Lord of the Sky City

After the match with Ober, Rocky didn't immediately go on to the next match. First, he needed some rest, and second, there were matters of Thunderhawk City that required his attention.

Recently, Rocky had devoted most of his energy and time to the research and development of Armor and the Arena matches, but let's not forget that his most important identity was still that of the City Lord, so Thunderhawk City was always his top priority.

Therefore, once the match was over and he had returned to Thunderhawk City, he quickly became busy, addressing both major and minor issues concerning the city.

Fortunately, even though Rocky had focused the majority of his efforts on other areas over the past few months, Thunderhawk City hadn't encountered any significant problems. Aileen was in charge of the finances and Old Jack looked after civil affairs, so there was no need for Rocky to worry excessively.

Not only that, but there was also pleasing news: the leather manufacturing plant had produced its first batch of goods and had already successfully completed its first leather trade with the Ruby Chamber of Commerce.

This was definitely good news for Rocky, as it meant that the new industry of Thunderhawk City was finally showing signs of growth. The city would no longer have to rely solely on the textile industry for survival.

Moreover, the successful establishment of the new industry also increased Thunderhawk City's income. After completing the transaction with the Ruby Chamber of Commerce, Thunderhawk City received a hundred thousand Gold Coins. After deducting the initial investment for raw materials and expenses like workers' wages, at least half of the hundred thousand Gold Coins was profit, that is, around fifty thousand Gold Coins.

Although this amount of money wasn't enough to solve the major problems for Thunderhawk City, it represented a promising start. And while fifty thousand Gold Coins might not seem like much, this extra income had nearly doubled the city's original income!

Previously, Thunderhawk City's income per quarter relied on only one source, which was the sale of cloth. Initially, the city could earn about fifty thousand Gold Coins per quarter from this. Later, as the population increased and mass production of cloth rose, the revenue increased to about sixty thousand Gold Coins.

Besides this revenue, the shops opened in the city could also provide Rocky with some income. However, due to the generally low standard of living among the residents of Thunderhawk City and the insufficient population, the internal demand was not significant, so the pure profit from the shops was just over ten thousand Gold Coins per quarter, and sometimes it could even be less than ten thousand.

Combining these two sources of income, the city could only generate about seventy thousand Gold Coins per quarter.

This amount of money really wasn't much—no, it should be said it was very little because after deducting various expenses, it was hard for Thunderhawk City's treasury to have any surplus left. More often than not, there wasn't even enough money, which is why Thunderhawk City had managed to stay afloat in the past six months entirely thanks to Rocky's efforts and the money he had obtained from 'stirring things up' outside to support the city.

It was precisely because of this that Rocky was extremely pleased when the leather manufacturing plant produced its first batch of goods and successfully completed the transaction with the Ruby Chamber of Commerce. Thunderhawk City's income had significantly increased. According to Aileen's projections, with the output from both cloth and leather, Thunderhawk City could now assure a revenue of over a hundred thousand Gold Coins per quarter, an amount sufficient for the city's normal operation.

Naturally, this made Rocky very happy, because not only had the burden on his shoulders lightened, Thunderhawk City had also grown stronger than before.

For this reason, he hosted a dance for the first time in Thunderhawk City to celebrate.

And the day after the celebration ended, Rocky began contemplating the next steps for Thunderhawk City's development.

With the official operation of the leather manufacturing factory, the reforms he had previously undertaken were showing results; the increase in income was the best proof. However, in Rocky's view, this was clearly not enough.

Although the income of Thunderhawk City had increased considerably, it was only a moderate improvement on its original basis, and the actual total increase was not high. Rocky and Berg had attended many balls together and had discussed this issue, so Rocky was well aware that in terms of the economy, Thunderhawk City was among the lower ranks, even among small Sky Cities.

According to Berg, a small Sky City with a population of three to five thousand should have a quarterly income of no less than five hundred thousand Gold Coins to sustain itself in the long run. Without delving into details, the cost of war alone could be enough to drag a Sky City down.

The skies were far from peaceful now, with war potentially breaking out anytime and anywhere. You might not provoke others, but they might provoke you. And without a strong economy to rely on, bluntly put, if there was no money in the treasury, then in the event of war, regardless of victory or defeat, the city would pretty much be done for.

This was something Rocky understood all too well.

The battle with Baron Wolin left Rocky without even the money to repair his warship. He had to ask Berg to help resolve the matter and also teamed up with Karina to set their sights on the Wild Horse Air Pirate Group. After eliminating the Air Pirate Group, he did gain over a million in rewards, but it also drew the powerful enemy of Wild Horse City. To confront Wild Horse City, the earned millions of Gold Coins almost vanished instantly.

All these experiences made it crystal clear to Rocky how terrifying the cost of war could be. It was precisely because of this deep understanding that he desired even more to rapidly develop Thunderhawk City, especially its economy.

Unfortunately, such developments couldn't be achieved overnight, especially now. Although Rocky wanted to focus on economic development, the situation did not allow for it.
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Currently, he was facing the significant and tangible threat of Wild Horse City. In fact, Wild Horse City was waiting just outside the airspace of Eternal City for him. To deal with this formidable enemy, he truly had no choice but to invest every single penny into the military, ensuring that he could survive after leaving Eternal City. Survival was the most important thing.

So after a brief moment of excitement and joy, Rocky began his next step of planning.

The contest with Ober earned him over four hundred thousand Gold Coins, and the leather trade brought in another hundred thousand, meaning he now had another five hundred thousand Gold Coins in hand.

Out of these five hundred thousand Gold Coins, fifty thousand were left in Thunderhawk City for emergencies, one hundred thousand were given to Aileen for gambling stakes, and two hundred fifty thousand were handed to Orton to sustain the costs of research. As for the remaining one hundred thousand, Rocky used them as reserves for war.

A battle between Thunderhawk City and Wild Horse City was inevitable in the near future, and it was clear to anyone that Thunderhawk City currently didn't stand a chance against Wild Horse City. Therefore, Rocky had to expand his military forces, whether it be warships or Armor. Only by doing so could he ensure his survival against the opposition.

But this required Gold Coins, and a significant amount at that. Hence, he had to start preparing for the upcoming great war from now, ensuring he had enough Gold Coins in reserve to expand his forces when necessary.

To earn more money, Rocky had to continue participating in Arena contests. After all, the rewards and betting associated with the Arena could provide him with significant income in a short period, even though it was fraught with danger. But it was a shortcut to earning Gold Coins.

And so, after setting up everything in Thunderhawk City, he reached out to Howard, ready to begin his next Rank match.