In the next two days, the war situation underwent earth-shaking changes.

With Gandalf openly clearing the area with his forbidden spells and Caesar secretly inciting the Insect Tide army to defect,

the number of exotic beasts outside Jiangning City rapidly plummeted at a visible rate.

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

Led by the Abyssal Insect Mother and its pervasive Shadow Demon Insects, they launched the final general offensive against the remaining beast tide.

Without the Hell-level BOSS as their core strength, the remaining hundreds of thousands of beast tide armies were completely unable to stop this peculiar "allied army" of the Human Race.

The offensive was as unstoppable as a withered tree being snapped.

The remaining power of the beast tide was quickly and cleanly swept away.

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

On the morning of the third day,

Hou Changfeng sent someone to relay a message, telling Gandalf to stop his mopping-up tasks at hand

and immediately return to the Governor's Mansion in Jiangning City.

Receiving the prompt, Zhou Huai transferred his consciousness onto Gandalf at the very first moment.

He felt somewhat puzzled in his heart.

What kind of matter could Governor Hou have that made him so anxious for Gandalf to return?

After all, at this moment, Gandalf was still leading the military soldiers to sweep away scattered exotic beasts in the wilderness.

With an Forbidden Spell Mage like him around, the soldiers' clearing work could be much easier.

However, Zhou Huai did not ask much.

Cooperating fully, he followed the messenger and returned to Jiangning City.

Coincidentally, he also wanted to talk with this Governor about letting Gandalf return to the Imperial Capital.

In these two days, Zhou Huai had slept for another solid day and a half.

He could clearly feel that the time he could remain conscious was becoming less and less.

The loss rate of his soul power seemed to be accelerating.

This made Zhou Huai's sense of urgency heavier and heavier.

Now the beast tide in Dongning Province had basically been brought under control.

The subsequent cleanup work would be enough to leave to the military personnel to handle.

It was also time to let Gandalf return to the Imperial Capital and ask Marshal Zhao for the Pendulum of Life.

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

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

One had a square face, a slightly plump figure, and a steady aura.

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

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

Their appearances were very unfamiliar; Zhou Huai did not recognize them.

However, these two men gave Zhou Huai a feeling that they were not friendly.

Before Hou Changfeng could speak,

the thin man took the lead in standing up.

"You are Student Gandalf?"

Zhou Huai nodded nonchalantly.

"And you are?"

Seeing this, Hou Changfeng hurriedly stood up from behind his desk, his face piled with smiles, and took the initiative to introduce: "Student Gandalf, let me introduce you. These two are the two generals specially sent by the Central Military Department to pick you up and take you back."

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

He then pointed at the square-faced one: "This is General Zhao Qi."

Zhou Huai instinctively raised an eyebrow.

Specially picking him up to return?

And dispatching two generals?

This lineup was simply too grand.

Zhou Huai felt that something was not quite right.

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

He had rendered such monumental meritorious service.

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

The one called Liu Shaohan barely concealed the scrutiny in his eyes.

As for Zhao Qi, although his expression was calm, a hint of alienation and vigilance was likewise hidden deep within his eyes.

Zhou Huai tentatively spoke: "Two generals, may I ask if something has happened?"

Hearing this, the corners of Liu Shaohan's mouth curled into a sneer.

He retorted: "As for what happened, shouldn't you be clearer about it than us?"

"Still pretending to be innocent here?"

These words were spoken in a sarcastic tone, full of hostility.

As soon as these words came out, Zhou Huai was even more baffled.

Before he could ask again,

the square-faced Zhao Qi suddenly spoke.

"This concerns secrets; it is not suitable to speak too much."

"Alright."

He looked at Zhou Huai with an indifferent gaze.

"Since Student Gandalf is here, we won't stay in Jiangning City any longer."

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

As he spoke, a flash of white light appeared in his hand.

An oddly-shaped set of shackles unexpectedly appeared.

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

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

As soon as it appeared, the air in the office seemed to freeze somewhat, and the free-floating magic elements instantly became sluggish.

The moment Hou Changfeng saw this set of shackles, his expression instantly changed.

"Chain of Forbidden Magic!"

As a provincial governor, how could he not recognize this thing!

This was a torture instrument specifically designed by the Central Military Department for high-tier mages. Once worn, the mana within one's body would be completely imprisoned, and the connection with external elements would be completely severed.

No matter how powerful a mage was, they could only be reduced to an ordinary person without the strength to truss a chicken.

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

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

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

Liu Shaohan gave him an indifferent glance.

"Lord Governor, this matter has nothing to do with you."

"We are simply following orders."

Although Zhou Huai had never seen this "Chain of Forbidden Magic", judging from Hou Changfeng's expression as if he had seen a ghost, he could tell that this was definitely not a good thing.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Are the two of you here to arrest me?"

"May I ask what crime I have actually committed?"

Liu Shaohan sneered again, his gaze as if looking at a dead man.

"What crime?"

"Gandalf, you really know how to act."

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

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

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

"Hero?" Liu Shaohan's laughter was filled with mockery, "Lord Governor, I see your eyes have been blinded. It is true that he saved Dongning Province, but the motive behind it is probably not so pure."

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

He looked at Zhou Huai, his voice still steady, yet carrying an unquestionable majesty.

"Gandalf, we do not want to make a move here."

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

"Now, please cooperate and put it on."