Only then did everyone suddenly understand.

Atop the city wall, a burly man carrying a giant axe wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He said in a rough voice: "I have long heard that within the Evernight Guild, there is an existence surpassing the guild master."

"All members respectfully address him as the Lord."

"It's just that this Lord has always been mysterious and has never shown his face in public."

"I really didn't expect him to be such a young person."

Someone nearby chimed in with a guess: "To be able to control a Hell-grade BOSS, where on earth did this person pop out from?"

"Why have I never heard of such a figure in Donghai City before?"

The burly man shook his head and lowered his voice.

"In my opinion, it's eighty percent likely to be a descendant from some great Clan in the imperial capital who came out to gain experience."

"Finding it boring at home, he wanted to carve out a name for himself, which is why he ran to a small place like our Donghai City to develop in a low-profile manner."

"All in all, no matter what his background is, it is definitely a tremendously good thing for our Donghai City to deal with this beast tide!"

Just as everyone was buzzing with discussion.

At the other end of the city wall, Sun Tian, the master of the Heaven's Decree Guild, was narrowing his eyes as he looked at the silver-haired figure high in the sky, a look of suspicion appearing on his face.

It felt as if something wasn't quite right.

He clearly remembered that the last time outside the city, when conflict broke out between their Heaven's Decree Guild and the Evernight Guild.

The one called the "Lord" did not seem to be the silver-haired youth before him.

But rather the swordsman named Yasuo.

How long had it been since then?

Why had their Lord suddenly changed to another person?

Could it be that the Evernight Guild had more than one Lord?

Judging by this, the internal structure of this guild was far more complex than he had imagined.

Just as Sun Tian was filled with doubt and uncertainty, Zhou Huai was already controlling Moria, leaping down from Xiao Hei's back.

His figure was light, and silently, he landed steadily on the city wall.

Seeing this, City Guard commander Zhang Chiming immediately hurried forward to welcome him.

A formulaic smile was squeezed onto his face, making him appear very polite.

"Brothers of the Evernight Guild, thank you all for coming to the rescue!"

"I, Zhang, on behalf of all the soldiers and civilians of Donghai City, am endlessly grateful!"

He looked at Moria with burning eyes, his tone carrying a hint of probing.

"Presumably this is the boss of the Evernight Guild, right?"

"Truly heroes come from youth. To have such strength at such a young age, he is truly a man of outstanding talent with a boundless future!"

Zhou Huai had no time for pleasantries with him.

He stood at the edge of the city wall, casting his gaze toward the dim wasteland outside the city.

The defense Formation enveloping the entire city wall had already lit up, forming a huge translucent energy barrier.

On top of the city wall, a ferocious Magical Cannon was erected every hundred meters. Brilliant light had already lit up at the muzzles, accumulating energy.

Zhou Huai gave a rough glance, and his brows furrowed tightly.

He turned his head to look at Zhang Chiming beside him, his voice icy.

"General Zhang, the defense Formation of your Donghai City is merely a most basic tier-four Formation; it is too fragile."

"I dare assert that it likely won't even be able to withstand the first wave of impact."

As soon as these words were spoken, the smile on Zhang Chiming's face inevitably stiffened.

He frowned, and the politeness on his face faded accordingly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The defense Formation of our Donghai City has always been a tier-four Formation, and it has operated safely for decades."

"In so many previous beast tides, our defense Formation has steadily withstood them."

"Even if the scale of this beast tide has upgraded by one level, it shouldn't be so bad that it can't even hold up against the first wave, right?"

As soon as his voice fell, members of other guilds nearby chimed in as well.

"Exactly! How many times have we participated in the defense battles of Donghai City? We know in our hearts just how sturdy this Formation is!"

"What do you mean by coming up here and spreading alarmist talk?"

Moria's expression was exceptionally serious, and his voice raised a bit higher.

"I am not spreading alarmist talk!"

"The scale of this beast tide will far exceed everyone's imagination!"

"The number of exotic beasts will likely exceed one million!"

