Lord of the Sky City

Although the Tank Type 1 Armor was manufactured only after a preliminary design due to the time crunch, both Rocky and Hammerfire, among others, were very satisfied with the rushed production of this new Land Combat Armor.

Undeniably, the Tank Type 1, from a design and manufacturing standpoint, had substantial room for improvement, but even so, its performance was already impressive. Presumably, once further testing was completed, confirming that there were no major flaws or defects, it could be deployed in actual combat.

Therefore, after a rare few days of rest, Rocky immediately began a series of tests on the Tank Type 1.

This time, the testers were not him personally but two newly selected Void Magic Warriors from the Guard Corps.

After the first Tank Type 1 was produced, Liliya and Monte had drawn up a list of candidates for Void Magic Warriors and handed it over to Rocky, who quickly selected two individuals from it.

The two he chose were named Caryus and Raphael, both of whom had joined the Guard Corps after Rocky became City Lord, with Raphael even coming from Backhill Village.

Rocky's choice of these two as the new batch of Void Magic Warriors somewhat puzzled Monte and Liliya, as they had not considered these two at all when compiling the candidate list.

It wasn't that Caryus and Raphael weren't qualified to be Void Magic Warriors; in fact, whether in terms of background or competence, they were on par with the other candidates. However, both men were somewhat older, with each being over thirty years of age.

Theoretically, the age requirement for Void Magic Warriors was not too stringent, but it had to be acknowledged that younger individuals held considerable advantages in terms of reaction time and physical prowess.

But Rocky didn't see it that way; he rather thought that being older had its own benefits, such as being more steady and calm in battle, which were precisely the qualities necessary for piloting Tank Type 1 Armor.

Another reason he chose Caryus and Raphael was their experience.

Before joining the Guard Corps, both happened to have worked as coachmen. Caryus's father was a coachman in Thunderhawk City, and he also spent time in that role until he was twenty-five, while Raphael did the same when he was in Backhill Village, driving horse-drawn carriages to transport goods.

In Rocky's view, this constituted experience.

Some might wonder, can driving a horse carriage be equated with piloting Armor? How could that be considered experience?

Indeed, driving a horse carriage was not the same as piloting Armor, but let's not forget that the Tank Type 1 Armor wasn't traditional Armor. A key requirement for piloting the Tank Type 1 was a strong sense of direction, which Caryus and Raphael, with their coachman backgrounds, had in abundance over most people.

After confirming these two would be responsible for driving the Tank Type 1, Rocky took it upon himself to teach them personally how to operate the Tank Type 1 Armor, conducting a series of tests on the Armor while the two familiarized themselves with its controls.

Time quickly passed, and another half-month went by. During this period, although Caryus and Raphael shared an Armor, their learning pace was unimpeded, and they had essentially mastered all the operational techniques of the Tank Type 1.

Moreover, as the two gradually mastered the operation of the Tank Type 1, the series of tests on the Armor also came to an end. There were certainly minor issues and inherent design flaws, but there were no major problems, which meant that the Tank Type 1 could soon engage in real combat.

At the same time, the second Tank Type 1 Armor was also completed during this period.

With that, all the preparations for reclaiming Backhill Village were in place. Once Thunderhawk City reached Skybreaker Peak, the operation could commence!

By Rocky's calculations, since activating Thunderhawk City's flight mode, more than a month had passed. After such a lengthy flight, the city was now not too far from Skybreaker Peak, and reaching it meant Backhill Village was close at hand.

Therefore, in the following days, instead of getting involved in other matters, Rocky focused entirely on planning for the battle to reclaim Backhill Village Mine and his strategies for managing the mine once reclaimed.

Time flew by, and three days later, Thunderhawk City, which had been flying for over a month, finally arrived at its destination!

After lowering Thunderhawk City slightly, Rocky stood on the Skyport and easily spotted the towering mountain peak not far away, thrusting into the clouds with its summit swallowed completely by the clouds, known as Skybreaker Peak!

"Felly, send someone to scout out the area and check the current situation of Backhill Village."

Standing on the Skyport and looking towards Broken Mountain Peak for a while, Rocky said to Felly.
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"Yes!"

With an affirmative response, Felly immediately went to make arrangements. Soon after, three Reconnaissance Ships took off slowly from the Skyport, flying out of the range of Thunderhawk City towards Skybreaker Peak.

After watching the three Reconnaissance Ships gradually disappear from view, Rocky returned to his own City Lord's Mansion. After all, it would take some time for the Reconnaissance Ships to return, and he did not plan to make a move before getting a clear picture of the situation in Backhill Village.

It had been a year and a half since his last visit here, so Rocky had no idea about the current situation in Backhill Village. Therefore, although he was prepared for battle, he had to wait to clarify the situation before taking action—he would never fight an uncertain battle.

However, what he hadn't expected was that the return of the Reconnaissance Ships would be much sooner than he had anticipated!

It was only two to three hours after the Reconnaissance Ships had been dispatched early in the morning, not even lunchtime yet, when the three Reconnaissance Ships returned, bringing with them a result that Rocky had not at all expected.

"Already occupied?"

Looking at the few crew members standing beside Felly, Rocky's brows gradually furrowed, and after a moment, he asked again:

"Are you saying that Backhill Village has already been occupied by someone?"

"Yes, yes, City Lord, that's right..."

Bowing his head and cautiously glancing at Rocky, one of the crew members standing beside Felly promptly replied.

This response made Rocky lean back in his seat of the City Lord, and his expression gradually darkened!

Had someone beaten him to the punch and already occupied Backhill Village and the mine within the village?

This outcome was certainly far beyond Rocky's expectations, even catching him off guard. He had originally thought that Backhill Village, destroyed by the Demons, was an assured prize for him, but unexpectedly, it had been seized by someone else first.

This was truly... unacceptable to him!

So, after a brief moment of contemplation, Rocky looked towards the several crew members beside Felly.

"What exactly happened, tell me everything you saw in detail without leaving out any details."