Chapter 2661

"What is this?"

"This thing is a new variety developed by the Shuomin Academy last year. It grows incredibly fast, can be eaten raw as a vegetable or fruit, and staves off hunger and thirst—but you can't eat too much of it. At most once every ten days; otherwise, you'll get diarrhea." Warm Dao Lun smiled. "It's all benefits, except for one flaw: it's made using divine blood."

Soldiers on long campaigns also need to eat some vegetables, or they'll easily fall ill and grow weak in the limbs. When the army is out in the field, cultivating these fast-growing black fungi is at least easier than digging wild greens.

"Divine blood?" He Lingchuan stopped chewing, picked up another black fungus, and examined it closely. "You diluted the divine blood how many times to grow this?"

"After hundreds of experiments, we settled on a dilution of twenty-three thousand times—stable growth with minimal harm to the human body." Warm Dao Lun sighed. "When it was first developed, no one dared to eat it. Even the generals of Panlong opposed using it as military rations, fearing that eating too much would turn soldiers into monsters."

Aren't the yao puppets made from divine blood? He Lingchuan still remembered the experiment he conducted in Zhao Pan's army: he gave a tree a drop of Dong Rui's divine blood concoction, and the tree grew into a malformed shape. Then a fat cow nearby foolishly nibbled a few leaves—and it, too, mutated, went mad, and attacked people.

This black fungus is also grown using divine blood. Although Shuomin Academy has tested it repeatedly, who dares say that eating too much is truly harmless to the human body?

Many technologies require long-term verification before we can determine whether they are harmful or not. Short-term observation cannot yield a conclusion.

"But we don't have many other options." Warm Dao Lun shook his head. "Someone even suggested using it to improve grain millet, increase yield per mu, and ease the food shortage—but the king didn't agree."

"Eating this occasionally might be fine, but making it a staple food? That's probably not advisable." Watching the logistics distribute the black fungi to the soldiers, He Lingchuan felt a heavy weight in his chest.

People already know the side effects of divine blood are severe, yet such proposals still exist—this shows how serious Panlong's food shortage has become.

Panlong's current population is more than a hundred times what it was when He Lingchuan first entered this world and arrived at Panlongcheng. Their daily food consumption is astronomical.

Let alone being full—just maintaining the survival of so many people, the output of Panlong's wilderness alone is no longer enough. He Lingchuan knows Zhong Shengguang's temperament well; he knows Panlong hasn't yet reached the point of exhausted ammunition and food, but we must live within our means and budget carefully.

After all, no one knows how long the war will last.

Panlong is now racking its brains to boost grain production, but the situation is dire.

Sigh—unless we retake the Mao River production base. He Lingchuan scratched the back of his head. This is truly a formidable task.

This also shows how important it is for Panlong to hold the wilderness; otherwise, famine in the next two years is already foreseeable.

He had chewed half a biscuit when the sound of wings came from above. A red falcon landed beside him and spoke in human speech:

"The Red General has a message."

He Lingchuan took out a cup and poured half a cup of water for it: "How is the situation at Longkou Pass?"

"Not bad. We just finished a battle yesterday. The enemy tried to sneak in, but the Three Corpses Worms detected them."

"Three Corpses Worms?" He Lingchuan raised his eyebrows. "Excellent!"

The Three Corpses Worms are produced from the Great Square Vessel. Originally used on several gates of Panlongcheng to identify those with ill intentions. In those years, no spy could sneak into Panlongcheng.

But after Panlongcheng took the Mao River Plain, it began trading with the outside world. The number of outsiders entering and leaving the city became too great to demand that each one be friendly to Panlongcheng. Thus, the Three Corpses Worms were honorably retired.

I never expected the Red General to have the Three Corpses Worms back on duty at Longkou Pass.

That makes sense—using this intangible, incorporeal thing to distinguish friend from foe is the most convenient method. Still, it's surprising that the Three Corpses Worms can operate so far from the Great Square Vessel.

It seems the Great Square Vessel is subtly and gradually altering its rules.

"The fighting at Longkou Pass is truly intense." Warm Dao Lun sighed. "If we keep fighting like this, the walls of Longkou Pass will be worn thin."

The red falcon said to He Lingchuan: "Find a quiet place. The Red General wishes to speak with you."

"Alright." He Lingchuan shoved the last piece of biscuit into his mouth, stood up, brushed off the crumbs, and said: "Return to camp!"

……

Back in the tent, after driving everyone out and setting up the barrier, He Lingchuan gently stroked the red falcon's head:

"Come on."

The red falcon blinked, swayed its head twice, and spoke again in human speech.

But this time, its voice had become female:

"Since you woke up, has your body been unharmed?"

"Everything is normal." He Lingchuan knew this was the Red General borrowing the red falcon's eyes, ears, mouth, and tongue. "Thank you, Red General, for rescuing me from the Phantom Music God."

Zhong Shengguang used a bright lamp to discover that the Tiger Wing General's soul was not in the human realm, then began calculating against the Phantom Music God. But this heavenly demon itself possesses the quality of emptiness and vagueness, and is especially cautious. After three years of effort, the Red General finally captured it.

He Lingchuan being able to "wake up" is her great achievement, and she put in immense effort.

"No need to thank me—I don't like the Phantom Music God." The Red General said. "Her divine powers and divine realm are all purple—too vulgar."

"……Purple?" He Lingchuan inexplicably thought of someone who also dislikes purple. "How did you capture the Phantom Music God? You must tell me later."

"Sure." The Red General's tone was also a bit lighthearted—clearly, this matter put her in a good mood—but she immediately turned to the main issue: "The southern part of Panlong's wilderness must not be touched by Bekka, or Panlong will face great disaster. Bekka also knows this, so their offensive on the southern front will not be weaker than at Longkou Pass."

Whether the southern wilderness is captured or not concerns Panlong's very survival.

If this territory is also lost, Panlong Country will hardly have any hope of survival.

The Red General herself is holding fast at Longkou Pass; even if she is immensely strong, she cannot divide herself and cannot attend to the southern wilderness. Faced with Bekka's seemingly endless attacks, Panlong Country needs another spiritual figure to resist.

He Lingchuan nodded: "I will hold the southern front of the wilderness."

He does not say "I will do my best," because merely trying hard is not enough.

He wants to turn his subordinate legions into one nail after another, firmly driven into the southern wilderness, blocking every enemy's footsteps.

The Red General knows his words are like mountains—what he says, he will surely do. Thus, she let out a long breath:

"With you here, things are much more stable."

The Tiger Wing General is the Tiger Wing General—at critical moments, he never disappoints.

"Do you know why I activated the Three Corpses Worms?"

He Lingchuan shook his head to indicate he did not know.

"Five days ago at dawn, Longkou Pass experienced an incident I did not report to the entire army." The Red General lowered her voice. "White Yishan, commander of the Su Yuan Army, secretly communicated with the enemy, intending to secretly open Longkou Pass at daybreak and collude with the Bekka forces inside and out."