"Sir Luke... At the current rate of consumption, the food supplies can last the group at most four more days..."
In the expeditionary group from Kate City, David, who had already been promoted to Logistics Quartermaster, reported with a solemn expression.
Inside the tent, the other generals' expressions grew grave when they heard the news. For an army on the march, provisions represented its final source of confidence. Once that was gone, the morale they had worked so hard to build might well collapse.
After all, the current situation was already so desperate that it was hard to breathe. If they ran out of food as well, it was truly difficult to imagine what those numb-looking soldiers might do.
The key problem was that they did not even know where they could find supplies...
All the vegetation visible along the way had been infected. Clearly, the situation was exactly the same as in Kate City. Forget replenishing their food supplies—even finding water was incredibly difficult.
The group could barely maintain order only because of the sanctuary mentioned by the beastman. Like people gazing at plums to quench their thirst, everyone desperately held on. Although the other party could not even clearly explain the sanctuary's exact location, the human instinct to survive made them cling to his words like the last straw and choose to believe him.
But this persistence was not limitless. Each day of struggling to survive wore away at everyone's patience. The massive camel was now only one straw away from collapsing, and the news that their food was nearly gone could very well be that final straw.
The tent fell silent. The decision-makers inside, including Luke and Bondi, had all lost their voices. Clearly, even they needed time to process the news.
After an unknown amount of