Lord of the Sky City

Rocky was never stingy with his own people, so when he and Karina were discussing how to build an inner city within Kasin City, he also took the opportunity to carry out a comprehensive transformation of Rose City.

In fact, like Thunderhawk City, Rose City had just undergone a major upgrade, transitioning from a small Sky City to a medium Sky City not long ago. Carrying out another transformation so soon would undeniably seem hasty, but Karina was not one to overthink. She acted decisively, inviting Rocky, Orton, and others into the city on the very day Rocky spoke of the plan, beginning a preliminary inspection of the city.

For Orton, however, transforming city defenses had already been successfully implemented first in Thunderhawk City and then Carltos City, so he was highly experienced. Upon arriving at Rose City, it didn't take him long to complete his inspection, and within a few days, he had prepared a detailed renovation proposal.

Meanwhile, Master Wynn had once again arrived in Thunderhawk City, and as preparations for a series of transformations in Rose City were underway, he began discussing the inner city matter with Rocky.

"This idea... very bold... truly bold..."

After hearing Rocky's concept, Master Wynn muttered as he furrowed his brow. As a master in this field, Rocky and his team's ideas about the inner city might seem like mere words on the surface, but to Wynn, they instantly formed a series of actionable plans.

In Wynn's perspective, the concept of an inner city wasn't infeasible—in fact, it was highly feasible. Implementing such a plan could indeed reduce the defensive area substantially, making defense much stronger. However, it was also undoubtedly an enormous and ambitious engineering endeavor.

Even if the defensive area was reduced to its minimum size, constructing an inner city would still essentially equate to building a complete set of fortifications. The scale of such a construction project was no less significant than upgrading a Sky City. The difference was that livelihood in a Sky City could safely continue within its protected confines, whereas such defensive construction projects could not.

This was precisely where the difficulty lay. If the ground were secure, this immense defensive construction, while monumental, could be completed within a few months provided there were enough manpower. However, the problem was that the ground was anything but safe. More critically, the inner city was by design intended to resist the attacks of Demons, meaning that until the inner city was built, Rocky couldn't ensure anyone's safety during ground-based construction.

How to construct the inner city was a massive challenge that would test Wynn's ingenuity. Consequently, Wynn didn't give Rocky an answer immediately. He needed time to carefully ponder and draft feasible plans to determine whether the idea was truly executable.

And that consideration took him exactly three days. When he met again with Rocky and Karina after those three days, Wynn already had the entire plan ready!

"Lord Rocky, if we want to build an inner city within Kasin City, the only viable approach is segmented construction."

"We cannot complete these engineering works directly on the ground, as the Demons won't give us the time for it. My suggestion is to pre-construct the defensive structures up in the air and transport them to the ground for rapid assembly within the shortest timeframe possible."

"What?"

After hearing Wynn's words, both Rocky and Karina were startled. Not only was Wynn's explanation straightforward, but it was also exceptionally easy to understand. In essence, his suggestion boiled down to pre-building the fortifications and then assembling them on the ground, almost like piecing together toys. It was precisely this toy-like analogy that left the two incredulous—after all, what they needed were real fortifications, not mere playthings!

Indeed, Wynn's plan revolved around this notion. He proposed assembling the defensive formations of the so-called inner city on the ground as if they were toys. This approach mirrored how Thunderhawk City had previously descended for its ground-level upgrades. The critical factor here was time, and Wynn's method was the most time-efficient. Since the majority of the work would be done in the air, the workload on the ground would decrease drastically. Conservatively speaking, the entire project could be completed in a month, which was the best-case scenario Wynn could envision.

After Wynn had laid out all the details, Rocky turned to Karina and posed the key question: "Master, are you sure this will only take one month?"

"It should be feasible. The one-month timeframe mainly involves laying foundations and securing large defensive segments. The workload isn't extensive enough to cause delays, but shortening the timeline further simply isn't possible."

"So that means we'll have to defend Kasin City for a month..."

After saying this, Rocky glanced at Karina. With Karina's presence, the imminent arrival of the Mairente Family, and his own resources, combining forces to defend Kasin City for a month didn't seem entirely impossible.

Thus, Rocky nodded and said, "Master, proceed as you've planned!"

"Understood."

Seeing Rocky agree to his proposal, Wynn wasted no time and handed him a detailed materials list. Whether the construction was ground-based or airborne, fortifications required a significant amount of resources. The list Wynn provided outlined all the materials needed for the project.

After glancing at the list, Rocky couldn't help squinting slightly—it was an enormous inventory, comparable to what had been needed for Thunderhawk City's upgrade. Fortunately, Rocky was no longer in want of funds, so he immediately handed the list off to Aileen, who promptly reached out to the Ruby Chamber of Commerce.

In this way, after a period of relative quiet, Thunderhawk City started bustling with activity once more. Meanwhile, Cyril finally brought definitive news: the Mairente Family had officially left the Allied Forces, and in half a month, the entire family was set to arrive at Backhill Village.

For Rocky, this was undoubtedly fantastic news. With the addition of the Mairente Family, his manpower needs were essentially resolved. Although the Mairente Family had lost much of its former glory, one shouldn't forget its foundational resources as a major lineage. Whatever else it lacked, it certainly had a large population and a standing army, both of which were immensely advantageous for Rocky's upcoming plans.

Before long, half a month had passed, and just as Cyril had promised, three large Sky Cities and two medium Sky Cities appeared above Backhill Village!

Three large Sky Cities and two medium Sky Cities encompassed the entirety of the Mairente Family's remaining cities. Their scale had diminished by nearly half compared to their peak, and this was merely in terms of the number of Sky Cities. From an internal standpoint, the family was already weighed down by unbearable burdens, which had only worsened since leaving the Allied Forces.

Operating five Sky Cities required substantial finances. The last round of reparations had already drained the Mairente Family of its reserves to compensate Sky Alliance and Rocky, and their participation in the counteroffensive demanded further investments—vast sums of Gold Coins spent on army enhancements. Unfortunately, those enhanced armies were annihilated in the war. While the Mairente Family seemed outwardly imposing, it was, in reality, an empty shell. Their sole lifeline now rested entirely in Rocky's hands.