Lord of the Sky City

When Carnell and the others believed their plan was flawless and undetectable, little did they know that Voss had already noticed their every move!

It was not surprising, considering that the entire city was now under Rocky's control. Rocky's sole demand of Voss was to ensure the stability of the city, so Voss had always paid close attention to the disenfranchised nobles and officials like Carnell, having had them under surveillance for some time.

Moreover, with so many distinguished guests gathered in the city, security had been raised to its highest level. Not only had Monte and Liliya brought the entire Guard Corps with them, but Rocky even had the Sky Alliance dispatch a full ten squads of the Void Magic Squad to help maintain public order. With such measures in place, how could the actions of Carnell and his group possibly go unnoticed? They had, in fact, been detected long ago!

But this was where Voss's cunning and shrewdness lay; although he had known from the start what Carnell and the others were up to, he did not crush their plan in its infancy. Instead, he chose to wait, wait until they had arranged everything, wait until the moment before they were about to act, and then he made a massive swoop to arrest them all!

Overnight, more than a thousand people were seized by the Guard Corps in Carltos City. Not only was the scale and scope of the arrests unimaginable, but the suddenness of the action caught everyone off guard. The foremen who had been contacted, as well as the deceived or willing citizens, did not need to be mentioned, nor did Carnell and his cohorts, who were completely unaware even up to the moment before their arrest—right when they were holding a meeting and envisioning their life after leaving Carltos City, only to be caught in a single sweep by Voss.

After arresting the thousands involved in the plan to make trouble, the prisons of Carltos City were certainly not capable of holding them all, nor were those of Thunderhawk City. Therefore, Voss simply sent these people out of Sky City and directly to Backhill Village, where they were thrown into the mines to labor as convicts.

And throughout all these actions, Voss only consulted with Liliya and had not informed Rocky, not because Voss did not wish to tell him, but because he was stopped by Liliya. She was well aware of how busy Rocky was at the time and that he really had no spare energy to deal with such trifles.

What was more important was that Liliya always remembered the words Athena had said to her: Rocky did not trust Carltos City, nor did he trust anyone in the city.

So if she were to tell him about such a matter at this critical moment, one could imagine how Rocky would feel and how he would deal with those arrested. Therefore, Liliya took it upon herself to exile these people to Backhill Village to toil, intending to wait until the current matters were settled and Rocky was in a better mood before discussing it with him.

In all of Thunderhawk City, probably only Liliya would dare to do such a thing. If anyone else dared, they would certainly face the death penalty once discovered, and even Voss would be no exception. This was precisely why Athena had wanted to speak those words to Liliya; Athena knew that only Liliya could restrain Rocky in certain matters, and no one else could.

As a result, an incident that could have had a major impact on Rocky and even on the whole of Carltos City was quietly resolved.

In the time that followed, three days passed by swiftly, each day proceeding very smoothly. Carltos City remained bustling, with nothing occurring that would upset Rocky or the guests. Everyone was immersed in a festive and joyous atmosphere.

And then, after those three days, the ball carefully prepared by Rocky and Archimonde began!

The venue for the ball was set in the City Lord's Mansion of Carltos City. Within the grand hall specially designated for the ball, hundreds of guests gathered, and the level of grandeur of this ball was beyond imagination.

How does one judge the standard of a ball? Naturally, it depends on who the guests are. As long as the guests have sufficient status, the ball can still be considered high-standard even if held in the street. The ball hosted by Rocky and Archimonde was exactly such an occasion.

The City Lord's Mansion of Carltos City was indeed large, and the hall specifically used for the ball was also quite decent. However, there were many places in the sky that were even better. Without going into detail, any of the banquet halls in Eternal City could be larger and more splendid than this, but a better location is just icing on the cake—the key is who attends the ball.

On that note, this particular ball was undoubtedly extraordinary!

For Rocky's part, his status as the most sought-after City Lord was already well-known, and apart from him, Athena, the renowned prodigy, was also the center of everyone's attention. It's no exaggeration to say that Athena's fame alone was enough to raise the standard of any ball.

The others invited by Rocky were equally well-known.

Damara, the daughter of Elder Farey, attended as her father's representative.

General Cassan, on behalf of Holy Knight Wilton, attended.

Denise, representing Sigma Corporation, attended.

Amanred, representing Ruby Chamber of Commerce, attended.

Besides these individuals, many other renowned city lords also came.

The Lord of Sirius City, Howling Sky.

The Lord of Kunlun City, Bodin.

The Lord of Stellar Palace City, Pank.

The Lord of Benevolent King City, Maros.

The Lord of Rose City, Karina.

The Lord of Lingyu City, Berg.

The Lord of Gulov City, Gulov.

Invited by Rocky to attend the ball were more than a dozen city lords, each one a prominent figure, and even the likes of Karina, a smaller city lord, were well-renowned.

In comparison, although there were not as many city lords invited by Apple Tree Corporation to the ball, there was no shortage of various magnates.

The Continental Commerce Chamber sent representatives.

The Blue Sky Chamber of Commerce sent representatives.

The Dalmor Chamber of Commerce also sent representatives.

These were all illustrious chambers of commerce in the skies, each one a titan in their own right, and in addition to them, even the Mercenary Guild and Technician Guild sent representatives, clearly indicating that the Apple Tree Corporation, headquartered in Eternal City, had good relations with these guilds.

Consequently, one could easily imagine the grandeur of this ball.

Of course, gathering so many important figures was certainly not for idle chatter, they were all invited, and this invitation also sparked everyone's curiosity, leaving them wondering what exactly Rocky and Apple Tree Corporation planned to do, having invited so many dignitaries. It must be the announcement of a very significant matter!

In their eagerness to uncover this question, everyone made efforts to find out during the days leading up to the start of the ball, but unfortunately, both Rocky and Archimonde remained tight-lipped, which heightened everyone's anticipation. Thus, when the ball finally began, everyone was eager for the hosts, Rocky and Archimonde, to appear promptly and unravel the mystery.