"How... how many?"

"The number exceeds one million?!"

As soon as these words came out, it was like dropping a blockbuster bomb onto a calm lake surface!

It directly startled many Classer present into a daze.

In the history of Donghai City, the largest-scale beast tide had an exotic beast count that barely approached one hundred thousand.

That single time had already left the entire city battered and bruised, nearly being breached.

A beast tide with a quantity of one million?

These Classer simply did not have this concept!

Zhang Chiming wiped the cold sweat seeping from his temples, his smile appearing exceptionally stiff.

"This... little brother, you really know how to joke."

"I have been the commander of the Donghai City Guard for nearly twenty years, and I have encountered no less than thirty beast tides."

"I haven't even seen a beast tide exceeding a scale of one hundred thousand once."

"Now you're telling me that the number of exotic beasts this time exceeds one million. This... this is simply too exaggerated."

Within the crowd, some people also began to whisper.

"In my opinion, this boss of the Evernight Guild probably hasn't experienced any real beast tides and got scared by this setup, scaring himself here."

"That's right, a million-strong beast tide? How could he even think of that? What kind of concept is that? It would be enough to flatten the entire Dongning Province!"

"Exactly! If there's a beast tide of this scale, what are we even defending against? Might as well just wait for death."

Zhou Huai frowned.

There was no more time to waste.

He couldn't be bothered to explain any further.

He stared at Zhang Chiming, his tone unquestionable.

"General Zhang must immediately upgrade the defense Formation now!"

Zhang Chiming was somewhat dazed by Moria's serious attitude.

He stammered: "B-But... even if we want to raise the Level of the defense Formation, it can't be right now."

"The exotic beast army is about to arrive. After this beast tide recedes, I will go to the military department to apply for an upgrade."

"It's definitely too late now."

Zhou Huai interrupted him decisively.

"No! It must be right now!"

"Right now, immediately, at once, have someone shut down the tier-four Formation!"

"My people will carry out the upgrade!"

Seeing Moria's aggressive posture, everyone felt that the atmosphere wasn't right.

A hot-tempered Professional pointed at Moria's nose and shouted.

"Are you fucking out of your mind?!"

"Shut down the Formation now? What are we going to use to fight the exotic beasts!"

"Do you want all of us to go die?!"

Although members of other guilds didn't speak, the gazes they directed at Moria were also filled with unkindness.

They silently shook their heads.

They originally thought the Lord of the Evernight Guild was somebody.

Never expected him to be so lacking in tact, talking nonsense at such a critical moment.

This defense Formation was Donghai City's biggest safeguard at present.

Shutting down the Formation now, what difference was it from committing collective suicide with everyone in Donghai City?

Zhang Chiming also saw that Moria's expression didn't look like he was joking.

He immediately put away all expressions on his face, his expression turning incomparably solemn.

"I can solemnly inform you, impossible!"

"I must be responsible for all the City Guard present, as well as the Classer from various major guilds!"

"Even more, I must be responsible for the hundreds of thousands of innocent commoners inside the city!"

"This joke cannot be made!"

Zhou Huai fell into silence.

He knew that persuading him further was clearly impossible.

But relying on this fragile tier-four Formation to stop the first wave of impact from the beast tide army was simply wishful thinking.

For those exotic beasts, a Formation of this level was no different from thin paper.

He must have Zhuge Kongming immediately upgrade this Formation!

Just as Zhou Huai was calculating whether he should let the members of the Evernight Guild take direct action and control everyone present.

A rush of car engine roars came from afar to near, coming from the street outside the city gate.

Soon, dozens of heavy trucks sprayed with the military department's emblem parked grandly behind the city gate of Donghai City.

"Screeech—"

On the leading off-road vehicle, the car door was abruptly pushed open.

A stalwart figure leaped out from inside the car.

It was precisely Li Gang!

He raised his head, looked at Zhang Chiming atop the city wall, strained his throat, and let out a full-chested roar.

"Zhang Chiming! Open the door for me!"