Over the next two days, the war situation underwent earth-shattering changes.

With Gandalf openly clearing the area with Forbidden Spells and Caesar secretly instigating the insect tide army, the number of Strange Beast outside Jiangning City rapidly decreased at a visible rate.

Finally, several military teams, urgently dispatched from various provinces, completed their assembly.

Led by the Abyssal Insect Mother and her swarms of Shadow Demon Worms, they launched a final general offensive against the remaining beast tide.

Without the Hell-level BOSS as the backbone, the remaining hundreds of thousands of beast tide army were simply unable to stop the Human Race's peculiar 'allied army'.

The offensive was like tearing through deadwood.

The remaining beast tide forces were swiftly wiped out.

At this point, the crisis in the entire Dongning Province began to gradually stabilize.

On the morning of the third day, Hou Changfeng sent word for Gandalf to stop his mopping-up mission and immediately return to the Governor-General's Mansion in Jiangning City.

Upon receiving the notification, Zhou Huai immediately transferred his consciousness to Gandalf's body.

He was ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a little puzzled.

What could Governor-General Hou want that was so urgent for Gandalf to return?

After all, Gandalf was still leading military warriors to clear out scattered Strange Beast in the wilderness.

With him, a Forbidden Spell Mage, present, the warriors' cleanup work would be much easier.

But Zhou Huai didn't ask further.

He cooperated fully, following the messenger back to Jiangning City.

It was also a good opportunity for him to talk to the Governor-General about Gandalf returning to the Imperial Capital.

In the past two days, Zhou Huai had slept for another day and a half.

He could clearly feel that the time he could stay awake was getting shorter and shorter.

The rate of Soul power loss seemed to be accelerating.

This made Zhou Huai's sense of urgency grow stronger.

Now, the beast tide in Dongning Province was basically under control.

The subsequent cleanup work was sufficient to be handled by the military.

It was time for Gandalf to return to the Imperial Capital and ask Marshal Zhao for the pendulum of life.

Soon, Zhou Huai manipulated Gandalf to walk into Hou Changfeng's office.

To his surprise, besides the pot-bellied Hou Changfeng, there were also two middle-aged men in Central Military uniforms in the office.

One had a square face, a slightly plump build, and a steady demeanor.

The other was somewhat thin, with gloomy eyes, giving off a very uncomfortable feeling.

While Zhou Huai was sizing up the two, they were also scrutinizing him with their gazes.

Their appearances were unfamiliar; Zhou Huai didn't recognize them.

But these two gave Zhou Huai the illusion that they were not to be trifled with.

Before Hou Changfeng could speak, the thin man stood up first.

"Are you Gandalf?"

Zhou Huai nodded impassively.

"And you are?"

Seeing this, Hou Changfeng quickly rose from behind his desk, his face beaming with a smile, and actively introduced, "Gandalf, let me introduce you. These two generals were specially sent by the Central Military to take you back."

He pointed to the thin middle-aged man and said, "This is Liu Shaohan, General Liu."

Then he pointed to the square-faced man: "This is Zhao Qi, General Zhao."

Zhou Huai subconsciously raised an eyebrow.

Specially sent to take him back?

And they sent two generals?

This display was a bit too grand.

Zhou Huai felt something was off.

Logically speaking, he had helped Great Xia obtain the pendulum of life and successively saved Donghai City and Jiangning City.

He had rendered such meritorious service.

These two generals shouldn't have this attitude towards him, should they?

The scrutiny in Liu Shaohan's eyes was almost undisguised.

And Zhao Qi, though calm in expression, also hid a hint of detachment and wariness deep in his eyes.

Zhou Huai tentatively asked, "Generals, may I ask if something has happened?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Shaohan's lips curled into a cold sneer.

He retorted, "Shouldn't you know better than us what happened?"

"Still playing innocent here?"

These words were spoken in a sarcastic and provocative tone.

This statement made Zhou Huai even more confused.

Before he could ask again, the square-faced Zhao Qi suddenly spoke.

"This matter concerns a secret; it's not suitable to say too much."

"Alright."

He looked at Zhou Huai, his eyes indifferent.

"Since Gandalf is here, we won't linger in Jiangning City."

"Please cooperate with our work and return to the Imperial Capital with us."

As he spoke, a white light flashed in his hand.

He actually produced a set of uniquely shaped shackles.

The shackles were entirely made of an unknown dark metal, with countless silver mysterious runes engraved on the surface.

Between the runes, faint electric arcs flowed, emitting a heart-pounding energy fluctuation.

As soon as it appeared, the air in the office seemed to solidify a bit, and the free magical elements instantly became sluggish.

The moment Hou Changfeng saw these shackles, his face instantly changed.

"chains of forbidden law!"

As a Governor-General of a province, how could he not recognize this thing!

This was an instrument of torture specifically designed by the Central Military for high-level mages; once worn, the magic power within the body would be completely sealed, and the connection with external elements would be entirely severed.

Even the most powerful mage would be reduced to an ordinary person with no power to resist.

The key was that this thing was usually only used on mage criminals who had committed heinous crimes!

Hou Changfeng quickly spoke, his expression agitated: "General Zhao! General Liu! What does this mean?"

"Is there... is there some misunderstanding in this?"

Liu Shaohan glanced at him coldly.

"Governor-General, this matter is not related to you."

"We are merely following orders."

Although Zhou Huai had never seen these 'chains of forbidden law', he could tell from Hou Changfeng's ghost-like expression that this was definitely not a good thing.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Are you two here to arrest me?"

"May I ask what crime I have committed?"

Liu Shaohan sneered again, his eyes like he was looking at a dead man.

"What crime have you committed?"

"Gandalf, you really are good at acting."

"Colluding with the enemy and betraying the country! Harming compatriots! Are these charges enough?"

"What?" Hou Changfeng was completely stunned; he looked at Liu Shaohan in disbelief, "General Liu, this... this is impossible! How could Gandalf do such a thing!"

"He is the hero who saved our Dongning Province!"

"Hero?" Liu Shaohan's laughter was full of mockery, "Governor-General, I think you've been blinded. It's true that he saved Dongning Province, but his underlying motives are probably not that simple."

Zhao Qi raised his hand, stopping Liu Shaohan, who was about to continue speaking.

He looked at Zhou Huai, his voice still steady, but carrying an unquestionable authority.

"Gandalf, we don't want to resort to force here."

"As for the specific charges, once we return to the Imperial Capital, someone will naturally judge you."

"Now, please cooperate and put it on."