Lord of the Sky City

Just as Rocky had imagined, after the initial defeat, Karlo wasted no time in attacking Thunderhawk City!

This attack showcased the strength and depth of a medium-sized Sky City.

Personally commanded by Karlo, over thirty warships approached Thunderhawk City, not only encircling half of the city but also launching a fierce attack without further ado.

Faced with such a barrage from numerous warships, even the Defensive Net of Thunderhawk City was struggling to hold up. To alleviate the pressure on the Defensive Net, Rocky immediately led all the city's warships to take off, using the defender's natural advantage to counterattack.

Leading the Fleet from behind the Defensive Net, Rocky had his own warships bombard the enemy as much as possible, which finally managed to push the enemy back slightly.

But please note, it was merely a push back. Karlo did not withdraw. In fact, after pulling his fleet back beyond the range of a standard Magic Cannon, he utilized his numerical superiority to disperse his massive fleet and surround Thunderhawk City, continuing to bombard the Defensive Net with the main cannons of his warships while at the same time dispersing defensive forces.

This strategy was undoubtedly correct. As the attacker, Karlo appeared to lack the geographical advantages of the defender, but he held the initiative in the war. Faced with the massive Defensive Net, having the initiative meant he could attack however he wished, since he was bound to hit the Defensive Net. In contrast, Rocky was forced to engage in passive responses.

This is the true nature of a battlefield. In such a battlefield, there are no absolute advantages—each side only holds relative advantages, and how to effectively utilize these relative advantages is key to determining victory or defeat.

As an experienced City Lord, Karlo clearly understood how to conduct a siege, and even more so, how to carry out such a battle.

Under his command, the siege surrounding Thunderhawk City began early in the morning and continued until evening, only concluding after nightfall.

After a full day of battle, Rocky gained no trophies, having not sunk a single enemy ship. Likewise, because of the Defensive Net, Karlo was naturally unable to hit Rocky's fleet, so neither side had any achievements for the day.

However, the great battle surrounding Thunderhawk City was clearly not going to end in a single day, so on the second day, just like the day before, the Fleet of Wild Horse City appeared around Thunderhawk City early in the morning, and a new round of attack and defense began.

This tactic is a standard siege process. The attacking side, holding a significant advantage, will continually assault the Sky City. The attack might last for days or even months, depending on whether the defenders retaliate and how strong the Defensive Net is. In any case, the monotonous battle will only conclude once all of the Defensive Net's mana has been depleted.

Once this type of battle concludes, it leads to the final confrontation between the combating sides. If the defenders do not surrender after the Defensive Net is shattered, the attacker's fleet will fly directly into the Sky City and commence extensive bombardment of the city. Either the city will be completely subdued into surrendering, or the Drive Crystal of the Sky City will be shattered, destroying the entire Sky City. Only then will the battle truly end.

Clearly, Karlo intended to obliterate Thunderhawk City!

Indeed, that was his plan, and that was what he did. For the next three days, he sent his fleet to attack each day, battling from morning to night without pausing.

But even so, Karlo seemed unsatisfied, so when the siege had reached its fourth day, the number of warships sent by Wild Horse City for the attack suddenly decreased by almost ten from over thirty. It was also from this day that Wild Horse City didn't spare even the nights!

During the day, they would send over twenty warships to attack, and after a day's battle had ended, Wild Horse City would send another twenty or so warships to relieve the daytime forces and then continue the assault throughout the night, bombarding Thunderhawk City 24 hours a day.

The sudden increase in Wild Horse City's offensive pace made everyone in Thunderhawk City quite anxious, because if this trend continued, Sky City's mana would soon be exhausted!

The defensive net of Sky City was powered directly by the drive crystals that supply mana, and although drive crystals can recharge automatically, under constant attack—especially 24-hour nonstop bombardment—the rate of mana replenishment definitely couldn't keep up with the rate of consumption. This meant that soon, the drive crystals' mana would no longer suffice to sustain the defensive net. What then?

Thunderhawk City could still rely on the defensive net to block the enemy, but once the defensive net disappeared, what would they use to fend off Wild Horse City's attack?

Could they rely on the fleet in Rocky's hands?

Although the First Fleet of Thunderhawk City was very strong, even far exceeding the standard for a small Sky City, it was still considerably weaker compared to Wild Horse City's fleet. Not to mention the numbers, the two just weren't on the same level. Therefore, once the defensive net disappeared, facing thirty to forty warships from Wild Horse City, Thunderhawk City would absolutely be unable to resist.

It was only then that people really began to realize how vast the gap between a small Sky City and a medium Sky City was, as in this battle, the rich resources of Wild Horse City, being a medium Sky City, were fully demonstrated.

You see, warships also have their consumption. After each battle, the warships that participated must replenish their mana to continue flying, much like refueling. Therefore, each Sky City has a large amount of magic stones stored to supply mana when needed.

In this respect alone, the gap between Thunderhawk City and Wild Horse City became evident. For this great battle, Rocky had naturally prepared a large amount of magic stones to ensure that his fleet could enter the battle at any time, but facing the relentless attacks from Wild Horse City, his reserve of magic stones was quickly depleted. Now, the reason the warships could still ascend was entirely because they were using the mana provided by the Sky City's drive crystals. By doing this, they were effectively reducing the lifespan of the defensive net, after all, even though the content of mana in drive crystals was immense, it was limited.

In contrast, Wild Horse City not only had more warships but also attacked 24 hours nonstop. Their consumption was necessarily enormous, yet Wild Horse City seemed not to care at all; they acted as if they could keep attacking endlessly like this forever, demonstrating how abundant their war reserves were.

At this point, everyone in Thunderhawk City was extremely anxious because now they truly felt the danger of annihilation.

But when everyone else was anxious, Rocky alone was not. He was not only calm but also confident.

The calmness he displayed puzzled many. Outsiders couldn't understand, and even those close to him couldn't grasp what plans or contingencies Rocky might have. Just when everyone was anxious and confused about Rocky's intentions or his backup plans, the situation of the war suddenly took a drastic 180-degree turn!

A huge, third-party fleet suddenly appeared! Continue reading on My Virtual Library Empire