It turned out that the news had indeed spread from their city defense guards, and quite widely at that. Almost everyone who passed by knew about it.
"Come here, bring that person to me immediately and deal with him according to military law!" Fan Lie shouted coldly, wishing he could kill the person on the spot.
However, to his disappointment, his subordinate's voice came again: "Reporting to the Commander, that person disappeared after spreading the news. I suspect he is not one of ours, and some of our brothers may have been killed!"
"Damn it!!" Fan Lie was furious, but he couldn't spare anyone to search. He immediately looked at everyone and said, "Everyone, I think you've misunderstood!"
"I guarantee to all of you here that the city guards will absolutely not abandon Lost City easily. We will defend it to the last moment!!"
"That's right, someone is using the identity of the city guards to spread rumors with the intention of demoralizing us. Please don't believe it!!!"
The subordinate also chimed in. Hearing this, everyone's eyes widened, and they looked at each other, momentarily stunned.
Someone was spreading rumors?
"And everyone, I promise you here that if the time comes to abandon the city, I will notify you in advance. Please return to your positions as soon as possible!!" Fan Lie continued to guarantee.
Listening to his earnest words, many people actually believed him and turned to leave.
"Damn it, I knew it. How could Lost City be abandoned? So someone was spreading rumors, how hateful!"
"Yes, the protective array hasn't even been broken yet, how could they abandon the city? Besides, the City Lord hasn't even made a move yet!"
"Exactly..."
Everyone left, grumbling. In their opinion, unless the protective array was broken and the City Lord was defeated, there was no reason to abandon Lost City.
Little did they know that the City Lord they were talking about had already disappeared without a trace.
Seeing this, Fan Lie finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ordered his subordinate, "Notify everyone to have the city guards withdraw to the defense line in batches and prepare to leave!"
"Yes, Commander!"
The subordinate immediately withdrew respectfully and began to make arrangements.
However, they didn't know that at this moment, in the center of the crowd, a figure was watching this scene with a cold smile. It was Ye Feng.
"Heh, he's quite the actor. Even at this point, he's still making the people of the city risk their lives for him!" Ye Feng sneered, but he didn't expose him on the spot. Instead, he stood obediently beside Geng Nian.
At this moment, his identity had changed to that of a subordinate by Geng Nian's side.
Soon, after everyone had been fooled and dispersed, Fan Lie's men also slowly withdrew from the defense line.
The city guards were not many in number. Excluding some miscellaneous soldiers, there were only about two thousand people. However, including their families, there were as many as eight or nine thousand people.
Coupled with the guards and the public security personnel, the entire large ship was filled with over ten thousand people, making the previously empty deck suddenly crowded.
Seeing this, Fan Lie looked at Geng Nian and said coldly, "Captain Geng, if there's nothing else, let's set sail. It won't be good if we're late!"
Geng Nian didn't say much, just said indifferently, "Alright, set sail!!"
With that, the large ship slowly rose, and a series of roaring sounds echoed, sounding particularly jarring in the already quiet Lost City.
Seeing this, those who had just left the square had their expressions change drastically, showing disbelief: "Wh-what's going on? Why did the ship set sail?"
"I-I don't know. Didn't they say they wouldn't abandon the city? What does this mean?"
Everyone was extremely confused. At this moment, someone noticed something: the city guards on the city wall had all disappeared, as if they had vanished into thin air.
"H-how could this be? Where are the city guards? Why have they all disappeared?"
For a moment, everyone began to panic. They rushed to the center of the square and the commander's office, only to find that they were already empty.
"This, this..."
Instantly, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief. Especially when they remembered Fan Lie's confident words from before, everyone felt a surge of anger and despair.
The commander of the Lost City's defense, Fan Lie, had actually taken his men and fled?
"Ah, you beast! You actually abandoned the city and fled alone, you beast!!" Everyone roared to the sky, their faces filled with despair.
However, what made them even more desperate was that with the departure of the city guards, the protective array of the entire Lost City began to gradually malfunction and was on the verge of collapse.
"No, this is bad! The protective array is about to be broken. Everyone, quickly get to the city wall!!"
Everyone instantly snapped out of their despair and rushed to the city wall, trying to stabilize the protective formation.
But at this moment, a terrifying aura swept through. A Celestial Realm dark creature seized this opportunity and struck the protective array of Lost City with a single blow.
Crack!
A loud, crisp sound was heard. The next second, a scene of despair unfolded before everyone's eyes. The protective array of Lost City, which had sheltered them for so long, shattered on the spot!
"No, this is bad! The protective array has been broken, quick, run!!"
For a moment, everyone was filled with despair. They no longer cared about repairing the protective array and fled in all directions, trying to escape in advance.
But without the protection of the protective array, where could they escape to? They were all covered by countless dark creatures, and screams echoed endlessly.
This scene instantly changed the expressions of everyone on the large ship, filling them with lingering fear.
Of course, they weren't fearful for the lives of the people below, but rather relieved that they had left quickly. Otherwise, this would have been their fate once the city was breached.
Only Ye Feng and Geng Nian, seeing this, had extremely grim expressions, their eyes filled with killing intent as they looked at Fan Lie.
But before they could do anything, the numerous monsters in the sky attacked them, not intending to let them leave so easily.
Seeing this, Fan Lie immediately snorted, "Humph, how dare a few dark creatures block us? You're courting death! Come, break through the encirclement and kill our way out!"
"Yes, Commander!!"
Countless city guards began to attack the monsters outside the large ship. They were the elite of the elite, so under their attacks, a clear path was quickly cleared ahead.
Seeing this, Geng Nian didn't waste any words and immediately ordered his men to pilot the large ship out.
Before long, the large ship arrived above the moat. At this moment, Geng Nian waved his hand and had the ship slowly descend towards the moat.
"Hmm? What are you doing?" Fan Lie asked, somewhat confused.
At this moment, Geng Nian said, "It's safer to travel by water. Flying in the sky will attract the attention of Celestial Realm monsters. Once they attack, it will be difficult for us to resist!"
Hearing this, Fan Lie pondered for a second and didn't think much of it. In this situation, traveling by water was indeed safer. Flying in the sky would easily attract the attention of Celestial Realm monsters.
Soon, everyone followed the moat to the nearby sea. At this moment, Fan Lie felt that something was wrong, and a sense of danger suddenly struck him...