned, unable to sleep, as the achievement belonging only to him, who was injured, was accomplished.

Nothing more happened after that.
Because these three days are everyone's free time.

Fira continued to gather resources and fish to accumulate personal wealth.

Penny continued hammering and forging in the blacksmith's shop, using the remaining iron ingots to create various tools and weapons, such as the iron arrowhead she had promised to give to Li Wei.

Li Wei had helped her mine iron ore for a whole day before, and she hadn't repaid that favor yet.

Similarly, Missy helped her swing the hammer all day, so she needs to exchange something of equal value. As for the newbie Leon, since he doesn't have any monthly family main quests, he can get it for free.

Li Wei then took the time to cultivate farmland in suitable areas around the camp, but the tools were still not very handy. The shovel with the surface carburized was not hard enough, and it was difficult to dig quickly in the soil with dense grass roots.

So Li Wei borrowed Penny's pickaxe. Yes, she had made it for herself sometime during the day, and it had also been carburized. Anyway, it was quite hard and very useful for digging.

He would first dig holes in the ground to remove the stubborn plant roots, and then use a shovel to dig the soil.

This would be much more efficient.

He has plenty of energy now and can cultivate half an acre of land in three days.

During those three days, Missy actually went hunting with the hunting bow that Penny had made for her and an iron spear. So her primary profession was a tailor and her secondary profession was a hunter?
Unsurprisingly, in these three days, Missy caught nothing except a dozen loaches and a hundred grasshoppers. Oh, no, she also picked up some mushrooms of unknown toxicity, some pretty little flowers, and a bunch of wild fruits.

That's a good mindset.

Li Wei, on the other hand, was single-mindedly focused on cultivating the farmland. He even skipped his usual archery practice at night and worked in the dark like a man possessed.

Because these are three days of freedom, the land cultivated during these three days belongs to oneself, and even if it is donated to the family in the future, it will still earn a lot of family contribution points.

In the blink of an eye, three days have passed, and the month is over.

Li Wei successfully cultivated half an acre of land, and then he decisively chose to donate it to his family. Since there was no planting or harvest, the family contribution points he received were only five points, but that didn't matter at all, because what Li Wei wanted was for the winter wheat planting to be carried out on a large scale next month.

Those one-star quality seeds now belong to the family; he cannot plant them on his own private land. This is a red line in the rules, and he must understand it.

Another reason is that...
Now that the family has two acres of land, the planting of winter wheat must be included in the family's main tasks, and the share will be heavier. And who is more suitable to do this task? Of course, only Li Wei himself is the most suitable.

This inadvertently prevents the head of the household from assigning him too many other main tasks, thus interfering with his personal development path.

Tonight's dinner was quite lavish. Fila fried some dried fish in oil and even luxuriously sprinkled some salt on it, making it very oily. There was also vegetable and mushroom soup, as well as some ripe wild fruits.

The family of five enjoyed their meal together, but afterward, everyone except for the unaware Lyon looked solemn, waiting for that moment to arrive.

Soon, a message appeared in front of everyone.

[Because the professional craftswoman *** has made the highest contribution to the family, she has been re-elected as the head of the family. She will continue to be responsible for managing the family and issuing the main quests for the next month.]

Li Wei, Fila, and even Missy remained calm about this, because it was inevitable. Even if Penny didn't donate anything this month, her family contribution would still start at 140 points, which was impossible to catch up with.

It's worth noting that Fila didn't donate any supplies to her family this month, so her family contribution score is at most around 80 points, while Li Wei reached 83 points. Missy has only single digits left, and Leon has zero.

This guy was incredibly shocked at that moment, probably realizing that he had been completely taken advantage of this month. But there was nothing he could do. As his family settled down, the exploitation of newcomers would become more and more formalized and sophisticated.

"Next month, I plan to focus on overcoming the limitations of traditional steelmaking methods. I want to upgrade and expand the blast furnace. We need steel tools and steel weapons, which are our advantage in foreign trade."

At this moment, Penny slowly spoke, full of confidence, her gaze revealing the air of a powerful figure.

"However, to complete the small blast furnace for steelmaking, we need everyone's support, such as mining iron ore, transportation, and logging oak trees for charcoal production. I can't do it all by myself."

"Furthermore, once a small blast furnace for steelmaking is ignited, it is best to ensure continuous operation for more than 20 days. Therefore, we must standardize this process, not just for next month, but every month thereafter, to ensure the daily operation of the small blast furnace! After all, a sudden shutdown would result in too much loss and is also very dangerous."

"When we talk about this, we have to mention the overall planning of our family camp. The simple furnace for iron smelting can be placed in the camp, while the small blast furnace for steelmaking must be placed far away from residential areas, farmland and water sources. Therefore, building a larger wall can be put on the agenda."

"Now, I need someone who can manage the small blast furnace on a regular basis. He doesn't need to take care of other family matters; he just needs to look after the blast furnace. Who can do it?"

"I'll take it, I'll take responsibility!"

Lyon was the first to raise his hand, which basically confirmed that his primary profession was craftsmanship.

"Alright, next month you and I will work together to build the small blast furnace and the supporting buildings nearby. After the furnace is started, we will take turns managing it, and we will also be jointly responsible for the work in the blacksmith shop."

Penny made her decision without making a sound, and she was probably very happy inside. This newcomer, Leon, had become her natural ally to some extent.

Fila, on the other hand, gave Lyon a two-star fisherman card for nothing, only to end up with nothing.

"The problem now is that Lyon and I can't spare the time and energy to log and make charcoal and mine and transport ore. These two things are very important. Of course, I can take on the charcoal making part, but logging and splitting oak into firewood of the right standard requires someone to be in charge."

Penny didn't specify it directly, but she brought up the task. This is the main monthly task, with the highest priority. If you don't complete this, don't even think about anything else.

"Ah, I'm getting old, all I know is gathering and fishing. After all, people have to eat. And mushroom and meat soup, I still make sure to have it every day."

Fila started to rely on her seniority, and indeed no one could replace her. For example, only she could find those one-star quality mushrooms, which were the key to making mushroom soup. As for the meat, it didn't matter whether it was wolf meat or fish.

In fact, last month, Fila even ate rat meat several times instead, and her family ate it with relish.

Penny didn't expect anything from her and nodded, "Okay, Mom, you've already worked so hard, but it would be great if you could find some salt during the collection process. Of course, I'm just saying if."

Then, she turned to look at Li Wei.

"And you, George?"

"This month I need to prioritize planting winter wheat, which may take a few days," Li Wei said thoughtfully.

"Sure, after the winter wheat is planted, you can be in charge of cutting down oak trees and chopping them into firewood. My requirements are not high; you just need to supply the charcoal needed for the blast furnace each month."

Penny acted fairly this time, but that's precisely a reflection of her ambition. She wants to create order within the family, rather than dragging things down, scheming, and gaining small advantages at the expense of the family!
Although, she is an expert in this field.

In short, she wants to clear her name!

(End of this chapter)