As the night gradually darkened, Li Yu and the others remained under the abandoned building, interrogating Gao Ru.

Third Uncle said to Gao Ru, "You mentioned about five thousand people, does everyone have a gun?"

Gao Ru quickly shook his head and said, "Of course not, and I don’t think there are actually five thousand people. I’m just speculating. At least half of these people are dependents, relying on various factions, and there are also slaves owned by them."

Third Uncle nodded slightly, saying no more.

Li Yu continued to ask, "You mentioned earlier that at the Western Alliance headquarters, only the Zhou Family and the Liu Family remain. What is their strength?"

Gao Ru looked troubled and hesitantly said, "I really don’t know. They should be similar to the Qian Family, around a few hundred people. In short, at the Western Alliance headquarters, the Gan Family is unarguably first in terms of both strength and status."

Li Yu then said to him, "Tell me exactly about all your conversations with Gan Xiong."

Gao Ru’s fingers hurt, and he pleaded, "Can I put my hands in front? Being cuffed behind is really uncomfortable."

"No."

Gao Ru: "..."

Seeing Dapao moving behind him again, Gao Ru quickly spoke, "Initially, I just told him about the situation on Juzi Island. Also, because not long ago, Gan Gaojie’s disappearance made Gan Shang suspect Xiao Jun, I told all this to Gan Xiong."

While speaking, he glanced at Ju Tianrui and Xiao Jun on the right, his eyes flashing with thought, and continued, "But we really can’t find Captain Ju and his group, so now Gan Xiong isn’t talking about searching anymore.

Then, after hearing the situation on Juzi Island, he got very angry and planned to relocate us all back after this visit.

This time, we initially planned a major relocation......"

Upon hearing this, Li Yu glanced at Third Uncle and developed some ideas.

"Continue."

Nightfall came, the cold wind blowing.

Everyone tightened their clothes, and Gao Ru continued to divulge all the information he knew to Li Yu and the others.

Half an hour later.

After Gao Ru roughly explained what he knew, Dapao tied him up again and took him into that simple farmhouse.

Li Yu stood up, pointed at Gao Ru’s few subordinates, and said to Li Tie, "You and Dapao should separately interrogate them to see if Gao Ru lied earlier."

"Alright." Li Tie nodded and walked over to those few people.

...

The fierce cold wind whipped against people’s faces, causing pain, and today the temperature dropped again.

While interrogating Gao Ru earlier, Li Yu realized one thing: up until now, neither Gan Shang nor Gan Xiong from the Western Alliance knew about the existence of his group.

Moreover, from the Western Alliance to the Big Camphor Tree Base, even by car it takes more than ten hours.

If one were to go to the Western Alliance, the mountains are high and the roads far, with rugged paths, plus the temperature has dropped, making accidents likely.

Furthermore, the Western Alliance is strong. Although the Big Camphor Tree Base possesses heavy weapons that the Western Alliance lacks, the disparity in population is apparent.

To attack the Western Alliance would require mobilizing most of the Big Camphor Tree Base’s forces, leaving the base very empty.

And now, attacking the Western Alliance would face strong resistance.

Since Gan Xiong and the others from the Western Alliance still don’t know about the Big Camphor Tree Base, and given the long distance.

It doesn’t seem necessary to go now.

Gan Xiong and his group finding or even discovering the Big Camphor Tree Base is very difficult.

Spending time, energy, and manpower to take risks for trouble lacks strategic significance in an attack.

....

Li Yu pondered for a while, then found Third Uncle, hesitated, and said to him, "Third Uncle, I think you can come back with us tomorrow. Now the weather is getting colder day by day, and the risk of going out is high.

Moreover, Gan Xiong’s strength is still very strong, and going to scout doesn’t make much sense. Even if we went to eliminate them now, it would be very hard. We wouldn’t gain anything."

Third Uncle gave Li Yu a look and said, "I actually thought the same just now. We’ve gathered all the intelligence we wanted from Hai Chao and Gao Ru. It seems Gan Xiong isn’t planning to delve deeply into the Gan Gaojie issue, so it makes sense to return to the base temporarily."

Li Yu nodded and said:

"Yes, apart from that, based on what Gao Ru said, Western Alliance’s population is so big, food is a major problem. Even if they currently have some food reserves, the large population is there, consuming rapidly.

Based on what Gao Ru said earlier about the Western Alliance’s situation, they should be more concerned about the issue of population pressure. Perhaps, without us taking action, with so many people, they’ll eventually collapse."

This is Li Yu’s inference from past experience. Bases with populations over ten thousand often face severe food pressure; weather unpredictability leads to unstable food production, creating a huge conflict with the certainty that people need food every day.

This issue can only be solved in two ways.

One is to conquer other factions for food. This method loses manpower but works quickly, only solving immediate thirst.