Lord of the Oasis

"Why is there so little meat?" The soldiers of the Wolf Attack Group, who were beating gongs and drums and waiting for the food to be served in the kitchen, couldn't help complaining when they saw the broth in the bowl.

"Stop talking, the wild wolves you brought only had so much meat." The soldier who was cooking said with emotion: "They live in this valley, and their life must be difficult."

"Don't grab it, this piece of meat is mine."

The soldiers were already grabbing the remaining wolf meat in the vegetable bowl.

No one was listening to what the soldiers in the kitchen were saying.

The soldier in the kitchen sighed and walked towards DeWitt's tent with a plate of dishes.

"Captain DeWitt." After entering the camp, the soldier called softly.

DeWitt, who was lying on the desk, raised his body, saw the vegetable bowl in the soldier's hand, and waved to him: "I'm sorry, it's already dinner time without paying much attention. Sorry to trouble you."

"It's okay." The soldier shook his head, stepped forward and placed the food on another table.

After seeing the soldier put away the food, DeWitt was about to look back, but found that the soldier had no intention of retreating, but stood hesitantly. So he raised his head and asked, "What's wrong? What's the matter?"

"Well..." the soldier said hesitantly: "Captain DeWitt, our rations are almost gone."

"Huh?" DeWitt said in surprise: "But we have only set out from Dwarf Town a few days ago. How could the amount we prepared before plus the supplies we purchased be used up so quickly?"

"When we were purchasing before, we were deceived by dwarf traders. After we set off, we found out: all they sold us were scraps, which can't be used for cooking at all." The soldier explained anxiously: "In the past few days, they have been... We are consuming the food we originally brought. Now it has almost bottomed out.”

"So, how many more days can we survive with the current food?" DeWitt rubbed his temples and asked.

"I don't know much about the situation on the elves' side. On our side, we can probably only last...three more days." The soldier replied carefully.

"Three days?!" This number really surprised DeWitt.

For three days, I probably wouldn’t even be able to get out of the valley.

"...I know." DeWitt sighed and responded. Then the soldier was asked to retreat.

DeWitt walked to the table where the food was placed and drank the soup one mouthful at a time.

In the past few days, various emergencies have gradually made him feel haggard.

While eating, I was thinking about how to resolve this crisis.

After dinner, DeWitt summoned Clement and Abel. The three of them sat opposite each other in DeWitt's camp, and DeWitt relayed to them the facts reported to him by the soldiers today.

"Can you two think of any good strategies?" DeWitt cast his hopeful eyes on the two of them.

"How about allocating some of our team's food load to the Calradian soldiers for emergencies?" Abel suggested.

The daily food intake of the elves is only one-fifth of that of the humans, and they drink even less water.

In this case, the team supporting Calradia should still have room to spare.

"How much food do the elf soldiers have?" Clement asked worriedly.

"This...I don't know much about it. I'll find out if I ask someone to ask." Abel immediately stood up, walked outside the camp, and asked people to find the elven logistics soldiers.

After a while, an elf soldier walked in.

When DeWitt saw the soldier's nervous look when being questioned by Abel, the fire of hope in his eyes was half extinguished.

The elves encountered the same predicament as the Calradian soldiers, with only enough food for ten days.

"These soldiers who knew nothing but refused to report should be taught a lesson." Clemont said angrily.

"The combined food supplies of our two teams are only enough for about six days." Abel concluded, his expression not as clear as before.

"So, shall we advance? Or shall we retreat?" Clemont read these words and set his sights on DeWitt.

DeWitt lowered his eyes and sat quietly thinking for a while.

He stood up and took the map given by the Dwarf Guild from the desk and spread it out on the ground.

"If we retreat, the food reserves will still be enough to support us back to the dwarf town." Clemont pointed to the plains on the map and said.

"If we continue to move forward, we can only reach the wilderness outside the valley." Abel added in a deep voice.

"No, we can't go back. Being able to successfully pass through the Troll Valley this time is purely a fluke. I don't think they will let go of the aliens who have been wandering on the border of their territory for a second time. And this trip will have to be delayed at least Half a month, we have to hurry up and complete our mission." After carefully examining the map, DeWitt said: "We now need to change the original route. Find a new way out."

"But we know nothing about the races other than those around the route." Clemont reminded.

"A map is enough," DeWitt insisted.

In the end, the two were convinced by DeWitt's ideas.

The three of them took out the piles of maps and rummaged through them carefully. Which route to take and where to go to supply your team.

"I found it." After twenty minutes passed, DeWitt said.

"Where?" Clemont and Abel came to his side and asked.

"We can cross the river to the territory where the Centaurs are located." DeWitt raised the sheepskin map in his hand and said, "This map shows that they have a market open to the public."

Abel took the map and looked at it carefully.

"But to get there, you not only have to cross a river, but it's also a long distance away. It takes at least eight days of walking." Clemont drew some signs on the map and worried.

"The food obtained from hunting can also be used as part of the supplies. Now this is the only way we can go." DeWitt said.

"Then let's talk to the soldiers and let them understand the situation the team is facing now." Clemont and Abel agreed to the plan, and then suggested to DeWitt.

"good."

The news spread to the soldiers, and no one was as depressed as they expected. Instead they joked with each other. They pushed each other and said: You must have eaten too much or something.

In Clemont's eyes, this can be regarded as the strengths making up for the weaknesses.

Optimism and carelessness are brought together. How to balance the two is a problem that the three new leaders are still exploring. However, once the team reached this point, Clemont finally gave up on his requirement to perform perfectly. He also gradually understood what Derrick had said to DeWitt and him at the banquet before leaving for the expedition.

After this night, they will start a new challenge.

A genius can remember this website address in one second: mobile version reading URL: