56: Jian's little head

All the granaries had vanished. Jian arrived at the granary area and saw the multi-purpose infantry vehicles; he instinctively charged toward these strange iron lumps.

Unfortunately, the multifunctional infantry vehicles were too fast. Jian chased them out through the clean gaps in the city wall, but even after snapping his horsewhip, he couldn't catch up.

"It's over. Without food, what will the soldiers at the front do? How can we fight this war?" Jian looked at the vanishing granaries, feeling as if his future had disappeared along with them.

The multifunctional infantry vehicles' mission was successfully completed. Under Wei He's command, they quickly advanced toward Ande Valley.

"Order a city-wide martial law! Only entry is allowed, no exit! Investigate! Seal off the gaps in the two city walls!" Just now, while watching the granaries vanish, Jian had clearly sensed the fluctuations of space magic.

However, when he chased them earlier, those iron lumps showed no space magic fluctuations at all. This meant the iron lumps were intentionally luring him away—a classic 'luring the tiger from the mountain' tactic. The Space Mage must still be in the city, Jian's little brain whirred frantically.

"Yes!" The soldiers ran quickly toward the various city gates to deliver the orders.

"That person must be hiding somewhere in the city! We must find them!" What Jian didn't know was that the Chrono Legionnaires had already fled far away.

What he knew even less was that the Chrono Legionnaires inside the multifunctional infantry vehicles did not generate space magic fluctuations; they only did so when attacking.

In Ande Valley, Alice walked toward the tent where the Sniper was being held. Just now, a soldier had reported that the prisoner had something to say to her.

"Speak, what do you have to say?" Alice pulled back the curtain and entered. Her curvaceous figure made the guarding soldier swallow hard.

"The Commander wants me to tell you something. Your plan to send people back for reinforcements and supplies was exposed long ago. You have no more supply support now. Surrender!" the Sniper said, following Wei He's orders.

"That's impossible. You haven't even left this tent. How could you know what's happening outside?" The soldier nearby widened his eyes in disbelief as he spoke to the Sniper.

"Great General, he has been here the whole time and has never left. My brothers and I have been guarding him!" the soldier said flatteringly to Alice.

"Mhm, I understand. You all head out first," Alice said calmly.

"Yes!" Several soldiers quickly exited the tent.

"You are here. How did your Commander convey this information to you?" Alice stared at the Sniper and asked.

"You don't need to know that. You only need to know that if you don't surrender, there is only a dead end for you. If you don't believe me, send someone back to check. Your Supply Officer, Jian, is currently running all over Fite City looking for food!" the Sniper said smugly.

"Hmph, you must be getting too comfortable. Men, hang him up again!" Alice felt it was just a psychological tactic by the Sniper. She had fought in so many wars across the land; how could she be intimidated by him?

Just as Alice walked out of the tent, she saw Carlos and the others approaching.

"Great General, we've been waiting for days. If there's no more supply support, we won't even have enough food to march back!" Carlos said earnestly. After all, no matter how high one's magic level, one still had to eat; they could only hold out a bit longer than ordinary people.

"Indeed, if the supplies don't arrive soon, we really will starve to death here. If the soldiers start deserting or mutinying, those things could really happen!" the buck-toothed man nearby chimed in immediately.

"Our current supplies are just barely enough to return to Fite City. It wouldn't be too late to replenish our supplies there before continuing the march!" Carlos continued.

"But for the army to suddenly return after setting out... how will we explain this to His Majesty?" Alice frowned and said hesitantly.

"Once we replenish our supplies and win the battle, we can naturally explain it. But if our supplies run out and reinforcements haven't arrived, I really don't know what will happen!" a Fat General said.

"Fine. The army will set out today to return to Fite City!" Alice decided, partly to replenish supplies and partly to verify the Sniper's words.

In Fite City, Jian was drinking gloomily. He didn't dare report to His Majesty, nor did he dare notify the Great General. He had searched the entire city and couldn't find even a single hair of the Space Mage, let alone the food that had been taken.

(A Space Mage can store things away and bring them out again, but a Chrono Legionnaire can only make things vanish and cannot bring them back!)

A few days later, a dejected Jian woke up in the arms of a beautiful woman. Only beautiful women could help him relieve some of his stress. At that moment, a soldier rushed in: "Reporting! General, the Great General is back! She's almost at the city gate!"

"What!" Jian stood up abruptly, accidentally stepped on a wine bottle on the floor, and slipped, falling back down.

"General, the Great General really has returned!" the soldier said while helping Jian up.

At the gates of Fite City, Alice led the army back with difficulty. At this moment, starving as they were, seeing Fite City was like seeing hope.

"Great General! Ah! I have failed you! Please punish me!" As soon as Jian saw Alice, he rushed over, knelt on the ground, hugged her leg, and cried.

"What's wrong with you? Stop crying! Stand up and tell me, what happened? What's going on?" Alice kicked Jian away in disgust and asked in confusion.

After hearing Jian's description, Alice was so angry she laughed bitterly. "Are you stupid? If it really was a Space Mage, would a mere city gate be able to stop them? You idiot!"

Alice kicked Jian aside and went to the spot where the granaries had vanished. Looking at the clean gaps in the city wall, even she, a Magister-level magician, was shocked. "A Space Mage is actually this terrifying!"

"You see? This time I really was defenseless! These things vanished right before my eyes! I couldn't even find the person!" Jian said to Alice aggrievedly.

"What? You're proud that you didn't find them? You're proud that the food vanished? You're so incompetent, and you find it honorable?" Alice's face flushed with anger, making her look somewhat cute. While Jian felt ashamed, he was also captivated by her beauty.

"How much food is left in the city? Bring it all out. Without food, who knows what trouble the army will cause!" Alice calmed down and decided to solve the immediate problem first.

"Only the City Lord's Mansion has a bit of stored grain left, but it's not enough for an army of hundreds of thousands!" Jian explained cautiously.

"You'd better think about how to explain this to His Majesty!" Alice walked away without looking back.

In the following days, a large number of Magic Empire soldiers emerged in Fite City and several nearby towns. They looted food from commoners and wealthy gentry everywhere, even committing arson and murder.

Su Qinglei didn't dare go out these days. Fortunately, with Alice around, others didn't dare take any risks.

In Laiseluo City, the capital of the Magic Empire, Emperor Alexander the Great said with a rare, grim expression, "An army of five hundred thousand lost nearly a hundred thousand soldiers without even seeing the enemy's face. What on earth are you doing?"

"The enemy's methods of attack are truly bizarre and unexpected. Without food, the army simply cannot move. It was my own decision to order the return. I, Alice, am willing to pay with my life!" Alice said with a firm gaze.

"And what about you? The first time you went out, you came back saying the food was gone. I mobilized more supplies for you, and now they're gone again? Where did they go?" Emperor Alexander the Great pointed at Jian and said.