Connor laid his eyes on the brown haired and green eyed boy, but unlike the other Generals, he didn't bother to look back.
Connor, knowing the man's personality, didn't bother with it anymore.
'Just what did I expect of him?'
He thought inwardly. He and other Generals were already used to his all too lazy personality.
"Cough" Connor coughed lightly, clearing his throat. He spoke without looking at the man.
"General Kenny Wright, we would now like to hear your report on our logistics and resource management. Also, please inform us about any potential changes or difficulties the New Flussufer stronghold might be facing as they guard the Flussufer river which is our only source of consumable water."
This time, not only Connor called out someone with formality by adding General before their name, he also politely expressed his and everyone's desire to hear his report.
Kenny, hearing this, finally got off from his dozing position and looked at everyone with a silly smile on his face.
"Yes, yes, I will be now giving my report. No need to look at me like that, sheesh... " He said while making a silly face.
No one showed any visible changes in expression but all of them were rather annoyed by his behavior.
He started speaking again. "It seems there are not many good things to discuss in meeting this time around and fortunately, I don't plan on breaking this trend."
He said while joking.
Kenny leaned back slightly, his eyes sweeping across the room, as he started speaking again.
"As you all know, the New Flussufer stronghold is tasked with managing supplies and guarding our precious Flussufer River, our one and only reliable source of water. And oh boy, what a joyride it has been, filled with thrill to the brim!"
A vein popped up on Ryuto's head, but he like before, he didn't say anything. All of them have already tacitly agreed to tolerate his cheesy and caustic behavior.
He started speaking again and this time, his tone was a little bit more serious, though the sarcasm remained. "So, let's start. First off, as you all know, obtaining monster corpses for food has become incredibly difficult. Our hunters are returning with fewer and fewer kills each day. The amount of food we're able to provide to the people has dropped to less than one-tenth of what it was just a few months back. We've had to dip into our emergency reserves, which is not a sustainable solution."
Kenny paused, a sardonic smile playing on his lips."Oh, and while we are at it, let me tell you all an extremely interesting fact I managed to verify while I was talking with my members. Although I had my suspicion before, it's now confirmed. The fact is: after the First change, the most plentiful of supplies the population was left with was, in fact, tobacco and alcohol. I mean, seriously... How did those folks managed to save this much in the first place? And not only that, people are still indulging in those expired luxuries, like a last hurrah before the world goes completely to hell."
There was wide grin on Kenny's face but no one other than him was laughing. Even Nash didn't have his usual smirk on his face. In fact, it seemed like he was disgusted by what he was hearing.
The room was filled with a mix of irritated and resigned expressions from the other generals. It was unknown if it was due to Kenny or the things he was talking about.
"But seriously," Kenny continued, his tone growing more pointed, "our resource situation is dire. We've implemented strict rationing, but it's barely making a dent. We're running dangerously low on food, medical supplies, and essential materials for repairs. Our logistics teams are doing their best to stretch what little we have, but it's like trying to squeeze water from a stone."
Kenny paused, his eyes narrowing a bit. "And our problems didn't end here. Our supply lines are constantly under threat. We've had to reroute and delay shipments due to monster attacks, which puts even more strain on our limited resources. Transporting supplies to other strongholds has become a logistical nightmare."
He shook his head, his voice tinged with frustration. "Moving on to the finer details of logistics, we're facing constant challenges. The terrain is unforgiving, making it difficult to transport goods efficiently. The roads are treacherous, often washed out or blocked by debris, and our vehicles are in dire need of maintenance. Every trip is a risk, and we're losing valuable resources just trying to move supplies from one place to another."
He paused, his tone turning a little somber. "Our storage facilities are another issue. With the climate being what it is—constant storms, freezing temperatures, and perpetual darkness—preserving food and other perishable supplies is a constant battle. We've had to get creative, using what little we have to build makeshift cold storage units, but it's not enough. We're losing supplies faster than we can replace them."
As he said those words and moved on to the next report, his expression turned unusually serious. "Coming to the Flussufer river.... Well, to be honest, guarding the river has been a bit too easy recently. We all know of it, but the monsters are acting rather strange.... Well, monster invigilation is not my forte so I don't know the reason for that, but we should be on guard.... "
His voice turned low and he didn't speak much about the topic.
Kenny sighed, his usual smirk replaced by a look of grim determination. "In summary, we're in a tight spot. Our supplies are dwindling, our logistics are stretched to the breaking point, and the monsters are acting weird. If we don't find a way to secure more resources and stabilize our supply lines, we're going to be in even deeper trouble than we already are."
He sat back up on his seat after concluding his report. The room was silent once again. His lazy demeanor and sarcastic remarks couldn't mask the seriousness of the situation, adding another layer of despair to the already dire reports from the other generals.
Connor clenched his fist, thinking about the investigation he and Ron were doing. The purpose and aim of the investigation was exactly to uncover the reason for the strange behavior of monsters. And their foundings.....
Connor hardened his expression, determination on his face. They couldn't run from it anymore.
He moved his gaze towards the end seat of the side he was sitting on, meeting eyes with the most experience person present.
He didn't need to say anything. The man, Sir Orville, immediately stood up and started speaking without wasting any time. "I guess it's my turn now."
The old and respected man, known for his wisdom and experience, rose to speak."Our role in the Apex Sanctum is to train both new recruits and existing forces, ensuring that our combat strength remains formidable against the relentless threats we face."
His voice was old, but still echoed in the room with clarity. "Their have not been too much of a change on my side of the things. Despite the dire circumstances, our training programs are progressing as planned. We have managed to maintain a rigorous schedule, focusing on both physical conditioning and combat skills. Our warriors are pushed to their limits daily, honing their abilities to survive and protect our strongholds.
"Although, I have to say, lack of enough food have been affecting the training and progression of our forces quite a bit.. As we all know, advancing to the next Rank with a weak body is detrimental to the chances of advancement... And for this reason, for some time, there haven't been much progression in our combat force overall strength."
He paused for a moment and narrowed his eyes a bit as he gave the next piece of report. "And well, the 'new ones' that I have been training recently, I will have to admit, some of their traits are very interesting. Although we will have to wait and see how it goes, I can assure you that it has potential."
He ended the sentence with a slight smile on his face. He didn't speak more about it as he noticed the other Generals expression getting complicated.
He continued to give his report... "Other than that, there truly hasn't been many changes in the Apex Sanctum stronghold. We will occasionally encounter individuals who have potential to reach the Commander Rank but majority of them can't go beyond the Corporal Rank. And about the General Rank, although there are a few who show promise, there's never a guarantee with advancements concerning General Ranks. Of course, all of this is only speculation based on some observations and the actual results always vary, but we can still get an idea on how things will play out in the future."
He concluded with the following line. "All in all, our greatest problem regarding our combat force remains our inferior numbers. While monsters occupy the entire lands with hundreds of thousands of their kind, our own force don't even reach ten thousand strong. And unfortunately, we couldn't really hope to take measures in that area until we found a solution to the problems mentioned by other Generals. After all, supplies, resources and territory are all what we need to sustain a higher level of population."
He completed his report with that line but instead of sitting back down, he looked at the other Generals and Ron intently for a second.
"Actually... "
Orville started speaking again.
"If we are talking about our current and future potential combat strength... Then perhaps... "
He looked at the Generals with a slight smile.
"Perhaps all the Generals can also give a periodic update about their own progression and advancements?"