Is the space's carrying capacity nearing its limit?
Has the Calamity Beast summoned a large number of Calamity Beast in preparation for a new operation? Or has the base brought in people? Or has some unknown change occurred in the space of the Erosion Zone?
Shen Heng gazed at the sky above with a slightly solemn expression.
He tried to find more possibilities, but the information was limited; a mere perception of the spatial state was not enough for him to know anything more.
"I'll write this down for now and look at it later, after all..."
Lowering his gaze, Shen Heng looked towards the distant mountains and forests where movement was faintly visible.
The most pressing issue right now is figuring out how to deal with the beast tide coming from this area!
A moment later, Xu Ruiyu came over again.
" Captain Shen, all positions have reported the situation; they've used about one-third of their ammunition!"
Shen Heng nodded and asked, "Do you know approximately how long the battle just now took?"
"It took about twelve minutes from start to finish!" Xu Ruiyu replied.
Twelve minutes, one-third... Shen Heng nodded slightly. The time was much faster than expected, but the ammunition consumption was within the original range.
Beside him, Xu Ruiyu looked at Shen Heng, hesitated for a moment, and said:
" Captain Shen, did you expend too much energy just now?"
"Why do you ask that?" Shen Heng glanced at him sideways.
"In a normal battle, this amount of ammunition would last at least an hour, and we would have killed far more Calamity Beast than we are now!" Xu Ruiyu replied.
Shen Heng nodded slightly and asked, "Did you have them estimate the number of Calamity Beast killed?"
"Hmm," Xu Ruiyu nodded, and continued, "Based on the reports from each location, the number of Calamity Beast killed just now is approximately 2,600, with a margin of error of no more than 200..."
Two thousand six hundred?... Shen Heng nodded calmly, only to hear Xu Ruiyu continue from the side:
"... Although we killed 2,600 Calamity Beast in twelve minutes, this amount of ammunition would have been enough to kill around 4,000 Calamity Beast in previous battles!"
"So you think it was a waste?" Shen Heng glanced at him sideways.
Upon hearing this, Xu Ruiyu paused slightly. He hesitated for a moment, seemingly wanting to nod, yet also seemingly wanting to shake his head.
"Well... I'm not entirely sure either. I know the objective of the battle just now was different from the previous ones. The previous battles focused on killing the Calamity Beast, while the battle just now focused on stunning Calamity Beast and driving them away. In this situation, concentrated firepower was essential, and for that reason, some wasted ammunition was unavoidable..."
"But there's still some time before the Calamity Beast arrive, right? So shouldn't we have prolonged the battle just now? That way, the saved ammunition would allow us to better prepare for the battles to come..."
"But... we didn't really know how the fight would turn out, so..."
As Xu Ruiyu spoke, his brows furrowed more and more, and his head unconsciously lowered.
After a long pause, Xu Ruiyu finally raised his head, looking at Shen Heng with some uncertainty.
"It seems... to be fine?"
Shen Heng looked at Xu Ruiyu, smiled, and said:
"You feel something's wrong because there's still some time before the Calamity Beast from Frontier-Pacifying City arrive, and during that time, the battle you just fought seemed to have used up too much ammunition."
"But the reason for this period of time was due to various factors, such as the Fifth Tier Calamity Beast leading the beast tide being overly cautious, the Calamity Beast encountering this situation for the first time, and the Fifth Tier Calamity Beast ultimately failing to charge forward, etc..."
"Various reasons have made our battle extremely difficult, which has led to this period of time!"
"But we can't expect to have that much time every time, so allowing enough time is essential. In other words, when you're considering your options, you need to take into account as many factors as possible that could affect the outcome. Only in this way can you maximize your chances of winning!"
To put it in an old saying...
"He who wins a battle before it is fought has many calculations in his favor; he who loses a battle before it is fought has few calculations in his favor. Many calculations lead to victory, few calculations to defeat, and what about those who have no calculations at all!"
Xu Ruiyu felt a little dizzy, but still nodded.
He hesitated for a moment, then said:
"Sorry, Captain Shen, I asked a really stupid question!"
"Not an idiot, this shows you're improving, and improving very quickly." Shen Heng looked at Xu Ruiyu seriously.
"Progressing... very quickly?" Xu Ruiyu subconsciously looked up at Captain Shen.
"Hmm," Shen Heng nodded seriously, "Last time at Eagle-Sorrow Ravine, you were mainly asking questions, but this time you were mainly thinking for yourself, and you were even able to immediately reflect on the problems in your words after speaking. Isn't that a big improvement?"
Xu Ruiyu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found himself at a loss for words.
"No..." He scratched the back of his head, "I just... I just felt something was off, then I thought about it, then I felt like it wasn't a problem, then... anyway, I was just thinking about it randomly, can that be considered progress?"
Shen Heng looked at him without saying a word.
Xu Ruiyu felt a little uneasy under his gaze and continued, "Besides, the question I just asked seems stupid to me now. As long as..."
"There's nothing stupid about it. Just keep going like this. Who knows, you might become an excellent general in the future!" Shen Heng said calmly.
Xu Ruiyu was stunned.
He stared blankly at Shen Heng, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he found his mind was completely blank.
general?
The word swirled in his mind several times, but he just couldn't quite put it down.
"No..." He finally found his voice, but it was several octaves lower than usual, " Captain Shen, are you... serious?"
"Don't you think you can do it?" Shen Heng asked Xu Ruiyu.
"No, it's just..." Xu Ruiyu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say. After a while, he scratched his head and said, "It's just that the squad leader used to say that I can't keep my mouth shut, and that I have no hope of becoming a general in the future."
Shen Heng looked at Xu Ruiyu, and the scene of Qin Ye and Xu Ruiyu picking him up when he first arrived in the Erosion Zone seemed to flash through his mind again.
He nodded and said:
"Being a chatterbox certainly adds a bit of difficulty, since chatterboxes are often more easily distracted, making it harder to project an image of composure and trustworthiness, and also making it harder to establish authority when dealing with subordinates..."
One question after another came out of Shen Heng's mouth.
After a while, Shen Heng stopped. He looked at Xu Ruiyu, who had already deflated.
... but these are not the decisive issues.
Shen Heng looked at him,
Most importantly, do you believe in yourself?
Xu Ruiyu opened his mouth, then lowered his head.
After a long pause, he looked up, a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. " Captain Shen... is someone like me really okay?"
Shen Heng looked at him,
"Certainly..."