Before he had even completed a single quest, another monumental task had arrived—one that might not be accomplished even after dying a hundred times.
Lu Yunqi lay down on the ground and said, "Uninstall it! I can't do this job. At most, I've got a year left before I die, and if I'm unlucky, it'll be two lives lost in one go. Go find someone else more capable. I'm going back to slack off."
With that, Lu Yunqi got up and was about to step through the Anywhere Door to return to his own room.
The System Sprite shouted, "Master! Don't! I have an ultimate trick to keep you from dying!"
Lu Yunqi, who was just about to turn around, paused mid-step and asked, "Oh? What trick?"
The System Sprite replied, "As long as Master can raise the Civilization Level to 0.65 within one year, you can unlock the cloning function, which allows you to clone a body identical to yours."
"A body? A cloned corpse?"
"That's right, only corpses can be cloned, because the system has its own laws—cloning is prohibited due to ethical concerns. So only corpses can be cloned, but that's enough. When the time comes, Master can use the corpse as a substitute for yourself, escape to the Wanping Wasteland, change your name, and live the life you want."
Lu Yunqi was tempted and asked, "Why one year from now? Can't we do it now?"
Xiao Jiu replied, "That won't work, Master, because your conquest quest hasn't reached fifty percent. If you haven't reached fifty percent and you flee from the conquest target, it will be automatically deemed a failure."
He remembered now—there did seem to be such a restriction.
Damn this world conquest quest system. It would stop at nothing to prevent conquest players from slacking off.
Lu Yunqi asked, "So, if my conquest quest is above fifty percent after one year, I can fake my death and leave? As long as he can't kill me in this lifetime, it counts as my successful conquest, right?"
"Bingo!" Xiao Jiu snapped his fingers. "Master, you're so smart! So, what do you think? Can you now properly work on our quest? As long as you can successfully raise the Civilization Level to 0.7 or even higher, our rewards will be extremely generous. Not to mention anything else, you can't return to your original world no matter what right now. Do you miss your computer, phone, and tablet? Do you miss your online games, anime, and blockbuster movies? Do you miss your short dramas, short videos, and AI comic dramas? As long as you raise the Civilization Level above 0.7, you can bring all those wonderful things back!"
Lu Yunqi was finally tempted—not for any other reason, but mainly because doing this conquest quest meant he could survive!
He pinched his chin and slowly nodded, but to avoid the system digging a pit for him, he still said, "What if, by then, my World Line conquest quest is above fifty percent, but you fail to find a way to save me?"
Xiao Jiu replied, "We can sign a system contract. If your conquest quest fails, you'll take my place and become the System Sprite! As you know, Master, we System Sprites are immortal and indestructible. That way, you'll also survive in another form."
Lu Yunqi thought to himself, that's true. Although System Sprites have to travel across various World Lines, at least they're part of the Great Sovereign's establishment.
Lu Yunqi finally nodded and agreed, "Alright then! Let's continue the conquest! But your System Points are way too few. I've been doing quests for so long, and I've only earned ninety System Points in total. I used thirty, so I have sixty left. What can this little bit of points even do? Look, is there anything here that doesn't require points?"
Xiao Jiu replied, "Master, don't be impatient. The points you earn from quests are only a small portion. Once you have output and your crops are recycled into the system, your points will grow more and more!"
Lu Yunqi understood and asked again, "Then, why does the system recycle these crops? What's the use of recycling them?"
Xiao Jiu said, "Of course, there's a use for them. You'll find out when the time comes."
Lu Yunqi clicked his tongue. "Still keeping me in suspense!"
But it didn't matter anymore. He had consecutively conquered this ultra-high-difficulty World Line for nine lifetimes, and now it seemed he could accept any outcome.
After pacifying Lu Yunqi, Xiao Jiu continued to release quests, and the system's notification sounded: "A new quest has been released. Please designate a residential area for the host, with an area no less than 10,000 square meters."
Lu Yunqi gave an "Oh" and thought to himself, no wonder it needed such a large piece of land. It seemed this system was indeed playing a very big game.
So he opened the map and planned out a riverside area near the farmland, designating it as the residential zone.
The system notification sounded: "Residential area designated. +10 System Points. Please build a small wooden cabin in the residential area. Building the cabin requires two Level 1 NPCs and one Level 2 NPC: Lumberjack x1, Carpenter x1, Level 2 Architect x1."
Lu Yunqi pressed his lips together. With his current points, he could only hire two Level 1 lumberjacks. The Level 2 Architect cost sixty System Points, which he definitely didn't have enough for.
Just as Lu Yunqi was racking his brains, the system notification sounded again: "Step one of the small wooden cabin construction quest: Please place the cabin blueprint on the designated empty plot."
Lu Yunqi: "Oh ho, hands-on teaching? That's pretty user-friendly."
