Lu Xiaoyun's expression changed slightly, and he immediately contacted the quartermaster to inquire about the military supplies at Azure Waves Pass.
"We've already used up most of our supplies. If the current intensity of the fighting continues, we'll run out of supplies in another seven or eight days."
Lu Xiaoyun turned off the communication and turned her face towards Gu Xiaoshan.
"Shall we go see the boss and ask him what his plans are?"
Gu Xiaoshan shrugged indifferently. He knew that the problems he could think of, his boss had definitely already thought of.
After a while, they arrived at the central fortress of operations.
Wei Shan sat at the table and chair, watching the battlefield situation projected by the Cloud Realm magic artifact in front of him. He watched quietly, his face expressionless.
"Boss!"
"Boss!"
Hearing Lu Xiaoyun and Gu Xiaoshan calling out, he turned his gaze to the two of them.
"What are you two doing here instead of staying in the bunker?"
"Boss, I want to know when our reinforcements will arrive?"
Lu Xiaoyun respectfully cupped her hands in greeting.
Wei Shan glanced at Gu Xiaoshan, seemingly knowing that he was the one who led Lu Xiaoyun here.
"There won't be any more for a while! Three days ago, the Crown Prince said he had sent the Guardian Dragon Army, but yesterday the Guardian Dragon Army was transferred to the northern battlefield."
It seems that in their eyes, the rebels in the north are more despicable than the Otherworldly Demon here.
"What about the supplies? Have any supplies been allocated?"
Lu Xiaoyun said urgently.
"You don't need to worry about supplies for now. I've already sent Wei Liang to various cities to collect them, and he'll be back in the next few days."
Wei Shan's expression was calm, as if everything was under his control.
"But this won't last long, will it? Doesn't the capital city have any concerns about us being unable to hold out?"
"You're overthinking it! As the saying goes, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. This place is hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the capital. Even if we opened it up and let the Otherworldly Demon occupy it, it would take them more than ten years to reach the capital."
What we need to do now is to delay the advance of the Otherworldly Demon as much as possible. As long as the Empire's internal situation stabilizes, I believe they will not allow the Otherworldly Demon to invade the Empire's territory.
Standing in Wei Shan's position, he actually knew more. The war with the Otherworldly Demon had lasted for tens of thousands of years. Was the Empire truly powerless against the Otherworldly Demon?
To maintain the unity and stability of the empire, there must be a unified enemy. As long as this enemy is always watching with predatory eyes, the empire will always remain a monolithic entity, and anyone who questions the empire's rule will be drowned in spittle.
Therefore, the royal family never considered the Otherworldly Demon as an enemy to be eliminated; they only cared about their own rule.
The years-long war with the Otherworldly Demon were essentially a drain on the excess population. Otherwise, the empire would be peaceful and prosperous. Population expansion would inevitably lead to internal strife, resource grabbing, and ultimately affect the rule of the royal family.
"But boss, given the Empire's actions, why should we fight them to the death here?"
If we retreat to Jiading Pass, the capital will definitely not sit idly by; at the very least, they will send an elite force to help us stabilize the situation.
Azure Waves Pass was a necessary passage for the eastward advance of the Otherworldly Demon, while Jiading Pass was different, as it blocked the main road in the southeast of the empire.
The Otherworldly Demon cannot attack from the southeast, but they can approach the capital from the northeast, which is something the empire certainly does not want to see.
Wei Shan stared intently at Lu Xiaoyun, but Lu Xiaoyun met his gaze directly without fear.
"I didn't say those things to undermine your loyalty to the Empire."
I just want you to understand that this war will be much harder than you imagine, and you need to be mentally prepared.
Gu Xiaoshan looked at Wei Shan and finally couldn't help but speak.
"Boss, since the royal family is so heartless, why should we..."
Under Wei Shan's watchful gaze, Gu Xiaoshan ultimately swallowed the rest of his sentence.
Wei Shan showed no anger or dissatisfaction; his eyes remained perfectly calm, even showing a hint of a smile.
Do you think we, the Mountain Army, came here to fight for the royal family?
No! We are fighting for our families and our compatriots!
Are we the royal Mountain Army Mountain Army?
No! Never! What we protect, what we defend, what we are loyal to have always been the people behind us, the millions of ordinary citizens!
This is our mission as soldiers! I hope you will never forget it!
As he spoke, the smile on Wei Shan's face disappeared, replaced by a solemn and dignified expression.
Gu Xiaoshan and Lu Xiaoyun felt a surge of heat rush to their brains, and they bowed deeply, responding with heavy words.
"Yes!"
"Stop making those suggestions! Go back and hold the front lines! We, the Mountain Army, will never admit defeat!"
" Mountain Army, never admit defeat!"
The Flame Blessing Tribe is more than 5,000 kilometers away from Chen Village. Even though Chen Mu used his spaceship to travel, it took him two days to get close to his destination.
Chen Mu landed about ten kilometers away from the Flame Blessing Tribe.
His five-plus months of study at Black Wind Cliff allowed him to reach a new level of understanding of the underlying principles of this world, and as a result, his technique in using runes became more refined.
He found a tree hole, crawled inside, and then sealed the entrance.
He then took off his clothes, took out Fu Mo from his storage ring, and began to draw Dao of Talismans patterns on his body.
By controlling the Nine Heavens Blazing Sun Brush Nine Heavens Blazing Sun Brush his Divine Soul, he could draw lines on his body without needing to see, which looked somewhat eerie to outsiders.
Half an hour later, the runes on Chen Mu's body were completed. The runes connected and glowed with a faint light. Then Chen Mu's body began to change, and his figure began to grow taller, eventually turning into a young man in his twenties.
He took out the clothes he had prepared beforehand from his storage ring and changed into them. Soon, a handsome, tall, thin man with a cold demeanor walked out of the tree hole.
He has not only changed his appearance, but even his Spiritual Power and Divine Soul aura have changed. Not to mention strangers, even Chen Duo, who is with him day and night, would probably not recognize him outside.
Chen Mu took out a backpack from his storage ring, then a long spear, and then put all the storage rings in his hands into the backpack, leaving only an ordinary first-grade storage ring on his hand.
He swung his spear forward and thrust it in, piercing a large hole the size of a bowl in the tree with a loud thud. He then nodded in satisfaction.
Even if he used his Divine Soul to investigate, he could only detect that he was a martial artist in the Middle Stage of the Qi Nourishing Realm.
He figured that as long as he didn't go all out, no one would be able to recognize his true form thanks to the Demonic Pattern covering his body.
After making preparations, Chen Mu picked up his spear and ran towards the Flame Blessing Tribe.
After running for about a kilometer, he heard sounds of fighting nearby, and he immediately approached quietly.
On a low hill, he peeked out and saw a man and a woman fighting a bear-like monster.