Outside Tree Snake City, the Mexica camp stretched for several miles, grim and heavily guarded. Hundreds of Alliance warriors, armored and carrying bows, were patrolling the perimeter of the camp. Several miles away, on the hills, the banner of the Main God flew above White Snake City's walls, where two thousand-man warrior camps were stationed.
As for the mountains farther off, Cloud Snake Mountain City stood silent and cold, alone atop its towering peak. Vast Alliance camps had sealed off almost every mountain pass, cutting off the flow of most supplies—especially grain and salt. Even an Alliance city-state noble, if caught daring to smuggle salt into the mountains, would be executed under military law!
This strict siege had already lasted more than a year and a half, leaving the defenders in the mountain city increasingly hard-pressed. In that perilous mountain stronghold, only the last four or five thousand Tlaxcala God-descendants, warriors, and militia remained. They already knew that White Snake Hill City had fallen completely, and that all the God-descendant nobles there had been put to death. Now, the Cloud Snake God-descendants were merely clinging to their last faint thread of hope, bitterly holding fast to the mountain fortress that had not yet fallen.
A bonfire burned in the great tent, and starlight fell from the zenith. Once Xolotl returned to the Tree Snake City camp, the kingdom's war machine once again began turning faster. Countless reports gathered in from all directions. Most were only after-the-fact accounts, and only a small portion required the king's instructions.
Under the current military-state system, the Chief Minister in the Royal Capital, the bishops of the Priesthood, and the local County Magistrates all possessed great administrative autonomy. They made their own decisions and actively maintained the operation of the kingdom's war machine, without needing