Below the city walls, the appearance of military vehicles took everyone by surprise.

No one expected that at such a critical moment, Li Gang would bring so many military warriors to Donghai City.

Judging by the number of people in the vehicles, there were at least a thousand.

This was undoubtedly a powerful force of reinforcements.

Seeing Li Gang below, Zhang Chiming couldn't help but frown deeply.

A while ago, during the city lockdown, he was the one who stubbornly refused to let Li Gang's unit enter the city.

The two had even gotten into a huge argument over it.

Now that the beast tide was imminent, Zhang Chiming naturally wouldn't leave Li Gang's unit outside the city.

He waved his hand and ordered in a deep voice, "Open the city gates!"

Before long, Li Gang rushed up to the city wall.

Without even glancing at Zhang Chiming, he swept his gaze across the Classer with various expressions on the wall and shouted at the top of his lungs with full vigor.

"Everyone, I am Li Gang! Head of the Staff Department of Jiangning City, holding the Level of Colonel!"

"The situation is urgent, so I'll keep it short!"

"An unprecedentedly massive army of beasts is heading toward our Donghai City! It's estimated to arrive at the city gates in about an hour!"

"I hereby announce!"

Li Gang's voice suddenly rose, carrying an unquestionable authority.

"I will serve as the temporary commander for Donghai City's defense against this beast tide! All city defense decisions from now on will be issued by me!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the City Guard on the wall and the Classer from the major guilds were all stunned.

This Lord Li Gang was far too domineering.

Seizing power right off the bat?

The muscles on Zhang Chiming's face twitched, and he was the first to step forward.

"Minister Li! That's not right, is it?"

"Although you are an officer from the Jiangning City Military, this is Donghai City after all. Defense matters have always been handled by me—"

"Shut your mouth!"

Li Gang interrupted him unceremoniously, his eyes cold.

"I haven't even settled the score with you for locking the gates and keeping me out last time!"

"You had better stand aside and quietly follow my orders, or get the hell out of here!"

Zhang Chiming's face instantly turned the color of pig liver, trembling all over with rage.

"Li Gang! You!"

He wanted to throw back some harsh words, but meeting Li Gang's eyes filled with Baleful Qi, he choked the rest of his words back down.

In the end, he was merely a commander of the City Guard, while the other was a colonel with real power in the Jiangning City Military.

A higher Level crushed the lower officer.

Zhang Chiming could ultimately only squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth.

"Fine! Very well! I will go to the City Lord's Manor right now and report your actions to City Lord Jiang!"

Li Gang waved his hand indifferently.

"Go as soon as you can!"

"If we actually manage to defend Donghai City, once this is over, I'll settle accounts with that City Lord of yours as well!"

"If you fools hadn't wasted my time, Donghai City wouldn't be in such a desperate plight right now!"

These words left Zhang Chiming somewhat baffled.

But he was smart enough not to argue further, merely stepping aside with a dark expression.

The other Classer on the wall also sensed an unusual gravity in Li Gang's words.

Sun Tian, the leader of the Heaven's Decree Guild, stepped forward quickly and cupped his hands to Li Gang.

"Lord Li Gang, long time no see. Is the scale of this beast tide really that massive?"

Li Gang recognized Sun Tian's identity, his expression softening slightly, though he remained extremely serious.

He nodded heavily.

"Massive—unprecedentedly massive!"

"According to the observations of the scouts I sent out, the number of exotic beasts is at least over five hundred thousand, or even... possibly over a million!"

As these words were spoken, the entire city wall instantly fell into a dead silence.

Even the sound of the wind seemed to come to a halt at this moment.

If Moria's words earlier had still left them half-doubting,

then now, the information coming directly from the mouth of this military big shot was like a heavy sledgehammer, slamming ruthlessly into everyone's heart.

Now, they had no choice but to believe it.

The Classer on the wall turned pale one by one, involuntarily casting their glances toward the silent, silver-haired figure not far away.

Never in their wildest dreams did they expect that what he said was actually true.

"The... the number exceeds a million..."

"Heavens! If that's the case, how can Donghai City possibly be defended?"

"It's completely indefensible!"

In an instant, despair and fear spread rapidly through the crowd like a plague.

Except for the members of the Evernight Guild who had received the news early and were mentally prepared,

the Classer from other guilds all looked as pale as death, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

Some couldn't even hold their weapons steadily, letting them fall to the ground with a clatter.

Seeing this, Li Gang roared furiously once more.

"Fucking pull yourselves together!"

His voice exploded like thunder, forcibly yanking everyone back from that pit of despair.

"Everyone, there's no need to be so hopeless!"

"I have already contacted the Jiangning City Military for support! As long as we hold out, reinforcements will definitely come!"

"When that time comes, we will still have hope!"

Hearing this, a faint trace of color finally returned to the faces of some Classer.

Among the crowd, only Zhou Huai knew.

Reinforcements from Jiangning City could not possibly arrive.

An army of exotic beasts numbering over a million was not attacking Donghai City alone.

Neighboring cities were likely not spared either.

Even Jiangning City, a hundred kilometers away, would be affected itself.

They would be fortunate to defend their own city, making it completely impossible to dispatch troops to support others.

In fact, the situation was even grimmer than Zhou Huai had anticipated.

Perhaps due to the beast tide,

the communication equipment in Li Gang's vehicles had long lost function.

Jiangning City had received no news whatsoever.

It was all just rhetoric from Li Gang to pacify the people.

Merely meant to give everyone a shot in the arm.

If morale collapsed now, Donghai City would truly be finished.

Seeing Li Gang completely take control of the situation, Zhou Huai hesitated no longer.

Controlling Moria, he stepped forward quickly and spoke in a clear, cold voice.

"Lord Li Gang!"

"I request to immediately upgrade the defense Formation on the eastern wall; any later and it will be too late!"

Hearing this voice, Li Gang was stunned at first.

He turned his head, and when he clearly saw Moria's appearance and felt that familiar aura, his eyes instantly lit up.

"It's you!"

Li Gang recognized him immediately.

Back in the underground cavern, if not for this mysterious young man secretly providing an escape route and helping to create chaos,

he would likely have died at the hands of the Radiant Alliance long ago.

Therefore, Li Gang had always been full of gratitude toward Moria.

Unfortunately, the situation was urgent back then, and he didn't know Moria's name or identity, unable to find him afterward even if he wanted to.

Now that this young man suddenly appeared before him, how could he not feel pleasantly surprised?

Seeing Li Gang's gaze, Zhou Huai knew the man had recognized him.

However, now was not the time to reminisce.

He took another step forward, his tone exceedingly solemn.

"Lord Li Gang, please allow me to send people to immediately upgrade the eastern defense Formation!"

"Defense Formation?"

Li Gang snapped back to reality and only then noticed the somewhat thin energy barrier over Donghai City.

His expression turned solemn as well.

"It's only a Level 4 Formation..."

A Level 4 defense Formation was almost no different from a thin piece of paper against an army of exotic beasts numbering over a million.

He looked at Moria, a trace of doubt in his eyes.

"With only one hour remaining, are you really confident you can raise the Level of this defense Formation?"

There wasn't a shred of hesitation on Moria's face.

Meeting Li Gang's gaze, he nodded heavily.

"One hour is enough!"