The System Sprite chuckled and asked, "How about it, Master? Isn't our system pretty awesome?"
Lu Yunqi: "…Yeah, totally awesome."
Following the system's guidance, Lu Yunqi placed the small wooden cabin blueprint he'd obtained earlier on the empty lot near the farmland. A holographic image of the cabin immediately appeared on the plot.
The same cabin icon also showed up on the system map. Clicking on it revealed the construction requirements, with all the necessary building materials and NPCs listed one by one.
Building a cabin required fifty ordinary pine logs from Taiyan Mountain, each about the thickness of a bowl's rim. He immediately hired a lumberjack to go into the mountains and chop trees—this NPC's name was Li Qiang.
As luck would have it, the man was bald, so Lu Yunqi affectionately nicknamed him Bald Qiang.
There was no rush for the carpenter; Lu Yunqi planned to wait until the timber arrived.
Staring at the zero percent on the cabin blueprint, Lu Yunqi felt like he was playing a base-building game. It was actually pretty fun.
Bald Qiang came equipped with his own axe and a cart. He was broad-shouldered and burly—nothing like the Bald Qiang from the cartoon. He clearly looked strong and capable of chopping trees with ease.
His salary was also three thousand, and Lu Yunqi realized he needed to get the other plot planted quickly, or he wouldn't even be able to afford paying all these NPCs.
So he exchanged System Points for a pack of spinach seeds in the seed shop and planted a full mu of spinach.
Another system task came through: "Please expand the planting area to ten mu and plant crops on all ten mu."
Lu Yunqi: …They're ramping up the difficulty this fast?
Fine. Ten mu of land—Zhang Wei alone would probably struggle. Just as he was considering hiring another NPC, the system chimed in again: "Due to intense sunlight exposure, your land has dried out. Please irrigate the dried soil."
Lu Yunqi scrambled, instructing Zhang Wei to continue clearing the wasteland while operating the Time-Limited Drone to water the previously cultivated mu, also giving the freshly seeded spinach plot a good soak.
Twenty System Points earned—now he could hire a Level 2 NPC.
Instead of hiring an architect, he hired a Level 2 planting technician, because managing ten mu of land meant an ordinary strength-type NPC just wouldn't cut it anymore.
Just like that, the points he'd painstakingly saved vanished in an instant, and the Level 2 planting technician's monthly salary was six thousand yuan, giving him a sinking feeling that he might not even be able to pay wages.
Fortunately, the Level 2 planting technician was highly professional. Pointing at the adjacent plot, he said, "Master, we could build a vegetable greenhouse here. The return on investment for a greenhouse is three to ten times that of regular farmland. That way, you can enjoy fresh vegetables all year round."
Lu Yunqi gave him a thumbs up: "Now that's what a Level 2 technician brings! Great, let's get started!"
Level 2 technician Li Na: "Alright, please purchase a plastic greenhouse for me."
Lu Yunqi was dumbfounded: "Huh? I need to buy that too?"
Li Na tactfully conveyed her opinion of Lu Yunqi: "Master, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
The implication was crystal clear—you're a real fool.
Fool Lu Yunqi deeply regretted his decision. He had no money right now, so why did he go and hire a Level 2 technician so early?
Every day hired cost money—twice as much as a regular NPC.
Luckily, the Level 2 technician didn't sit idle. He joined Zhang Wei in clearing the wasteland, and with the Time-Limited Farming Tools, they managed to clear and cultivate all ten mu within a single day, earning ten System Points and a pack of chive seeds.
These chive seeds were just enough for ten mu. Without a second thought, Lu Yunqi planted all ten mu with chives.
Chives were just great!
Cut one batch, and another grows back—three harvests total. One investment, three months of returns.
The technician noted that there was no technical skill involved whatsoever, but he did add: "During your absence, Master, I will guard this farmland with all my heart. Whatever issues arise, I will resolve them promptly."
Lu Yunqi asked, "Can you help make some money too?"
Li Na gave him a kind smile, and Lu Yunqi understood—she was calling him a fool again.
As the sun set, Lu Yunqi stood up from the fields, dusted off his pants, said goodnight to the NPCs, and stepped through the Anywhere Door back to his room.
The room was quiet, the bed neatly made, incense burning, a new carpet laid down, and fresh bead curtains hanging.
Lu Yunqi changed out of his dirty clothes and pushed open the door to instruct Yunhua to prepare his bathwater.
Yunhua looked utterly confused: "Young Master, didn't you go out? When did you come back? Wait—when did you even leave?"
Lu Yunqi grinned slyly: "You guess?"
Yunhua: "I can't guess. Eunuch Fu just came by, saying that Prince Cang's residence has been approved—it's right next door."
This was within Lu Yunqi's expectations, so he asked again: "And Prince Cang?"
Yunhua replied: "He's been at the Prince Cang residence all along. Does the Young Prince wish to see him?"