Lord of the Sky City

After handling all aspects of Thunderhawk City and making short-term plans, Rocky got in touch with Howard to prepare for his next rank match.

As one of the most popular entertainment events in Eternal City, the Arena had a well-developed system. Whether it was the matches or the contestants, everything had a standardized process. So, when Rocky reached out to Howard, Howard immediately started arranging the match. By the next day, everything was set, and on the third day, Rocky stepped onto the stage!

The speed surprised Rocky, and he couldn't help but admire the efficiency of the Arena, but what he didn't know was that the Arena had already planned his match.

To make the matches exciting and visually appealing, the Arena monitored every contestant. This attention started from the preliminary selections, and Rocky was clearly one of their focal points.

Inside the Arena, Rocky had already been tagged as a seeded contestant, meaning that, in the eyes of the Arena, he had the strength to vie for the championship title at the end of the season. For such potential contestants, the Arena always had special arrangements.
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For instance, Rocky's opponent in his first rank match, Ober, was a result of such arrangements. To the general audience, Ober might have had a considerable reputation, but in the eyes of the Arena, he wasn't as significant. The reason the Arena allowed Ober to keep winning almost by cheating was not that they couldn't intervene, but because they chose not to.

They were indulging Ober to "cultivate" him into a contestant with appeal and a certain reputation, then they "used" him against Rocky. This allowed Rocky to prove his strength and gain fame in just one match, making his upcoming matches instantly popular.

Indeed, that was the case. The audience for Rocky's second match was significantly larger than the previous one, with at least a thousand more spectators, who were clearly drawn by the tales of his match against Ober.

Correspondingly, the opponent in Rocky's next match...

His opponent in the second rank match was also a newcomer, also of the fifteenth rank, even wearing a Mass Production Type Armor provided by the Arena. Facing such an opponent, Rocky himself found it unbelievable. Wasn't this just handing out points?

Indeed, it was exactly that—handing out points—and it was also the strategy of the Arena. Their goal was to continuously boost Rocky's fame, making him more and more appealing, thereby cultivating the audience's anticipation.

But to achieve this, one match was certainly not enough. Hence, in the following four matches, Rocky's opponents were all rather average, allowing him to raise his rank from the fifteenth to the thirteenth and achieving a five-win streak in rank matches, thus becoming even more famous.

Of course, the Arena didn't treat only Rocky in this manner. At least four to five other contestants this season received the same treatment. They were all newcomers highly favored by the Arena, and naturally, Xia Nai, who had always been compared to Rocky, was among them.

Compared to others, the Arena valued Xia Nai more. By the time Rocky achieved a five-win streak, Xia Nai had already fought eight matches, winning each one. Her rank had also increased to the eleventh in this process, making her the highest-ranked and most famous newcomer of the season. Compared to her, Rocky and others merely complemented her achievements.

However, for the Arena, whether it was Rocky or Xia Nai, their matches were really just trivial matters. They were only part of some routine arrangements that occurred every season. What truly captivated the Arena and consumed all their attention were Denise's matches!

Representing Sigma Corporation, Denise would debut the new generation of Armor at the Arena. This news had already spread widely. With Sigma Corporation ready to unveil a new generation of Armor, a significant event in the Armor Domain, it was something that attracted widespread attention and was eagerly anticipated. Consequently, as time progressed, more and more prominent figures gathered in Eternal City, all waiting for Denise's first match at the Arena.

In such circumstances, Denise's series of matches were bound to capture the attention of the entire Sky Era, making it the top priority for the Arena, which they were constantly busy preparing for.

Two weeks after Denise arrived in Eternal City, her match was finally set!

Sky Era Year 118, February 8.

On this day, Denise's first match would take place at the Arena, where the new generation of Armor would also make its debut before the world!

......

......

During this period, Rocky's mood wasn't great.

Although he had achieved a five-win streak in the rank matches, and his fame was growing, with increasingly more people discussing and paying attention to him, Rocky was still discontent, for a very simple reason: the earnings were too low.

Despite the Arena consistently setting him up against relatively average opponents, allowing him consecutive victories, correspondingly, the odds on Rocky in the external betting pools were getting lower. In his most recent match, the odds between him and his opponent were 1.3 to 7, with the opponent at 7 and only 1.3 for him.

What did 1.3 mean?

In Rocky's last match, as usual, Aileen placed fifty thousand Gold Coin on him, and he won. However, he only earned sixty-five thousand Gold Coin. Subtracting the fifty thousand principal, he only profited fifteen thousand Gold Coin!

While this amount might seem not too little, remember that Rocky's rank was now the thirteenth. With the rank advancement, his prize money for each match also increased. Now, he could earn twenty-four thousand Gold Coin for every victory. That meant the money he earned from betting fifty thousand Gold Coin was even less than the prize money from winning the match...

So even though Rocky had won four consecutive matches, the Gold Coin he earned was pitifully little, totaling around a hundred thousand in prize money and about one hundred and fifty thousand from bets. Added together, it was only about two hundred and fifty thousand Gold Coin, barely enough for anything.

Naturally, Rocky wasn't pleased with these results. He wasn't competing for fun; his ultimate goal in participating in the Arena was to make money.

But given the current situation, there wasn't much he could do. The only thing he could do was wait for the Arena to arrange stronger opponents for him, preferably ones who appeared significantly stronger than him. Only then could he potentially make a substantial profit.

However, according to Hammerfire, that opportunity should be coming soon...!