Chapter 645: Chapter 417: Tens of Thousands of Tons
Xiaomi did come, but not to the barracks. After having someone call for Wei Ziang, she had the person pass on a message for him, then rode to a nearby mountain.
When Wei Ziang found her, it was already half an hour later.
"Xiaomi, when did you come back, and how did you get here?"
Half a month ago, they returned to Anning Village to assure their parents. He came back first, while Xiaomi stayed in the village.
After all, they had been away from their parents for too long, and being a girl, how could they bear to let their daughter stay outside all the time.
Not seeing her for half a month, Xiaomi thought the change in Wei Ziang was quite significant.
Perhaps due to the long hours by the fire, Wei Ziang’s originally ink-black hair had turned slightly yellow and dry.
Despite four years in the army, his fair skin now looked as if he’d aged a few years due to the exposure.
Xiaomi shook her head and clicked her tongue: "No wonder those Forging Masters are strong and sturdy, yet their faces look older. Too much time by the fire really can age you."
Wei Ziang was momentarily stunned but, understanding what she meant, smiled wryly: "Did Xiaomi specifically call me over just to mock me?"
"How could that be, I’m not that boring," Xiaomi shrugged. "I heard your supplies are running a bit short?"
A military force of over a hundred thousand would indeed require a large amount of sustenance.
Wei Ziang hesitated for a moment, recalling when Ling’er ran to the stone forest to see him—Xiao Ba didn’t just glance at him and then leave.
She probably overheard it accidentally then.
"Not quite short on supplies," Wei Ziang explained. "West Origin Pass originally had two hundred thousand troops, and this time, they moved a hundred thousand to Lishi City, leaving only a hundred thousand behind."
"It’s about a five-day journey from West Origin Pass to Lishi City. The first batch of provisions was transported by the hundred thousand troops themselves."
"But when preparing the second batch, a nomadic force attempted to attack the city. Although it was just a feint, their numbers weren’t small, and they’ve been lingering in the area between West Origin Pass and Lishi City."
Xiaomi blinked, somewhat guessing: "Those people are trying to hijack the supplies?"
The provisions for a hundred thousand troops! That’s tens of thousands of tons of food!
"Yes, the marshal doesn’t want them to succeed, so he had the subordinates lead the army to drive the nomadic forces away, which delayed us a few days."
After all, both driving away the nomadic forces and defending the city require manpower, leaving fewer men to transport the provisions.
West Origin Pass is not a small fortress like Lishi City. As a border fortress with two hundred thousand troops stationed year-round, if it weren’t for the iron mine being discovered, they wouldn’t have deployed the troops.
"I see," Xiaomi rubbed her chin, understanding.
So it seemed like just a matter of a few days delay before the provisions arrived. There was still some stock left here, and although there were more mouths to feed, everyone could conserve a bit and manage for a few days.
However, Wei Ziang didn’t think Xiaomi was simply asking casually.
"Why is Xiaomi asking so much? Do you have a plan?"
Wei Ziang moved closer, standing beside Xiaomi, and was slightly startled.
From here, they could see the stone forest and the army outside.
"Ahem, didn’t I mention it to you before?"
"Huh? What?"
"About the supplies, of course. I have a ton of supplies in my space, collected in my past life—rice, flour, fish, shrimp, dumplings, tangyuan, and all sorts of vegetables and fruits, frozen poultry, all added up to several hundred tons!"
Xiaomi’s eyes sparkled as she talked about it.
Wei Ziang was taken aback and hesitantly asked, "Do you mean to say?"
He was a bit nervous to say it aloud. This was beyond exaggeration.
Xiaomi lifted her chin proudly: "Exactly, I’m planning to bring it out. Now that you have so many people, you’re fully capable of consuming those supplies."
"No way!" Wei Ziang refused without even thinking: "I’ve told you, the matter of your space must not be known by a third person!"
By the end, Wei Ziang was even slightly angry.
Xiaomi had already anticipated this reaction, but she wasn’t acting on a whim.
"Big brother, do you know? In fact, right after you left, I also left Anning Village."
"What?"
Wei Ziang was momentarily confused, suddenly bringing up this topic again?
But in the next second, he frowned: "Where did you go these past half month?"
"I went around a few cities nearby. Over the past two weeks, I’ve been to over a dozen towns and bought a huge amount of bamboo baskets and burlap sacks!"
Wei Ziang rubbed his temples: "So, you started preparing half a month ago, and it wasn’t just a sudden notion?"
Hearing this, Wei Ziang couldn’t help but sigh, realizing Xiaomi was clearly determined.
Xiaomi continued her proud display.
"You’ve seen the stuff in my space; the supplies I collected in my past life are barely touched."
"And the space produces large amounts of grain every month, over a decade’s worth—I don’t even know how much grain there is."
"Never mind a few hundred tons, even a few thousand or tens of thousands of tons, I can pull it out from my space!"
Wei Ziang was stunned.
He knew there was plenty of grain in the space, and Xiaomi mentioned various meat products too.
But while he was aware of the quantity, he hadn’t conceptualized it specifically.
Calculating in his mind now, ten thousand tons—how many units would that be? Two million units!
One unit equals a hundred pounds!
This completely exceeded Wei Ziang’s comprehension!
"Wait a minute, Xiaomi, repeat that, all the grain in your space, I mean all of it, including meat—how much is there in total?"
For the first time, Wei Ziang realized his arithmetic skills were lacking, and his ability to cope was somewhat low. He even started rubbing his temples, trying to clear his mind a bit.
But clearly, he couldn’t calm his mind!
This wasn’t just the rations for tens of thousands of troops; it was merely Xiaomi’s personal food reserve!
Without thinking, Xiaomi replied: "Ling’er helped me count it; added up, it’s at least over thirty thousand tons, not including what’s still growing or the unbutchered chickens, ducks, geese, cows, sheep, and rabbits."
’Hiss,’ Wei Ziang drew a sharp breath.
Meaning, just the stored food in the warehouse already exceeded thirty thousand tons!
After a long time, Wei Ziang exhaled deeply, forcing himself to relax.
"Big brother, what do you think? My space is all set and ready. The shrimp, crab, and shellfish, which are rare inland, won’t be taken out, but the rest are all packed and ready to be used."
The burlap bags were filled with rice and dried goods, bamboo baskets with meat and vegetables, and there was an abundance of pork, beef, and lamb!
The food from the past life lacked the nurturing of Spiritual Energy, and most of it was for feeding animals and fertilizer, so she didn’t like eating it anymore.
Rather than letting it take up space, it was better to bring it out and share it with everyone.
Wei Ziang took a deep breath: "How much do you plan to take out?"
"Let’s start with five hundred tons, including grain and meat, enough to feed your one hundred fifty thousand troops for seven or eight days."
Of course, there wasn’t that much fresh meat, enough for a day or two. The focus was on rice, flour, and various dried goods and grains.