Small Iron Mine

As the last day of the month arrived, Li Wei handed a pheasant to Phila, successfully gathering two units of prey. This essentially signaled the end of his reign as Head of the Family, marking the perfect conclusion to the month's Main Quest.

Lines of information silently appeared.

[Under your wise leadership, all Main Quests have been completed, the family's overall wealth has greatly increased, and the family's ability to resist external risks has significantly improved. Furthermore, with your strong support, the family has acquired a rough and rudimentary Blacksmith Shop, and the tools and weapons used by the family have been upgraded and strengthened. The family's settlement has been officially upgraded to a Level Two camp, with a population increase of +1, bringing the total population to five.]

[You will receive a +10% reward for your completion evaluation.]

[You have earned 12 Family Contribution Points, bringing your current total to 42.]

[Within twenty-four hours, two new players will join the family. Their identities will be determined based on the family's current status and the performance of the family members during the most recent quest cycle.]

[The identities of the new players are: George's fiancée, Mixi, and Phila's youngest son, Lyon. The new players' professions and initial attributes are unknown.]

[Friendly Reminder: After the monthly summary, the player with the highest Family Contribution Points will become the Head of the Family.]

Good heavens, my fiancée?

Li Wei was slightly shocked, but he was more curious about what would happen next. The family settlement would continue to upgrade, the family members would increase, and the family would grow stronger. Would everyone still fight independently, vote for Plot Kills, and engage in internal strife every day?

"So, what is the ultimate core of this game? If this is a game, that is."

Li Wei had to consider this now. However, no matter how bad it got, it couldn't be worse. The host of this game actually respected human rights. The Plot Kill eliminations wouldn't result in actual death, which felt out of place. It made him, a qualified laborer, very uncomfortable.

[A Professional Craftsman*** discovered a small Iron Mine twelve miles away from the family. She has decided to donate this small Iron Mine to the family. As Iron Ore is a special three-star mineral resource in this world, she has received one hundred Family Contribution Points! However, she must guarantee to provide the family with no less than 50 units of Iron Ore for the next six months, unless there are irresistible reasons, otherwise the contribution points will be revoked.]

[Friendly Reminder: The Iron Ore mined during this process does not affect experience or the acquisition of Main Quest contributions.]

[Note: Such resources can only be discovered by corresponding professional players, such as precious herbs, precious trees, precious beasts, seeds produced by farmland, etc.]

Two messages appeared abruptly, startling Li Wei, making his scalp tingle!

He couldn't help but look up at Penny. For the past few days, Penny had been like an invisible person, leaving early and returning late, covered in dirt, having lost a lot of weight. Although he couldn't see how she had traversed mountains and rivers to find the Iron Mine, he could tell how much hardship she had endured!

As a result, she had actually managed to pull off a big move!

A small Iron Mine, one hundred Family Contribution Points! This instantly surpassed Phila, let alone Li Wei. Damn it, she really went all out!

Li Wei was convinced and had no complaints. What was there to fight for? Even contributing his own farmland wouldn't be enough.

Wait, hold on. Why aren't Phila and Penny initiating Plot Kills?

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind. Without a second thought, he immediately chose to donate his own nearly mature farmland to the family.

[You have donated your farmland. Because the farmland is growing crops that are about to mature, you have received 10 Family Contribution Points. You currently have 52 Family Contribution Points.]

[Friendly Reminder: As your Family Contribution Points have reached 50, your status has changed to Family Elder. Holding this status exempts you from all regular Plot Kill votes and grants a 5% evaluation bonus upon completion, currently accumulating to 15%.]

[Family Elders can initiate Special Plot Kills against each other. If a Family Elder makes a mistake and causes significant, adverse consequences, a Special Plot Kill—Impeachment—can be initiated against them. Each initiation requires 50 Family Contribution Points. Other family members who agree will receive a Family Contribution Point reward of at least 1 point and at most 5 points.]

[Friendly Reminder: Exempting from Special Plot Kills requires 50 Family Contribution Points.]

So that's how it is. I've become a Family Elder. That's good!

Li Wei felt a sense of relief. Although Family Elders could initiate Special Plot Kills, it could only be done when a mistake was made and serious consequences ensued. For example, Phila's failure in the last Main Quest as Head of the Family could have led to a special Plot Kill vote.

Under normal circumstances, as long as he didn't compete for the position of Head of the Family, where would he find opportunities to commit serious mistakes?

In any case, this was good.

Although Li Wei still didn't have the qualifications to compete for Head of the Family, he could maximally avoid Phila and Penny, those two bitches, from using regular Plot Kills to vote him to death.

Yes, that was entirely possible if his Family Contribution Points weren't high enough to make him a Family Elder.

Next, Li Wei waited quietly. The result was as expected. Neither Phila nor Penny initiated a Plot Kill. Phila didn't even donate her personal assets to increase her Family Contribution Points.

She seemed to have accepted defeat.

However, Li Wei estimated that if Phila had donated everything, her Family Contribution Points could have reached 70.

In short, it wasn't that she wasn't outstanding enough; it was just that Penny was too incredible.

The position of Head of the Family was no longer in doubt.

"Mother, George, autumn is coming soon. We need to prepare for winter. The house we live in needs to be expanded and reinforced for warmth. We need to stockpile more Firewood for winter. If possible, the yard fence also needs to be reinforced. And we need to prepare food for winter, and harvest the wheat. These are all very important. To get through this winter, we need to work hard."

"What do you think?"

Penny spoke, which almost set the tone for the Main Quest issued by the Head of the Family.

Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief. Penny wasn't going crazy and trying to concentrate all the family's strength on mining Iron Ore. For their family, winter would be a very cruel dungeon, and preparation was essential.

Phila, however, remained silent, lost in thought.

"I'll be responsible for harvesting the wheat and planting the Winter Wheat. I'll also reinforce the yard fence. I can help with the expansion of the house, but the specific work will be up to you, sister. When I have free time, I can also go hunting for prey."

Li Wei spoke, outlining the tasks he could handle. He didn't want to go mining, and Penny would likely not agree either. That was her private land. The Professional Craftsman profession and the miner profession complemented each other perfectly.

"Oh, my dear brother, you are truly the pillar of this family. It's so good to have you here." Penny gave a big smile. Although the Main Quest for Head of the Family was mandatory, if any family member failed to complete it, leading to a lose-lose situation, the Head of the Family would also suffer.

Especially this time, with two new family members added. Mixi was George's fiancée, so the work he was taking on actually included both of them.

"I don't know much about the farmland, George, so you'll be responsible for that. You can also handle the reinforcement of the fence. For the expansion of the house, you just need to chop back fifty small Logs. That way, we'll also have Firewood for winter."

"For hunting, it will be according to this month's standards."

"Besides that, I'll take care of the repair of tools and the replenishment of Iron Arrowheads."

Penny quickly defined the scope and quantity of Li Wei's work for the next month. It was undoubtedly heavy, but it was necessary. If they didn't work hard in the fall, it would be too late once the snow blocked the mountains.