The man seated to the right of the Mayor wore a black Chinese tunic suit and had a short, cropped haircut. His face was resolute, and a 1.2-meter Tang Hengdao was propped in front of his table. This was Liu Chengfeng, the Lord of the Unyielding Hall.
Standing behind Liu Chengfeng was Hong Ziyu, the Vice Lord of the Unyielding Hall, a young man with a ponytail. He had a long spear on his back, his face looked lazy, and he kept yawning as he stood there.
"Mayor, how many Nine-Star Magic Beasts are there in this beast tide?"
Aside from the Mayor, Liu Chengfeng was the only other Nine Star in Obsidian Town. The question he asked was almost the most pressing concern for everyone else in the room.
"Our clansmen have repeatedly scouted, and as of now, 5 have been discovered."
The Mayor's tone was grave; this number was only more, not less, than in previous times.
This beast tide was coming ferociously and was expected to surround Heiyao City by sunrise the next day.
According to the intelligence transmitted by the Storm Clan's scouts, the number of Magic Beasts in this wave of the beast tide was around fifty thousand.
Among them, 5 Nine-Star Magic Beasts had been discovered so far, the number of Black Iron Eight-Star was estimated to be around 20, Black Iron Seven Stars numbered nearly 100, Black Iron Five-Star and Six-Star numbered no less than 1000, and the rest were almost all Black Iron Three Stars to Black Iron Four Star.
The total number of Awakeneds from all clans in Obsidian Town was only about twenty thousand, and among them, only the Mayor and Liu Chengfeng had reached Nine Star.
The leader of Cross Street was Alek, a British gentleman with short blonde hair, dressed in a black suit, sitting very elegantly to the right of Liu Chengfeng, with the strength of a Black Iron Eight-Star peak.
Of comparable strength were the leaders of the Magic Lizard Clan, Dwarf, Naga, and other clans, who were also seated at this table.
Although they were all Black Iron Eight-Star peak, they could barely hold back a Nine Star for a short period through various means, but it was still a bit difficult for them to individually hold back a Nine-Star Magic Beast.
As the level increased, the gap in strength grew larger, and fighting above one's level became more difficult.
"Five Nine Star, the Mayor and I will each hold back one. The remaining Nine Star will be left to all of you. No problem, right?"
Liu Chengfeng spoke, looking at the others.
"Mr. Liu, although our strength is not as good as yours, it is no problem for two or three of us to entangle a Nine-Star Magic Beast."
Alek spoke. He had a good relationship with the leaders of the Magic Lizard Clan and the Naga, and they all had experience with such entanglement tactics against Nine Star.
In fact, if he was willing to go all out and pay some price, he could even unite with the two leaders of the Magic Lizard Clan and the Naga to kill a Nine Star.
"No problem. Then, how about assigning the Black Iron Eight-Star Magic Beasts to the second-in-command of each major force?"
Seeing that the leaders had no objections, the Mayor continued.
The second-in-command of each major force was basically also of Black Iron Eight-Star strength, so assigning them was just right.
Hong Ziyu and others stood silently behind their respective bosses, waiting for their bosses' arrangements.
The leaders of several major forces expressed their agreement one after another. In fact, this was also the usual way to deal with beast tides in the past.
"Finally, there is the biggest problem with this beast tide."
"Who will go to kill the Heart-Concealing Brainworm?"
After the Mayor spoke, the scene unusually fell into an eerie silence.
Obsidian Town had encountered many beast tides in the past, but they were nothing more than a king-versus-king, general-versus-general model. The Magic Beasts in the beast tide were not intelligent races; without leadership, they were nothing more than a disorganized mob. When casualties exceeded half, the remaining Magic Beasts would scatter like birds.
But this time was different; the existence of the Heart-Concealing Brainworm would change this battle.
The Heart-Concealing Brainworm is a high-level intelligent Magic Beast, whose intelligence is not inferior to that of humans.
The most terrifying thing is that this type of brainworm usually parasitizes the brains of other creatures, relying on mental power to incite and drive other Magic Beasts to fight for him.
The Heart-Concealing Brainworm abandoned body strength and other abilities in exchange for incredibly powerful mental power and control range, enough to launch large-scale wars.
If it weren't for the Storm Clan's scouts coincidentally discovering the Heart-Concealing Brainworm changing hosts while observing the beast tide, they would probably have remained in the dark.
An organized beast tide and an unorganized beast tide have completely different disaster levels.
This Heart-Concealing Brainworm could launch such a large-scale beast tide, even inciting Nine-Star Magic Beasts to participate, so its own level must be at least Black Iron Eight-Star.
The most troublesome thing is that this fellow irregularly changes hosts, and it cannot be seen from the outside at all; it must be found by relying on certain reconnaissance-type abilities.
Even if found, the brainworm's host is probably well-protected. Trying to kill the brainworm amidst a myriad of troops would likely lead to one's own demise if not careful.
If the brainworm cannot be killed in time, this battle will turn into a relentless, mad assault of 50,000 Magic Beasts against Obsidian Town.
This was not the outcome that the various forces present wanted to see.
However, the mission to kill the Heart-Concealing Brainworm was too dangerous, and no one was willing to take that risk.
The scene fell into an eerie silence until thirty seconds later, Alek, the leader of Cross Street, broke the deadlock.
"How about this, everyone? My Cross Street will send a twenty-person team. After all, finding the brainworm requires ability users with reconnaissance abilities, and everyone knows the combat power of such ability users, so they will definitely need protection from other members."
"This twenty-person team will be led by my deputy, Mr. Dongcheng Xiuwu, to find and kill the brainworm in the beast tide."
"However, I believe everyone is aware of the difficulty of this mission. It's almost a suicide squad, and they are dying for Heiyao City."
"Although my Cross Street has many brave warriors, we cannot let them risk their lives for nothing, can we, everyone?"
Alek spoke to himself. Behind him, a Japanese samurai named Dongcheng Xiuwu stood expressionless, a katana at his waist, silent and unmoving.
Liu Chengfeng and Hong Ziyu looked at Alek simultaneously. They knew this foreigner wasn't that kind-hearted.
"How about this: each warrior will be rewarded with a Seven-Star Beast Crystal, and the Beast Crystals will be shared among all forces except Cross Street?"
"Mr. Liu, don't you Chinese have a saying? 'Under a heavy reward, there are always brave men.' You wouldn't oppose my suggestion, would you?"
Alek looked at Liu Chengfeng.
"Since Cross Street is willing to send people, it is only right for us to contribute resources. The Unyielding Hall has always emphasized fairness and karma. We accept the karma of others and resolve their consequences."
"However, Mr. Alek, I suggest you do not casually interfere with the karma of others. In the eyes of us Chinese, that is the easiest way to incur retribution."
Liu Chengfeng looked at Alek, the warning in his tone extremely clear.
Behind the two of them, Dongcheng Xiuwu remained silent, while Hong Ziyu yawned repeatedly, seemingly unconcerned by the tension in their bosses' words.
Finally, the meeting decided that Cross Street would provide the personnel, and various forces would provide the funds to form a twenty-person team. When the beast tide erupted, they would carry out a decapitation strike, prioritizing finding and killing the Heart-Concealing Brainworm.
"Alright, the defense missions for the city walls in different directions have been arranged. Please prepare early, everyone. Obsidian Town is entrusted to all of you."
As the Mayor concluded, the meeting came to an end.
However, in the darkness of the night, Obsidian Town had now transformed into a massive war machine. Countless "parts" began to operate rapidly as if a switch had been flipped with the conclusion of the meeting.
The "roar" of the war machine had already begun to sound in the night.