Lord of the Sky City

When Karlo roared within Wild Horse City, Rocky had already left the hospital of Eternal City and returned to his own Thunderhawk City.

The time now was one week after the assassination attempt, but due to the severity of his injuries, Rocky could only rest in bed after returning to Thunderhawk City, incapable of even attending the lectures at the institute.

However, this was perhaps for the best, as throughout the year and more of being City Lord, Rocky had always been busy and had never truly rested—now, at last, he had the opportunity.

Even though he was recuperating, Thunderhawk City was still developing in an orderly manner.

Firstly, as more than a month had passed, the second cohort of trainees in leather manufacturing had graduated, and with their graduation, the leather manufacturing factory that had been built months ago finally began operations!

This was a major event for Thunderhawk City as it was Thunderhawk City's own factory, thus its significance was extraordinary. During the opening ceremony on the first day of operation, Rocky, despite his injuries, was in attendance.

At the opening ceremony, the moment Rocky appeared, he received a warmth that far exceeded his expectations. Residents who came to the event chanted his name, tossing countless flowers into the air for him, and numerous young girls screamed his name without end.

This kind of response from the residents was not planned but stemmed from their genuine affection for Rocky, the City Lord. The reason behind their fondness was simple—Rocky took good care of them. Read new chapters at empire

Upon reflection, one could hardly fault such sentiments, as, after becoming the City Lord of Thunderhawk City, Rocky had constantly been working hard for the city's development.

He once ventured to kill demons so the residents could have grain to survive the winter. Later, in order to set the city's economy on the right track, he provided training to the residents for free and even built the first factory in Thunderhawk City. Moreover, to improve the living conditions of the residents, he also established shops in the city, which likewise were the first true stores within the city.

Rocky indeed did many things for Thunderhawk City, and everything he did was witnessed by its residents. Although they seldom saw Rocky, they definitely knew who treated them well.

Especially the older generation of Thunderhawk City residents, who had lived in the city when it still belonged to the Mairente Family, had seen one City Lord after another, but none had done as much for them as Rocky had.

Past City Lords, upon taking office, would first raise taxes, and once war broke out, they would ask the residents for donations or even forcibly conscript them to serve. Otherwise, how could Thunderhawk City, with the capacity to house five thousand people, end up with only a population of one thousand? It was these actions that had driven people away!

Yet Rocky had never done any of these things. Since becoming City Lord, not only had he not increased taxes, but he was also continuously finding ways to improve the lives of the residents. During the several big battles fought, he never asked the residents for money, nor did he conscript soldiers.

People have hearts of flesh, and the residents could feel all of Rocky's efforts. Thus, taking advantage of the rare opportunity provided by the opening ceremony, they were overjoyed to see Rocky.

Meanwhile, Rocky was deeply moved by the residents' enthusiasm. It at least let him know that his efforts were not in vain and made him vividly aware of Thunderhawk City improving and growing stronger step by step. For a City Lord, isn't that the best outcome?

In such joy and emotion, Thunderhawk City's first factory began operations, which not only meant that the economic reforms Rocky had initiated half a year ago were making concrete progress and achieving results but also signified that, from now on, aside from textiles, Thunderhawk City would have a new commodity to offer the outside world—something hugely significant for the city, especially at this time.

Of course, although the factory started operations, it would take at least a quarter before it could truly generate revenue, and because there was only one factory with limited output, the profit might not be substantial. But it was at least a good start, and in times like these, even a small increase in revenue was a boon for Thunderhawk City.

At the same time, the Rune Armor Project had also made new progress!

Although Rocky had been the target of an assassination, Orton and Aniye had been preoccupied with the matter for some time, but the Rune Armor Project had not stalled and was continuing as planned.

When Rocky was attacked, most of the materials needed to construct the Void Magic Armor had already been purchased; only a few pieces of equipment were missing. So, while Rocky was hospitalized, with Orton overseeing everything, he and Aniye managed to acquire the last few necessary components on one hand and demanded compensation from Eternal City on the other.

Thus, when Rocky returned to Thunderhawk City, Hammerfire and Pelaya visited him and briefly updated him on the progress of the Rune Armor Project.

As of now, the new armor, codenamed White Demon, had been designed!

Hammerfire, as a master in the field of Armor Domain, certainly lived up to his reputation. Despite not having any noteworthy works since the fifth generation of armor, his skill had not diminished, and since the new armor was based on the fourth generation—Hammerfire's area of expertise—he managed to complete the design of the new armor in just a few weeks!

Which meant that the new White Demon Armor, centered around the Rune Core, could now begin production!

"City Lord, kiddo, you'd better heal up quickly. Once you've recovered, we'll need your help testing the armor," Hammerfire said, sitting in a chair taller than himself, twirling his beard in his hand as he spoke to Rocky.

Since the White Demon Armor was designed from the start with the Rune Core at its heart, during the process of making the armor, Orton and others would incorporate various technologies related to runes into it.

This was, of course, a relatively long process since all existing technologies, without exception, operated with Mana provided by a Magic Stone at their core. To transition to a Rune Core required certain adaptations. But given that masters were undertaking this project, and with the technologies nearing maturity, the process wouldn't be significantly delayed. In fact, once Orton and Aniye returned to Thunderhawk City with Rocky, they continuously researched this area.

In such circumstances, once the White Demon Armor was completed, the Rune Armor Project would smoothly move to the next phase, the experimental stage.

The main goal of this stage was to test the operation of the armor with the Rune Core. As the true owner of the Mana Rune, Rocky was undoubtedly the best choice to participate in the experiment. He would have the privilege of being the world's first person to wear Rune Armor, participating in all aspects of the armor's testing!