Lord of the Sky City

"This vicious?"

"Sure, it looks like there's going to be some great drama this season."

"Yeah, I heard there is a newcomer named Xia Nai, apparently a noble from the Kafka Empire. Wearing special Fifth Generation Armor, she's also a tough character, having killed her opponent in the first rank match too."

"This season's matches are going to be worth watching. It's just a matter of when the Arena will put these two together for a fight."

"It's bound to happen sooner or later. You know how the Arena operates."

When Rocky returned to Thunderhawk city, his match had already sparked a lot of discussion. It was only just one rank match, but due to the high profile of his opponent, Rocky made a name for himself with this single victory.

Interestingly, whenever people talked about Rocky, they almost always brought up another person, Xia Nai.

Like Rocky, Xia Nai had also become a new focus of attention, and in terms of the degree of attention, she was even more popular than Rocky, simply because Xia Nai was strong enough!

By the time Rocky had completed his first rank match and secured victory, Xia Nai had already fought two matches, and, unsurprisingly, had claimed two consecutive victories, elevating her rank to Fourteen-Rank.

In her two consecutive victories, Xia Nai exhibited such dominance that she quickly became the center of attention; her performance was simply too strong.

The two matches she fought took a total of only fifteen minutes, including the time for the entrance introductions, so the actual combat time Xia Nai spent was far less than fifteen minutes.

What does such a short match time signify?

It means both victories were instantaneous!

Indeed, in both rank matches that Xia Nai fought, she secured victories in an overwhelmingly dominant manner, executing her opponents as soon as the matches started, without dragging things out, making for an exceptionally simple win.

For this reason, after only two matches, she was already hailed as the strongest newcomer this season, even becoming a top contender for the season championship. Thus, whenever someone brought up Rocky's match, they would also mention Xia Nai, and vice versa. Then, everyone would compare the two and anticipate their eventual meeting.
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Of course, this was only the opinion of ordinary viewers. For some other people, particularly those with very noble or special status, they didn't truly care about the performance of Rocky and Xia Nai. What these people with noble or special identities were really concerned about were Denise and another player, because the performance of these two represented the current rivalry at the pinnacle of Armor combat!

January of Sky Era Year 118 had passed in this way, and it seemed like nothing had happened. But in reality, whether in the sky, or on land, or even in the Arena, undercurrents were stirring, brewing not just one, but many major storms!

At this time, Rocky, however, did not realize that he had unwittingly become the center of a brewing storm. He was still busy being the City Lord and dealing with his own affairs.

After winning the match against Ober and returning to Thunderhawk City, Rocky looked for Aileen right away.

The last time he took part in the preliminary selection, although Aileen had bet on him, she had only wagered ten thousand Gold Coins, which kind of irked Rocky. Betting so little, even if he won, he wouldn't make much money.

In fact, he hadn't earned much. The prize money for the preliminary selection was only five thousand Gold Coins. He had won the outside bets, but because the odds were low, and the stake was small, he had only earned a meager twenty thousand Gold Coins. This amount was not even enough for his expenses in Eternal City, including food, clothing, lodging, transport, and buying Arena tickets.

Therefore, when he had Aileen come over, he couldn't wait to ask, "How much did we make?"

Since he had won the match, as long as Aileen had placed a bet outside the Arena, it was certain she had made money. The question was how much she had earned—that was the key.

Facing his question, Aileen simply raised four fingers.

"Forty thousand? That's it?"

Seeing the four delicate fingers that Aileen raised, they did indeed look lovely, but wasn't that too little?

Fighting tooth and nail on the arena, how did I only make such a small sum of money? This isn't enough for anything!

"My lord, it's four hundred thousand."

Just as Rocky's face showed his disappointment, Aileen spoke with a beaming smile, revealing the true earnings!

"Four hundred thousand Gold Coins? Really?"

Upon hearing this, Rocky's impending look of despondence vanished in an instant, resembling a child adept at changing expressions, suddenly bursting with joy.

To Aileen, there was naturally no need for him to put on an inscrutable front. He showed his feelings as they were, very real, and Aileen, who had long been used to his 'child-like' innocence, found it nothing unusual. She then continued:

"To be exact, sir, the earnings this time are four hundred and twenty thousand. We won four hundred thousand from the side bets, and there is a bonus of twenty thousand."

"You won four hundred thousand from the side bets? How much did you wager?"

Rocky had always been hung up on how Aileen had only bet ten thousand Gold Coins last time; it felt to him like a child eager to show off not getting the recognition he deserved, so he was particularly fixated on this matter.

In response, Aileen couldn't help but laugh helplessly, then said, "This time I wagered fifty thousand Gold Coins. The odds were one to eight, so we made four hundred thousand Gold Coins."

"Good!"

Hearing this, especially upon learning that they've made over four hundred thousand Gold Coins, Rocky's mood instantly improved. As he thought about how to allocate the money, he didn't forget to remind Aileen, "Bet more next time, I'm sure to win again."

To Rocky, fifty thousand Gold Coins still seemed too little, so he wanted Aileen to bet more in the next match; that way, he would earn even more, wouldn't he?

No sooner had he finished speaking than Aileen pursed her lips, "Sir, you said this was entirely up to me, that you wouldn't interfere with my decisions."

"Leave these matters be, let Aileen handle them."

When Aileen pursed her lips in complaint, Liliya also spoke up on the side, leaving Rocky baffled; he didn't think his request was that unreasonable!

But since both Aileen and Liliya said so, he didn't feel it was right to argue further and resignedly nodded, then he went off to study the matter.

After he left, Aileen and Liliya exchanged a glance and sighed deeply.

Rocky didn't know that Aileen never wagered a lot each time was actually for his benefit!

Rocky's fundamental reason for participating in the Arena was to use it to make money, which in itself was fine. However, if he started treating the side betting of the Arena as a fool, as a cash machine, that would be a huge mistake!

If the Arena dared to offer side bets, it allowed people to win money, but it would absolutely not tolerate being treated as idiots.

So if Aileen made a large bet on Rocky and he continued to win matches, then without a doubt, the Arena would ensure Rocky faced extremely dangerous opponents. Remember, the Arena was the dealer, the one making the real big money, and by then, Rocky would have nowhere to cry.

And so, every match Rocky fought in, how much to bet, and how to bet it, was something Aileen carefully calculated with much thought. Only this meticulous planning could ensure they made money while not provoking the Arena, otherwise, why would the Arena let Rocky walk away with the cash so easily!

Thankfully, Rocky never interfered much in this regard. He trusted Aileen and handed all the authority to her. Aileen, in turn, silently used her talents and abilities to assist Rocky so that some things simply didn't need to be spoken.