The cold and silent long night quietly passed, the contentious world never paused for a moment. The great nobility’s schemes thrived sordidly in the low and dirty logistical camps. The sole Divine King pitched his camp atop the hills, raising a ten-meter high royal banner. The feather-draped royal tent of the Divine King fluttered widely, directly facing the unyielding Cloud Mountain City. Beneath the royal banner and tent lay the siege army clustered like an anthill!

"The August rainy season is finally coming to an end! My loyal samurai should also start taking action!..."

Divine King Avit donned a cloak, wore a long crown with red feathers, like a two-meter tall divine. With his hands behind his back, he gazed at the sunrise in the East. The sunrise cast on his stern face, illuminating eyes hidden with flames, pulling a long shadow extending westward. And Chief Intelligence Officer Shadow Dagger crouched within his shadow, patiently waiting. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Ha! The bugs in Cloud Mountain City finally know fear and want to surrender to me?"

"Indeed! Your Majesty! The secret guards exerted great effort, linking with the Mixteco great nobility, the brothers Yun He and Yun Ming in the city... They are all defeated generals of the Alliance, pleading for the Divine King’s forgiveness, forgiveness for the divine offspring of the clouds... Behind them should be the Cloud Mountain City Lord."

"Their initial conditions were: As long as the Alliance accepts their surrender and allegiance, they will hand over the rain priesthoods in the city, surrender the temples at the ancestral ground of the Cloud Altar, completely convert to the Chief Divine, and offer the divine offspring as hostages of the Alliance... Furthermore, they are willing to marry into the Mexican Royal Family, letting the descendants of Mexican royal blood be the future heirs of Cloud Mountain City..."

"Hmm? At this point, they still refuse to open the city gates and surrender Cloud Mountain City? Then there’s no need to continue discussions!..."

"Yes! Your Majesty, that’s precisely how I replied to them. After the Alliance Envoy repeatedly pressured them, the latest condition is, they are willing to surrender the unyielding Cloud Mountain Twin Cities... But they have two harsh preconditions. Without your authorization, I can’t make any promises..."

"Speak!"

"The first condition is to preserve the lives of all noble divine offspring in Cloud Mountain City, keeping their wealth and servants. The second condition is they need a small fief to continue the bloodline of the clouds... And both conditions require someone truly noble from the Alliance to swear a blood oath with them in the name of ancestors and divine spirits!..."

"Ha! To ask me to swear a blood oath with them? These Cloud Divine are truly amusing!..."

Upon hearing this condition, Divine King Avit raised the corner of his mouth, sneering with disdain. To him, it was as though they inhaled too much divine smoke and consumed too many mushrooms. How could he personally come forward to swear a blood oath with a group of Cloud Divines, using his political reputation to guarantee the targets of the divine war?

"Your Majesty, the Divine offspring of Cloud Mountain City plead that the noble one to swear a blood oath with them... If you are willing to come forward, that would be best. If not, they suggest the Alliance’s heir, His Highness Xiulote!..."

"And without your or His Highness Xiulote’s guarantee, they will continue to fiercely defend Cloud Mountain City. According to them, the food in the city can hold for another three years. But after the secret guards’ probing and interrogating captives, it is estimated that the stockpiled grain inside the city can last for a year and a half. If they abandoned the old and weak, then at most two years..."

"The blood oath can be made by me, or by the heir of the Alliance, Xiulote?..."

Upon hearing this, Divine King Avit furrowed his brow, showing slight displeasure. The Cloud Divine don’t know the internal succession disputes within the Alliance. To them, the heir of the Alliance is still Xiulote, who commands a formidable army and possesses the largest fief.

This fact, although making Avit a bit unhappy, did not surprise him. For not only the Mixteco people, but even the Zapotec people to the southeast thought the same. However, what truly troubled him was...

"Cloud Mountain City has at most two years of food supply? To continue the siege for two more years, the logistical pressure on the Alliance..."

Divine King Avit remained silent, his expression growing stern. As the southern expedition proceeded to this point, the difficulty of logistical pressure had exceeded his worst expectations! This southern campaign against the Mixteco Tribes is entirely different from the previous western campaign against Tarasco, and the eastern campaign against Tlaxcala!

The western campaign against Tarasco had a seven-hundred-mile distance, but there were two north-south waterways that served as convenient supply lines. Moreover, Tarasco was a centralized kingdom, and its terrain was mostly flat highlands. Once the Capital City Qin Congcan was conquered, and the king of the Divine Royal Family was captured, the kingdom could be directly declared destroyed!

The eastern campaign against Tlaxcala was a close enemy. Although the final Four Snake City was surrounded for a long time, the logistical supply line was very short, separated only by the Smoke Peak Mountain Range. And once Tlaxcala was besieged, it had no external aid. By surrounding a few Snake Cities to death, other places could quickly resume agricultural production...

This time, the southern expedition against the Mixteco Tribes truly taught the Alliance a lesson, letting everyone know how challenging it is to attack and annihilate a distant six-hundred-mile mountain tribal alliance, with constantly emerging enemy reinforcements!

Just like now, the Eastern Army’s food supply route, from the Lake Capital City to under Cloud Mountain City, spans a full eight hundred miles! This distance is already two hundred miles longer than the six hundred-mile route used to siege Ototpan Mountain City back then. More problematic is the fact that this eight-hundred-mile supply route has almost no waterways, and half of it is mountain roads!